Does Anyone Know Where This Is?
Elsid had chosen a shortcut through the forest to reach the trading city of Nao as quickly as possible. Right now, he was...
"Where the hell am I?"
He had completely lost his way and was wandering aimlessly along a path deep in the dense woods.
"Wait, don't tell me...!"
While studying his map as he walked, Elsid suddenly stopped, his face twisting in surprise.
"Did I get lost?"
It wasn't exactly a shocking revelation, yet he had figured it out remarkably fast.
Grumble.
Right on cue, his stomach let out a loud protest.
"Ah, I haven't eaten anything yet."
Focused on reaching his destination quickly, he had ignored his hunger until now. It was no wonder his stomach was demanding attention.
Deciding to keep walking a little longer and eat only if things didn't improve, Elsid started moving again despite knowing he was lost.
Clang! Clang! Clang!
"Huh?"
As he took another step, a strange sound reached his ears. It was unmistakably the clash of steel against steel.
But that wasn't all. There were spirited battle cries, screams that sounded like warnings of danger, and other noises mixed in.
In short, someone was fighting.
He couldn't just ignore it now that he knew. Worried that someone might be in trouble, Elsid sprinted toward the source of the sounds.
Meanwhile, at the location where Elsid had heard the noise...
"Take this, you orc bastard!"
Whoosh.
As expected, a fight was underway. Two orcs were locked in a life-or-death struggle against three humans who appeared to be adventurers.
At the front, a blond youth in blue armor swung a greatsword as tall as himself at the orcs, drawing their attention.
Clang!
One of the orcs deflected the youth's blade with a rusty axe it had apparently picked up somewhere.
"Kreeek! Human!"
"Damn it..."
Before the youth could recover from the deflection, the second orc let out a roar and charged. Its massive, pot-lid-sized fist slammed into him.
Thud! Crash! Crash! Crash!
The blow sent the youth flying like a rubber ball, bouncing off the ground, a tree, and the ground again before rolling across the dirt.
"Rain!"
A girl who seemed to be his companion cried out in panic.
"O Goddess Pios, grant us your healing power! Healing!"
Her panic lasted only a moment. The pink-haired girl in white robes spread her hands wide, invoking the goddess's name as she began her chant. A pure white light enveloped the youth named Rain, and miraculously, all the bruises across his body vanished.
She wasn't a mage—she was a priestess who borrowed the power of the gods.
"Alright. Now I'm getting serious."
The dark bruises from earlier had completely disappeared. Rain sprang to his feet, fully recovered, and charged back toward the orcs. The moment he moved, a blue aura began to swirl around his greatsword.
Rain, a swordsman who channeled aura, had begun using his aura technique. Though he had only reached the second-lowest of the seven stages—the "Aura Warrior Stage"—it was more than enough to handle these orcs.
"We're not done yet! Uncle Robin?!"
But Rain's real plan wasn't to fight head-on. He swung defensively, focusing on drawing their attention without overextending.
"I've been waiting for this. Finally got them lined up, those damn orcs."
A voice answered from above. A middle-aged man in a green hood perched in the trees, bow drawn with an arrow nocked. The same blue aura that surrounded Rain's sword now coated his bow and arrow.
But the aura wasn't just wrapped around the arrow—it was spinning violently.
"Whirlwind Aura—Spinning Arrow!"
The moment the archer called Robin released the string, the aura around the arrow spun furiously, propelling it far faster than a normal shot. It struck true, burying itself in an orc's head.
Thwip! Crack!
The spinning aura didn't stop. It drilled deeper, tearing through flesh and bone.
Thud! Crash!
The two orcs collapsed with fist-sized holes punched through their skulls.
"Huff, huff... I thought I was dead trying to hold them off. Couldn't you have done that sooner, Uncle Marcus?"
Only after the orcs hit the ground did Rain finally release his aura and catch his breath.
"Sorry about that. I've learned the technique, but I'm still new to it. Controlling the output while aiming is harder than it looks."
Robin climbed down from the tree, offering both an explanation and an excuse.
"And unfortunately, we don't have time for complaints."
Robin pointed with his index finger. Another orc had appeared, this one wielding a greatsword identical to Rain's—though its blade was rusted.
"Where did that one come from?"
"Just so you know, I'm out of aura. My technique hits hard, but it drains me fast."
"So you're saying it's up to me."
Rain approached the orc slowly, closing the distance.
"Protect us, the weak, with your light! Shining Armor!"
At the same time, the priestess chanted again, casting another spell on Rain. White light wrapped around his body like a protective barrier—not healing this time, but a shield.
"Let's see who's stronger!"
"Kreeek!"
Rain and the orc swung their greatswords at each other almost simultaneously.
Slash!
Rain's blade struck first, carving across the orc's upper body.
"Kraaak!"
Despite the wound and the blood pouring from it, the orc ignored the injury and swung its greatsword horizontally with all its weight behind it.
Crash! Shatter!
"Guh!"
The horizontal strike made Rain cough up blood. The holy armor around him shattered like glass, and his actual armor caved in, no longer functioning as proper protection. His bold charge had ended far too easily.
The orc raised its greatsword with both hands, preparing to finish him off with a downward strike. Still dazed from the previous blow, Rain couldn't even attempt to dodge.
'Healing? Or Shining Armor?'
'Damn it, if I could just shoot an arrow to knock its attack off course...'
His two companions tried desperately to help in their own ways, but it was too late. The orc's greatsword was about to cleave Rain in two.
Whoosh! Clang!
"Pardon me, but does anyone know where this is?"
Someone had blocked the orc's descending blade—with a wooden sword, no less.
"Eh?"
Rain stared in disbelief at the scene unfolding right in front of him.
Elsid glanced at the youth and recalled what had happened just minutes earlier. After running toward the sounds of battle, he had spent some time observing the adventurers' fight.
'Impressive.'
He had been particularly struck by the archer's aura technique. Wrapping aura around an arrow and spinning it dramatically increased its piercing and destructive power. If that technique were used with a specially crafted armor-piercing arrow instead of a regular one, Elsid couldn't even imagine the result.
But...
'His control is still rough.'
Whether it was the difficulty of manipulating aura itself or the complexity of the technique, the archer's aim wavered as he drew the bow.
After finishing his observations and watching for a while longer, Elsid had finally stepped in, asking for directions. If anyone saw him appear at such a perfect moment, they might think he had been waiting for the right timing.
"Kreeek!"
Ah, right. The noisy green pig was still here.
"Shut up!"
Clang!
Elsid deflected the orc's greatsword with his wooden blade.
"Can't you see we're talking?"
Whoosh! Crash!
In the same motion, he drew his arming sword—still in its scabbard—with his other hand and struck the orc's wrist with alternating left and right blows.
The orc's right wrist turned from blue to purple, and it dropped its greatsword.
"Better to deal with the noisy green pig first, right?"
"Ah, yes..."
Now that things had quieted down, Elsid asked his question, and Rain nodded weakly.
"Kraaak!"
Though its wrist was broken and its weapon lost, the orc roared in fury and swung its remaining fist.
"Too slow."
Elsid dodged backward in a flash, avoiding the punch by a hair's breadth. Then he struck the orc's solar plexus and collarbone with both blades in rapid succession.
Thud!
The orc doubled over, dropping to its knees. From there, the fight became completely one-sided.
Elsid didn't bother breaking bones. Instead, he rained blows on the orc with his wooden sword and sheathed blade, pounding it like dust on a rainy day. With every strike, the orc's bruises multiplied. It tried to fight back occasionally, but Elsid easily dodged or blocked each attempt.
For Elsid, it was simple. For the three adventurers watching, it was an astonishing sight.
"He's not even using aura, is he?"
"Yeah, that's what it looks like to me. I'm not seeing things."
"Why does this remind me of stir-fried pork?"
Robin, Rain, and the priestess each spoke in turn, their eyes fixed on the pitiful orc being beaten before them. The danger from moments ago already forgotten, they chatted among themselves.