Chapter 135: The Milk Road
Chapter 135: The Milk Road
My Assassin level has gone up.
Guwon realized it the moment he woke up and opened his status window to check his levels.
He was sure his Assassin level was still 8 when he checked after yesterday's hunt. But now, it was up to 13.
That meant he must have leveled up after returning to the outpost.
The only things he’d done since coming back were eat and have sex. The most assassin-like thing he’d done was probably using Stealth to sneak into the bathroom.
He leveled up from just that?
Hmm. I don’t get it. I’ll just ask Diana when she wakes up.
Guwon stopped worrying about the Assassin job for a moment and opened his skill window instead.
Let’s see. Holy Ground Proclamation… Nice! It’s gone up a ton!
Overnight, the level for Holy Ground Proclamation had jumped all the way to 9.
The Saint's skills were generally efficient with life force, and Guwon didn't like to spam them during sex. Thanks to that, he'd never really noticed this before, but the base effect of Healing Sex was an increase in natural healing. In other words, it increased the recovery speed of not just his health, but his life force as well—though only health was restored upon climax.
Anyway, using that base effect, Guwon had kept the Holy Ground Proclamation skill active the entire time they had sex yesterday.
Unlike his other skills, which had become unusable because his Charm was too high, the low-powered Holy Ground Proclamation actually provided a pleasant amount of stimulation during intercourse.
Plus, since his Healing Sex was at a high level, its increased recovery effect could completely cover the life force cost as long as he kept Holy Ground Proclamation active.
In short, he could keep Holy Ground Proclamation on indefinitely during sex.
Even if it was a trash skill, it felt like a waste to learn it and then let it rot. He figured he might as well raise the skill level as much as he could.
It would still be difficult to see any effect in combat, but if he kept raising the skill level like this, it would eventually become useful someday.
With that in mind, Guwon decided to reactivate Holy Ground Proclamation, which he had turned off while they slept.
No matter how weak the effect, if a damage-over-time ability was applied continuously for hours, it would eventually show some power. But if he left it on all night, Diana wouldn't be able to sleep properly, so he'd turned it off before they went to bed.
As he used Holy Ground Proclamation, the entire room was bathed in a faint golden light.
As Holy Ground Proclamation's level increased, its range grew enormously, so he was able to adjust the area of effect like this.
Should I try activating it at maximum range?
A wicked thought crossed Guwon's mind.
With the skill at level 9, its maximum range was now 9 meters. That was wide enough to cover a significant portion of the inn.
And every single guest staying at this inn was an adventurer. Of course, the vast majority of them were women.
Furthermore, staying here meant they were mid-tier adventurers, skilled enough to explore the 2nd Floor and get past the Sand Worms. As a result, they were all quite beautiful, which had made for some nice eye candy in the dining hall.
Though it went without saying that the three women in my party were overwhelmingly more beautiful.
Just imagine activating Holy Ground Proclamation at max range for an hour in the middle of an inn packed with beautiful female adventurers. Wouldn't that create a rather delightful scene?
Just as Guwon was about to activate the skill with a sly grin, Leia's face suddenly flashed through his mind.
Wait. If I use Holy Ground Proclamation like this, what'll happen to Leia?
She was fine when I tested its power yesterday, but would she be okay now?
No way. The skill level is higher than before, and more importantly, I'd be leaving it on for a long time.
Guwon hastily reduced the range.
I almost turned Leia into a Gumiho first thing in the morning.
It was a shame, but it seemed he'd have to put aside his dream of an inn where all the beautiful guests were in heat.
“Ngh…. Mmm….”
About thirty minutes after he activated Holy Ground Proclamation, Diana began to stir.
It seemed she was starting to feel enough pleasure to notice it even in her sleep.
Guwon gently moved his own hips in time with the subtle movements of Diana's.
“Hngh. Haah. Th-this is….”
At that, Diana finally woke up.
Despite being disoriented from just waking up, she didn't resist, immediately syncing her own movements to the rhythm of Guwon's hips.
And after a storm had passed, Diana slapped Guwon's chest with her palm.
“What do you think you're doing so early in the morning! This feeling… it's Holy Ground Proclamation, isn't it? Turn it off this instant!”
As expected of the Archmage, so sensitive to mana. She’d noticed right away.
Guwon quickly turned off Holy Ground Proclamation.
Diana's nagging continued for a while after that.
She understood that he was using it to strengthen the skill, but in the end, he was forbidden from turning it on first thing in the morning.
He'd thought it wouldn't matter since morning sex had become a daily routine for them, but apparently, being woken up that way wasn't a pleasant experience.
Can't be helped. From now on, I'll only turn it on during the act itself.
“It's an orc raid!”
Just as they finished breakfast, someone suddenly burst through the inn's entrance and shouted.
“A raid?”
“Mm. Did I not mention it? The teleportation circle is rather conspicuous, so we get monster raids from time to time,” Diana said in a nonchalant voice.
“Do we have to go out and fight, too?”
“There's no strict obligation, but it's an unwritten rule to help out if you can. It would be inconvenient for us as well if this place were to fall.”
“This works out well. We were planning to go hunting today anyway, right? It's much more convenient if the monsters come to us.”
Sara, showing no tension about the raid, was burning with fighting spirit.
Not that I was feeling any tension either.
Honestly, I wasn't scared of 2nd Floor monsters, no matter how many of them came. I could handle them to some extent even with my Saint skills sealed, and if I got serious with Saint's Touch, they'd all go down in one hit.
“Well then, shall we go take a look?”
Guwon leisurely got up and went outside.
“Whoa. That's an insane number of them.”
The scene that unfolded before his eyes as soon as he stepped outside was a spectacle.
Aren't there hundreds of them?
From beyond the distant horizon, a wave of orcs so numerous it was impossible to estimate their numbers was surging forward. There were so many that it felt like watching a war movie; it didn't feel real that we were about to fight them ourselves.
“Why are there so many? Way more than the ones on the 1st Floor.”
“They're coming from several orc villages at once. This was originally orc territory, after all.”
Come to think of it, Diana did mention something about trying to wipe out the orcs on the 2nd Floor. Was she talking about this place?
“Then why install the teleportation circle in the middle of orc territory?”
“Because of the Sand Worms. If they were to attack, there's a risk the circle would be destroyed before we could deal with them. So, it was installed here in orc territory, where the worms don't appear.”
Right, the Sand Worms only started appearing after walking a bit from here. Were orcs their natural predators or something? It kind of made sense.
If a Sand Worm attacked and bit one of them, the other orcs would probably ignore the one that got bitten and just beat the Sand Worm to death.
In any case, there's strength in numbers.
“If they're coming from several villages at once, does that mean there are Transcendent Species among them?”
He hadn't encountered a Transcendent Species on the 2nd Floor yet. Not that he was particularly afraid of one. Especially since a 2nd Floor orc Transcendent Species would be a shaman. The very kind of shaman Guwon had an absolute type advantage against.
With so many orcs, the shaman's buffed minions would probably be more annoying than the shaman itself.
“Yes. I can see a few,” Sara replied, shielding her eyes with her hand as she gazed intently at the orc horde.
“Think you can take them out from here?”
If they could take out the Transcendent Species before the battle began, it would be much easier.
The distance was still far too great for an ordinary archer hunting in this area to make the shot, but our Sara was no ordinary archer.
The orcs probably wouldn't expect an attack from this distance and would have their guard down.
“I'll give it a try.”
As expected, Sara gave a reliable answer.
Knowing her personality, the fact that she didn't say she couldn't meant she was confident she could make the shot.
Sara nocked an arrow and took much more care in aiming than usual.
Then, with a sharp sound of tearing air, the arrow vanished into the sky.
“How'd it go? Did you get it?”
“No. Other orcs used themselves as shields and blocked it. If they were a little closer, I think I could pierce through the ones in front to hit the target, but it's difficult at this range,” Sara said, her voice tinged with disappointment.
Just how strong do you have to be to pierce through orcs to hit a Transcendent Species?
Guwon broke out in a cold sweat.
She'd pierced right through my defense and into my thigh before. I should never, ever fight her, no matter what.
“So, should we wait for them to get closer? No, if we fight near the outpost, the buildings might get damaged. Should we move toward them?”
“Don't be impatient. If you wait a moment, the clan in charge of this area will step forward.”
Just as Diana said, a group of adventurers soon began to move to the front.
Dressed like typical adventurers in a variety of gear, they all shared one thing in common: a water-drop-shaped mark somewhere on their bodies.
There were quite a few of them, perhaps the clan's full force. Still, compared to the approaching horde of orcs, they were just a drop in the bucket.
As Guwon expected, the water-drop clan members continued to advance, seemingly intending to fight away from the settlement.
“I thought they'd shout some orders or something, but I guess not.”
They headed to the battlefield by themselves, without giving any instructions to the other adventurers.
“In the first place, the adventurers here help out of goodwill, not obligation. You can't command adventurers who value their freedom and expect them to fall in line. And more importantly, they probably want to project confidence that they can handle this on their own.”
“They think they can handle that many orcs by themselves?”
“Hmm. It's probably possible. However, if they were to stop them alone, their losses would be quite severe. But since the other adventurers will help anyway, it's a kind of bluff.”
What a tiring way to live.
But I guess it's related to the clan's honor. Is this sort of thing normal?
As a clan leader myself, I couldn't just write it off as a bad thing. A day might come when I have to put on a brave face like that for my clan's honor.
Wait a minute. …Honor?
Come to think of it, Guwon's current reputation was at rock bottom.
No, considering the conversation he'd overheard between the guild employees, it was probably in the negatives.
The image of a kept man who'd used his pretty face to snag the great Archmage and was now freeloading off her.
Could this be a chance to shed that "kept man" image and make a real name for myself?
Of course, considering Diana's reputation, just beating up some 2nd Floor monsters wouldn't completely erase the image, but at least I could put a stop to the talk that I was a talentless freeloader who got by on looks alone.
And to do that, the most important thing was to defeat them by myself, without anyone else's help.
“Sara, Diana, Leia. When the battle starts, you three hang back for now,” Guwon said, gesturing toward the right flank of the orc army that was flooding the horizon.
“You three? What about you, Guwon?”
“I'm going to charge in alone for a bit,” Guwon said, this time pointing to the left flank.
“What?! No!” our angel was the first to object.
“Don't worry. I'll use Saint's Touch. You saw how the monsters drop like flies with one hit of that, right, Leia?”
“B-But….” Leia looked at Guwon with anxious eyes.
“Is there a reason you have to charge in alone?”
It's to get rid of my "kept man" image, of course.
But it was a little embarrassing to say that to them directly. They probably didn't think of him as a kept man in the first place.
“I'm supposed to be a clan leader, but I feel like I don't have much of a reputation. Diana, you said it before, right? That there are times when a reputation is necessary. Isn't this a good chance to build one?”
So Guwon changed his reason slightly.
Besides, phrasing it this way would get Diana on his side.
“Hmm. I see. So you do use that head of yours for thinking after all.”
As expected, Diana agreed with him. Though her tone was a little… something.
Hey, you make it sound like I live my life without a single thought.
“Will he really be okay?”
“If things get dicey, Sara and I can provide fire support. And Leia can heal him from a distance. In any case, these creatures will fall with a mere graze from Saint's Touch, so there's no need to worry too much.”
But it had been worth it to get Diana on his side.
Sara and Leia still looked a little anxious, but Diana helped convince them.
“Alright, I'm heading out first. You guys take care of the orcs that fall to Saint's Touch.”
“Wait a moment.”
“Hm?”
“No matter how easy the opponent, you must not let your guard down. If you run low on mana or find yourself in danger, retreat immediately.”
“Yes, ma'am.”
Guwon gave Diana a playful salute and ran toward the orc horde.