Chapter 171

“The Orc” Part 2

Thick rain-laden clouds darkened the sky and hid the sun in a matter of minutes.

The temperature dropped suddenly, but neither the pair of wolves still alive, nor Gal’oth, nor the young saintess, paid any attention to this fact.

[The passive skill ‘Regeneration’ has been activated.]

Despite the thick beads of sweat that furrowed Gal’oth’s greenish skin, that didn’t stop him and he moved forward with speed and a thin smile of satisfaction on his lips with his heavy axe held high, ready to finally get rid of the annoying prey.

“Ground manipulation!” Conjured Kalysto, wiping the annoying smirk from her enemy’s lips. She was not at all willing to give up despite the lack of mobility in her trunk and the pain she still felt every time she moved, even though her pain resistance skill was active. “Double conjuration! Blessing!” she said, pointing to herself with her left hand. The golden glow of the skill surrounded her for a few seconds before fading away, leaving a soft glow around her aching body. It was right after she did it, that she realized that her new double conjuration skill was a passive skill and not an active one. “Water creation!” She added, shooting a stream of water directly into the open mouth of the unsuspecting orc who had lost his balance for an instant, when the hard earth beneath his feet turned into a half meter high hole and Kalysto took the opportunity to transform what had been earth, into thin sand. Causing the small improvised trap to quickly transform into a thick swamp that made him fall to the right.

But, although Gal’oth was not as agile as Kalysto, he was not a complete idiot, and fell to one knee before getting back up. And even though his combat pants and the heavy armor he was wearing got dirty, he jumped, easily escaping the trap.

Then he leapt towards Kalysto, ready to rip her in two once and for all.

“Lightning!” she squeezed as she continued to squirt water at him. “Wind whirlwind!” At the same time that Gal’oth’s body was thrown against one of the walls of the mansion, knocking down the side of the expensive construction and causing a part of the second floor wall to fall on him, the pair of wolves pounced on her and a pair of notices appeared on her left.

[Warning! User has less than 10 MP left. Please wait a few minutes before attempting to use any skills again or your health will be severely affected.]

Crap! Kalysto thought as one wolf buried its sharp teeth against her right leg and she barely had time to cover her neck with her forearm, causing the second wolf to bite it there instead of at the delicate skin of her throat.

<> Persephone reproached.

<>

A thin smile appeared on Kalysto’s face, which she hurried to wipe off. At the same time a cord of black smoke snaked down the saintess’s left arm and split in two, impaling itself on the trunk of both wolves and crystallizing the moment it passed through their warm stomachs.

[You have gained 150 experience points!] x2.

Despite her relief at being rid of both monsters, Kalysto frowned as she opened her inventory and pulled out a mana stone.

Absorb! she thought.

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“I thought these wolves were giving me 300 points when they died. Are we sharing experience now?”

[Does the user wish to absorb this mana crystal?]

[YES/NO]

<

Yes! she thought.

[Congratulations, the user has acquired 6000 MP!]

“I thank you,” Kalysto assured her, pretending to be offended. "Besides, I’m sure you don’t want me to die either,” she replied, completely sure of herself. “Regeneration! Basic healing! Regeneration! Basic healing!” She squeaked several times, just as she took out a bottle of holy water and drank it on the spot.

<<...>>

Completely forgetting about Persephone’s response in her eagerness to heal herself before the orc rose from the rubble and they continued the fight, while she could feel the sting of the holy water taking effect.

Good thing the holy water can heal broken bones, otherwise I’d be screwed! She thought, unfazed by Persephone’s sudden silence. However, she was worried that by only being able to conjure low quality holy water, the speed with which her bones would heal would not be fast enough as the one the queen had given her when she reached Elinor, and that the orc would reach her long before she finished healing.

Regeneration! Basic healing! Regeneration! She tried to speed up the process.

But, just as she feared, Gal’oth emerged from the rubble with his body full of small wounds, a smear of blood running down his chiseled cheeks and arms. But the orc’s fierce will drove him to continue attacking his prey to the end.

And despite his badly wounded body, whose size had returned to its original state, he lunged towards his prey with an agility and will that came from many years of training, the same that he had used in the past to survive countless battles against numerous enemies and emerge victorious.

Gal’oth lowered his axe towards Kalysto’s throat.

The young woman’s left arm moved of its own volition, covering her face and intercepting the blow at the same time as the snaking smoke that had surrounded her arm mutated, becoming a thick armor of dark mana crystal surrounding the skin of her arm.

I didn’t know we could do that! Kalysto was surprised, a little more at ease with the situation now that she knew Persephone was backing her up. But even though a part of her just wanted to close her eyes, rest and let her take care of everything, she had learned over the past few months that she could no longer trust, at least not entirely when it came to her.

<> Persephone growled as Kalysto continued to concentrate on recovering.

“Regeneration! Basic healing! Regeneration!” Whispered the saintess. Waiting for the timeout of the rest of her skills to end soon so she could participate in the fight while the orc continued trying to slit her throat for the third time, and failing.

A growl came from Gal’oth’s throat just before the warrior changed his mind and swung his axe down towards Kalysto’s abdomen.

Terror settled in the stomach of the young saintess, who saw her short life flash before her eyes again. From her years in college, to losing her medical scholarship because she wasn’t able to organize her study schedule while working herself to death after a tremor collapsed the cheap old dormitory building she had been living in. The coldness of her mother’s face and her constant indifference to her stepfather’s violence and constant harassment. The betrayal she felt every time the filthy drunk entered her room in the middle of the night and tried to take advantage of her, while she shivered under her bed when she hadn’t managed to escape through the window, only to find that her mother instead of protecting her from that drunken pedophile, looked at her as if she had dared to seduce and take her devoted and chaste husband away from her. In the end, above the hatred, the rage, and the feelings of betrayal that overwhelmed her, or the childish desire that still dwelt in her to have her mother finally notice her, to win her love and approval, it was the warm smile on her father’s kind face inside his small study surrounded by books written in strange languages, which she always dreamed of deciphering, that remained in her mind.

I don’t want to die! She thought with despair as the warmth of her father’s memory merged with the pain of loss and the memory of the night he disappeared under the moonlight.

And while Persephone shifted a portion of the black mana crystal that encircled the saintess’ left arm and transformed it back into smoke and then into a tentacle of darkness that pierced the orc’s right side.

A piercing scream erupted from Kalysto’s body, at the same time a wave of pure power burst from her.