Hazel and Astrid strolled through the forest together, scanning the trees to locate any monsters in their vicinity. Their feet pressed against the soft dirt ground as they occasionally stepped on a stick, making loud snap that reverberated through the woods.
Despite that, everything else was quiet. Even the roars from the monsters they heard were dead silent. Which was very alarming, since there was no way that whatever made that noise suddenly vanished after that.
This could either two scenarios; either they did suddenly disappear for whatever reason or…they were close to Hazel and Astrid. And they were waiting for the right moment to strike the pair.
And both players believed that it was the latter.
“Do you think they’re watching us?” Hazel asked, narrowing her eyes and staring intently at the trees.
“Yes,” Astrid answered. “I can see movements within the trees and bushes around us. That and one of my skills is allowing me to see them from a distance.”
“Lovely…” The mage grumbled. “How many do you think there are? And do you know what we’re up against?”
Since Astrid was a trained hunter and possessed skills from her ranger class, between the two of them, the dark elf should be able to identify what it was they were up against.
“There are at least seven to eight of them. All Orcs.”
“Orcs, huh? At least it’s a species we fought before, so we know how to deal with them.”
Both of them have encountered Orcs before. They even used Orcs for Astrid to fight to lure Dolk into their trap and significantly wound him further. It was thanks to their previous experience fighting Orcs that both Hazel and Astrid felt a little relieved after realizing what they were up against.
But that didn’t mean they could let their guard down. Even if they knew what kind of monster it was, the situation was far from simple or easy for them.
Hazel and Astrid hastily placed their backs against one another. Their bodies tensed as both of them stared into the trees, waiting for when the Orcs attacked.
“How should we go about this?” Hazel asked.
“Well, we’re both technically long-range attackers, but since one of us needs to be a vanguard, I’ll take on the role.” While declaring this, Astrid quickly pulled out her daggers, prepared to be on the offensive.
Knowing that Astrid was acting as the vanguard reassured Hazel. Since the dark elf was much more skilled in close-quarters combat, she had nothing to worry about. Astrid had more experience fighting up close compared to her.
Plus, Hazel no longer had to be both support and lead attacker like before. She could completely focus on her role as support and use her magic from a distance.
“We need to escape from their encirclement,” Astrid advised. “If we let them surround us, we’ll be overwhelmed in an instant.”
“And how do we do that?”
“Like this.”
Out of nowhere, Astrid grabbed Hazel and proceeded to carry her Princess-style. She did it so effortlessly that the mage couldn’t help but be amazed by her strength. Was she always this strong, or was this because of her physical stats being higher? Or maybe both?
“H-hey…!” Hazel voiced a complaint.
Before she could say anything else, the dark elf kicked off the dirt and sprinted through the forest, escaping the Orcs that were surrounding them. Hazel watched the trees blur past her as she and Astrid zipped away in a hurry.
In the distance, the sound of the familiar distant roar from before caught Hazel’s attention. Soon after, she spotted several Orcs rushing after them like an angry mob. Taking a moment to count since she wasn’t using her energy to run, she concluded that there were indeed eight Orcs chasing them.
And after appraising all of them, they were all between level six to level eight. Thankfully, none of them were above level nine or ten, so this fight should be more or less manageable for them. Especially for Hazel since she had Astrid to assist her in battles now unlike when she was on her own like back in the Fractured Town.
“Hey, you want me to try and whittle down their numbers?
Although Hazel and Astrid planned to fight the Orcs as a team, they didn’t need to fight all of them. Taking out a couple of them before the fight started should be fine.
“I don’t see why not,” Astrid replied, her voice calm and steady. There wasn’t even a single ounce of fatigue written on her face at all despite not only carrying Hazel but also running in the forest at the same time.
The dark elf then shifted her body to the side, allowing Hazel to see the Orcs while maintaining her pace while running. Knowing that she was given permission, Hazel raised her staff and directed it at the Orcs.
A split second later, she fired a purple crescent blade toward the small horde of the green hulking beasts. Hazel watched as the baneful sickle made contact with a couple of orcs, cutting through them like butter as the rest moved to the side, avoiding the attack.
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Several kill notifications appeared before Hazel’s eyes, but she mentally dismissed them and focused her attention back on the horde. It appeared that her attack took down at least three of them, so there were five left. That should be manageable enough for the pair to deal with for their first battle as a team.
Soon after, Astrid and Hazel emerged into an open space within the forest with no trees blocking the path. Reaching the middle, the dark elf stopped in her tracks and set the mage down.
Once she was on her feet, Hazel faced the orcs along with Astrid. The hulking monsters made it into the open space before stopping several meters in front of the pair. Their glowing purple eyes glared at the dark elf and human mage as they viciously snarled at them.
Astrid pulled out her daggers once more while Hazel readied her staff, preparing to launch a spell at the Orcs.
“Try to keep the ones I’m not fighting busy without having them get drawn to you,” Astrid ordered.
“I’ll try, but you’ll have to keep their attention on you for that to happen.”
“Don’t worry,” Astrid made a sly smile. “That’ll be easy.”
Leaving those words hanging in the air, Astrid blurred toward the Orcs, leaving Hazel to provide her with support from the back. Zipping toward one of the monsters, the dark elf leaped and slashed her dagger at its face.
The Orc brought up its weapon, which was a battle axe, and blocked Astrid’s first strike. The two blades clashed, sending purple and orange sparks flying around them for a brief moment before dissipating. However, just before it could provide a counterattack, the dark elf thrust her foot into the monster’s chest, pushing it back.
Landing on her feet, Astrid watched as two other Orcs closed in on her from both sides, attempting a pincer strategy. Instead of attacking one, she simply stepped back as the two Orcs swung their weapons as they missed their target and struck the ground instead. Dirt was then kicked up and pelted both Astrid and the Orcs, dirtying them with its earthly matter.
Not letting the dirt bother her, Astrid closed the distance toward one of the Orcs and slid her dagger across its side. Her blade dug into its skin, leaving fragmented cracks in its wake as the dark elf leaped back to avoid an incoming sword attack from the other Orc.
As the sword struck the ground, Astrid used this as an opportunity to strike. Her legs tensed as she then jumped on the sword before plunging her daggers into the Orc’s shoulders. As the beast howled in anger, the dark elf ripped her blades out and jumped to the side, gracefully landing near the monster pair.
Just then, the Orc on her right was struck in the shoulder by a Mana Bolt. The monster stumbled back while clutching the gaping cracked wound before setting its sights on the culprit. That is before another Mana Bolt appeared and tore through its skull, killing it in an instant.
[Level 7 Orc has been defeated!]
Ignoring the Kill Notification, Hazel continued to watch over the battle between Astrid and the Orcs. As she observed, the novice mage stared in awe at how skilled and deadly her dark elf partner was.
Her movements were swift, precise, and more importantly, lethal. Hazel could tell that each strike made was calculated and honed through decades of experience. It reminded her of what Astrid stated before. How her movements were stiff and rough when she fought the goblins.
But Astrid? Her attacks looked as if she was dancing. Each step, each slight movement, and even each breath she took was extremely fluid and graceful like a professional dancer on a stage. Yet also fierce and direct like a trained warrior on the battlefield.
Compared to her, the Orcs were a bit rash and reckless, using pure strength while swinging their weapons instead of being precise and true like Astrid. It was likely because of the dark elf’s skills that she was able to handle herself against these Fractured monsters so well.
Was this how all Dark Elves from Greyvolk fought? Or could it be that only Astrid could do something like this? Or perhaps even perfected?
Hazel couldn’t help but keep her eyes locked on Astrid’s dance-like battle against the brutish Orcs before her. Absolutely mesmerized by her partner's beautiful performance.
Meanwhile, the other Orc stepped closer to Astrid, raising its weapon in the air to strike the dark elf down. But, in that moment, she closed the distance even further and dug her daggers into the monster’s chest, before pulling them out and slicing its neck.
Cracks formed in all three wounds, spreading further before the Orc completely fractured and burst into fragments. Instead of focusing on that, Astrid resumed the battle, bolting toward the next Orc.
Just before she could, another Orc appeared behind her, swinging its weapon at Astrid, aiming to sever her from the torso. Its attack was interrupted when a malicious purple sickle tore through its neck, decapitating it in an instant.
[Level 6 Orc has been defeated!]
Hazel let out a heavy sigh as she saw another kill notification materialize before her. Her eyes then focused back on Astrid with a determined gaze.
“There’s two left!” Hazel informed her with a shout. “Take them down!”
Although Astrid’s performance was quite a spectacle to behold, Hazel couldn’t forget why they were doing this. They were fighting the Orcs to get used to their specific roles, and hers was to support her ally while she acted as the vanguard.
Astrid gave the mage a thumbs-up without looking back. Getting closer to the other Orc, she slid under its legs to get behind it. While facing its back, Astrid lunged at it, and clung to the beast, digging her daggers into its shoulder blades.
The Orc then roared, not in pain but in anger, and tried to reach for the dark elf to pull her off it. It was futile, though, as she easily avoided its hand grasping for her. Just then, she spotted the other Orc charging at them, readying its sword to take her down.
Seeing this, an idea formed in Astrid’s head as her lips twisted into a sly grin. Just as the other Orc swung its weapon at the dark elf and monster, she immediately jumped off. As she did, Astrid bore witness as the Orc’s weapon cleaved through its brethren’s head in an instant.
The Orc then watched one of its own crack before exploding into purple fragments. Before it had a chance to recover from the shock, Astrid pulled her bow out, notching an arrow as a crimson aura enveloped the projectile.
Then she released, watching her arrow strike the Orc and completely obliterating its skull as soon as it made contact. Headless, the Orc’s body fell to its knees before its entire body shattered to pieces.
[Level Eight Orc has been defeated!]
Seeing the Kill notification, Astrid sighed while turning toward Hazel. The mage smiled while giving her a thumbs-up, to which the dark elf returned the gesture with a soft grin as well.
“Well, that was pretty easy. And fun!” Hazel said, maintaining her smile.
“Yeah…I guess it was.” Astrid grinned.
With the battle over, Hazel and Astrid just finished their first-ever fight as a team. But this was only the beginning for as long as they were within the Dungeon Tutorial, and maybe even beyond it.
One thing was certain though. As a team, Astrid and Hazel possessed a much greater chance of surviving this dungeon compared to conquering it on their own.