Chapter 26
Nick thought about what to do, there could be class holders among the orcs. And a class like berserker was difficult to obtain, you needed a skill that increased the characteristics by a percentage when the user was enraged. In a word, you couldn’t get this class by being angry at everything. Nick also couldn’t understand that the orc had only one class. These stupid animals would hardly have decided to wait with choosing a class in order to get a better one later. This could mean that it was a single individual, or that there were more class holders. Having activated the skill [Reincarnator’s Madness], Nick realized one very, very bad thing. The orcs had a leader, in this case it was an orc who had the shaman class. Alas, the skill didn’t tell him anything more. But among the known classes, shamans were mainly engaged in magic that did not fall under the usual magic of people. Shamanism could strengthen orcs, control diseases, plants and all sorts of such things. Of course, for such classes there was no need for the characteristics of mental control, wisdom and intelligence. Basically, these classes relied on something that gave them strength, it could be the spirits of nature, the spirits of ancestors, and so on. In general, they were in a situation where the enemy had unknown abilities and unknown combat power.
It's hard, if I were here alone I would just leave here and hide like a mouse. But sooner or later they will find us. If the orc leader has a high level, then everything will be even worse.
Nick didn't want to talk about his foresight skill and therefore decided that he would influence events in such a way that they would not encounter the shaman. Now their group was near the river, they were not moving anywhere but waiting for the prince to decide what they would do next.
"I think we should stay here and build a defense against the orcs, we can handle a few more and the class holders if they appear again." The prince said.
Everyone in the group nodded and without further ado began to set up camp. Nick, in turn, was thinking about what to do. No matter what, he couldn't defeat a [Shaman][Rare] Lvl 100 or lower. He urgently needed to figure out how to convince the prince to retreat and drag the wounded back to Ent's territory. At first, he decided to include speculation in his arguments.
"Evander, I suggest we take the wounded and retreat to Ent territory, we have no reason to risk the rest in a major battle against the orcs."
"Hmm, you might be right Dylan, but I don't think a couple of low classes will be able to pose a threat to us."
"Evander, I disagree with you, if the orcs find out that we have set up camp here and they have reasonable leaders, they will gather a large group and overwhelm us with numbers. And that's not counting the class holders. You yourself should understand that the Berserker class is hard to obtain and it is not weak at all. They will need 30 orcs and five class holders to completely deplete our resources, and considering that we cannot retreat to a safe place, the battle will turn into a bloodbath."
The prince considered his words, trying to find inaccuracies in them. But in this situation, Nick was right. The prince was not a fool and decided to listen to his advice after all.
"Okay, you've convinced me Dylan." Evander raised his voice and addressed everyone in the group. "I've decided that we should retreat now, I know no one likes it, It's better to send people here for water every day and be on damned land Ent than to expose yourself to danger here now."
Many were unhappy with the prince's words, the wounded and scouts really wanted to rest, and those who were badly wounded like Nathan, or had several fractures, definitely did not want to move anywhere, besides, no one liked the dry land without signs of vegetation. Now many did not care that it would be more logical to retreat to the cursed lands and many would openly express their dissatisfaction if they were not led by the prince. Nick was glad that his bet paid off and they safely began to collect everything they could and go back to the beginning. Five minutes later they were already moving out in formation, those who had broken legs were carried by their comrades, and to Nathan even made a stretcher and he lay on it. After 15 minutes they came across 6 more orcs and this time they did not choose any strategy. Nick, Evander and Cassandra came out to the orcs. The orcs were about the same level as the previous ones.
Nick quickly moved forward without using techniques, with a quick swing of his sword, he cut off the orc's stick, which he did not expect, with the second blow he aimed at the neck, but his blow hit the arm and cut it. Two more orcs approached him from the sides, but he increased the distance and attacked the last one, leaving two to go around from his comrade. The new blow also cut the club and hit the orc in the chest. At that moment, Cassandra entered the fight, she attacked the orc he had wounded first. He had not yet had time to come to his senses, because of the almost severed hand, as claws made of blood tore out his throat. Nick turned his gaze to his orc and deftly dodged his tenacious arms ones, after which he cut his thigh and again moved some distance for the next orc. Nick lunged sharply and again cut the weapon of the third orc, but his momentum was not enough to rip his chest, this orc, unlike the others, tried to throw what was left of the club at him and Nick admitted that this could have been successful, he had to use the technique to become faster and dodge. Finding himself closer to the orc than he thought possible, he cut his neck. Now Nick had the opportunity to finish off the second orc, he was kneeling and trying to hold the wound on the thigh with his hands, growling in his language at the same time. Nick did not listen to him, the orc was delirious due to severe blood loss. Even if Nick had not touched him, he would still be dead. Nick cut off his head and the orc's body collapsed. Nick turned his gaze to the prince who was fighting two orcs with a sword and shield, he systematically struck blows, and also easily redirected the blows of the orcs with a shield. Nick assessed the level of the prince's fighting skills, the orcs were no match for him. Thanks to several skills that worked simultaneously, the prince was very good, although his characteristics were half that of the orcs. Cassandra was already drinking her second orc, Nick saw a large wound in the neck and this was enough for him to understand that she killed him just like the first. The prince's fight was also coming to an end, although the prince did not hit the orcs in vital places, their injuries were accumulating, one orc did not have time to block the sword correctly and received a deep wound on his hand, the other apparently having decided that all the other orcs were dead began to retreat, which gave the prince the opportunity to finish off the first orc. When the orc began to run, the prince stabbed him in the heart with his sword. Their group came closer and they waited for the vampire to finish her snack. Many, like Nick, looked away from this sight. Nick checked his notifications and was disappointed that he had not gained a new level in the class.
Congratulations, you have defeated [Orc][Rare] Lvl 32
If you stumble upon this tale on Amazon, it's taken without the author's consent. Report it.
Congratulations, you have defeated [Orc][Rare] level 40. You will receive less experience for winning in a group.
Congratulations, you have defeated [Orc][Rare] Lvl 38
Going further into the forest, they did not come across anything unexpected, Oriana was able to shoot a deer, but they did not wait for the vampire to skin it. Having reached the old camp in 2 hours, the prince began his speech.
"Well done, you did a great job with the first battle against the orcs. For the next week we will live in this place and send groups that will collect provisions for us and kill orcs. So now you can safely ask for houses, or sleep in the open air, as you like in general. We will count on the healers that they will be able to cure everyone during this week, after that we will decide what to do with the orcs."
There was clapping at the prince's speech. Nick, completely confused, turned his gaze and noticed teacher Elton and his assistant standing there.
"Okay, okay, now it's my turn. It was very reckless to take all the people with you for some unknown reason, I really thought about why you did it. After all, you could have guarded the camp with fewer forces and been safe. But no, you had to take 30 people with you and lay the most obvious trail to your hideout. If Seth hadn't put so much effort into covering your tracks, most of you would be dead tonight. But no matter how good he is, you will be found in a day, maybe two. It all depends on the intelligence of the orc leader. I will take pity on you and tell you what you all want to know. She is [Orc] Lvl 138 and has two classes: [Ancestral Shaman] [Rare] Lvl 100 and [Orc Witch Doctor] [Uncommon] Lvl 100."
The group went silent at these words, many could see how much they had almost screwed up. Nick was once again convinced how damn right he was.
"Yes, I can see from your faces that you understand that this would be a massacre. The orcs you met were sent here in search of food, so they did not pose much of a threat to you. The shaman already noticed they were missing and went to find out why these orcs did not return. If you still think that you can kill orcs with impunity, I have to disappoint you. Most orcs with classes have either huge stone weapons or metal ones. So brace yourself, you will all soon have a hard time. But you are lucky that half of the corpses were used by Cassandra, it will slow down the shaman for a while. So you have a day to get the hell out of here. Any questions?"
Nick, like the others, thought that they could ask the teacher and Nick decided to ask about the main problem.
"What does the Shaman class do?"
"Hmm, yes, I knew you weren't completely stupid. I'll answer this question. Her class infuses the spirit and will of the ancestors into the orcs, roughly speaking, she is a buffer, she can also cause small weather phenomena such as rain, a larger harvest. But her most dangerous ability is to give skills. The berserker you saw received the skill [Ancestral Fury] [Uncommon] it is a strong skill by human standards, but with a lot of disadvantages. The skill kind of gives control over the body to the spirit of rage that remained after the death of the orcs, in this state it received an increase in all characteristics and a large strengthening of the body. The skill does not cost stamina, mana, or anything else. The main disadvantage is that the orc turns into a mindless puppet, each time and the longer the orc uses the skill it is more and more difficult to break out of the state of rage, the skill undermines all the mental characteristics of the user forever and the longer the skill lasts, the stronger the consequences. So have considering that there are still a couple of orcs with skills that they received from the shaman."
Nick thought about it, the skill was really strong, but it was only [Uncommon] level. How many other similar skills were there. The fact that the skill didn't use the usual resources for them was also strange to him. Nick couldn't understand how the skill that relied on this school of magic would work.
"Teacher Elton, is the shaman's magic really that strong?" Nick asked.
"No, no. I wouldn't call this magic strong. It relies on spiritual energy, which is summoned with mana and works on it. Let's say that berserker's skill was really strong, but that was the ceiling of such a skill. A shaman can summon such effects, but the stronger they are, the more she has to pay for it. Sometimes with mana, sometimes with life force, perhaps lifespan, or any other extraordinary way. In principle, she is very similar to ordinary mages, but with different limitations. What they are, you will learn later if you encounter her. This concludes our lesson today."
Before anyone could say another word, their teachers flew away again. The class was confused, everyone was thinking about what actions they could take to survive. The prince took the floor.
"We'll spend the night here today, and tomorrow we'll move in the opposite direction to the orcs."
Nick activated the [Reincarnator's Madness] skill and confirmed that it would be a truly safe option. Nick examined his status and poured all of his free attribute points into mana regeneration.
Name: Dylan Ghostblade (Nick Miller) 15 years old
Race: Evolved Human [Rare] Lvl 27
Class: Mage of Arcane Will [Rare][Uniquely] Lvl 2
Class: Adept of the Art Phantom Sword [Rare] Lvl 2
Health 1510/1510 HP 2.265 HP/hour
Mana 809/2290 MP 1.89 MP/hour
Endurance 1300/1660 ST 24.9 ST/hour
Statistics:
Strength 141
Dexterity 159
Stamina 166
Vitality 151
Constitution 150
Intelligence 161
Wisdom 146
Mental Control 180
Willpower 266
Perception 154
Charisma 45
Mana output 166
Mana 229
Mana Regeneration 189
Luck 37
0 free attribute points
Titles: Otherworldly Reincarnator [Legendary+], Special Skill Holder [Special], Contract with the Emerging Spirit [Uncommon], Class Line Progenitor [Legendary][Uniquely], Mage of Arcane Will [Rare], Adept of the Art Phantom Sword [Rare], Holder of the Unique Skill [Special][Uniquely].
Racial Skills:
Fast Recovery [Rare+]
Quick Learning [Uncommon]
Low adaptability of characteristics [Common]
Minor Adaptation [Common]
Lesser Mana Core [Common]
Low Mental Resistance [Common] Lvl 44
Low Poison Resistance [Common] Lvl 21
High Pain Resistance [Uncommon] Lvl 142
General Skills:
Reincarnator's Madness [Special][Unique] Lvl 402
Great Identification [Special] Lvl 401
Fake Status [Special] Lvl 401
Language Proficiency (Ramiast) [Uncommon] Lvl 168
Life Force Manipulation [Uncommon] Lvl 112
Lesser Spiritual Sense [Rare] Lvl 202
Lesser Soul Energy Manipulation [Rare] Lvl 201
Class: Mage of Arcane Will [Rare][Uniquely] Lvl 2
+90% to skill development speed,
+90% to understanding your own class.
Class Skills:
Magic Arcane Will [Rare] Lvl 207
Great Meditation [Rare] Lvl 205
Manipulation of Mana [Rare] Lvl 203
Mana Sense [Uncommon] Lvl 199
Casting Spells [Uncommon] Lvl 190
Magic of Stone [Uncommon] Lvl 132
Magic of Predictions [Uncommon] Lvl 123
Lesser Aura of Arcane Will [Common] Lvl 27
Parallel Thinking [Uncommon] Lvl 104
Class: Adept of the Art Phantom Sword [Rare] Lvl 2
+60% to skill development speed,
+60% to understanding your own class.
Class Skills:
Phantom Sword Mastery [Uncommon+] Lvl 170
Stamina Manipulation [Uncommon] Lvl 144
Awakening of the Ghost [Uncommon+] Lvl 108
Ghost Flicker [Uncommon+] Lvl 107
Accelerated Perception [Uncommon] 103 Lvl