The team wandered for a bit and decided to rest near a creek. Their moods were not the best, and resting for a while would help. After eating and caring for their needs, Fred felt the team was ready and said.

“Hey guys, let’s go back to hunting?” His approach was cautious. He wanted to make sure they were up for it.

“Yeah, let 's go!” Emmanuel said while getting up. He was quickly coming back to his old self.

The others nodded and followed along. “I already found a track on our way here.” Oliver said and guided the team.

Fred walked in the back of the team, while Emmanuel walked in front with Oliver, if the need came, he would be there to protect the back. He walked beside Amanda. Her golden hair contrasted with her cold face. “Why is Emmanuel always so cheery?” He asked her.

Amanda looked at him with confusion on her face for a moment until realization came to her. “Oh, that's right. You arrived in the city not long ago.” she organized her thoughts for a few moments and said. “He didn’t have an easy life. None of us had. As you know, we are orphans, our parents died during the last infinite war, but Emmanuel’s family mostly survived, mainly because of the kind of skills they have. They are specialized in metal magic”

“As the first child who was born and raised after the war, much was expected of him. Unlike us, who had no expectations behind our backs, he had the responsibility towards his ancestors. However, fate played a trick with him…”

“He was unable to wield mana outside his body… That much I know…” Fred completed.

"That 's right. That inability made him suffer. His clan was not that harsh on him, but he was too harsh on himself. After that, he began to train like a madman. Challenge every other child his age and grow in bodily strength. Even though his clan didn’t take it on him, there were conversations going around about him being the shame of the clan. The children bullied him for that as well, calling him a useless piece of metal.”

“At least it seems that he got through all that…” Fred said while observing Emmanuel.

“Yeah, he got through that.” Amanda said with a smile. “Even when things were hard, he never gave up. Always with that attitude.”

Fred thanked her for telling him that, and they kept searching for new targets. Oliver was eager in his search, and after some minutes, they were upon a hot trail. He raised his hand and motioned towards a direction, they slowly walked forward without making a sound.

After some minutes, they could see their targets. The orcs were walking in a formation much like theirs. With a warrior in front and another in the back, there were two archers and tree warriors in the team.

Oliver pointed at himself, then at the archer, meaning he would take care of one. The others nodded and picked up their targets. They soon were quickly advancing toward the targets. Oliver disappeared, and the four others advanced in a thigh formation, trying to be as silent as possible.

“@$%@#$@%!!” An orc roared and all orcs turned to them.

“ATTACK!!” Emmanuel shouted as they rushed forward.

The archers released their attacks, and Fred stopped the attacks with invoked shields. They closed in into the warriors, and met them head on. However, something unexpected happened. A cluster of shadows appeared behind an archer as Oliver tried to cut it down. The archer reacted instantly, turning around and slashing with a sword that was strapped on its belt. Blood flowed through the air as Oliver fell to the ground.

“NOOOOOOO!!” Fred shouted as blood accumulated in his eyes. He threw caution to the wind, and attacked with everything he had. His mana pool had grown by a lot due to his attribute investments, and mana source made sure it was much bigger than normal.

He began to invoke as many swords as he could and threw them forward like projectiles toward the orcs. The swords pierced through the air and began to skewer the creatures. While one or two wouldn’t be a threat to the orcs, this many would be dangerous, very dangerous.

Fred grabbed his sword thighly and ran forward. Emmanuel at his side, like a bull seeing red. They charged as fire balls and blood projectiles took care of the remaining orcs. The two archers were still standing, but heavily wounded.

Emmanuel swung his mace and pulverized the head of an archer. Fred passed through the other and split it in two like it was nothing.

Fred crouched beside Oliver and put his hand over his wound, trying to stop the bleeding. Oliver was trying to use his shadows to stop the bleeding, but his skill was not suited for the task.

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Diana ran to Oliver, and began to unceasingly heal him. The wound made by the orc archer almost had him, but thankfully, his leather armor was enough to stop the deadly blow. Fred shivered while thinking, “If it was an orc warrior, he would probably be dead.”. Thankfully, Diana’s healing powers were strong enough, and Oliver soon stabilized.

The wound slowly knitted itself close, and even Oliver’s blood that was pooling beneath him somehow flowed backwards from the ground and re-entered his body. Fred knew that Diana’s healing skills were good, but he didn’t know they were that good.

The team soon calmed down after seeing Oliver's wounded chest heal. “We have to find a place to hide. It won’t be good if more orcs appear.” Fred said as he guided the team away from the place.

They searched for a while, but couldn’t find a suitable place. Oliver’s wound had healed, but he was still unconscious. Emmanuel was carrying him on his back. The fact that they couldn’t even properly guide themselves in the forest showed them how dependent on Oliver they were for some things. Oliver occupied key positions, he was the tracker, guide, mapper and the scout. He was even responsible for finding food in the second layer if the need arose.

After some time, Fred sat down and said. “We’re not covering enough ground. The forest is too thick, and we are moving way too slow while being cautious. I’ll use something to scout.”

The others listened to him and sat. They watched the perimeter with attention while waiting for Fred to do his thing.

Fred sat down beside Amanda and said. “Watch out for me while I scout. I won’t be able to protect myself.” Before she could say anything, a clone of Fred materialized in front of him. He closed his eyes and took control of the clone.

“I can’t scout far while controlling this doppelganger, but I think it’ll be enough.” The others stood there shocked while he searched the area.

Even though two kilometers were not that far in some areas, in a thick forest, it was a big distance. Fred searched for some minutes, and finally found an area that was good enough. A small cave. It had been abandoned for a long time from what Fred found out. After making sure that there were no recent trails of monsters or orcs, he dissipated the clone and guided his team over.

After getting there, they defined a perimeter and divided teams to take care of the surroundings and to stand watch over Oliver.

Emmanuel and Diana would take the first watch, while Amanda and Fred would take the second. The doubles would take shifts during the night.

As the night went through, Fred observed Oliver from the side. He was really worried about him. Diana said his system had been shocked due to the massive blood loss, and that he would wake up in one or two days.

"Our first exploration of the second layer really didn't go that well…." He murmured.

"Don't tell me…" Amanda answered and shook her head.

"Wait…" Fred said as he got up. "I can sense something from there." He motioned his head towards the source. Amanda got up and little flames appeared around her.

Fred invoked his armor around him, and walked toward the source. As he quietly got through the trees, he could see a big lizard prowling. Fred knew it was better to end things quickly. He controlled his conjured armor and slowly floated up. It was something he had been training in, but his control over his conjurations were not good enough to fly. He could slowly float, which would be enough for the situation.

After floating above the lizard, he involved his sword in sword aura and dropped. He fell quickly, and the blow was deadly. The creature was instantly beheaded, and couldn't react in time.

"Orcs are intelligent and work in teams. They are way more dangerous than this lizard."

He thought while burying the lizard. He didn't want to attract more monsters. With the help of his conjurations, the work was finished in minutes. "That's good enough."

After coming back to the camp. He told Amanda what happened and returned to his duties.

__________________

Fred felt a nudge at his side, and slowly opened his eyes. "Wake up sleepyhead." Emmanuel said while kicking him.

He got up and looked around. Oliver had awakened and was eating beside the bonfire.

"Oliver!!" Fred said as he approached him and gave his teammate a hug. "It's good to see you on your feet."

"You have no idea… I thought I was dead." Oliver said in a low voice.

"Nah, don't worry about it. We would have never let you go." Fred said while patting his shoulder.

"So… will we go back or keep exploring?" Diana asked from the side. Her question resounded through the team, and everyone began to think about it.

"I think it's best if we keep exploring. We now know who is the enemy and how they operate. Going back now would only hurt our mindset." Said Amanda.

"I agree. We have to seize the opportunity to overcome our demons." Answered Oliver. Fred didn't know if he was saying that to the team or for himself.

The others didn't have any objections, and soon they were exploring again.

Once more, Oliver found a trail. They cautiously approached and looked at the orcs. This time, the team would strike together. Even though they would be risking going into the open, at least they could protect each other.

They stroked fast, and the battle ended even faster. The orcs were massacred. They went with everything they had, and used their potential to the fullest.

Knowing what to expect made things much easier, and knowing the consequences of not doing enough made them concentrate on the task at hand. They nodded to each other and looted the orcs. They were going to hunt to their heart's content.