Their arrows shot out from the hill and immediately struck down the front ranks of the charging Orcs. The beasts had belatedly raised their shields, and being so close to the hill, the arrows pierced deeply into them, turning the front row into pin cushions.
Fearless in the face of death, the Orcs stepped over their fallen ones and continued to charge forward, but they only met with an endless stream of arrows. Shields shattered, and more fell. Until finally the first wave managed to reach and crashed into the steel gate protecting the puny humans huddled up within the cave.
The War Beasts savagely shoved and smacked the barrier causing it to tremble with strain, but the sturdy metal held fast.
Kairos stood just behind the reinforced bars, staring directly at the savage brutes. He was unnervingly silent and calm, and in his hand, he held a metal ring attached to a chain. Despite their frenzy, the Orcs felt their instincts crying out for them to run.
But at this moment, the boy tugged at the ring, and a set of long spikes on the gate shot out, impaling the great beasts mercilessly.
The students stared wide-eyed at the unbelievable, and ghastly, sight. They carefully observed the metal covering once more and realised that there were contraptions fitted all over.
The traps slide back on itself, dragging the bodies towards the gate. The bloody gore caused even the Orcs to pale in fear, and a few tried scurrying away, but a single snort from their leader sent them scuffling forward once again. In the race of warriors, many rights had to be earned by strength, and that includes the right to live.
Being at the lowest caste of the Orcs, these unfortunate ones at the front-most faced death no matter charging forward or retreating, but these simple-minded brutes mustered their courage and chose honour.
They stormed the gates once again, knowing they will surely die.
But this time, even before they came close, the spikes shot out and killed another row.
These beasts might have hoped that by giving up their lives, they could usher the army forward by a step. The truth, however, was the complete opposite. Ironically, their lifeless bodies were dragged back to line the gate, becoming a shield for their enemies, and any that tries to remove the corpses quickly become one when sets of spikes claim more lives.
The situation immediately turned into an impasse. The D ranked Orcs behind could not stay back any longer. No matter how many grunts and peons they throw at the death-trap, it would serve no purpose.
A towering War Chief volunteered itself and led the way. Covered with a thick coat of magic barrier, the Orc went forward fearlessly and picked up several bodies that with a flick of its arms are thrown away like trash.
The spikes trap immediately sprung forth, piercing through any flesh that are in its way. However, the War Chief did not even flinch as the spikes struck it.
*Tonk*
The spikes that struck the Orc’s barrier caused low resounding clank, and instead, it was the gate that shuddered.
However, despite how menacing the three-metered green skin was, Kairos did not even blink an eye. Before the first set of spikes could retract itself, another row of long, spear-like, points mercilessly shot out with another tug on the chain.
This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.
The attack merely stripped off some bits of the barriers on the Or, but at the same time, Kairos shouted, "Fire!"
Immediately, over twenty arrows shot out. The majority were aimed at the large Orc War Chief, to wear down its armour even quicker.
Once they loosen their arrows, the first group of archers immediately knelt, and behind them, was a second group of archers that fire another wave.
Even the War Chief started paled when faced with this many attacks.
By now, though the two races couldn’t communicate, the War Chief has realised that it had been dancing on the palm of the boy all along.
Such high-ranked Orcs were limited, and given time they would turn into even greater enemy. For this reason, the Orc King did not want to put them at the front, and Kairos, without question, did not plan to give this one a chance to escape. He shouted another command, and without pause, forty arrows shot out; doubling the usual amount.
After the second archer squad fired, they knelt down behind the first, revealing a third firing squad behind. At the same time, the first squad had finished reloading, and they joined in together with the attack.
In this tight tunnel, human ingenuity allowed them not only to attack ceaselessly till their ammunition was gone, but they could also deliver heavy suppressive fire.
The second and third squads continued to switch firing, their movements were fluid and well-practiced. While, the first squad proved themselves to be the fastest archers, often adding their twenty arrows to the attack.
While this while, the spikes from the gate never stopped. Those that dared venture close met their fangs, and soon even the War Chief became another corpse added to the small mound.
Despite this the Orcs did not falter, and instead, more D ranked Orcs took the place of their fallen. Even if the Orc King wished to give the highest ranked Orcs more time to grow, it is evident that only those that could cast a magic barrier had a chance.
It was exactly for this reason that Kairos forced them to give up their lives in exchange for striking the steel gate. The earlier they can take out the higher ranks, the easier it would be for them later on.
"Damnit! Just how many Orc Masters and War Chiefs do they have? I thought such Orcs are supposed to be rare? This is already the tenth one that we killed!" someone shouted in frustration.
As the attacks became more savage as time trickled on, and their only protection shook and trembled, threatening to give way at any moment. The students grew more anxious. Though there had been no deaths or injuries since the Orc raid began, being outnumbered six to one means that eventually that they will all be killed.
"Prepare the first room." Kairos ordered, his composure had not changed since the start, becoming a pillar of strength that the other students could depend on. But, his heart were no less anxious. Only he knows that they are actually losing ground much faster than they should.
“The Orcs are growing far quicker than I estimate. If it continues like this, the longest we can survive would be seven days. No, at the most, we only have five days.”
Far above them, on top of the swaying flag pole, the old man watched the spectacle below. His gaze fell upon the rocky slopes of the hill, as if his vision can penetrate through the black rocks to look at the battle underneath. In fact, to him the rocks no different from being transparent. The old man is someone who is not from this realm, but came from the immortal world. Since the rocks themselves do not contain a speck of spiritual power, it therefore cannot hinder his soul vision.
The technique he used was much more advance than the Soul Perception of Kairos and his group. By infusing immortal energy to his eyes, it grants him more information, although it sacrifices some flexibility in the process.
As he scanned through every student, he carefully observed their bone structure, muscle groups, and meridian systems.
"Hmm hmm... no good. Too normal. Too normal.
Only those five boys were somewhat interesting to have discovered immortal energy, but they too have normal talents."
Despite how quickly the five gained power, what he was saying was the truth. How a person’s body is structured will determine the cultivation talent and is mostly determined upon birth, coming from the blessings from one's parents and ancestors.
In his eyes, what the five of them have are far too common , and unworthy to be groomed. Anyone who found the way to use immortal energy and only achieve this much is ridiculously pathetic. His interest in them quickly faded, attributing their current success to mere luck.
However, this judgement he passed was made without knowing one critical fact; that the boys could each use over five different elements. After all, it is hard to tell their affinities when excluding their Secret Arts they don’t even have the most basic martial techniques to use.
It had something to do with the Origin Cultivation Method, of course. Kairos had been right on point about how dangerous it is to reveal this art. Instead of mass-reproduced scriptures, the boys have their cultivation method tailored to specifically suit them; It is a given that their latent talents could be honed incomparably better.
Though their talents can only be considered ordinary right now, if they work hard in polishing their strength, the Origin Cultivation will eventually let them soar like dragons, conquering the nine heavens.
Despite how advantageous customising techniques could be, the reason such a thing is not commonplace is ridiculously simple. Creating or altering a cultivation technique is immensely perilous, a tiny mistake could be fatal, or worse.
The old man glanced at them again and stood up to leave. He did not even think to check their affinities. Even in the Immortal Realm, the chance of someone able to have more than two elements is too rare for him to even consider it a possibility.
When his gaze fell upon Kairos one last time, he looked directly at the spot where the little white dragon nuzzled under the robes. Yet his eyes passed that spot as if he could not see the dragon at all. With a flicker, the old man flew away none the wiser.
Should he know just what he missed today, he would have jumped up and down in wretched regret!