When I stepped outside, Crit was already donning his twin blades and a chainmail. He was staring towards the forest and didn’t even acknowledge my presence when I came out. I followed his gaze, and the moonlight revealed a dozen or so dark green figures.

I wasn’t sure if it was the night, but these had a darker hue of green than the goblins. They were around a meter and a half tall, wearing a few straps of leather. Their faces seemed humanoid except that two huge tusks were protruding out of their mouth.

Their muscle-bound arms as thick as a log were holding either axes or hammers. Clearly, these weren’t the ordinary Goblins like yesterday. When they got a few steps closer, I managed to read the text hanging above their heads.

[Forest Orc

Lvl 15]

Most of them ranged from level 15-17, except for one. The highest was of level 20 and it even looked different. It had red substance marking its face and chest. It’s irises were also jet black, adding another fear factor to its already hideous appearance. Obviously, that one’s the leader.

Just thinking about fighting these monsters made me grip my sword tighter. Unlike the fight with the Goblins, my level was at least higher than these Forest Orcs, but their physique surely wasn’t something to scoff at.

I glanced towards Crit, hope for some kind of appearance. But when he saw me looking at him, he flashed a sinister grin and sheathed his blades. Then, he said, “It’s just a few green bags of meat. You alone should be enough.”

I gulped. I wanted to retort, but the words got stuck in my throat. Just as I turned towards the Orcs, he continued, “Oh, and Piram is already sleeping. Keep it quiet and don’t get yourself needing medical assistance.”

Before I could even process what Crit said, the sound of stomping quickened and got louder. With a loud roar from the leader, a dozen of muscular, green giants rushed towards me

With my current strength, I couldn’t defeat all of them at once. I had to somehow thin their numbers.

Think! I am level 16, what can I do?

However, the Forest Orcs were fastly advancing. I had no more time to think. I shut my brains off and let my instincts take over.

I gathered mana towards my blade. Surprisingly, the mana flow was smoother and faster than I remember. When I gathered enough, I activated Search to get a hold of all the Forest Orcs’ position, then unleashed the condensed mana.

Taking the form of my blade, a condensed jet black slash appeared out of thin air. The space around the jet black slash crackled as it traverse the air towards the Forest Orcs. Seeing my attack, the Forest Orcs growled, but they weren’t fast enough to dodge it. They raised their weapons to block my attack, but it didn’t offer them much protection. The slash cut through it like cutting wood and split three Forest Orcs into two before rushing towards the leader.

The leader raised its gigantic hammer then slammed it into the slash, shattering it too oblivion. My attack, however, seemed to manage to shake the monsters. But they weren’t the only ones surprised. I stared at the three Forest Orcs’ corpses wide eyed.

A prompt hung in front of me.

[Congratulations! You’ve learned a new skill (Crescent Slash) Mastery: 100%]

From what I remember, my Crescent Slash wasn’t as smooth and as strong at that. In fact, it shouldn’t even be as strong as half of that given my current level. Dumbfounded, I looked at my stats. It seemed like it consumed a third of my mana, but my stats were still the same as I last looked at it.

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A large growl from the leader broke me out of my thoughts, but it seemed like it also brought the Forest Orcs back to their senses. I could only gratefully accept my newfound power and face the enemies head on.

There were still nine Forest Orcs, and even if I could be lucky and kill three Forest Orcs with a Crescent Slash, that still leaves me three to deal with mana-less. That was something I couldn’t afford to happen, especially since the leader was strong enough to nullify my Crescent Slash, albeit a bit weakened.

Search.

During Crit’s torture, I learned to utilize Search in order to escape being severely injured one too many times. Thanks to that, my mastery over Search almost reached 100 percent.

Even though I could clearly see the Forest Orcs, the mana from the ground gave me exact details regarding terrain, and even the exact distance between us.

The leader roared. It seemed like it wasn’t going to give me more time to do my bidding. Three more Forest Orcs rushed towards me, while the other six simply growled at the distance.

I wasn’t sure if the leader was gauging my skills, giving me an offering, or whatever his intent was, but I wasn’t going to decline such a generous offer.

I gathered mana around my sword, focusing my will to maintain it around the blade. The cover was still very rough and nowhere near like Crit’s, and I could even feel the mana slowly leaking into the air. Still, it should last me around ten minutes before the mana around it is exhausted. That should be enough to deal with these three Forest Orcs.

Without any second thoughts, I activated Wind Walk and launched towards the Forest Orcs. The advancing Forest Orc saw me and readily raised their weapons. The first one slammed it’s humongous hammer down. I watched the flat surface arc downwards, then side stepped to avoid it. Using the momentum, I spun and sliced the Forest Orc’s head clean.

The other two growled after seeing their comrade’s fate and simultaneously attacked. The one on my right hacked its double-headed axe downwards. I was about to repeat my maneuver, when the other swung its axe towards my body. Faced with a deadend, I activated Gale to give me a boost. A gust of wind blew forward, but with the Forest Orcs’ built, it was no different than a soft blow hitting a tree trunk. However, it was enough to send me backwards, barely avoiding the Forest Orcs’ combination attack.

[Congratulations! You’ve learned a new skill (Gale) Mastery: 100%]

I ignored the prompt, then gritted my teeth. I only had enough mana to cast one more Crescent Slash and one or two other spells. Fortunately, the mana on my Mana Blade was still sufficient to use for around nine more minutes at most.

Seeing the axe of the Forest Orc who swung downwards stuck on the ground, I took the opportunity to rush and end it. The other Forest Orc, however, wasn’t just about to let me kill it’s brethren. It immediately raised its axe again, but even before he could swing, I decapitated it's companion, then used the corpse as leverage to jump and avoid the other Forest Orc’s swing. Compared to Crit’s swings, these Forest Orcs’ attacks were nothing but child’s play.

Kicking the ground, I once again launched towards the Forest Orc and stabbed my Mana Blade directly towards its heart. For good measure, I even twisted my blade and pulled it sidewards, causing the Forest Orc to vomit dark green ichor.

Before I could regain my composure, another growl came from behind me. Whipping my head back, all the remaining Forest Orcs, the leader included, was already rushing towards me. Each of their steps shook the ground. Three Forest Orcs coming at once was manageable, but it’s an entirely new topic if six of them attacked me at once, especially since one of them was the leader.

Despite their gigantic physique, the Forest Orcs were unbelievably fast. Within a few seconds, I was almost face to face with them. The leader was three steps ahead of the others. It immediately raised its gigantic hammer the moment I came within its range, then swung down. I managed to jump back. The hammer hit the place where I was with a giant splash. The corpse of the poor Forest Orc I stabbed turned into mush as flesh, blood, and bone splashed everywhere.

Unlike the others, the leader didn’t need a long time to recover from its attack. The next moment, it was ready to launch another attack. Worse was that the other five had also arrived.

Before they could reach me, I activated Wind Walk, then once more. As I ran backwards, I passed by a figure. The Forest Orcs quickly followed suit.

Crit looked back, his eyes serious. My heart raced. I gulped. I questioned my decision. Perhaps, Crit was far more dangerous and scary than the Forest Orc leader.

The Forest Orcs continued to advance, and they were already halfway towards us. Crit groaned, then launched forward. His feet were covered by white aura, unlike the green aura when I use Wind Walk.

Just like before, the leader swung its hammer the moment Crit came into its range, but Crit paid it no mind. He casually avoided the swing, then ran past the leader. Wielding his twin blades, which was also now covered by smooth and steady white aura, he killed one Forest Orc after another.

I watched him in awe as he duck, dodge, spin, and hack. It seemed like he was dancing in the tune of death, wherein every step took one life. After a few more hacks, nothing but corpses laid on the ground. The only one remaining was the leader.

Crit wiped the few drops of blood that hit his face. He then turned towards me and said, “Go kill it.”