Rowan wasn’t exactly exhausted from the engagement, but being dropped into a life-and-death battle was certainly a little tiring. Ark also wasn’t doing so hot, as it turns out, spreading a plague that deadly was also pretty tiring.

They spent their time observing the surrounding wildlife. Rowan had assumed that the fauna would be limited to bats and other cave-dwelling mammals and insects, but there was a surprising variety. From crystal-coated rabbits to glowing butterflies with delicate wings, it really was a beautiful sight.

After that hour had passed, they were feeling mostly refreshed. They scouted their surroundings, and even Rowan had to admit that the caves – well, it was more of a cavern – were beautiful. The ceiling was a few hundred feet up and absolutely covered in glowing cyan crystals. The crystals fractaled out from a central crystal spire in the heart of the cavern.

It was barely visible from their current location – they were near the edge of the cavern – as similar crystals jutted out of the ground. They were shaped like jagged trees with delicate purple leaves. Also made of crystal, of course. The trees themselves, however, were a duller shade of cyan that didn’t glow nearly as much. If the Spire’s crystals were the sun, then these were a light bulb.

There was not just one spire, either. Multiple smaller ones jutted from the ceiling all the way to the floor. These were much thinner, however. The fact he could see the central Spire at all was a miracle with all the concealment that the myriad crystal trees and columns offered.

A large winding river wound between and through multiple spires, seemingly headed straight for the central spire and wrapping around it. The rapids themselves had multiple areas that glowed a vibrant blue where they flowed over rocks. Either a bioluminescent plant or just plain dungeon fuckery, he didn’t know which.

— — —

Their scouting proved fruitful, as just thirty minutes after leaving, they found another camp. This one was much, much bigger.

There were easily twenty tents spread around, each holding two or three Orcs. There was also a much larger tent in the center, but it only held one Orc. A chieftain. Level fifty.

After observing the monsters’ patrol patterns, Ark and Rowan retreated.

“So, are we doing this?” Ark asked, surprising Rowan.

“I thought I would have to be the one to ask that. I am confident in my skills, but I’m not dumb. I know it would be suicide to fight a level fifty straight on, so, do you have a plan?” He asked.

“Yeah, blast the fuck out of it with plague magic until you can kick the shit out of it.”

“Hm, simple usually works best for these types of things. I’m tempted to go with that, but I have to ask, Vorn, do you have any ideas?” Rowan questioned.

“A few. Most of them are convoluted and would probably fail, though. Too many variables to be comfortable with. Honestly, I don’t think it’s a good idea to fight the chieftain at all, but if anyone could do it, it would be you. A crazed reincarnated with plague magic support? It just might work. Promise you’ll run if you get your ass kicked, though. That’s my one condition.”

“You have my word.” He said seriously.

“Vorn thinks your plan has the best chance of succeeding, but I promised to run if I start losing.” Rowan explained to Ark.

“The fact he had to make you promise to run at all is concerning, but I’m going to gloss over that. So, we have a “plan” for the chieftain, but what about the rest of the camp? I want to conserve as much Mana as possible if we're going to be blasting it.” She pointed out.

Rowan wasn’t good with sarcasm, but even he could hear the air quotes over ‘plan’.

“You got anything, Vorn?” Ark asked.

“Well, Orcs are famous for having awful taste – They’ll literally eat anything – and they do eat out of a communal pot, so maybe we could poison them? Ask Ark if she has anything that could do that.”

“Vorn recommended poisoning their communal dinner. Could you do that?” Rowan translated.

“Well, I am a plague sorcerous, but I don’t exclusively rely on magic to spread it. I can do it the normal way as well. Hell, it would be way more cost effective than doing it magically. I could just have the microbes replicate in the pot! I would have to make them heat resistant, though…” Rowan could see her getting lost in her thoughts.

“Okay, that sounds like it’ll work, but how are we going to sneak in? I am no stealth specialist, well, I was, but I can’t sneak up on things with super hearing and sight. I only have mundane training.”

That quickly took the wind out of the other two’s sails. They clearly expected him to do it, but forgot that he had limits. He could hit well and move better, but that was the extent of his skill set. In a world of Vitality-improved senses, a sleeping goblin was about all he could sneak up on.

Rowan had just looked at the camp, so he had its layout firmly established in his mind, but he couldn’t think of a single way to deliver a vial of plague to the pot. It was right next to the chieftain's tent in the center. There were no conveniently placed trees to climb or sporadically interspersed bushes he could crawl through. Hell, they had even chopped down all the trees near their camp. It was just a grouping of tents on the stone floor.

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“That does certainly put a damper on Operation Plague Potpie.” Ark said without even a hint of humor in her tone.

Rowan let out a subtle snort at the title.

Ark quirked an eyebrow, she wasn’t aware the walking, somehow bloodthirsty, rock could laugh.

Vorn had some mild complaints.

“You can laugh?! I thought you said you had trouble with humor? You haven’t laughed at a single joke I’ve ever told!”

“Maybe I just thought you weren’t funny?”

Vorn squawked in outrage in their mind.

“No, but seriously, I do genuinely have a hard time with humor most of the time. Some people can get through to me, though. I don’t really know why some jokes work and others don’t, maybe my sense of humor is just skewed? I did have a pretty weird childhood.”

“You made a joke! You just did! What is going on today? The most you’ve made before is a sarcastic remark! Actually, I’m not even sure if you’ve done that!”

“I literally live in your head now. I’ve picked up some cues from your humor. I don’t misunderstand your jokes anymore. Though, most of them still just sound like either false or dry statements to me. Sarcasm just isn't particularly hilarious to me.”

“SO YOU WEREN’T JOKING! Am I really just not funny to you?”

“Sorry, I tried to spare your feelings.”

“Any progress on coming up with a plan? You seemed to be pretty deep in thought.” Ark asked.

“Sorry, Vorn is sulking. He’s upset that I don’t think he’s funny.”

Ark gave them an unimpressed look for a moment before sighing, “So that’s a no then.”

Before she went back to brainstorming, she noticed that Voran’s eyes turned silver. Vorn was back in control, and Gods help her, he looked excited.

“I have a plan! How much can you alter your plagues?” He asked with a sinister smile.

— — —

Ark hated Vorn’s plans. He had the worst ideas that any idea haver had ever had. Her Mana Channels were already screaming at her, and she hadn’t even cast a spell yet. Just the thought…

She shivered a little.

How could one man be so cruel in so many ways?

Even she wouldn’t have, nay, couldn’t have thought of something like this.

— — —

Night had fallen, though, all that really meant was that the ceiling dimmed slightly.

Ark’s whole being felt like it was on fire, her mana veins were so strained that she had trouble even thinking about casting another spell. Luckily, their plan was so effective that she wouldn’t have to.

The Orcs were currently sleeping, but they still had a few roaming patrols. None of them could sense their impending doom.

The magical microbes inside them were currently dormant, but all it would take to change that was a snap of her fingers.

Honestly, the strategy was ingenious. Ark was embarrassed that she never thought of it herself, but even if she had, it wasn’t likely she’d get another chance to use it. Too indiscriminate. The poor wildlife...

She could see Rowan approaching the perimeter. It was almost time.

Finally, he reached the entrance to the clearing. There was no wall to demarcate where the camp started, but the complete absence of crystalline trees made it clear enough.

The plague activated.

It looked like nothing happened at first, and that was by design. This plague was designed to be subtle, insidious. She was less mad about not thinking of this alteration, as it was the kind of thing only a magic nerd like Vorn could think of.

It didn’t target the circulatory system or the respiratory system. No physical part of their body was under attack. She altered her plague to target a far more mystical target. Their Vital Energy.

At first, she didn’t even think it was possible. Plagues targeting energy? Could they even do that?

As it turns out, yes, they could.

Easily.

It was such a natural process she was surprised she hadn’t stumbled upon it by accident. Plagues already targeted Initialized individual's Vital Energy, just indirectly. It drained their Vitality by forcing them to use it faster than it could regenerate.

She just eliminated the middleman.

It was more complicated than that, and the fact that Vital Energy was partially physical was what made infecting possible in the first place, but the point was that it didn’t feel hard. She was a sorceress, not a mage, she didn’t need research and study to alter her ‘spells’. Though, that didn’t stop her from studying microbiology religiously. To get a Unique Class you needed to be uniquely obsessed, after all.

Back to the plague, the reason this was so insidious was simple. Vitality wasn’t fully physical, and it certainly wasn’t natural to most being’s bodies. The only presence it had on the body was how it passively affected it. There were no nerve endings, no process that fundamentally needed it. So when it was gone, or being eaten, it was impossible to notice unless you were awake. Even then, you would just start feeling tired.

It wasn’t deadly, not by any means, but it was something far greater than a minor debuff. If given enough time, it would make those who relied on Vitality almost completely mundane. Vital Energy did passively strengthen the body, but it had a limit, and it wasn’t a particularly high one.

Honestly, this plague terrified her with its magnitude. This was a big fucking deal, if anyone found out she could target mystical energy, she would be murdered. She was already on thin ice by having plague magic, something like this? Admitting she had it would be suicide.

She paused her thoughts as she watched Rowan simply walk through the camp. Orcs streamed out of their tents but were quickly slain. The confusion was obvious on their faces, but they were too battle-crazed to give it much thought. ‘Human must die’, was the extent of their thoughts.

Ark still hadn’t gotten used to the casual grace and beauty that Rowan moved with. It was amazing. She had never been unhappy with the magic she’d gotten, but even she had to admit that she was jealous of Rowan’s movement skill.

She still wouldn’t trade her Class for anything, though. There was nothing quite like spending a night altering her microbe's properties and effects, Ark couldn't imagine a more fulfilling Path.

He practically walked through the Orcs, new dagger in hand. He used both of his weapons in tandem, but it was clear that he wasn’t trained with dual-wielding. Still, it didn’t really matter. He didn’t need combat forms to slash and stab when they couldn’t even hit him.

Ark pulled out her bow and started sniping a few. She let out a surprised huff when her arrows actually killed a few. Normally her bow wouldn’t even penetrate their skin.

Spreading the plague to literally every animal in the vicinity had been worth it. Ark had been afraid that it wouldn’t work, or, if it did, it would take a few days for them to go through their stocks.

As it turns out, Orcs needed a lot of food.

So much so, that they hunted extensively every day and still almost ran out completely by nightfall.

Safe to say, infecting their food worked well.

Maybe it was even worth her mana veins feeling like they were being incinerated.

— — —

Rowan was having the time of his life. The Orcs may not be actively enhanced by the System anymore, but the changes it enacted on them weren’t just gone. They were still far stronger, faster, and tougher than an average person. Plus, they still had some residual Vitality. It wasn't as if the plague was that fast.

But they weren’t practically invincible anymore. And they were significantly weaker.

Rowan wasn’t exactly thrilled with how weak they were now, but nothing was perfect. Better they were killable than invincible. He could fight entire camps by himself when he was stronger, but for now, he would need to gather that strength.

A large cleaver sailed towards his head, but he was already moving downwards. In that same movement, he rolled backward, dodging a few more swords aiming for his vitals.

Midway through the roll, he used his hands to jump to the side, dodging a few more blades. While in the air, his blades scored a few Orcish throats on either side of him.

A mace came screaming towards his spine while he was still flying, but he didn’t panic. He hooked his foot around the shoulder of an Orc and his momentum rotated him away from the strike. He kept rotating and wrapped his arm around the same Orc’s forehead. With his other arm, he stabbed it in the heart.

The Orc flailed in pain, making Rowan, who was still on its back, that much harder to hit.

He felt like he was flying whenever he fought now. Simultaneously a rushing river and a gale-force wind.

The movement of ambient air and mana warned him of another imminent attack, but he was already ahead of it. He backflipped off of the now near-dead monster and landed on another Orc. Rowan wrapped his legs around the beast's throat and with a quick twist snapped its neck. All the while, myriad weapons aimed at his demise.

Then, he heard it.

A roar unlike any he had heard before.

It sounded like fury.

It sounded like death.

Rowan was ecstatic. Vorn was significantly less so.