The main hall was now empty. Elijah had defeated every single orc and high orc to reach this point and after resting for another hour, he felt ready to take on the rift boss. Let’s see where the last orc ran to. I’m sure he told their leader about my presence.
After a last glance at the serpentine forms of Root and Timber and the thorn hovering next to him, Elijah pushed open one of the halves of the giant wooden door that led from the main room to the next before he stepped through.
Chapter Begin
The path led Elijah through another corridor that extended even longer through the rift than all the others. He must have walked past at least hundreds of torches before he reached another gate made of wood that stood over ten feet tall.
A pretty obvious indicator of the boss room. Elijah thought as he looked at the gloomy scene in front of him. Images of orc skulls looking at each other were depicted on both halves of the door. Around the door hung four torches on each side, and the slightly open gate was like an invitation for Elijah to enter.
Would be rude to decline an invitation. I’m sure the last orc ran to the boss. Are they conscious or did it just act based on instincts? Elijah pushed the door open and entered the last cave of the rift. His eyes landed on a crude throne with an orc that was easily as tall as the door behind Elijah. It rested its elbow on the throne and supported its head with a fist, looking at the intruding human with open disinterest.
Elijah held eye contact with the orc chieftain while he noticed the other creatures inside the room. Four high orcs stood around the throne, ready to lunge at Elijah but it looked like they didn’t dare move without a command from their chieftain. The last orc Elijah had been searching for was lying a few feet in front of the throne, killed by a high orc from whose club blood was still dripping to the ground. One less enemy to kill. Elijah couldn’t care less about the death of the monster that would have tried to kill him anyway.
The whole cave resembled the main room it was connected to but was much more luxurious for orc conditions. Instead of a lone table, Elijah noticed several standing around the room, covered with unnecessary large amounts of meat. The smell of decayed meat spread throughout the room and made Elijah wish he could turn off his sense of smell. He even thought of closing his nostrils with his wood manipulation but the orcs weren’t fazed by the pungent odor.
The chieftain let out a grunt after looking at Elijah and his minions. While a single high orc stormed forward, the chieftain’s eyes rested on Elijah’s wooden spike hovering beside him.
Elijah held his nose as his wooden thorn shot forward into the approaching beast. The three-foot-long thorn stabbed into the approaching high orc’s belly and caused it to stop in its tracks, barely able to keep standing on its feet due to the sudden blow. Blood began to trickle from the wound as the orc stumbled forward, trying to reach Elijah who raised his hand and shot a [Wooden Thorn] at the struggling high orc. The skill grazed the high orc’s arm and narrowly missed another high orc standing next to the chieftain before Elijah shot a second [Wooden Thorn], hitting the high orc in its head this time.
As the first high orc fell, the other three exploded in angry shouts and grunts, slamming their fists against their chests and their weapons against the ground. They all glared at Elijah with unbridled fury over the death of their comrade and only the chieftain maintained its uninterested gaze. Elijah didn’t intend to stand idle and wait for the monsters to attack them. He felt the essence from the fallen monster enter him as he lunged forward and pulled his thorn from the now-dead high orc.
His minions followed him as he hurled the weapon toward another high orc and charged forward to engage with them. Root and Timber targeted a high orc each while Elijah aimed at the high orc that now stood alone to the chieftain’s left. The sudden attack enraged the group of monsters even more and even the chieftain reacted to the challenge. It let out a grunt that was like letting go of the reins over the high orcs.
Elijah’s thorn shot through the air as the three high orcs exploded forth, their snarls filling the cave. The high orc that was furthest to the right struck Root with its club. The strike stopped Root only for a moment as the minion continued to slither forward a moment later. The strike barely left an injury which seemed to enrage the high orc even more. It was relentless and landed one blow after another on the slithering minion but its attacks were mostly ineffective as wood hit wood while the minion coiled around its leg and bore its fangs inside the monster’s flesh. The high orc threw away its club and cried in pain as it tried to pull the wooden serpent off its body. The high orc had no other method of attacking Root apart from pounding its fists against the minion so Elijah was certain he wouldn’t have to worry about that high orc anymore.
Timber engaged with the other high orc to the chieftain’s right but unlike Root, Timber either managed to evade the first blow or its’ enemy missed. The high orc tried to land another hit but Timber was relentless in its slow attacks and brushed each strike off before replying with its own in the same way as Root.
Elijah’s thorn tore into the high orc’s head this time, killing the enemy on the spot. The chieftain had only raised its head from its fist until that moment but seeing two of its subordinates die and the other two struggling against the wooden serpents, rage consumed it. The boss slammed its fists into the stone throne’s armrests, causing cracks to tear through the construct. At the same time, Elijah’s heavy and still compacted fist smashed into the boss’ face and pushed it violently in the other direction.
The boss froze for a moment, not believing that it got hurt by what it considered harmless scum. A low growl escaped its throat and after spitting out a single bloody tooth, the boss turned its head and looked Elijah in the eyes. Should have used [Devastating Blow]. Elijah regretted not using the skill as he jumped back a foot and threw two [Wooden Thorns] toward the boss. The projectiles were pretty much harmless and only penetrated about two inches deep into the boss’ skin. The attack left two spots on its face bleeding when the chieftain pulled out the wooden thorns and tossed them aside.
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Elijah pulled the thorn from the dead high orc to him and caught it as he kept his eyes on the boss. He looks angry. The boss let out a snort. He is angry. Still sitting on the throne, the boss reached for something behind it and pulled out a massive mace that was as long as Elijah was tall. Uh-oh. If the mace consisted of wood, Elijah would have gained an advantage over the rift boss with it using that mace but sadly it looked like pure metal without a single speck of wood inside for Elijah to pull or push at mid-fight.
The chieftain let out a deafening warcry and leaped toward the minions first. It didn’t care about the high orcs as the first strike landed on the head of one of its subordinates. The high orc’s skull deformed and caved in before the rift boss turned its attention toward Timber first. With each strike it destroyed a part of the minion’s body and the body of the high orc the minion was coiled around simultaneously. With the third strike, Elijah felt how the connection to his minion vanished as it got unsummoned because of the excessive damage it had taken from the high orc and now from the raging boss.
The chieftain continued to land a few strikes and before it noticed the minion already dead, Elijah shot his thorn at the boss and jumped forward to deliver a [Devastating Blow] to the spot on its right arm, near the part where his thorn tore into the chieftain’s shoulder. The boss’ skin was significantly thicker than a high orc’s skin and proved to be more difficult to completely stab into. The thorn only penetrated inches deep and judging from the lack of any notable reaction by the boss, his [Devastating Blow] also barely caused damage.
Seeing the wooden scum standing next to it, the chieftain swiveled around and tried to smash Elijah away with its mace. Elijah stepped aside at the last moment but got blasted away by a sudden kick to his chest before he crashed with his back against the throne.
The chieftain turned to Root next, who just defeated the high orc it was fighting against, and threw the huge mace at the minion before it could react. The mace crushed into Root and destroyed its face and part of its body, defeating the minion in moments.
As if I let you! Elijah’s whole back was hurting as he leaped at the green giant. The pungent odor didn’t help as Elijah’s breathing became quicker from all the exertion but he pushed the thought aside as he could throw up later. A [Devastating Blow] landed on the back of the chieftain’s head, causing the beast to stumble before another one followed. I have to hit harder. Another hit landed against the orc’s face as it tried to swivel around to crush Elijah with its fleshy hands.
The chieftain’s eyes widened and yellow veins appeared on its neck and face as its anger and hatred at Elijah grew. With a deafening roar, it grabbed Elijah’s leg and flung him onto the ground before it picked him up again and hurtled him through the entire cave. Elijah crashed into the wall and was bleeding in several places, small cuts covered his body. With one eye half closed, Elijah peered at the chieftain who was now rushing at him with its mace.
Damn green bastard. He didn’t even have the strength to shout the insult as he pushed himself up. With a thought, he turned his wooden fists more compact to be able to deliver heavier and harder blows. Next, Elijah used the wooden table filled with meat to resummon Timber. The chieftain didn’t notice the golden beady eyes that appeared on the table’s edge as Elijah jumped onto the table and kicked off the majority of the meat. The action seemed to provoke the orc even more so Elijah continued to kick off the food from the minion-turned table.
The rift boss was a few feet away as it leaped into the air and landed on the table, crushing the part it stood on with its table. Elijah felt how Timber’s consciousness broke away from the part of the table he was on and stayed in the crushed part, rebuilding itself without the orc noticing. The chieftain wanted to lunge forward to kill Elijah but Timber pulled at its feet while the orc was in mid-air, causing it to fall face-first into the part of the table Elijah stood on. A few spikes shot up into the chieftain’s face and Elijah was pretty sure he managed to blind an eye.
Before the boss could stand up, Elijah stepped forward and stomped on the monster’s head. His weight and strength gave him enough power to smash the orc’s face into the spikes again. Another pained cry escaped its throat before Elijah kicked at its arm and took its support only to land one more blow into the back of its head. This feels so goo-
The orc swiped its muscular arm and threw Elijah off his feet. This time, Elijah’s head hit the floor and before he could get up, the orc was already standing above him, with its mace raised high. Timber came to his rescue at the last moment. The minion had absorbed wood to increase the size of its body to its former serpentine appearance and coiled around the orc’s arm to prevent it from squashing Elijah’s head with the deadly mace.
Timber sank its wooden fangs into the rift boss’ hand and while the minion barely managed to wound the boss, the sudden pain surprised the orc and caused it to drop the mace. It landed inches away from Elijah’s head who was using the opening his minion bought him to get up and away from under the chieftain’s feet.
On a whim, Elijah grabbed the metallic mace and used it to hit the orc with its own weapon. His strength was just enough to lift the weapon and smash it against the orc’s right arm, his earlier attacks and his minion had targeted as well. After the hit landed, Elijah swung around and hurled the weapon away to prevent the orc from using it as it was too heavy for him to use comfortably anyway. Instead, he raised his fists and stepped forward, throwing one punch after another against the orc which still struggled to get the minion off its arm.
Elijah repeatedly attacked the same arm until the orc was unable to even lift it. Both Elijah and the boss were too tired to shout, grunt, cry, or insult each other after a certain point. The only thing that could be heard in the cave was the sound of fists landing on flesh or wood and the occasional wooden thorn hitting their target. While Elijah still received a blow in turn for every few strikes he delivered, the fight turned noticeably easier after the orc was unable to lift its right arm anymore, and together with Timber Elijah defeated the rift boss.
A stream of essence told him that the fight was finally over and Elijah felt something appear near him. A glance toward the throne showed him that the chieftain‘s throne was replaced by a spatial tear and Elijah instinctively knew that it was the exit leading back to the Eternal Flame guild headquarters.
But before I exit this rift and take a few days off, I’m going to check out my rewards. Elijah couldn’t help but feel excited despite being exhausted by the delve while his eyes rested on the small, golden chest sitting on the ground near the exit.