"Ooaar!"
Guttural growls echoed in varying lengths and rhythms around Hal and Liora as they caught their breath in the high branches of a massive oak.
Scattered below them were seven monsters, all greenish-grey, with sharp teeth and fangs capable of crushing bone.
Their hulking fras were covered in bulging muscles, straining against tough, leathery skin etched with battle scars that told tales of horrifying encounters.
So even had deep gashes across their faces.
"O-Orc Warriors..." Liora muttered in a low voice.
The seven creatures were all C-ranked, and their raw physical abilities alone ant that if Hal and Liora were discovered, the chances of them surviving were extrely slim.
Yet, Liora was sohow calr—considerably so than when they encountered the Firevenom Viper, which was a great deal weaker than the brutes in front of them.
Was this perhaps due to experience?
Or was it because of the young man beside her, who simply gazed at the orcs with narrowed eyes, seemingly unperturbed by the situation?
Of course, Hal was also nervous.
But after everything he had been through, including his encounter with the thunder-wielding fox, these orcs just weren’t as horrifying.
If anything, Hal even believed he could outsmart the dumb brutes, for so reason...
It didn’t seem like he would have to do so, though.
Until a louder and deeper growl echoed.
The hiding trio instinctively turned toward the source of the noise, spotting two new orcs.
One was significantly larger than the others, clad in crude makeshift armor and wielding a massive axe. The other, though just as tall, was scrawnier, wore a blindfold, and carried what looked like a totem.
"O-Orc Captain! Orc Shaman!"
Liora’s heart began to race wildly, realizing they were in the presence of seven C-ranked and two B-ranked monsters.
They were most certainly dead if discovered.
To the young maiden’s horror, the ears of the orc shaman suddenly twitched, and the scrawny monster turned their way.
Luckily, they reacted quickly enough and managed to hide their peering heads in ti.
The orc party left a few minutes later, seemingly discussing sothing in their native tongue as they did.
Hal and Liora were finally able to breathe a sigh of relief.
Just to be sure, they remained under the cover of the tree branches for a few more minutes, using the Spirit Sparrow’s vision to ensure the periphery was clear before climbing down.
Deep, grating chuckles sounded the mont they did.
The duo’s hearts sank, despite not yet knowing what was happening.
It didn’t take long to find out, as all nine orcs suddenly reappeared from thin air, erging from the veil of an invisibility spell cast by the cunning shaman among their ranks.
Hal and Liora trembled.
So the bastards had detected them earlier, after all!
Eyeing the duo playfully, the Orc Captain let out a low growl, seemingly issuing a command as the seven warriors encircling them began to close in.
They gazed at the young man and his pup with murderous intent.
The tan-skinned maiden, on the other hand, was being scanned from head to toe, as if she were so kind of tasty prize.
Hal gritted his teeth.
He knew what monsters like orcs and goblins do to their female captives...
Of course, he wouldn’t stand by and just allow the brutes to do what they wish.
Hal had a plan.
Slightly shaking alongside his comrade, he stood back to back with Liora, whispering sothing to her as he grabbed her hand and handed her a sack bag.
’When I say go, pick Loki up, run as fast as you can, and don’t look back. Do you understand? Let’s et up at our previous resting spot.’
She didn’t realize how much she trusted her dependable comrade yet, but the mont Liora heard Hal’s instructions, she cald down a great deal.
She gathered her courage and nodded while swallowing hard.
Liora didn’t know what Hal’s plan was, but she planned to get the hell out of there once her comrade said so, though the uncertainty of whether they would truly et again felt as though her heart was being torn into pieces.
anwhile, Hal was pondering, with the little ti he had left, whether he should give the expedition device to Liora.
He ultimately decided against it.
Their previous resting spot was, at most, an hour away, and nightti was still many hours off.
She should be able to find her way without the device.
He, on the other hand, would probably need it far more than she did, as only the heavens knew where he would end up.
He could either be lost in the deeper parts of the Runeforest or find himself in the afterlife if things went south.
The chuckling orcs crept closer and closer until they suddenly lunged at the two young humans, so moving at a slightly slower pace than the others.
There was simply no way they could defend themselves against seven perfectly sequenced attacks.
But why defend when they could evade?
In the next mont, the two reappeared a few dozen ters behind one of the orcs, outside the encirclent.
Thick white mist then spread out with Hal at its center, obscuring the orc party’s vision.
The playful smiles on the Orc Captain and Orc Shaman’s ugly faces froze with this unexpected move.
"Go, Liora!"
Hearing her comrade’s instructions, she bolted away as fast as she could, gritting her teeth, with Loki in her trembling embrace.
She didn’t know how Hal would survive.
However, she was a smart young woman, and she knew she might only get in Hal’s way if she acted on emotion.
The orcs charged blindly into the mist, relying only on Hal’s fading voice for navigation.
Even the furious Orc Captain couldn’t help but make its move.
The shaman, on the other hand, began casting a wind-elental spell to blow the mist away.
Unfortunately, the counter-spell ca too late, as the warriors had already charged through, only to be greeted by a cone of harmless water that stalled them for a brief mont, catching them off guard.
Wet and wild with fury at being outwitted, the brutes pressed on, unaware of the artificial thunderclouds forming in a thirty-ter radius around Hal.
This was the [Thunder Field] spell card, one of the seven uncommon-tier spells in his arsenal.
He hadn’t expected that a perfect chance to use it would arrive so soon...
Thanks to the [Squirt] spell earlier, the thunder field proved even more terrifying than the orcs had imagined.
Almost simultaneously, three of them were struck by the randomly raging lightning upon stepping into range, collapsing to their knees with their entire bodies trembling in pain.
They suffered considerable damage, enough to make the others hesitate before advancing.
Hal couldn’t maintain the zone-type spell for long, though, as four terrifying wind tornadoes erged just a few dozen ters from where he stood, forcing him to move.
As a result, the [Thunder Field] dissipated.
But the few seconds he bought were enough.
By the ti the captain and the shaman ca to their senses, their "prize"—the young female human—was gone.
The orcs roared in utter fury, a cacophony of chilling sounds that would normally make anyone tremble.
Strangely, Hal felt vindicated after being outsmarted earlier by the shaman, his heart far lighter than what any other human in his grim situation would have felt.
"Hahahaha! In the end, we’re humans, and you’re all rely dumb brutes! How can you idiots compare in intelligence?!"
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