Riley was a blur as he dashed through the underbrush, the forest whipping past him in streaks of green and brown.
A crooked smirk plastered itself across his face as he tore forward, boots barely touching the dirt before launching into another explosive stride.
The thrill of power continued surging through him like a drug, and he felt like he was floating on top of the world.
Then—
Roar!
A guttural ROAR erupted from the thick bushes up ahead.
With a sudden crash, a massive orc burst from the foliage, its heavy fra shaking the ground as it landed hard in Riley’s path.
In its hands, it gripped a spiked club almost as large as itself, the iron head snarling with jagged, rusted edges.
Trails of dried blood lined the spikes of the weapon, making it look even more nancing.
The beast let out another guttural snarl and charged, its footsteps like hamr blows as it lunged forward and swung its club with feral force.
Riley didn’t flinch.
He didn’t move.
He didn’t even blink.
He just stared at the charging monster with a bored expression on his face, lips twitching slightly as though he was holding back a yawn.
The orc’s eyes widened at the sight—this human daring to mock it?
Infuriated, it let out a guttural growl and swung the massive club down with all its strength, aiming to smash Riley into paste.
The impact thundered across the forest.
BOOM!
The club crashed into the earth, cracking the soil and leaving a wide, deep crater in its wake. Dust and splinters erupted into the air, and even the trees nearby shook from the force.
But—
The orc’s bloodshot eyes narrowed.
It didn’t feel anything.
It expected resistance. A scream. The squelch of flesh and bone.
But all it got were nothing.
It blinked, confusion setting in as it tried to process what had just happened.
Then—
A sting.
A sharp, almost delicate prick on the side of its neck.
The orc tried to react, to roar or twist or even move.
But its limbs refused.
Its vision darkened.
And then—
Thud!
The orc warrior collapsed to the ground in a heap, its hulking body kicking up dust as it slamd into the earth.
It hadn’t even realized it was dying.
One mont, it was attacking.
The next... it was gone.
Behind the corpse, Riley reappeared, sliding his dagger back into its sheath without even glancing at the body.
"Too easy," he muttered, turning his head slightly as a soft ding echoed in his mind.
[You have killed: Level 13 Red Orc Warrior]
[ 120 EXP]
The notification blinked at the edge of his vision, but Riley didn’t even spare it a second glance.
His stomach growled again—loud and insistent—and he sighed.
"Free food is always appreciated though," he murmured, turning back toward the corpse with a faint smirk.
A few seconds passed.
The orc was gone.
Not a scrap of flesh or drop of blood remained. All of it... devoured.
Riley gently patted his stomach, but the deep rumble still echoed from within.
[You have devoured: Red Orc Warrior]
[Acquired: Strength 16.7, Agility 12.3, Endurance 20.3, Vitality 17, Mana 10]
A new notification hovered in front of him, but Riley only yawned as he stretched one arm over his shoulder.
"I need more..."
His voice was low, quiet, but tinged with the sa hunger that never seed to leave his eyes anymore.
He started forward again, this ti slower—each step purposeful.
His gaze narrowed at the dense forest ahead.
The bushes there were much thicker than anything he’d seen so far. Twisted vines curled like snakes across the trunks, and the trees stretched upward like ancient titans, their branches clawing at the sky.
The leaves hanging from their limbs were a strange, unnatural green—a shade darker than they should’ve been. Almost black under the thick shades.
A strange feeling settled in Riley’s chest as he stared.
He could feel sothing ominous emanating from within the forest, and his skin tingled.
But not in a way that made him want to stop.
Instead, the edges of his lips curled up slightly.
He could feel it.
Sothing powerful waited beyond that wall of foliage.
A different presence—stronger, and also, far
more flavourable than the orcs he had been eting so far.
His belly rumbled again, this ti, in anticipation.
And he marched toward it, eyes gleaming like a starving beast.
Riley’s boots pressed softly into the grassy ground as he moved deeper into the forest, the air around him growing colder with every step.
The canopy above had thickened drastically, letting in only slivers of sunlight that filtered through the unnatural dark green leaves.
Shadows clung to everything now—trees twisted like claws, bushes dense and unwelcoming.
He scanned his surroundings carefully, sharp eyes flicking between the clustered foliage and gnarled trunks.
His stomach continued growling, still not satisfied even after all the orbs he had devoured.
However, he simply ignored it.
And then—
FWOOSH!
His instincts flared.
In the very next second, a bright blaze of orange light streaked toward him from the side.
A fireball!
Riley’s body moved on reflex, muscles coiling as he kicked off the ground and flipped to the side.
BOOM!
The fireball collided with the forest floor where he’d just stood, detonating in a fiery explosion.
The impact scorched the earth, blackened nearby roots, and sent a wave of heat rushing outward.
Several bushes caught fire instantly, smoke curling into the air as flas licked hungrily at the underbrush.
Riley landed in a crouch, his gaze now narrowed, expression shifting from bored to deadly serious.
That hadn’t been a random attack.
It had been precise—aid.
And a mont later, the culprit stepped into view.
A tall figure erged from the darkened brush, moving slowly, purposefully.
Its gray skin was a few shades lighter than the other orcs Riley had fought, and its fra, while tall, was slender—a stark comparison to the hulking warriors he’d slain so far.
Its body was covered in faint, red tattoos that coiled around its arms and neck, but unlike the bold, pulsing marks on the warriors, these were thin—like etchings made with the tip of a blade.
The orc wore a tattered gray robe, hanging loosely off its bony fra, swaying slightly with every step it took.
In one hand, it held a long, slender brown staff, the wood gnarled and aged—almost identical to those used by human mages.
Smoke from the earlier explosion drifted lazily around its legs as it stepped fully into view.
Its eyes locked onto Riley.
And then—
"...Huurman," the orc rasped, voice low and broken. "Kill..."
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