Grey Orcs

'Which peninsula was he on?' Azbell asked himself, looking at a system screen showing a map of the island.

He searched his vast memory for information.

"I think we should go north," Eden said, looking at a screen with the same map.

The trio walked through the woods, still worried about helping Takashi. He, however, remained quiet and analyzed the circumstances.

"We should go south," Azbell said, contradicting his companion.

"Huh? Why the fuck would we go south?"

The team's brute crossed his arms and glared at Azbell with narrowed eyes.

"Well… Look. The southern peninsula is a safe zone, most of the aspirants should be there…" he said without confidence.

"Guess? Do you want us to walk south based on guesswork?"

"And what is the basis of your argument?"

"Intuition."

"It's on the same level as guesswork!"

"Watch your intonation!"

"Calm down…" Takashi said, pulling the two back. "Bell is right… Look, Eder. There are fifty-four of us on this island. The southern zone always has fifty percent of the aspirants, while the other regions are divided."

Takashi walked to the shared screen.

"That's right. If we go to the southern region, we might find people who have probably seen Izumi, or perhaps even Izumi himself," Azbell said.

"Hm…" Eder grumbled.

"Great, Bell. We'll go south," Takashi said, patting the young man's hair.

"Takashi, if you were your cousin…" Eder said, scanning the southern peninsula. "Would you go to a Virtual Shard or a dungeon?"

Without much hesitation, Takashi confidently replied:

"Virtual Shard. Izumi is smart, she will prefer to increase her potential with less difficulty and risk."

"And if he is thinking the same way as you, where would he go?"

"Well, I would definitely go to the northern dungeon."

Pointing three fingers at the screen, Eder hinted at three distinct locations.

"So maybe he's heading to this city dominated by a Virtual Shard. It's the northernmost point… on the southern peninsula."

"Yes!" Azbell exclaimed with a conclusion. "He can go to the city to find a method to get to the north dungeon faster!"

"Exactly! Like some vehicle."

"Nice deduction!" said Takashi, surprised by the outcome they both achieved in just a few seconds.

"But… Come here. What is this Izumi guy like? I only heard about him at the academy, but he seemed like a ghost myth… He was only encountered by people in his class."

"Blue eyes, black hair…" Azbell looked at Takashi, searching for ways to not insult them. "And… Asian. Right, Takashi?"

"Yes. Japanese, exactly. From the name you can deduce what he is like… But, let's go?"

"You in front, leader."

'That's it!' Azbell celebrated mentally. 'Now, we need to speed things up… If I remember correctly, on the way to this very city, Izumi Kairen, alongside the twins of the Berta family, were attacked by the Gray Orcs and were cursed by the Blue Orc Shaman…'

Running through the woods, Takashi's trio hurried.

'If we delay, Izumi will be unable to complete this exam for six months.'

***

Izumi wielded her saber again, this time facing three Grey Orcs. Three monsters wielding a cleaver, a sword, and a spear.

'We won't be able to do it…' he thought, already considering alternatives to escape.

Faithfully surrounding her weapon with a mana-charged aura, Izumi took a step back.

"Izumi!" Erick yelled, intuitively wanting his companion to understand.

"Yes!" he retorted.

Standing guard, Izumi laid the saber down in front of her as she further enchanted it with her own mana.

[Mizu Style]

[Rank E]

[Numbering: 4]

Suddenly, all the energy from the aura in the sword expanded throughout Izumi's body.

"Retreat as far as you can and don't worry about me." Izumi whispered to Erik, before quickly disappearing into the trees and drawing the attention of the three Gray Orcs.

Carrying a pistol in his right hand, Erik looked at his twin sister. Their intuition never contradicted each other: they knew what had to be done.

A system screen appeared next to Erika, quickly conjuring a black chain with a blade on the end. The chain wandered around the obstacles in its path and sought to directly hit the Gray Orcs, but they were faster, conjuring protective barriers.

'It won't be enough…' she thought.

Another screen appeared, this time on the right side.

[Rope Dart]

[Rank E]

[Numbering 3]

The second half of the chain appeared, following the first and trying to strike the daemons' flesh.

Erik dodged an arrow fired by the Grey Orcs. Being agile and precise, he ran ignoring the projectiles and hid behind a tree. Spying the creatures through the gap between the branches, he looked for the most dangerous ones: the archers.

Although the mages were putting up a reasonable fight with the barriers, he wouldn't be able to infiltrate without a physical combatant. However, the archers were completely exposed; with no defense whatsoever, they could only rely on their own aim.

There were only two of them, but the twins should be thankful they weren't shooting Erika yet.

Reloading his pistol, Erik created a small opening for the creatures to fire at him. Placing his face toward the target and then returning behind the tree, he felt the wind twist and create a small vacuum corridor in front of him.

Quickly exposing himself again, he pulled the trigger. The shot echoed through the forest, evacuating the birds in the area and creating a deafening silence in its wake.

This forest, however, was what Izumi used to escape from the three Gray Orcs. Running between the trees, she slipped past a fallen trunk and got up running along the roots of a tree, gaining momentum to grab a branch and launch herself into the air.

While in freefall, he observed the position of the three Grey Orcs following him. The spearman and swordsman ran together from the front, but the one using a cutlass remained behind.

'You are my target!'

Twisting his body in the air, Izumi took off from another tree and launched himself at the Orc butcher. Attempting a direct thrust, easily defended by the giant cleaver, he had to return to the ground quickly.

However, at the same speed that she hit the ground, Izumi jumped again; the Gray Orc tried to cut the candidate's legs with the cleaver. Skillfully dodging, Izumi kicked the creature's forehead and retreated again.

[Extra points in agility learning ability have been distributed.]

"Disable score notification" he ordered the system.

Those notifications would grab your attention and take you out of the battle. Still, it was amazing to know that there were actually two forms of statistics.

Progressive statistics; where the Sefira gains learning points to evolve a certain attribute. And deductive statistics; where the System determines how many points the individual actually has.

The fact of running, performing acrobatics and quick dodges, made Izumi gain points in the progressive statistics. Thus, he would have more mobility and ease in executing movements that require agility.

However, the ease of gaining these statuses does not equal the difficulty of maintaining them. If a Sefira stops practicing, their learning statuses decline, resulting in their own loss of potential in the future.

The Orc butcher tried to attack Izumi again; this time, with a horizontal cut at chest height. But the aspirant laid his body down and supported his anatomy on his knees. Before completing the cut, the Gray Orc stopped the cleaver and returned to try to cut the young man in half; Izumi, dodging again by leaning her body to the side, looked sideways at the daemon.

Not even he had believed in that move of luck and extreme agility.

However, without letting herself be carried away by emotion, she ran through the giant blade of the cleaver and stepped on the creature's forearm. Using the saber, Izumi delivered vital cuts to the daemon's joints.

The creature's skin was very tough, perhaps like solid stone. Izumi had to invest her mana into the blade to cut it.

Losing movement in his left arm, the Orc grabbed the cleaver with his right fist and took advantage of Izumi's hesitation, who retreated by jumping into the air and had no base to dodge, and stuck his left shoulder in to grab the boy.

Since he couldn't catch Izumi with his left arm, the Orc used the strength of his own trapeze to push the aspiring fighter into the forest.

Izumi was thrown between rocks and trees, having to dodge obstacles until his speed slowed down. Sliding on the grass of a clearing, he stopped to try to locate the creature again.

Before he could catch sight of the Orc butcher, the sound of a vacuum being created assaulted his ears. Instinctively dodging the spear, Izumi turned around only to see the two Gray Orcs he had lost.

However, from behind him, walking between the trees, appeared the Orc Butcher. His left arm was useless, but the true essence of that creature was on the right side of his body.

[You leveled up!]

'True… I don't need to defeat a monster to level up. I can do that just by fighting… Experience isn't something to be received only after the fight is over, but also during it…'

At that time, Izumi was at level three.

'If compared to a mere Rank F, I would be at level six thanks to my twofold accelerated rate. But, that doesn't apply to daemons…'

Also, two E-Rank level three Sefiras doesn't necessarily mean that they're both on equal footing. One of them might be better at something thanks to their stats, while the other might be stronger thanks to their techniques…

Before Izumi could get lost in her own thoughts, the Gray Orcs acted suspiciously; the spearman thrust his spear into the ground; the swordsman drew back his sword.

The butcher, however, continued to hold his weapon and stare at Izumi.

"Ah…" Izumi sighed, smiling in frustration. "Are you following warrior conduct and maintaining one-on-one?"

The butcher pointed the blade at Izumi's head, as if inviting him to a duel.

"Okay, then…"

Glowing a fervent blue, Izumi's eyes widened in an intimidating and nervous manner.

"Line up. I'll kill them one by one."