Orc Shaman

Still with her hands enchanted, Izumi slightly pushed the blade aside, removing herself from the potentially destructive and deadly attack. Grabbing the Orc's hand, the aspirant pulled himself closer to the daemon and struck a blow using the heel of his palm to the stomach.

The pressure of the attack was so immense that it caused the Orc to freeze for a moment.

Seeing the enemy's guard down, Izumi launches a barrage of punches.

After 10 hits, he retreated far away.

'I didn't imagine that I would come face to face with Gray Orcs, so I only studied about the Blue Orcs and above... Although the anatomy of these pests is the same...' Izumi pondered, wiping the sound from her eyes.

[Mana: initial state]

[8/60]

'My mana is dropping so much… That's all that's keeping me awake.'

Izumi's eyes struggled not to close. He blinked heavily and yawned, falling into a small reverie.

'Damn it!' Izumi woke up when she felt a thunderous kick hit her ribcage.

Izumi slid across the ground with blood leaking from her mouth. Before she could recover, the daemon attacked again. This time, with its sword—similar to a zweihander.

Slicing the air horizontally and vertically, the Orc tried to slice Izumi in every way; but failed, as the young man was using his last reserves of mana to dodge masterfully.

Up until a certain point, the dodges worked perfectly. However, external help for the Sword Orc sealed the defeat of the aspiring Sefira.

A blast of mana hit Izumi squarely, throwing the boy away. He crashed backwards into a small hill, causing mud to fall into his hair.

With half-open eyes, he looked for the person responsible.

And there he was, among the trees of the forest, using the Sword Orc as a shield.

[Blue Orc Shaman]

[Rank F | Level 20]

'That bastard…'

Izumi watched as another blast of mana was fired at him; thinking quickly, he threw himself to the ground and somersaulted to dodge it. However, as he got up, the Sword Orc appeared and kicked Izumi in the left elbow.

Perfectly landing a powerful kick on the boy's arm, the daemon threw his opponent to the ground again.

Feeling the impact of the pain in her back, Izumi struggled to open her eyes. But when she did…

He was surprised to see the Orc's sword falling on him.

Izumi enchanted her hands with mana again, to hold the sword blade. But, just as she was about to grab it…

[Mana: initial state]

[0/10]

The blue aura in his hands abruptly disappeared.

He was left to watch as the blade fell towards him… Even if he moved to try to dodge, it wouldn't be fast enough. The tip of the sword would hit Izumi's left pupil exactly…

He moved desperately, but it wasn't enough... Although it could have been worse, the blade grazed the corner of Izumi's eye. A small trail of blood ran down her face, following the blade as it stabbed into the ground.

However, without wasting any time, the Orc pulled the blade towards himself again and returned to stab Izumi again.

With that speed, strength and precision, the blade would hit right in Izumi's heart…

He would die.

As the blade was falling towards Izumi, it was instantly shattered into pieces in midair. The boy covered his eyes with his arms to get rid of the blade pieces, while a shadow covered his body.

A six-foot-tall man of pure muscle stepped between Izumi and the daemon, unleashing a barrage of punches to the Orc's face.

Punch after punch, the pressure of the atmosphere itself twisted and suspended the Sword Orc in the air.

At the end of the attack, the man grabbed the Orc by the neck and delivered one last punch to the daemon's face, which threw him away.

[You leveled up!]

The message came exclusively to the man who saved Izumi.

Turning his waist, but keeping his face towards the shaman, he extended his hand for Izumi to stand up.

[Eder De Lux]

[19 years old | Naipe Clubs]

[Rank: C]

[Level: 2]

"Finally… After 20 creatures, I was able to level up… Tsk." He clicked his tongue in dissatisfaction.

"Eder?" Izumi searched for an affirmation.

"Yeah. Are you Izumi? You're pretty beat up, huh…"

"Ha. It was a surprise when I saw your name in the new members… The student has a perfect score in physics…"

"Hm." Eder puffed out his chest. "Relax, recover your mana. I'll focus on finishing this bastard off."

Eder immediately ran to attack the Orc shaman, always trying to make the shaman comfortable enough to fire some spells; that way, he could get close without pushing the daemon away.

Well, the typical behavior of shamanic daemons was…

'Bastard!'

As Eder approached, the Blue Orc shaman suddenly moved away, leaving no trace in the air.

Realizing he had no options, Eder resorted to his exclusive card…

[Fortitude of Heracles]

[Rank: B]

[Card Type: J (Jack)]

[Effect: Applies a +100% effect to Strength and Constitution stats.]

Eder's strength doubled.

With his left hand, the aspirant grabbed the trunk of a tree and, with the strength of his shoulder, pulled the plant from the ground and threw it towards the shaman.

Little by little, he dragged the shaman away, where Izumi would be safe enough to recover.

[ Dealer Button]

A screen appeared for Izumi.

"This is what I have always been trained to use…"

The basis for strengthening all Sefiras. Serving as a basic function of gacha games, the Dealer Button is the main mechanic through which Sefiras can earn their cards.

At that moment, because Izumi was at level three, he had two lucky dice.

[Lucky Dice (2x)]

A single die materialized in Izumi's hand; however, there were 12 faces. A system screen gradually tilted, lying in the air like a table.

"Please, Sariel, give me luck…"

Izumi was not in the habit of praying to angels, nor to any god (or God)... But, he would have to spend some time in the Berlin Cathedral and learn a little from the local followers.

After all, the greater the affinity with an Archangel or the more genuine the prayer designated to the specific Archangel, the greater the luck in acquiring superior cards.

Thinking of this possibility, Izumi shook the die and then threw it across the system screen tilted like a table.

He spun it around a walkway until it landed in the center, giving away number two.

'Oh… A green dice? At least it's not common…'

The green meant that the card's rarity was common. Of course, Izumi wasn't happy, but, better a green than a colorless (common).

Suddenly, the entire system screen compressed: from the catwalk to the die itself. In the air, a single blank card rose and began to rapidly spin around itself.

In a matter of seconds, a small letter turned into a white figure.

Fragmented into fifty-two cards, the only difference between them was the suit symbols in the corners.

The fifty-two cards spun around Izumi, forming almost a circle, and stopped with the result in front of the boy.

Only two letters remained.

"Ah! Really?!" He grumbled.

[Mana Bracelet | +20 Mana]

[Suit: Diamonds]

[Number: 2]

[Rank: F]

[Iron Gauntlets]

[Suit: Clubs]

[Number: 2]

[Rank: F]

"Seriously?! Nothing for my suit?!"

Izumi collected the cards and slapped his own face. Slipping his fingers and making way to see the screen that dictated his mana, he watched closely.

[Mana: starting level]

[10/100]

Pulling out another tree, Eder spun it like a whip and threw it at the shaman's feet, who, once again, dodged the attack. Shooting a blast of mana to distract the boy, the shaman walked away.

'Bastard…' Eder cursed mentally. 'If your attack composition is just running away and shooting mana blasts, then it'll be easy. The only hindrance will be that annoying escape…'

He also came to the conclusion that he would get hurt and tired by running like that. Hiding behind a tree, Eder cautiously analyzed the situation.

Little by little, he was guiding the shaman closer to Takashi and the others, in order to receive help in defeating that daemon…

But, thinking about it, he was the strongest of the group... The sad reality is that melee (Sefiras of the Clubs suit) essentially need support to be able to fight.

'A limitation… This, unfortunately, will not be broken…'

He clicked his tongue.

'All mages leave a trail of mana where they will move next. So where is yours…'

Eder turned around out of the tree, only to see two blasts of mana being shot at him.

Throwing himself to the other side, he hid under a hill of rocks and advanced crouched without the shaman noticing, while still shooting towards where Eder was.

However, surprising the shaman, the aspiring Sefira jumped close to his head and punched him in the jaw. Disorienting the enemy for a moment, Eder hit the Orc's rib with a heavy punch.

After the second punch, the Blue Orc returned the punch with a blow of his own, but was held by Eder. Pulling the Orc's left hand towards him, the aspirant punched the daemon's stomach and created pressure to throw him far away.

'There!' thought Eder, seeing a trail of mana heading towards the Orc.

Before the move was complete, Eder lunged at the creature and attempted a left jab… But failed. The Orc moved first.

'Oh, shit…' he thought, giving up.

If the Orc entered the forest again, he would once again be in difficulty reaching him.

Your effort would go to waste…

But, appearing behind the Orc, jumping from a branch and prepared for the kill, enchanting her feet with the water element, Izumi stuck her leg into the creature's spine. The shaman was perplexed, trying to understand his own pain.

When he looked back over his shoulder, he felt Izumi's faint aura touch his body and partially illuminate the ground, forming a single, splendid lotus flower of mana.

Supporting her entire body on her right leg, Izumi roughly pushed the Orc shaman with her left leg, making the daemon fall against Eder.

Without missing the opportunity, Eder filled his left fist and, with a thunderous sound, hit the daemon's face. Once again, the Blue Orc was thrown towards Izumi...

Processing the pain from two merciless blows, the shaman quickly opened his eyes as he was thrown towards the young Kairen.

The feeling of being drowned… Izumi transmitted that to the shaman.

A feeling that accompanies all members of the Kairen family; their innate mana emits the same sensation as an ocean crashing brutally onto the backs of daemons.

Izumi was no different, even with low mana.

More abysmal than the sea daemons themselves…

Like a twisted man with a soul filled with the thirst for protection… The opposite of daemons.

A natural enemy.

Izumi's ocean quickly gathered in his left fist. His eyes turned white with adrenaline, moments before he sank his strength into the shaman's face.

With a thunderous punch, Izumi threw the Orc back towards Eder, creating a destructive impact in the forest.

Grabbing the Orc by his white beard, Eder pinned him to the ground and quickly executed a barrage of punches.

The Blue Orc Shaman was crushed to the ground in a matter of seconds.

No mercy…

No mercy.

Eder crushed the Orc's skull against the ground, not giving him the option to escape again.

Between broken fangs and a monstrously disfigured face, Eder grabbed the Orc's neck and delivered a heavy punch with his right fist.

The final punch fractured the daemon's skull.

[You leveled up!]

The notification popped up for Izumi.

Walking out of the forest while massaging her left wrist, Izumi watched as her new companion rose above the corpse of that daemon.

Eder stood up with his fists stained with dark red blood, still watching the creature for signs of life. When he realized there were none, he turned to Izumi.

They both looked at each other for a moment.

Breaking the tense and tiring atmosphere, Eder stretched out his arm to Izumi and raised his thumb, signaling that everything was fine.

Still massaging her left wrist, Izumi made the same gesture and stated the conclusion.

Along with the moon in Atziluth, the first night of the examination set.