Author's Reincarnation in a Fantasy Setting

Chapter 159 From Where It Starts Getting Rough [3]

"Scorch!!!"

The mud-colored skin of the three orcs reflected the bright, hot, peach light as the light came close and then devoured them. They didn't die instantly, but their skin did get burned badly, and they started panicking.

Trying to put off the fire that was roasting them alive, patting their hands and rolling on the ground, they struggled miserably as the painful screams of agony left their mouth and resounded in the labyrinth.

"Go to hell!" Xara cursed, raising her staff toward the three burning orcs.

"Stone cannon!" leaving her area of expertise, she chose an earth-type magic spell.

Dirt particles gathered at one place before the gem on the staff and, in no time, morphed into a fist-sized stone with an uneven surface.

Leaving not a single second, the stone was blasted forward with a blast of air. A whistling sound was heard as the stone hit one of the orcs and busted off its head.

A smirk appeared on Xara's face, but before she could rejoice, she did the most important task and fired the same spell two more times, killing the remaining two orcs as a result.

Though, she still didn't have the time to relax. Turning back, she rose her hand in which she'd been holding the staff and then bought it down with force.

At the same time, she chanted a short incantation and three green lines with multiple runes inscribed on them formed around her staff as the gem on the top shone.

Soon a THUCK sound was heard, similar to when you drop a hard piece of wood from a height directly to the ground.

Although Xara had used all the muscles in her arms and applied all the force she could gather, she couldn't help but get pushed back. After all, she was clashing swords with a kobold.

No, it isn't quite right. She was using her staff as a weapon that could stop the kobold's blow, but due to the way she was holding it, it resembled a sword.

Even so, just because she had a weapon doesn't necessarily mean she can fight based on her physical strength as well. Only in the top 5 magic academies, students were taught both magic and sword arts, and she wasn't from one of them.

But in reality, that doesn't matter much as of now. After all, what she was trying to do was not to push the kobold back using her body strength.

"Krwahhhh!" the kobold roared as it charged forward and weighed its curved blade on Xara.

Xara was 5 feet 7 inches in height, while the kobold was more than 6.5; it was natural that it was standing in front of her like a tower. But, she wasn't scared of all that. Instead, her lips curled upward as she finished her latest incantation.

"Die," she mumbled.

The next second, a small tornado of fire formed around the staff and instantly traveled through the arms of the kobold and enveloped its body.

It was so unexpected for the kobold that it took a minute to realize what happened, and when it finally became aware that its body was on fire, at first it tried to rage forward at Xara, but maybe the pain was a little too much since it soon dropped the blade and started rolling on the ground.

Then all of a sudden it stopped, the kobold's body went numb, and it completely stopped moving. As Xara gazed upon the dead kobold that was lying on the ground, she noticed the object that had caused the kill.

An arrow… was stuck in the right eye of the kobold, drilling itself inside its tip, and came out from the back side of the head by piercing the skull. The arrow, of course, was shot by Favian.

He got a little time for himself after clearing all the monsters around his area and making some unable to move by busting their limb joints. It was then that he saw Xara; who looked as if she was struggling with the kobold due to her lack of physical prowess.

He waited for the right chance and when he got it—the time when she put the kobold on fire, he launched an arrow and put the lights off the kobold.

Xara looked at him and thanked him with her gaze as she went back to her posture and got ready to burn some more monsters. Parallel to her was Favian, who was helping both Spene and Xara then and now.

However, that doesn't mean that he was free from the monsters and had all the time in the world. Just as he shifted his attention back to himself, he saw a kobold closing the distance.

He instantly loaded his arrows—two at a time, and aimed for its head. Waiting for the kobold to come a bit closer, he poured his mana into the arrows. This was a technique he usually used—no. All the archers in the world who were above beginner level did the same.

Since everyone in this world had a mana pool no matter their profession—it didn't matter if they were a mage, swordsperson, archer, or any other type of fighter.

The only thing which differs was the size of their mana pool, but even that could be improved and maintained according to the needs of the user with enough training.

He did something similar by combining the arrows with his mana to strengthen them; it was only because of this modification that his arrows were able to penetrate the hard skins of monsters.

The kobold was at around a distance of 10 meters when Favian released the string of his bow and two arrows flew in the air. Their path was pre-decided, hence there was no useless motion; flying straight toward their designated path.

It was aimed straight at the kobold's head, and it should've just met its mark, but surprisingly it didn't. The kobold chopped down the two flying arrows with the curved blade it had in its hands and then gazed fiercely at Favian as it released a roar.

Its moving speed increased all of a sudden as the kobold sprinted toward Favian and raised its blade in the air. "Shit!" Favian cursed.

The kobold was now coming for a close-distance battle, not an area of expertise for him. Hence, he needed to figure out some other way to fight this monster, otherwise, he'll be at a great disadvantage.

He took quick back steps as he thought about different ways to deal with this situation. In the end, what he decided was the hit-and-run method. He'll constantly keep running around the kobold—being at a safe distance while firing arrows at the kobold. That was the simple plan he came up with.

He did look at Spene and Xara to check if they were in a position to help him, but he found nothing but disappointment. Both of them were busy dealing with their group of monsters, and their problems were even greater than his

Where Favian only had 1 kobold behind him right now, Xara was engaged in a battle with 2 orcs, and 3 kobolds. Spene was no less; he was managing 4 orcs and 3 Minotaurs at the same time.

Seeing this only increased Favian's worries.

Xara was dealing with a group of monsters, then she must be using a lot of her mana as she was casting spell after another without stopping—or rather she didn't have the time to stop. Favian was sure that there was no way she wouldn't faint with mana exhaustion again.

On the other hand, Spene was doing the impossible. Dealing with 4 orcs and 3 Minotaurs was something he could never even imagine he'd be able to do, no matter how hard he tried. Then also Spene was at it, he was giving his all even though he had to use every bit of strength left in his body.

His friends were working hard to complete this quest they'd taken—after all, a quest that involved actual danger and thrill came to them after a very long, long time, hence he knew why they were trying so hard…it was to enjoy this moment to its fullest.

"Fine, I'm not gonna get left behind," he mumbled to himself, then shot a sharp gaze at the kobold.

Instead of running to the side and flanking around the kobold, Favian ran straight into him. He loaded his bow with only one arrow this time, but doing that enabled him to put more mana into that single arrow, and he did so.

It didn't take long for the kobold and Favian to come face to face as they were both running toward each other. The kobold swung its sharp, curved blade at Favian. However, rather than slicing his neck into two, the blade just swished through the air.

When the kobold stopped for a second to raise its blade, Favian intently fell to the ground by interrupting his movement with his legs, as he fell, due to the momentum he slid forward.

He slid through between the legs of the kobold at a time when it was confused over why the blade didn't hit him. Not wasting a single second, Favian rolled on the ground and stood up at a distance, and turned toward the monster.

His arrow was already cocked and full of mana, hence Favian released the tight string and the arrow was shot in the air. Piercing through the air, it went straight for the kobold's head, but because it turned back to look at Favian, the arrow drilled itself deep into its forehead.