abcnovels
Chapter 72 Choir
Chapter 72 Choir
I was the sole member of the team whose goal was to do some sightseeing. To repeat, the old man said before sightseeing, we needed to test out the team's strength. As I was the only fighting member, for now, on the battlefield, I was alone and I worked on some project an old man gave me.
Going by this fact, thanks to the skill which underlined the very foundations of my existence, Consciousness, Mana Perception, Jelly-like Shapeless, and Resistant Body; I could feel the environment. The earth, the grass… and most importantly, the feet and swords. The fighting people. The earth-shaking and shattering underneath the people's weight and power. There were also the clanging swords, wildly whipping through the air so rapidly, and sending sparks flying my way. Metal would strike metal. All of which was taking place, under the yellow of the flaming sun. A war was raging through the land. A conflict was ongoing. Two groups of people fought: one would lose and the other win.
Then there was the monster, me, down and plastered on the soil, as if I had been glumly melting under the sun's heat, when that was just my normal condition, being the unique monster you know.
My senses observed the movements in my immediate surroundings. And so, willing to know more about myself, I analyzed myself. Facts about my skills, mostly. As I said, they were the basis of my existence, after all. Taking up where I left off, I concentrated, and visualized myself 'flowing out'. When I just did, my mana flowed out, spread around, and formed into a taller me. When I first pulled that, the many times I called my Character on and off, I felt a little weird, but now, I was okay.
My mana leaked out and formed into two arms, two legs, fingers, and a chest with its head. Standing up with curled fingers and stretched arms, in the same manner a spooky undead zombie stands up or something, and my eyes, deep and blue, grew wide open.
At present, I saw through my eyes, with many locks of my jet-black hair ever-so-slightly hindering my sight. Blinking twice, I cracked my neck. My chin stood high, I cocked my head and stretched my arms. "See?" I said, raising an eyebrow, to not particularly anyone.
I was quite satisfied with myself. …Ring! ? Quest — Head over to the battlefield. 1/1. ? Another piece of info was: it was exactly like the System said—I needed my Character to be progressing with the Game. It was only when I summoned my human form that the quest was validated.
Anyway, my human form was exposed to the brightness of daylight. My equipment was on. A banal, beige shirt, and I wore black for pants. The old man had given me a short tunic that now coated my plain shirt. It was a bit oversized, but I liked it. As he insisted I needed one, I happily accepted it. I never once saw people not wearing clothes in the Outside World, so I thought maybe the more clothes the better.
What I also lacked, in clothes, according to the old attendant, was a pair of shoes. But I refused them. I liked better not having any. And so, standing up there in the field of grass. Feeling the strong breeze blow past my hair, curling my toes in the green of the land, I smiled. I wasn't resting down by the many blades of grass anymore, and though my feet and sword weren't quite as big as the enemies' weapons, they were still feet and sword.
Thus, I would now rise up, joining in on the battlefield's playful activity: war.
In front of my eyes, orcs and humans were all for me to see. That sight sounded familiar. My eyes thought of it as familiar, at the very least. Orcs and humans warring against one another wasn't an event I never had witnessed.
Back in the forest, which was only a few days ago, I saw the same spectacle. Compared to back then, the scale was definitely grander. Back then, it had been about a little group of orcs fighting against another little group of humans. There were similarities here. As I said, it was at another scale, though. Instead of thirty-odd humans versus a dozen orcs, there were thousands and thousands on both sides.
Ring! ? Quest — Mingle into the Battlefield, and slay the enemies that come your way. 0/30 ? Crossing my arms upon my chest, I slowly nodded.
I could see very far away in the distance. This place wasn't so concentrated with trees, some high and big obstacles, so it blocked my sight. The land was broad and smooth. Edging the borders of my lovely garden, I rested on an elevated part of the land. [Sharp Ear] was one of my passive skills. Unlike the other abilities I already mentioned, this skill's use was pretty plain.
Thanks to it, concentrating on the supposedly natural proclivity I had to hearing sounds sharply, rather than the fighting people's stifled raging shouts, along with the thunderous sounds of the sea of swords, I could sift through the every noise of the war and overhear the sounds choosing delimited zones. Shutting my eyes tight and concentrating, instead of hearing the masses' cries, I could hear two people's duel. Nodding to myself, I thought the old man would tell me that much knowledge about the obvious skill was enough for a report.
I couldn't tell precisely how many fighters there were, here on the battlefield. Humans were clearly more numerous than orcs, however. I could easily tell, just like the situation we had back in the forest. To my right, there were more of humans.
A huge load of them that was so painfully numerous compared to the orc battalion. A thousand meters behind the front, all manners of tents and other quickly set up installations rested, with bigger settlements organized like a mini-country, making the humans seem readier than ever. The human side was more organized and effective. I never saw any, but it reminded me of ants.
On the orc team, now, there only were measly tents. They were way scarcer. And that was it. The orcs weren't nearly as organized as the humans. From my elevated position, scanning over the whole area, they looked poor and unprepared.
But I guess them being orcs played a huge role in how well they can put up a fight against the humans, though. Or maybe not at all, maybe they couldn't even pull that against the humans. I hadn't been present long enough to tell, but the orcs would be crushed before sunset.
That was how the Outside World I cherished was—wild and full of uncertainties. The same good old chorus of clanging swords and shouts of either joy or devastation played in my ears. Far away at the borders of the battlefield, I wasn't so far from the action, but nobody seemed to have taken notice of the guest yet. Just as the System had said, I needed to mingle with them.
Only then would they come at me. So I walked onward, my arms still firmly crossed on my chest. Marching steadily on, observing around me, it didn't take long before I was noticed. Two eyes were set upon me. Then it was four, six, and finally eight. My legs didn't stop as I moved onward. Two humans' eyes versus two orcs'. Thus, the monster blended into the action.
"Hey, kid! What're you doing down here?!" a voice shouted to me. A human male was going about waving his arms at me, quickly gesturing to me with his chin. "Must be some fucked-up party's member…" To him, I was an adventurer. "Hey! There's nothing for you down here, y'hear? Go away! Shoo! Run!"
The human had a pal, and that pal shut him up. He said he didn't know jack—the kid might be a big shot himself. After he told his friend to be quiet, he addressed me. "Where're your party members… or leader or something. Got separated?"
These two spoke as if the orcs weren't much of any concern to them. "It ain't safe down here, y'know. If you ain't gonna fight, you stay behind my back for what's following, a'ight?" And just as if it were the natural thing to do, the two of them took me as their allies.
As they passed, they stopped in front of me and sheltered me with their backs, letting the monster know—no, letting the human boy know he would be safe behind them.