abcnovels
Chapter 73 Playful Smiles
Chapter 73 Playful Smiles
I may have looked like a human, but I absolutely didn't give off human-like vibes. So my Uncle was right about yet another piece of info he gave—I could blend in a human crowd easily, but only when none of them is higher-level or sharp enough.
If one couldn't see through my naive, youthful form, one would miss the obvious fact that, at heart, the magical energy I gave off wasn't human-like in any way. If I was to enter a human city, I'd need more protection than a mere human-like appearance. If these two humans didn't see through me, that was only because they were incompetent. That was how I happened to be confused for their ally anyway. And so, for this round, orcs would be the opponents, it seemed to the two humans.
The two orcs grinned, faced each other, and saw their thick red-tanned lips gradually arch up reaching to their ears. Why were they smirking like crazy? Because wolves did so when encountering their group of sheep.
As being an orc would want it, the two creatures, with their bulging muscles and dark red skin, were noticeably bigger and larger. They really were. The difference between an orc and a human could be compared to that of a wild mountain compared to a docile stone. Well… probably not, but you get the idea. They had broad and sculpted shoulders. In between these two sturdy anchors was to be found a barbaric, heavily-muscled chest.
Well, the downside was that the red mountains were so wide and tall that they could hardly be fully covered by their fragile pieces of leather armor. Come to think of it, maybe these two orcs weren't average among the orc folks, however. Though there were downsides to their gigantic bulks, the broad swords attached to their thick arms were more than enough to deter any foolish opponent who thought of taking them one-on-one.
The humans, or rather the docile stones, were comparatively weaker. Knowing them, however, they knew to be more cunning and prepared. They had the luxury of being fully armored, for example. Also, their weapons and protections were leagues above that of the orcs. That's how they had confidence in themselves.
The sun beat down on us, sowing sweat and bulging veins on our foreheads. The two humans helped me: their protecting backs tightened their formation on me. One of them was still holding out a hand at me trying to make me back off a little more. This situation was 'dangerous', he said. The black-haired boy seemed to be accepting the protection the two older brothers covered him with. Seeing that, one human nodded to his comrade.
After one did so, the other followed. They were tense but confident—as scrupulously as carefully, they deigned to proceed onward to the orcs. One hesitant, or rather, careful step after the other, they marched on, proudly displaying their fighting formation. The experienced duo walked side by side, holding their swords out to the enemy.
Surprisingly, the orcs, reacting to the two humans, didn't change their pose one bit. Still half-facing each other, they grinned and silently laughed together, eyeing the group of three. Were they ready that way? It seemed so.
The air grew denser and thicker with animosity by the minute. "Heh," a human scoffed. "Do as you want, orcs." What the two humans failed to understand was that they weren't fighting two wolves, but three. In a sense, maybe the two wolves understood that fact: maybe they saw I wasn't part of the human team. Oblivious to the monster standing behind them, the two humans were ready to launch their attack at once.
And me? <Knit Cobweb>. The ability to produce spider webs. I reckoned that, just like the other skills, there wasn't much to say about this one. I could knit webs, and that was it. Or rather, produce some. Knitting was a more delicate process.
Plainly producing some, however, was rougher. And anyway, this was yet another skill of mine… which meant yet another facet of my strength to assess. Tied to my belt, I had my glittering sword. The same sword I earned from a battle against some Sir Paladin back in the woods day. As I chose it, it became my tool. So, quite naturally, my fingers on its hilt gripped it. Simultaneously, I produced webs in my hand. Tilting my head, I thought for a second and decided on a way to use the Knit Cobweb Active Skill. Nodding, I conjured up a fun way of using it.
Whipping my short blade out of its sheath, I assessed myself. Maybe there'll be more possible applications to that skill depending on the context, but in battle, that'll do, I thought. Seeing I unsheathed my blade, the orcs grinned more and stepped back. Since I wasn't these two humans' ally, would they confuse me for their ally, too? If so, I'd have them know I was nothing but a wanderer on their battlefield, not allied to particularly anyone.
Visualizing the System's counter of thirty enemies, 0/30, for now, I went on the move. Five meters separated me from the humans. Stepping back, and digging my heels into the ground, I braced myself for an assault. My attack.
Thanks to the [Reinred School — Sword Style +7] Passive, I was a master with a sword. Gashing, stabbing, slashing—I could do them all—and even throwing, apparently. Swinging my arm back, with a jerky movement, my hand went and threw my sword in front of me. Flying to one of the two humans, whose back was turned on the monster, my blade pierced through his chest.
Jeez, that was too bad. The two of them were intent on dealing with the orcs to the best of their ability, slowly sliding toward them, with lowered shoulders and shining swords, but, just now, one of them was cut through by a sword he had never seen. Dropping his weapon, a dull clang reverberated throughout the silent ground.
Now dropping to his knees, his two shaky hands gripped the enormous thorn growing out of his chest. Not even breathing his last, he passed away. And now, showing off my skill's wonders, still standing a long five meters away behind the remaining human, I yanked my sword off his friend's upper body. How did I pull that? Well, I had tied the hilt of my sword to my hand using webs. Assessing myself, I lapsed into thought for a brief moment:
So the cobweb's fabric is resistant, isn't it? Also, it seems I can make the rope as long as I want. Yeah, that one's a great skill. It'll prove useful for sure.
? Slay the enemies that come your way — 1/30 ?
Sliding off the man's chest, my sword more or less came back to me, its wielder, after I gave it a strong pull. Pale yet raging, the man's comrade turned to me, forgetting the two orcs he was once fighting, and yelled some nonsense about "whether" I realized "what the hellish fuck" I just pulled. He was so surprised, so I didn't blame him for raising his voice unfairly.
And anyway, it wasn't like he had so long to live left. I let him bark and spit words at me, and I gripped the rope of webs in my hand—it was still tied to my sword—swinging it from left to right. The sword went up, wildly dancing through the air, turned a full round, and slashed at the other human's head. That was a fun way to fight: it was basically like I had a six-meter-long sword—or whip, rather—that I could swing from the longest distance at my enemy.
Expecting another attack from the black-haired boy, the adventurous knight slashed his sword up and parried my flying sword. Waving my hand around, the oh-so-long sword made another full round in the air, and slashed at the human again, this time on the legs. And so he fell, missing a leg. Catching back my sword, I jumped at him and ended it. ? — 2/30 ?
"Geh heh heh…"
"Heh heh…"
Playful smiles. Two orcs laughed, seemingly having fun.
Standing back up, I felt like a winner. Alive. Under my feet, the earth became shy and red. Climbing back up, my eyes were now set on the two laughing orcs. These two clearly weren't just any orcs, I observed. To say the least, they were out of place. Or at least, the bigger one of them was. Still hissing their laughter out, their chests went up and down with amusement.
"And who… do you think are the 'enemies', though…?" Would they happen to know? Down this place, my quest was basically to go about killing enemies. That's what I just did, and what I'd be doing. Bringing my sword up, I pointed it at the two orcs, walking over the losers' bodies. "'Enemies' is kind of a broad term, isn't it?" Aside from the assessment of my skills and capabilities, I also felt like completing the quests, obviously.
"Geh heh heh heh… What's… dis shit…"
"So you can talk? My old man said hardly a person can't speak the human's tongue nowadays… though most folks aren't exactly fluent in it." Waiting, they didn't reply to me, so I went on. "You happen to be enemies?" Echoing their laughter, these two didn't speak anymore. Maybe it was too tedious a task for them. Oh, or maybe they did speak: with their hardened warriors' bodies rather than with their mouths, the two of them entered battle stances.