Chapter 18

Mona looked around himself, trying to get a handle on this terrain. He welcomed the solid earth. His feet had to walk for hours, no days, in that murk, and it felt like snakes were swimming between his toes for far too long. Too bad the area was rather bare; there was nowhere to hide, and running would drag him into contact with another orc or even a group.

Mona paced himself, keeping himself at the reach of these weapons. Too close, and he'd have more than the gashes on his arms and side. Too far, and he'd get charged, and forced to roll around like ball. Only by tempting the orc, bit by bit, just by hovering in the monster's range could he maintain this tedious balance.

At this rate, I'll run out of stamina in no time!

Mona jumped to the side, a great axe just returning from where his head once was. Any later and he'd be bisected across his temples.

He pulled out the spear, trying to angle for distance, rather than defense. But the damn thing snapped in one hit, becoming a broken twig in one blow. The orc seemed to laugh at him, its steps approaching closer.

Then he switched to the bow, but it didn't help much either. Each of the sticks were bounced on the edge of the great axe in the orc's hands, scattering about. Mona wasn't the most talented with shooting yet, and his projectiles were too easy to avoid or bounce off. All that was left was an empty sling and a bow in his bare hands.

Mona cursed under his breath, looking at the way forwards, and the way he came.

If I go forward, it's death.

If I go backward, it's safer, but all I have is my club. And I'd have to return again.

Mona guessed that even if he tried to escape back from where he came, he wouldn't find anything that could help in this encounter.

Shit. I guess I have to try anything.

He looked at the approaching orc, its tusks gleaming in the dim light. It guffawed as it approached, twirling one of its axes, and sheathing the other. It didn't think it needed both anymore, Mona just looked that weak and frail. His toothpicks did nothing, and his longer stick snapped in two. That club couldn't do a thing.

The orc walked forward, a big green grin on its jaws. It hadn't tasted human flesh in a while. This sample was a bit thin, but the bones would give a satisfying crunch. He could taste the marrow in those bones, a nice appetizer to the next fool to enter its stomping grounds.

Mona ran at the orc, holding the weapon up. The orc slashed at Mona, leaving him no quarter. The young man quaked in place. The momentum of running added to his strength and kept the axe from chopping him, but his club lost a decent chunk and his body felt itself forced into the floor. The weight of an orc's full attack made his knees creak, nearly severing the tendons holding up his legs. Mona grit his teeth. He didn't even match in the exchange.

But at least he kept his life.

The orc wasted no time thrusting the edge of its axe forward, wanting to skewer Mona on the blade's tip. Mona jumped to the side, narrowly avoiding the weapon's span. The orc then swung the weapon outward, and the young man fell to a crouch in quick response. The orc grunted, then lifted the great axe high into the air. It also began to reach for its second axe. It had guessed wrong, and this snack would need two weapons to be thoroughly dismembered.

Flame Art: Heat Emission.

Mona let the Aura course through his body, placing both hands on the orc in a half-jump, half-span position. The orc took the full brunt of the method, and went flying backwards.

"RAAAAH~~~~"

It slammed into the other wall, then fell where it landed, face down. Mona wiped away a trickle of sweat that was blooming from his forehead. It was over. The beast was dead, and now he could relax a little and start looting like before.

Then he heard a groan. And a shout of rage.

"GRAAAH~~~!"

The orc pushed itself off the ground, and stared down at Mona with frustration and hate. The morsel was refusing to die. And now, it had even taken on a wound like this! How embarrassing! How did he fall for an attack like that.

Mona could only stare at the orc, the hope in his eyes stolen as quickly as it arrived. The orc took damage, and even had its chest armor broken, along with its skin. But the sight of broken bones and organs didn't greet him. The orcs were another monster entirely; it only had a bruise, bleeding but not my much. What he did amounted to a scratch on the beast.

The orc, enraged, lifted both of its great axes and came bolting at Mona. It wasn't going to take any chances. It needed to cleave this bastard at once.

Mona jumped backwards, avoiding the first X-cross of axes that came his way. The orc rotated its arms like a pair of windmills, each of its attacks leaving Mona with little chance of countering. He could only use the club to parry each of the blows, the weapon losing slivers of its existence with each slice.

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This continued for a while, Mona dodging and sacrificing the club's durability to extend his life, the orc pressuring Mona into the walls over and over again, a tiny path of blue blood tracing across the maze's floor.

Mona looked at the club.

Not much longer.

He looked at the orc.

And it still has so much energy!

It was all or nothing now.

Mona rolled away several times, reaching the other side of the room he was in. The orc turned around, roared, and came sauntering over. It's weapons were primed, ready to dissect this rat-like human and feast on every inch of his corpse.

Mona lifted up the bow, wincing inside.

He threw it at the orc, letting it spin as it went.

The orc scoffed, slicing the bow in half, the taut string carrying the broken weapon to the side with a clatter.

Mona ran towards the beast, throwing what was left of his club.

The beast didn't have issues cutting this either, the two pieces falling with a dull thud.

Close enough to the beast, he threw the sack of perishables at the orc, letting the knot loose as he did.

Bread and sack cloth came undone as it went flying at the monster. In return, the monster cut at the flying items. How annoying. This human must be at the end of its ropes. It was so close to being over.

The axe chopped the bread into pieces, crumbs sprinkling everywhere. Sack cloths disoriented the creature slightly, but fell split too. The creature was still able to slice at Mona, the cloth doing little to hide him coming near the orc.

Mona bit down on his teeth, feeling the scratch against the Aurum armor before leaving a gash in his lower back. Beads of sweat fell like rain as he did his best to keep his composure. He ignored the stream of red blood leaving his body, and once again stood close enough to the orc.

Flame Art: Heat Emission.

The orc was once again sent flying, a deeper groan escaping its lips. It hit the wall of the maze with another thump, falling flat on the floor.

"Not again. We aren't doing this!"

Mona screamed in rage, then ran up to the creature. He ignored the danger in his frenzy, and jumped atop the back of the orc. Placing his arms on the back of the orc, he roared the method.

"Flame Art: Heat Emission!"

"Flame Art: Heat Emission!"

"Flame Art: Heat Emission!"

"Flame Art: Heat Emission!"

"Flame Art: Heat Emission!"

"..."

"Haah …hah …Flame Art …Heat Emission..."

He cycled his Aura into the method, shooting out the Flame Art multiple times in succession. If one attack couldn't do it, then twice. If not twice, three times, quadruple times, as many times his Aura Core could handle it.

Reckless? Yes. Did it give results? Only the smell of roasted orc flesh, organ, tissue, and amalgamated bone could verify that answer. And it brought joy and relief to Mona's spirits.

Suddenly, Mona hacked up a cough of blood, some of it dribbling down his lips.

"That was...ha...too close..."

He limped off the creature, taking up a cross-legged position to the side, and began to examine the damage.

Muscles ripped. Tissues torn. Tendons severed. His vertebrae nearly bisected. The blood was gathering internally, and his Aura was nearly expired. He didn't have much left to hold back the wounds. He was this close to starting over, losing another of his precious chances.

Mona groaned. Another mouthful of blood leaving his lips, now a dark black like the beady eyes of his kill. He channeled the Aura cultivation technique of the Faulkners, and used whatever Aura he attained to remedy his injuries.

With damage like this, he was a sitting duck. What a pyrrhic victory.

...Do I really have to do this every time I fight one of these brutes?

He felt uneasy. He had two days left. Most of his time for the remainder of the day would go to his injuries. Could the maze center be two orcs away?

He got rid of that hopeless thought, returning his focus to his internal and external injuries. The wisps of Aura flooded into the damage site, stimulating the natural healing of the body, encouraging the split bits to reattach anew. While flesh could reattach rather easily, recovering his bones and the lost of blood would take time.

"I guess this is the end of day three."

Mona spoke to himself, his voice glum. What rotten luck. He looked at the sliced bread, and the destroyed sack cloths. Mona would have to find a way to make do somehow.

*****

Several hours passed before Mona thought he could get up again. His body ached in ways he didn't want to experience again. He hobbled over to the cut bread and sack cloths, taking the scraps to fashion a makeshift new sack to hold the bread with. They still looked somewhat fresh, and a bite didn't taste off, so he finished it all in one go. He needed the energy now anyway.

He looked to the broken club, and the ruined bow, deciding that at most he could use the broken club parts as throwing weapons. One-use and little damage too.

Really bad luck indeed.

But looking at the orc's body, he felt a sense of relief instead. Lifting the thing in his condition was pretty much impossible. He had to tilt the orc over to the side, again and again. Just to pry its armor free. The chest armor was broken, and he had the Aurum family armor still. The rest of the orc's armor was useful, however, and Mona felt no shame donning it all. Gear in this maze would strangely fit the hand now holding it, so the large pieces easily accommodated his thin frame. Helmet on his head, he finally felt a sense of safety he wanted since that first cheeky goblin crossbowman.

Mona gave a light tap to the armor, hearing the soft ding. He then looked at the two great axes, feeling great pain. Even with Aura, he could only reliably hold one. Comparing the two axes, Mona lifted one on his shoulder, then used as many stomps as it took to damage the great axe left on the floor. The scraps wouldn't come back to harm him later. He didn't want to be the fool getting his head chopped by an orc's weapon left behind. He had enough sense for that, at least.

Mona sat down again to cultivate the rest of day 3 away. He needed whatever bits of Aura he could attain. Looking at his Aura Heart, he realized some benefits: he made it to the peak stage. His Aura Heart felt rather full and refined. Now only the wall of Aura Fighter stood before him. A sliver of excitement filled his eyes. He couldn't wait. Transcending a tier would be magical.

When Mona opened his eyes again, it was already day 4. He stood up, lifted the great axe on his shoulder, then trudged forward. Anyone looking at him would think he was an orc, until they saw the pale skin and thin figure under all that armor. His steps were steady, his gaze facing forward.

Not far away, a trio of Orcs were feasting on a pile of corpses. The first to notice him put down the limb it was chewing on and began to reach for its weapon.

It didn't realize its arm had been cut off until it felt the wind of Mona's great axe hit its face. Aura at the peak stage of an Aura Novice.

How wonderful.