Chapter 19

The orc wailed. It held the bloody stump of its upper arm, gnashing its teeth as it fell to the floor. The other two orcs were just as fazed. Just where did this human come from?

Mona was all the while delighted. He didn't think the benefits of a peak Aura Novice would give him such a boost in speed. Just moments ago he nearly died trying to fight a single Orc. And as if favored by the gods, a nearly full core gave him a great deal of agility, a swiftness he sorely needed here.

He took a second to look at the fallen arm, then at the stump, then at the Orcs which were as surprised as he was, except more worried than joyful. His second charge towards them woke up the intact two, as they had to watch their comrade get cut into ribbons.

An arm, a chunk on the thigh, and a head. All fell cleanly with the axe whistling in between.

This sense of power, it was rather addicting. Mona turned to the two remaining orcs, the blood still dripping off the great axe's blade. He was a few heads shorter, but the atmosphere he gave off was fairly menacing.

But the two didn't back down. Instead, they grew more enraged, lifting their weapons in the sky and then thundered towards the lone human. They were hungry for blood, his blood, as well as a chance to regain their pride.

Cling.

Clang.

Clang.

The Axe met the Sword and Hammer, sending arcs flying as Mona parried the two. Even with the extra agility, handling two Orcs was still a challenge. The first Orc's death could be considered an ambush given the circumstances, but two fully active Orcs was another thing entirely.

Hmmm.

Mona watched the two Orcs steadily separate from each other, before shuffling around. Tactics. These monsters could use tactics. Unlike the Goblins and Kobolds from before, these Orcs were far more intelligent, hoping to split Mona's attention in two and find a chance to take him down. To his left went the Sword wielding Orc, to the right the Hammer bearer.

Clang.

Clang.

Clang.

For a while, the only sound that could be heard was the clash of blades, and the grunts of the Orcs as they laid one attack after another on the human. He was able to keep up with them, sure, but given enough time cracks would emerge in his technique, and then the two would strike.

But Mona didn't give them this chance. He was losing his fondness for lengthy time battles. He didn't have many hours left until the 5 days were over, and after everything he'd gone through, his mind was more focused than ever before on the things he could handle. He looked at the Sword, then at the hammer.

That's the one.

Putting more Aura into his left foot, he soared through the air just as the hammer wielder was readying another strike. The orc's eyes visibly widened as it saw the human lift up for a moment, before pulling the Great Axe of his people down in one go. The blade cleaved the tension in two, leaving a nasty gash in the hammer wielder, and a visible dent in the hammer also. Mona then dove over, dodging the incoming attack from the sword orc.

A wail of pain. Streams of blood. A wobbly orc, barely able to stand, and a somewhat damaged weapon. Mona could see the orc, struggling to keep its eyes open. It roared, but that only ate away at the beast's energy reserves. It held the weapon, feeling the dent the axe had left, and tried to compensate in its grip.

Even if the orc wasn't dead, it definitely couldn't maintain the same momentum as before.

The still lively sword wielder was shouting at the injured Orc in their common tongue, berating him for being so slow. Orcs weren't very kind to the sluggish in battle. The other could only take it, its eyes filled with a deeper hatred towards Mona.

The blood dripped of the injured orc, soaking his armor and weapon, making a macabre sight of it. The sword wielder came towards Mona, vigilance at its maximum. This human was too dangerous, and it was doing its best to be ready for anything.

And then it came flying, the very Great Axe itself. Mona threw the weapon, using one hand to throw it horizontally in the air, the other against the hilt. It zoomed at the orc, carving its way towards the sword wielder. Now with the boost to speed and strength, the previously suicidal technique became rather convenient.

The Orc was shocked and confused. Confused to see the enemy throw away their weapon, shocked to see a Great Axe flying through the air right at him. At a rather rapid speed at that. The orc's body moved faster than its mind, thanks to sturdy build. The weapon it held, however, couldn't hold on. While the axe did stop and clatter to the ground, the upper half of the sword broke off and fell as well.

Stolen story; please report.

In that moment, Mona came up to the Orc's side, hands planted right where he remembered from the last Orc he killed.

"Flame Art: Heat Emission."

A sound similar to a shattering rock filled this part of the maze. The Orc's body stood there for a moment, before falling to the floor. It's cranium broke like an eggshell, the soft insides spilling out in an aggregate mess of blood and tissue. One attack at this weak point was all it took to take them down.

Mona went for his weapon, lifting it up casually and walked towards the remaining Orc. It was whimpering. Imagine that. An Orc, whimpering on its knees. It had long abandoned the hammer to the floor. After the display of strength earlier, it accepted the death coming to it, hoping to see it come easily.

*****

The sword was cracked and broken. The hammer was fairly worthless too in its current state. While the axe had a massive dent at its tip, the rest of its blade wasn't warped and still useful. Mona hefted the axe onto his shoulder, looking at the carnage around him.

I guess I really do have warrior's blood after all.

Mona chuckled to himself. His frail self was able to pull this all off. If his father was here, he'd probably be stunned out of words too.

His father.

Mona sighed.

One day I'll go back. One day.

Reaffirming himself, Mona looked at the rest of the gear these orcs had, but decided his gear was still worthwhile. He took a glance at what were the remains of other participants, taking notice of their slightly better gear compared to those he saw before.

"The closer to the center, the better they should be. I just hope I don't have to kill anyone again..."

He left behind the assorted cadavers and kept his pace steady. Mona naturally didn't leave their sacks behind, adding the few untouched loaves to his sack. He also found a tin too, and after much internal debate, decided to go ahead.

The thick syrupiness got him killed once. That ruined the flavor for him. But at least his throat didn't feel as parched now. Then again, this maze was a magic formation, so was he really hungry and thirsty anyway?

As Mona walked forwards on this new terrain, he could hear the sounds of fighting. This new section of maze had flat earth, and rounded areas. Each area had enemies, and connected multiple pathways to new areas. Mona simply chose a position at random, putting faith in his earlier idea the maze would lead to the center regardless of how he went, and found himself here.

Entering this area from the path, he saw a few other participants fighting orcs. The orcs were outnumbered three to five, but they were holding their own against the participants.

Wait, those guys are peak in Aura Novice like me. Why are they struggling to take down these Orcs?

Mona thought back to his recent battle. If he had no problems taking them down, why were five peak Aura Novices struggling? It wasn't gear or weapons; the five had plenty of the gear Mona already had. They didn't look injured or tired, only under pressure from these three Orcs. They even used tactics, and were barely able to match the monsters.

That didn't make sense. Were the Orcs that strong?

The humans didn't notice Mona just yet, their eyes still focused on the Orcs before them. The grunts of Orcs and the shouts of war captives filled this area, as both sides tried to get an edge in on this fight.

Mona left his thoughts to the side. He'd try to figure out why their performance varied so much at a later time. Instead, he decided to focus on the battle ahead of him.

"Argh!"

One of the human war captives slipped up. He took one step too close to the orc, and the hammer came crashing down. While he was able to handle it with his own sword, the man's hands began to bleed. He grit his teeth, his comrades surrounding him to try and give him a chance to recover.

"You there!"

One of the men finally noticed Mona, and called to him for attention.

"Are you a soloist?"

"A soloist?"

Mona replied, wondering what that was.

"Someone travelling the maze alone. A soloist. Some of the participants are going on their own rather than as a group, and they're really strong."

The man awkwardly laughed, scratching his nape.

"As you can tell, we could really use some help here. Would you please help us?"

The man plead to Mona, ignoring the frail appearance Mona had. If someone like him was a soloist and came here so far, it'd be a great help. If not, maybe he could get help from whoever was helping this young man.

"I don't think I could help you here..."

Mona hesitated. He'd seen human corpses on his way here, and after Aleef he wasn't in a trusting mood. If he met anyone before hand maybe he would have worked with someone.

Wait, that's not right. If he did, he'd have to hide the Flame Art the whole way here. Maybe he still would've went alone instead.

The man that was talking to Mona looked back to his crew, watching the four try to hold back the 3 orcs. They were struggling, but all gave tacit approval to this man to continue. They also took notice of Mona, and hoped the additional number could give them a chance to breathe.

He looked back to Mona, more desperate than before.

"We'll give you whatever you want for help! If you want bread, we can give that to you. If you want syrup, we have that also. Our leader went off back into the maze, looking for someone, so once he finds that person, I'm sure Aleef could help you too... he's--"

"Aleef? Did you say his name was Aleef?"

Mona looked at the speaking man, his tone noticeably more hollow than how he was speaking just moments ago.

"Yes, his name was Aleef. We ran into him a few days ago. He said his group suffered from the Kobolds, and we worked together to get to this point. He then remembered something and had to go back to the Kobolds, so a few of us went with him. Once they return, I'm sure they could reward you well for helping us here! So please help us!"

Mona was silent for a while. He just stared at the man, into his eyes. For a second there, the man flinched. The pupils he saw were a dark purple, a deadness to them.

"W-w-what's wrong?"

The man replied, the fright in his voice stronger than his desperation.

"It's nothing," Mona said calmly, "I just realized something. Did Aleef carry a crossbow by any chance?"