We stepped into the forest, and I used "Detection" to scan for any signs of life around us. Nothing within 145 m.
As we went deeper, a few non-hostile reactions appeared. Lina and I approached cautiously, moving toward their location.
When we got close, we hid behind some bushes to check what they were. Crimson skin. Large bodies. Slightly pointed ears. Pig-like noses.
They had to be orcs.
There were 4 of them. One held a huge wooden club and seemed to be commanding the other 3. Probably the strongest among them.
Suddenly, Enemy Search showed 4 hostile reactions. We'd been spotted.
Good thing we were in a forest—perfect terrain for plant magic. I cast my magic immediately.
"Tree Bind"
Branches stretched and grew toward the orcs. They were slow and heavy, so they were easily caught and lifted upside down by their legs. Their roars echoed through the trees.
Since orcs were bulky, I reinforced the branches with even more bindings so they wouldn't snap.
Lina formed a large sphere of water. I dragged the 4 orcs' heads into it. They thrashed around, kicking wildly, but eventually stopped moving.
We approached to confirm. Their mouths hung open, eyes vacant.
"No breathing."
"Mm."
I tossed their bodies into my storage hole, and we moved on to look for more orcs.
This time, the number of reactions grew. Looked like over 50 orcs gathered together.
"Lina, maybe have more than 50."
"That's way more than what the quest said... Think we can win?"
She looked worried. The quest estimated around 20, but the actual number had doubled.
"There's no one nearby. Let's use ancient magic. Just cut the heads—it'll be enough."
Through "Detection", I confirmed that nothing within 50 m was alive except us.
That meant we could safely use high-powered ancient magic. Keeping all the bodies intact would be too difficult anyway. Decapitation was the quickest way.
Ancient magic must never be seen by others—it could overturn the world's understanding of magic.
1 year of ancient-magic power = 10 years of modern-magic power.
So absolutely no witnesses allowed.
"Okay."
We held a quick strategy meeting.
"I'll draw their attention. You attack from behind."
"Mm. Be careful, Karen."
"I know. I'll lure them while taking them down. You watch your back—prioritize enemies closest to you."
"Mm."
Once the meeting ended, I looked at the sword in my hand.
This wasn't like the Fangblade Tiger situation. I told myself not to freeze up—attack whenever there's an opening. Don't hesitate.
I cast four non-elemental magics on myself:
"Strength"
"Speed"
On the sword:
"Durability"
"Sharpness"
Then I charged toward the orc cluster.
"Stone Bullet"
Sharp stones shot out, piercing an orc's skull. The others panicked when it fell and spotted me, roaring as they rushed toward me with their weapons.
I changed direction, sprinting sideways to draw them in. They swarmed after me, and I fired Stone Bullets while running, picking off their numbers.
"Wind Blade"
When I glanced back, more than half of the orcs suddenly lost their heads. Lina's wind magic, obviously.
The remaining orcs froze, panic spreading as they desperately looked around for Lina.
To keep them from finding Lina, I dashed straight at them. With Strength, Speed, and the enhanced sword, I quickly severed several orc heads, pulling their attention back to me.
But the orcs were too distracted by the unseen attacks—they didn't notice me closing in.
I seized the chance and moved through them, cutting one head after another until the very last one dropped.
All the orcs lay on the ground, headless.
Not a single one left standing.
I staggered away from the corpses and canceled all my no-attribute spells. My legs gave out and I collapsed to the ground. Pain shot through my body. My heart was pounding violently. My breath came in ragged gasps. Nausea churned in my stomach—I felt like vomiting.
These were the side effects of the non-elemental enhancement magics.
Cancel "Speed", and it feels like you've been sprinting for hours.
Cancel "Strength", and your muscles feel like they've been overworked to their limit.
Even though "Durability" and "Sharpness" were cast on the sword, the recoil still hit the user.
And since I cast all four at once, the backlash was brutal.
"Karen! Lie down—I'll heal you!"
Lina rushed out from her hiding spot. I followed her instructions, lying flat as she knelt beside me and cast her restoration magic.
"You… Didn't get… spotted… right…?"
"No. Thanks to you pulling all their attention."
"Good… good…"
"Nutrient Recovery"
Her hands glowed with a soft blue light—healing magic from the biology element, accelerating recovery using the body's own nutrients.
The light felt warm and pleasant. The pain faded, the nausea eased, and strength slowly returned.
Then my stomach growled loudly—
"Grrr~"
A sign that Lina's treatment had finished.
"All right, I'm taking out the food now."
Lina pulled the rice bowls out of her storage hole— the ones we made earlier at the forest entrance. I pushed myself up and took a bowl and a spoon from her. Even though there were corpses lying nearby, I was starving to the point I couldn't care less about the stench.
I cut open the egg yolk with my spoon. The golden yolk dripped onto the spoon, and I let it run over the beef slices before shoveling the food into my mouth.
That was one of the side effects of healing magic. Once the spell finished, hunger always hit like a beast—you had to replenish the nutrients your body used up.
Halfway through the bowl, I suddenly thought that soy sauce would've made this perfect. Pouring it over the egg would make it even better. I decided that once we got back to town and collected the reward, I'd buy some seasonings.
When I finished eating, my stomach felt saved. The moment I lowered the empty bowl, Lina handed me my sword.
"Karen, I cleaned the blood off your sword."
Blood had splattered on it when I was cutting off the orcs' heads. If you didn't clean it right away, it'd coagulate and get stubborn. Lina really helped me out here.
I accepted the sword and thanked her.
"Thanks, Lina. I'm really glad you're here."
Her face instantly turned red. She turned away and muttered,
"...You're welcome."
Then she snatched the bowl from my hands, washed it, and stored it back in her storage.
Feeling full, I stood up and used "Detection" again to scan the surroundings. This time, several hostile reactions were moving toward us from 50 m ahead.
"Lina, someone's coming! Let's hide where we were before."
"Okay!"
We hurried back to the spot where we held our strategy meeting. Peeking from the bushes, we saw the new enemies approaching the area full of corpses.
Four orcs stepped out— but one of them was much larger, with a crown-like wreath of vines on its head. The other three also looked stronger than the group we fought earlier, each wearing a ring of flowers.
"That must be the Orc King… and its wives."
"So many wives…"
Lina stared at the Orc King's three consorts, sounding genuinely amazed. She probably didn't know anything about the monsters' polygamous customs, so I explained it to her.
"Since the Orc King is the strongest among them, its children are strong too. And they need to increase their numbers quickly. Having many wives is normal for them—wait…"
It happened again. Just like back at the forge. I shouldn't know any of this, but the knowledge just surfaced in my mind—like memories that had always been there.
"What's wrong?"
"…Nothing."
Forget it. The knowledge was useful, anyway. Instead of resisting it, I might as well accept it. Overthinking was bad for the health. Someday, maybe the truth would reveal itself.
Meanwhile, the Orc King and its wives were kneeling in front of the corpses, howling in grief.
"Karen, they're crying."
"They lost their children."
"I feel bad for them…"
"But we took the quest."
We understood their grief—after all, we had lost our families too. But sympathy didn't mean we could abandon the job.
Then the Orc King looked straight toward our hiding spot.
"Lina, get ready."
"Mm."