The morning air was crisp as Mori and Armin walked out the front doors of the guild branch. Waiting by the iron gates was the trio from the night before, their gear packed and ready. "Glad you guys decided to show up," the bulky swordsman said, grinning. He slapped the flat of his massive great-sword. "I'm Torin, D-rank vanguard. This here is Lyra," he pointed to the younger girl adjusting the straps on her twin daggers, "and our mage, Vessa."
Vessa gave a polite nod, holding a staff tipped with a small mana crystal. Lyra just smirked, spinning a dagger around her finger. "Armin," the older guardian replied smoothly. "And this is the young master, Mori."
With introductions out of the way, the group set off toward the tree line. As they walked, they left the familiar outer paths behind and pushed straight into the middle regions, moving steadily toward the deeper zones. The further they went, the denser the forest became. The canopy above grew so thick that it blocked out most of the morning sun, plunging the forest floor into a dim, gloomy twilight. The air grew colder, heavy with the smell of damp moss and old mud.
Suddenly, Torin held up a hand, signaling a halt. Up ahead, a guttural snarl echoed through the trees. Pushing past the thick brush, a raiding party stepped into the clearing. Standing between six and seven feet tall, three D-rank Orcs led the way. They were broad-shouldered mountains of grey, leathery flesh, their faces sporting flat snouts and thick, yellowed tusks jutting from their lower jaws. They carried crude, heavy iron cleavers and wore piecemeal armor made of scavenged metal plates. Surrounding the orcs were half a dozen Forsaken Goblins, brandishing their shortswords and rotted shields.
"Orcs and goblins," Torin muttered, drawing his greatsword with a heavy scrape. "Let's go. Watch our flanks, I'm moving in!" The monsters screeched and charged. Torin rushed forward to meet one of the charging Orcs, his greatsword clashing loudly against the beast's iron cleaver. The impact kicked up dirt, but Torin held his ground. Two Forsaken Goblins tried to circle around him, but Lyra blurred past. Her hands moved with extreme speed, her twin daggers flashing as she sliced through the goblins' vitals in a rapid succession of stabs and fluid cuts. Mori watched her closely, noting how she balanced her weight to keep her dual-wielding strikes perfectly fluid.
From the rear, Vessa planted her staff into the dirt and began focusing her mana, loudly chanting her incantation. "O flickering flame that dances in the dark, gather your heat and strike. Fireball!" A sphere of flame shot from her staff, blasting into the second Orc and forcing it back. Meanwhile, the third Orc broke away from the line, its bloodshot eyes locking onto Mori. It let out a deafening roar, raising a heavy spiked club, and charged straight at him. "Young master," Armin said quietly, staying back while resting his hand on the hilt of his sword…waiting.
Mori took a sharp breath, dropping low into his stance. He focused his mana to the hill of his feet and exploded forward, utilizing his short burst of speed to dodge right under the Orc's heavy downward swing. The club smashed into the earth where Mori had stood a split second before, shattering rocks. Before the orc could recover, Mori thrust his sword straight toward its exposed torso. The blade stopped inches short of the thick hide.
"Let the spark ignite..." Mori muttered.
Fwoosh! As the fire crackled into existence.
He cut the spell right there, visualizing the exact shape of the blast. A compressed wave of intense fire erupted from his left palm, slamming point-blank into the Orc's chest. The beast roared in pain, stumbling back as the flames charred its skin. Seizing the opening, Mori spun on his heel, channeling another quick burst of mana to his feet as he dashed forward to drive his steel blade straight through the monster's throat, bringing the heavy brute crashing down into the dirt.
Mori pulled his sword back, exhaling slowly as he looked over at the rest of the cleared battlefield. Torin and Lyra were finishing off the last of the goblins. After checking on each other, Torin looked around, a confused expression crossing his rugged face. "I swear there was a third one," he muttered to himself.
Then, his eyes caught the massive, smoking carcass of the orc lying a couple of inches away from Mori.
"Oh, Sir Armin, you took it down already?" Torin assumed, turning toward armin. "Actually, Young Master Mori did," Armin replied. Lyra's jaw dropped slightly as she looked between the massive beast and the ten-year-old. "The kid took down the orc all by himself?"
Vessa stepped closer, her eyes locked onto the black, smoking char on the monster's chest. "Those smoking scorch marks... can you use magic? Are you a fire elemental main then?" she asked, intrigued as a fellow mage. "I don't actually know what element I main in, but I just use fire for personal reasons," Mori replied with a shrug. "Wait would that mean…" vessa thought to herself. Torin let out a deep chuckle, rubbing the back of his neck. "How about that..." he joked, shook by the kid's casual attitude.
Regrouping, they made their way deeper into the forest. The twilight under the thick canopy grew heavier, and the oppressive silence of the deep zone was suddenly broken by heavy, rhythmic thuds. Breaking into a small clearing, they encountered a new pack of monsters. These ones were different from the orcs they just encountered. They were massive, easily looking to be eight feet tall, maybe even more, with slab-like muscles that made their crude iron armor look tiny.
"Get ready!" Torin shouted.
Moving with surprising speed for his bulk, Torin charged toward one of the eight-foot orcs first. He swung his heavy greatsword in a wide, powerful arc, the steel whistling through the air. The massive orc grunted, raising a rusted iron cleaver to block. The impact rang out like a bell, sparks flying as Torin used his momentum to slide his blade down, slicing against the orc's arm and drawing thick, dark blood. Lyra blurred in from the side, her twin daggers flashing to keep the beast distracted while Torin repositioned for a heavy overhead strike.
Seeing the commotion, another giant orc turned its bloodshot eyes toward Mori. Snarl escaping its snout, the beast gripped its spiked wooden club and charged straight at the boy. Armin didn't move, his hand resting casually on the hilt of his sword. "Young master, are you sure you can handle this?"
"I've got it," Mori said. Mori lunged toward the charging orc. As the massive spiked club came whistling downward to crush him, Mori utilized a quick burst of speed to slide directly under the swipe, passing right through the orc's tree-trunk legs. Now behind the beast, Mori pivoted and cleanly sliced at the orc's ankle. The blade struck, Mori frowned as he felt the resistance, there was barely any damage because of the orc's incredibly thick skin. Realizing physical strikes alone wouldn't cut it against a beast this size and thick, Mori shifted his strategy. He focused his mana, and a vibrant, crackling sheet of fire enveloped his blade.
The giant orc spun around, roaring in frustration as it swung its club horizontally to swat Mori away. Instead of retreating, Mori dodged under the swing, stepping into the beast's guard. With his sword coated in intense flames, he delivered a powerful upward slash. The fire-enhanced edge sliced right through the tough hide of the orc's torso, leaving a deep, burning gash.
The orc reeled back from the searing pain. Capitalizing on the opening, Mori drove his blazing sword straight forward, piercing deep into the monster's chest. "Flame burst" Mori yelled, an intense heat enveloped the beast from the inside, and with a final, muffled groan, the eight-foot titan crashed heavily onto the damp forest floor, kicking up a cloud of dirt and dead leaves. Mori pulled his sword back, the flames extinguishing as he took a steady breath, catching up. He looked over to see Torin and the others wrapping up their own battle.