In a gloomy and dark forest, where the pungency struck their nostrils as soon as they set foot in it, they found themselves—alone and helpless. Left and Right were separated from each other, unbeknownst to their exact location. However, they had already pinpointed where the teleportation magic circle had brought them.
"There's no mistaking it. This is Mount Catan."
Even the tiniest rustling of leaves in a nearby bush put Left in a defensive stance. He procured himself a torch after wrapping a cloth around a wooden stick and covering it in tree sap.
"It's not the brightest of fires, but thanks to the flint and steel that I have, creating a means of fire is convenient."
Holding the torch slightly above his head, Right silently traversed the uneven terrain where a single step on a crispy dry branch could alert any living thing nearby.
"Blood on the tracks..."
Trees were smeared with blood. It had dried after some time. A severed hand lay on the rocks. Left carefully picked up the torn limb and realized how recently it had been cut off.
"About a few hours ago. Might have been before the sun went down."
He walked further away from the spot, and his hunch became the truth when he spotted the mangled body of an adult. The man was grotesquely toyed with until a part of him became a goo of human paste. Beside the corpse, footprints of a large predator were left untouched. Each step was a few inches deep, creating a tiny pool of liquid mixed with water from raindrops and blood from the murdered individual.
Then, a swing was made so hard and quickly it created a "swoosh" sound. The whizzing resonated in Left's ears, sensing the attack from behind. Immediately, he ducked and rolled away as the swing was followed by another destructive whiplash.
"Oh? A mere human dodged my attack?" Standing proudly as he chucked his chin was an ogre. Its body was covered in blood and tattoos. "And here I thought I eradicated every single human in my domain."
"Thanks to my good reflexes, my head would have flown away."
Wiping the dirt off his clothes, Left equipped his bow and arrow, discarding the torch he was holding.
"Should you really be throwing away your only source of light? You're gonna die without ever seeing where my mace hits you."
"Fufu... the moment the fire from the torch dies out, so will the light of your tomorrow."
Agitated by Left's words of provocation, the ogre ran towards the adventurer with burning rage. He leaped to instantly close the distance from where the ogre last saw Left.
"You're not escaping me!"
The ogre swung ahead and hit something. His mace crushed onto a tree and left devastating damage.
"Quite the hothead, huh?"
This time the "swoosh" sound did not come from the ogre's attack but from the impending doom of despair and pain from Left's arrow. A painful prick on the ogre's leg temporarily caused an imbalance, thus causing him to stagger and hit his head on a tree.
"Argh!"
Angrily, the ogre rubbed his head to ease the pain from colliding with a tree. "You're not getting away that easily after what you've done!" He scanned through the environment. His vision had adjusted to the darkness of the mountain, giving him leeway against those who were not nocturnal and lacked night vision.
"I became one with darkness long ago." Left prepared for another shot while staying completely safe, away from the ogre's reach. "You can merge with the dark as well. That is through death."
Enraged by the further insults from Left, the ogre charged toward where the voice came from, seemingly more agitated as seconds passed by.
"Shut your mouth, you bug!"
"Kudos to you for catching up to where I am, but that's too slow."
Left jumped away from the tree he was hiding behind and shot two consecutive arrows down at the ogre. With precision, the pair of swift arrows found its target—onto the ogre's thighs.
"Urgh!"
The ogre was caught off balance, skidding on his knees on the rocky path. That alone dealt pain similar to when he hit his head against the tree. He felt utterly humiliated, feeling so helpless against someone he deemed nothing more than a pest. The ogre's egotistical pea brain could not fathom how he was being toyed with when he should be far superior to Left.
"You're really gonna pay for this!"
Bruises and bleeding were present on the ogre's body upon falling down. Continuously, he was bleeding, although his wounds posed no threat.
"This has gone on long enough. It is now time to put to rest the spirits of those you've killed."
Under the moonlit path, each gap in the leaves on the branches gave illumination to Left's location. Forward, he was running with his bow and arrow.
"The bug would have been better off hiding!"
A wide grin formed on the ogre's face after finally seeing his opponent, and Left was running in his direction at that! What elation he felt!
While running, Left nocked an arrow onto the bow, aiming at the ogre. On the other hand, the monster happily began to move, lunging forward to easily close the distance between them. In a matter of a couple of seconds, the two were two meters away from each other. And Left was within the ogre's range of attack, thus prompting the monster to throw a swift swing.
"Die, you shitty bug!"
Underneath the serious look on Left's face, a cunning plan had been put into action. He intentionally let the ogre close the distance between them, not because he was going to evade and fire his arrows, but rather to completely overpower the monster.
[Reinforcement: Arrowhead]
Firmly, Left did not budge when the mace collided against him. What the ogre thought was the end for the pesky bug he deemed so was not the reality. The ogre realized his mace had stopped before it could devastatingly crush Left's head.
"Y-You...! How?!" A pained look formed on the ogre's face. It was instantly changed by an even more frustrated expression as he pulled his mace away to strike down Left.
This time Left did not defend himself. "Offense is the best defense, or so they say," he calmly remarked while he effortlessly slashed horizontally with the arrow, slicing both the mace, which was made of iron, and the tough ogre skin.
The monster saw blood gushing out from his neck, prompting the immediate clutching of the wound to cover it. His knees weakened and he was down on the ground.
"May the blood of those you've killed corrupt your soul."
Through the thick darkness of the forest, Left proceeded without any direction but a solid goal in mind. That was to find the others.
On the top of Mount Catan, a particularly small castle was built with the help of both the ogres and the orcs. It was made for the Lich and its help towards the monster community; especially the orc and ogre races. And inside the castle, with its high ceiling and empty interior, Right teleported in.
He fell on his butt and was immediately confronted by the orcs who were guarding the throne. Upon realizing the situation he was in and seeing the stone throne behind him, Right nonchalantly sat down with a smirk on his face.
"Rejoice, soldiers, for I have obtained a human form in order to infiltrate them and enact our plan of conquering the whole kingdom!" His voice was fierce and confident, leaving no room for even a slight hint of hesitation.
The guarding orcs knelt down, showing their utmost respect towards Right, who was impersonating the Lich. Although not quite convinced by Right's acting, the orcs slowly settled down.
"Magnificent, your highness! Not only were you able to transport mobile rats for us to mount, but you also attained such a deceiving form! The kingdom is really within our grasp!"
Elation and joy filled their hearts, expressing themselves in front of Right. There was an uproar in the castle, coming from the guarding orcs as they raised their weapons in the air.
"I didn't expect it to work out just fine," Right thought, relaxing a little after seeing the orcs' reactions towards his facade.
After observing for a bit and gathering different speculations, he came to the conclusion that he had teleported to Mount Catan.
"It's safe to say that the others might also be teleported here. I should move around. Who knows when 'that' Lich would come back."
Once he was done pondering, Right spoke to the guarding orcs: "I will be going outside to cast more magic circles. Accompany me, you two! I want the other ogres and orcs to get used to this human form of mine as well while I'm at it!"
Two orcs willingly stepped in to guard the posing Lich. Two high-ranking red orcs with several championships where they had acquired the trophies of their enemies. And that was the spine along with the skull. Their predatory instinct told them to have some sort of keepsake to display superiority towards their kind.
Without a shred of fear and hesitancy from his actions, Right valiantly walked out of the castle.
"Why have we not installed magic lights on our paths?" Right asked immediately once he noticed how dark the whole peak was. The monsters were operating without illumination, purely functioning on their own vision despite the lack of brightness.
In their own orc language, the guarding orcs who were accompanying Right spoke: "Your highness, it was your proposition to not implement illumination. Have you forgotten?"
A forced laugh came out of Right's mouth, lightly scratching his dome after seemingly forgetting.
"Oh, right! Remaining humans hiding in the shadows will stay hidden that way. Their only way of operating will be in the morning when the sun is up. That way they won't be able to boldly plot something against us, superior beings!"
"Just as you said, your highness!" the orcs confirmed.
It came as a slight shock, as Right did not expect to have the same thought process as the Lich.
"This might very well be because of my skill, huh?" He nodded to himself upon bringing his hand up to his chin.
The night breeze was chillingly cold every time it swooshed, creeping up on Right's skin, but he didn't mind. Tall trees stand firm, yet their leaves sway in the cool wind. The bushes rustle and fireflies dazzle. Oh, in the cold winter night, they look for a fight.
A twig snapped and the footsteps came to a halt. In front of them were two familiar faces barely recognizable under the moonlight's gaze. Right's clanking sword stopped slapping on his thigh and he was confronted.
"Is that Right?" a confused voice came out of a woman. "He does look like Right to me."
Shaking his head, the man with her opposed, "Can't be... Why is he with the monsters? Might be a mimic, no?"
"Humans!"
Instantly, the two orcs drew their weapons with clear disgust on their faces.
"Oh, they are gonna attack, Xin! They are Red Orcs! What can we possibly do against them?!"
Red Orcs are formidable monsters capable of destroying a village by themselves. Feared and avoided, the Red Orcs are known for their brutal hunting style where they would deliberately let their prey go and then hunt them down afterwards. It was like a rewarding game for them. But after being oppressed by humans, they were forced into hiding until the Lich showed up and united the two monster races.
"We don't know how you reached the peak of the mountain, and you two don't look like you are Catanian, but one thing is for sure: both of you will be dead before sunrise!"
Understanding none of the Red Orcs' words, Kim cast a buff on Xin while the latter unsheathed his daggers.
[Le Bleum]
[Silent Steps]
Instead of magic, Xin can use skills designated for his role, which is "Thief." Aside from magic and skills, talents also exist where one is naturally talented and would manifest as they grow up. Additionally, what rivals all magic, skills, and talents is alchemy. With the use of science and technology, those who were born unfortunate and unable to manifest skills and magic rely on alchemy. Call them social outcasts because alchemists are shunned in society, thus forcing them to build a kingdom for themselves.
"His heavy steps became quiet! I can't follow his tracks, brother!"
While the Red Orcs took the initiative to fight Xin and Kim, Right stood silent, watching the start of the bout.
"Then let's target the woman!"
"Okay, brother! But don't kill her!"
"I know. I'll just incapacitate the woman!"
Seeing that the focus of their attack had shifted towards Kim, Xin—who was hiding his tracks as he slowly approached them—picked up his pace. His daggers firmly gripped in his hands, he blinked, but this caused his skill to undo itself, thus revealing his location. Nevertheless, Xin was fairly close to one of the Red Orcs.
"I got him, brother!"
The other Red Orc had anticipated Xin's approach. It was behind him with its axe raised in the air, ready to strike Xin down.
"Fighting two Red Orcs at once will be difficult, but let me test my skills!"
[Spinning Swipe]
"Grr!"
The Red Orc in front of Xin managed to block the series of spinning strikes, while the adventurer also performed a defensive blow against the Red Orc behind him. The purpose of his skill "Spinning Swipe" was to both attack and defend himself at the same time—a newly acquired skill upon upgrading his job.
Abruptly, Xin distanced himself. His cuts packed a punch, but he was unable to land decisive blows when they were blocked by the Red Orcs.
In the distance, Right was carefully observing the battle, taking notes in his head and speculating on what could have been done.
"Hmmm, hmmm..."
"I'm finished with my chant!" Kim told Xin, lifting her wand and waving it around.
[Lumieron]
A dark cloud formed above the Red Orcs' heads, shrouding them from the peering moonlight.
"What now?"
"Careful, broth—!"
A sizzling swizzle of thunder sprites smites the two termites. Groans and screams escape their mouths, forcing them to their knees.
"Great job, Kim!"
Xin didn't waste any time. He went full throttle and activated another one of his skills.
[Peculation]
As they were down on their knees, suffering from burn injuries and painful aftershocks, the Red Orcs looked in front of them and instantaneously gathered themselves. Despite their quick response, Xin was a step ahead and utilized Kim's previous strength increase, "Le Bleum."
Originally, Xin's daggers would have a hard time cutting through the slightly thick skins of the orcs, but due to the buff bestowed upon him, he was able to slice through their necks. Their heads flew in the air and their lifeless bodies spewed blood on the ground.
"Haa... That was consuming! Stealing the lives of others, that is!"
Clap, clap, clap. "That was splendid! I didn't need to step in." Right applauded Xin and Kim's efforts against the Red Orcs.
"You have to explain yourself, Right! Why are you with the monsters?!"
"Now, now, don't assume I'm one of them. I simply told them I was the Lich and that I acquired a human form. I didn't know they were foolish enough to believe me!"
"And how can we be sure you're not trying to trick us right now, so we'd let our guards down?"
A sinister grin formed on his face. Kim was taken aback at Right's expression. It was grim and filled with malice.
"I could have killed both of you right before the orcs stepped in. Anyway," he stopped as if it was something to easily dismiss. "If you are planning to escape and go down from here, I suggest you don't. Mount Catan is already swarming with monsters. The two of you will not be able to fight your way out. Meet with Marx and Narra. After that, meet with Left. He will tell you what to do for the time being."
"We still don't trust you, but we can't do anything about it. For now, we will do what you just said. But what are you trying to accomplish? Based on what you said, you don't plan on coming along with us."
"Shhh! Go now. Monsters are approaching after the magic spell from Kim. I'm sure you sense them as well, Xin. You'll know when you meet Left."
And so the two separated themselves from Right, although quite hesitant. The horde of monsters—some of them even riding the same sewage rats—arrived, and they vanished in the darkness of the mountain.
"Be safe, Xin, Kim. Don't die out there." He let out a sigh of relief and faced the orcs and the ogres. "Now, I just hope one of the few guards inside the castle a while ago is one of them. Otherwise, I'd have to eliminate everyone here."
~