Orc Village [2]

"Huff...huff..."

Even after spending almost the whole day hunting, my hunting speed hadn't increased by much. In fact, it had decreased because every fight had taken quite a toll on me. Although I hadn't suffered any more serious injuries, and I was now using everything I had, including my wings, it was still tough.

With almost all of the other patrols I had gone up against having two spear throwers and two axe wielders, it was exhausting to try and quickly neutralize the melee combatants to then make sure I could get to the ranged orcs. The biggest reason being the fact that I had to dodge the incredibly fast projectiles simultaneously.

Luckily, it seemed like they had some sort of cooldown on throwing their javelins, with my best guess being that they had to use some sort of Skill to imbue them with power, so there were a couple of openings I could make use of.

One time, I had tried to fly to them while ignoring the melee combatants, but that had only led me to be a very easy target to hit, as my aerial mobility wasn't nearly as dynamic when compared to how I could move on the ground.

Also, it caused me to be on an even bigger timer as I had to end their lives before I got sandwiches from the back.

So I quickly steered away from that strategy. In the end, I either had to find an opening to paralyze the melee orcs with my snake, or plant an [Orb of Mist] around their heads and detonate it.

If the battles had been two versus two, this wouldn't have been a problem, but sadly it wasn't.

My mana was now about to run dry, and there was nothing for me to gain by using my new earrings to refill it, as it would decrease my combat power by stealing away vitality from my clone.

As it turns out, my items had already begun duplicating themselves to my clone without me realizing it, making it so he had the Boots of Safety as well as the Royal Cross equipped by default.

However, for some reason, it didn't work with my scythe at all, nor did it work with any other weapons.

If this was a game, I would have assumed it to be for balancing purposes, but this wasn't a game. So once again, I was befuddled by the logic of this world that I couldn't for my life understand, just like how statuses worked.

Anyways, looking at the medieval-looking village below me, I had no choice but to back down for now. There was no way I could invade it in the state I was in right now.

*Flap!*

So I started flying back to the entrance, hoping there wouldn't be another patrol that I had missed.

'I didn't think it would be so annoying to have to back down...'

Before I entered the dungeon, I was well aware that I might need a couple of dives before learning the ins and outs enough for me to clear it. However, even with that, it was frustrating.

*ROOOAR!*

"What the...!"

Lost in thought, I wasn't ready for the enemy that came from above, just barely able to dodge the huge teeth that threatened to rip me apart.

I dove down to the ground, with my wings rippling in the air from the turbulence. As soon as my feet touched the ground, my back grew cold as I sensed an attack coming.

Quickly turning around, my eyes were met by a set of huge, ivory claws, just centimeters from removing a part of my chest from my body.

"[Retreat]!"

A surge of energy gathered in my feet, and my vision blurred when a strange, invisible force dragged me backward, away from the deadly attack.

*Groooaarrr!*

'Why is such a thing here?!'

Of course, it hadn't been a flying orc that suddenly attacked me in the air, it was something a lot more monstrous.

In front of me was a huge, gray reptile, with claws bigger than my forearms attached to small, hand-like limbs at the end of its wings.

'Why the fuck is a wyvern here?!'

The smaller cousin of the dragons had appeared from nowhere, most likely unhappy with the fact that someone had intruded on his territory.

'[Double Trouble]!'

In an instant, sub-me was once again on the board, while my already low amounts of mana plummeted even more.

*Gro?*

Bewildered by the sight of my one body suddenly turning into two, the wyvern hesitated a bit, as it probably regarded the unknown as something dangerous.

For me, it was quite lucky that it appeared to have some degree of intelligence, as it bought me time to act. Splitting up with both of my bodies, my plan was to run in two different curved paths, making sure the monster couldn't catch us both.

*Roaaar!*

Dirt and dust blew up from the ground when the monster roared in anger, noticing that its prey was trying to escape. It didn't take long until the wyvern had ascended into the air, and started to chase sub-me at incredible speeds.

Although I had already made it quite far before the big lizard attacked me, there was still quite the way to go.

It didn't take long until it had caught up with my clone, and suddenly, just a couple of meters behind me, it suddenly made a huge swing with its wings.

*Fwosssh!*

Two fierce tornadoes were launched at even higher speeds than what the wyvern had moved during its chase. "Shit!" Looking back, I knew I had to make a decision. Either I used another charge of [Retreat] or I had to gamble that my clone would survive the attack for long enough to buy time for my main body to escape the dungeon.

'This is gonna hurt...'

Having made my decision, I tried my best to defend myself by covering my body in the densest mist I could muster. *Schichichching!* "ARGH!"

The tornadoes started to shred my body, opening deep gashes all around my body as they continued to spin relentlessly. *Rooaaar! Bam!*

Knowing that it had created a situation where I was unable to defend myself, the wyvern swung its tail and blew me away, making my clone fly for several meters before tumbling around on the ground.

Thankfully, sub-me didn't quite die, most likely thanks to the mist that I had poured out the rest of my mana into. So when the wyvern spent another couple of seconds judging my condition, I could see the portal hovering above the grass with my main body.

Gritting my teeth to endure the pain that flooded my consciousness, I kept running, eager to see the outside world again. Sadly, my clone couldn't dare to hope for the same thing, as I could now see the huge claws descending upon my secondary body.

'Dismiss!'

Just before it could get the satisfaction of killing its prey, I withdrew my clone, happy with the time I had bought myself. *ROOOAAARRRR!*

Noticing something was up, the wyvern let out a huge, ear-deafening roar coming from the deepest depths of its body. Not daring to look back, as I knew that the monster wouldn't stay still for long, I finally reached my destination and ran through the portal.

*GRMMMM!*

Hearing the space-twisting sound of my body getting transferred, I could finally start to relax a bit. Then, when my eyes met the modern interior of the hunter's office that was responsible for Orc Village, I knew I was safe.

"Huff...huff..."

Not minding the looks I got from the receptionist, I kept dragging my feet forward, as both my heart and body wanted nothing more than to finally get back home. Without even enough mana to transform myself into a raven or bring out my wings, it took a long time until I boarded the train that would take me to the academy.

==========

'Finally home...'

It felt like the longest walk I had ever gone on in both my lives, with adrenaline still pumping through my veins. There had been no way of knowing that a damn wyvern would be in the dungeon, as there had been no records of it in any of the information that I had read before the dive.

*Click*

Before I had even fully opened my door, I suddenly got a bad premonition, as if there was something weird behind it. 'Is it Mr. Laufeyson? What does he want this time?'

I was too tired to care, as he had already shown that he had no intentions of taking my life or harming me. In fact, the man had made it quite obvious that he wanted me to grow stronger, although I had no idea for what reason.

Closing the door as soon as I passed the doorstep, my suspicions that someone had entered was quickly confirmed. However, it had not been the person I expected.

"What? What are you doing here?"

"Die..."

Time seemed to speed up and slow down at the same time when Samantha the receptionist for the freshmen building suddenly lunged at me with a knife in her hands.

*Schiing!, Thud!*

Without thinking I equipped my scythe and instantly decapitated the extremely slow woman. Then, my mind cleared, and I somehow fully understood what had just gone down. Seeing the blood spewing from the headless corpse, I had but one thought.

'I fucked up...'