The Orcs' Attack

"Burp! I'm full. Lets go home, bro~"

'I see... So you have changed the way you call me now. Even though we came here in the name of 'sightseeing', you seem to be the one who is enjoying more.'

"Okay" Aren helplessly said.

After coming out of the guild hall, they went to various food stalls where his 'Big sis Tina' became a terrifying glutton. He had heard that Elves, especially wood elves, don't eat much and they are vegetarians but this didn't seem to apply to Tina.

Now, of those 10 silvers she brought, only 4 silvers and 60 coppers were left. So after buying some cheap souvenirs and again eating some bread and eggs, they could only go home.

"Sister Tina, what was that quest you took?" Aren asked curiously when they reached the outer wall checkpoint. He had been curious as to what type of quest the Adventurers gulid would have for lower ranked ones. Though he could've have just checked those at the quest board, he didn't have the chance to.

"Nothing much. Just checking the situation around Blackthorn forest area. There have been sightings of Undead around there recently. I didn't see them though." Tina replied, giving the guards her check pass.

Then after pondering about something she turned him and said seriously "Aren, Blackthorn Forest is a very dangerous area. Unless you are rank 1 like me or even higher, don't go there."

"Okay. I won't go." Aren nodded his head in reply.

"Hmmm..." but Tina didn't seem to believe it.

"I promise!"

"That's my good boy." said Tina trying to ruffle his hair which he quickly stopped. Getting on the back of horse, they went outside the city. There, a small distance away however, lots of people were gathered surrounding a...

'A goblin? It has green skin, a disgusting face and small height. Its must be a goblin that the villagers told him about!'

"Lets go take a look." Tina said frowning. A monster doesn't come near a human city alone so even Tina was confused.

When they got near where most people were gathered, Aren saw what exactly was going on. There were knights in shining armours surrounding this goblin 'monster' and beating it to the point it couldn't even retaliate. When a knight saw that this goblin was almost dead and couldn't take anymore beating; drawing his sword and raising it high up in the air, he shouted.

"In the name of righteousness, justice, order and... and..."

".....and love!" shouted another knight looking proud because he finished the slogan.

"It's 'light'." corrected the last knight softly.

"I shall murder you." shouted the first knight again. After saying these words, he plunged his sword deep into the neck of the goblin and killed it. Suddenly, cheers erupted here and there in which the two knights drowned. They couldn't hear another knight sighing beside them.

"Sigh, you should have said 'purify'."

'Huh? That's it? Who are these three clowns? And why is everyone cheering as if they killed a demon lord?'

From what he had been told, a Demon Lord was the most terrifying existence in the eyes of most people.

"Lets go." this time, Aren said this. He couldn't stay here any longer.

Half way through the forest when they had left the city far away, Aren decided to ask Tina. "Big sister, who were those armoured people?"

"They are knights' squire from the Church of light. When they advance to rank 1 knights, they are promoted to become kinghts of light."

The horse continued galloping down the road, bringing a stunned Aren and focused Tina towards Green leaves village.

....

The next day. At Mr. Cowen's house, on a large training ground.

"Hah!... hiah!..."

Aren was training on the basic steps and moves. After coming from Telnos, he had begun reading the books his master gave him. From that book, he got to know how fighters advanced. In this world each and every individual has a potential to grow in power. By comprehending the skills which came with each advancement and harnessing the 'Runic Force', people become stronger. This type of advancement applied on all classes with the only exception being the spellcasters like Priests and mages.

15 minutes later, Cowen, who had been watching from the sides, stopped him. "This much is alright. You can practice these moves later on. Now listen to me carefully. To use the runic force, you have to have a strong body which can hold your power inside you. There are different types of individuals which use runic forces differently. I am an agility based fighter so my rune leans more towards speed. Strength based fighters are majority on the continent rather than us agility based. If you want to train on the same aspect as mine then folllow my steps."

After saying that, his master started showing strange moves which Aren began to imitate, albeit with some difficulty. He also taught Aren how common folks only use 20% of their senses and depend mostly on their eyes to sense the surroundings.

The first day of training went smoothly. 3 hours later, when they were sitting on a table drinking moonspring water, an elf came running over looking worried. If Aren remembered correctly, he was a village guard named Nevy.

"Nevy, What's the matter?" Cowen asked.

"Huff..huff..." Nevy stopped in front of them to inhale some air and started talking.

"Or... huff... Orcs are about to attack our village. There is even a rank 2 orc leader this time amongst them. Except for priestess Lupia, you are the only rank 2 in our village. Richard, lefy, Inrack, Tina and other two rank 1s are all stationed outside. We need your help."

"Orcs again." Cowen pondered. It seemed like he had dealt with Orcs before so he wasn't shocked due to this news.

"A rank two Orc huh... Lupia might not be able to deal with alone. Lets go then. Aren, you stay here and wait for me to come."

"No master, I'll also go." how could Aren let go of this opportunity to see how a rank 2 fights.

"Are You sure?, it will be dangerous." Cowen cautioned.

"I'll go."

Nevy was about to say something but after seeing that Mr. Cowen didn't decline Aren, he stopped himself.

Outside the village, Orcs were gathered wielding clubs and rocks in their hands. There were 8 to 9 rank 1 orcs who were much better each having a sword, hammer or spikes on their hands. At the end, there was a fully armoured Orc wielding a huge hammer. He seemed to be the rank 2 leader of these Orcs.

When he and Cowen came at the outpost everyone finally relaxed. Tina and others came from one of the outpost and greeted Cowen. Priestess Lupia was also there.

"Mr. Cowen, you are finally here. Huh? Aren, why are you here?"

"Because I want to see orcs fight."

"But-"

"Don't worry. He won't go past the fences." At this moment, master Cowen helped him by assuring Tina.

Sigh, having an over-protective sister was not good.

"The orcs are attacking more frequently now. Did something happened to that twig?" Cowen asked Lupia.

"No, the world tree is fine but that Orc shaman is getting restless. Looks like we can't keep it from others much longer." Lupia replied worriedly.

"I understand. Lets fend this wave off then we should inform the higher-ups."

'World tree? Twig? What are they talking about? Could this village have some sort of secret? It has to be. 6 rank 1s and 2 rank 2s. This sort of force is enough to run a town smoothly but they are gathered in a village. This does seem suspicious.' Aren speculated what would make this village this important.

At this moment, a shout was heard.

"The orcs are nearing!"

"All rank 1s assume your positions. Leave that rank 2 orc. Me and Lupia will deal with it. Archers will immediately fire when orcs enter your range. Make groups of 3 and 4 when engaging in melee fight, the orcs' strength is higher than yours." Cowen calmly issued his orders at this moment. As a rank two fighter, he was the undisputed leader.

Due to the orders being quickly executed, the orcs suffered heavy losses.

Even though the orcs were powerful, they weren't on a formation like the elves because of their low intelligence. When the siege began, they could only push forward due to their instinctual response to the command given by their leader.

When most of the unranked orcs and even rank 1s were killed, the leader couldn't wait any longer. He quickly charged foward swinging his hammer. He seemed a little more intelligent than the lower ranked Orcs though. He blocked the incoming arrows perfectly and attacked the weak point of formation, giving grievous damages to some elves.

Seeing this, master Cowen immediately went forward to confront the orc leader. In terms of size and strength, the orc had a massive advantage against an elf but Cowen's strength seemed to perfectly match the orc's. He circled around the orc leader trying find gaps in his armour and defence. His speed was very fast and when he moved, only his afterimages were left which quickly faded away.

The orc leader seemed infuriated after fighting this slippery opponent. Whenever he tried to smash this elf, a green barrier would appear or some annoying vines will come out and make him immobile for a second or two. Even the wounds he inflicted seemed to heal due to some sort of green light.

The shockwaves generated due to the fight travelled far away that even Aren who was behind the fences, felt them clearly. Soon Cowen finished the orc with a force puch on its face which blasted its head into pieces.

The power of both rank 2s was more or less the same but master cowen had the support of priestess Lupia which decided the outcome of this fight.