บท 8: Killing Spree

Spotting another orc not far away from where he was, Aiden dashed towards it silently with the help of his passive skill, Shadow Steps.

The orc didn't notice Aiden approaching and was taken by surprise by this attack.

Aiden's strike was just as powerful as before, but now he had a weapon capable of damage which he didn't have in his last fight.

However, it was important to note that the mace could be considered heavy by the standards of Aiden since he had always used a dagger ever since he was a kid. The fact that he wasn't in the greatest of shapes also didn't help him.

Realizing that weapons were essential for survival, Aiden decided that once he cleared this trial, he would buy the best dagger.

However, to buy that dagger, he would need to get good rewards, which was exactly why he wanted to perform as best as he could.

Swinging down the mace without much precision, only hoping to hit the orc's head, and blood gushed out of the orc's body.

Even though the system had classified the heavy mace as Basic rank, it proved highly effective against monsters of this caliber.

The fight this time was shorter as the mace's attacks procured much more damage. After the fifth hit, the orc began to disintegrate once again, disappearing into particles.

[You have killed an orc.]

[You have gained 20 XP.]

[+4 points]

'Just where are those monsters disappearing to? Where do they come from?' asked Aiden to himself, not understanding how monsters could be spawned all around him.

'Just what is the secret of this place?'

However, before he could find answers to those questions, a group of orcs appeared to be coming after him.

It looked like the monsters around him were starting to grasp that someone was killing their kind, and they needed to be cautious while fighting against him.

As a group of orcs closed in on Aiden, he maintained his composure and stayed concentrated to see any type of move they would try on him.

Aiden didn't seem scared because he was confident that he could win against them. Still, he also knew it wouldn't be an easy fight by any means.

From the orcs' perspective, the motionless human seemed paralyzed with fear, and they advanced with maces in hand, similar to one Aiden just obtained.

Aiden recognized that a fight was inevitable.

Realizing this, Aiden dashed toward the seemingly weakest orc out of the approaching trio.

He moved with such speed that the orc struggled to keep up, relying solely on its keen instincts to block Aiden's attack.

Cling!

The resounding clash of the two maces meeting echoed in close proximity.

Aiden hoped that none of the nearby orcs heard that distinctive sound, or else it would be a big problem for him. He didn't even have a trap to rely on this time.

Nonetheless, the blocked attack did not dissuade Aiden from attacking the orc. He feigned an attack just like he did against the first orc he had killed.

The orc had the same reaction as the one from earlier and gave an opportunity that Aiden didn't miss for a single second.

With precision, he slammed the mace into the exposed area on the orc's chest, aiming to inflict as much damage as possible.

Meanwhile, the surrounding orcs were beginning to realize that their comrade might not succeed in defeating Aiden and it needed their help.

So, they decided to swing their mace at Aiden, hoping to hit him, yet once again, he was too fast in dodging every single attack coming toward him.

Capitalizing on the orcs' exposed positions, Aiden retaliated swiftly, delivering punishing bonks to their heads.

It was evident that they had sustained substantial damage, and it was only a matter of time until he finished the three of them off.

This is exactly what he did, and swung at the three of them until he could see them disintegrate into the same particles as earlier.

[You have killed an orc.]

[You have gained 20 XP.]

[You have killed an orc.]

[You have gained 20 XP.]

...

[You have leveled up.]

By killing those orcs, Aiden gained enough experience for him to become level 5.

Right after receiving his unallocated stat point, he directly added it to his agility because he felt like he wasn't as fast as he wanted to be.

He could feel that some of the moves he had made before weren't as smooth as now.

Clap! Clap! Clap!

The clapping sounds rang out around Aiden, leaving him bewildered about their source.

Suddenly, shadows of figures that didn't look anything like the orcs' appeared on the ground.

It looked like humans were approaching him, but Aiden didn't understand right away. The only humans in this trial were Ava and the others...the inhabitants didn't even look like humans in the first place.

He knew that his teammates were on the other side of the city and wouldn't come looking for him, given there was no need to... because he was doing his job correctly and hadn't let a single monster go through his half of the city.

They might be happy with the results he was producing.

However, the shadows continued their steady approach, and it gradually dawned on Aiden that these mysterious figures bore a striking resemblance to the teammates who had previously abandoned him. It appeared they had returned for reasons yet unknown to Aiden.

"Aiden! Are you okay? It looks like a big fight happened around here!" Ava exclaimed, trying to sound as cute as possible.

'What the hell are they doing here?' thought Aiden.

"Oh, wow, you killed those three orcs by yourself. You really are strong," said Ava, as she approached herself and grabbed the arm of Aiden, and interlocked it with hers.

Aiden, unhappy with being touched without his permission, tried to free his arm but didn't manage to do so.

"Ah...fine. Keep holding it, but what are you guys doing here? Didn't you want to abandon me?" Aiden asked with a smirk on his face.

"Well... we saw how good you were doing and decided to come back to where you were. We thought it would be better to act as a team, don't you think so too?" said Ava, with pleading eyes.

"Haha! Why would I need you guys? I'm doing great on my own; just go back. I'm doing good enough by myself."

"Don't say that. Didn't you see the boss monster? Don't you think that you will need our help to kill it? Or don't tell me you want to clear the trial without killing it?"

Aiden just shrugged. "Not really. It's not like I needed your help until now, so why would that change now? Um, maybe I could test all of you. If you want to stay here with me, then you'll have to defeat an Orc alone."

However, whether they killed an orc wouldn't matter as Aiden intended to make sure that they would die in the trial. If the Orcs didn't kill them, then he would do it himself.

"Do I really have to do it too?" asked Ava, trying to use her charm and her big melons to her advantage.

"Yeah, you'll have to. Why wouldn't you?" Aiden replied with the same smirk as earlier.