Moonlight Blue

In the Silent Demon’s Forest.

Arrows with mana imbued in them are shot in rapid successions at the towering green goliaths, the High orcs. There are three of them and they are fighting valiantly against their foes. However, due to their foe’s nimble movements and agility, they couldn’t lay even a single attack on them.

As archers, the archery division’s strength is long range attacks. Not only that, but they have also been taught mana techniques that prioritized agility over anything. There is 10 of them in this unit, fighting to take down the High orcs to meet their quota for the day. With streaking lights of their arrows, the last High orc fell to the ground, dead. The archery unit is visibly tired, huffing and puffing their lungs out as sweat constantly drips from their faces.

“To think it would take us an entire hour to kill 3 High orcs. At this rate, compared to other divisions, the archery division is definitely the weakest,” says a young girl, age 19. Her name is Kiarra and she is the lieutenant of the archery division as a whole. Her short black hair cascades with the wind and her black eyes glisten in disappointment.

“At this rate, we are dragging ‘him’ down,” she whispers under her breath, visibly disappointed. She commanded her unit with an authoritative voice, “Dismantle the High orcs and retrieve their cores and valuable materials. We are proceeding.”

The men and women in the unit follow her commands. One of them walks up to her and speaks.

“Are you sure that’s wise Kiarra? Going deeper within the forest is dangerous. Not only that, but we’ve exhausted most of our mana and our arrows. Continuing would be unwise.”

Kiarra responds, “We’ll drink mana and energy potions to bring back our strengths. As for the arrows, we’ll reuse the ones we killed the orcs with. These arrows were crafted by Erika, the granddaughter of Gonz. They are not easily damaged. Besides, I’m sure unit 1 has already moved in deeper.”

The man stands speechless. After all, Kiarra was the captain of unit 2 and also the lieutenant of the entire archery division, second only to the captain of unit 1 and her lifelong childhood friend, Noah.

After collecting the materials and arrows, they drink their potions and continue deeper into the forest. Without even walking twenty steps, the air suddenly changes. Their hairs stand on end, sending shivers down everyone’s spines. Due to their training with Allen, every guard within the village has developed sharp senses that allow them to detect even the faintest of bloodlust. Due to that ability, they are capable of discerning the threat level of an opponent by just their bloodlust.

This opponent, whatever it was, is far stronger than them.

“EVERYONE, RETREAT-“

It happened in an instant. A colossal figure blurs past them thrashing Kiarra with an enormous punch, sending her tumbling into the air before crashing in a row of trees.

Beads of sweat rains down from everyone present as the figure disappears sending those closest to it flying with just simple movements. Only half are left standing as they get to witness the threat that sent half of their units flying all over the place.

It is an orc. A different kind of orc. It is bigger than a High orc, being the size of a minotaur. It has bulging muscles and veins all over its body. And Its skin, instead of the regular green, it is scarlet red. The whites of its eyes are completely black and its iris blood red. A giant scar is visible across its chest.

Someone mutters under their breath in shock, “High orc berserker.”

High orc berserker. Unlike regular orcs and High orcs, High orcs berserkers are rare appearing 1 in a thousand. They are extremely strong, capable of even defeating a minotaur without much struggle.

It is believed that High orc berserkers are High orcs that have lost everything they cherish. After losing everything, they are filled with so much rage that they become the personification of vengeance. Filled with nothing but the desire to kill. And thus, their skin turns red enhancing their durability. Their muscle mass increases, intensifying their strength and speed.

Not only that, but they are also capable of using their bloodlust like mana, further strengthening their offense and defence capabilities. This kind of enemy was too much for long ranged fighters.

“OPEN FIRE!” Kiarra shouts as she stands up again, barely hurt.

All the members start opening fire, releasing arrow after arrow, all imbued with mana. The only thing the arrows could do is shatter and fall upon contact with the High orc berserker’s skin. One by one, the members who were down got up and fired slowly retreating.

The only reason that Kiarra and the four others are still alive is because of their armour. Even though it is light compared to swordsmen’s armour, it is imbued with a lot of protective spells that can withstand at least one life threatening attack such as the one they received.

“RETREAT!” Kiarra shouts again as she holds her ground, giving her unit some time to retreat. They did as instructed and bolted. Now it is Kiarra and the High orc berserker.

The High orc berserker stared her down. She is panting her lungs out as blood trickles down the corner of her mouth. She was the first to get attacked and the blow of the punch was much greater compared to the others.

“You attacked me first because you could tell I was the strongest one here. You are quite cunning for an orc.”

The High orc berserker sneers and opens its mouth, words flowing out.

“Why. Not. Dead. Human?”

Kiarra is shocked. This is her first time witnessing a monster that could talk. The High orc berserker laughs and continues speaking.

“Although. Weak. You. Have. Warrior’s. Heart. Sacrifice. Yourself. For. Weak. Companions. Olock. Respects.”

After finishing those words, Olock the High orc berserker disappears closing the ten steps distance in a blink of an eye. Kiarra couldn’t react in time as she is slammed with another powerful punch. She is catapulted up into the air before crushing down on the ground vomiting a mouth full of blood. Her vision blurs as she sees the impending danger loom over her.

As the hand of Olock draws near her figure, a powerful arrow strikes at him, pushing him back five steps away from Kiarra. Olock is confused as where the attack came from. He looks at the direction of the arrow that had struck him.

More arrows come hurtling in manoeuvring in between the trees as if alive before contacting Olock’s body. Bruises appeared on him. It seems this attacker shouldn’t be underestimated.

A leaf falls from a tree as a figure appears near Kiarra without so much as a sound. A 20-year-old white male having emerald eyes and eating a blade of dry grass. In his hand, he holds a bow and has arrows on his back. His lime hair that has a nice long tangled strand of hair gently sways with the wind.

“You’re reckless as always Kiarra,” he says, eyes fixed on the High orc berserker. His voice is calm and full of charm, unwavering from the threat before him.

A healing potion is released from his storage ring as it lands directly in Kiarra’s hand.

“N-Noah,” Kiarra says weakly.

“Drink it and regroup with your unit. I passed them by on my way here. They seemed worried. Don’t worry, I’ll take care of this guy.”

Even though he said that. Noah knew more than anyone that he couldn’t win against this level of an opponent.

“You. Strong. But. Strength. Not. Enough. You. Not. Devil. Child.” A strong surge of bloodlust explodes out of Olock as he readies himself to attack.