Chapter 640 - Level Two

Just like what Julian had told the group earlier, the Uruks were not only stronger and had better equipment than the orcs, they were also well-trained in battle. In addition, they have a semblance of tactics and the capability to understand orders.

Right at that moment, Emery realized that he was no longer fighting a mindless creature but one that he would meet when he was on a real battlefield.

Fighting against the Uruks and the champion felt so similar to fighting the Terra silver and golden warriors. However, the differences were these creatures have twice the numbers of the warriors and possess a different fighting style that completely emphasized their innate advantage of physical strength.

The Uruk have metal armor covering their shoulder and chest. They also wield a huge saber as their weapon of choice, a completely different way of fighting than the orcs. 

It was just as Julian said, this was a good chance to get used to the creature's fighting style before they got overwhelmed by waves of them in the later level.

However, it was much easier said than done.

Emery's blade clashed against the Uruks, generating sparks and creating loud, ear-piercing noises. Their numbers, coupled with their above-average innate strength and fearless fighting style, managed to send Emery to a corner and forcing him to use his spell already.

[Shadow Mist]

Black smoke seeped out from every crack and orifice, coalescing into shadows that were reminiscent of his form. This was a mere low-tier spell that required only a small amount of spirit power and didn't take much concentration to cast, hence, Emery was able to focus on his sword skills.

Illusions similar to himself appeared all over the bridge, and even though the Uruks' could understand commands and have some understanding of tactics and strategy, their intelligence still haven't reach that necessary level to properly react to the illusions as they were immediately distracted, chasing and slaying black replicas of Emery while completely ignoring the real one. 

As a result, the hard situation Emery got himself in was immediately resolved and he was able to kill them one by one effortlessly.

Splat! Splat!

The Uruks' were cut apart by the swords and turned into faint motes of light as soon as they fell into the ground. As one by one the Uruks around started to fall and the area began to clear a little bit, Emery spotted an opening and closed in to attack one of the champions.

Splat!

Blood splattered as he managed to thrust his sword into the champion's chest. However, the orc was not dead yet even with Emery's blade piercing it deep until the tip of the weapon poked out from its back. The orc champion let out a blood-curdling battle cry and gripped Emery's sword arm with a powerful hold.

"Groowlll!!" 

Right as the growl reached the ears of the Uruks, all of them seemed to finally realize about the fake shadows they had been attacking and started to run towards Emery to attack his real self.

Emery tried to temper his strength against the orc champion and release its grip from his wrist, but it proved itself too strong. In the end, he was forced to resort to using [Immortal Gate - Stage 4] to bolster his power enough to release himself for the Orc Champion's grasp.

Right as his sword arm was freed, Emery swung his blade in a wide arc, cutting off the orc champion's head and letting it roll on the ground.

As the head rolled away, Emery cast [Blink], only to reappear a few meters away to catch his breath.

When the orcs came charging at him, multiple arrows came raining down from his back followed by a bolt of lightning from the skies.

Both attacks came from his friends at the back; Chumo and Klea who would quickly fill in whenever one side of the bridge was pushed by the enemy, just like what happened to Emery just now.

Klea raised her tier 4 magic staff, letting bluish-purple lightning balls gather on its tip and threw the magical energy towards the sky. Instantly, a massive blast of thunder fried more than a dozen Uruks to crisp until they all disappeared into energy particles.

[Magic Staff - tier 4]

[Length 1.4 meter, weight 5 kilograms]

[Skill - spell empower]

A glowing orb around as big as a fist was seen attached and shining at the top of the staff in Klea's grasp.

This was the most basic weapon for a magician. It was able to channel spells through the orb to enhance the spell power to a certain degree depending on the time spent to channel and the caster talent.

It is an ideal weapon for a caster that fights within a team. It would allow a higher output with the same spirit energy cost in exchange for a longer casting time. Considering the team would be able to compensate for that by protecting her until her spells hit, this was the perfect weapon.

Emery gave a nod to his two friends and once again charged in, fighting the hundreds of remaining Uruk.

On the other side, Julian and Thrax worked shoulder to shoulder and did their best to protect the 8-meter wide bridge.

Even with their teamwork, it was still a difficult and grueling battle, as they each had to fight against 3 to 4 Uruks at the same time. In order to defend the bridge better, they boosted their [Immortal Gate] to stage 4. Even though they were capable of using the stage 5 gate, they decided against doing so in order not to strain their muscles.

Thrax had much better strength, and as such, he could kill more Uruk in a shorter span of time. However, Julian's battle art, [Shield Charge], was the one that saved the defensive lines most of the time, leaving nothing to pass through.

A few minutes passed, and none of the Uruk managed to come close to the orb while the Earth acolytes gradually got used to the opponent's fighting style.

Splatt splatt!!!

200 Uruks remained.

Their formation was tight, and their teamwork was excellent after rigorous training. With every round of attacks, half a dozen of Uruk or even more fell to the ground and dissipated.

100 Uruks left.

The enemies' numbers steadily decreased and with this, Emery and his friends increased their pace. More and more Uruk fell to their weapons and turned into motes of lights, until finally the last Orc Champion fell, dropped dead to the ground.

As soon as the Orc Champion's decapitated body disappeared, the bridge once again cleared from all of the corpses.

Emery took a deep breath, realizing the achievement he and his friends have done. He knew that the battle wouldn't be this smooth if it wasn't because of their training and the tier 4 weapons on their hands.

However, although no one had gotten hurt, this time they were panting, clearly out of breath. Hence as per training they quickly returned back to the center and Klea used her [Soothing Mist] to freshen them up once again.

[Congratulation on clearing level two]

[You are awarded 5000 contribution points]

[Total number of acolytes: 678/692]

[Five minutes until level 3 started]

Apparently, there were 14 acolytes who failed on the second level. Considering what kind of enemy they faced, Emery guessed that it was either caused by negligence, bad formation, or just insufficient equipment quality.

Five minutes passed, and they have recovered all their strength. The string of victories made them glance at the stone gate, clearly excited and unable to wait to see what kind of battle they would be facing next.

Just like the previous levels, the stone gate swung open, and at first, they merely stared at something that resembled a writhing, moving shadow. 

Right after, they heard the rhythmic banging of leather, as Uruks playing rousing music walked behind a massive figure that stood in the middle. Unlike before, the figure who led the Uruks this time has a form of a warrior king.

[Level three - The Warchief]