Chapter 270: Clash (2)

As the life left the creature, Aiden was suddenly alerted to a new notification from his system. Curios of what it might be, he focused his mind and opened the note only to be shocked by its contents.

[Minion: Roas has defeated an opponent (*LOCKED*)! Roas gained 15 XP.]

The minions under his command can gain experience and grow stronger just like him? He couldn't believe it, this was incredible! This way not just him, but everyone that was recognized by the system can grow with him. 

Although he obviously noticed the level and experience sections under their names, Aiden thought that, just like with all the other skills he had, he will have to supply these points himself. 

Now, however, they could just gain the necessary points and get stronger 'normally'. 

'Wonder if the skills they have could also level up? If so, how would they do that? Unlike for mine, there are no points indicating they could assign their points. Hmm…' Aiden was deep in thought, trying to understand just how deep this new system feature was when another notification popped up. 

Taking a quick look over it, he smiled. This time it was Glohn who didn't want to fall too far behind his senior.

[Minion: Glohn has defeated an opponent (*LOCKED*)! Glohn has gained 15 XP.]

Another thing that surprised Aiden was the LOCKED part of the note. What would that part contain, and how could he unlock it?

'Anyway… I can worry about these later. For now, let's just focus on the battle…' He shook his head, with arms folded, he watched the fierce skirmish as if it was some spectacle.

Meanwhile, Glohn, after chopping off and ending his first opponent, raised his weapon high in the air. Focusing on the nearest ranger that already had his third arrow placed and was aiming at Galina in the back, with a boisterous war cry, he threw the huge axe. 

His senses tingling, Glohn quickly ducked down, just in time as the blade of a sword wooshed inches above his head. He grinned feeling the steel pass by above him, missing him by only a hair's breadth. 

Grabbing the deceased, headless orc's long sword, he forcefully pried it out from his cramped fingers. As soon as the blade passed and he felt that orc was pulling his weapon back, getting ready for another swing, he jumped with a spin, swinging his weapon at the same time.

The action, albeit sudden, didn't manage to hit its mark, his opponent managed to raise his weapon just in time, blocking the attack. 

"[Goblin] You think you are stronger huh? Let's see if you can handle a bit more power then!" He spoke with an ever-increasing grin on his face. 

In the next moment, the symbol that looked like a boar-head lit up, glowing in a bright, orange hue, and began to spread, transforming the previously white lines that were spread all around his body with the same color. 

At the same time, the muscles all around his body suddenly bulged and convulsed. Suddenly the standstill that was still ongoing with the clashing blades, changed. Inch by inch, Glohn pushed the edge of his sword closer and closer to the puppeteered orc warrior's neck.

"[Goblin] What's up, suddenly it got hard, huh?!" He remarked. "Don't worry, it will be over soon…"  He grinned, adding even more strength to his attack, pushing his closer and closer to the opponent's neck.

Seeing he couldn't contend with the strange dark green creature's suddenly boosted power, the armored orc warrior jumped back, leaving the clash. Grabbing the handle of his sword with both hands, he looked at his opponent. A guttural growl could be heard from under the thick steel helmet. A pair of blood-red dots, his eyes lit up from behind the visor. A thin film of black energy shined through the steel chest plate, blanketing the orc with a newfound source of power. 

Aiden raised his eyebrows focusing on the event. The orc's power that was close to Glohn's a moment ago, suddenly began to increase. As the dark, sinister energy was released from his body, his power jumped up, surpassing Glohn's by a great deal, and continued to rise every second. 

Feeling that the orc's power continued to rise, Aiden's previously calm look faded, he turned serious. He unfolded his arms, his hands were already in a clawing posture, ready to transform and swipe at a moment's notice.

Although he wanted to jump in, after noticing the expectant, happy, and crazed grin on Glohn's face, he decided to hold himself back for now. The elder ex-goblin shaman's face was similar to a battle-crazed blonde amazon's. Just like the amazon, Aiden realized that Glohn was aware of the change in the situation, but he still wanted to do his best and fight this opponent alone. He wanted, no, he needed this challenge, and it would be cruel to steal this chance from him.

Still, he made sure to keep his attention on their battle and jump in if the need arose. He would not watch twiddling his thumbs as his newly joined family members get hurt or even worse.

Meanwhile, as Glohn was heaving like a madman, waiting for his opponent to get ready, next to him, Roas was in an intense exchange with the other, axe-wielding warrior.

His opponent seemed different than what he expected. From a first glance, he thought that all these orcs were elites, under the direct control of those otherworldly creatures. He expected that due to that, they would barely be more than mere puppets, and wouldn't fight with such ferocity and savageness.

However, his opponent fought like those famed berserkers of the other tribes. They were feral, savage warriors, they were feared and respected by others for their brutality and uncaring attitude during battles. 

Berserkers, unlike other warriors, learned to utilize that natural racial trait, their blood lust. During the battle, the more the fight went on, the harder they were to kill. Their strength continuously increased, their stamina was almost never-ending, their ferocity, savageness, and brutality grew as the fights went on.

You either finished them off quickly, or it was just better to run away. They didn't fear death, they didn't feel pain, they reveled in the carnage, in chaos. They were at their best on the battlefield where blood and guts covered the ground as long as the eye could see.

Roas' opponent was just like that. As their weapons clashed and collided, the more he got hurt, his opponent instead of getting weaker, turned more and more savage. His strikes, swings, and thrusts turned faster, more powerful. What he felt would be an easy battle, got increasingly more difficult. He already had to rely on his magical energies to empower himself, otherwise, he wouldn't be able to contend with his opponent's ferocious swings at all.

Suddenly as he felt a familiar source of dark energy, from his left, he made a mistake. He averted his eyes for a moment, to take a look at what was happening. Although it was for only a fraction of a second, merely a fleeting moment, in combat, that could mean the difference between life… or death.

He felt the danger approaching him and quickly tried to react, but it was still just a bit too late. Before Roas could block the incoming blow, the opponent's axe plunged into the right side of his body. Dark red, thick viscous blood splurted from the point of impact, a jolting, searing pain rapidly spread throughout his body. His nervous system went into overdrive, Roas cried out under the brutal pain.

A pair of dark red eyes lit up under the opponent's visor, a snort could be heard. Instead of pulling his weapon back to strike at Roas again, the orc slowly started pulling it towards himself, aiming to cause maximum damage.

He raised his right leg, aiming to throw a kick at Roas' damaged side. 

"[Orc] Pathetic weakling. That's what you get traitor! I will bathe myself today in your blo-" He taunted, as he launched his feet. However, before his feet had a chance to reach Roas's stomach before he got a chance to finish his words, he suddenly felt a dull pain in his chest. He felt his body turn lighter, his left foot that was previously planted on the ground, suddenly lost its stable footing.

Before he realized he was flying in the air, helplessly flung back by a mysterious force that saved his already defeated opponent.

Helpless, he crashed into the archer standing behind him, pulling him down to the ground with himself, tumbling for several steps before they both finally crashed into the wall. Strangely, despite the steel chest plate that was supposed to protect his body from such accidents, the pain did not subside at all. Instead, he suddenly found that breathing became harder. He tried standing up but was unable to do so. 

He was surprised what had happened, and why did the pain didn't fade away, why he couldn't get back to the heat of the battle. He was a true berserker, he was supposed to be able to withstand any kind of pain, and fight until his last breath. He shouldn't be feeling this helpless unless…

Shocked at the thought, the orc berserker, with great difficulty, lowered his gaze, and looked at the state of his torso, only to be shocked to see that his chest plate was completely shattered from where he received that mysterious impact and that his own dark blood covered a deep looking wound…