Chapter 79 Well Hidden

The stage was broad. I could do that just fine. Oh, and it sure went quickly. It was super sudden. I just entered the action, and I'd already bumped into an enemy. Gripping more fiercely onto the hilt of my sword, I unleashed it and slashed at the enemy. The foe was only one orc who'd been unfortunate enough to cross paths with me right from the get-go.

And while being unfortunate wasn't enough misfortune for himself, he also didn't notice me at all. I was too tiny compared to him, so I understood. Maybe I was too quick, too. Either way, I could afford to assault the demi-human before he noticed anything. Down on his right flank, I decided not to go too strong and only gashed two clean cuts. The cut was shallow, as expected, but the orc did lean to the side. Noticing me, he let out a grunt.

And suddenly, I felt something behind me. A huge sword rushed toward me. From behind, the blow was aiming at my head. Although I still hadn't gotten to know any of that yet, thanks to my high Sense statistics, I could more or less tell. Mana Perception also enabled me to feel the sword behind my back anyway, so I thanked my skill. Clenching my jaws together, I quickly bent downward. Thanks to that amateur's move, I wasn't chopped. Evading the orcish broadsword, I got closer to the orc I just wounded.

Maybe I underestimated the blow I'd inflicted on the demi-human. He still leaned to the side, with a hand wrapped on his right flank, but now his massive bulk fell to one knee. To the two orcs, it seemed an habile human boy was attacking them. Now, another human joined the boy. Coming at the wounded orc on the other side, the soldier saw the enemy wasn't well, so he wouldn't let that chance slip.

The demi-human became prey to the arriving soldier, and he intended to kill the beast. But the orc was mine. I had wounded him first, so I reasoned the demi-human was my prey. My shortsword frowned with me and danced closer to the orc, but I turned around the beast, evading yet another blow from the orc behind my back, and… swinging a rapid slash at the human soldier, with a loud Clang, the soldier's breastplate protected him and made my sword bounce off of the metallic structure.

My thought process was the following: Ah, I thought, the weapon nearly slipped my hand. Let's apply some of that Knit Cobweb skill and be sure my sword doesn't escape me, hm.

But how stupid was I? Was I attacking a human out of the blue? What about my cover? Well, it seemed the idea didn't come to my mind. I wasn't especially annoyed at the human soldier either. I simply felt like cutting the man down. But well, my sword didn't cut through metal. That was to be expected, but I still wanted to give it a try. A bit disappointed with myself, I couldn't wound him.

After I'd attacked him, the human's expression, behind his helm, was more than puzzled. At first, I didn't quite get why, but then I understood I shouldn't have attacked the man. Hitting the armored soldier, though I didn't kill him, I pushed him down. The soldier cursed the "fucking adventurers," and I forgot him. The wind blew on me and I turned to the orcs. Thinking 'Chain Attack', the two demi-humans were to be dealt with.

Without a second to let go to waste, I got back to it. There wasn't more than a meter between us. That meant my shortsword could bite right through him. The prey was mine alone, and it was within my range. Using Chain Attack, I would deal three blows to the opponent.

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The first of these three resulted in a Clang. It was more or less parried. With a continuous movement, my arm went from right to left, wiping off the wounded orc's sword to the side. Another blow of the broadsword swung at me, but I parried it, this time. And so… I felt happy. It was the first time I parried a sword head-on. Smiling, I glanced up at the orcs' faces… but they weren't so happy. They were really far from it, to be honest. What is wrong with them, I thought. Why are they only grimacing and scowling at me? God, some people don't know how to have fun. Just smile already, guys!

One of the orcs, the wounded one, was more panic-stricken than annoyed. The other one was different. The beast emitted some thick bloodlust at me, and I could feel it through my bones. It only sort of itched. It was nothing—and I meant that: nothing—from the freezing chill that ran down my spine when I first encountered the good ol' old man I recruited, back in his little cozy house in the forest.

Smiling higher and brighter, I decided to let some of my aura show through, too. To the orcs, the smiling boy instantly turned into a monster. Thick dark waves of mana steadily leaked out of me. By many leagues, I outdid the orc. And I couldn't even afford to go all out. Well. Showing my white teeth, I grinned at my prey. Like a slithering snake, I attacked again. Drawing a quick line at the two orcs, I sent a slash of dark magical energy at them. It was clean and brief. The quest indicated 9 enemies, and then 10/30.

I had dealt with the orcs—now was the human soldier's turn. Again, I didn't think things through, because if I did, I would have just run to someplace else, forget about the soldier, and not lose my cover. Right now, I was too rash and excited to think anything through, however. I turned to the soldier, swung my sword at him, and easily stabbed through the armor, this time. Wrapping my sword with my mana definitely changed the effect of even the most regular blow. Thinking I should have my old man teach me about mana, I watched a man die.

The quest indicator went up to eleven. No enemies remained around me. No enemies that directly attacked me, that is.

Then, I was off again. For a minute, my eyes wandered around the battlefield, and I observed what was going down, taking in all within me.

The same sort of fight I went through was taking place somewhere around me. Three orcs fought six humans. The humans surrounded and circled around them, playing cautiously. And the orcs attacked as if aimlessly, playing desperately. My eyes didn't stay put. On the left, I observed a female orc pinned to the ground. The beast was stabbed till she breathed her last. My wandering eyes wandered some more, and I noticed a cluster of human soldiers forming in front of me. They were gathering, it seemed to me. A dozen or so.

Looking at me, they were abashed. A human boy's face, in front of them, was tainted with blood and exhaustion. Maybe they wondered about the childish-looking boy, with his big observing eyes and listless expression, who didn't move, on the battlefield.

Their swords hung by their hips, and soon, the human soldiers looked menacing. I wasn't nearly tall enough to have my sword swing by my side, too, as I stood up, so, my sword, in comparison, didn't look so menacing.

Thinking that, maybe, if I had a dagger or some shorter sword, maybe I could have the luxury of letting my sword hang by my side, with its tip dangerously drawing random circles as it swung in the air. But I had no dagger. And so… I snapped out of it and drew in a long breath. What was I thinking about that for?

In all the ruckus of this place, I realized the humans were still standing in front of me. For a minute, both they and I didn't move. From behind their helmets, I couldn't see them, but I sensed they were somewhat confused. Though confused they may have been, they still had to ready themselves for what had to go down, now.

And so, I readied myself, too. My sword drew a line up, and I held it to them. As I did that, they mirrored me. Weapons were brought up; I paid full attention to them. Among countless others, a cry ranged out, behind my back—a mixture of rage and sorrow—but I didn't move my head to look. The group of soldiers didn't pay attention either.

For a moment, all of my surroundings seemed soundless—the humans started their rush toward the monster. A collision was about to occur, so I braced myself for impact, but before the wave of soldiers ran me over, they parted into two groups and ignored me, as they rushed past me, to the frontline. Of course, I thought, dejectedly. They didn't rush to a monster. They rushed past a boy.

And so, the boy's arm and sword went down again. A drop of sweat trailed down my forehead, as gently as it could, rolling down my nose through which I breathed vigorously. Quickly, following the drop of sweat, the tip of my sword hit back the ground. I entered the same passive state I was in a minute ago. Standing, I looked up at the blue sky.

My thoughts were headed home. I didn't count them: many a group of other soldiers passed by me. Their armors chanted their metallic Clangs. Most of them were soldiers, looking the exact same version of a soldier, ignoring some slight differences. Some of the fighters were adventurers, it seemed to me. And anyway, I was satisfied to have them all run past me and ignore me.

The monster I am was well hidden here.