Green Eyes, Orange Blade(3)

Screeching, a goblin swung a shortsword at me.

I saw it coming, so I was able to dodge by sidestepping. Without missing a beat, I grabbed onto the goblin's arm with both hands before slamming my knee into its gut.

Goblins didn't have much Vitality, so they were pretty fragile compared to other Yellow Dungeon Monsters.

The goblin coughed and screeched as I continuously hit its gut with my knee. Then, I held the goblin's arm close to me and used my knee to snap it at the elbow.

The goblin screamed in pain as it let go of the shortsword. I threw the goblin to the ground before stomping the heel of my foot into its throat. After stomping on it a couple more times and making sure the goblin was dead, I bent down and picked up the shortsword.

"Are you sure you can fight?" Uma asked me from behind.

"My muscles are aching pretty badly, but I can just get healed later," I responded.

Uma looked at me with a conflicted expression. I could tell that he wanted to make me leave. He was concerned about me, but he also knew I wouldn't listen to him.

"What about your family?" Uma hesitantly asked, "What happens if you get way too injured or killed?"

"They're the ones that I'm doing this for, Uma," I looked at him, "I've already gotten a lot stronger. Besides, if I really think I'm going to die, I know how to get away. I've survived four years as an E-Rank, remember?"

I wasn't trying to come off as arrogant or conceited. All I was trying to do was ease Uma's worries. Knowing Uma, if something happened to me, then he'd feel responsible.

Testing the weight of the shortsword in my hand, I looked over to the crowd of Monsters that had gathered around the Boss Monster.

"It's an Orc General," I stated, "It should be around lower B-Rank with high Strength and Vitality. It has the ability to command orcs and goblins that have lower status than them."

Uma nodded in acknowledgement.

"Everyone!" I heard Beast Tamer yell, "Listen to me!"

In an instant, all heads turned towards Steven Ark.

"Those orcs and goblins will be a problem," Steven said, "The Orc General will use the smaller Monsters to weaken us! After finishing those smaller Monsters, the Orc General is going to fight us himself with the help of those goblin magicians!"

Nobody questioned Steven Ark. Everyone here knew that he was the strongest person at the moment with adequate experience with Monsters and Dungeons.

"I'll take on the Orc General myself," Steven continued, "I'm going to need people to get the goblin magicians while I'm doing that."

The moment Steven finished speaking, the horde of orcs and goblins started rushing towards where everyone was.

People were about to move, but suddenly, a wave of fire engulfed the front rows of orcs and goblins.

"I just turned B-Rank here," a stranger said, "I've gotta test out my power!"

Standing there was a man with messy red hair. He had a smug smirk on his face and there was a flame-like glimmer in his green eyes. He wore a red robe with golden embroidery and black combat boots. There was a ball of fire floating above his palm.

I heard a lot of murmurs among the other Heroes.

"What is that kid doing…" Uma sighed exasperatedly.

"You know him?" I asked Uma.

"Yeah…" he nodded with his palm on his forehead, "He's a new kid that was assigned to my patrol party. His name is Flamma. He's only 18 years old, but as you heard, he's already B-Rank. He's a fire combat mage."

"Hmmm…" I hummed in acknowledgement.

He must be decently skilled if he's a Hero at the age of 18 regardless of his status as a B-Rank. Judging from his expression, it looks like he's another one of those Heroes that chase fame and fortune. I hope that isn't the case though.

When the flames subsided, the ground was left scorched and there were many blackened corpses on the ground.

"Keep doing that, kid," Steven Ark said with a slight smile, "Let's finish this up quickly."

"I like the way you talk, old man," Flamma grinned widely.

Flamma took a couple steps forward before raising his hand up flamboyantly. Spears of fire appeared in the air all around him, illuminating the night.

The confused army of orcs and goblins could only stand still as the spears of fire rained down on them. The fire spears would impale the Monsters before burning them alive.

Many screeches could be heard from the burning Monsters.

"Magic Energy Gathering!" Flamma said with a huge grin on his face.

The moment he said that, orange magic energy pooled in his hand. The magic energy in his hand grew larger and larger. Then, it formed into a ball.

Flamma raised his knee, getting into a sort of pitching position. Then, he threw the ball of magic energy into the crowd of Monsters. The moment the ball landed, a huge explosion of fire erupted in the crowd, charring many Monsters and sending their corpses flying.

"Phew!" Flamma sighed as he watched his handiwork, "I think I'm out of juice."

Flamma was definitely powerful. He was also really good at controlling his magic. He's definitely got the potential to be a top-class Hero one day.

After Flamma stopped firing his magic the rest of the Heroes started moving. Tankers and other close combat fighters went forward while ranged fighters stayed farther back, providing support.

"You coming?" Uma asked me as he moved towards the army of Monsters.

"I'll wait a bit," I told him.

Hearing what Steven Ark said at first, I got an idea.

While everyone else is dealing with these Monsters, maybe I could go head over to where the goblin magicians are.

Flamma's fire followed by the Heroes' attack left the Monsters confused. I doubt many of them will notice if I slip through them and attack the goblin magicians.

Not only that, but I just happen to be in need of a higher Magic Stat. Majority of the goblin magicians' Stat points are in Magic, so if I get lucky, then my Magic Stat could rise significantly tonight.

The only thing on my mind right now was killing the Monsters and getting stronger. Usually, I wouldn't be so reckless, but tonight was different.

After watching the battle for a while, I decided to go in. Many of the Monsters were focused on their own fights. It helped that tankers were using their Skills to catch the attention of the Monsters.

It didn't seem like any Heroes noticed me either.

I walked past Heroes, orcs, and goblins. Everyone was focused on their battles.

As I was walking, my foot made contact with a goblin's corpse. I looked down and was filled with temptation.

'I can just get a healer to heal me later,' I told myself.

Bending down, I stained my thumb with some of the goblin's blood. Without a second thought, I brought the blood up to my mouth and licked it.

It was a bitter taste, and I felt my stomach churn slightly at the smell. Opening up my Status Window, I was filled with a feeling of satisfaction when I saw how my Speed Stat went up from 41 to 46.

I continued moving towards where the Orc General was fighting with Steven Ark. From where I was, I could see that he had yet to make use of his tamed Monsters and was just using his Magic to fight and defend against the Orc General.

He was probably waiting for someone to get the goblin magicians.

Well, I can't keep him waiting, can I?

When I reached a certain distance away from the goblin magicians, I broke out into a sprint. Holding my shortsword in my hand, I made use of my improved Speed to shorten the distance between myself and the goblins.

There were a total of 6 goblin magicians. They were all grouped together.

It seems that they didn't notice me through the battle, so I was able to catch them by surprise.

Jumping from the crowd, I was able to thrust my shortsword in one of the goblin magician's necks, killing it instantly. Before any of the others could do anything, I used my thumb to consume some of its blood.

Taking a glance at my Status Window that was still open, I was a bit disappointed when I saw that my Magic hadn't increased at all. Instead, I got unlucky and my Vitality only improved from 20 to 22.

Looking at the goblin magicians, I could see that they were all preparing magic to use on me.

The two that were closest to me had rocks floating near them while the other three had fire and pure magic energy floating in the air.

Rocks were launched towards me with earth magic, but I was able to deflect them with ease. Goblins weren't very high ranking Monsters, so I outclassed them by quite a bit. Especially since they were magicians, they wouldn't be able to compete with me when it comes to physical strength.

I just have to watch out for the fire and magic energy.

Following the rocks, came the fire, before the magic energy flew towards me.

I ducked underneath the fireballs and dove into a roll to avoid the magic energy while moving closer to the goblins.

I lunged from the ground, slicing a long gash on one of the goblin's torsos. I thrust my other hand into the goblin's throat, grabbing it. Then, I brought the tip of my sword to the goblin's forehead before piercing its brain.

I quickly licked some blood from the gash on its chest before flinging the corpse at the nearest goblin.

Surprised, the other goblin screeched while activating some fire magic, which ended up setting the corpse on fire.

While the corpse and flames blocked me from the goblin's sight, I moved towards the other three goblins.

'My Magic went up,' I thought after taking a glance at my Status Window, 'It's at 11 now.'

I could see panic in the goblins' eyes. The three of them started firing off random magic at me.

I ducked underneath some fire. I sidestepped a poorly aimed bolt of electricity. I watched as a bubble of water flew over my head. It was slightly amusing, but I tried not to get distracted.

I reeled back my arm and thrust my sword deep into one of the goblins' skulls, killing it.

Then, I twisted my waist and slammed the flat of my blade against a goblin's skull, causing it to drop to the ground in a daze. I dodged another ball of fire from the other goblin before stomping on the neck of the goblin on the ground.

Then, I lunged toward the third goblin and slammed my shoulder into it, knocking it off balance. While it stumbled, I kicked its leg, making it fall down. Just like I did with the other goblin, I shoved my heel into the goblin's throat, breaking its neck.

I used my sword to draw blood from each of the goblins' corpses. After consuming the three goblins' blood, my Speed had gone up to 49 and my Magic was at 20.

After that, I turned towards the last goblin magician who was cowering on the ground.

I stared at it a bit before stepping towards it, getting down into a crouch, and slitting its throat. As it died, I got some of its blood on my thumb and licked it.

"Nice," I thought aloud as I saw my Magic rise up to 22.

Standing here, surrounded by corpses, I celebrated my growth.

However, my celebration was cut short by an angry roar.

My head snapped towards the direction of the roar. My face paled the moment I saw the Orc General glaring right at me.

Beast Tamer and the Orc General had been fighting up until now, but it seems that due to the deaths of the goblin magicians, the Orc General's attention has shifted upon me.

Before I could even react, the Orc General was in front of me.

I was unable to do a thing as the Orc General raised one of its axes up into the air.

Then, the axe came down on me…