Chapter 21- Orc Settlement

*Step*

As he walked through the darkness, Arthur's steps echoed through the giant walls of the cave, spreading everywhere around him. The sound of droplets of water falling from the ceiling on the ground constantly played in Arthur's ears.

'You really didn't have to program this part, guys. I can't even see the goddamn droplets of water.' He sighed as he tried to keep his calm. Although Arthur was never really someone who gets scared by horror games and the like, this was totally different.

With how realistic Divinity Online is, he couldn't really deny the fact that at that very moment, he was scared shitless. However, scared or not, he didn't stop walking for even a second.

'I don't need to be courageous, I just got to pretend that I am.' He mused as he gulped a mouthful of saliva. His hands gripped the Sanguine Blade for dear life as he kept his senses alerted for any movement around him. 

However, for the first few minutes or so, he didn't encounter anything alerting. The cave was as empty and as quiet as ever. 

"I would really appreciate some company here, guys. Even if it's a hideous creature. Something I can kill!" He muttered. Arthur hated that he couldn't see well in here and the fact he hadn't encountered a monster yet.

*Crack*

As he was walking, Arthur suddenly heard a cracking sound that made him instantly stop in his steps. He wasn't paying too much attention to where he was stepping since he was too occupied with his surroundings. However, when he looked down at where he was about to step, his heart stopped.

Barely an inch away from him was a long drop into somewhere. The hole was quite big and there was no way to pass it or jump over it. 

"... *Gulp* I almost fell." He muttered as he examined the hole. "It seems this is the only path forward. But, can I even jump in this?" 

Since it was very dark, Arthur couldn't really tell if it was a giant hole or a small drop. Jumping in there could kill him if it was long enough.

'Hmm…' Squinting his eyes, Arthur picked up a small rock and threw it in the hole and listened. A second or two later, he heard the rock smash into something at the bottom.

"It's not that deep of a hole, I guess."

Standing up, he took a deep breath. "I'm not a fan of heights. But, all for a good reward, am I right… Hahaha… Ha? Goddamit, I'm such a greedy bastard."

Then, without wasting a moment, he stepped forward and descended into the hole. The darkness engulfed him completely and he found himself unable to feel anything for a moment which terrified him. Eventually, he felt his feet land on the ground with a loud thud.

"Ouch!" Rolling on the ground, Arthur stopped and stood up. 'I'm really glad the pain in this game is minimal. They didn't go full psycho mode and put 100% pain level. Still, I doubt people would've cared. Some perverts would've loved that.'

Although when it was first announced that the game has pain receptors, it received some backlash for that since many didn't want to feel pain. But, that backlash didn't last long since those who liked the concept overwhelmed them in number.

Arthur was on neither side of the spectrum. He had no problem with adding pain to the game, but he also didn't like pain either. For him, it was just another feature that added realism to the game.

With that, Arthur continued walking through the narrow passage for a while. He didn't encounter any monsters yet which put him on edge even more. The lack of sounds and movement was almost hypnotizing in a sense. 

Being this deep inside a cave, alone, engulfed by darkness was no fun experience. It felt almost like Arthur was being suffocated by these walls.

However, all of that suddenly changed in one single moment. After walking for a while, Arthur saw the end of the tunnel not that far away. So, instinctively, he rushed toward it. But, upon reaching it, he saw something shocking.

"... What the hell…?" He frowned visibly from surprise.

The exit of the tunnel led to a massive chamber in the cave. The chamber was easily a few kilometers long with gigantic walls that reached dozens of meters in the air and a terrifying ceiling that covered the entire place. Since the tunnel Arthur emerged from was high in the air, it overlooked the entire place and gave him a good view of everything.

However, what was the most eye-catching thing in this entire place was the things he saw at the bottom, in the heart of the chamber. There, Arthur saw several huts built out of what seemed to be old wood. These huts were surrounded by wooden, broken walls and what seemed to be flags made out of cheap clothes.

"Is that… a settlement?" Arthur muttered. No matter how he looked at it, the huts looked like a very crude settlement built by a bunch of cavemen. his moved across the entire settlement until they landed on two figures standing near the gates of the settlement.

The two figures were rather tall with exceptionally muscular bodies. Their wrinkly, old-looking skin was a hideous green and their faces looked like those of horrid abominations with two large tusks coming out of their mouths and no nose.

Their appearance was very familiar to Arthur. "Very orc-looking orcs… Uh, maybe they're looking a little too old for a healthy orc." He muttered as he crouched down.

From what he could see, there were only two monsters. But, he was certain that beyond those walls, even more were waiting for him. 

'This is a rather sticky situation, I can't lie. Can I take them down effectively and find the eye of a young orc? Uh, well, I guess I have to try to know.'

So, with that in mind, Arthur slowly approached the ledge and slowly made his way down while making sure not to catch the attention of the two old orcs. Since the entire place was very quiet, any small noise he would make was very likely going to catch their attention.

However, Arthur was luckily able to pull it off. Using his newfound power, he could easily carry his own weight with his hands which made climbing down a lot easier. When he reached the bottom, he slowly made his way around to get a closer look at the settlement and the monsters.

He reached a small boulder in the corner and crouched behind it as he watched the two creatures move around. They seemed to be working as some kind of guards as they patrolled the area around the settlement.

'Good, they aren't always together. I can take them down one by one.' He thought to himself. But, the most crucial part in all of this was naturally the stealth.

Arthur had to effectively take each one down without letting it alert the rest of the orcs. If he were to face a dozen or even more of these things, he was certain that he would die.

'It's not like it's high stakes or anything. I'm just going to lose my sword. Haha… Ha… *Gulp*'

Feeling the pressure on his shoulders, he decided to focus as he watched one of the orcs move toward him. At the same time, the other one vanished on somewhere, leaving Arthur and the monster, alone.

"Hmm, I guess this is the perfect opportunity to use Blood Arrows."

Since he didn't want the monster to see him, an effective kill from a long range would be the best course of action and coincidentally, he had the perfect ability for that task. 

Taking a deep breath, Arthur channeled his mana through his body. Then, when he activated the skill, Arthur felt that energy accumulated in his hand. He watched the process with curiosity mixed with awe.

The energy then left his body and manifested on the top of his hand in the form of red, long arrows. The seamless transformation happened quickly and effectively. There were exactly three arrows floating on his hand.

'Oh, I like this!'

A//N: Hand me your PS!