A 'Deadly' Flame

[Mana Bolt] had levelled up by three, reaching level four. 

[Bitter-Sweet Hell's Inferno] had levelled up by two, which was still good for Skullius. He had been interchanging the spamming of his skills with one full mana tank used for one skill at a time.

With [Hell's Inferno], he had been visualising what he had seen Vijak do when manipulating the fire. According to his own inference, Vijak had been manipulating a fire-related skill through Mana Manipulation which he believed the high-level goblins to be using. Unfortunately, Skullius hadn't been able to successfully manipulate the flame from his skill.

However, his [Basic Mana Manipulation] had levelled up twice from his attempts, which was a welcome boon.

There was skill on Skullius' guidance field that he always lamented at not being able to use. Or rather, he could use it, but it just wouldn't do anything.

~~~

[Null Life Aura | Lv.1]

An expansive influence of the user anchored on their chosen affinity. It bears a Serene, but potent effect on enemies and the user.

<Affinity : None>

-Effect-

None

~~~

Apparently, he needed an affinity for this skill to work and he didn't know how to go about it.

This was the reason he had been unable to use it at all previously and the same was true for Red Rage.

Concerning the Apostle, most of his skills had levelled up very well which made Skullius grind his teeth while giving his Apostle a hateful thumbs up.

Naturally, Red Rage reciprocated with his own.

[Climb], [Basic Bow Mastery], [Flash Throw] and [Dash in Dust] had levelled up to 5 times while the rest were pretty much the same.

Furthermore, Red Rage had borrowed the steel sword and begun sword practice.

As a result, the Apostle had awakened [Basic Sword Mastery].

This particular absurdity didn't infuriate Skullius as much, as he considered that when Red Rage reached Tier 1, he would be more deserving of a physical-combat based class, thus he had given the sword to Red Rage for permanent use.

"Well, that's it for now. Let's go and find some prey."

Skullius thought to cross over to the other side of the gorge, but stopped.

"Why risk facing new, maybe stronger enemies? It would probably be safer to start searching from the goblin settlement and beyond. There should be weaker creatures, right? Besides, for now, I can only prey on the weak."

Having decided that, Skullius and Red Rage cautiously scaled the rocky slope where they had come from.

Where the goblins and orcs had faced off was a distance away, but it didn't hurt to be extra cautious.

The two climbed up and saw the familiar greens again. It almost felt like a lifetime ago when they had last been here.

Entering into the vast forestry, Skullius decided to activate [Basic Mana Manipulation] so that he wouldn't be caught off guard by any creatures within the vicinity.

Given the fact that the two had been running at full speed when they fled, walking back took quite a bit of time.

The two journeyed cautiously, with Red Rage already being hyped for some more killing as was the trend that he was currently going with since last night. Well, since he was summoned actually exact.

When it came to this world, Aigas, the rules pertaining to time were rather simple and similar to other worlds that existed, with little deviations.

A day was made up of 24 hours, a month, 30 days and a year, 450 days fitted within 15 months.

As mentioned before, the distinction between day and night was depicted by a bright yellow sun that was rising at this moment while in the night, no object would hang in the air to provide light. The bright blue sky produced a dull luminance with seasonal variations.

The Boneman and his Apostle saw something in the distance that grabbed their attention.

Two things, in fact.

For one, numerous orcs were carrying the dead bodies of other orcs as well as those of goblins.

Skullius recalled that this was the place where the battle occurred last night. It was painfully clear given the state of the ground.

The second thing was something he wouldn't have noticed from this distance if he wasn't paying attention.

A portion of the forest was black, a distance away. Trees, bushes and grass couldn't be seen through the spaces between the vegetation that was nearer to him.

'What happened there? That's the direction of the goblin settlement, right? How unlucky can they get?' Skullius thought.

As Skullius approached, he heard the conversations between the orcs.

"Can we eat these today? I'm starving," one orc said as it pointed at the dead body of a goblin.

"Shut up, you fool! You can't eat these, they have poison in their bodies!"

"Really, Gi'Gane? But still..."

Red Rage was about to shoot forward when Skullius immediately held him down.

"Stop! I'm taking the lead this time!" he growled as he walked forward, his image, wrapped in robes and with a staff in his hand being made known to the orcs who immediately became vigilant... then horrified!

"An undead! What is an undead doing here?!"

"Run! Run!"

"Grrr!"

Of the eight orcs there, half were trembling while others showed their aggression.

One orc in particular holding a crude axe, advanced towards Skullius who confidently looked at it.

Skullius checked the orc's status.

~~~

[ Name : Nuu'Bu ]

[ Tier : 1 ]

[ Class : Warrior ]

[ Level : 4 ]

[ Race : Berserker Orc ]

[ Inv. Status : Starving; could eat a shoe ]

-------

[ Stats ]

[ Strength : 24 ]

[ Agility : 14 ]

[ Intelligence : 4 ]

[ Endurance : 35 ]

[ Luck : 4 ]

-----

[ Health : 50/50 ]

------

[ Mana : 24/24 ]

-----

~~~

"This guy has very low Intelligence. Is that why he isn't afraid? What's wrong with him?" Skullius mumbled to himself.

"RAAAAAAR!"

The orc roared intimidatingly as it continued to advance slowly, its thick hands flexing with its axe.

"Don't try to act tough sockethole, I know you're dumb!" Skullius chortled, making the orcs flinch when it hit them that his taunt was said in their language!

Before they could exclaim and decide on anything else, Skullius' socket flames danced ferociously as he gathered up mana to cast a skill.

He raised his hand, a ball of purplish-orange flame blooming into existence as it illuminated everything around with its glow.

The orcs' jaws fell to the ground in shock and they froze, mortified!

That heat...!

It was staggering!

The orcs had already started to sweat before the fire touched them. Some were considering giving themselves up as docile pork already.

Nuu'Bu stopped his advance. He was sweating too. He began to fall back to his group.

Skullius relished in the enemy's fear and went on to throw over the ball of fire which flashed, covering the distance between him and the orcs in a little more than a breath!

It went on to devour Nuu'Bu and friends.

The fire roared with a deep thrum as it met the earth, a resounding boom rocking the ground and releasing a wave of heat and light!

The [Hell's Inferno] torched an area of approximately five meters, blowing apart trees and melting the ground!

Surprisingly, one of the orcs was flung off by the impact and blown away from certain death with only minor wounds.

The orc tumbled before making a quick effort to stand despite its hanging skin. It watched in horror as its mates were burnt to crisps...and then some!

To make matters worse, one of the stronger orcs didn't get charred to oblivion. Not immediately, at least. It screamed as it flailed its arms, spewing dark smoke!

Its body was on fire, the tongues of purplish flame licking it making it sound like a walking dish.

Then it happened!

The orc screeched in pain, hollering and howling with a blood-curdling screech!

"EEEEEEEAAAAAAAH!"

It moved erratically and then...

An immense wave of pleasure sprang within its body, fueling its will to live for several more moments so that it could continue to... enjoy it!

The orc saw its fellow who was looking at it in horror and extended its hand as it stumbled, making all kinds of unnecessary gestures that made even the air uncomfortable!

Its eyes rolled in ecstasy, its tongue sticking before it began to be consumed by the flame too!

"OOOOHH! AAAAW! Gi'Gane~" It said while releasing fumes. "...Come...closer...OOOOH! Come.. and... let me..."

Skullius: "..."

Gi'Gane: "..."

Even to Skullius, that sounded wrong and he began to wish that this orc had been incinerated into dry pudge instantly like the others.

Thankfully, soon, the burning orc turned into ash, vanishing from the world, permanently!

"At least it packs some power. Can't say I'm disappointed," Skullius said while looking at the crater that was releasing a searing heat.