Chapter 37: The Test Begins

Chapter 37: The Test Begins Elliot's group now had seven members: two women and five men. Most were between 14 and 16 years old, with the exception of Elliot and Rich Ford, who were the oldest, having just turned 18. Most of the more than 200 people present were between 14 and 16 years old, so Elliot's being so much older attracted attention, which made many recognize him and wonder what he was doing there. Even so, no one said anything out of respect for their elders. After the shot, Chris nodded to everyone. "Let's not waste any time. As we investigated earlier, the test was indeed to kill Orc Wizards, so we'll use the strategy we planned yesterday." "Hehe, remember to try to keep up with us, guys." Elliot simply nodded, feeling a little tense. This would be his first time hunting Rank D beasts, and among them were Orc Wizards, some of the most dangerous creatures in Rank D. 'I don't know how strong these Orc Wizards are because there are so many beasts in this open dungeon, but I may be forced to use my saved points.' He looked at the system; he had earned 3 points in the last few days just by collecting. Since many awakened beings were constantly fighting in training, he was able to collect a good amount of energy just by watching them, and after some specific training, he was able to convert it into points. In addition, this allowed him to learn a lot about combat. By observing the energy these individuals utilized, he realized that he had an innate "talent" for learning different fighting styles, as he could see the colors of their energy. This enabled him to gain a deeper understanding of the art of battle. As he thought, they began to quickly enter the dungeon. With so many dungeons nearby, they had to ignore many good beasts in order to reach the area where the Orc Wizards were. It took about 15 minutes of travel before they finally saw the first Orc Wizards. There were three of them. Chris immediately hid among the trees and asked everyone to be quiet. "Orc Wizards are sensitive. While they don't have magic to discover our hiding places, they have highly developed hearing, so if we move carelessly, we will be discovered." Thanks to him, those who didn't know could quickly keep quiet. He then looked at his watch and nodded. "We have approximately 1 hour and 40 minutes to hunt 14 of these creatures. Finding a group of 3 is a good start, so let's do this quickly. I'll go over the plan." "You." He pointed to a muscular man wearing flashy but poorly made armor. "You'll use your tanking skills to draw attention while you throw yourself off the tree. After that, Elliot and I will follow you to kill the Orc you manage to lure, but make sure you jump straight ahead, as we need to hide behind you so we don't get noticed." "Miss Jenna will find an opportunity to attack the orc who falls behind after the first attack, and Miss Support will support us from behind." "Rich, you and the Young Assassin need to do as much damage as possible from behind, attacking with the cover provided by Miss Jenna." "Understood?" Everyone nodded. They had gone over the plan several times and were confident that, as long as there were no Orc Warriors, this was the best way to hunt with a group of seven. Now, the premise was that there were no Orc Warriors. 'Luckily, there aren't any here. It's rare to find a dungeon with wizards but no warriors or tanks,' Elliot thought. Although it was strange, he didn't care. The important thing was that they could hunt three heads right now. Then the tank stood on a sturdy branch of the tree where they were, which was a little low but hidden among the branches of other trees, and took a deep breath. His eyes widened, and he drew a long sword, pulling a huge shield from his inventory. Although the material they were made of was low-grade, this still gave him enough confidence to charge at these Orc Wizards. "HUUUUUUOH!" His mouth emitted a powerful roar, activating his tank ability. This immediately drew the attention of the three Orcs, but one of them was specifically closer to him because they were moving in a triangle formation. "GUUAAAARRH!" After a roar, the Orc in front raised both hands and created a mighty fireball that crashed into the attacker's shield. "Heh, very weak!" He managed to pierce through it with ferocity and smiled above his shield, although it was really hot and weakened his fall. In the end, it was just a quickly created ball of fire. It wasn't too powerful. The tank swung his sword vertically to strike him, but the Orc's flesh was so tough that even an attack with all the strength of a big guy like him only managed to open a large wound and didn't tear off the limb he wanted. "NOW!" Chris leaped from above and moved behind the tank until he was close to the Orc, who was trying to counterattack. His sword glowed in his hand, and he attacked several times with good precision, trying to kill the Orc in one blow. Suddenly, his sword pierced the flesh with terrifying ease, and in less than a second, the Orc's head was floating in the air, caught by Elliot with agility. Chris frowned. 'What just happened?' He looked at the Orc lying in pieces on the ground and was shocked. The big man stood in shock, staring at Chris. 'I couldn't cut him in half with all my strength and the momentum of the fall, but he could cut him in half in such a short time and with such precision...' He was amazed by the great strength the leader had shown. He had always known he was powerful from how he acted and walked, but he didn't think he was that strong. Elliot smiled at Chris. "Well done." Then he handed him the head, as he was the leader and had to keep it. And then he went to help kill the other two. In front of him was a message from the system. [You have killed a White Skin Orc Wizards] He smiled. 'It's the sword. I didn't expect it to be so good.' Happiness overwhelmed him, and with his help and the quick arrival of Chris and the tank, they managed to finish off the other two orcs quickly. "Let's move out. Let's take advantage of our high morale to hunt as many as we can." At Chris's shout, everyone began to search for more Orcs.