"What is this...
You said there was nothing special about this place!" Lit was annoyed.

"But there really is nothing special-"

"Tut-tut-tut..." Lit then pointed at a brown hairy short looking muscular dwarf.
"Then what do you call that!"

"It's a dwarf." Ralph answered.

"Of course it's a dwarf!
And you call that nothing special!?"

"Why are you giddy about meeting these hairy-grumpy-looking-shorties!"

But one of them overheard him since we were a bit close to his shop.

"Aye! call us that again and i'll be throwing this fist into your face laddie!"
A merchant dwarf shouted at him with two hands revealing two middle finger heading towards him.

Lit however had her eyes shining in joy as he heard the dwarf and pulled his arm.
"Did you just hear what he just said...
he spoke at dwarven accent! I feel so happy!"

"Yeah, they gonna kick my ass if I keep talking smack about them.
They are also the type who keeps their word also why are you so happy meeting these guys!"

Ralph couldn't help but feel shocked of how Lit was overreacting over meeting these tiny drunken horrors.
He had seen how they drank with no end in sight and how they chug and glug like tiny mad men who knows no tommorow.

The two of them were currently in the market as they passed by a dwarf merchant selling armor and steel.
Lit soon encountered them while they were gathering information regarding the situation in the town.

"Can I ask you a question?"

"Sure, little lassie."

"Do you guys perhaps know of a way to apply magic protection into a carriage?"

"Hah?" Ralph was confused at her question.

"Sure we can!
My brother's knows of the way's to apply protection against any kind.
Be it magic or steel." the merchant said then he gazed at the lassie seriously.

"But such works are never cheap.." before giving her a grin.

"How much?" Lit asked.

"Not something a poor girlie like you can buy."

"His eyes turned to the man beside her but he didn't say a word."

"Uhh, aren't you going to stop her?" the dwarf asked the man.

"She's more capable than you think..."

Ralph felt like Lit had a plan in mind to earn money.
Despite being currently having only a few coins left in their pockets.

The dwarf nods and gave a sigh while looking at the little miss.

"Do you have the money lassie?"

"Yeah, I will...
Give me a few day's and i'll bring it to ya..." Lit said with a confident smile.

"But not right now,
Since I hadn't brought it yet." 

The dwarf first raised a brow then nods. 

"This better not be some kind of joke.
While we do look short and hairy, we are adults ya know!"

Lit nods as she made a deal.

After a while, they finally got what they came to the market for...

"Still...
I can't believe this place is under attack by orc's two weeks ago."

Lit was surprised as she suspected some kind of existence was trying to mess with her life it turns out it was simply just coincidence.
The blisters in her feet already healed but it still stinged a bit as she walked.

She was worried the wounds on her feet will open up again.

"It's only been four day's since we left Taire,
Guessing from how information regarding this place wasn't spread enough.
That red ogre preying the stone bridge must have cut off all line of information and trade to this place." 

It made sense of how there was no news of orc attack regarding the town of Palia nor any news of the ogre being spread.
One can easily imagine they were killed on the way, while trying to spread the news to Taire.

Lit then sighed at the thought then asked Ralph.

"Well... it can't be helped.
Should I assist the town and put down the orc's?
I'm a bit worried about the Orc archers more than anything else..."

Ralph nodded. "If only we had a priest."

He was concerned for the worst case scenario.

"Sorry, I have no intention of getting injured.
I don't like pain, thank you very much!" Lit rejected such thoughts.

Eventually they found a place to stay in.
They managed to sell the dismantle wolves meat and fur for extra money to stay in a decent inn.

The soft bed made Lit feel at home when they reached the place as she lavished the fluffy pillow as she rested her back from the aching journey. With Ralph glib tongue, he managed to easily barter his way for a large sum of money from the materials they obtained.
However, the fact that the Orc problem is still present made them wonder if they should leave the place or stay.
Till the empire soldiers comes to quell the orc problem.

Or for Lit to step up and deal with the problem.

"Obviusly, i'm helping." Lit  said with confidence.

"Aren't you worried,
That you might draw the wrong attention." Ralph was concerned for her safety.

While lit said.

"Relax... all I am gonna do is wipe them out like how I did with the goblins and wolves.
The Red Ogre is a different kind of species, that I would rather not face again though..."

Then Roel's knights behind her with dark hair then nodded.
"Don't worry, I'll keep her safe." when he said those words with a salute.

Roel gladly allowed lit to borrow her knight,
As he wanted her for some kind of purpose he didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

Ralph could only sigh at her reckless pursuit for trouble.

Regardless, he couldn't complain that Lit's magic was powerful enough to even deal with an ogre and guide them this far.
His eyes gazed at her left shoulder that was injured when they first met and squeezed it a bit.

"Yeow! what are you doing!"

He messed with her old wound to see if it fully recovered.

"Just looking at how your still saying you want to a fight against monsters again, despite already getting injured once.
I don't know if your fearless or just reckless." Ralph could only shake his head in dissapointment.

Lit had faced a few brush with death with a 50% chance of nearly getting severely injured and killed in a terrible manner.

"It's not like i'm doing it on purpose!
I have a reason for doing so!" Lit complained but then said.

"Of course, I'll rest for a while first before lending a hand." she plopped back into the bed as she said she would.

Though, the real reason for Lit's pursuit for joining in dealing with the orc's is to obtain more exp.
To level up and obtain more skills from her class.
She was getting annoyed at how her skills remained sub-par in terms of results.

....

...

...

[A Mercenaries: Pov]

"Shit... how long will this end!"

Their big bulky bodies were tough the ferocity and savage way of fighting made many of them cower.
But a few mercenaries who were long used to such bloody fights already knew how to deal with them.

"If you show that your weak!
They will only get excited when they kill you!
Keep fighting!" Their commander cried out.

The more orc's killed their fellow men the more ferocious they fought as the scent of blood and gore excited them.
Their fat laden with thick muscles caused many to desperately fight.

Archers shot arrows from their wall's, hot oil poured and the stench of burning flesh spreads in the battlefield.

"This is the 8th day, when will this end!"

A bloodshot sorcerer had burned so many orc's yet his mana didn't last.
No matter how many he took down.
More of them came back as if they were endless.

One could question where they came from.
But it's easy to tell that the wasteland nearby Palia was a dwelling place of the orc's where they had decided to migrate and attack any wandering travelers that they could get their hands on.

The sound of beasts cries as the brave warriors fought onwards to keep their town safe as they are attacked on both sides.

Surprisingly, they hadn't fell yet due to the fortification and defenses they had.
But, fatigue was slowly and steadily crippling their morale.

They were undoubtedly experienced,
Armed with magic blades that burned the beasts and armor that could take on their strikes.

Yet it didn't stop the situation from getting out of hand.

Eventually it happened.

The formation broke.

"Shit!
They are getting through!"

"Ah... retreat!
Retreat inside the walls!"

Slaughter could be seen to those who couldn't escape as the orc's mutilated and crush any fleeing stragglers
But then something happened.
Ominous lights from the sky fell like shooting stars and they all came from one direction.

One could wonder what they were...

But they soon found out.

*Crash* *Thud* *Boom!*

Homing missles the size of a head fell and crashed into the orc's as it flew towards them like stars from the heavens.

Meanwhile I young girl who was right in the middle where these stars were coming from was currently in a state of chaos herself.

"Bones... Bones... They... have... all... been... turned... to Booones!"

A young girl was weeping on the top of their town wall while chanting such strange words.

"Why... did they turn to bones."

The eyes of the sorcerer mercenary who saw the young girl conjuring those spheres gazed at her in astonishment.
He didn't notice at first, but...

"Soul Strike." she said in a dull manner.

"They are all bones...
My storage... why... why did all my memories turned to bones." she kept muttering the same thing.

"Sacrifice Bones"

She was weeping for the first time.
Her last hope of finally getting a piece of her past rewards has been completely erased.
Her storage, was also filled with bones empty, deviod of all her efforts.

Only bones were left

"Sacrifice Bones!" she shrieked.

Numerous spheres came out, reaching a number of thousands.

"I'll get rid of all these bones somehow!"

Each soul strike costs [100 mana] for each sphere.

Lit had confirmed this fact...
But due to her high [Mind] Stat, it was a miniscule amount due to her quick mana regeneration.

She didn't care how many she wasted, she just wanted to vent.

What better way to vent but to gain money on top of it.

The Novice Sorcerer who gazed at her couldn't believe his eyes as a little girl younger than himself had suddenly caused such a drastic change in their battle against the orc's.

"BOOOONES!" she shouted.

Unfortunately, she's a crazy little lass who shouted BONES.

Which made him wonder. (Is she a necromancer?)

But her spells was definitely not using the dead, it was simply BRUTE FORCE MAGIC.
As it crushed the heads of Orc's across the field with out end as it homed in like shooting stars.
The warriors who was bravely fighting slowly lowered their sword as they saw the orc's being massacred by such magic that seemed to had no end.

As a young girl danced waving her staff as more came out and spreads across the field following whoever she had marked with her system.

Lit didn't care what they thought, she had a trusted knight beside her.

Arrow flew towards her, but it didn't reach and only hit the walls.
Due to the difference in distance and height of the walls she stood in.

"Fu-ha-ha-ha-ha BOOONES THEY ARE ALL BONES!"

While consumed by such thoughts,
She let loose all her frustration on the orc as the Orc Archer who saw her could only see a dim light heading towards his head.

As it was crushed by some kind of abnormal force.

Meanwhile the knight beside her entrusted to protect her was in bewilderment...
He tried to ask her what's wrong, but Lit simply shook her head and said...

"Don't ask." with a her mouth and eyes filled with despair.

She ignored him and went on to crush the orc's as tasked to do.
The man shook his head and wondered if something is wrong with her head.
After she finally calmed down she apologized to the roel's knight and covered her face in shame.

Meanwhile the novice sorcerer could only gaze at the number of Orc's that fell to the ground.

Three hundred and fifty orc's fell that day and only a single girl came and stood by their wall.
who turned the tide of the North Western walls almost like it was a childish play to her.

It one overwhelming defeat from her magic alone.

Meanwhile the commander who saw it, quickly called for her.

"Are... my eyes deceiving me?"

His aide then said.

"No, general this child truly was the one who caused that rain of dim light unto the orc's.
The amount of destruction she had caused was quite impressive since those things just homed into the orc's head and crushed them like melons."

But Lit words shocked him even more.

"I took the job because there was a claim that we will receive fifty silvers for each orc heads.
Are you guys willing to pay me? or should I quit now before you guys go broke?"

Lit was blunt while she grinned at the commander.
It was cutely said to the extent that they didn't get angry and could only feel confusion and dazzled by such words.

They felt like, they were gazing at a different existence all together.

Aside from exp she desired money.

The Wolf fur/meat wasn't enough to pay for the improvement for their carriage.
Lit wanted the latest and lavish ride that could let them move to the capital of kalis as smoothly as possible.

The commander who was leading the North west then sighed...
He then requested her to go to the North East wall's where the battle is still raging and in a similar fashion.
She obliterated another group of Two hundred orcs as there was much more casualty on their side than the one Lit was in...

It was needless to say, she received attention due to her action.

"Little Mage." was what she wrote in her identification.

"Lit for short." It was a quick way to earn money while she disliked attention,
Lit wanted to use the money for only one purpose.
And thus words spread that a powerful tiny mage had appeared with the strength to crush hundreds of orcs appeared.

Slaughtered them all.

"Ralph! did you managed to gather information to the thing I asked for?"

He nodded.
"However... the response was not good.
You want to improve your clothes to be able to defend attacks.
But such robes are only made by the elves.

Dwarves are good with armor, but they can't really apply it to fabric."

"What about the deal with the dwarves?"

"They agreed and was thankful for your help in dealing with the orc."

Replacement for a better carriage was well underway.
They still had a long distance till they reach Kalis.
It wouldn't hurt to apply protection magic in their own carriage using their knowledge.

Lit had enough of dealing with ogre's and didn't want to risk using her [Bone Craft] to save the day only to feel like crap.

"Still i can't believe you received 250 gold from killing those orc's in a day." Ralph complained.

"Is there still a chance for me to marry a kid like you?" 

Lit couldn't believe the audacity of his joke.
"So... your willing to be my slave for the rest of your life?" as she retorted to his joke.

"Ahahaha... definitely not." he replied.

As the two did their usual banters.

"Dealing with those brute's was easier in comparison to that ogre.
I'm just glad, it went smoothly."

Lit was confident that her action was justified...
After all...

All she I had were bones and it was the perfect time to waste em.

While she was storing the gold coins she received from the general Palia.

[Weight Limit Reached]

It spew a single large coin that smacked her face as that part of her face grew red.

Unfortunately, the gold coins were heavier than she thought and could only place [100 pc's] of them.
While the rest were taken by hand in sacks.

A gold coin is enough to feed a person for at least a two weeks.
This alone proved it's worth.

It was needless to say...
Lit now has a decent supply of money to spend for her own use.
Now the sacks in the knight's arms numbered one hundred gold coins as it was also hanging on his waist.

In a sense, she was now incredibly rich and riches often drew in pests.

As shadows in their inn loomed in the streets of Palia.

...

...

...

-Night time-

*Blip* *Blip*

(Ah... I knew something like this will happen.)

Her map was now covered with red dots as it surrounded the inn.

(I'm amazed it can detect hostility from people as well.)

"This at least makes it easier for me to bring them down."

Though, the red dot's were one by one being eliminated.

"Huh?" she went down to meet the person who dealt with the red dot's.
Only to her surprise she saw the Knights standing outside with blood on their swords.
Their eyes soon turned to the small figure inside the Inn.

"Hm? miss lit?"

"Ah..." I was quickly found out.

The two knights looked cool under the moonlight, they were undoubtedly sent to protect the Roel.
Their skills in dealing with humans is undoubtedly greater than facing an ogre.

Lit then bowed to them in thanks to their work and decided to go back in the inn and rest.

"Looks like I didn't need to intervene." She said to herself as she went back to her room.

She had thoughts of who could have sent such people to her.
It's very unlikely that the commander of the town walls would try to assasinate her for mere gold.
But the news of her success had definitely rose to the point where thieves and bandits will try to aim for her life.

Looking at how the knights didn't struggle it was clear that it they were untrained as she peacefully slept that night.

...

On the next morning, Lit decided to change her clothes to Brown Thick Cape.
It had already spread in town of what her appearance was...
So she was concerned that there would be people aiming for her life or trying to scheme against her.

Needless to say, she wanted out of the town as quickly as possible...