I trained my magic for a few days now, and it worked out pretty well. My magic manipulation has risen to Rank G, which has the result that the casting time for my Ice Arrow is reduced to about 30 seconds. Incidentally, my Water Arrow only needs 10 seconds now. I thought about learning new spells, but for now, I continue practicing the basics.

But that was not the only improvement. My Swordsmanship Skill, including my Katana Proficiency, has risen to Rank G, too. It really was about time. With these improvements, my Status looks like this now.

[Status]
Name: Benji
Age: 17
Race: Human [Vampire]
Level: 18

HP: 69/69
MP: 149/149
[BP: 22/22]

Skills:
- Swordsmanship (Rank G)
            - Katana (Rank G)
            - Longsword (Rank H)
- Dismantling (Rank H)
[- Concealment (Rank H)]
- Magic Manipulation (Rank G)
            - Ice (Rank G)
            - Fire (Rank H)
            - Water (Rank H)
            - Earth (Rank H)
            - Wind (Rank H)

Race-Abilities:
- Analyze (0 BP)
- Blood Needle (1 BP)
- Charm (5 BP)
- Blood Regeneration (passive)

* The information in [] is concealed

Today I entered the forest again to improve my Magic Manipulation, and I just defeated a group of four Goblins, when I picked up a new scent. It is a rather large group of Orcs. There shouldn’t be any Orcs out here, and they’re also moving quite fast. But it feels like there is also something weird about this smell.

I close my eyes and concentrate on the smell. There is something different together with this group. Wait!? This is a human presence? And that person is definitely running from the Orcs. Uh, I can’t ignore this situation like this. With this thought, I run towards the group, or to be more precise, I run to the place that group will cross.

I arrive at the road and a carriage, followed by a group of Orcs, is already getting close. I prepare my Ice Arrow, and as soon as the group is in range, I shoot it at the head of the first Orc and it dies. First one down. With this, the Orcs notice me and they immediately recognize me as a threat and charge at me.

I cast my next spell, but for this one I switch to a Water Arrow. A Water Arrow should also be enough to kill them and it has a shorter cast time. If it were not for this, I would continue using my Ice Arrow. But I don’t have the time. I can cast either two Water Arrows or one Ice Arrow before they arrive.

After I shot the two Water Arrows, two more Orcs are down. That means there are 7 Orcs left. In total, there were 10 Orcs, before. Or not really. If I have to be correct, there were only 9 Orcs in this group.

I couldn’t really see this at first, because one Orc in the rearguard is different. When I analyzed it, the result was that the last one is an Orc Warrior. It is a higher orc species categorized as E-Rank. The Orc Warrior is slightly larger, and instead of a club, it has a large broadsword. Well, it would be categorized as a broadsword by human standards, but because of its size, the Orc Warrior can wield it with one hand.

I guess with the number of Orcs including the higher ranked species, the entire group would be categorized as D-Rank, if not even C-Rank. I am not sure, but I don’t have time to think about it.

Three of the Orcs charge at me, and I evade their attacks while weaving in counterattacks. But unfortunately, I can’t ignore the other Orcs while fighting the first three, since they try to surround me. And that is something I can’t let happen. I already started preparing a new Water Arrow when the first three started attacking me. Because I had to split my concentration, it took me about 30 seconds, but now the spell was ready.

I consider shooting the spell at their leader, but I decide against it. I can’t be sure to kill it immediately and I think it is more important to reduce their numbers as fast as possible. Because of that, I shoot it at one Orc trying to surround me.

With another Orc down, there is a gap in between them and I use it to reposition myself. I also immediately started casting the next Water Arrow. With this tactic, I slowly but steadily reduce their numbers.

After I shoot the second Water Arrow at another Orcs, one of the first three Orcs gets down on his knees. I continued counterattacking them with my sword, and I immediately use that chance to cut off its head. Two more Orcs down, so there are four more left, including the Orc Warrior. And a few minutes later, the Orc Warrior is the last one standing.

But for a moment, the Orc Warrior does nothing but stand there. It starts making a step forward, but then stops again. It’s as if it is hesitating after I killed all the other Orcs. I used that moment to cast an Ice Arrow and shoot the spell. But when the spell flies to the Orc Warrior’s head, he gets out of his daze and block the spell with his sword. Ah, too bad.

Let’s defeat the Orc Warrior with just my swordsmanship. It walks towards me and attacks me with his giant sword. Yeah, I should definitely avoid getting hit. That wouldn’t end well. The Orc Warrior is slightly faster than the normal Orcs, but he is still not fast enough to hit me. Its speed doesn’t even get near the speed of something like a Wild Panther. I avoid all of its attacks and weave in my counter attacks.

At this moment, I also realize the difference between fighting with casting magic and without casting magic. Now that I fight without magic and focus completely on my sword attacks, I deal way more damage with my attacks. So, the longer cast time is not the only downside of this fighting style. But this should improve too with a faster spell casting.

In the end, the Orc Warrior is no match for me and I defeated it the same way I defeated the other Orcs.

Now, what do I do with all these Orcs? Dismantling all of them will be a real hassle, but I can’t help it. Just when I am about to dismantle them, I hear a voice behind me.

“Thank you very much for saving me.”

I turn around and there is a man in his early twenties bowing to me. Huh? Oh, right! The Orcs were chasing a carriage. I was so immersed in the fight, I completely forgot about it.

“It’s fine. There is no way I could just ignore your situation after I saw the Orcs chasing you.”

“I see. I will definitely reward you for saving me. Also, would it be alright if I ask you to escort me the rest of the way to the capital?”

“Alright, thank you. Also, I don’t mind escorting you. Is it ok, if I dismantle the Orcs first. Then you can also take a break to calm down. We can discuss the details after that.” I can see that he is still shaking from fear. Well, it’s understandable when you get chased by 10 Orcs and one of them is even a higher species.

He accepts, and I start dismantling them. But for that amount of Orcs, it took quite some time. When I finally finish dismantling all the Orcs, I walk back to the guy that led the caravan. He also used the time to check on his horse and his carriage. But now that I think of it, is this guy alone? When I ask him, I couldn’t comprehend his answer at first.

“They fled…” “Huh!?”

I look at him with wide eyes, and my confusion is obviously written on my face. He explains he had an F-Rank Party of three people hired as his guards. But as soon as the Orcs came into view and they realized that added to their number is also a higher orc species, they ran away. Seriously? I get it, they were scared. But there should have been other options than running away, right?

After he told me that story, I offered him to give my testimonial to that story, when he reports the case to the Guild. There is no way these adventurers should get away without punishment.

We also discussed the matter of the reward. At first I recommended I would take the reward, the other party would have gotten, but he insisted on doubling it, for saving his life. Well, it’s not that I refuse some extra money, so I accept.

With everything decided we go towards the capital and it was then that I realized we forgot to introduce ourselves. So, I tell him my name, and I introduce myself as a G-Rank Adventurer.

“Ah right, I didn’t introduce myse… Wait!? You said G-Rank? Seriously?”

“Haha, yeah. But I only registered not long ago. So, I had little time to rise in the ranks.”

“Ah, I see. That definitely makes more sense. My name is Richard. I am the son of the owner of the Mirage Trading Company. So, if you ever need something, just contact me.”