Master Of None

Remey was not letting up and ran around the trap letting off her defense breaking palm attack as much as possible. The party watched as she used the skill in the weakest places on the bodies of the orcs. "I'm backing out!" Remey gave a shout as she backed off from her attacks. She had used a decent amount of mana and needed a minute to breathe. 

Midnight did the same and fell back since she had used her decaying flame breath consecutively. This did a huge amount of damage to the outside of the orcs weakening their defenses. 

Walker was already prepared to relax his hold on them since they were incredibly damaged. This allowed him to begin forming multiple spikes of earth that he slowly manipulated from the sides of the trenches. "Leader, I will keep them from trying to climb out!" Su saw one of the orcs trying to reach a hand up and used her shield bash skill to knock it back down. 

Gil took on the same job and was firing the earth elemental arrows now. The mana fluctuated around him as he released a different version of the prototype he and the elves had made. The arrow landed in the least damaged orcs neck which had been weakened by Remey and Midnight.

This time instead of enveloping the target in earth, the earth elemental around the orc shivered slightly. This caused Sui to sense some change and back away. The next instant, an earth spiker shot from underneath the orc and right through it. This was a single spike compared to the multiple Walker was preparing. 

"Here it goes!" Walker saw the opportunity and used his mana to force the many smaller earth spike he had created forward. The sounds of the orcs squealing as the spikes depleted the last of their health was worst than any butcher the party had heard. 

' Four orcs defeated. 360 exp multiplied to 3600 exp.'

"I had to hit them so many times!" Remey had not expected that she would even need to use her defense breaking palm attack multiple times. 

"There skin is very tough. I felt that my shield bash was just a way to push them here and there." Su also felt that the orcs' skin was much more thick than they had expected. 

"Midnight's flames were a huge help to get their defenses down but I think we will need a better method. It looked like Gils' arrow to the eye caused a huge amount of damage to the head of that orc." Walker pointed out the massive cuts and scratches in the one orcs face where the arrow was still sticking out from. 

"But if we do too much damage to their skin it can't be used as material for the bottoms of boats and coverings of lighter armor." Walker had already argued against himself. Knowing that the orcs skin was sold on merchant caravans to villages near the water and that the skin was also very useful for crafting lighter but decently durable armor. 

"So we should try and focus on weak point attacks. I will try something out next time. I believe the pointed end of my shield can be of use." Su had been working on an attack in her own time and was ready to make use of it come another battle with orcs.

"I can keep sniping them with arrows like that. If I aim for their necks, eyes, and even mouth then I should be able to do a major amount of damage." Gil was already moving to try and take the arrows he had used from the orc bodies. 

"Again, the snipe skill was a decent surprise. I think you will be the main attacker while I prepare the trenches. Just made sure you don't use too much mana in one shot." Walker was worried that Gil may get a little excited and fire off too many arrows. He knew Gil could replenish his mana faster but it was always a worry to run out of it. 

"You got it, but can you help me get this arrow out? It is stuck." Walker headed over to find that the arrow had pierced the orcs' eye and lodged under the skin of the eyelid. This scene was not the most pleasant, however, it was educational. 

"Gil, when your arrow pierced the weaker part of the orc it caused the wind to go unchecked inside the orcs' head. That severely weakened it. You should aim for this too." 

"I hope he doesn't want our help. Those orcs smell like they have never bathed…" Remey and Su were watching this and were not too keen to get close to the monsters known for their brutal actions. 

"Leader is going to store them away. We should let them handle the arrows." Su supported staying away from the orcs. She also didn't want to get covered in their scent and somehow attract more orcs to them. 

Walker and Gil had looked and learned the way the arrows had damaged the orcs while Walker stored them away. "The earth arrow version two was pretty great but I think it lost a lot of power due to the orcs skin." Gil pointed at the spike that was now free of the orc. He highlighted the broken end which had been sharp but became blunt on contact with the orc. 

"Definitely a weaker attack but I think it was very effective once I had them trapped. We should see if you and I can work together. I may be able to condense the earth which will make your spike even tougher and sharper." The two were already preparing themselves for this next test later. 

Walker looked at the spikes and the trench he had created. With some of his mana and a little effort the earth partially closed leaving a soft slightly indented space on the ground. "Now the grass can grow back without a problem." The party checked their gear and drank some water before heading back on their way. They now had more focused eyes on the direction of the river. 

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