Lv1 Skeleton

Chapter 29

_______________________________________________________________

“Holy Shield!”

I used the skill I had gained from Excalibur at the very last second. It was a defensive skill only available to warriors. I didn’t know how effective it would be, but it was my only option so I hoped that it would at least repel the dark clouds sent by the Orc Shaman.

[Holy Shield has been activated. You may choose to release the skill in 30 seconds.]

Ting! Boong!

The black magic and enchanted axe were both easily repelled.

“What kind of OP skill is this?”

They continued to attack me but my shield would negate it all. Unfortunately I was also rendered immobile while it was in effect or else taking care of my enemies would be no different than chopping vegetables.

‘Hm, the shield is nice, but there are some situations were being immobile for so long would be way too inconvenient!’

After the 30 seconds had passed, I was finally able to move my hands.

‘I feel like I would be able to release the skill now….’

Outside the shield the Orcs were staring me down, still holding the female hostages.

‘How should I handle them?’

For the moment I was safe inside my shield, but as soon as I released the skill, they were sure to rush me. It also seemed that they had adapted to my Multi-Slash skills after seeing countless of their comrades die before their eyes, and were now standing far apart. Not to mention that the Boss Shaman situated himself at the far back, in the safest location. I definitely had to form a proper plan before releasing the shield.

‘If I go with Double Slash I can probably take out the two warriors, but I’ll once again be at the mercy of the wizard and Shaman.’

The best course of action would be to head straight for the boss at the back, but it didn’t seem feasible. I would suffer to much from their attacks and my HP was too low for me to be comfortable with taking the risk.

‘Lorina had a sword skill to attack from a distance, I hope my Saints Slash skill works in a similar fashion. I guess I’ll just have to give it a try.’

Calming my mind and sharpening my hearing, I timed it to when the four Orcs were breathing in and cancelled my skill.

“Holy Shield!”

[Holy Shield has been deactivated.]

I slashed through the air, aiming towards Brahin

“Saints slash!”

‘Good, It works! It’s extending!’

From the tip of Excalibur, a deep blue energy wave shot out towards the Shaman. However, the boss wasn’t that easy to finish off. He had rolled to the side at the very last second, getting away with a deep gash on his shoulder.

Tung Tung

An axe struck my back, but the enchantment had already worn off. Of course I had already deduced its duration based on the Wizard’s level and proficiency.

Ignoring the warriors, I rolled forward and with a thrust, I cast my skill.

“Double Slash!”

I had appeared before the Shaman, trying to finish him off first.

Kurue Kquck

He let out pig’s squeal, but he was still a Boss that was on a different level from regular Orcs. He had once again just barely dodged my sword, tumbling to escape with a light scratch.

Kuuooooo! Kuooooo

“Help me!”

Cries for help were coming from the women who were being used as hostages. Of course I didn’t at all feel compelled to save them.

Swiiish!

[+8144 experience points]

[Level increased 15 ? 16]

[Acquired ?Title: Orc Slayer Lv2?]

With a swing of my sword I was able to take the head of the Shaman who was off balance, before turning around to face the two warriors. They panicked and held their axes to the hostages necks, indicating me to stay back. Naturally I cared little for their threats and kept on advancing.

Pukek

GAhhhhhhhhh!

Their blades had cut the women’s carotid artery, splashing blood all over my face, but I figured it all.

“Double Slash!”

Kureee Kuhek

I instantly separated their heads from their necks in two clean strokes. The last Orc Wizard ran away while I was in my stunned state, and so the battle had concluded.

Tak Tak

The two women who had been used as hostages looked at me with accusing eyes, as if I were a monster, before bleeding out to death.

‘I had no choice, I wasn’t willing to put my Avatar at risk to save you.’

I thought to myself, it was an easy decision on my part, a stranger’s life wasn’t nearly as valuable as my Avatar’s.

I wrapped Excalibur back up with some cloth and proceed to pick up my shield and longsword which remained embedded in the young Orc’s throat.

“Th..Thank you for saving us, my name is Kishande.”

One of the two female adventurers who had been able to hide away, came up to thank me. I helped her out by picking up some torn clothes on the floor to cover herself. She was in quite a sorry state, with a swollen face and bruise marks all over her body from the abuse.

“My name is Gaspard, but there is no need to thank me, I was just completing a quest.”

I replied, as I cleaned the blood off my longsword.

“Do you know how to leave this place? Can you help us?”

The other survivor seemed to be a priestess as I felt myself being healed by magic.

‘Well, I guess it wouldn’t be a bad idea to be on good terms with a priestess.’

“Just follow me, I doubt the remainder of the Orcs would dare to trouble us.”

Looking at each other, both women agreed with a nod before going around to pick up the loot on the floor and following behind me.

“I’ll go slowly so please come along.”

I could always see the Status pages of the nearby Orcs, so it was easy to escape safely.

“Sister Kishande!”

The huntress whom I had saved earlier on rushed out from behind a bush and into each other’s arms.

“Miranda, you’re alive!”

“Yes sister! At first I was being dragged away and beaten but he saved me.”

They stayed hugging and crying together, reminiscing about their tragic experiences. They felt only their weakness and failure as an adventurers.

“Since you were all lucky to survive, you should take the chance to quit being adventurers. You’re not cut out for it and who knows if next time around you’ll be lucky enough to keep your lives.”

I gave them some heartfelt advice, having judged their low skills.

“Gaspard, we’re adventurers! The threat of death is part of our everyday lives, I wouldn’t have set upon this path if I had the choice. When I get the chance in the future I will definitely repay this favor. Thank you, but we must get going, Miranda, Ashe let’s go!”

Ashe, Miranda and Kishande thanked me once again before setting off.

I wonder what is pushing them so hard to be adventurers that they’ve so easily given up their pride as women?’

I was curious as to what was driving her. In my case, I cared somewhat about my troops in the Pit, but I would always place my own life above all else. She was indeed a strange woman whom I wasn’t able to comprehend.

‘Well… if you don’t quit being an adventurer, we’ll meet again sometime.’

At that time, I had no idea that we would indeed meet, just much sooner than expected. They had left with all the spoils and I had kept none. In my eyes those poor items were all but worthless, but they were F and some times E grade so for a Bronze level adventurer, they were quite luxurious. At least those women had gained some small compensation for the horrors they had experienced.

Out of all the people who entered the cave, Tartan and and the other men had died, only those three women had survived by being used as sex slaves, I wasn’t sure which of the two were less fortunate.

‘Time to head back to the Guild?’

I took my time on the way back, enjoying the scenery. When I finally came through the Guild doors, the atmosphere was very different compared to the first time.

‘What?’

“Hurray for Gaspard! The epic tales of Gaspard’s heroic deeds have already spread! Would you please hand over your token?”

Tak

I put it in Rina’s outstretched hand and she placed it on the Adventurer’s Stone, all the mobs and their ranks which I had killed were displayed. Rina expression quickly changed to one of wonder.

“Wow, did you really kill all these guys? You even killed an E ranked Boss, you’re the best! Unfortunately the highest rating I can hand out in such a small town is Silver.”

As she finished speaking she handed me a brand new silver token.

“Gaspard now that you’re Silver class, you’ll have to head to a larger city in order to rank up. However, there’s no need to rush things and you can slowly accumulate merits.”

I nodded and received one gold coin as the quest reward.

“By the way, who commissioned the quest? It definitely shouldn’t have been at the Bronze level…”

“Well, it comes down from the top, so it’s difficult to track down who commissioned it.”

Looking at her expression I realized that if I presses the issue, she might get into trouble.

“Guess I’ll have to look into it myself, in the future you should be more careful about what ranks you assign the quests otherwise there will just be more corpses piling up.

Leaving Rina behind, I stepped out of the guild and headed towards an Inn.

‘Looks like I have no choice but to spend the night at an Inn now.’

Unlike my skeleton body, as a human I require regular sleep. Also, I was looking forward to the many delicacies provided as I had yet to eat a proper meal in this World.

[Golden Go Inn]

I decided upon the place with the best view in town.

“Just give up!”

As soon as I walked through the entrance I saw three female adventurers arguing with the owner.

“We have the money, look here! Why can’t we get a room!”

“Sorry, I can’t allow women who’ve had their bodies sullied by Orcs to reside here.”

It was the same three women I had rescued back at the cave. Perhaps the rumor about what they had experienced had already circulated and the Inn’s owner wished to protect the reputation of his establishment.

‘But who could have spread the rumor? There shouldn’t have been any survivors apart from us.’

I wondered inwardly as I called over the Innkeeper.

“Owner, do you have a room available?”

“Yes! Five silvers per night.”

Hearing the Innkeepers answer the three women lowered their heads dejectedly, they were probably ashamed at their current situation.

“This should be enough to cover two rooms and four meals for the duration of a year right?”

Tak!

I fished out a purple gold coin and placed it on the counter. Actually, with this amount of money I could afford to rent out the Inn for several years.

“Ah… well, it’s a matter of our Inn’s reputation…”

Tak!

I pulled out my Silver token.

“Wouldn’t a Silver ranked adventurer staying here boost your reputation even more?”

The owner came to a quick decision.

“How much money should I return as change?”

“I’ll be here for one year, and I don’t require any change.”

“Ye…Yes! I’ll empty the entire top floor for you, Welcome to the Golden Go Inn.

The Innkeeper’s atmosphere had completely changed.

“Gaspard! We also have money!”

Ignoring Kishande’s words, I headed to the top floor.

“This room looks good!”

Kiieek Tak!

Locking the door behind me, I lay down on the bed.

Knock! Knock! Knock!

It was obviously Kishande, but I wasn’t in the mood to converse with her.

“I’m tired, we’ll talk in the morning.”

“…”

“It’s simply something I did on the spur of the moment, don’t read into it too much. Also, I’m a deep sleeper and won’t wake up during the night, so just leave me alone ”

“I won’t bother you.”

I heard her reply, her pride clearly hurt. The only reason I had helped them was to satisfy my curiosity.

‘More important than her own life….’

I closed eyes and cast my spell.

“Avatar Flip!”

_______________________________________________________________

Glossary:

Kishande: Rape victim at the hands of Orcs, saved by our MC.

Miranda: Huntress, close sisters with Kishande.

Ashe: Priestess, close sisters with Kishande.