Chapter 32: Using Phantom Stride.
Ethan started walking; in just a few seconds, he had crossed half the distance. When he reached the end of the alley, it led in two ways; one went to the left and the other to the right. The one on the left led deeper inside the city, and the one on the right led to society’s outskirts.
He chose the path on the right and began walking again, but his steps remained hurried. He basically started running to cover the distance faster, but he was trying his best to not produce any sound because it might produce some trouble for him.
He took another right, and then he arrived at the point where he could clearly see the fountain and the orcs, which were travelling through the city and had almost reached the fountain.
Ethan’s hand trailed down his waist as he looked at the vast numbers of them. "There are eighteen of them. Fighting them head-on is so dumb that I might puke on that thought." He muttered under his breath.
His gaze fell on the roofs, which were at least fifteen meters higher than the ground. "The other thing that I can do is to use the height to my advantage. I can confront them one by one by staying on top of the rooftops, and occasionally I can change the roofs to not make it obvious to them."
A sigh left his mouth before he started walking down the street, covering the distance between him and the fountain.
When he reached there, he buckled his knees closely and leaped higher in the sky with all the strength in his legs. He landed on top of the fountain’s head, which was made out of thick marble; it was circular in shape and had enough space for him to stand comfortably.
He had already kept the sword close to himself long before he came here. He didn’t waste any more time as his hand immediately reached for the hilt. With a swift motion, he pulled the sword out of its sheath.
The sword swirled in his hand once before he curled his fingers tightly around the hilt. He took one deep breath; a crescent glow began forming next to the sword’s blade.
He lifted the sword horizontally before swinging it downwards. A huge crimson-colored crescent-shaped slash left through the blade. It made its way to the head of the Orc standing at the back of the group.
The glow intensified before the crescent moon sliced cleanly through the orc’s skin. It struck the back of its neck with tremendous force, tearing open a giant wound as green blood splashed into the air.
The droplets shimmered brightly under the rays of the sun, creating a strange contrast against the orc’s green skin. The Orc staggered forward, its body momentarily losing balance as Ethan stood behind it, his sword still glowing faintly in his hand.
The wound was fatal enough to push the Orc to its knees. When it fell, its hands covered the wound in a desperate attempt to stop the bleeding, but it didn’t work. The Orc’s entire body collapsed, face first. A loud THUD echoed through the air, which made the other orcs freeze in their steps.
They all turned around and saw one of their companions fall to the ground. The Orc’s blood made the others’ blood boil as they exchanged looks with one another, as if they were trying to figure out what to do next.
’If I wait for even a single more second here, they will grab me by my ankle and swing my torso on the ground multiple times until I die a miserable death.’ He said inwardly, his gaze shifted towards the house just a meter above his height level.
He didn’t hesitate and leaped onto the roof of the house and looked at the orcs, which were still standing below, looking at him with killing intent buried deep in their eyes.
A smile appeared on his face as he looked at both of his palms. "Last time, when I used ’Aether Slash,’ I couldn’t even stand still. My legs had given out, my mind had frozen, and now I feel capable of performing it multiple times. I feel like I can perform it multiple times."
"Well, that’s because I have increased my mana affinity to the C-Rank and also the percentage to the second layer of ’Aether Blade Ascension Art’ to ninety-four percent."
His attention drifted back to the pack of orcs, which were now marching at him aggressively. But before they could reach any closer to the house—
His sword rose once again before he brought it down, creating another crescent-shaped slash that shot toward the group. It was quite formidable but not powerful enough to inflict any significant damage.
The two orcs who were at the front suffered a significant amount of damage at their chests; some of their blood splashed outwards, but it wasn’t enough to kill them.
"Uh-oh!!" He said before turning towards the roof of another house, which was just three meters away from him. But he had less than a single second before they reached the house, so he decided to use his newly acquired agility skill.
"[Phantom Stride]," he muttered.
In just a blink of an eye, his mana travelled across all the pores inside his body. A burning sensation erupted through his stomach, which travelled to his muscles, making his adrenaline rush through him. In a few milliseconds, he had already reached the desired location.
He crouched down, grabbed the knees, and started taking deep breaths to gather enough stamina to at least maintain his composure. ’Fuck!! I knew that only my affinity had increased, while my stamina, strength, and endurance still needed improvement. I still have to work on my stamina, strength, and endurance. That’s something that I can do later; for now I will try to survive at least.’
After he had composed himself and regained control over his breathing, he returned his attention to the orcs, who were looking visibly stunned.