Chapter 46: Dipping Temperatures
"So the Orc Shaman has ways to not just increase but also decrease corruption?" Leonard noted as he studied the place where the Shard of Salvation had been a second ago.
"In that case, raiding the camp of the orc tribe could be more beneficial than just sending out a distress signal and rescuing the imprisoned awakeners. If there are more Shards of Salvation stored there, it could be the difference between life and death."
He quickly inspected the walls. Sadly, the monster’s attacks had damaged them to a significant degree, with many logs broken and toppled onto the ground.
Fortunately, those who had been hiding on the other side had remained unscathed.
"Mind giving me a quick healing?" Leonard called out to Samantha.
His stomach still ached from the orc’s punch. Although there wasn’t any blood or visible injury, he knew the real pain was numbed by the adrenaline.
He wasn’t about to risk entering combat when he had the option of recovering to peak state.
Samantha spared him a glance and noticed that one of his hands was clutching his stomach.
Without a question, she pointed her staff toward him. The gem embedded at the top glowed green, while the shine in her eyes intensified.
"Medical Assessment."
As she chanted, several green particles emerged from her staff and coiled around Leonard’s body. They all started to gather around his stomach, and their hue shifted to light yellow.
"You are in luck. Your leather armor has spared you from the worst of it. There isn’t any internal bleeding or organ failure. Just moderate muscle strain that shouldn’t threaten your life." She explained, with a trace of relief in her voice.
"Stimulated Recovery."
When Samantha cast her second skill, the particles gently entered Leonard’s body, bringing immediate relief. Without a doubt, he would be able to fight at his best once more.
However, before he was even able to thank her, a woman appeared. She carried the motionless body of a man who was bleeding profusely from his neck.
"Please help him! He got caught by an orc’s strike!" She pleaded.
Samantha redirected her Medical Assessment skill at once. The particles gathered around the patient’s body, quickly darkening as they shifted from yellow to orange to red, finally stopping at pitch black.
"I am sorry." Samantha whispered and bit her lower lip in regret. "He is far too gone... I can’t save him from wounds this deadly."
"What?! But you are a healer! If you can’t even do your job properly, what is the point of keeping you?!" The woman shouted in a mixture of anger and sadness.
Samantha didn’t have an answer. She simply stared at the ground in shame until the next person in need of help appeared a few seconds later.
As a healer, there was no time to drown in self-pity. Immediately she went over to help to the best of her abilities.
Meanwhile, Leonard didn’t remain idle. Having been completely healed, he and his party pounced on the orc that was fighting against William and a few others.
"Burning Punches!"
William’s gauntlets started to move so fast that they left a trail of fire along their path. Initially, each punch failed to faze the buffed orc, but as the blunt force accumulated, the monster’s balance was quickly broken.
Eventually, the orc was overwhelmed, and he fell to the ground, the battle finally coming to an end.
[You contributed to the defeat of a Level 10 Orc.]
[You have gained 100 Experience!]
Level: 7 [Experience: 425/800]
Leonard didn’t have time to rejoice over passing the halfway point to the next level. He surveyed the battlefield.
Although the orc corpses had already been teleported with the rings the participants of the exam had, he was able to clearly distinguish four spots where monsters had fallen by the spilled blood on the ground.
"Wait, four? Besides the Orc Shaman, I remember clearly that there were five." His eyes narrowed.
"One managed to get away and kidnapped one of our own!" William yelled as he stomped the ground in frustration.
They had managed to repel the orc’s horde, but they had suffered losses. Some had been severely injured, with Samantha barely managing to keep them stable. One had died, and another had been kidnapped, reducing their numbers to just 18.
"Everybody check if your corruption has increased!" Harley called out, noting that the percentage had jumped after the Orc Shaman’s attack.
"Mine’s 18%..." Winston replied grimly, knowing that his remaining time had been cut short.
The awakeners quickly realized that the true aim of the attack had been for the Orc Shaman to forcibly increase their corruption, narrowing the time they had left to survive.
"We can’t delay any longer! If they can really find us at any time, it would be better if we strike before they can organize a larger attack against us!" William suggested with urgency.
"Unfortunately, I can’t think of any other way..." Samantha heaved a deep sigh, her face pale after exhausting the majority of her mana.
It was decided that they would immediately move toward the orc’s camp while they recovered their strength along the way.
"By the way, have any of you heard about Shards of Salvation?" Leonard used the time to ask the more knowledgeable about the matter, briefly explaining how it had reduced his corruption.
Yet to his surprise, the concept was new to them.
"This is the first time I am hearing about something like this." Harley admitted, with an arched eyebrow, having trouble believing it.
William’s eyes lit up. "The Orc Shaman has a method of lowering our corruption?! Then it’s another reason why we must launch an offense!"
As the group of awakeners slowly ventured deeper into the forest, Winston’s stomach growled in hunger.
"Wait... Didn’t you bring food? We could have made use of the buffs your muffins provide." Leonard inquired, realizing that after the interference of the Void Believers in the academy exam, the idea had completely slipped his mind.
"Oh, I did! A whole backpack full of them!" Winston’s head dropped, a tear trailing down his cheek.
"But guess what! Besides weapons and equipment, they confiscated everything at the entrance! Since I can’t afford a dimensional storage ring to transport them, I had no choice but to leave them behind..."
This was one of the advantages those in the Upper Sector had over the rest. They could afford dimensional storage rings and fill them with all kinds of items in preparation for what lay ahead, while those who couldn’t scrape together enough funds were forced to do without them.
Leonard slowly massaged the bridge of his nose. He made a mental note that after all of this was over, he would reveal to Winston his Dimensional Storage skill so he could store all the food they could ever need, ensuring such oversight never repeated itself again.
Everybody kept their senses sharpened to the limit, particularly Leonard, who noticed that Harley’s body unexpectedly began to shiver.
"Is something wrong?" He asked.
"Not sure..." She answered, wrapping her arms around her body. "But... is it just me, or did the temperature drop?"
"I don’t feel anything." Winston shrugged and patted his belly.
"Actually, it really is starting to freeze here..." Samantha said, tugging her robe tighter around herself.
"You guys are cold? Then simply move more!" William declared puffing out his chest.
BOOM!
A sudden loud explosion stopped the awakeners in their tracks.
They peeked past the trees ahead, their eyes landing on an individual.
Leonard’s eyes narrowed, recognizing the woman at first glance.
"Elizabeth Starlight..."