Another Stupid Isekai

After breakfast, we moved closer to the cliff. Before anybody got too close I stopped them.

- Wait. I'll go first and clean up the orcs down there, then we can move the carts down.

- How about little help? - asked, leaving his cart and making few steps towards me.

- Better not. Getting the carts down will be a way tougher task than those few orcs, besides you will have a few chances to fight today, so don't worry - said Will with a smirk.

- Ok.

I didn't listen anymore and just ran down the path. Orcs noticed the intruder pretty quickly and started to move. More or less halfway I jumped off, using shadow walk to reposition myself before I reached the ground.

I did it to test if I can use the skill to take advantage of the speed gained from falling, but I was wrong. Whatever forces were working on me, during the shadow walk, they were nullified. Which meant I could actually use it to save myself from death by jumping down from high places, like the top of the cliff.

I landed on the ground, few meters from four orcs charging to intercept me on the path. They were caught off guard by my sudden appearance. I made a pudao out of void essence and used shadow walk again, to get even closer.

It allowed me to cut down one of them immediately, then the rest reacted, but I repositioned again and again killing all of them. More were on the way, but getting rid of them was just a formality.

The rest was watching all of the fights from above. I noticed them while turning to head towards the path. It was just a brief glance, and the distance was also too big to notice any facial expression. Then I started to slowly make my way up, to help with the carts.

- That was awesome man! - said Midnight, getting closer. - What skill was that? What class?

- Shadow walk skill and the class is out of your reach anyway.

- I've never seen it, so it's a combination then, right?

Will came closer, to pat him on the shoulder.

- Let's get moving - he said.

We slowly began getting the carts down. It was a slow process since we had tons of equipment. After around two hours we were done, and we could continue the journey.

Some of us looked excited about the upcoming fights, the rest rather focused, aware of dangers.

- It's time to hunt - said Will.

It was a good signal to keep going. We didn't have to walk long more to encounter another group. As Will, Nobuo, and Hailwic went ahead, the rest stayed at the second line to support them, intercept the enemies trying to flank, with Midnight at the very back throwing flames at enemies. It was not very useful in terms of damage, but rather very annoying to the point some orcs tried to go straight for him.

I just watched ready to step in at any moment if something went south.

Will engaged with four opponents, and just went thru them quickly, the rest aimed to target only one, as they didn't have enough experience with fighting orcs, except Hailwic of course, but she knew better what she can and cannot do.

Skirmish went smoothly, to the point I was actually surprised. With few days of hunting, we could really be prepared to engage with the whole camp. Of course not without any plan, but still; I saw our chances as pretty good.

After collecting the crystals we kept pushing forward, fighting with a group after a group. Nobuo was really popping off. He didn't move a lot, but his blade was. Singing with every single cut that had power and precision. Graceful - that what I would call him.

William was rougher, less skilled but had more strength, and repositioned a lot, more to help the others, than to gain an advantage for himself. He was a great team player who could easily take on several opponents by himself.

Hailwic kept relying on her physical capabilities just as last time I saw her in action, but not only she got stronger, also her understanding of how to apply that strength got way better, combined with the experience she had from our last hunt made her strong enough to even engage with two orcs at a time. She didn't do it though, lacking the necessary confidence.

Boris was like an unmovable wall with his shield and ax. He relied on exchanging blows, which he would parry using the shield, and then take advantage of the created opening to counterattack. It was a slow process, but very reliable. He was not losing much energy, letting his opponent tire himself down.

Ryuu and  Hideaki worked as a team. Their skills were not as refined as Nobuo, but they made it up with crazy teamwork. While Miyajima would engage in frontal attack, Otis was flanking, and waiting for an opportunity to deliver a deadly blow. Usually in the middle of orc's attack, when he was wide open. They were incredibly efficient but still not good enough to take more than one at a time.

Sanders was very entertaining to watch. His tactic was pretty damn bold if you ask me. He would invade the enemy space, engaging with very close combat and making it impossible to deliver the blow with an ace or a sword. Before any orc would figure out what to do, he would already deliver a powerful uppercut or few stabs, making the rest of the duel just a formality.

Martin was clearly the weakest among us. He was very stationary in his fighting style and relied only on physical strength. What surprised me was, he could actually match orcs with power, but that was it. He lacked the speed, as he was almost not moving at all. He lacked the agility to dodge, so he wasn't even trying. Fortunately, he didn't need any help from me as the rest could without issue take care of him.

Vitya kept his distance throwing fire when he saw an opening, or before orcs would move close enough to make it very difficult to hit. The damage was minimal, but I quickly figured out he was using the very minimum of his power to just annoy the enemy, or grab their attention. Eventually, he ran out of mana and grabbed his heavy staff. His style didn't change, though. He would wait for everybody to be engaged and then moved through battlefield supporting. Tripping enemies, attacking them when they were in the middle of delivering a powerful blow. It had a huge impact on the overall battlefield.

That's how they fought. With time and practice, their confidence only grew, and they also became better. Teamwork started to build among them at pretty amazing speed actually. I was impressed.

More or less halfway through the day, we took a long break to eat and rest. Most of them needed that. William, Nobuo, and Boris could easily keep going, but the rest was exhausted. I almost didn't fight, wanting them to build up before I took that chance from them with my skills.

Morale was very high. They all seemed to fit together well. Probably because of how much they loved the battlefield. Conversations just bloomed like flowers in spring. They gave each other tips and ideas on how to improve as a whole group.

- This is looking good - said will, when he split up, to sit next to me.

- Yeah. We might have a shot with the camp, but we should make a plan though. We can face hundreds head-on.

- Maybe we can lure them deeper to the canyon? Actually... I have an idea. How about we face them while constantly falling back, as you keep ambushing them? This way we would gain some space to create the distance, and you can easily go in ad out with your skill.

- I was actually thinking about setting up some traps, but that might work as well.

- Few traps in strategic places could only increase our chances. Heavly, if you ask me, but what traps can we set up here? - Will looked at me intrigued.

- I have few ideas.

- Like what?

- There is a lot of stones here, we could use them with my ability to create things out of this black smoke - as I was saying this, I released a bit of void essence through my hand - to set up a blockade. Maybe some of them will die under the rocks, but the rest will have to use a different path. I can lead them there, and you will reposition in the meantime. We can make this labyrinth ours.

- Let's talk about it later on. How about tomorrow morning, when everybody will be fresh? As much as I want to go for the camp, we should also consider the opinions of others. This is a very dangerous move.

- You are right. Maybe we need more time to prepare for something like that...

- For now, just think about what we can actually do to succeed. We will see how they feel tomorrow, and discuss if we are doing it or not.

- Yeah.

Shortly after we were on the move again, and we didn't take any breaks until the night started approaching. Then we set up a camp to rest.

The more I thought about the possibility of us attacking the camp, the more I was confident. Mainly in my own skills. With enough space to move, I could easily take many of them at once. Will was the same. The only problem was others and how long they could keep up with a deadly tempo we required to make this succeed.

The day came to an end with 618 181 points remaining on my account and five class points.