My plan worked.
From inside the sandstorm spell I had just cast, both orcs began fighting each other.
"Thank god they're easy to fool."
Exploiting their biggest weakness—their low intelligence—had been a successful gamble.
Still, despite my plan working, I was badly injured.
My hands shook, and I felt the grip on both daggers weaken with every breath.
The pain was too much to handle effectively.
"Hsss." The spider tensed, sensing a shift in the fight.
"You're kidding me..."
The orc with the iron gauntlets emerged from the sandstorm, dragging the unarmed orc from its leg, its face was beaten into an unrecognizable pulp.
"Gahaha." The surviving orc chuckled darkly, its expression twisted with mania.
It hurled its friend's corpse at me. I tried to jump aside, but the pain I'd accumulated made dodging impossible.
Thankfully, once it jumped away, the spider yanked me away from the incoming body.
"Thanks, spider!"
The orc wasted no time. It charged at us, preparing its next attack.
But its punch was halted mid-swing as the spider tangled its fist with webbing and tugged it off-balance.
Seeing an opening, I gripped my dagger with both hands and slashed downward with all the strength I had left.
I stabbed into the orc's foot, then quickly retrieved the blade before it could swat me aside.
The spider yanked me away.
"[Wind Scythe]!"
I cast the spell as I was pulled back. The blade of wind cut across the orc's face, leaving a deep gash.
"Still not enough..."
Even weakened, the gauntlet-wearing orc wasn't finished—and one more orc was still blocking the only exit. My saving grace was that the other one seemed content watching instead of joining.
The iron-gauntleted orc wouldn't last long. It had taken damage fighting its unarmed kin, and now with its foot stabbed, its mobility was crippled.
If I played this right, I could kill it and then deal with the last one.
But...
"That Wind Scythe was my last reserved spell."
My mana was low enough that I could probably only hold two more spells at most.
Should I send the spider to distract it? That might buy me enough time to chant and reserve spells, since the injured orc didn't look eager to move.
My best options were Wind Hammer or Wind Ram. They were my strongest attacks, but not strong enough to guarantee victory.
I could use items, but I wanted to save them for the final orc.
My Wind Infusion was still active. I probably had around... three minutes before it expired.
"That should be enough for both orcs. Or, at least, I hope so." I forced myself upright. Every tiny movement of my body sent pain rippling through me.
"Stay here and save me if anything goes wrong," I ordered the spider, who seemed smart enough to understand.
It hissed and backed away, tightening the string around my waist, ready to yank me clear if needed.
In my right hand, I held my curved dagger, perfect for slashing. I spun it so the edge pointed downward.
In my left hand, I gripped my straight dagger with its basket hilt—good for hand protection, though not useful for parrying an orc's strength.
I approached slowly, parry dagger forward, slashing blade close to my body, ready to strike.
The orc looked less confident now. Its smile was gone, replaced by raw anger. Damage and restricted mobility had finally made it see me as a real threat.
The closer I came, the more anxious it grew. Meanwhile, my breathing steadied.
I'd stabbed its main foot—the one it planted when winding up a punch. That meant its next attack would, hopefully, come from a predictable, slower stance.
I was right.
The orc stepped forward hard on its good foot, throwing a punch with all its weight.
"Now!"
As its fist flew, I ducked under, slipping closer, lowering my body until I was at the perfect height to—
"There!"
I slashed with all my strength behind its knee, tearing into the joint.
"Gaaah!" The orc screamed as its leg buckled, collapsing it to its knees.
"He put pressure on the left... now the right won't respond."
Wasting no time, I shifted my grip and spun behind it.
The orc twisted, arms reaching desperately for me. I drove my dagger upward into its right armpit.
Then, with my other blade, I stabbed straight into its nape. The dagger's tip punched through its throat, visible from the front.
The orc thrashed wildly, its raw strength tossing me around. But with the spider's pull, I managed to wrench both blades free and get dragged clear.
I landed beside the spider, watching the orc clutch its throat, writhing as death slowly overtook it.
The last orc stood, finally drawing its sword.
But...
"I can't go on..."
My body barely responded. Even moving a single muscle was exhausting.
I needed a way to fight again.
But I had no potions—Eusta carried them all in the team's pack.
I could...
"The mana stones..."
I had a few with me. If I consumed them, I could restore my mana and fight with spells while the spider engaged directly.
"Even if I can't cast anything too strong... it's my only option."
I patted the spider's abdomen. "Can you hold it off while I recover?" I asked gently.
The spider seemed to understand, nodding once before hissing and advancing toward the sword-wielding orc.
"So smart!" Despite the painful situation I was in, I couldn't help but laugh at the spider's intelligence.
"No... I can't waste time. I need to consume these mana stones."
But how? Do I simply absorb their mana? Or... eat them?
It would depend on how well the spider could fight.
As I reached the first orc's corpse, I glanced sideways and saw the spider dodging a wild swing with ease.
It shot webs, aiming at the orc's feet and face. One strand stuck to its foot and the ground, tripping it mid-step.
The spider pounced, tearing a chunk of flesh from its side before leaping away as the orc flailed.
"So strong!"
Maybe I should have let it fight with me from the start... but no. I would have protected it anyway.
"If you can handle it, then I can do my part."
It had been a long time since I last ate mana stones, but when I did, my reserves hadn't just refilled—they'd grown. This was the method I needed.
I pried a glowing stone from the corpse. Its brightness marked it as high quality.
"Northern winds, attack."
I reserved Wind Scythe, ready to crush the stone once it was inside my mouth.
"Here we go." Remembering the pain, my voice shook, my arms trembled. My body hesitated.
But...
"I've felt worse in the last few minutes."
I tossed the stone into my mouth.
Aiming the spell inward, I clenched my jaw and braced.
"[Wind Scythe]!"
The agony was exactly as I remembered.
The metallic taste of blood mixed with the gritty flavor of crushed stone. Each cut inside my mouth burned.
Then came the true torment—that filling as if my veins were getting filled with molten lava.
As much as I wanted to scream, I forced myself silent, swallowing the power, absorbing every drop of mana I could.
After what felt like an eternity of suffering, I finally felt the pain slowly going away.
Maybe my health was even worse than it was before trying to absorb mana, but my reserves weren't just filled. I felt as if I had more energy than ever.
Even tapping into the inner realm for a split second, I felt the change in my own being.
My inner realm felt even fuller than before. I couldn't believe that all these mana was inside of me.
I fill as if I could even learn a tier two spell—which I previously couldn't.
But, enough stalling. I've gotta help the spider.
The fight between the two monsters continued. The spider, while clearly becoming more exhausted, didn't seem to have any signs of actual damage.
The orc, meanwhile, didn't run with the same luck. Multiple chunks bitten off from its body. It was currently trying swinging wildly its sword as if it were a trunk because it had been blinded by spider web covering its entire face.
"Even stronger than I am!" I said as I struggled to stand up.
But, I didn't have time to complain. I needed to finish this fight fast.
"Cold winds of the northern region that is covered by a red blood snow. Manifest into one of the weapons wielded by those strong warriors you blessed."
I aimed my spell directly to the green monster.
Before that, I took out a throwing knife and shot it to the orc.
Oce the knife ht its back, the monster turned around.
Once we locked eyes with each other, I knew It was the time to cast the spell.
"[Wind Scythe]"
The crescent spell launched with its target set—the orc's head.
Even if it caused minimal damage, I had set up a distraction that the spider would take advantage off.
That means...
"This fight is over..."
My spell did little damage to the orc. It mostly just cut open the web that blinded it while making a nasty cut on his face, the blood from the cut splashing on its eyes.
What really solidified the win, was that the spider had successfully toppled over the orc. It shot its strings, locking the orc's limbs and practically immovilizing the green monster.
Even when the orc thrashed, the strings seemed to be so strong that they wouldn't break no matter how much strength it used.
"Haha... I... we won..." I said in between heavy breaths as I collapsed onto the floor.
As I was lying there, in the cold rocky floor of the cave, I heard some gross noises coming from where the spider was.
Knowing that the spider is probably eating its recently captured pray, I decided to ignore it and keep recovering.