Midas's smile grew as he heard the systems ding in his head.
'Even more power... I'll take it!' He laughed inwardly.
[You have slain a High White Orc!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
[You have leveled up!]
Midas didn't waste time leveling, instantly changing his target to the spearman orc.
The orc stood frozen for a few seconds, in awe of the human's strength and lethality.
"Ergh... I won't let you win, human!" The orc fortified his mind with rage, "Die!" He stormed forward, thrusting his spear at Midas. The attack was almost identical to the one that the swordsman used before his death.
Midas reacted in the same way, dodging to the side before lunging at the orc's torso.
However, the orc was prepared for this. He smirked, letting go of the spear with his left hand and grabbing a small steel dagger from his waistbelt.
He slashed at Midas with the dagger as the young man entered attack distance, completely abandoning the spear attack.
Midas was caught off guard by this, his eyelids flying open with surprise as he veered his head to the side to try and dodge the tip of the blade.
He narrowly avoided the attack, but his right cheek was nicked slightly. A drop of blood trickled down his face as he dug his daggers into the orc's core.
They entered the orc's belly with a grotesque sludging noise.
The orc let out a gasp as it felt its kidneys rupture.
Midas didn't stop, twisting his blades in the stomach of the beast before ripping them out.
The orc's stomach exploded into guts and showered Midas in crimson blood, masking the one drop that was on his face.
[You have slain a High White Orc!]
[You leveled up!]
'Only once this time, huh?' Midas said, turning as if nothing had happened. 'Wow...' He stared at his hands, 'Killing is a really intense experience.' He could feel his heartbeat through the veins in his arms.
Adrenaline pumped through him, only exhilarating him more.
By the time he faced the rest of the group, however, the battle looked to already be over.
Two orc corpses were laid out in the center of the battlefield. The hammer and axe-wielding orcs were no match for dozens of goblins chipping away at them.
Midas's gaze narrowed in on the two archer orcs at the very back, but they were nowhere to be found.
Looking down, he noticed the two orcs running away from the scene.
"They fled." Gool's voice called out to Midas from the side. "The archers were smart enough to leave..."
Midas furrowed his eyebrows, "No... I can't have that." He said with a serious tone.
Gool looked up at him with intrigue, "What do you mean?" He said.
"These orcs are far too dangerous to leave to their own games. They weren't able to kill us all today, but that outcome will be much rarer the next time around. They have assessed our abilities and strengths. Next time, they will come far more prepared." Midas seemed to be fairly worried, but his face was stern, and his eyebrows were crunched with anger.
"That is true..." Gool retorted.
"How long will it take us to hunt them down? They have been injured, right? Surely they can not run for too long." Midas asked.
"A few hours." Gool instantly replied with a casual tone, "If they manage to get back to the orc stronghold in the mountains, the injuries they sustained can be easily healed. However, they are bleeding quite heavily. They will need to take multiple stops to bandage themselves while on the run."
"Good..." Midas said, turning and scanning all the goblins in the area. His eyes met with Yemo's. "How many men did we lose?"
"Zero, my lord," Yemo replied confidently.
Midas's eyebrows raised, surprised. "Zero? Not even a single death?"
"Many are injured, a few badly wounded, but we won't lose one soul today. My battle strategy worked flawlessly." Yemo said, crossing his eyes as he smirked with pride.
"Along with that, our numbers were overwhelming," Gool added.
Midas looked happy to hear this.
"That makes this a lot easier than." He said, facing the goblin group as a whole, "Those who are healthy, help the wounded. A few of you can come with me, but the rest should stay here and camp for the night." He turned to Gool and Yemo, "You two, follow me."
He began dashing in the direction of where the orcs had fled. Gool ran to the front, beginning to lead the way.
Ten healthy goblins followed Midas and others as they disappeared into the bush.
...
"We barely escaped with our lives..." An orc with a crossbow holstered on his back said, resting atop a boulder as he pulled out darts from his legs.
"Ack!" The bowman orc exclaimed in pain, "Those stupid goblins sure know how to make a painful device. Still... It's not enough to kill us." He said, glancing at the crossbow-man orc.
The crossbow-man orc didn't seem to be listening to him. Instead, the orc was in a daze. He stared at the ground with an almost frightened look on his face.
"Did you see him?" He finally said, "That player... he single-handedly took out two of our strongest." His eyes were wide with horror.
The bowman furrowed his brows, "Luck! The brat got lucky..." He said, plucking out more darts.
"No... he is no brat." The other orc gulped.
At this point, even the bowman orc was beginning to understand the scope of danger that Midas possessed.
"He is a player for a reason. And he's... getting stronger, it seems. It won't be long until he becomes a power too great to handle." The crossbow-man orc said, his body shaking slightly.
The other orc couldn't say a word for a few seconds.
"You're right..." The bowman finally gave in, "Realistically... an all-out war with that player is something that needs to happen as soon as possible. No longer can we orcs stay back while he takes over. He is a real threat now." He said, defeated.
A few seconds of silence fell over them.
"Who are we talking about here, boys?" Midas said, hopping off a tree branch a few meters above where the orcs were standing and landing between them.