Zectas Volume V: The Sequestered Seminary of Sawtorn Read online

  Then, Cynar shrugged. "Alright, I don't see any harm in it. It's not like Ayert is going to climb out of his grave and stop you."

  Smoke excitedly stood up, grabbed his stool and ran to the desk. He took two books in hand. One was entitled "Unsightly UrukHai" and the other was "Opportunistic OlegHai".

  The progress bar on both books only indicated thirty seconds.

  + Unsightly UrukHai

  They are said to be the strongest of all the Ork tribes, but one word best describes them, warmongers. The UrukHai Tribe has four Colonels and one General. Consider them as Berserkers gone wild when facing against them.

  After reading the acquired knowledge of the first book, Smoke went to the next one.

  + Opportunistic OlegHai

  They are said to be slightly inferior to the UrukHai, but make up for it through military tactics and discipline. They have sixteen Colonels and two generals

  Smoke quickly put down the first two books, and picked up the last two entitled "Menacing MoriHai" and "Malicious MadoHai".

  Their acquired windows popped up shortly after.

  + Misshapen MoriHai

  They are said to be the scavengers of the Ork tribes. They often attack the villages that were previously attacked by the OlegHai or the UrukHai, as the defenses in these places were often nonexistent. They have ten generals, and civil war is often a problem among them.

  + Malicious MadoHai

  They are said to be cold, calculating Orks who took to the swampy regions of Sawtorn. There, they acquired The knowledge of black magic, and have been known to tame many terrifying beasts for their army with virulent venom and deadly gazes. They do not attack so often because they are enamored by their knowledge of the black arts.

  Smoke smiled, pleased at the freshly gained knowledge he learned about the Orks. He appreciated how his high Wisdom stat allowed him to acquire books at tremendous speed. Otherwise, this would have probably taken him hours to learn.

  He was then taken aback when Cynar suddenly patted him on his back.

  "Done already? Wow! I've never seen anyone read books that fast before," said Cynar. "Not even Ayert."

  Then, a notification window popped up.

  + Intimacy with Cynar has risen to 65

  WARNING: Raising Intimacy with Cynar conflicts with [Destroy Cynar's Orphanage Quest]

  "Um," Smoke mumbled, confused on the increase of Intimacy. "So, when are we doing it?"

  "Right now!" said Cynar and ordered Smoke to leave the room.

  After they stepped out, Smoke and Cynar passed a corridor filled with dungeons. Smoke spotted Jack stuck in one of them, but this cell was four times larger than the one Geisel was in.

  "Jack, you're locked up as well?" asked a surprised Smoke. As Jack was supposedly Cynar's best lure, he thought that the boy had better living conditions.

  "Don't worry about it," replied Jack with a forced smile.

  "This is Jack and Daniel's room," Cynar said to Smoke. "Well, used to be Daniel's. Apparently, the boy was caught by some Sonstwelters the other day and was killed. He was good too, but nowhere as good as Jack though."

  Cynar laughed and winked at the locked up boy, and turned to him. "Don't worry, Jack, I'll find a replacement for Daniel soon."

  "Come, Faux, we have to hurry. I think we have less than a day before the UrukHai leave the Pass. You do know how to ride a mount, right?" Cynar asked Smoke.

  * * * * * *

  It only took them two hours to reach Waylay Pass. Smoke was surprised to be riding on a dirus wolf. He thought that Cynar and his army of OrkElves would be running to get here, but all of them were riding on dirus wolves.

  Smoke, Cynar, and three-thousand OrkElves stood on top of a hill overlooking the recuperating UrukHai Orks. The long-spears of the OrkElves made for an artificial forest patch, as they littered the skyline with wood. Whereas, the Orks below were feasting on raw meat, circling around their looted bounty.

  'Just how rich is Cynar?' wondered Smoke to himself, amazed at seeing such a large mounted army. He secretly hoped that Sierra and the rest of his guildmates back in Wysteria were doing just that, raising a large mounted army. He especially enjoyed riding bareback on the dirus wolf, as this was his first time doing so.

  "Faux, where do you need to be in order to block off Waylay's exit?" Cynar asked Smoke.

  "On top of one of those mountains should be fine," he replied, pointing to the specific spot.

  "Alright, do you need to take any of my men?" asked Cynar.

  Smoke studied the masked Assassin's expression. Looking at Cynar's eyes, he could tell that he was excited to go to battle.

  "No, I'm good by myself," answered Smoke.

  "Good, we will attack them as soon as you close off their escape," explained Cynar. "But, Faux, you still have to fight. Don't think your job is only to close off the Pass, do you hear me?"

  "Yeah, I hear you. Don't worry about it. I'll fight, alright!" meaningfully answered Smoke.

  Smoke expertly rode his dirus wolf up the mountain, and reached the peak in less than ten minutes. "Good boy," he said to his mount, stroking its thick fur.

  "Stay here," he ordered the dirus wolf, and proceeded to do his job.

  'I just have to go after Cynar. I don't think the OrkElves will attack me after I kill him,' thought Smoke to himself. He made a promise with himself not to intentionally harm OrkElves, as a respect to Sharur and Jinggu. He took a deep breath, and focused on the task at hand.

  After having trained his Earth Manipulation to Advance Level 9, Smoke began sensing which particular sections to move in order to get the most result. He started removing crucial points of the cliff, creating Waylay Pass.

  In only two minutes, Smoke was ready to let out the full power of his Earth Manipulation. Standing directly above the pass, he pointed his hands down and started a landslide.

  RUMBLE RUMBLE RUMBLE

  Large boulders rolled down both mountains, as their entire mass slid down. Smoke casually rode on top of the fast moving ground, carefully controlling the earth around him. Dust clouds covered the entire scene, preventing anyone from seeing what he was doing.

  When the dust settled, Smoke stepped out of the landslide, prepared to attack the Orks.

  However, the UrukHai were already busy. Cynar and his mounted OrkElves charged at the injured Orks with fury.

  The OrkElves used their long wooden spears as lances, and struck the Orks from a safe distance. In the first clash alone, more than a hundred Orks were felled.

  From his estimate, Smoke counted less than seven-hundred Orks remaining. Their red life bars mostly indicated less than 30% of their maximum potential. The injured Orks were either maimed or bleeding, which made recovering their HP next to impossible.

  'Good thing these Orks don't have a Healer,' surmised Smoke.

  However, the savage battle waged on. The half dead Orks did not falter. These green humanoid monsters wielded their mauls with massive strength, flailing them like they were made of paper.

  OrkElves flew off their mounts, left and right. Most of them left with less than 50% of their life bars, while others, who were unfortunate enough, were instantly killed.

  Thinking that this was the perfect moment to strike, Smoke frantically searched for Cynar. He spotted the masked Assassin facing off against the largest Ork he had ever seen. He assumed that he must be the Colonel of this Horde. A dark green Ork, more than three meters tall, brandished a double-headed axe.

  The Ork's life bar indicated (843,754/1,200,000 HP), and his name was Wertlosvati. To get an advantageous position, Smoke closed in Cynar and the Ork.

  "Finally, I found you," snarled Cynar at the Ork.

  "Ash durbatulukir, ash krimpatul," replied Wertlosvati.

  "Stop speaking Orkish!" yelled Cynar. "I know you can speak Lacerta."

  "How? How you become knowing of this?" asked Wertlosvati.

  "I've been hunting you ever since I learned your name," replied Cynar. "I built an army just so that
I could kill you."

  "This? All this for me?" said Wertlosvati. "Weaklings all you are. Rely on magic, spells, traps, and tricks. But pure force you cannot defeat."

  Cynar suddenly threw one of his knives, and it struck the Ork Colonel on his chest.

  Yet, Wertlosvati remained unfazed. He casually pulled it out. The knife only inflicted 800 damage points.

  "Do you remember Quelle Village?" asked Cynar. "It used to be a part of Vona City, but now it's nothing more than a rubble."

  "With many many many places we be attacking, why I bother remembering their useless names?" answered Wertlosvati.

  Suddenly, Cynar vanished. The masked Assassin appeared behind the Ork Colonel, and Cynar began stabbing his green skin with two knives.

  However, Wertlosvati expertly grabbed hold of Cynar's head and bashed it to the ground. He repeated it, four more times. Cynar's life bar displayed (534,000/650,000 HP).

  Wertlosvati screamed at Cynar. "Puny man! Think this is enough to kill me? Think you are strong?"

  Cynar's mask was removed, revealing his face. He had brownish-green skin and pointy ears. The masked Assassin, the King of Thieves was actually also an OrkElf.

  Wertlosvati was about to smash Cynar's head on a rock, but the Ork was interrupted by Smoke. An earth-pillar struck Wertlosvati from behind and sent him flying over four meters away, while still clutching his massive axe.

  Smoke quickly ran to Cynar and helped him up.

  "Faux, leave him alone!" yelled Cynar. "He is mine!"

  "But, Cynar, it'll be better if we fight him together," said Smoke. His plan was originally to double cross Cynar, but after seeing that he was an OrkElf temporarily changed his mind. Also, listening to the Ork Colonel infuriated Smoke even more.

  Cynar vanished and reappeared behind Wertlosvati, blindly striking the Ork with the same attack as before.

  Wertlosvati caught Cynar's neck and dangled him in mid-air. "Oh! You are Orkling? Orklings are weaklings, reason why we name you so. But you weakest I have seen."

  Smoke let out an earth spike in front of Wertlosvati, but the Ork deflected it with his double-headed axe. He was about to launch another attack, but his Cunning of the Dire Fox sensed several Orks approaching from behind.

  He quickly took out his Digger's Wand and dug a trench in front of him, stopping the Orks' charge. He quickly dug another trench where the Orks were standing and trapped them below.

  Smoke then quickly turned around and faced Wertlosvati and Cynar, pointing his wand at them. Yet, the Ork was nowhere to be seen.

  He only spotted a sprawled, half-dead Cynar on the ground. He ran to him, still pointing his wand at the OrkElf.

  "Where is he, Faux?" asked Cynar. "Where did that bastard of a father go?"

  Chapter Three:

  The Truth Always Reveals Itself

  Seven in the morning, at the freezing parking lot mall, an encumbered Nash had a hard time breathing. Donny was straddling his back and his arms were squeezing Nash's neck hard. His almost fourteen-year-old brother had insisted on joining on his date with Sherry, and was now playing a prank on him.

  "Donny, be careful," Sherry said with concern. "I think Nash is already turning blue."

  Nash even tried dissuading Donny by telling him that they were out to get ice cream on a cold morning like this. He thought that such an obvious ploy would turn his brother off, but Donny still persisted. The younger Smoak wrapped his arms around Nash's windpipes, tightening it even more.

  Both of them knew that Nash could easily throw his brother off, but they also knew that he wouldn't do that, not with the hard pavement, which could easily harm Donny.

  "Nah, he's just trying to get your pity," replied Donny. "When we were younger, he could hold his breath for almost two minutes."

  Nash stood still, patting Donny's arms. It was not until he slapped Donny's back, that his younger brother finally got off him.

  "Donny, that was a little too much," said Nash, gasping for air. He squatted on the parking lot, and placed his head between his knees.

  The younger Smoak knelt down next to Nash. "I told you I liked Sherry, but you still went ahead and made her your girlfriend. But don't worry, that was the last of it. I squeezed out all of my feelings for her into your neck."

  Donny patted Nash on the shoulder and laughed innocently.

  Sherry hurriedly went over to Nash and checked on him.

  "I'll be going ahead," said Donny, and led the way to the ice cream shop. "By the way, Nash, I hope you came prepared, because I plan to binge out today."

  Nash shook his head and gave Donny an amused grin.

  "It's my fault, you know," he explained to Sherry. "I took the girl he loved away from him."

  This time, it was Sherry's turn to slap Nash's shoulder. "Stop it. Don't encourage him. I was just being friendly. I didn't think his crushing on me would turn out like this."

  "Nah, he was just like that because you're here," answered Nash. "Anyway, he promised me, that was the last time."

  "So, why did Donny decide to get ice cream today?" asked Sherry.

  Nash shrugged. "I don't know the whole story, but I think it has something to do with getting a week off the intensive training he has with Master Cacoy."

  After they opened the door, the cold breeze entered the shop with them. The ice cream shop was almost empty, except for the servers and a mom with her little girl at one table, near the heaters.

  They quickly spotted Donny sitting at the counter. Nash could tell that Donny would keep ordering as soon as he finished with his current sundae.

  Seeing as the place was almost like a ghost town, Nash led Sherry towards the nearby table. He quickly pulled up a chair for her, and then sat on the one across her.

  Shortly, a plump woman with a cone-shaped hat went over to give them shop's menus. "Hi, my name is Maves, and I'll be serving you this cold morning."

  "It certainly is," replied Sherry, her body was slight shaking.

  "Do you want me to give you a minute? Or do you already know what you want?" Maves asked the two of them.

  "A hot cup of Earl Grey tea for me," said Sherry.

  "I'll have the same," added Nash quickly.

  "Good choice. On a cold day like this, something hot would be great," replied Maves. She then leaned in closer and whispered to both of them. "I'm not judging, but that kid over by the counter must have a screw loose. He already ordered five sundaes in advance."

  The plump server gave them a smile and went to get their orders.

  Sherry quickly blasted her questions about Vitzytl Kingdom.

  "So, how were the Orks? Were they as scary as the videos?" she asked Nash.

  "Way more," answered Nash, shaking his head.

  "Those uploaded videos don't do them justice," he added with a shudder. "There's even this Fear status that you get inflicted with, caused by their Horde Intimidation. But you do get a resistance to it, after a couple of encounters with them."

  Sherry nodded, her eager, smiling expression made it clear she wanted to see them for herself. "Oh, talking about videos, what do you plan to submit for this month?"

  Nash scratched his head. "Don't know. I can't give out that I'm in Sawtorn, so, no clue at all."

  "You still have a week, don't worry about it," encouraged Sherry, grabbing hold of his hand.

  "But tell me more about the battle of Waylay Pass," asked Sherry. "It sounded very exciting when you called right after, and what was that about Cynar? I would have never seen that coming."

  "Exactly! Now, I have to come up with another plan to free his captured children. I mean I don't want to actually kill him."

  "But if you're forced to, do you think you'll do it?" asked Sherry.

  Nash shrugged.

  "I don't know, but I really don't want to. I understand that he's just out to get revenge on the Orks, and my Intimacy with him has also been steadily increasing. Sure, his methods are wrong, and he physically harms the captured aristocrats, but he hasn't killed
anyone of them," Nash absent-mindlessly blabbed on about Cynar.

  "So, if he does kill one of his captives, you'll kill him?" she asked with uncertainty.

  Nash looked away. "Definitely... maybe?"

  Feeling uncomfortable with their topic, Nash quickly tried changing the subject.