They had asked the guards if there were any clearings but the settlement was too deep into the forest. The clearing that the settlement is in was due to the orcs' efforts to cut down nearby trees.

This settlement also didn't have a practice field. Most of the available s.p.a.ce was instead filled with houses.

"Are you ready to start?" Vorgarag shouted from a fair distance away. He not only held a staff but also had an axe handy.

"Of course." Ed confidently replied from the other end. Since he asked for the spar he was naturally ready.

"Alright. Let's go!" Vorgarag yelled and started his incantation. Ed was caught a bit off guard by the sudden start but he was still able to keep up. He dashed forward with great speed.

His agility was unfortunately quite low but his speed was still rather fearsome when compared to regular orcs. But Vorgarag did not crack down under this pressure. He instead released his spell along with a taunt.

"Why aren't you casting huh?" Vorgarag said with a provocative smile towards the rapidly approaching Ed.

Solid lumps of earth were flying towards Ed's figure. He didn't worry about it however. He had many options to avoid this quickly cast earth shot spell. But the whole point of this battle was to challenge himself.

By the skin of his teeth, Ed managed to squeeze in between the barrage of earth. Vorgarag was unfazed by this sight as he had expected this move to fail in the first place. Nevertheless, he still praised Ed in his heart. Such a nimble action was rarely seen in orcs.

"I'm afraid I might scare you away" Ed retorted a bit late. He would prefer to try and concentrate to activate his instinct skill but as it was a friendly spar it was a good idea to keep an amicable atmosphere.

His dodge had lowered his momentum but he had already closed most of the distance. Ed brandished a new axe he picked up and prepared to take a swing at Vorgarag.

Vorgarag was naturally aware of this and thus visibly frowned. He had to resort to other means. He cast a crude wall of earth that separated him and Ed.

As it was crudely built, Ed easily blasted through it with brute strength…! A sharp axe swing appeared out of seemingly nowhere. The crash had significantly lowered Ed's visibility.

Still, this was exactly what he needed. His hands moved quickly, he managed to just barely parry Vorgarag's swing. With his overwhelming strength, Ed essentially tossed Vorgarag aside.

But before he could rejoice, a ball of fire flew directly towards him. Vorgarag seemed to be accustomed to casting while performing physical attacks as it would have been near impossible to cast the spell within such a small time frame.

Ed grit his teeth and did his best to protect his body. He could try to block the fireball using another spell but this spar was supposed to be a test for himself. He also wanted to know how far his const.i.tution and vitality had come.

With a boom, Ed was pushed back by the small explosion.

[You've been dealt damage. -7 hp]

Ed smiled once he heard the message. Although he did his best to lower the affected areas that was still a direct hit from a fireball. He had taken more damage with his own fireball before and it wasn't even aiming at him. He only lost 7 hp this time even when considering this.

Not only that, but Ed's body barely had any burn marks. Any charred skin was also quickly shed and replaced by new skin thanks to his high vitality. As long as he was facing only one opponent at a similar level to his own, he would have no problem emerging victorious.

This wasn't the time to rejoice, however. Within that short moment of distraction, Ed felt something wrap around his legs. He instinctively knew this was the entangle spell.

He mustered some strength and easily broke the overgrown gra.s.s. The spell almost felt completely pointless.

That was until Ed felt the ground underneath his feet loosen and fall. Given how many of these things he had created he knew this was a pitfall. Vorgarag must have cast the entangle spell to keep him there for another moment as he manipulated the earth.

'd.a.m.n it!' Ed felt himself panic slightly. It was a good lesson, he couldn't lose himself in the middle of the battle as a result of an inflated ego.

Luckily, He subconsciously grabbed the edge of the hole before he could plummet and become an easy target. The pitfall was only slightly wider than his own body as Vorgarag didn't have the time to create anything more elaborate further facilitating the maneuver.

He easily lifted his body but before he could rejoice, he caught sight of a glimmering red object in Vorgarag's hand.

'F*cking Shameless' Ed cursed as a stream of vibrant red-orange flames covered his field of view. Not willing to cast a spell, Ed instead grit his teeth and ran straight into the fire only bothering to cover his head.

[You've been dealt damage. -7 hp]

[You've been dealt damage. -7 hp]

[You've been dealt damage. -7 hp]

This attack was more potent than the fireball and came in a continuous stream. Ed could feel searing pain on his arm and torso.

He took a shot in the dark and released a fierce overhead swing. The swing was hastily blocked by Vorgarag with an axe of his own but…

"Urgh-!" He was also cleanly hit by a kick to his stomach.

[Instinct has leveled up]

Ed didn't even bother to process the message before taking another swing at the pained Vorgarag. A powerful left hook made Vorgarag fall to the ground. Ed was even going to take another jab at him but...

"Hey! Sto-Stop! You win! Freaking monster..." Vorgarag yelled. He muttered the latter words, however.

Ed stopped as soon as he heard this. With a grin, he offered Vorgarag who was on the ground a hand.

"Need help?" Ed said towards the gloomy Vorgarag who reluctantly took his hand.

"You are too d.a.m.n brutal…" Vorgarag said as he touched his swollen face.

"I'll tone it down for you if there's a next time then." Ed said, still smiling. He was obviously rubbing it in.

"Forget it! There's no next time." Vorgarag turned away after picking up his staff which he had inadvertently dropped.

"That's too bad, thanks for the spar." Ed said sincerely towards the retreating Vorgarag.

"Yeah, whatever." Vorgarag motioned with one of his hands. The other was too busy stroking his aching face.

***

It was a new morning in Arbor town. The breeze was especially chilly as winter started to spread its wings.

Samuel was currently going down his stairs while rubbing his weary eyes. He had heard a knock so early in the morning before the sun had even risen.

He sluggishly opened the door and caught sight of… many people... 

To be precise, many adventurers. But judging by their gear, they were mostly C-cla.s.s adventurers. You could even say almost exclusively C-cla.s.s.

There were three people in front of him. Drake, Clarys, and… Christian?

"Ahem, Good morning" Christian said to Samuel who had been inspecting the large group of people.

"Good morning, All…" Samuel said as he awkwardly waved to the large crowd. This was a way to signal his confusion to Chrisitan and the others.

"We are going to set out to the dungeon. Khal asked me to tag along as well. You should have seen the way he begged me." Christian said with his usual charming smile.

Samuel's first thoughts were no way.

"Why are there so many C-cla.s.s adventurers then?" Samuel said in a somewhat high voice. He managed to hold himself back though.

C-cla.s.s adventurers were as good as cannon fodder when facing bosses. They had no idea what might lie on the next floor but Samuel was not optimistic.

"Ah. yeah… Unfortunately, this is beyond our control anymore." Christian shrugged helplessly while shaking his head in disapproval.

"How come?" Samuel ignored his tiredness and asked in a serious tone.

"The kingdom stepped in. We don't know why but they offered a quest to the C-cla.s.s adventurers with an incredibly handsome reward attached. This was all sent as an urgent message." Christian explained.

There were special magic tools that could transmit voices over long distances. The only problem was that the quality of those messages was often poor and the amount of mana consumed could reach astronomical sums. Thus, these types of urgent messages were seldom used.

"I don't understand. Why are you guys here then?" Samuel asked while taking another glance at the large group. He could count at least 50 more people essentially blocking the entirety of his front yard. His house was a good minute away from the town and not towards the dungeon.

"I was asked by Khal to help supervise this for the kingdom. We came by to ask that you join us." Christian said in response.

Samuel stayed silent for a while before asking another question.

"What does Miller think about this?" While the two weren't friends Samuel still understood that Miller had an upstanding personality. He wouldn't send people to their deaths for the sake of it.

"He has no say in this. Nonetheless, he showed no objection." Christian promptly answered.

Samuel could only relent. It was much earlier than he was prepared for but... 

He looked back into his home. His wife was at the top of the stairs observing and his son was likely still asleep.

"Give me an hour. You guys should wait in town." Samuel answered.

"Alright then." Christian said with a small smile, "We are leaving!" He shouted at the crowd while heading to take charge of the group.

Drake and Clarys looked at Samuel in the eye before bowing and leaving as well. Those two were likely sticking along for more than money.

Samuel watched them retreat for a bit more before closing his door. He needed to prepare again. Luckily he now had a new sword to show off.

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