Airon: Wizard Trials of A.veli

"We're gonna stop the carriage here." Pultra said as her staff's orb projected a large eye. "The goblin leader is in the forest…. There is something else as well, it's a bigger monster." 

"That's strange, the quest was meant for the goblins. It didn't say anything else." Drole added as the horses stopped walking and plopped their arse on the ground. 

"Shouldn't one of us stay behind and watch the carriage?" I asked as they seem to have forgotten. 

"Don't worry." Pultra placed an inscribed piece of paper on to the carriage. "Mischief of the spirits, dissuade the wonders of passing eyes." Suddenly the carriage and horses turned invisible with a blue ring going over once before disappearing. 

"I see… how convenient." I said almost speechless. 

"Come on Airon, don't fall behind now." Kayden said as he pushed passed the shrubs. 

So we left the carriage on the side of the road before we ventured through the forest to hunt down the last of the goblin pack. 

With every step I take in the forest, the more I realize how different it is from the Colossal's forest. To make a mistake like that again (although it taught me the experience I needed) is downright careless. 

The trees seem more natural and lively, the sense of randomly running into a monster was gone. The beautiful brown wood of the trees, 

"Any of you got a guess on what the minaret might be?" Kayden asked as he stepped over a large branch. 

"It most likely is an orc. A subspecies of goblin, they are larger, less intelligent and all the more dangerous. For reference they are about 5x the size of our burly huntsman." Pultra explained as she shifted the bushes away with her staff. 

"They are quite large in size. I'll most likely be the only one able to go against it head on." Drole said as he gently pushed the tree branches out of his way. 

"Five times? What the hell are you gonna do about that thing by yourself?" Kayden asked exasperatingly as he flicked a bug off of his arm. 

"You'll be helping of course since we are in the woods after all." Drole said as he stopped walking. 

"Right and that also means, Airon's mana is limited in this area." Kayden said as he leaned on a tree. "Speaking of which, you're awfully quiet back there. Are you getting tired of walking too?" He looked back at me. 

Although, I wasn't listening to much of their conversation. I was more focused on detecting any monsters around us despite having Pultra's clairvoyance spell up. 

"No, I'm good." Detecting mana becomes easier to do, the more I try. "There aren't many monsters around us either. Are they avoiding us for some reason?" I continued to look at our surroundings. 

"It may be the stench of the dead goblins that's driving them away-" *Thump* Just by the sound, we could tell there was something large in the area. "They're close, the goblin leader and the orc…." 

"The orc is like a giant rock. There's not much mana flowing in its body to actively detect its every move." I thought as the loud and heavy footsteps of this creature got closer. 

"Kayden, get ready." Drole said as he grabbed his warhammer. "Airon, stand down for now, we can't risk burning up the forest away with your flame magic." He finished as he went into stance. 

Pultra began her own incantations in preparation for the soon to encounter orc, yellow aura began to encapsulate Drole body while Kayden was waiting with his grimoire opened. 

"…" It went deathly silent, the leaves stopped swaying and the air froze. Even the heavy footsteps silently floated by our ears while minutes passed by like hours in a day. 

We could only sense the goblin who stood over 10 meters ahead of us- 

*FWOOOSH* Suddenly the wind was pushing everything as if a small tornado was hitting. 

Unable to keep her footing, Pultra was pushed into a tree. Luckily it didn't seem to hurt so she'll be fine but now. 

The Orc stood in front of us. Standing just as tall as the trees with dark blue skin, red eyes and a bald head. Something this tall should've made a sound; it came in like a missile but it didn't even make any noise. 

"KAYDEN!" Drole shouted as he started charging The Orc. 

This monster pulled a wooden weapon, similar to a club but it was as large as a tree trunk. The Orc swung at all of the trees that shrouded his sight on us- sweeping them away like dust. 

Drole made sure to duck the Orc's club and dodged all of the pieces of trees flying towards him. 

"Shit… This is nothing like those blue humanoid things on the Colossal's back." I thought as I continued to watch from a distance. "….Although, I do have a spell that won't harm the surroundings." 

Behind me, Kayden began incanting his spell. Just a few feet ahead of him was Pultra who was already conjuring her own spell. And Drole was ahead of me, in the now open area created by the Orc. 

There was a necklace wrapped around its neck, with a blue gem hanging from it. It isn't hard to tell that the gem was responsible for making the Orc's large movements silent. The gem was emanating black mana, however I was able to sense a vague trail of mana leading to the Goblin leader. 

For some reason, the thought of taking out the Goblin first seemed to make more sense to me. 

 The easiest way for me to get to him through the orc is by using the spell that enhances my speed. 

"Benedic me flammis ustis per tempus, Mater Flamma." As I spoke the spell's incantationl in my head, the Orc noticed my mana forming and attempted to idiotically ignore Drole to rush me. 

Idiotically because he unknowingly closed the distance between them enough for Drole to land an attack on its ankle which had enough force to break through an invisible body enhancement. 

Simultaneously allowing my spell to fully materialize around my feet so I could zip between the Orc's legs in- what felt like an instant. 

It was much easier for me to control my speed in this open area but as I entered the tree lines that weren't destroyed, the obstacles became a bit difficult to maneuver. Dodging the trees and fallen logs as I concentrated on the Goblin Leader's mana. 

I could see him standing there holding a wooden staff with a large purple gem in the center of it. The Goblin hadn't even noticed me until I grabbed onto its staff. 

"Tish La-" It attempted to call for the Orc's help but I already slit its throat with the dagger. 

Just as its blood bursted like a fountain, the droplets caught on fire similar to someone lighting a trail of gasoline with a lighter. The flames trailed its way into its throat while the outside of its body caught on fire as well. 

I focused on the mana coming from my flames to extinguish them by absorbing my mana back into my core. Luckily only part of the goblin's body turned to ash, the rest was cooked to a crisp. 

I was also able to keep the staff unharmed. Hopefully it's gonna count towards our rewards. 

"Alright, let's go. They may need my help after-" "I must be losing it… why the hell am I talking to a dead monster?" I questioned myself as I dragged the goblin's body through the grass. 

*Boom* An explosion came from the party's direction, but I couldn't see any light or feel any gust of wind from there. 

I rushed towards them, making sure the goblin's body wasn't getting too damaged. 

And as I made it to the open area, I was greeted by a peculiar sight. The Orc's left arm was blown off and its left shoulder was pierced by javelin shaped wood which was erected out of the ground. 

I could tell the Orc's enhancement was canceled because it's mana was as vague as the gentle air. Between its legs I could see Drole rushing towards the Orc, with the head of his warhammer dragging behind him. 

I could see the mana accumulating in his arms and pouring into his weapon. Then the moment he was close enough, he jumped. 

It was unbelievable, the height he reached for someone as huge as him. It was much higher than the Orc, he swung his hammer with enough force to change the wind's direction. 

All the Orc could do was stare in despair as Drole seemingly flew to its head and slammed his hammer hard enough to make its head explode. 

*FWOOSH* It was less than a second, however the moment its blood splattered, flames spurted out of the hammer and evaporated the blood. 

The Orc's body collapsed onto the floor, spilling out more blood from its opened neck. 

"Holy shit." I thought as Drole landed beside me. 

"Where did you go?" Drole said as he put his hammer on his back.

"Dealt with the leader." I said as I lifted the goblin's body while I dispelled the enhancement magic. 

He watched the spell on my feet disappear. "I see, well what's that?" Drole pointed at the staff in my hand. 

"The leader was using it, I'm assuming this staff was enhancing the Orc's magic." I told him as Pultra and Kayden walked up to us. 

"It was. The Orc's physical enhancements were disrupted the moment you killed the leader." Pultra said before she spoke the incantation for the levitation spell she used before. "Are you able to carry the Orc's arm Drole?" 

"Yes… Kayden, come help me." Drole said as he walked over to what appeared to be a blue tree. Instead it was the severed arm of the Orc. Or what was left of it anyway. 

A large bubble of air appeared around the Orc's body, slowly lifting it from the ground. I could feel the amount of mana and focus it took to lift the Orc's body but the fact she was also maintaining the spell on our carriage was also amazing. Especially from so far. 

We quickly headed back to the carriage with a little more than we expected. When finally got back, only the orc's arm would fit so instead of having to carry the Orc's body and expend so much mana, Pultra decided it was best to give Kayden and Drole strength enhancements to drag its body back to the city.