Praise the Orc! Chapter 66:
Chapter 66 – Season of Hunting (1)
[Stella: Perhaps…where do you live in real life?]
Crockta was relieved at her question . He lied .
[Ian: I live in Busan, Busan . Hahaha! Ay, come visit Busan! We have donuts and gukbap! Gukbap! Kelkelkelkel!]
(TL: Ian fakes a Busan accent during this . )
[Stella: Ah…I see . I thought I would ask since I know someone with the same name . How are you doing?]
The messages to Stella would display the name of the caller . As he acted like a man who lived in Busan, Crockta hurriedly ended the conversation . Jung Yunji was becoming dangerous . He wanted to hide his identity as much as possible .
“Why are you so dazed? Let’s go Crockta dot! The North! The unknown!” Tiyo cried out as he bounced around .
Crockta laughed . He was a cute friend .
“I, Tiyo, am going! Kiyoooooh!”
Tiyo started running ahead into a vast plain . If they looked beyond that horizon, they could see the forbidden area they were going towards . A roar emerged from Crockta’s chest, “I, Crockta, am goingggggg! Bul’tarrrr!”
Crockta rushed forward as well . An orc and a gnome started running towards the north .
***
Hunting was a calm, peaceful task .
He moved within the darkness of the forest . He was the shadow, an entity the enemy couldn’t notice, moving between the trees, aiming to cut off the enemy’s breath .
The game that he was staring at was rare . A twin head ogre . A mutation like this didn’t just appear . If a legitimate evil spirit polluted an ogre, then it became this ugly monster .
Therefore, what he needed to penetrate wasn’t the mutant twin head ogre, but the core of darkness infecting it . He had aimed for the darkness a long time ago . It was his old cherished wish, but he had missed the chance .
As winter passed and the buds of spring spread across the land, the smell of that darkness started to flare up again . The decaying mutant ogre proved this phenomenon .
His mouth distorted . He had been waiting, and he wouldn’t miss it this time .
Now . It came again .
Hunting season .
***
“……”
Crockta touched the gnome’s shoulder .
“Tiyo?”
“Going, I’m going, really . ”
Tiyo looked at the black forest and gulped . There was a thick spread of black trees that was so dense that they could only barely see inside . It felt like they were faintly moving when seen with the naked eye .
Suddenly, system messages popped up .
[You have arrived at the Forest of Creatures . ]
[Wow! You have great courage to come here . ]
[If you pass through the Forest of Creatures, there will be a reward for arriving first . ]
[How do you like this quest after not receiving one for a long time?]
[Special achievement points will be awarded as you pass through the Forest of Creatures . If you can achieve a hidden clear condition, you will earn tremendous rewards and a title . ]
[Good luck!]
Crockta confirmed the message windows . Before, he thought they were just set messages, but these days, it was obvious that an artificial intelligence was controlling the messages . The words were somewhat hateful .
Tiyo asked, “C-Crockta, are we really going? We are going right?”
Crockta burst out laughing . “Tiyo, are you going to continue like this? Are you really from the Quantes Gnome Garrison?”
“What! I’m not an indecisive person!” Tiyo jumped . “Good dot! I’ll show you! Starting from now dot!”
Then he leaped eagerly towards the forest . The small gnome couldn’t be seen after he entered the shadows of the dark forest . Crockta was about to walk after him when…
“Uwaaaaaaaaaah!”
Tiyo came running back out of the forest and rolling across the ground before getting back up and running again .
“What’s going on?” Crockta drew his greatsword and shouted . There was a large shadow in the place where Tiyo had run out . It was about to come out of the forest .
Crockta was nervous .
“……”
The identity of that shadow… was a huge spotted cow .
“…M-Monster! A monster has appeared dot!” Tiyo shouted as he grabbed Crockta’s pants .
Crockta gazed at Tiyo with cold eyes . Tiyo felt a chill as he gazed into Crockta’s eyes and looked away .
“…Moo…”
The cow cried out .
“……”
It was just a cow .
Tiyo got up from his seat without speaking and rubbed at his clothes, “Hum hum, hum! Now, shall we go Crockta? Don’t hesitatedot!”
Then he started walking again . Crockta shook his head and followed behind Tiyo . Tiyo snooped around the cow .
“By the way, why is there a cow here?”
“I was thinking that too . ”
Crockta examined the cow . It wasn’t just a wild cow . There was evidence that someone was looking after it . It stood still as they approached it and stared at them with simple eyes . Crockta stroked the head of the cow and it cried out again . It was a calm cry .
Mooooo… .
It calmed the hearts of the listeners . This place now felt like a leisurely pasture, not a forest full of creatures .
“Is someone inside?”
“Are there people in this forest?”
The Forest of Creatures had long been regarded as a forbidden area that couldn’t be accessed by people . Usually, people would fall prey to creatures as soon as they entered . But now there were traces of a human’s touch on the cow . What was this?
Tiyo and Crockta stared at each other .
“Go . ”
Now it really was the time to enter the Forest of Creatures . Tiyo climbed onto the cow .
“Crockta, lead us well . ’
“……”
The cow’s tail waved . Crockta led the cow and Tiyo and entered the Forest of Creatures .
It was cold as soon as they entered .
The temperature was lowered as the dense foliage covered the sky and blocked the sun, causing everything below it to be in steady shade . The damp ground was trampled underfoo as moss flourished at the base of the trees and unknown sticky things got caught on their feet .
It felt like a bad place .
“Cow, where is your house?”
Tiyo whispered to the cow . Then the cow started to walk in a certain direction . Tiyo and Crockta followed the cow as they gradually headed deeper into the forest .
They had no way of knowing what would appear beyond the darkness . Just like mountains were often described as strange, he felt a creepy sensation as the direction seemed to keep shifting . It was a strange feeling that he had never experienced before .
Suddenly, they sensed something moving . Crockta and Tiyo flinched . Crockta placed his hand on the handle of his greatsword while Tiyo prepared General .
The moving object approached . A troll . It was a forest where trolls were common . Crockta grinned . This truly was the Forest of Creatures . Monsters like goblins or werewolves wouldn’t be able to stay here .
The minimum requirement was a troll! Weak creatures wouldn’t survive here .
Tiyo shouted, “Go! Crockta!”
“Bul’tar!”
As Crockta rushed out, Tiyo fired ‘General’ .
It was a formation similar to how they defeated the ogres at Quantes . Tiyo would block the enemy in the back with his magic weapon while Crockta faced it directly . The troll was hit by General’s intense light and fell to the ground like it was paralyzed .
“Kiek!”
Tiyo’s General didn’t have the destructive power to kill the enemy, but it was excellent support . The troll groaned at Tiyo’s bombardment . Crockta plunged in . The famous ‘Ogre Slayer’ cut the troll’s neck .
The troll’s head and body were separated . But it was a troll . Even after the head and body were separated, both sides wriggled and moved . Bubbles bloomed at the cut surface, indicating the troll’s unique regeneration . If the troll’s head and body joined back together, it could move again .
“How great . ”
“Creepy dot . ”
Crockta’s recovery skill had reached ‘Troll’s Regenerative Power (Essence)’, but it seemed lacking compared to a real troll . Crockta and Tiyo exchanged glances . It was a truly great collaboration . This Forest of Creatures might not be that tough .
Crockta held out his hand and the gnome hit his palm in a high five .
“Moooooo…”
The cow gave a long cry in delight . Tiyo once again got on the cow’s back with General .
“Cow, where do you live?”
The cow’s tail waved and it started moving again . It was heading deeper into the forest . Crockta followed it .
The cow seemed to be familiar with the Forest of Creatures and they passed by a variety of strange things . If the cow suddenly sniffed the ground, delicious mushrooms would emerge . Once it began to cry towards the sky, there were sweet fruits .
Crockta and Tiyo bit a red fruit . The cow also nibbled at the fragrant mushroom .
“It seems very familiar with this place dot . ”
“It really seems to live here . ”
As they continued walking with the cow, the shape of a house started to appear . Crockta lowered his body . The cow was tame but there was no law saying that the owner of the house would be . Besides, the person was strong enough to live in the Forest of Creatures .
The house was surrounded by a moat and a sharp fence . Their bodies would be pierced by a sharp barricade if they approached without thinking .
Tiyo said .
“A magic circle dot . ”
“Magic circle?”
“Looking at the design, they don’t seem to be lacking in intelligence . It looks like this place is protected with magical artifacts . Indeed, this is how they managed to live in the Forest of Creatures . ”
Tiyo analyzed . As a gnome, he easily recognized the magical engineering design . As he listened to Tiyo’s words, a faint presence could be felt in the area .
“Moo…”
The cow moved around the moat and suddenly stopped at one point . It walked through a shallow part of the moat . After crossing the moat, the cow crouched and passed through a hole in the dirt beneath the fence . It was a small passage . Despite the cow’s big mass, it went through like a mollusk .
Then it cried out again from beyond the fence .
“Mooooo… . ”
Crockta and Tiyo looked at each other .
“Can we go in?”
“I am curious . ”
“But it is another person’s house . ”
“We can’t ignore the cow . The cow is also a member of that household! In other words, the member of the family invited us dot!”
“Um…”
He had a point .
Crockta and Tiyo used the shallow part of the moat and passed through the hole like the cow . Tiyo entered easily but Crockta’s skin was scratched by a piece of fence and he barely passed through it .
The inside was an entirely different world .
“Ah!”
“Umm . ”
It was a peaceful scenery that couldn’t be imagined inside the Forest of Creatures . First of all, there were two more cows . The cow that Tiyo and Crockta brought here cried out leisurely . On one side, chickens were pecking at the ground . Vegetables were growing in the garden . In the center, a solid house made of logs was standing firm . There were axes, pickaxes, and farming equipment lying around . It felt like someone had lived here for a long time .
“How great . ”
Suddenly, Crockta found something among the tools . They were handmade arrows and arrowheads . Since this was a forest…a hunter .
“Look! Crockta! This is definitely the artifact that is protecting this place dot!” Tiyo shouted .
Crockta approached and saw a magic staff next to the log cabin . There was a crystal ball at the end and a blue aura flowed from it and spread out in a circle . It seemed to create a dim shield that concealed this area .
“The magic power runs down here and…”
Tiyo explained . Below the place where the staff was inserted, there were round shapes and patterns .
“This is a great technology dot . ”
Tiyo’s eyes shone . As Tiyo was looking around, he accidentally nudged the staff . At that moment .
Piiing!
Piyok!
There was a sound and the magic staff lost its light .
“Eh…?”
Tiyo stiffened . The blue energy flowing from the staff suddenly disappeared . Then faint film covering this area also disappeared .
“…Ah, no . ”
The shield protecting this place had disappeared . Tiyo retreated .
Crockta looked up at the sky . Wyverns were passing above them .
“……!”
The moment that the barrier disappeared, a wyvern glanced down . Crockta’s hands became sweaty . Just keep flying .
However, the wyverns started circling around .
Tiyo stuttered, “I, I, I, just…”
“Calm down Tiyo . ”
One of the biggest rules of the battlefield: don’t dwell on the past . It already happened, so it was meaningless to argue . They could analyze the operation or fighting techniques after it was over, but they should concentrate on the enemy when it was in front of them .
The wyverns started to flap their wings . It was the precursor to gliding .
Crockta looked around . There were two objects of prey that the wyverns could aim for . Them or the cows .
“Tiyo, there are two choices . ”
“…What does that mean?”
More wyverns started appearing . The group of wyverns had flocked at the sudden appearance of easy food . Tiyo raised General .
“We only have one choice dot!”
“Kulkul, well said . ”
One Wyvern started to dive towards the cows, followed by three other wyverns . Tiyo aimed the muzzle of ‘General’ .
Crockta grinned . His new ally wasn’t just cute .
“As a reliable guard, I never run away from a fight dot!”
He was a real man .
The moment that the Wyvern’s sharp claws were about to grab a cow, Crockta’s roar resounded through the forest .
“Bul’tarrrrrrrr──────!”
It was the Essence ranked skill, Army Crushing Roar! It went beyond a mere battle cry and actually affected the enemies with physical force .
The dense vegetation shook . The wyverns were shocked and stopped their descent . The cows figured out the situation and turned to flee from the wyverns . The wyverns regained their spirits and tried to catch the cows again, but Crockta blocked them .
The greatsword tore at the wyverns’ wings . One wyvern fell to the ground while the ones following scattered to the left and right . Tiyo attacked the wyverns with General .
“Ahhhhhhh!”
The wyverns spread out and soared up to the sky again . The wyverns were fast and avoided the attack . Tiyo’s bullets just hit the air .
The confrontation continued with no progress . Crockta’s expression hardened . They couldn’t overpower the wyverns who dominated the sky . But more wyverns would come flocking soon .
“Ugh…”
Tiyo bit his lip . At that moment…
Susususuk .
A strange bolt flew through the air .
Pasasak .
One wyvern crashed .
“……!”
“What?”
Crockta and Tiyo’s eyes shone .
Susususuk .
Once again, a bolt of light passed through the sky and another wyvern fell . The wyverns continued to plummet . Now there were no more wyverns threatening them as they all became corpses . The party couldn’t tell where the attack came from .
Crockta looked at the arrows lodged in the bodies of the wyverns .
“……!”
Crockta approached to verify it .
Sususuk, an arrow flew right in front of Crockta’s nose .
“……!”
Then another arrow struck in front of Crockta’s foot, an obvious warning not to move from this spot . Crockta and Tiyo looked in the direction that the arrows came from .
Someone was walking towards them .