Chapter 285: Orcs of the Mana Cavern

When he had viewed the plants through Mochi, they had appeared to glow. However, once the light from their torches illuminated the cavern, their faint glow was no longer visible to the naked eye.

The light emitted by the mana, which Qiu Nuoya decided to call "magical glow" for the time being, was that incredibly faint.

"The plants around here don’t seem to contain a very high concentration of mana yet."

Viktor spoke as he touched one of the plant’s leaves, examining it closely.

Curious how he could tell, Qiu Nuoya asked him. Viktor explained that the higher the mana concentration, the more brightly the plants glowed, until they shone brightly enough to make torches unnecessary.

"So that means we just have to head toward the brighter areas, right?"

Viktor nodded at Igor’s suggestion. However, he continued, "As I mentioned earlier, monsters are attracted to magic power. Places like that tend to..."

Before Viktor could finish speaking, Qiu Nuoya sensed something moving in the dim darkness.

"Well, of course there are monsters here."

"Just as expected."

A swarm of monsters suddenly rushed toward them through the torchlight. There were quite a lot of them, but each was small and resembled a bat.

"Tch, there are a lot of them. Are you two all right?"

"I’m fine, but..."

Igor and Viktor kept their eyes on the enemies while glancing toward Qiu Nuoya to check on him.

It was true that Qiu Nuoya had far less experience than either of them. But it wasn’t as though he had spent the three years since arriving in this world doing nothing.

"I’m fine too!"

These were the same bats Qiu Nuoya had fought before in the Oraria’s dungeon castle. He took a deep breath, brought his palms together once, then turned them toward the enemies and spread his arms apart.

Following his movements, a membrane of magical energy expanded before him, pushing back the swarm of bats.

Normally, Mochi would have been right beside him, putting up a slime barrier whenever they encountered a situation like this. However, Mochi had given in to its appetite and wandered off to eat, so Qiu Nuoya would have to manage with his own magic this time.

Monsters that lived in the darkness tended to have poorly developed eyesight. They relied on other senses, such as hearing and smell, to detect their enemies. If those senses could be blocked, it would suddenly become much harder for the monsters to recognize their presence.

"Flamethrower!"

Viktor pointed his palm at the bats and swept his arm sideways. Flames burst forth, illuminating the surroundings with a bright glow. At the same time, the fire incinerated the bats, filling the cavern with the stench of burning flesh.

Even so, more bats continued to swarm toward them from deeper inside the cave, one wave after another. The seemingly endless onslaught was beginning to wear Qiu Nuoya down.

While Viktor swept away the bats with fire magic, Igor grabbed the ones flying toward him and hurled them aside, one after another. However, the sheer number of enemies seemed to be putting him at a disadvantage.

Igor was better suited to grappling with large opponents. He was at a disadvantage against enemies that attacked in overwhelming numbers like these. Seeing how things were going, Qiu Nuoya decided to help him.

"Igor, I’ll back you up!"

Qiu Nuoya cast support magic on Igor, boosting his attack power, defense, and, while he was at it, his mobility as well. Then he turned his gaze toward the depths of the cavern.

No matter how many there were, the bats couldn’t keep appearing endlessly. From behind Igor, Qiu Nuoya unleashed a tornado toward the depths of the cave.

Caught in the swirling vortex, the bats were tossed about by the violent winds before tumbling to the ground in heaps.

They continued fighting like this for several dozen minutes. Just as Qiu Nuoya noticed that the number of bats seemed to be dwindling, a heavy vibration suddenly surged through his body.

It felt like an earthquake. He looked around, wondering what was happening, when a massive shadow slowly emerged from the depths of the cavern.

"Looks like we’ve got a big one this time."

At Igor’s words, Qiu Nuoya turned his gaze toward the shadow. What come out was an orc, a monster with which he had a deeply unpleasant history. He couldn’t help making a face of disgust, but that reaction was beyond his control.

Even now, Qiu Nuoya still couldn’t shake his hatred for the orc that had mercilessly tormented him when he had first arrived in this world as a helpless young boy.

After that incident, he had become more cautious about adventuring and learned how to prepare himself mentally before facing monsters. So it hadn’t been an entirely bad experience. Even so, just looking at the ugly figure of an orc was enough to make his mood plummet.

The orc picked up a bat lying on the ground between its fingers and tossed it into its mouth. It chewed noisily, as though it were munching on a snack, making Qiu Nuoya feel even more disgusted.

And there wasn’t just one orc emerging from the depths of the cavern. There were five.

Three years ago, even a single orc had been terrifying. But now, after gaining so much experience, Qiu Nuoya no longer found them frightening. Instead, his revulsion outweighed his fear, leaving him seething with irritation.

"Five orcs... I have a bad feeling about this."

Whether or not Viktor was aware of Qiu Nuoya’s disgust, he murmured those words under his breath. Meanwhile, the constant rumbling continued, and Qiu Nuoya could tell that Igor was growing increasingly wary.

Come to think of it, the orcs apparently didn’t usually form groups consisting solely of their own kind. The monster world followed the law of the jungle. Orcs were highly territorial, and although they might subjugate weaker monsters like goblins, they generally didn’t keep companions of their own kind.