Return of the Woodcutter

Outside the illusionary fortification Aito had built, more than two hundred orcs were waiting for their turns to come in, banging on the fake metallic walls, thinking those were real.

What they didn't know was that some of their strikes actually hit other orcs trapped inside the fake corridor, whose numbers were dwindling at a rapid pace.

Young orcs weren't as experienced as adults. Although they measure between 1.80m and 2m, those creatures had little experience when it came to actual fighting. Their control over durability was poor.

However, their enthusiasm to attain glory pushed them to be near berserk-like foes. They would not go down until death.

'19, 20, 21,' Ogoro counted mentally, hacking away at his enemies. He dealt precise deadly strikes. With someone reliable covering his left flank, he feared nothing.

Aito simply bashed away the orcs, barely using his ax, incapacitating orcs before sending them towards Ogoro to be butchered.

The goal today was to have his teammate clear the quest. He could do that anytime. Aito saw the corridor was almost empty for orcs and gestured for George to dispel his water wall.

Water stopped gushing out the ground, allowing more orcs to pour inside the team's fortification, only to be soon trapped inside and massacred in a matter of minutes.

On the right side, protected by two layers of wooden walls, Lucius and his team had no trouble taking care of the orcs banging at their doorstep.

He unleashed powerful lightning bolts, conjuring a lightning whip to attack from a distance. Thunder appeared to roar in his surroundings. Being a dual elementalist, he had mastery over lightning but also wind.

With his wind element, he cut down several orc heads, impeded their path with wind walls while the warriors of his team laid waste to the orcs.

Elizabeth, the wood elementalist, repaired the wooden structures or created deadly spears that pierced through the young orcs' thick armors.

On the left side of the arena, surrounded by earth walls, Sam's team was struggling more than the others. His teammates were relatively new and only leveled up recently. They had formed this team in a hurry, lacking the cohesion other teams had. One of them had already died, bringing their number down to seven.

Roisin, the dual elementalist of the team, cast fire pillars and frozen spears, wreaking havoc and lessening her team's burden. Zephyr barely coped with the number of enemies. Almost out of arrow, he'd soon have to switch to close-quarter combat.

With no means to repair their earth walls, orcs dug them to their heart's content. Halfway through destroying Sam's team fortifications.

Back to Aito's side, all his teammates were done with their quotas and cleared the sixth floor's quest. Less than one hundred young orcs remained, enough for him to go on a rampage.

The corridor was currently closed by a water wall. Corpses of dead orcs obstructed the way out.

"Stay inside, gather the cores and arrows, then rest," Aito said to his teammate. "I'll take care of the orcs outside."

Ogoro and Sheyla nodded, immediately butchering dead orcs' bosom to pull out their cores.

"Alright, have fun boss," George replied, opening the water wall. Angry orcs flooded in but were slowed down by the many corpses spread at the entrance.

Aito nodded, closed his visor. Drawing his ax, he dashed atop the many corpses and sent the orcs back outside with a shockwave from his ainium shield.

George closed the corridor behind him, chuckling when he heard the orcs' painful cries.

Aito bashed, hacked, slashed. Murdering every enemy in his path. Alone, with space to spare, he closed his shield. His morpho ax in long mode, he brought the orcs the glorious death they sought.

Killing them three by three.

His blade coated with durability viciously bit into the orcs' thick armors, barely glowing yellow. It was like cutting a fluffy yummy cake. Easy, bloody, gory. He was a real killing machine.

They were no match for him.

Spectators all around watched with widened eyes as one warrior decimated dozens of young orcs in less than a minute.

On the canyon's edge, Behir, the moderator of the sixth floor, sighed. "It appears Day 1 is too easy for him. How did he grow so strong in such a short amount of time?"

Amongst the VIP seats, the Khan grunted, observing the situation with kin interest. She felt a desire rekindle in the deepest corner of her mind, the desire to battle a strong opponent. No one had been her match, orcs or humans.

But that one just might make her heart pulse to the rhythm of battle again. To seek glory once more. The huge ax with a bone shaft in her hand vibrated slightly, responding to her blood lust.

She calmed herself. There was no point in attacking him on the first day.

Krugan was sitting next to her, wounded, bruised. His gaze filled with shame due to his previous loss.

In the arena, ten young orcs remained around Aito. Despite their beliefs, they trembled, fearing his blade more than the shame of escaping with their lives.

He barely took a step that their will crumbled. They fled in multiple directions as if the devil himself, armed with an ax, was pursuing them.

Aito rapidly ran after his preys, decapitating one after the other, giving them a shameful death. Orc spectators frowned at this unsightly moment. That had never happened before, to their knowledge.

Was the human that scary?

Striking down the last orc from the group that had attacked his team, Aito's gaze traveled to the two other fortifications in the arena.

Lucius's wooden walls held strong. Orcs were dying at a rapid pace. Soon there would be none left.

As for Sam's team….

'Oh, they are in a bad spot alright,' Aito thought, seeing orcs breaching earth walls. There were a bit less than a hundred. 'I guess he'll be able to manage it. If not, it won't be a big loss, anyway.'

That said, he started gathering all the soul cores from the enemy he had killed. If his theory was correct, those would be easy to digest and very beneficial for his team.

A few minutes later, the horn resounded once again in the arena, announcing the challengers' victory.