WIDEN!
Yuin's player's eyes widened in horror, met with a scene he believed would come but wasn't prepared for.
"M-Master…" he trailed off in a stammer.
Staggering two steps backward, he crashed to his knees beside Yuin who lay unconscious on his side.
His whole body quivered, his heart pounding in a deafening crescendo.
He was pale beyond reason, as if reality itself had traumatized him.
"M-Master…" he trailed off again, but this time, his hand met Yuin's cold forehead.
"Poison," he whispered.
No wonder his master collapsed so quickly from the arrow even though he'd been really brave and strong earlier.
Staring at Yuin with concern, the player sweated profusely in nervousness.
"I-I need to help."
His shaky hands crept forward and found hold of the arrow shaft protruding from Yuin's back.
Then, summoning his strength, he used his thumbs to push beneath the arrowhead, trying to snap it.
But the only things that trembled were his own thumbs, threatening to break. It was like a test against his strength.
And in his case…
What was strength again?
"Hah.. please!" He begged earnestly.
But reality was far more cruel than the plight of a single person.
GHUARGH!
The growl of an orc seized his ears. In panic, the player jerked his head up to meet an orc stomping toward them from afar.
But even though every step of the orc felt heavy and spine-chilling, he was slow and steady, taking his time— announcing a confidence that he saw no threat in either of them.
"Ha.. please!" The player dragged his gaze back to Yuin.
His plea was earnestly desperate. This was that moment in life where a person, whether or not they believed in some god, prayed for a miracle.
It didn't matter which god it came from, just a miracle.
Drawing more of his nonexistent strength, the player's muscles strained taut. His pale, slender hands trembled roughly.
His lime green hair, dampened from sweat, fell over his face, and his rim glasses rested slouched.
As the orc neared, the player's nerves snapped in sheer desperation.
His hope was shattered.
But in the next moment—
SNAP!
The arrow head snapped off with a short crack.
A freezing breeze swept through the player, stilling him in place for a brief moment before he hastily wrenched out the arrow from Yuin.
Then, with the same speed, he threw open the flap of his pouch and dug in. Seconds later, he brought out a light blue, shimmering potion in a spherical glass container.
With gentle caution, he turned Yuin over, pulled off the potion cork and emptied it onto the wound.
The liquid seeped into the wound, emitting a soft glow.
Before the effect could fully take hold, the orc stepped forward and stopped before Yuin's unconscious body.
"GRAHHK!" It growled distastefully.
"Hiik!" The player gasped and fell back on his butt.
With thrill in its eyes and a nasty grin displaying its dirty teeth, the orc raised its double axe.
It was a darkish grey double-bladed axe with deeply carved blades arcing inward until they nearly formed a circle around a central spike.
The shaft was long and boxy, edges squared rather than round.
With excitement filled eyes as if taunting the player for his weakness, the orc swept his axe down in a straight line.
Yuin's player's eyes widened in frozen terror, the dread clear as noon.
The strike came down fiercely with a gust of wind, promising destruction.
Mere inches from the player's head—
WHOOSH!
The axe halted mid-descent.
A ripple of wind flared the space.
For a split second, the player couldn't understand why the blow hadn't split his skull open. Instead, the weapon trembled above him, shaking violently as if caught in an invisible vice.
Then he saw it.
A hand.
Yuin's hand.
Laid back on the ground, his arm stretched upward, fingers locked tightly around the orc's wrist.
The muscles along his forearm bulged and trembled as they fought against the crushing weight of the descending axe.
"That would really make my luck irredeemable if my player was to die so soon," Yuin said groggily.
His eyes were half-lidded, yet a faint grin tugged at the corner of his lips as his chest rose and fell with strained breaths.
"Master.." the player whispered, his voice quivering between disbelief and relief.
"KKАН?!" the orc barked in shock.
For a brief moment it simply stared at the boy lying beneath it, confused at how someone who should have been dead had stopped its strike with one hand.
Then it snarled and leaned its full weight forward, forcing the axe down.
The blade trembled as it slowly crept closer to the player's head.
"Tch... as if I'd allow it."
Yuin's eyes gleamed sharply.
With a sudden surge of strength, his fingers tightened around the orc's wrist. Then sharply—
CRACK!
The orc's wrist twisted at an ugly angle inside Yuin's grip.
[Alert! You have gained skill: Tyrant's hold]
"GHUUUU!!" The orc howled in pain just as Yuin yanked its arm downward and snapped his knee upward.
CRUNCH!
The orc's face slammed into his knee with a sickening impact.
Not allowing it any respite, Yuin pushed the orc to the side and slammed it to the ground. Then he pushed himself off the ground with a clean kip-up.
He steadied himself, raised a leg and hammered down with a forceful plunge.
CRUNCH!
He crushed the orc's neck, flattening it beneath his boot.
[You have slain an Elite Red Orc]
[+4 exp]
[You have displayed ruthless efficiency with your body as a weapon. Skill Learned: Iron Fist]
______________
"What's with all these pop-ups? Just how many skills did I learn?"
Wiping dirt from his face, Yuin summoned his status window and browsed through to navigate his new skills.
________________
— Skill —
Tyrant's Hold
Type: Active
Cooldown: 20 seconds
Description
The user seizes the enemy with absolute dominance, locking them in a crushing hold that denies all resistance.
Restrictions
—Can only be used while unarmed
—Hold ends early if the user is stunned or forcibly interrupted
Level 1
—Grabs a single target at close range
— Immobilizes the enemy for 3 seconds
— Deals 120% of base attack as initial grab damage
— Deals 35% damage per second while the target is held
— Reduces target's defense by 25% for the duration of the hold
— Upon release, the target is staggered, suffering -30% movement speed for 2 seconds
_______________
Yuin's eyes lingered on the skill for a while, trying his best to comprehend all that was written.
There were some words he didn't recognize or understand, but was trying his best to.
"Woah, this is somehow cool," he blurts cheerfully.
Although he didn't fully comprehend the skill details, he somehow got the hang of it.
"And it doesn't cost me anything. Just a cooldown."
"Let's see the others," he scrolled the interface.
___________________
— Skill —
Iron Fist
Type: Passive
Description
A skill that rewards bare-hand attacks. Functions only when unarmed.
Level 1
Attack Bonus: +30%
Damage Reduction: +4%
Speed: +3%
Bonus Damage Against Unarmed Targets: +3%
_____________
"Has not having a weapon turned into a blessing?" His eyes sparked with interest.
Yuin's hand moved to click the other skill but a stuttering whisper brushed his ears from behind.
"M-Master…"
"Ah!" He snapped his gaze backward, turning to meet his player's pale face.
He was so carried away with his new skills that he had forgotten their immediate situation.
"Are you alright?" He asked, clearly concerned.
"Master…" he breathed again, eyes wet and glistening like a puppy reuniting with its owner after so long.
Yuin's eyes turned blank with disbelief mixed with exasperation. If this wasn't the human definition of 'dramatic', then he didn't know.
He was this close to getting irritated but a sudden realization struck him still.
"How…" he breathed, face turning stern as curiosity took over.
He moved his hand up to his upper chest where the arrow had pierced, feeling the skin. Despite the callousness of his hand, Yuin couldn't doubt the smoothness that slipped through.
"There's nothing," he muttered.
The place the arrow had pierced him had completely vanished without a trace. If not for the hole on his shirt, it couldn't ever be told.
"And it doesn't even hurt."
His gaze jerked back to his player, eyes filled with intense curiosity and suspicion.
Up until now, he had thought of his player as nothing more than an extra responsibility.
But with this situation, a lot started going on in his head about the player.
Was he a magic type player?
But that word didn't read like magic though, the thought slapped his mind as he recalled reading the player's type.
But who aside his player could've helped? Looking around the raging battlefield, the possibility of anyone coming to help was zero.
C-Could he be a hidden gem I overlooked?