City of Desire [Kingdom Building]

Proofread by Thomas F

“You will pay for this bastard!” swore the Ice Mage with eyes filled with Icy fury.

He is a short, slightly fat man with big blue eyes that seemed to radiate coldness. Feeling that frozen stare, I shuddered for a moment.

“It is you who will be paying the price with your death, mage!” I spat in reply and moved toward him.

Every part of my body is hurting and feels exhausted. It is trying to shut off, but I can’t let that happen. I need to kill the mage, or he will kill my people.

So, I moved toward him, readying my axe for the Frost Spears approaching me.

They reached me within seconds, and I swung my axe toward them.

Clang Clang Clang!

My axe tore through the spears, without making me stop even for a moment. The spears were destroyed, while their shards came at me, with many burying into me.

They are cold and painful, and making my already bad state worse, but still, they did not stop me. I bore it and moved toward the enemy.

Seeing that, the mage’s eyes finally turned serious, and he moved, while launching Ice Beams.

I tore through them, but he cast a Frost Thorn on the ground. Immediately, I jumped to avoid.

As I did, he attacked me with Frost Spears and Ice Beam. I defended against them before landing on the ground.

Hun!

When I saw him, my expression couldn’t help but turn sour. I am moving fast, but not fast enough.

He’s incredibly fast—he’s already closed the gap I had gained. Now I’m running at full speed toward him, yet he matches it effortlessly, almost as if it’s nothing. It’s clear he’s holding back… he could go even faster if he wanted.

“You are better than the information had stated,” he said, his expression turning serious.

“Join us, and we will help foster your talent better. Provide you with the resources and training that little Greltheaven couldn’t, even in a hundred years,” he made a stunning offer.

To say I was surprised would be a gross understatement—but the truth is, I didn’t hesitate. Not even for a heartbeat.

“Never!” I replied.

Immediately, another group of Frost Spears came, and their numbers were larger than before. My axe crushed through the attack, but another attack was in front of me a second later.

I defended, and another came, and then another.

He maintained the distance while comfortably slinging spells at me.

He will continue to do that until I reach him and finish him off, but that seems impossible. He is too fast, and I am already pushing myself beyond my limit.

I cannot push myself enough to match his speed, much less catch up to him.

Still, I have to do it; it is the only way to kill him.

So, I harnessed more power, and it increased my speed and gave me death-like pain, but it wasn’t enough. He was still faster than I.

Once more, he activated the Frozen Ground, and I jumped. 

Hun!

As I did that, sharp icy pikes began to fall fast from above. These are not like the Frost Spears that came from the front; these ones are coming from above.

It wasn’t a spell the man had used before.

Clang Clang Clang!

I adjusted my position with the Ariel Adjustment and addressed their threat.

Thud!

I landed on the ground, in the middle of the second Frost Ground spell. On the least dangerous part, before leaping in the air again.

I could feel the icy spike, but my shoes protected me from it. They wouldn’t have, if I had stayed a moment longer.

Hun!

Once more, I defended against the spell in the air, before landing on the ground once more, and was ready to defend against another attack, when I noticed that there was none.

I turned and saw him looking at me, deep in thought.

“It seemed like attacking you would not work,” he said, smiling.

That smile gave me a terrible feeling.

His staff lit up and spell materialized, but to my horror, the Frost Spears didn’t come toward me; they went toward my men.

“No!” I screamed.

The spears moved, and the shields appeared to try to stop them, but those shields were destroyed, and many spears reached my people.

Piercing their bodies.

I watched them die and felt like dying. I know each of the men. I had trained them myself, and seeing them getting slaughtered, made me want to kill myself for my failure to protect them.

I am a failure as a leader. Seeing them killed, but unable to do anything, hit my soul.

I am pushing myself hard, going beyond every limit, but I know it is not enough.

I prayed to the goddess and pushed myself as much as possible, but I couldn’t anymore. I had reached the breaking point; going beyond it is impossible.

“This is the price you will pay for every moment of resistance,” he said with a laugh.

A moment later, another batch of Frost Spears appeared, with numbers double that of before, and shot toward my men.

“I will kill you!” I roared with desperation, helplessness, and promise. It might be impossible, but I will kill the bastard, even if it’s the last thing I do.

Boom!

Something shattered inside me in that instant—raw, powerful, and immense.

It was like the Wild Forest itself had come alive within me, but with a fierce, undeniable order.

As it happened, the expressions of the enemy and my men changed drastically. I could feel the eyes of officers, who seemed to forget for the moment that death was coming toward them.

On the other side, the enemy’s faces drained of color, stunned into silence.

It took me a moment to realize what it was, and when I did, I was shocked.

Aura! I had awakened the aura.

The thing I had not even dared to dream about had happened. The aura is awakened by the powerful, like Lord Silver, or important people like Chief Salt and Miss Barb.

Not a wild orc like me.

Maybe it is the gift from the goddess. Given to me to save my men.

It took a moment for the aura to come back. As I did, the Rhythm of Wild began to play, a note I hadn’t heard before from it.

Though I understood it, it filled me with hope as I could defend against my people from spears that were moving to kill them.

The only thing I had to do was push my aura into my body and skill.

I did that, but to my shock, I felt a wall was blocking me from doing it.

‘Nothing will stop me from saving my men!’ I thought. I am feeling hope for the first time, and I will let nothing stand in the way.

With that thought, I pushed toward it with every ounce of my will.

The wall resisted, but soon, Aura was pushed into every part of my body and the skills.

Immediately, the shocking changes occurred.

Strength filled my body, and my skills felt like they went into overdrive. The view in front of me became sharper, while my speed increased.

I began to move at a speed that I had not thought possible. If not for Predator’s Gaze enhancing my vision, I would have seen everything blurry.

Seeing, I pushed even more aura into my skills. Moving even faster.

In time, I appeared in front of my men and turned to the Frost Spears that had appeared before me.

There are sixteen of them, and earlier, I wouldn’t have been able to defend against them all. Even now, I have no confidence with this enhancement, but I have to try.

With that conviction, I swung my axe toward them with a Wild Swing, and my axe moved with the speed I didn’t think possible.

Clang Clang Clang!

My axe tore through one Ice Spear after another while shards came at me as usual, but this time, not one of them could pierce through my skin.

At most, they could make a scratch; the Survivor’s Protection, enhanced with aura, had stopped them all.

If I hadn’t been focused on saving the lives of my men. I would have been in awe of it.

Clang!

The last of the Frost Spears was destroyed, with its shards clashing against me, before falling on the ground.

I looked at them before turning to the Mage. His icy blue eyes still held a shock, but as he felt my gaze, fear appeared in them.

I didn’t say I wanted to, but I won’t waste even a moment.

I want to kill the bastard.

He seemed to have understood that and began running away immediately. At a speed he hadn’t shown before.

Ice appeared under his feet, and he began to slide on it. He is moving toward the undead surrounding us.

I can’t let that happen. If he reaches the undead horde, it will be tough for me to catch him.

So, I pushed even more aura into my skills and body.

Every step brought me closer to him, despite his incredible speed. To say I was surprised would be a massive understatement—but I didn’t hesitate. Not even for a heartbeat. I pushed harder, driving myself faster, determined to reach him no matter what.

Soon, I crossed half the distance, making the man so worried that he had begun to cast the spells in greater intensity.

Frost Wall appeared in front of me. It is big and thick, and I would have to crush through it, as going around it would waste more time.

I reached it within a second and swung my axe toward it with Lion Strength and Wild Swing.

Bang!

The axe crushed through it, and I moved without stopping, but the very next second, another Frost Wall appeared in front of me; not one or two.

There is another one behind it!

I pushed more aura into my arms and skills and swung my axe again.

Bang!

I blasted through the walls, only to see Frost Field before me. I wanted to test my protection, but didn’t take the risk and leaped immediately.

Clang Clang Clang!

He seemed to expect that, as I found four Ice Beams in front of me and sharp, long Ice Spikes descending from above.

I activated Ariel Adjustment and pushed aura into it.

Clang Clang!

The next moment, I was astonished by what I could do with that skill. The way I was able to adjust myself in the air made me feel like I was walking on it.

My axe moved, and I defended and dodged the beams and spikes until nothing remained before landing on the safest spot of the frost ground.

Still, one of the ice pikes hit me, but the Survivor’s Protection protected me before I leaped again.

Every step and leap brought me closer to him. He runs fast, getting closer to the undead, making me push my aura even harder.

Finally, there were only a few meters between us when he turned his head back to me.

“Don’t force me to use my strongest spell, orc!” threatened the mage. “Do it!” I replied.

I may not know much about people, but I know enough that they will use everything they have when they are running for their lives.

I moved, crushing through everything, until only two meters remained between us.

A few more steps and I could finally attack him.

Another Frost Wall appeared in front of me. Once I destroy it, I can attack him, and I want to finish him in a single attack, because we are only a few meters away from the undead.

Bang!

My axe tore through the shield, and immediately, the Rhythm spiked, warning of danger.

When I saw it, the shock couldn’t help but appear in my eyes. I am not surprised by the attack, but by the spell he had used.

I give him credit for all my rage toward the man. He is intelligent.

It didn’t attack with a pure offensive spell like Frost Lances or Ice Beams, but something that would give him a chance to escape.

The spell is Winter’s Hand. It’s a huge hand made of frigid mist. It is cold, colder than freezing rain, and it is now directly in front of me.

Like Freezing Rain, it couldn’t be defended.

It could be avoided, but I could with my speed. However, it will give the enemy precious time.

I do not want to do that. So, I pushed more aura into Survivor’s Protection and Survivor’s Healing and moved toward the hand.

The next moment, the large hand of thick mist enveloped me.

Immediately, thick frost began to cover my whole body. Wanting to freeze me. It is a powerful spell, capable of freezing a Lv. 30.

It took an instant for the frost to cover my whole body, and now it is thickening.

It wants to slow me down, but I can’t let that happen. I pushed more aura into the Wild Dash and Officer’s Run. Bearing the pain, the broken skill is giving me.

Shrouded in frost and swirling icy mist, I surged forward—silent, unstoppable—and instantly materialized behind the mage. His look of sheer shock was all the confirmation I needed.

Immediately, I swung my axe, pushing every bit of aura I had into the Wild Swing. Lion’s Strength and Keen, while the man tried to move even faster, all while multiple defensive spells covered him.

My axe moved, cracking the thick frost covering me, and reached him.

The first defensive method is Frost Energy layer; it didn’t even last a moment before my axe crushed through it, before reaching the second layer of thick stone ice.

My axe cut through it smoothly. Keen increases sharpness; with the addition of aura, the blade of my axe had become even sharper.

The last layer was the strongest; it had covered the fat mage with an icy shawl. It was thin, yet powerful, allowing it to resist for a fraction of a second.

Rip!

“Stop, I”

With eyes filled with horror, he tried to stop, casting another spell, but like his sword, the spell had also stopped midway as my axe lodged in his heart.

Pachac!

A moment later, I swung my axe again, decapitating him and destroying any chance of him being saved at the last moment.

I had killed him, and now I just want to collapse. Every part of me is screaming in immense pain, and I am tired, but I cannot.

My people are still fighting, and I have to keep going—stronger, smarter, and better than before.

Too many have died because of me. That blood is on my hands.

I won’t let another life be lost.

Hun!

With that thought, I moved toward my men, when a suppressive feeling came over me. Someone has awakened the aura.

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