Standing atop a sand dune, a group of desert hounds was observing the moving caravan in the distance. They had similar features to the demonic Hellhounds of the forest, but there were several differences. They had brown hair instead of black. Their eyes were also brown instead of black and had a hint of cunningness in them. A seemingly large hound was standing in front of them. He seemed like their leader. After observing the caravan for a few more moments, he charged towards it followed by the other hounds.

It had been two days since the Orcs captured Eliza and Karen. The treatment was vastly different compared to the other captured children. Unlike the other children who were thrown in cages randomly and didn’t even have a place to sit, they had a whole cage to themselves. Their share of food was also large compared to others. But they never ate that and secretly threw it away because it looked like black muck.

The Orc priest kept a close eye on them and regularly brought them clean water to wash. Karen regularly practiced hand-to-hand combat during these two days to improve her skills. Looking at her the half-dump Orc thought it was some kind of dance. The Orc priest, blinded by money, also didn’t stop her because he thought it would increase her price. His thoughts were clearly shown on his face and Karen and Elisa were easily able to read them. ‘I will definitely kill you!’ Karen always shouted in her mind.

This day was like any other day, but Eliza felt like something was going to happen. And her premonition came true in a very disastrous way. During midday, the caravan heard the sound of several desert hounds approaching them. Under the command of the Orc priest, the Orcs left their guarding position and took a defensive position to confront the hounds.

There were a total of eleven Orcs, including the priest, and confronting them, were thirty-one hounds, including the one leading them. Eight Orcs were guarding the caravans while two Orcs guarded the priest. The priest used his abilities to give a few buffs to the Orc warriors. As soon as the hounds approached, the Orcs swung their axes and blades relentlessly. Karen and Eliza watched this whole scene unfold from their caravan.

‘What should we do Karen?'

‘We just watch the show and if an opportunity presents then bring them all down.’

‘And if it doesn’t’

‘Then we just behave like two docile children’

Eliza gazed at her with an expressionless face. Karen gave her a questioning look, to which she sighed and started to observe the fight taking place.

The leader of hounds was confronting the priest and his two bodyguards while the whole pack was attacking the other eight aces. The fight continued for quite some time after which the Orcs had their first casualty but not before killing five hounds.

Although the odds improved, the situation became much more dire. The Orcs were getting exhausted quickly. More than half of their body was covered in green blood from several wounds. Their movements were also getting sluggish, which had been a lot more advantageous to the already fast hounds.

Nobody knew from where he got the idea but one wounded Orc walked to the last cage. He threw the beastkin children into the hounds after he broke the lock. The hounds didn’t show any mercy to the children and they were torn to shreds. However, this gave the Orcs a chance to kill a few more of the distracted hounds.

Seeing that this was effective the Orcs continued to take out the children from the cages and throw them at the hounds. Eliza observed the massacre taking place in front of her with her hands covering her mouth. Karen didn’t say anything but the anger was evident in her eyes. They had seen similar things happen, but it was never an easy sight to digest.

Soon both sides had lost most of their manpower. All other children were killed, except Karen and Eliza, and their bodies were lying around, not a single one complete.

Now only four Orcs were standing, facing eight hounds. Their whole bodies were covered with red and green blood. The priest and his protectors were holding back the evolved Desert Hound and both sides were nearing their limits.

Finally, one Orc approached the last cage. It broke the lock on the cage and was about to drag Karen and Eliza out. However, out of the blue, he felt a very cold sensation in his heart. The cold sensation turned into a vortex sucking his life away. This all happened within the blink of an eye, but to him, it felt like a long time had passed. When he looked down, he saw a bone spear had pierced his heart and it was being held by Karen. Before it could speak anything another spear pierced his throat. He died instantly without any resistance.

‘Eliza, we will kill the priest first’

‘Okay’

They quickly got out of the cage and rushed towards the priest. The priest didn’t know what was going on with the other Orcs as the evolved Hellhound was taking all its attention. However, he noticed someone approaching it from behind. Glancing back, he saw Karen and Eliza running towards him with panicked expressions. Then he glanced at all the empty cages. He became very angry and decided to punish the Orc warriors after this fight was over. He was also glad that at least his prized possessions were safe.

The Orc priest again focused his attention on the evolved Hellhound. Just when he was about to cast one more spell he felt his death looming over him. He quickly turned back, but it was already too late. Due to exhaustion, his senses had dulled and it didn’t sense the knives till they were very close. He dodged half of them, but three knives pierced and dug deep into its flesh.

It was a priest, so its physical combat abilities were weak compared to the Orc warriors, but it was still an Orc. Simple weapons couldn’t cause so much damage even if he was exhausted. His attention was then drawn to its assailant, the small Eliza, who was still looking at him with an innocent expression. Then he noticed that Karen was nowhere to be seen. Then he felt something approaching him from behind and tried to move, but the lodged knives prevented him from doing so.

Karen’s new spear easily impaled the Orc priest. He tried to call the other Orcs, but they couldn’t spare him any attention. “I pray that you will become a kind person in your next life and not think of selling children for money”, these were the last words he heard before his eyes lost all life.

Level up

Karen removed her spear from the corpse of the Orc priest and started observing her surroundings. Eliza slowly approached her. “Now what?”

“We will get rid of the distractions” Karen answered with an excited voice while her eyes were focused on the three Orc warriors who were confronting the now seven Hounds.

“Okay. Then we’ll hunt the more powerful one” Eliza glanced at the evolved Hellhound confronting the two Orc warriors.

“Then let us go”, they darted towards their first target. Killing all the Orcs and hounds was very easy as they had been fighting for quite a while and were already wounded. Just one thrust has been enough to kill one of them. After they completed their objective, they turned back to the evolved Desert hound who had already taken out the Orc warriors in front of him. As soon as they lost the buffs from the priest, the Orcs became sitting ducks and were easily slain by him.

Karen and Eliza were currently facing the evolved Desert Hound. He stared at them with angry eyes and they did the same and stared back at him. Eliza used her Identification on him.

Species: Desert Hound (Young Evolved Monster)

Stats:

Vitality - 30

Strength - 32

Endurance - 29

Agility - 30

Mana - 24

Intelligence - 20

Skills :

Stare - inflicts fear on enemies with weaker minds.

Enhancement - Uses mana to enhance its physical abilities. Lasts for a very short duration.

When a young Desert Hound kills many other Desert Hounds, it slowly transforms into a more powerful entity. It is intelligent as well as cunning, and capable of leading a group.

“Let’s get it done quickly”, Eliza stated. Karen just nodded her head and approached the Desert Hound who also approached her.

When Karen was at a jumping distance the Hound leapt at her, but she didn’t move from her place. The desert hound sensed danger approaching it from its side and had to change direction midway and wasn't able to so much as scratch Karen. A polearm encased in mana passed the place where it had been.

As he looked at its origin, he saw Eliza smiling. The Hound wanted to kill her first, but Karen didn’t give him a chance to breathe and attacked. The fight lasted only five exchanges before it was killed.

Standing over his corpse Eliza asked, “Was it really that weak?”

“Nope, maybe it died quickly because it was already exhausted.”

Level up

“See. This just proves how strong it was. ” Karen commented.

Eliza also smiled at her comment and asked "Why did you say that to the priest"

"Because it looked cool", Karen simply replied.

Eliza was dumbfounded. She never thought Karen was interested in these sorts of things. 'Well, we'll be in the city soon' She decided not to bother with it.