kairos said, "Edward, make sure you shoot him again once he returned.” Although Jim deserves to be shot for his terrible joke, Kairos wouldn’t play around on the battlegrounds, but just when his words finished, a rain of arrows out flew from the archer’s bow immediately.

“Oops,” an unremorseful sound came from Edward. His attack, however, did not risk Jim's life.

He shot out a dozen arrows. Ten of them stopped the Orcs in their tracks, while two struck Jim on his butt. One per side.

*OW!!*

"You hit me three times already, Edward!!! You're dead when we go back! I'm going to eat all your pudding for a week!"

Jim rubbed the sore spots on his behind, but despite his carefree attitude, his enemies are too close for comfort, and he prepared for a hard battle.

However, the Orcs had not taken a step forward when another set of arrow flew down at Jim's location. It struck precisely the same places, despite his target scrambling to get away; two arrows struck his behind, while the other ten deterred his enemies.

By now, the Orcs were forced back until they were once again in the waters.

Getting shot in his behind four times in a row made Jim lay down face first on the ground, unmoving. A groan escaped his lips.

He secretly panicked a little. Without his speed, he will not be able to show off anymore, and he also wants to be popular!

Grinding his teeth, for fame and maybe a cute girl to look at him, he pushed himself off the ground.

“Well, here goes nothing…”

Jim yelped and bravely ran towards his foes. It is clear he intended for a war cry, but unfortunately, his voice was still rather high-pitched.

"Not yet done with puberty and already wanting to impress the ladies," Alan said, his voice was soft, but because he purposely infused some Ki into it, the sound travelled far and wide.

*YYIIIPPP*

Even Jim could hear him, turning his cry turns into something strange. But despite his joke-like mannerism, the moment he crashed into the band of Orcs with daggers flashing, even the Orc captains had to retreat.

Those on the ramparts that were chortling at him instantly turned silent.

He had not slowed down. Instead, using a burst of speed, he overcame his lack of might.

The onlookers gasped at the strength of another one of their leaders. Made of flesh and blood, they could not help but feel their blood run hot and their spirits rise despite the overwhelming odds.

But at this moment, one of the defenders with sharp eyes shouted in alarm, “Oh no. Look! They are trying to surround him. If they cut off his retreat, he’s going to be in trouble.”

They watched with trepidation as the Orcs swarmed his position and cornered him. When a rain of attacks came down on the short boy, everyone held their hearts in their throat. With strength far superior to the humans, if the Orcs could get a single hit in, it is all over for him.

But, as he slips through their attacks and strikes passed by him harmlessly, they quickly realised that no matter how near death came, Jim dodged everything.

With agile movements, he worked the Orcs’ massive frame against themselves. They hindered each other with their long reach and created plenty of gaps in-between each strike.

Those that were watching couldn’t believe their eyes. It is generally known that without good equipment, it should be impossible for cultivators to withstand magical beasts of the same ranks. No matter what, the difference in their physiques is too different from the outset, and many creatures were born with unique abilities.

However, against Orcs that are only more physically endowed, his Soul Perception ensured that he had no blind spots. In fact, surrounded by enemies, Jim could still find ways to retaliate, darts and daggers lashed out from him at every angle. With precise control, he struck the beasts at their weak points, dealing critical blows to the lumbering Orcs.

The all-directional perception and unique cultivation method he has allowed him a different fighting style than most.

Infused with Origin Energy, each dart easily stripped off the magic coating on the Orc captains and pierced their bodies deeply. This new method of fighting that was inspired by Alan had a greater effect than anyone could have expected, though, the burden to use it is even heftier.

The metals darts, now embedded in the enemy, unleashed an explosion of remnant Origin Energy, and immediately a circle of Orc captains fell dead.

Just a moment ago, many were poking fun at him, and quite a few even privately looked down on him. Now, without exception, these people had all became speechless.

They thought it was suicidal to throw Jim off the ramparts just for a joke, but the truth couldn't be further. If Kairos did not believe his brother could handle this, he would not have sent him.

Like a blood-thirsty hunter, looking for more prey, a powerful aura burst out from Jim, as he stood alone in a circle of the dead. His enemies had succeeded in surrounding him, but they did not realise, it is they who should have feared for their lives. Unfortunately, by the time they noticed, it is already too late.

Letting his life force run rampant in his body, Jim had brought his current fighting ability well above Mid D rank. Unfortunately, it is not a technique that can last for long, and with every attack, he loses a great deal of energy.

It was a dangerous sort of exhaustion, incomparable to using Ki. While Origin Infusion might be potent, it is not too unlike setting one’s hand on fire to generate heat. Of course, because the life force resides in the blood, overusing this ability, he will go into shock, and then death. And, the recovery after that would be slower than a crawl as the body replenishes the blood loss.

Nevertheless, he was a tremendous force on the battlefield while fighting.

If his opponents were other practitioners, they would have fled already, but the War Beasts only pressed forward. Another group promptly took the place of those fallen, and once again surrounded him.

The saboteur’s stamina had never been his forte, and the tables were turned almost at once. He calculated quickly. Exchanging his vitality for pure energy and power, he had at most fifteen minutes of combat time, and he had already used more than half of this time limit.

Jim gritted his teeth.

He simply didn't have the might to breakthrough his enemies by force. Fighting them head-on will only allow more Orcs to swarm him.

"Isn't there a way I can retreat?!"

But, as if anticipating his dilemma, Alan valiantly appeared with perfect timing.

The boy flew into battle without delay, swinging his arms wildly and spinning his Tonfas at the same time. He looked absolutely fearsome, yet somehow, at the same time, ridiculous.

"I AM SURE MY ARMS ARE LONGER!!" he cries out woefully as he clashed against an Orc.

Edward laughs unreservedly.

Tommy acted more suspiciously as he unsuccessfully tried to hide his stout figure behind Kairos, who, on the other hand, had an unreadable look on his face.

.

.

.

But, after a pause of three breaths...

*Smirk*

"I see you grinningggggg, KAIROS!!" Alan yells, now knowing for certain that they had done something to his arms.

It was an odd scene since his back was facing Kairos all along. However, he could still see with his Soul Perception. Luckily the other students did not know this and just thought that Alan was making a guess.

With his arms flinging wildly, and his Tonfas once again filled with destructive energy, the fire inscriptions engraved on them flared up in a lively manner. Any Orc that stood in their way can only retreat or fall dead where they stood.

"Return now!" Kairos calls to them while at the same time he gestured to the archer teams to support the retreat. The two had an impressive fighting ability, but with their miserable amount of life force, another minute and they will completely run out of juice.

As they fought back to back, they slowly made their way back towards the ramparts.

Flashing daggers and spinning Tonfas held back the Orcs a pace away.

"Fire!"

To prevent more enemies from surrounding them, a rain of arrows fell and covered the entire shore. The Orcs hastily blocked, and few fell from the attack.

“Could it be?” With a glance, Kairos had concluded that the Orcs had most probably learned the word ‘Fire’, and know to watch out for it, instantly raising their shields.

"Shoot?" he said, switching words around.

The well-trained archers immediately let loose another rain of arrows even with the strange command.

The Orcs twisted their faces in disbelief as many fell dead in their ranks. Even with their recent upgrades, they are still not very clever.

Alan and Jim broke through the enemy ranks and quickly rushed to the walls of the rampart. They grabbed onto the hemp ropes lowered for them and started kicking against the timber wall as their team pulls them up quickly.

*ROAR!*

A fearsome bellow from the Orc King set the command for its army to renew their charge.

"See, that's how a roar is done. Not like your yippe war cry," Alan says snickering.

Jim stood flushing red with embarrassment, and he instinctively tried to hide behind Kairos, "I... I... I did my best!"

With everyone wanting to hide behind him, Kairos wanted to check if he had turned into an invisible talisman, but they just feel a sense of security when they are near their captain.

Below them, the Orcs crashed into the wall with great force, and the wood groaned and cracked under pressure.

"Fire at will!" Kairos yelled, and the archers started hammering down arrows from above trying to slow down their enemies.

"Report numbers!"

A scout answered at once, "Sir! We have cleared a total of two hundred and fifty Orcs including the ones that Jim and Alan had slain. The bulk of them is rankless. Our enemies still number over seven hundred; we are outmanned, six to one."

"Alright. We no longer hold a position of advantage! Sound the mass retreat!"

The rest of the Orcs reached the shores, and under the orders of their King, they started smashing up the ramparts. The red team hurry down the walls knowing that their defences will not last much longer. Most of the students choose to slide off the fifty meters tall wooden poles prepared beforehand, and as soon as they landed, they broke into a mad dash towards the East hill.

Not long after their retreat, the timber walls fell with a resounding crash behind them, and a swarm of Orc poured into the camp.

The students hid in the hill, pulling a powerful steel gate over to blockade their only entrance.

It is a common tactic for teams to use metal barricades, but by regulation, such barriers must be without spikes or other lethal armaments that could harm other students. However, their metal gate looked vicious to the extreme and is filled with spikes.

As the gate stopped in front of the entrance of the hill, Jim stepped on a lever on it, and immediately it rooted itself immovable by stabbing down into the ground with a few long spikes that came out from a contraption.

The gate is clearly designed to be both durable and tricky.

"Ready your bows!" Kairos yelled and over twenty archers who stood shoulder to shoulder drew their bows to the maximum. This is the most amount of students that could stand side by side in this small entrance. They aimed at the gaps between the steel gates and towards the charging Orcs.

"FLY ARROWS!" he cried, and for a moment, the archers were stumped.

Is there any commander that would issue an attack this way?