"Here we go… goblins and orcs. Now that's the complete fantasy world experience," Orion muttered.
With how powerful he was now, fighting these ten orcs wouldn't be too difficult. The only reason he had struggled against the snake earlier was that he had never faced that type of monster before—and he had refused to use his claws until the very end, not wanting to actually touch the snake.
But attacking the orcs in his current state without caution would be suicide. He silently hoped they didn't have abilities that let them fight in trees.
Looking down, Orion finally saw why they had gathered under this tree.
The dead snake.
They were fighting over it.
"Good… good, fight among yourselves… that's what we all want," he said with a wicked smile.
His thoughts were cut short when the largest orc, clearly their leader, snatched the snake for himself. None of the others dared to protest.
"Okay… the snake is no longer up for grabs," he muttered
"Now get lost…. There is nothing for you here."
Orion's wish didn't come true. The orcs seemed determined to stay right under the tree.
'I'll see what happens in the morning,' he thought.
Exhausted and still recovering from the poison and blood loss, Orion ate a couple of magic stones and fell fast asleep.
"Ywann…"
Orion woke in the middle of the day. The orcs were still there, lurking. But this time, he noticed two other creatures hiding behind a small bush: one resembled a red panda, the other a bunny. They were shivering. Hiding from the orcs.
And by the looks of it, the orcs were also looking for them.
'Aww… look how cute they are… should I save them?' he thought.
But before he could react, an orc noticed the animals and grabbed them.
"Ok, let's save them." He wasn't about to let the orcs kill them—and he definitely wanted them as his pets.
Using Flash Movement, he jumped down from the tree, landed behind the orc, and pierced its neck with his claw.
"Grk—" The orc fell, releasing the two animals, but the others charged after them.
"No, you don't," Orion said, dead set on saving them.
Orion scooped up the animals and, using Flash Movement again, returned to the branch where he had been and set them down safely.
He activated Flame Pulse and Dragon Charm skills, then leapt down in front of the goblin horde using Flash Movement.
When the orcs noticed the aura surrounding Orion, they hesitated for a moment.
Orion lunged forward, wielding his sword and spear, and decapitated two of them.
The rest attacked all at once, but Orion didn't care.
He activated Dragon Manifestation and tanked the attacks, taking some damage—but he shrugged it off.
With defense no longer a big issue, he unleashed his full power on the orcs.
"Grk—"
"Rrk—"
Four more goblins fell, leaving only three.
Orion remembered his Starfire skill. With the sun high, he decided to try it again.
"Starfire," he muttered, and deep red fire erupted from the palm of his hand. The approaching orcs froze, locked onto the flames. They could sense something was strange about the fire.
He threw the fire at them.
BOOOOOM.
A massive explosion ripped through the area, as if a missile had just struck.
When the smoke settled, he saw a massive crater created by the blast. He peered into the hole and scanned the surrounding area—but there was no sign of any orcs.
The three orcs vanished entirely, as if they had never existed.
Orion stared at his smoking hand.
"Wow… just wow." He was beyond pleased.
"Shame I can only use this during the daytime," he muttered.
[Star Energy has been added to your status bar.]
"Huh? What's that?"
[Star Energy: Similar to magic. Instead of drawing mana from nature, your class absorbs solar power from the sun.]
"Whoa, that's so cool! Does that mean I can use Starfire at night?"
[Yes.]
Orion checked his stats.
[Star Energy: 10]
"Only ten, huh… I need to increase this fast. Do I have to stand under the sun?"
[No. Star Energy grows like every other stat. You only need the sun to replenish it when your Star Energy runs out.]
Orion tested Starfire again.
BOOOOM.
[Star Energy: 2]
His Star Energy dropped to two.
'So every use of Starfire skill costs eight star energy.'
Orion stepped out of the tree's shadow where he had been standing and found an open spot to stand in.
A minute later, Star Energy had returned to 10.
'Ah, I get it now,' he thought.
Then he remembered the animals. He wasn't sure if they were still there, so he went to where he had left them.
"Oh… good, they're still here."
"Hi, guys. I'm Orion," he said politely, patting their fur. Inwardly, though, he was already scheming how to make them his pets—and how to make them follow him everywhere.
The red panda-like creature approached and licked his wounds. To his surprise, the wounds began to heal.
"Wait… you can do healing magic?" he exclaimed. He couldn't believe this normal-looking animal could use magic.
He glanced at his wounds—and they were already healing at an astonishing speed.
"Wow… you're not only adorable, but you're also actually useful too," Orion said, his gaze sparkling with greed.
"Kuuu," the animal tilted its head with a cute sound.
"Appraisal," Orion muttered.
[Beast of the World Tree – information is blocked by world authorities.]
"Huh… hidden info… You guys are becoming more and more desirable," Orion thought, determination blazing.
The two animals exchanged glances with each other, like they were discussing something.
Then both of them turned to Orion, pressing their foreheads against his as a strange blue energy flowed from them into him.
Orion couldn't sense any malice in the energy. Something in his gut told him to stay still and let it happen.
Orion wasn't sure what was happening.
But he could feel that a strange connection was forming between him and these creatures.
Then:
[You have acquired two beast companions.]
[You activated the Beast Tamer Class.]