The higher levels they reach, the more orcs they find.

On level 10, they encountered 200 orcs in total. But by level 20, they have to clear close to 500 orcs to advance to the next level.

Not only that, the orcs no longer came in waves of 20, but they have increased to 30 or 40 at a time. Occasionally, two groups would charge at the same time, causing them to have to take a defensive approach.

While they have to deal with the sudden escalation, they still have other things to deal with. At the end of level 20, a new group of orcs emerged from the shadows, followed by the footsteps of misshapen creatures. The growling and shouting they did made a lot of commotion.

Thud! thud! thud!

They certainly look similar to the usual orcs, but instead of green skin, these creatures have mottled gray skin that looked like stone, and their muscles were much bigger than their counterparts.

The gigantic, built, the muscles, and the savage look they sported as they let out a loud battle cry made those orcs look much more fearsome. As they swung their weapons, Viktor could see that they were much faster despite their size. They were definitely not normal orcs.

“What is this now Djinn?” Viktor grumbled.

-.

As the Djinn explained what the new creatures are, information about his new enemy quickly flooded his mind.

Uruks

Battle power 60

The Uruks are modified orcs raised specifically for battle. They are twice the size of normal grunts, and thus are much stronger. Only the most bloodthirsty orcs who survived the most bloody battles could evolve.

At first glance, these Uruks might only have 10 additional points of battle power, but in practice defeating them was much harder than they thought. These creatures weren’t just stronger, they were much more skilled in battle and are capable of tactics.

There were only 20 of them at the end of level 20, but it took everything the team has to defeat them. As they were backed in a corner, Viktor was forced to use All Might to take care of them.

They managed to clear level 20 by the skin of their teeth. By the end of it, some were wounded and everyone was exhausted.

Viktor glanced at his recuperating teammates and gritted his teeth in irritation. No matter how he tried to see it, there was no way they could finish all 10 levels in 7 days with his current strength. He needed to find a way to increase his strength as quickly as possible,

While everyone was resting, Viktor decided to head back to the Training Hall and purchased a skill.

Axe art – Expert Stage

As his spirit stones were used up, Viktor could feel the knowledge being absorbed into his mind. He decided to take out his axe and put the new skills to the test.

After he was sure that he could use the skill properly, he snuck into level 21 and once again started to fight on his own. Aside from testing the new axe skill in a real fight, he was trying to make the most of his All Might skill’s 3 hours cooldown.

Unbeknownst to him, Jessie saw him leave and followed him. At first, she wished to help, but unfortunately, she was unable to keep up after she saw Viktor fighting dozens of orcs at once. She ended up watching him from behind, while occasionally warning him whenever the orcs came too close.

Before long, Viktor managed to kill the first batch of 40 orcs, along with the 10 uruks leading them with his divine skill. Like before, he laid down on the ground because of the skill drawback, gasping for breath. His muscles felt like they have been pulled apart in a meat grinder.

The brown-haired girl stood up and approached him.

“Why do you need to rush anyway? These monsters aren’t going anywhere you know.”

Viktor gave her a smile, unable to answer. He tried to think about his motivation.

It was definitely true that his lewd target was partially what spurred him to keep going, but deep inside, Viktor really just wanted to challenge himself and do better.

As a Romanov, he had always been given everything, and he never had to struggle for most of his life. As such, he waded through life without a goal in mind. But now, he found something that made his blood boil in excitement, and unexpectedly the continuous battles were only stoking the flames of his passion.

Jessie sighed and gave him a kind smile. “That is admirable, but you might end up getting hurt, you know, or worse, you may end up hurting others.”

It was Viktor’s turn to take a deep sigh. No matter how he felt, the girl was right. “So, what do you think we should do?”

The brown-haired girl smiled, winked at him, and said. “I thought you’d never ask.”

Jessie took out a blueprint filled with a design and a few scribbles. “So, I was thinking that we could help each other with this.”

Viktor agreed and that night, he spent most of his time creating multiple parts for the blueprint with his Metal Bending.

“The stronger the material the better, and please make it exactly like this design shows.” Jessie warned as he started the crafting work.

To make him understand better, Jessie showed him the metal ball that she sometimes used, the one that could create thunder and stun groups of enemies.

It was a small metal ball consisting of multiple layers. As the item was rather delicate, he decided to use a stronger material. He took out his stock of tier 1 material and started to craft the delicate item.

Fascinated, Jessie watched intently as Viktor started to form the metal balls carefully, layer by layer. He was sweating a bit afterwards, but the small metal ball was done. He handed it to Jessie.

“Perfect!” She said as she examined the small metal ball.

Then, Jessie took a small pen-like object and engraved the metal balls with runic symbols. Afterwards, she casted a spell, and the energy went into the ball, causing it to glow with a slight yellow tint.

“Let’s see if it works!” Jessie said before Viktor had the chance to ask anything.

Jessie touched a part of the ball, causing it to float and spin, before she threw it a few meters away from them. The ball shook and created an electric blast similar to the metal balls she used before.

“Whoo, this is great! The girl shouted in delight, clearly as surprised as he was.

Viktor raised his eyebrows and asked. “Now tell me what is it are we making, Jessie?”

The girl smiled and explained, enthusiasm clearly leaking in her voice. It was something known as ‘enchanting’, or in other words, the skill to cast magic into an item by drawing a formation rune on them. It requires a medium in the form of high-quality material, along with an understanding of the runes, and a drawing tool. In this case, Jessie used the Spirit Quill.

The metal ball worked similarly to a grenade. One could engrave the rune and fill the object with offensive spells to be used later, but each item could only be engraved with one spell, unless a high quality material was used. The same principle was used with a high-tier quality leather to create the scroll-like item Jessie gave him before. Basically, the higher the material’s quality, the better the spells they could hold.

Viktor was shocked when he heard all the enchanting skills were taught by the Vatican scribe, and before Jessie got banished, she managed to stash a few of the balls and scrolls with her. However, she has been having trouble creating more of it due to her inability to form the material.

“What do you think, Viktor? We could create more of them and use them for the battle.”

Hearing this, Viktor nodded with vigor, and his eyes gleamed with more hope. That night, he spent his time creating around three dozen balls. Other than the quill and the metals, they needed one spirit stone and Jessie’s stamina to engrave each ball. The whole night was spent to create them, but with it, fighting those orcs would surely become much easier.

At the crack of dawn, after a short rest Viktor decided to wake up and try them by going to the next level.

Zaaappp!!!

Viktor tossed one electric ball at the group of charging orcs, causing half a dozen orcs to be stunned and the orc’s war party to turn chaotic. It was enough for Viktor and his group to launch a surprise attack and finish them all.

Their life settled into a routine. The group was able to clear the orcs one level a day, while Viktor and Jessie would spend the night creating even more bombs.