Master Of None

The bridge looked very clean on the side the guards were currently. But as soon as the party crossed the gate they could see remnants of battles and broken stones. It was clear there had been multiple monsters that had tried to cross and had been taken down here. By the time the party crossed fully, they found the end column that was missing a piece of carved stone as decoration. 

"I have a feeling that the orc that took this is a little big."Remey was examining the missing stone and realized it was nearly double her height. 

"I would say it is too. But the guards were able to scare it off once so we should be able to finish the job." Waker turned around and saw that there were multiple ballistas and other traps set up on the higher parts of the bridge to deal with monsters trying to cross. "I would bet that it is injured somehow so that should work in our favor." 

"I wonder why there are no signs of any of the orcs that the guards defeated?" Remey was looking around and found no signs of any defeated orcs. There weren't even bones or bits of broken parts. 

"The other orcs ate them. They are said to eat anything and everything, even each other." Su reminded Remey of this causing her to make a slightly sick looking face. However, the entire party agreed with how she felt. 

Walker turned to see the Herder guiding the first of his cattle slowly across the bridge. "I know we have some people behind us so keep an eye out. I think it will be a good chance for me to move a little ahead and use the luring orb skill." Walker didn't want the orcs to attack the cattle on the move and decided that it would be better to lure them in to one place that he could trap them and take them out. Or at the very least stop them from having a chance to attack any of those behind the party. 

"I will keep an eye on you and send an arrow over if anything tries to sneak up." Gil decided that he was the best to watch Walkers' back while he moved up. This would make Walker appear to be an easy target but in reality, he was actually baiting them in with a magic that would completely capture their attention while he trapped them. 

Walker glanced at Su who was slightly uncomfortable with this strategy but she also knew that she was the best defense to protect the innocent people behind her. Other than that she also knew that Walker had his own methods to avoid attacks and at least retreat. 

Walker moved up and get a decent distance from the party. It was far enough away that Gil could see him but would not be affected by the blue luring orb. Walker pulled his staff from his inventory and used the luring orb skill. It was formed fairly fast due to the brightness of the sun and the multitude of light elemental mana in the air. 

Walker kept his eyes averted so that he wouldn't fall victim to his own skill. So far he had not seen any sign or had any feelings that there was a monster around. This was strange since he knew that there could be a large group of orcs around. The only thing he could see was a very worn path from the many travelers that had taken it. However, there was a strange drag mark in the dirt of the trail that stood out. 

This aside, he continued the walk keeping a careful eye on the tall grass and large thorny bushed that lined the path. Walker was keeping the luring orb ahead of him just above his head to make it easier for him to look around without seeing the orb accidentally. He noticed that a few birds had taken to flying around above him because of it and was sure that it would also work to attract the orcs. He also knew that they could easily flee from any danger that showed itself. 

The chirping of the birds that were trying to fly right next to the luring orb and even land on it was slightly distracting, but not enough when Walker started to hear some of the cracking of twigs nearby. He could not see anything yet but he could hear the bushes being crushed as something push through them. 

Walker fell in to his stance and started to form the trenches as he had before a little ways ahead of him. He stopped moving completely to focus on this task while the sounds around him grew in volume. He could hear many more steps crushing the large bushes but still did not see past them. 

He made the luring orb move above the place he was creating the trenches and noticed the shift in the sounds coming toward him. Now the sounds were moving a little away from him which made him relax a little more while he focused on the trenches. 

Seconds later the first orc burst through the spiky bishes like it was nothing and was trying to reach out and grab the luring orb. Walker had expected the orcs to lose themselves in staring at it but instead, it was like they wanted to eat it. This was a normal aspect of the orc's character but still made Walker shiver slightly. 

There were three more orcs that burst through the bushes and began pushing and fighting over the luring orb. Walker was glad he had let it move ahead of him while he watched the heavy blows that could seriously hurt him. 

Walker felt something to his side and noticed Midnight revealing herself after using the shadow wrapping skill she had nearly mastered. "We are going to trap them as we did before, please get everyone up here and also, stop the cattle from behind." Midnight rushed off with Walkers' orders just in time for another two orcs to burst from the bushes. This group was much larger than he had expected. Yet, what worried him most was the absence of a large orc carrying a carved piece of stone. 

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