Chapter 222: Powerful Skill II

Around ten Frostland Orcs had gathered in the area. Most of them were sitting around a large fire, seemingly discussing something, while a few others were busy sharpening their weapons and checking their equipment.

Their appearances were considerably different from those of ordinary Orcs. Each of them possessed a massive, muscular body covered in thick grey skin. Blue tattoos stretched across their arms, chests, and shoulders, while sharp tusks protruded from their lower jaws. Even their equipment was noticeably better than the crude weapons and armour commonly used by ordinary monsters.

Judging by their appearance and equipment, these Orcs seemed to belong to a relatively well-organised tribe.

Kaiser observed them from behind a large rock and activated his inspection ability.

’Let’s see what we have here.’

Several system notifications immediately appeared before his eyes.

[ Frostland Orc ]

[Level: 276]

[Rank: 2]

[Race: Frostland Orc]

[Specialties: Physical Strength, Frost Manipulation, Weapon Techniques]

Kaiser glanced through the information.

’Level 276? Not bad.’

Most of the Orcs were around the same level, with only slight differences in their attributes. However, one Orc standing near the fire immediately caught his attention.

It was considerably larger than the others and carried a massive great axe on its shoulder. Its body was covered in more elaborate blue tattoos, and the frost energy surrounding it was noticeably stronger.

Kaiser focused his inspection ability on it.

[ Frostland Orc Captain ]

[Level: 294]

[Rank: 2]

[Combat Ability: Very High]

[Specialties: Frost Command, Battle Coordination, Great Axe Mastery, Frost Axe Rend]

Kaiser’s eyebrows rose slightly.

’Level 294. This one should provide a decent amount of experience.’

He was already approaching Level 300, so killing these Orcs would help him get closer to the next level.

However, gaining experience wasn’t his only objective.

He was also interested in finding out how many Wisdom Points he could obtain from their souls through Wisdom Devourer.

After all, the higher the strength of a creature, the greater the potential value of its soul.

’This should be a good opportunity to test it.’

Just as Kaiser was preparing to make his move, the Orc Captain suddenly raised its head.

"Who’s there?"

Its deep voice echoed throughout the cave.

The other Orcs immediately stopped what they were doing and grabbed their weapons. Their gazes swept across the surroundings as they tried to locate the intruder.

Kaiser didn’t bother hiding any longer.

He calmly stepped out from behind the rock, revealing himself to the group.

The Orc Captain narrowed its eyes as soon as it noticed him.

"A human? How did you get here?"

Kaiser ignored its question and casually glanced at the surrounding Orcs.

"I came here to test something. Unfortunately for you, you’re going to be my targets."

For a moment, the Orcs stared at him in disbelief.

Then, the Captain let out an angry growl.

"Arrogant human! Kill him!"

The moment its command rang out, the Orcs charged towards Kaiser.

Several raised their axes and swords, while the others began gathering frost energy around their bodies. One of the Orcs even slammed its enormous axe against the ground, releasing a wave of freezing energy that spread rapidly across the cave.

However, Kaiser didn’t show the slightest sign of panic.

He simply raised his right hand.

The surrounding space began to tremble faintly as he activated his Minor Vibration Manipulation.

’Let’s see how this ability performs in actual combat.’

Kaiser focused his attention on the approaching Orcs.

’What happens when vibrations are concentrated within an extremely small area?’

He had already experimented with the ability to some extent, but this was the first time he intended to use it seriously against enemies.

Rather than simply releasing vibrations to damage his surroundings, he wanted to explore another application.

He began gathering the surrounding vibrations into the palm of his hand.

At first, the changes were barely noticeable. However, as Kaiser continued manipulating the vibrations, their frequency and intensity gradually increased.

The air around his palm began to distort.

A small sphere slowly took shape above his hand.

Within the sphere, countless rapid oscillations were occurring simultaneously. Kaiser continuously compressed and adjusted the vibrations, forcing them to remain concentrated within an increasingly smaller space.

As the intensity increased, the rapid movement began generating heat.

The temperature inside the sphere continued rising, and a faint reddish glow gradually appeared on its surface.

Kaiser narrowed his eyes.

’More.’

He increased the intensity of the vibrations once again.

The sphere began rotating at an incredible speed, and the heat accumulated within it grew increasingly intense. Even the surrounding air started trembling from the concentrated energy.

Soon, the sphere was glowing with a bright red light.

Kaiser looked at the incoming Orcs and slightly adjusted the structure of the sphere.

Instead of releasing all the accumulated energy at once, he created a small opening along its surface.

The moment the opening formed, the concentrated energy inside the sphere found an outlet.

Whoosh!

A thin, reddish beam shot out at incredible speed.

It crossed the distance between Kaiser and the charging Orcs in an instant.

One of the Frostland Orcs didn’t even have time to raise its weapon before the beam pierced straight through its chest.

A clean hole appeared in its massive body.

The Orc’s forward movement came to an abrupt halt. It looked down at the wound in disbelief before collapsing heavily onto the frozen ground.

Kaiser glanced at the result with interest.

"Hmm. Not bad."

The remaining Orcs immediately slowed down.

Their eyes widened as they looked at their fallen companion and then turned towards Kaiser.

They hadn’t expected the seemingly ordinary human to possess such a strange and powerful ability.

Kaiser, however, was more interested in the results of his experiment than their reactions.

’The concentrated vibrations can generate enough heat to produce a highly destructive beam. Interesting.’

He examined the remaining Orcs.

’Let’s try something different this time.’

Rather than creating another single sphere, Kaiser began gathering the surrounding vibrations once again.

However, instead of concentrating everything into one place, he divided the collected vibrations into several smaller portions.

Five small spheres gradually formed around his palm.

Each sphere rotated independently, with countless rapid oscillations occurring within its structure. Kaiser carefully controlled their movements, maintaining their stability while continuously increasing their intensity.

The heat generated by the rapid vibrations began accumulating inside them.

Within moments, all five spheres started glowing with a reddish-orange light.

Kaiser raised his hand towards the remaining Orcs.

"Go."

The five spheres immediately shot forward.

As they travelled through the air, narrow beams of concentrated energy emerged from their surfaces, spreading in different directions and targeting the approaching Orcs.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

The attacks were so fast that the Orcs barely had time to react.

One of them instinctively raised its axe to block an incoming beam.

However, the beam pierced straight through the metal blade before continuing into its chest.

Another Orc attempted to dodge, but the attack struck its shoulder, burning through its thick grey skin and leaving behind a smoking wound.

A third Orc tried to gather frost energy around its body to defend itself, only to have its defence pierced by the concentrated beam.

Within seconds, several Orcs had fallen.

Kaiser watched the attacks with a thoughtful expression.

’Controlling multiple spheres simultaneously consumes more concentration, but it allows me to attack several targets at once. The destructive power of each beam is slightly lower than when I concentrate all the vibrations into a single sphere, but the overall effectiveness is considerably higher.’

He nodded.

This was exactly the kind of application he wanted to discover.

Minor Vibration Manipulation might seem like a relatively simple ability, but the more he experimented with it, the more possibilities he could see.

Just then, his attention shifted towards the remaining Orc Captain.

Unlike its subordinates, the Captain had managed to avoid the previous attacks.

The massive Orc stood several metres away, gripping its great axe with both hands. A thick layer of frost energy had gathered around the weapon, forming a cold blue aura that spread across the surrounding area.

Its expression was filled with anger.

"Human! I’ll tear you apart!"

The Orc Captain roared and swung its great axe.

A massive crescent of freezing energy immediately emerged from the blade, travelling towards Kaiser.

Kaiser didn’t bother moving.

He simply looked at the incoming attack and smiled.

’Let’s see how much heat your frost energy can withstand.’

He raised his hand once again.

This time, he gathered all the surrounding vibrations into a single sphere.

Unlike his previous attempts, he didn’t divide the energy or hold back its intensity. He continuously compressed the vibrations, forcing them to rotate at an even greater speed.

The sphere grew brighter.

A powerful reddish glow illuminated Kaiser’s palm as the temperature inside it continued rising.

The surrounding air began distorting from the accumulated heat.

Kaiser adjusted the structure of the sphere, creating a small opening directed towards the Orc Captain.

Then, he released the accumulated energy.

BOOM!

A powerful reddish beam erupted from the sphere and shot straight towards the incoming crescent of frost energy.

The two attacks collided in the middle of the cave.

For a brief moment, the freezing energy attempted to resist the incoming beam. However, the intense heat rapidly weakened the frost surrounding it.

The reddish beam tore through the icy crescent without losing much of its momentum.

The Orc Captain’s expression changed.

Before it could raise its great axe again, the beam had already reached its head.

SPLASH!

Its enormous body collapsed onto the frozen ground.

The great axe slipped from its hands and landed beside it with a heavy metallic sound.

The entire cave fell silent.

Kaiser slowly lowered his hand and looked at the fallen Orc Captain.

’The concentrated version is considerably more destructive. By compressing the vibrations into a smaller area and increasing their intensity, I can generate much greater heat.’

He examined his palm for a moment.

’The main advantage is that I can control the output. I can either release a continuous beam, create several smaller attacks, or concentrate everything into a single powerful strike.’

A satisfied expression appeared on his face.

Although Minor Vibration Manipulation was still a relatively basic ability, its potential seemed quite promising.

With more practice, he might discover even more applications.

However, before he could continue experimenting, several system notifications appeared before his eyes.

[You have slain nine Frostland Orc Warriors.]

[You have slain one Frostland Orc Captain.]

[Wisdom Devourer has been activated.]

[Extracting Wisdom Points from the targets’ souls...]

[Extraction complete.]

[Host has gained 12 Wisdom Points.]

Kaiser raised his eyebrows.

’Hmm? Twelve Wisdom Points?’

He glanced at the notifications again, carefully examining the results.

’Nine ordinary Frostland Orcs and one Captain gave me twelve points.’

He quickly understood the distribution.

’Each Frostland Orc Warrior provided one Wisdom Point, while the Captain provided three.’

A satisfied smile appeared on his face.

That was a pretty decent return from just ten Rank 2 monsters.

Considering how many Frostland Orcs might be living throughout this region, the total number of Wisdom Points he could obtain was quite substantial.

’Looks like this trip is going to be worthwhile.’

Kaiser looked towards the deeper part of the cave.

There were still plenty of monsters waiting to be hunted, and he had no intention of leaving anytime soon.