Cubs

The axe wind sent dust whipping through the air, forcing Tales to shut his eyes.

But in the end, he escaped the fate of being cleaved in two by an axe.

At the critical moment, a single-edged Battle Axe swung over from the direction of the campfire. Amid a thunderous roar, it hacked into the Orc's unprotected armpit.

Under the Orc's shrill cry of pain, red blood gushed from its body and splashed all over Tales's face as he struggled to breathe.

Fishy and salty, sharp and pungent.

As always.

With that blow, the Orc's crude Great Axe flew from its hand. Carrying enough force to split the earth, it sank deep into the sand beside Tales's left shoulder.

The towering Orc roared in an unfamiliar language. Turning around, it swung an arm as thick as an ordinary man's thigh at the owner of the Battle Axe, but he nimbly dodged it.

"Get up!"

The bald Mercenary Dean's powerful voice rang out, extraordinarily clear amid the surrounding cries of battle, and Tales's spirits lifted.

"We don't have time to rest!"

Ending Power flowed into the boy's back and chest, easing the tightness in his chest somewhat. Tales rolled over and, trembling, climbed up along the Orc's Great Axe. Using it for leverage, he struggled to his feet, wiped the blood from his face, and tried to restore feeling to his numb hands and feet.

The Orc whose neck he had pierced still looked utterly berserk. It paid no attention to the blood gushing from the wounds in its neck and armpit, merely roaring words Tales could not understand as it lunged at Dean.

The composed Mercenary gripped his axe with both hands and charged the Orc, but at the instant he drew near, he suddenly rolled sideways and nimbly dodged