[Art of Creation has been unlocked. The system is active.]
Huh? What the hell is this?
A panel opened up in front of his eyes.
The panel had a lot of text on it. The first thing Grey realized was that his full name was on it. Not just the name "Grey," but his last name, too.
Name: Grey Stardel
What the hell is this? I don't have time for this now!
The Orc Chieftain was going after Elain.
Huh?
But there was one thing different. Grey realized that he wasn't unable to move anymore. He wasn't completely healed, but he felt like he could move his legs.
He immediately got up after taking the axe in his hands and started running after the Orc.
There was nothing different in his body; he had only gained a bit of energy, enough to relieve his fatigue.
He heard the sound of fighting ahead.
I am not late!
He headed for the source of the sound. Elaine was going around the trees, dodging the Chieftain and shooting arrows whenever possible.
Luckily, the moonlight was enough to illuminate the forest.
Grey was surprised she could hold herself well as an archer, but it wouldn't last long. She was sweating profusely.
Together with her fear, the fatigue should be catching up with her... Grey thought.
But this was an opportunity. He secretly approached the Orc Chieftain from behind. No matter how strong he was or no matter how sneakily he approached, there wasn't a way for him to kill the Chieftain with one hit.
Still, he could maybe injure him. So, he approached while using the trees as a cover before catching Elaine's eyes. When she saw him, relief took over, and she almost got hit by the iron bar.
Understanding his intention, Elaine did her best to stay on the opposite side of Grey so that the Orc Chieftain wouldn't see Grey.
Thankful to Elaine, Grey approached from behind.
Sh*t, where should I hit?
It was a hard question. His already blunt axe had gotten blunter after the solo fight against the Orc.
Also, it wasn't the only fight he had. He had killed many Orcs and other wild animals while fighting in a group with others.
So, the axe wouldn't probably cut the thick neck of the Chieftain.
But, just then, he realized something. On the Chieftain's foot, right behind his kneecaps, there were gray rings just like the time when he used his Art of Wood.
He couldn't see it now, but one of his red eyes had turned purple.
He didn't have the luxury to think about why the rings that were only supposed to show him the weakest parts of the wood were forming on the Orc Chieftain's legs.
Grey immediately swung his axe towards the right kneecap. The Chieftain only realised Grey was behind him at the very last second, but it was too late.
The axe easily penetrated the diamond-shaped area, and the Chieftain shouted in pain.
But the axe cut the skin much more than Grey anticipated it would. Since it was already blunt, it was hard for it to cut that deep, even if he had hit a normal Orc.
Of course, he had a bigger problem now. He was too close to the Chieftain. Even though he wasn't looking at Grey now due to pain, he could turn back any moment now.
Grey acted fast. He needed to at least cut the other leg. If he did that, even if the Chieftain reacted in time and hit him, at least Elaine could run away.
So, he rolled on the ground just in case and cut the other side of the kneecap on the Chieftain's other leg.
This time, an earth-shaking shout came from the Orc Chieftain. But he was already on his knees and couldn't follow Grey. So, Grey jumped back.
Elaine must have seen this as an opportunity since an arrow left her bow and found itself in the Orc Chieftain's left eyesocket.
He wasn't dead, no. No matter the situation, the Chieftain was still alive and dangerous. If Grey went for the kill, he could still die. But he didn't want to run away.
Why aren't there any more weak points?
He looked at the Chieftain's head, heart, or other weaker areas, unable to see any weak points.
He didn't know if Chieftain didn't have any more weak points or if there weren't any weak points he could use.
But then, he saw a black ring on the Chieftain's left arm, around his shoulder.
What the hell?
Why would the Art show the arm as a weak point, and a black one at that? Grey had learned that the color of the rings told the degree of weakness.
For example, each branch of a tree was shown with a white ring since they didn't affect the tree, but still a weakness since they were easy to cut.
On the other hand, the roots had black rings since, when they were cut, the tree would die.
The trunk had gray rings. It wasn't easy to cut the trunk, but since the tree was immobile, hitting the same spot was easy.
Of course, while chopping trees, a weakness was a weakness. The colors didn't mean much.
But now... The weakness ring was telling Grey that if he were to cut the left arm, it would harm the Chieftain greatly.
Since he had no other chances, he approached the Chieftain, only for him to swing his hands.
It wouldn't be easy to approach, but there was a way. Thankfully, Elaine's arrow had hit his left eye.
Is that the reason I can see the left arm as a weakness?
Seeing a weakness and its color were different things. The Chieftain's neck would definitely show a black ring, since if Grey cut it, the Chieftain would die.
But, since the neck wasn't a weakness at the moment, the Art didn't show a ring on the neck right now.
Well, this will be easy...
He dodged the arms and approached from the Chieftain's left. Since he was on his knees, he couldn't rotate fast.
And since he was blind in his left eye, he couldn't react to Grey's movements. He was just swinging his left hand like crazy.
But it was better for Grey. Since the arm was getting closer, he didn't need to approach the Chieftain too much.
When the Chieftain swung his hand once more, he swung the axe to the exact point where the ring was.
Grey hadn't worked on using his axe on moving objects accurately. He was just a woodcutter. So, he couldn't hit the exact spot, but it was close enough.
A wound was formed half inside and half outside the ring. The Chieftain didn't even scream. It was just a small wound.
Did I fail?