The Healing Solaris Cleric

Chapter 49: Welcome to the Orc World (2)

The expedition's first battle ended very successfully. Although they didn’t capture the orc village, they managed to eliminate all the orcs that poured out from there.

What the players won from the victory in battle was a brief moment of rest.

A smile full of satisfaction grew on Kai's face as he spent the precious rest time in the shade of nearby trees.

[Expedition Points Owned: 9P]

"Killed nine, so 9 points. The calculation is accurate."

The current situation wasn't bad. If the orc village were to release orcs a few more times like just now, it seemed possible to collect over 100 points by just hunting regular orcs.

And since this was just the first battle... the second and third battles might release Orc Warriors or Heroes.

Then the points earned would increase even more!

While Kai was indulging in these pleasant imaginations, he heard other players' voices.

"Shameless bastards. Do they even have a conscience?"

"Do you think they would? If they had something like that, they wouldn't be doing stuff like this."

"Damn, so in the end, the rewards will be hogged by them, won’t it?"

"Ugh! So people without a guild shouldn't even bother with events, is that it?"

"Why are the top ten guild guys even participating in this event?"

Three players were talking, openly displaying their deep anger.

Kai became curious as he eavesdropped on their conversation.

What? Did something happen?

According to what they said, it seemed something bad happened within the expedition. If the issue was significant, it could complicate the task of defeating the Orc Sorcerer.

Eventually, Kai approached them and asked cautiously, "Excuse me... I happened to overhear your conversation. Is there a problem?"

"You heard us talking?"

One player snapped with a wary expression, but another player intervened.

"That guy's been there since earlier. It's our fault for talking carelessly. Have you seen the expedition point leaderboard by any chance?"

"Expedition point leaderboard? Is there such a thing?"

As Kai blinked in confusion, the man shrugged and continued to say, "So you haven't seen it. There's a separate section for the leaderboard in the expedition point window. You should check that first."

"Then just a moment, please... Oh, there really is such a thing."

As the man said, there indeed was a section to check the leaderboard.

But why is this a problem? Isn't it just comparing my points with others?

It was essentially providing a platform for friendly competition.

As Kai tilted his head, puzzled by their anger, he immediately checked the leaderboard. And the next moment, an expression of bewilderment crossed Kai's face.

"W-what? How is this possible?"

"Right? It doesn't make sense, does it?"

"Annoying, isn't it?"

"It’s bullshit, right?"

Seeing Kai's reaction similar to theirs, the players excitedly added their comments!

Baffled by the current situation, Kai stared at them before checking the leaderboard again.

[Expedition Point Rankings]

1st Place - 144P

2nd Place - 32P

3rd Place - 28P

4th Place - 27P

5th Place - 25P

The published expedition point rankings showed the top 10.

While the points for 2nd to 9th places were relatively close, the 1st place held an outstandingly high number of points.

Kai squinted and asked, "Who on earth is it?"

At Kai's question, the three people in front of him turned to one side to look at eight players who were dressed in matching black robes and walking proudly.

"They’re from the Black Bee guild, one of the top ten guilds in the world. The guy at the front is in first place."

"You know them, right? A bunch of assholes made up entirely of Wizards."

"Do you know how points accumulate if two people kill an orc?"

Kai tilted his head at the questions. How could he have known when he had only played solo even here on the battlefield?

"I'm not sure. It doesn't seem to be in order of contribution..." Kai trailed off.

"That's right. After asking around, it turns out that points are awarded in bulk to the person who takes the final hit."

"So they abused that rule."

In short, the Black Bee guild was funneling all points to one person!

Kai furrowed his brows. "Does the expedition leader or other NPCs not say anything about it?"

"They can't really say anything. After all, NPCs prefer those who are good at killing orcs."

"Just the eight of them killed hundreds of orcs. Sure they might be petty and playing dirty, but their skills are undeniable."

That was why the three players in front of him were furious. The Black Bee members were petty, but they were undeniably skilled. Moreover, they cleverly exploited the system's loopholes, so they couldn't be officially punished.

"Hmm... so that's what happened," Kai slowly nodded.

Yeah, mistake my butt. I had a bad feeling about it.

The Wizard who had mistakenly attacked him earlier was also walking with the others, dressed in a robe of the Black Bee guild.

Kai's gaze turned cold.

So... bees have swarmed over the mess I've made, huh?

After parting with the players, Kai slipped away to escape the gaze of the people. Soon after, he reappeared and was wearing his cleric robes.

***

"This is amazing."

"Hehe, sunbae. What did I say? It works, doesn't it?"

"With this strategy, first place is definitely guaranteed."

"Yeah, all of you did a great job."

Claude nodded with a solemn expression. He was a rookie Wizard with fire attributes who was lavishly sponsored by the Black Bee guild. He looked at the other seven members gathered around him with a reliable gaze.

This strategy definitely works.

Initially, they had planned to participate in the expedition with just their skills. But then, one clever member came up with an idea, and that idea sparkled brilliantly.

"Sunbae, we're going to be able to take over this event."

The idea the member came up with was to funnel all the extermination points to themselves!

Indeed, it was hard to find parties as large as theirs. Even if there were parties, they were just small groups of two or three.

With that background, they participated in the first battle, and the result was a huge success.

144 points!

They were able to secure first place with a difference so wide, it was fitting to call it overwhelming.

After successfully completing the second and third battles as well, Claude was certain.

It's over.

By the time the third battle was over, the second place only had 84 points. They seemed to have tried their best, but no matter what, there was no way they could overturn the point difference.

Claude looked at the golden crown that was placed only on the first-placed ranker and the characters next to it that showed 472P.

Of course, the story would change if they snatched the last hits on both the Orc Lord and Orc Warrior....

Claude smiled once again.

But if you kill your competitor, there's no need to worry about that.

After all, the battlefield was a place where everyone was in a hectic state. In such a place, one could die from a mistake made by an ally's spell. And if that failed, then they could just claim it was a mistake.

Well, I don’t think we'd lose if we fought fairly on skill alone, but it’s better to be sure.

The Black Bee guild was known for only recruiting skilled Wizards! Their overwhelming attack power, as well as the guild's strict hierarchy, meant there was no need to worry about betrayal. These two reasons made Claude certain of their victory.

The sound of the fourth horn, calling the resting players to battle, filled the grassland.

"It's the fourth battle!"

"Let's go."

"Let's raise the pace a bit this time. How about we aim for around 200P?"

Displaying the leisure of the strong, they joined the battlefield and began sweeping away the orcs again.

"Fire Field!"

"Burning Hand!"

"Fire Ball!"

As they cast their spells, all sorts of magic flew out, quickly depleting the orcs' HP.

And....

"Fire Spear."

Claude stabbed his spear.

Whooosh!

After the guild members reduced the orcs' HP, Claude meticulously took care of the last hits! Their harmony was perfect. It was a perfect combination where everyone else sacrificed for one person!

However, as with all parties, crises came unannounced.

"W-what!? Why are there Orc Heroes here!?"

"Shit, their magic resistance is too high!"

Two Orc Heroes suddenly emerged from the left!

The two Orc Heroes, being tougher and more resilient than regular orcs, charged at the Black Bee guild members in an instant.

"Huff, Puff. Die, human wizards!"

"Revenge for our comrades! Huff, puff!"

Slash, slash!

Punch, punch!

The Black Bee guild members were repeatedly struck by the Orc Heroes’ large axes and clubs!

However, none of the surrounding players thought to help them.

Ha, serves you right.

Wish they'd just die already.

"Aargh!"

"Shit! Someone, please help...!"

Although they called for help, only the cold stares of the other players poured down on them.

I... I'm going to die!

One of the Black Bee guild's wizards, who had little HP left, tightly closed their eyes. The moment the ax above their head fell, they would die!

At that moment, their HP, which had been at rock bottom, began to rise.

"Heal, heal, heal!"

"Huh... Huh?"

"W-who are you?"

With the help of a Cleric, the members of the Black Bee guild blankly blinked in confusion. They had asked for help but hadn't actually expected to receive it.

"Are you alright?"

They looked at the Cleric approaching them. The pure white, noble cleric robe seemed out of place on the blood-filled battlefield. Of course, the Cleric’s face was not visible because of the hood drawn deep over their head, but this only added to their mysteriousness.

"It’s a relief I wasn’t too late. I'll heal you guys, so please continue fighting hard."

"Oh... Okay!"

"O-okay then."

The Black Bee guild members, showing mixed feelings, resumed hunting! Although they were ambushed, once they got into their formation, they were able to stably defeat the Orc Heroes.

"Incoming! Three Orc Warriors coming from the right."

"Focus on the one in the center first!"

With that, the strange cooperation between the eight Wizards and one Cleric continued until the end of the battle.

"Haa, haa."

"Is the fourth battle over now?"

The players were much more exhausted than after the previous battles. Counting from the first battle, they had faced a total of 4,000 orcs so exhaustion was inevitable.

Despite this, Claude led his fellow guild members to the Cleric who had helped them.

"Thank you for your help."

"Not at all. I became a Cleric to heal others, after all. Take care!"

The Cleric, expecting no reward, left a cheerful farewell and then disappeared.

Then, praises for the Cleric started to emerge from the Black Bee guild members.

"That Cleric really has their priorities straight, don’t they?"

"I never thought we'd actually get help in this situation."

"True. I thought we were going to be logged out for sure...."

"Hmm...."

Listening to those words, Claude looked at the spot where the Cleric had left and slowly nodded.

We surely have strong firepower, but if our formation is broken like earlier, it's hard to recover.

Of course, they would have to increase their concentration to prevent that break, but they were human, not machines. No one could predict when someone's concentration could waver and the formation be broken!

"...In that case, it might be good to have a Cleric with us just in case."

They were Wizards of the Black Bee guild, one of the top ten guilds in the world. If they offered someone to join their party, that person would eagerly accept. After all, forming a cooperative relationship with one of the top ten guilds was something many desired but few could achieve.

Besides, there's no risk of betrayal with a Cleric.

That was the main reason for this decision. No matter the situation, they could never ally with those who could pose a threat. That was the strict rule of the Black Bee guild.

But a trash job like a Cleric isn't scary even if a hundred of them gather.

Thinking he had gained an extra life, Claude smiled broadly.