Return of the Woodcutter

After his surrender, Aito's team was deprived of their weapons, backpacks, and inventory bags. Orcs even took Ogoro thread weaver's gauntlet. They had to be blind not to see wires had come out of it after seeing many of their comrades fall or be trapped by them.

Chained, the team was forced to follow the orcs. Their leader, Krugan, kept Ogoro hostage next to it, probably in case Aito would do something it deemed unnecessary.

Sweat rapidly exited Aito's pores. With the two suns and the sand's accumulated heat, the sixth floor's temperature reached 80°C (176°F), maybe more.

Aito's metallic armor did not help cover him from this excruciating heat. Be it cold or hot, steel had the particularity to rapidly transmit temperature. Thankfully, the fur and leather underneath it slightly alleviated his plight. With his body at level 4, Aito managed to get by somehow.

George also seemed okay, pouring his head from time to time with water using his skill Water Bullet. Sheyla had trouble keeping up, but did not complain. Her cloak offered a better protection against the suns than the others.

Seeing her predicament, George sent drops of water her way, easing her condition. On guard, orcs had looked at him suspiciously at first but left him alone once they understood he would not do anything.

Taken hostage, the team kept silent. If they even tried to talk, orcs would force them to shut up.

Sands, cactuses, and the blurry heat reflection were all the scenery they saw for hours on end. The chains trapping their wrists were boiling hot. Albeit for Aito, the other's skin reddened.

The temperature reached an unprecedented height when they passed by the ruins of what looked like signs of human civilization on the surface.

Dead exotic trees, an empty crater that appeared to have been filled with water, decrepit empty white buildings.

Krugan ordered its army to stop their march. Orcs entered the abandoned buildings' shadows, seeking refuge from the suns. Those were currently at their zenith, bringing the temperature up to 120°C (248°F). Even for them who were used to this environment, this particular time of the day was a bit demanding but not deadly.

The orc leader only stopped here for the humans.

Aito found it weird that two suns would bring so much heat just by reaching their peak. Also, when they had left the fifth floor, it was around noon already.

Either that meant time flowed differently on the sixth floor, or the laws of nature weren't exactly the same. Surely, with two suns, daylight would stay longer before nightfall. Maybe there was no night on the sixth floor.

'Damn… I would kill for a drop of water,' Aito thought inside a building, looking at Krugan still holding Ogoro while drinking a greenish transparent liquid from a crude leather gourd.

Aito has been observing them for a while, searching for any opening he could exploit. Ironically, there was only one orc guarding him, the others were mostly surrounding his teammates.

Apparently, they knew that all of them together might not be his match and used Aito's team to prevent him from taking action.

That alone was proof enough orcs were incomparable to hobs and goblins in a matter of intelligence. Smarter, stronger, and organized, they were formidable foes.

Aito theorized that unbuffed, he could take on one hundred of them, maybe two hundred, but three hundred were overstretched.

Leaning against a wall, Krugan eyed him from his position, wiped the liquid off his wide mouth and approached him, stretching his large hand with the gourd in it.

"Drink," the orc leader said. Such a simple word got translated by the system, entering Aito's brain.

Thirsty, seeing as the orc leader had previously drunk that content, and since he also had poison resistance, Aito did not refuse.

According to Gwen's knowledge, orcs were not the type to poison their opponents. They preferred a more direct approach and considered cowardly to kill their enemies with what they deemed lowly methods.

In that sense, it was truly surprising orcs had taken his companion hostage.

Eyeing the orc suspiciously, he grabbed the gourd with his chained hands, smelled then drank the content, and was surprised at how disgusting it was. He swallowed the content nonetheless.

"It… cactus… liquid," Krugan said.

With no water in the desert, orcs cut down cactuses to press their meat, extracting the water stored inside. It didn't taste good, far from it, but it made for a great substitute for hydration.

"Hum,… not picky," Krugan said. "Good."

Aito gave the gourd back to Krugan, who passed it to Aito's teammates. One by one, they drank the cactus juice, alleviating their thirst.

The orc leader then returned to his corner, sat, and rest while keeping an eye out for Aito. Going out in this heat was out of the question. There was still an hour or two before reaching the city. They already had traveled for long enough under this scorching heat.

Any longer and it could affect its captives. The goal wasn't to kill nor weaken them, but bring them back in one piece for the Sacred Event taking place in four days. They needed to be in top shape if any honorable fight were to be had.

Of course, orcs would also participate in the sacred event. In fact, Krugan planned on fighting in it.

Orcs called it the Grand Duels. Kugran couldn't recall exactly how it came to be, but it knew that it was to celebrate a past glorious battle against humans.

In the city's arena, humans that had been captured would fight the orcs' during three challenges.

The first one was simple enough. Orcs would send their young warriors to fight against humans. If the humans survived, they would be allowed to access the second challenge; a fight against the orc's best warriors.

As for the third and last challenge, well, all human survivors would be allowed to fight the Khül, which was basicaly a death sentence.

Even Krugan and his Khan, the orc chief, feared the khül's power. Although, Krugan was curious about that human who showed strength comparable to his khan.

It truly hoped to encounter Aito during the Grand Duels.

A few hours later, the two suns set on the horizon, but a third sun rose in the illusionary sky of the sixth floor.

Sensing the temperature lower to a bearable degree, Krugan ordered his army to resume the march, bringing their prisoners with them, of course, leaving the ruined village.

The sand progressively changed into firm, hot, dry rocks as Aito followed the orcs. Soon, a grand canyon showed up on the horizon, stretching for kilometers.

Standing on its edge, Aito's eyes widened in wonder as he saw a city carved in the stone. Myriads of bridges, pathways linked the higher habitations together.

He had trouble seeing what was on the ground floor, but from the looks of it, there were orcs walking along a river, abundant with vegetation.

A real paradise in this arid area.

'I have to admit, I didn't expect that,' Aito thought, watching the scenery from above. 'Why is there a whole civilization on this floor?'

Goblins had their habitats but calling them a civilization was a bit overstretched. Hobs had only been lodging in buildings, waiting for their preys to come.

But orcs, orcs were the real deal.

Which rose one question. Did the gods really create an entire civilization to test challengers? To Aito's mind, it looked a bit too absurd. The gods could have just created monsters that attacked challengers on sight in order to train them.

Why go to the length of creating a population that seemed to have its own culture and way of life? He couldn't exactly understand their intention. 

He smelled something fishy going on with the floors. The more he climbed, the more surprising floors became. Well, maybe it was just the case with the Hunting Grounds. He didn't know.