The two of them hurried into the alley, pretending to look for something, but in reality, they were carefully setting up the battlefield.
Sure enough, moments later, four figures appeared at the entrance of the alley, fanning out to block the only exit.
Moonlight shone from behind them, casting four sinister shadows that stretched ominously toward Robb and Andrey.
"Looks like we're in luck tonight," growled the leading orc. His voice was harsh, like a saw scraping across metal. "Two fat little lambs walked right into the wolf's den."
He bared his bloody maw, revealing a row of razor-sharp teeth. "Word is you're carrying some valuable stuff. Hand it over, and maybe you'll get to walk out alive."
"We're just ordinary travelers passing through."
The hooded boy sounded frightened, his voice even trembling slightly, but his feet subtly inched into a better position:
"We don't have anything valuable. Please, just let us go."
The three orcs burst out laughing, their laughter full of mockery and cruelty.
A goblin, lurking behind them, stared greedily at Robb's pouch. His tongue flicked over his lips, as if he could already see the magic stone shards inside.
"Drop the act, kid," the orc leader snarled, stepping forward menacingly.
"We've been watching you for a while. We know you spent a lot of money today. Now hand over the coin purse, or—"
He raised a brutal-looking battle axe gleaming coldly in the moonlight, its blade still stained with dried blood. "Or I'll turn you into meat paste!"
"Ready?" Robb asked Andrey in a low voice. The fear on his face had vanished, replaced by a calm so cold it was almost chilling.
Andrey gripped his dagger tightly and gave a small nod. "I don't know what your plan is, but I'll follow your lead."
"You take the one on the left. Leave the rest to me."
Robb gave quick instructions while discreetly slipping a small vial of agility potion into Andrey's hand. "If things get dangerous, drink this. It'll boost your speed."
The orcs had clearly run out of patience. With a roar, the three hulking beasts charged toward the two of them, their massive forms looking especially terrifying in the narrow alley.
As they stepped into his psychic influence range, Robb's eyes lit up with an eerie, cold glow.
His mental power suddenly surged, forming an invisible ripple that spread outward.
Mental Disruption!
A basic skill for an apprentice mage, not very effective against peers—but devastating against instinct-driven creatures like orcs.
The invisible mental wave swept through the alley like a gale.
The three orcs suddenly slowed, a haze of confusion flashing in their eyes, as if someone had struck them squarely on the head.
They shook their heads, trying to dispel the invading fog, but to no avail.
"Now!" Robb shouted. His mental power spiraled into a focused energy structure.
Sonic Tremor!
A barely visible ripple shot from his palm, slicing silently through the air and hitting the lead orc directly.
An unseen force tore through the orc's body from within. Pain twisted across its face, dark red blood seeping from its mouth and nose.
Whoosh—
A flash of steel. Robb and the orc leader passed by each other. His ironwood sword, enhanced with the Sharpness trait, easily sliced through the beast's vital neck artery.
Mortally wounded, the orc dropped its axe and clutched its throat, making a grotesque gurgling noise.
Moments later, the two-meter-tall brute collapsed, twitched a few times, then moved no more.
[Lethal Hit! Basic Swordcraft +2 EXP]
On the other side, Andrey didn't waste the opportunity Robb created.
He darted like lightning toward the orc on the left. His dagger flashed coldly through the air, aiming straight for the throat.
Even though orc skin was tough, the mental disruption had slowed its reflexes. It couldn't fully dodge the strike.
The blade carved across its neck, spraying blood.
The orc howled in pain and staggered backward, but didn't fall. These beasts had terrifying endurance—wounded as it was, it still fought on.
The third orc had already shaken off the confusion and roared as it charged Robb, axe raised high.
Robb remained calm, raising his hand once more, spiritual energy concentrating.
Another invisible wave shot out, this time hitting the orc square in the chest.
Just like before—its huge body suddenly froze, then crashed to the ground, rolling in pain and howling like a beast.
Two orcs down, the tide had turned completely.
The last one, though injured, kept swinging its axe at Andrey, who dodged and weaved nimbly in the tight alley, barely avoiding fatal blows.
Realizing his companions were all going down, the goblin finally panicked. He turned to flee.
"Don't let it—" Andrey began to shout, still dodging the orc's attacks.
But before he could finish, Robb smiled coldly and focused his spirit again, choosing a more stable spell structure this time to guarantee a kill.
A third wave burst from his palm, streaking through the air with terrifying speed and striking the fleeing goblin in the back.
The goblin's body twisted grotesquely midair before crashing to the ground, never to rise again.
Unlike orcs, goblins were far more fragile. This hit shredded its organs instantly. It didn't even have the strength to twitch.
Seeing all his allies fall, the last orc lost the will to fight.
It stared at Robb, eyes wide with disbelief and fear. It couldn't understand how this seemingly weak human boy had such terrifying power.
"W-Wizard…" it stammered, clearly terrified. It dropped its axe and turned to flee.
"Hmph." Robb lunged forward and hurled his ironwood sword.
The blade flew true, piercing the unprotected junction of the orc's waist and abdomen.
The massive body crashed down. Andrey rushed over and delivered two finishing strikes to end its struggling.
In mere seconds, three massive, brutal orcs and a cunning goblin lay dead, while Robb and Andrey were virtually unscathed.
What should've been a dangerous fight had turned into a one-sided slaughter under the apprentice mage's terrifying mental assault.
"So this is the power of being an apprentice?" Andrey panted, awe in his eyes.
"I pushed myself to the limit just to take down one… You took out two orcs and a goblin in just a few breaths…"
Robb didn't answer right away. He walked over to inspect the goblin's corpse.
It felt strange. Even though he accepted the law of the jungle, this growing indifference to bloodshed—the way he barely felt anything anymore—was like losing his sense of empathy.
"You can be indifferent to killing," he silently reminded himself as he looted the bodies, "but never indifferent to life."