The Author's POV

"Let me have a look."

Moving towards the control system that overlooked the dampening system, I placed my palm on the holographic screen.

Right as my hand touched the hologram, a map of the entire building presented itself before me. Marked on it were a multitude of red dots that depicted the areas where the dampening devices were installed.

The range they covered was also displayed on it.

Scanning the holographic map before me, my brows knit tightly.

Placing my hand under my chin, I softly muttered, "Hmm… This is a lot more troublesome than I had expected."

Tapping one of the red dots marked on the map, a small window popped up in front of me.

On the window were a series of complicated numbers and words.

As I looked through the long, complex numbers and words displayed on the window, the chip inside of my head started processing the information in my mind.

But it was useless. Even with the chip inside of my head, I could barely understand what was happening.

The more I looked the greater the frown on my face became.

'…I should've expected this from the beginning. There's no way the dampening system wouldn't have some sort of defense mechanism installed.'

Getting into the place was the first hurdle, and the second hurdle was now deactivating the system, which, honestly, I knew very little about.

Massaging my forehead, I tried my best to make heads or tails of the data before me.

Turning my head, my eyes paused on Ultruk. He was lying on the ground, breathing heavily.

'…No, that won't do.'

I thought about asking him if he knew anything, but after remembering that orcs weren't the brightest of creatures, I promptly gave up.

"Here."

But just as my head was about to ache even more, Waylan arrived next to me and passed me a small, black-coloured rectangular object.

"What's this?" I asked in wonder as I took the device from Waylan's hands.

Feeling it in my hands, the black object was sized and shaped to resemble a USB device. It wasn't exactly a USB though, since it looked like a black metallic stick.

Flipping it around and seeing nothing particularly special about the stick, I lifted my head and looked up at Waylan.

"…What exactly is this supposed to do?" I repeated, sounding mildly curious.

With a weak smile, Waylan explained, "Before coming, Jomnuk gave me this. He seemed to have already known that you would have trouble figuring out how to disable the system."

"He did? Well…"

Turning to look at the window filled with numbers, I couldn't deny Waylan's words. Or Jomnuk's, for that matter.

"Although Jomnuk did say that you could've done it by yourself, he also added that by the time you'd be done, hours would've already passed… And so, before coming here, he told me to pass it to you."

"Good idea…"

For a moment, I thought that I was going to be spending the next couple of hours trying to figure out how to enter the system.

Fortunately, Jomnuk had great foresight. He had given Waylan the necessary equipment to help me disable the system.

Given that time was of the essence, it was nothing short of a life-saving grace.

Pointing at the holographic map in front of me, Waylan explained to me the uses of the stick.

"According to him, all you have to do is put this thing over there and it should automatically disable the system within the next couple of minutes."

my head repeatedly before opening

Just stick it in and let it do

it, I'll do it

USB stick-looking device inside of a small socket at the bottom

Clink—

device into the socket, the panel flashed and a

[Database synchronisation]

0%________________100%

window, my

"It worked."

was right." Waylan smiled in relief from the side, "We would have been in trouble if that

clear yet," I responded from the side, cooling down

elders have

look on his face, I could tell that in the state they were currently in, another fight would only lead to our

"Oh, right."

that a thought suddenly occurred to me as

out a small bag

broad shoulder to get his attention, I pushed the bag

you recover

"Huh?"

to face me, Ultruk briefly glanced at my face

His deep voice echoed throughout the

I picked up in a certain

was none other than Immorra, but he didn't need to know

taking everything that I could possibly get from that place,

they were because I could not ingest them, but they would hopefully be of some use to Ultruk whose aura was low right

they used aura, the orcs couldn't recover like we did with mana. They consumed

they did recuperate their aura at a much faster rate than us, but it still took a bit

hoping that he would have a much easier time recovering his strength for when more

is

Ultruk took the bag

"——?!"

bag and saw what was inside

changing facial expressions was so

the bag, his eyes darted between

How… No, where did you get

said with slight excitement in his

hurriedly moved towards where I was and grabbed me by my shoulders before he started shaking me a little

did you get this stuff?! Answer

from Ultruk's grasp, I was left

a…

I felt my life flash before my eyes as Ultruk

matters worse, no matter how much I tried to free myself from the grasp of his hands, they wouldn't budge an inch. It was as though Ultruk's hands

starting to understand Durara's

You're killing

that Ultruk realised

go of me, he scratched the back of his head and apologised, "Oh, sorry. I was a bit too

a little surprised by the sincerity in the huge orc's

out a pale fruit. Somehow, the fruit

fruit in his hand. As he looked at it, hints of nostalgia could be seen in

is a rare delicacy I have not seen in over five decades. Back when we were still in our own world, I would eat this everyday with my comrades and friends. It was

the more he talked. I had never seen him talk so much, especially in

five decades?" Waylan asked in surprise. Turning his attention towards the

I don't feel any mana fluctuations coming from

fruit is not something you

fruit in two, a subtle energy

a familiar energy that Waylan knew all too

"Aura…"

"Correct."

head, Ultruk took a bite of the fruit. With the