I left the Bear Hut as soon as I made up my mind. After all, I don’t want to second-guess myself, and in the end risk the lives of the people that I care about again. I cannot afford to do so.

Before I left, I paid Kraden the damages with a generous sum of twenty Silv, more than enough to buy a replacement counter. After saying goodbyes to Kraden and getting a hug from a teary Cynthia, I left town swiftly, without even buying necessities. After all, I can survive even out in the wilderness easily.

Pulling a few strings, I managed to get onto a high-speed, magic propelled boat quickly, towards a nice harbour town that’s close to the border separating the human and demon continent.

Within a few hours, I reached Cobalt Town, a mercenary cum trading town where demons and humans live alongside each other. In this place, as long as you are useful, nobody cares who you are so as long as you don’t go on a rampage.

As the boat left, I quickly went to do the most important thing – find information. After all, information is the key to any battle.

What is different now? Is there any significant change in power? Is the demon continent still the same as when I left?

It didn’t take much effort to get information in a town like this; a few Silv is more than enough to get what I need.

From what I’ve gathered, nothing much has changed for the past year that I was gone. The [Six Pillars] are still the same, except that there are rumours floating around that Buvul, the Ogre Lord is no longer alive.
I certainly can attest for that particular rumour, that’s for sure.

Nothing much has changed; that’s good news. At least, that means what I currently know is still considered relevant. At the same time, I caught a piece of interesting rumour, that there is a group of slave traders that have a hideout built within the forested land of Althea, a huge mountain range that separates the human continent and the demon continent.

Normally I wouldn’t care too much about that, seeing that there is a perfectly good slave market in almost every town or city. However, I don’t want to spend too much time in the city, as I can be easily tracked down by either Crystal or Ellenda should they try to actively find me.

I paid another Silv to learn the approximate location of the slave traders’ hideout, and I head straight into Althea as the sun begins to set slowly.

—-

The journey towards Althea is somewhat boring, but at least I had Eva to accompany me, and chat with me.

(Master, do you really need a slave? I mean, the both of us can take out anyone, even if they are of the [Six Pillars] or [Heroes]. If we really tried, perhaps we can clash into a draw with the [Invincible Sword God!) (Eva)

“Perhaps, but an additional person to fight alongside with would be ideal. If I can find a strong fighter, I’ll no doubt accept him or her into my ranks.” (Gideon)

(If you say so, Master. Just don’t get too attached with another female, lest you start another crisis yet again.)

“I know that! I won’t let something like that happen to anyone else ever again.” (Gideon)

Within a day of travelling, I reached the forested lands of Althea. Being one of the many places that I’ve been to previously as an Ogre, this place is very familiar to me. Plenty of huge trees alongside pockets of open grassy terrains, this place is filled with fruits and monsters to hunt.

I spent the next few days living in the wild and making do with my daily needs with everything available to me within the forest. I hunted meat from monsters, and fresh water from a river. Of course, my main objective is to locate the slave traders and possibly acquire a slave of my own. However, that doesn’t mean I can’t try my current skills in battle with wild monsters. Furthermore, living comfortably within the human continent has been too much of a luxury; it’s time to toughen up myself in the wild, to further train my instincts!

In this area, there are monsters way stronger than Hind Bears or Dire Wolves, monsters like…

“Speak of the devil.” (Gideon)

A fierce roar rumbled within the forest. A strong presence approaches, as the earth beneath me trembled with every step it takes. A shadow leaps up from the lower ground, revealing its huge, four-legged build.

(Is that…an Armoured Mithril Bear?) (Eva)

An Armoured Mithril Bear, a four-legged beast that grows Mithril-plating on its body to protect itself, giving it an extremely tough defence. Despite all that weight, it moves unreasonably fast and can deal heavy blows with its gigantic paws. Just the Mithril on the bear alone can allow an entire team of adventurers to live comfortably for ten years.

It’s not like any random team of adventurers can even inflict a single scratch on it, before they get thoroughly annihilated, though…

However, this particular bear doesn’t seem to be in its best condition. There are slash marks and bloodstains everywhere on the Mithril-plating, and there’s even an arrow embedded into a part of the body where the plating doesn’t cover.

As my silver-coloured axe materializes from my palm, the Armoured Mithril Bear starts stomping towards me. Having fought the bear more than a few times before, I understand immediately that it is simply trying to ram me aside with its head, where the Mithril-plating is the hardest and thickest.

This tactic may work on others, but not on me!

I lifted my axe up high, and swing it straight down on the Mithril-plating located on its head, as it rams itself towards me. The force of the collision broke nearby branches, and threatened to topple trees. The grass beneath us scattered with the wind, as even the soil was blasted away.

The victorious one from the exchange becomes very obvious, as the bear collapsed onto the floor, unconscious from the impact; its Mithril-plating nearly sliced into two different pieces.

That’s strange though; I have fought with Mithril-Armoured Bears before, and I don’t remember them being so weak as to be knocked out from a single blow such as this, even if they have been engaged in another battle prior to this.

(Hey master! Treat me a little better, can’t you? I may be a top-class artefact, but clashing me against a one-inch thick Mithril-plating is considered abuse!) (Eva)

“Sorry about that, Eva. But you know, if something like an Armoured Mithril Bear rushes towards me like this, the need to have a contest of strength naturally happens, you know what I mean?” (Gideon)

(Sigh…as expected of my master; even when he’s not an Ogre, he is still such a bruiser…did you sense this, master?)

“Yes, there’s a group of people approaching us from every direction; we’re being surrounded.” (Gideon)

True enough, humans started to appear all around me. Only six of them revealed themselves openly, but I sense that there were more of them hiding above trees or hiding some plain sight. Judging from how they stand and the look of confidence in their eyes, they must be quite experienced in fighting, especially in groups. Each and every one of them is decently strong, about Bratt’s level. The strongest among them is definitely stronger than that.

Seeing that they dared to enter the forested lands of Althea, they should at least be this strong. However, facing oppositions of only this level, I have neither fear nor worry of anything happening.

Seeing that I’m already surrounded, I didn’t try to escape. I just simply stand there and wait for them to start explaining themselves. After all, if anything really happens they’ll be the hunted instead…

The group of people are all equipped fully with a mixture of leather and steel armour, along with a weapon of their choosing. Most of them are wielding a shortsword, while two other are equipped with twin daggers. All of them are alert and ready to engage in battle should there be a need to.

A tall guy with a lean build approaches from the front, wearing the nicest set of armour amongst them all, and had a wide disturbing grin across his face. He’s one of the twin-dagger wielders, with the dagger coated with a thin layer of green.

(Master, there are three more people hiding above the trees, be careful. They are equipped with a crossbow, and are probably coated with a paralyzing poison as well.)

I figured as much. The Mithril Armoured Bear must have been engaging with a battle with these guys before escaping towards my direction. No wonder it tried to ram me aside instead; it wanted to escape with the fastest method possible before the poison kicks in.

“Who are you, and what do you want?” (Gideon)

“Straight to the point, I like that. Very well, my name is Joey. My men and I have spent a lot of time and effort trying to capture this Mithril Armoured Boar, before it managed to deter us temporarily. Now, please step aside from it so that we can transport it back to our base.” (Joey)

As he speaks, Joey fiddled around with his daggers, juggling them with considerable skill. Obviously, seeing that I’m surrounded by this many people, the thought of me being able to massacre them all doesn’t even come across his mine.
“What’s the purpose of you wanting this beast? After all, I am the one who took it out singlehandedly.” (Gideon)

Joey’s nasty grin shrunk a little. As expected of the smart one in the group, he caught on to my hint of threat. If I can take out the bear by myself, I can sure as hell take out the rest of his team if I wanted to.

“Very well then, I suppose I can divulge a bit of information as a gesture of goodwill. We are a group of slave traders, and we have a…loyal buyer who wishes to procure rare bear species. That’s all you need to know. Now, please kindly move away from the bear and none of us will get hurt.” (Joey)

Ah, so they are the slave traders! Unfortunately, I don’t really like their attitude or the way they look down on me. After turning into a human, I no longer have the prestige or influence I used to have over anyone…this is a pain.

“And what if I refuse to do so?” (Gideon)

The Armoured Mithril Bear is considered to be quite a rare species in this forest. As much as possible I rather it doesn’t land on the hand of humans like them. Even last time when I engaged in battles against strong, powerful monsters, I’ll try not to kill them needlessly. After all, if they are all hunted down, I won’t have any to fight with left next time, right?

Besides, they can be considered decent deterrence against the invading forces of human soldiers. After all, not every human is as strong as these slave traders.

“Well, I don’t think you have much of a choice here, do you? After all, I consider you to be quite an intelligent young man; surely you wouldn’t wish to step on a path where no one benefits?” (Joey)

The others surrounding me starts to snicker as they ready themselves, poised to strike in a moment’s notice. I heaved a huge sigh and shook my head in annoyance. Truly, I missed the good old times where everyone feared and respected me. If I was still an Ogre Lord, these humans wouldn’t even dare to breathe without my permission, let alone talking down on me and threatening me right now.
“How about this; give me the best, top quality slave you have for combat purposes, and I’ll give you back your bear, sounds fair?” (Gideon)

Joey’s smile completely disappeared from his face, and it’s replaced with a nasty frown. After all, being constantly refuted by a youngster that’s probably half his age is annoying and frustrating, to say the least.

“Kid, don’t push it. Keep this up, and I’ll guarantee you a life worse than death. We know a lot of buyers with…special interests. Surely you don’t want to be their newest toy, do you?” (Joey)

(That’s it, master! That evil looking guy is so annoying; just get rid of him already!) (Eva)

{I know what you mean, but I still need them to lead me straight to their base, remember? If I can’t reach their base of operations, then-} (Gideon)

(Don’t worry; did you forget that I can read minds? As long as you leave one of them barely alive, I’ll probably be able to get the information easily, seeing that it is their base after all.) (Eva)

Right, I totally forgot about it. Very well then, there’s no need to hold back!

“If that’s the case…DIE.” (Gideon)

The soil beneath my feet burst out in all direction and an explosive sound echoed, as I jumped backwards swiftly with the aid of [Burst Stream]. At the same time, I sweep the silver axe backwards, instantly decapitating two humans that were situated behind me while gaining some distance away from the slave trader gang.
My movements were so fast and instantaneous, I doubt that those two even realised that they died. As the heads hit the floor, their legs folded and the entire body collapsed on the soil, like a puppet without strings.

Even though the slave traders are extremely alert and ready to fight, none of them manage to react before the heads dropped onto the ground, stunning the rest of them. Even Joey’s grin disappeared in an instance, replaced with a look of disbelief.

“Fools! Don’t just stand there, go get him! Don’t hold back; kill him if you have to! Archers, what are you waiting for, FIRE AT WILL!” (Joey)

As soon as Joey shouted his instructions, the remaining three woke to their senses and start to cautiously move forward slowly, in full alert of my every movement.

Three arrows flew towards my direction from different areas and at the same time the remaining three rushed towards me, swinging their shortsword and twin daggers. A combined attack, huh? Smart, but futile all the same, when engaging with a being far stronger.

“Eva, shield me and eliminate the archers.” (Gideon)

(I’m on it!) (Eva)

At the next moment, three strips of silver shot out from my shoulder which accurately blocking the arrows. Then, following the lines of fire the strips of silver shot towards the hidden archers. As cries of agony were heard, I felt the feedback as Eva successfully pierced through all three of them.

“Good job, Eva. That was actually really useful; at least I don’t have to hunt down the archers now myself.” (Gideon)

Truly, if I had the full potential of Eva when I was an Ogre Lord, killing the Ancient Dragon before would have been a breeze, and I would have deterred Del’thrush from attacking me.

(Of course! What do you think am I?) (Eva)

After witnessing that scene of absolute domination, the three slave traders that were rushing forward immediately skidded to a halt and ran back to Joey, as the strips of silver slowly retracted back.

“Boss Joey, this is impossible…! He’s just too strong, almost inhuman!”

“We can’t beat someone like this, he just slaughter five of us within seconds!”

“SILENCE, YOU FOOLS! Don’t you see that’s a top-class artefact! If we can manage to get something like this, we can spend the rest of our lives in luxury, away from this trade! Now, if you want to rest easy and enjoy the rest of your pathetic lives, you’ll go back there and kill him! This time, I’ll come along.” (Joey)

(Those idiots…Master, can I just pierce through them as well?) (Eva)

“That will just take away the fun from fighting. Although they are weaklings, it is still fun to bully them personally, once in a while. Especially those that overestimate their strength, those are even more interesting to kill.” (Gideon)

The stupidity of humans is that most of them are willing to die for fortune, without ever getting the opportunity to spend any!

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Author : Kiribou

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