I breathed deeply in and out in an attempt to control my anger. At the same time, I kept a lookout for other hostiles that could be around. Thankfully, there was none.

Once I managed to confirm that there were no other hostiles, and that the Black Ogre is down for good, I collapsed onto the floor in a seated position.

Slowly losing the adrenaline rush I had, gut wrenching pain shot through all of my limbs, having pushed myself too much just now with one [Burst Stream] too many to defend myself previously. Having said that, at least I know that my mastery of the skill is good enough for combat situations, and I’m tough enough to use them in rapid succession if it’s just once or twice.

Having said that, this pain is excruciating! I can barely move my limb just enough to walk or to hold on to axe properly; battle is definitely out of the question.

The backlash after will cripple my ability to fight, or even escape. Recently, the growth of my natural toughness is slowing down, so I doubt it would increase much more. I can only limit myself to only 3 uses of [Burst Stream] per battle, after which I’ll need at least a full day’s worth of rest. Any more uses after that would be used for a full-scale retreat.

Otherwise, I might not get out of that situation alive…

I’ll need a few companions, but my curse, [Beloved’s Gift of Misfortune], could be so strong it might affect people I recognize as comrades or friends as well. If I wish to maximize fighting strength without compromising their lives, there’s one choice – slaves.

The problem is, is slave trading a taboo or it is something covered-up; or it is commonplace in the human continent? In the demon continent, slaves are pretty much commonplace as they are usually spoils of victory from the human continent. I would suppose it may work the same way for humans, but I rather do some proper research first.

A lack of knowledge is quite a pain but I doubt it would be hard to find out this kind of information. Solo fights are alright for now as I expected, but as I head to fight the upper echelons of the overlord’s army, it would be nearly impossible without some help.

After all, if I want to kill off Del’thrush, at the very least I’ll probably have to destroy half his forces to reach him. Even if I can destroy half his forces, I wouldn’t have enough strength to fight him after.

As much as I want to finish him off right now, I know it’s still quite impossible with my current abilities. Being previously part of the Six Pillars, I know the general whereabouts of his base, but finding out exactly where he is and being able to kill him is quite frankly, not possible. For now, I just need to bear with it…

It looks like, there might be a need for me to experiment my curse on other people…It sounds quite unethical, but I cannot risk compromising my revenge plan because of the complications of the curse.

As I gather my thoughts, I constantly moved my limbs slightly to check on their status.

…Obviously they aren’t going to recover this fast, but hey it’s worth a shot.

Eventually, when I feel alright enough to move around, the sky has already turned dark and the moon was up glowing in the night sky.

To think that the Black Ogre was so powerful that it managed to disable me for such a long period of time…no matter, I know how they work now so the next time I’ll be able to defeat them easier.

I picked up the Black Ogre’s head, and threw it into the bag of goblin ears. After all, I’ll need some proof that I’ve killed it. Thereafter I left the cave, while trying to formulate a good story of the whole incident.

—

When I reached the Adventurer’s Guild, it was already morning. I hastened my pace and quickly get to an empty counter.

Hmm…Ellenda isn’t around. No matter, anyone would do. I walked towards the counter with a middle-aged, short haired male is standing in.

“Welcome to the Adventurers’ Guild…hey, you are that boy who registered just yesterday, right? What are you doing here so early in the morning, aren’t you supposed to go for that Goblin extermination quest of yours?” (Randol)

“Hmm? How did you know about that?” (Gideon)

“I was just beside Ellenda’s counter yesterday, so I overheard bits and pieces of what you guys were talking about.” (Randol)

“Ah, I see.” (Gideon)

Was there such a person? I couldn’t remember but oh well, no matter.

“Anyway, I completed the mission already. Here you go.” (Gideon)

I tossed the Goblin ears on the counter table, along with the Black Ogre’s head.

“…wait, is that an Ogre’s head?” (Randol)

When Randol mentioned the Ogre’s head, some of the adventurers around turned over to take a look. When they noticed that it was me, the young boy, who killed it, the news started to spread across the entire guild and before long, everyone was looking over.

Ah, this is my chance. If I play this right, I might just get what I need.

“Uh huh, I killed the Ogre.” (Gideon)

“…I’m sorry, but could you repeat yourself again?” (Randol)

Randol is obviously having difficulties understanding how a young boy like me managed to take down a whole horde of Goblins and an Ogre.

“Well, I was cleaning up the goblins, when all of a sudden I heard a fierce roar. I saw a black ogre and since I couldn’t escape with it blocking the exit path, I killed it off. That’s about it.” (Gideon)

As I explained myself in detail, the entire guild fell into an eerie silent for a short period of time, which was then replaced with an uproar of discussions.

“No way, this is an Ogre; an unknown variant as well! Did this kid just loot someone else’s kill?”

“Don’t be a fool; if I killed an ogre, I’ll immediately slice it head off and bring it to the guild. You know how much a single ogre’s bounty is? It’s 150 Silv! Who would leave such a fortune on the floor like that?”

“A kid like him taking out an Ogre all by himself? That’s just…not right. One light tap from the Ogre and he’ll turn to mush! I wouldn’t dare fight it unless I have a whole party supporting me.”

“Look at that gigantic axe on his back; do you suppose that’s a fake? I mean, if he could wield that thing…”

“Don’t be a fool, of course it is a fake! Same goes for that severed head; there’s no such thing as a black ogre!”

Despite the doubts planted on me, instead of being angry I felt a strange sense of pride, knowing that ogres are still largely feared by adventurers.

“Alright everyone, calm down and go back to your own stuff.” (Randol)

The uproar slowly died down as it is replaced with small pockets of quieter discussions. I guess an ogre being slain by a young child like me is quite big news. That’s good for me, since this way my name will be able to spread and I’ll be able to gain some quick fame.

“Man, no wonder Ellenda took up an interest on you. Frankly speaking, I didn’t think you’ll be able to clean out the whole goblin cave by yourself. At least, not within a day! However, you not only did that, and took out an ogre by yourself, to boot. I have to ask though, how did you do it?” (Randol)

“I simply used my Greataxe and chopped off his head.”  (Gideon)

“Oh? You make it sound so easy, kid. Can I take a look at that axe of yours?” (Randol)

I removed it from my back and handed it over to him.

“Look at that! That kid is holding it up that Greataxe so easily; it’s probably just ten kilos or so!”

Ah, is that same guy that was being salty and throwing doubts everywhere. Very well then, he’ll be my “victim” to increase my fame.

“Oh? Well do you want to give it a try?” (Gideon)

I handed the axe to the salty man instead of Randol. After his taunt and my challenge to him, he’s hardly in the position to back out.

“Hmph, very well, let’s see just how heavy this kid’s toy can be-WOAH!?”

The instant he grabbed hold of it, I removed my grip on the handle. The full weight of the forty kilos Greataxe caused the salty man to almost drop my weapon; he managed to lift it up after using both hands but in that moment, he had lost all his face.

“Oh, did you say something about my axe?” (Gideon)

I took back my axe with a triumphant grin on my face, and spun it around a few times with one hand before passing it to Randol.

“Whoa, did you see that?!”

“This kid is unbelievable; that Greataxe is at least thirty kilos and it twirled it like it was nothing!”

“Such monstrous strength for a young boy, he’ll definitely go far in his adventurer life…”

Randol sighed at the unruliness and took the Greataxe from my hand.

“Hmm…”

After giving it a quick look, tapping it with his fingers, Randol passed it back to me with a smile on my face.

“Not bad, this is a good axe. Mithril is added to Damascus steel to reduce bluntness of the weapon and giving the fine cutting edge. With this axe and your strength, it is entirely possible that you have slain the ogre. I believe you.” (Randol)

“Hey kid, do you want to submit that Black Ogre’s head in as a quest completion?” (Randol)

“Alright, I’m fine with that. Not that I have any use of it anyway.” (Gideon)

And I don’t want to see it any more. A symbol of the desecration of Ogres…all those who are behind this will pay in blood.

“Nice decision kid. Alright, give me your ring and hold on a moment, will ya?” (Randol)

I handed over the ring. Randol took the bag of loot and went into a room behind the counter. Within a minute, he came back out with a cleaner, slightly smaller bag, along with the ring. Hmm? This looks like a different ring; mine was previously copper, and this one is bronze.

“Congrats, I hereby promote you to D-rank. Check your bounty; it should be 180 Silv in total. I deposited some of the money into the card and cancelled out your credit, go have a look.”

I put on the ring and channelled mana; the black card once again materialized, this time with slightly more information.
Name : Gideon Silverwolf
Age : 11
Gender : Male
Rank : D
Quest completed: E:0, D:1, C:1, B:0, A:0, S:0, SS:0
Money: 1 Gel, 78 Silv, 90 Cobs

“Every trader and most mercenaries and people in town will have a similar ring such as this; so there is very little need for physical cash. Just settle on a price and tap both rings together and the amount will be deducted or added to the card. You’ll get the hang of it easily!” (Randol)

“Ah, that’s convenient.” (Gideon)

“Also, I’ve considered the Black Ogre elimination a C-ranked quest all by itself, so by the authority vested in me, I shall promote you to D-rank!” (Randol)

D-rank? That’s faster than I expected. But it’s good news; at least I managed to rank up successfully in a short period of time.

As expected, once the words came out of Randol’s mouth, there was another huge commotion spreading throughout the entire Guild.

“D-rank? That kid? Holy crap that’s fast!”

“Well, he did defeat an entire Ogre all by himself. He should be at least B-ranked in terms of overall strength.”

“No way… after a month I’m still stuck at E-rank, and this kid did it in a day?!”

“Not bad, great job youngster!”

A few of the adventurers came towards me and started to pat my shoulders, rough up my hair and some even tried to offer me alcohol.

…Well it doesn’t feel half-bad, though it slightly annoying, at least I’m getting some fame in this town quickly.

—-

Well, with some money on hand now, obviously I’ll need to spend some, right? And what better to spend the money on other than a good, well deserved meal and rest?

After spending one night outdoors in a cave that’s filled with dead Goblins, the scent on blood and dried Ogre blood is now stuck on my clothing and body. Even though the Adventurers’ Guild didn’t really mind these kinds of smell, I mind it.

Looks like having a human body and mind really changes the way I think. Previously, when I was still an Ogre, even ten days or a month inside the most humid of conditions and I’ll still be comfortable and without a care…

I walked around the town for about an hour or so, before deciding on a decently-sized inn that’s the closest to the Adventurers’ Guild. By then, I was reasonably hungry, having not eaten for almost half a day.

“The Bear Hut…that’s an interesting name.” (Gideon)

“Hi! Welcome to the Bear Hut!”

While I was reading the name of the inn, a young teenage girl, wearing an apron, jumped out of nowhere. She had delicate blue eyes, and had a hair tied up in a ponytail, giving off a cute charm to her looks.

“Will you be staying the night, or are you eating? Only one person, or are you expecting somebody else? Would you like a glass of water, or just soup?” (Cute girl)

Bombarded by her questions, I could only look at her dumbfounded, with an awkward smile. Just when I was about to move along and leave, a large and heavily-building male walked out of the Boar Hut and knuckled the girl on the head.

“I told you so many times; don’t pressurize potential customers like this with your never-ending questions! Sheesh, you’re going to scare away more customers like this.”

“Owwie! Don’t knuckle me on the head, dad! What if I become dumb?”

Dad? Ah, so that’s why this is called the Bear Hut. Indeed, the dad is almost the size of a Hind Bear. That’s scary big, maybe he can wrestle with a boar empty handed and come out victorious.

“Don’t worry about that; you can’t possibly get any dumber than what you are now, wahahaha!”

“Uuuuu…I’m going to tell mom about this!”

The girl pouted as she walked back into the inn, as she turned her head away with an “Hmph!”

“Sheesh, that girl, when will she grow up; she’s already fourteen and yet she still acts like that…oh right, sorry about that, youngster. Welcome to the Bear Hut, what would you like, a room for the night?”

I nodded my head. What the heck, I’m hungry and have the urge to cleanse myself badly. This inn looks good enough to satisfy my needs so anything works.

“Splendid! Come in please!”

As we walked into the inn, he took another glance at me, a long one. Then, he looked at my back, where my Greataxe is strapped on to.

“Say, aren’t you the kid that single-handedly killed an Ogre?”

---

Author : Kiribou

<< Previous Chapter | Index | Next Chapter >>

---