Chapter 11 – Ogre
Chapter 11 – Ogre
“Just how many years has it been since your… donkey cart was last washed?” Punk was practically holding his breath as he sat on the edge of the cart!
“Be~ grateful we have a cart at all. Were you pampered mage lords born in a pile of spices?”
Kane sat cross-legged in the cart, chewing loudly on preserved jerky, his lance hanging within easy reach on the cart rail.
The two travelers had now left Moke Village far behind and were on their way to Konola City. Punk couldn’t be bothered to bicker with the fellow right now, focusing instead on practicing a divination spell. He wanted to avoid dangers like the undead as much as possible.
They had departed at dawn, when the smaller sun “Mila” had already risen halfway above the horizon, while the larger sun “Chikasa” remained below it.
Crossing the small wasteland would take about five days. The Baron had packed necessary supplies into burlap sacks loaded onto a wooden cart that had even grown wood ear mushrooms. Then, under Punk’s speechless gaze and Kane’s resigned look, he led out… a small donkey!
The Baron seemed somewhat embarrassed but managed a smile as he said:
“The red-eared donkey is a specialty of the Kamos Kingdom—hardworking and obedient.”
Although in Fearun, horses as one of the common people’s war “weapons” were among the most expensive livestock, it was still quite rare to find a noble as poor as this Baron, without even a single horse.
Punk had examined the donkey at the time and indeed spotted a tuft of red hair at the tips of its ears, giving it a somewhat dopey-cute appearance. The little donkey pawed at the ground with its hooves, showing a spirited demeanor, but Punk still felt that this rickety cart paired with a silly-cute donkey didn’t seem like a combination capable of crossing the wasteland.
Now, seated in the donkey cart, Punk was beginning to sincerely believe that the reason this donkey might not make it through the wasteland would likely be Punk himself. The strange odor emanating from the donkey made it seem more like a walking dung heap than an actual donkey. Punk almost had the impulse to hit it with a Minor Catapult spell.
But without the donkey, they’d have to trek “nomadically” to Konola City on foot. So Punk had no choice but to try his best to ignore the cart’s peculiar smell.
Kane, on the other hand, was thick-skinned. Sitting in the cart with his head directly facing the donkey’s rear, he chewed his jerky heartily without a care.
“I say… do all you spell-slingers… gulp… not like talking much?” Kane swallowed his mouthful of meat and took a large swig of ale.
Punk didn’t even glance at him. He sat on the side edge of the cart, positioning himself upwind as much as possible, then pulled out a parchment map given by the Baron from his mage robe pocket.
The parchment had yellowed and curled at the edges from age, depicting a rough topography of the Kamos Kingdom. The Kamos Kingdom was only a small realm, and one could see that this little wasteland lay at the frontier of the kingdom’s territory, bordering the Bi Allen Mountains to the west. The area around Moke Village, with its thirty or so settlements, sat at the junction between the mountains and the wasteland. At the far end of the small wasteland flowed a river called the Bebeluo River, with Konola City built along its banks.Finally, Punk concluded that this kind of “desolate” border wasteland was most suitable for evil individuals to plot wicked schemes and establish sinister bases.
However, Punk just wanted to stay far away. He didn’t even have Apprentice-Level strength yet. Whether an evil organization aimed to destroy the world or steal lollipops from children, it was none of his business.
Kane, on the other hand, showed no concern for such matters. After getting no interesting response from Punk, he redirected his attention to devouring dried meat and ale. The way he tore at the dried meat made it seem like he had a personal vendetta against it. Punk had already figured out that this knight was also someone who “minded his own business and ignored others’ troubles.”At best, he might be Neutral Lawful in alignment, but judging from his behavior bearing no resemblance to ‘chivalry,’ Punk estimated him to be Neutral Chaotic.”
“Heave-ho!” Kane flipped over and jumped off the donkey cart, startling the little donkey into snorting. He stretched while hopping to keep up with the moving cart.
At this moment, Punk cast an Apprentice Rank Conjuration spell—Sense Path—on the map. The spell’s effect was to detect potential dangers on the road ahead, though the information obtained was rather vague.
The spell’s information manifested in Punk’s mind, causing his pupils to contract sharply. He quickly replenished the energy for his “Minor Mage Armor.” Such enhancement spells generally lasted about twenty minutes (Note: identical enhancement spells typically couldn’t stack more than three, or the spell energies might conflict). But Punk usually recharged the spells on his person every ten minutes to keep their duration maximized. This time, he recharged before ten minutes had passed precisely because the divination indicated a “threatening big creature” appearing on the path ahead, though the exact distance remained unknown.
“Hey, Kane, my Divination Spell detected a big creature. We might need to change our route.”
While warning Kane, Punk closed his eyes to carefully perceive the vague information from the divination, hoping to glean a bit more intelligence.
“Is this ‘big creature’ you mentioned about three meters tall, with crimson skin and a single horn on its head?” Kane asked in a somewhat odd tone.
“The Apprentice Rank divination is a bit vague, I…” Punk opened his eyes and looked up, momentarily stunned. Relying on the superhuman vision from his second-level Ranger class, Punk clearly saw an ogre about seven or eight hundred meters away roaring happily as it found food.
“…I can now tell you, yes.”
“Damn! What kind of divination is that!” Kane was clearly quite dissatisfied with Punk’s rather “after-the-fact” prophecy.But Punk didn’t engage in banter with him. He recalled the information about ogres—these brutal creatures that delighted in devouring humans possessed thick skin resistant to magic, monstrous strength capable of crushing rocks with ease, near-limb-regenerating vitality, and… a dim-witted brain. Typically, adult ogres could possess three warrior class levels, and their innate immense strength and thick skin granted them power no less than that of an Apprentice Rank peak, equivalent to a fourth-level warrior. Though their low intelligence hindered significant development, they remained troublesome opponents at the apprentice stage.
Now, this ogre with its hunting instincts had clearly spotted the “tasty snack” in the distance. It was stomping toward Punk and Kane, brandishing a Club taller than a person, radiating menace.
“I say, are we gonna fight or are we gonna fight? ‘Cause if we just abandon the damn donkey and run, I’m gonna be super pissed.”
Kane twirled his Lance with a flourish, tapping its side with his gauntleted fingers, producing sharp clangs. He deliberately emphasized the words “abandon the donkey” in his speech.
Without the donkey, adept at traversing grasslands, the time to cross the Wasteland would double. Punk was well aware of this fact, so he had no intention of abandoning the donkey to avoid the threat. However… Punk shot Kane a sidelong glance, thinking, “Couldn’t this guy just speak straightforwardly?”
Punk maintained his usual expressionless demeanor. He calmly tucked the map back into his robe pocket, picked up the staff from the cart, and then leaped lightly off the donkey cart.
“If we’re fighting, let’s lure the monster away. At least keep it far from your ‘precious little donkey’!”
After saying this, Punk cast a Minor Haste on himself and dashed toward the right flank of the ogre’s advance.
“Damn it!”
Kane angrily flipped Punk’s retreating back the middle finger, but still strode forward to follow him.
(End of Chapter)
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Kane is a nice contrast to Punk’s character.