When I woke up, I discovered that Gobukichi-kun underwent an [Evolution (Rank Up)] and Ranked Up into an ogre.
He managed to kill a Hind bear by himself recently, so I thought that he would be able to Rank Up soon.
He didn't Rank Up into a normal ogre either, but a [Variant].
The color of his skin was "Dark Metallic Red".
His body color was similar to that of the Red bear. He told me that he got the [ [Demigod of Fire]'s Divine Protection ], so the red skin color seems to be a proof of having the [ [Demigod of Fire]'s Divine Protection ].
Because he had the [ [Demigod of Fire]'s Divine Protection ] like the Red bear I asked him if he could breathe fire, then he blew a familiar breath of fire as if he was a flamethrower.
He probably turned into a [Variant] because he prefers using weapons with fire manipulation abilities like the [Fire Spirit Stone]-studded burning crescent axe and the huge double-edged battleaxe that was as tall as him, a magic item from Velvet's inheritance [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat].
Also, the reason why his skin shines with metallic luster seems to be because he have the [ [Demigod of War]'s Divine Protection] in addition to the [ [Demigod of Fire]'s Divine Protection], or so says Gobujii. His arm responded with a metallic clang when I lightly tapped it.
"Getting two divine protections is amazing, isn't it?", when I asked Gobujii, he said "He is certainly abnormal, however, not as abnormal as you".
Oh really?
Later, when I was supervising the morning training Gobukichi-kun asked me "Goburou, let's have a spar together" with a smile that was somewhat charming despite being an ogre. My impression: Gobukichi-kun became too strong.
He is about 2m and 80cm tall, 30cm taller than me, with a dark metallic red skin and muscular body, he easily surpassed me in physical strength, stamina, durability etc. in my base specs without using abilities.
My body's base specs are strengthened by [Absorption] each time I eat and on top of that I'm a [Rare Species], so I didn't think I would lose to Gobukichi-kun who was a [Variant] in physical prowess, however, in the end I lost in terms of pure physical prowess because of build allocation.
Putting it in simple terms, if I'm an all-rounder type with my points divided equally between my physical strength, stamina, durability, intelligence etc., then Gobukichi-kun is a vanguard specialist-type who concentrated his points on close quarters combat-related stats. That much is obvious just from looking at the difference in the size of our muscles.
That said, I still won because I surpass him in terms of hand to hand combat techniques. It was a close match, Gobukichi-kun is unmistakably a worthy rival.
After concluding the spar we gave each other a firm handshake and exchanged words with our eyes.
Gobukichi-kun who I initially roped in as a disposable pawn had grown this much, frankly speaking I didn't expect that he would become this strong. Right now he is my irreplaceable right hand man and a close friend.
To congratulate him on his Rank Up, I arranged some equipment for him. His main weapon didn't change from the huge battleaxe-type magic item [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat], but compared to when he was a hobgoblin when it was too heavy that he had to hold it with both hands after becoming an ogre he can wield the [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat] that weighed several dozen kilograms with one hand, so I once again equipped him with a shield.
The shield I gave him is a rugged massive black iron wall-like tower shield known as the [Black Ogre's Chopping Board].
It was one of the magic items from Velvet's inheritance, it's also an [Ancient]-Ranked magic item just like the battle-axe.
Its abilities are [Weight Reduction], [Durable] and [Impact Reflection], in addition, it's extremely sturdy. After Gobukichi-kun is equipped with this items, breaking through his defenses would be quite difficult even for me.
His armor is made from my threads, Hind bears' furs and a [Unique]-Ranked metal armor from Velvet's inheritance, customized to suit Gobukichi-kun.
Yeah, after wearing his new equipment he gives off the feeling of a great power, no, more like an absurd power.
Despite holding the huge double-edged two-handed battle-axe lightly in one hand as if he's holding a tree branch, he still gave off the feeling of an experienced warrior that can handle it skillfully.
It's easy to imagine the black, huge and sturdy tower shield that covers three quarters of his gigantic body blocking all of his enemies' attacks and in addition to the support magic items I gave him, even though it can't compare to my long coat that I made from the Red bear's fur, I gave him a long coat that I made from the durable fur of a Hind bear and a leather armor-type magic item, he became an existence I very much wouldn't want to fight nor encounter if I was a human.
The aura of power the fully-armed Gobukichi-kun gave off was definitely higher than me when I just became an ogre. Equipment notwithstanding, it was quite fierce. Well, there's also the fact that it's hard to compare to myself.
Nevertheless, his fully armored figure was so powerful that it gave others the urge to ask "from which heavy-armed corps are you?", it was so great that I wanted to stay and just stare at him for an hour.
Even I had to look upwards to meet his gaze, so how will he look from the viewpoint of a human? It's easy to imagine.
I spent the rest of the day inside the mine doing various odd jobs.
The elves have not yet succumbed to their lust, so they're still in jail. It might be because their sense of pride is suppressing their desire, or perhaps it's because their racial biology itself have a resistance to lust, or maybe both?
"That's why Gobujii, stop coming here every hour…"