Ah, I see..
The enemy that Ogakichi-kun had killed yesterday wasn't actually me.
It seems that Ogakichi-kun had been fighting a shape-shifting monster that had turned into me to try and throw him off. This, however, served to infuriate Ogakichi-kun, and led to its destruction. Ogakichi-kun seemed to have been struggling that day and even ended up nearly losing once, but in the end, he managed to [Rank Up] and destroy the enemy.
Haaa... I had really thought for a second there that his actions were because he hated me, but it seems that I'm probably wrong.
Well, that's a relief.
In addition, he's gained a new rank and has also received a [True Name]. Though, since a [True Name] can cause no small level of trouble if certain sorcerers were aware of it, it seems best to avoid using these [True Names] as our public names.
Therefore, I decided that we would continue with the same naming style.
I'm now an Apostle Lord and will be called Aporou, similar to the name Apollo. I liked the naming scheme, with a name similar to that of a god, I hold a bit more respect for myself.
I informed the group that, from this day onward, that I would be called Aporou and not Ogarou.
Next was Ogakichi-kun. Since he was a new breed of the [Minotaur] species, it would be best to come up with a new name for him as well. The two of us settled on Minokichi-kun.
Minokichi-kun didn't seem to mind, and in fact, he actually thought the name was pretty good.
Hmmm, Cow + Kichi = Katsudon?
No, no, best to stop thinking about that.
I really can't wait to see him with my own eyes though, because for the moment, the image of him that I had just created needs to be struck from my memory at once...
So to conclude, I will refer to myself as Aporou and Ogakichi-kun will be referred to as Minokichi-kun.
I have to say, the fact that both of us have Ranked-Up together had made me quite pleased.
Minokichi-kun said that he would love to come back to fight with me, but they needed to increase Asue-chan's rank and have been entrenched on the top floor of the maze within Dyushisu.
During this time, he planned on training with his new body.
Hmm. Well, since Asue-chan doesn't seem to have much longer in order to increase her rank, we won't have to wait very long before we get to spar with each other.
Once Asue-chan raises her rank, I informed Minokichi-kun that it would be a good idea to spar with each other as soon as possible. It wasn't necessarily to stay dominant, but because I really wanted to see how strong the two of us had become after our recent [Rank Up] and be able to enjoy going all out.
Even since my previous life, my character has not changed very much. Well, I suppose it doesn't really matter that much anyway.
With that concluded, we began the morning workout. During the morning workout, I decided it would be best to use some previously unused abilities of mine.
I spent some good time using each of them in various ways to see if there are any special uses to them, you really need to know each ability to its fullest if you want to survive.
Many of these abilities turned out to be quite useful to me. One of the most effective was [Lesser Summoning: Giant] which took nearly thirty seconds to use, all the while a large black mass began to form.
After that, three different beings formed, the first was a two and a half meter Ogre, the second was a four meter Troll, and the final was a thirteen meter Fomorian. The latter can't be compared to the Giant King though.
All three species were significantly stronger than the usual Skeletons that I would create, though just as my Skeletons, their skin was black.
I have to mention, in a great contrast to the Black Skeletons, these giants were, for a lack of kinder words, quite stupid.
These things can only really be compared to dolls. If I don't give them orders, they do not move.
They just carry dull expressions on their faces. Luckily, at least they respond to orders. If they hadn't, then this skill would have been worthless.
Moving on, in order to celebrate Redhead's receiving of her new job [Job-Sacred Beast Eater], I gave her the standard [Rank Up] gift of three magical items.
The first was [General's Large Cleaver] which was shaped somewhat like a square Chinese Kitchen Knife with a length of roughly 80 centimeters. It is white without any spots on it with the blade itself cutting through flesh like butter.
The second was [General's Kite Shield], a triangular kite Shield which, when not being used, shrunk down to fit into the palm of your hand.
Finally, there was a suit of white and gold armor with a red cape. It's similar to that of the noble knights of the Kingdom or empire. The name of the armor is [General's Platinum Armor], and this set had probably been originally made for a high ranking general to wear.
After arming Redhead, I asked her to cut off the Black Ogre's hand.
As a result, in a flash, Redhead had severed the hand, with blood spurting out through the wound.
Still, there was no reaction from the Ogre. He just continued to stand there with his silly smile without his hand, bleeding everywhere.
Even with this, it would seem that these things will not move on their own.
After I examined them in great detail, I determined that they would never move unless I ordered them to do so.
In addition, apart from the basic commands such as "Fight" or "Flight" commands, using "Fight with all your might" or "Run until you're dead" seems to have a greater effect. It would appear that the more detailed the order, the stronger and more complex they become.
With this, the experience gained is both higher and comes faster if I use more details. It also becomes safer, especially if I give orders such as "Fight at full strength, but do not kill your opponent" when having them spar.
Of course, the Fomorian is still far too much for everyone to fight alone, but the Ogre and Troll are both fine.
Though, even though they are strong, there are still weaknesses to this ability.
First, to call them instantly, it requires the same Mana equal to that of instantly creating 50 Skeletons. While at night, this isn't a problem. I can always just absorb new Mana with my ability so it's not a big deal. Though even then, that level of instant absorption of my Mana causes some wooziness.
I need to keep in mind that in battle, if it's not dark, then I should avoid using it. That, or use it before a battle.
Second, each of them are quite slow compared to the Black Skeletons, both in speed and cast time, but spending 30 seconds to create something as powerful as the Fomorian is not as great of a weakness as one would think.
Third, the need to give them orders for everything.
If I cannot give them orders, they become a hindrance on the battlefield. If you aren't able to avoid them, they might become an obstacle for our maneuvers.
Though, them becoming expendable pawns to distract the enemy is quite useful. I have to add that the last one is also not that terrible of an issue.
Using it in combination with [Lesser Summoning: Undead], there shouldn't be any major problems arising.
As for Redhead, there are no complications with her life expectancy with her new abilities, so I'm quite looking forward to seeing her in action.
As for myself, I decided to test one of my abilities on a species around this area called [One-eyed Cyclops]. The ability I was using was [Deadly Evil Eye].
I tried it on the beast, and, as the ability's name suggests, the Cyclops died just from my gaze.
I can't tell what really happened, but at the same time, various animals in my gaze also began to drop dead. I quickly closed my eyes and disabled the ability before someone important is affected.
There were no wounds on the bodies, they just fell over and died.
I think I really need to hold back on this one. If, by chance, it hits my allies or if I see a mirror, it won't be a laughing matter.
I'll just keep this as a secret weapon. Hopefully, it will be enough.
Next on the list was [Giant's Iron Hammer] and [Overkill].
[Giant's Iron Hammer] was a huge transparent weapon. For the sake of the experiment, I ordered the Black Fomorian to block. While the strike didn't kill the beast, both of its arms were nearly obliterated, dangling at the Fomorian's sides.
Though it can't kill, it's enough to incapacitate something like a Fomorian, which is quite useful.
Next, after I had repaired the Black Fomorian, I activated all of my abilities which increase my physical strength and attack power.
[Overkill], [Giant King's Supreme Strike], [Black Ogre's Strong Body], as well as several others.
In order to see if the Fomorian could take the full force of my punch, I gave it the order to "Strengthen your body with all of your might."
I had moved far away from the camp, just in case.
The result, the Black Fomorian just exploded into a plume of red.
Even though I had moved so far away, the rain of blood had painted the surrounding area in red...
After that, I sighed as I felt a chill down my spine.
After returning to the camp, Dhammi-chan was beside herself. Being covered in blood, combined with her being a Dhampir, caused some serious side effects.
I only managed to calm her down after coaxing her to bite and drink some of my blood. Even in her excited state, she was quite dangerous.
Redhead and the rest of the company, even the Lords, were on the brink of defeat by the time I got back.
At any rate, the [Giant's Iron Hammer] was quite a useful ability with many uses, though it has some shortcomings, such as you cannot use it on both hands at the same time.
As such, I am satisfied with adding a large number of new abilities to my stockpile.
Hence, my synthesis experiments will have far more efficiency to create superior abilities.
For now though, I was busy with this and wandered into the woods. Though I caught some new monsters, as a result of my excessive force from my abilities, I gained nothing from the minute remains left behind.
Today I found a calm place to relax in a comfortable cave. I released Kumajirou and Kurosaburou so they can hunt. After we gathered enough ingredients, I returned back to camp. Since the Tomboy Princess gave us a large amount of different spices, today's dinner tasted great.
After the meal, we had a small round of training, then went to bed.
Today's Synthesis results:
[Improved Charging Power] + [Reckless Charge] = [Black Demon's Charge]
[Intimidation of the Strong] + [Giant King's Dignity] = [Black Demon's Dignity]
[Bone Blade Generation] + [Sharp Horn Generation] = [Sharp Bone Blade Generation]
[Crystal Crocodile's Armored Hide] + [Tough Skin] + [Steel Hide] = [Black Demon's Impervious Hardened Skin Armor]