The forest had always looked daunting to Jason even from afar. Now that he was inside it was even more so. The trees were so grand and the leaf cover so thick above, that little light seemed to sneak through, even though the sun was now at its peak in the sky. It was hard to move quietly as the roots of the trees and the fallen leaves made it difficult to find any good footing. As a result, it was slow progress as they continued to press further into the forest.
Occasionally they would hear a noise in the distance and Garion would stop. Jason would copy him crouching down. At all times both Jason and Garion had a hand hovering above their swords at their waists. It seemed they were lucky they didn't bump into any monsters. Jason thought that it was also possible that the monsters were hesitant to fight given Garion's strength. His father had told him that while monsters could be single-minded most were smart enough to pick their fights. They respected power.
There was a part of Jason that was disappointed he hadn't had a chance to fight yet, he was keen to try out his new sword after all, but he knew the ogre was their true target.
Finally, it appeared they had found what they were looking for. Ahead lay a small cave. Not only did the tracks lead into it, but as they got to it the sense Jason had had all day was practically screaming out "THIS IS IT."
After almost an hour of silently moving through the forest, Garion spoke. "The tracks ahead seem to be all from the same Ogre. Occasionally they form groups which might have been too much for you to deal with. As long as we are careful we should be alright. Ogres are slow but strong. Most importantly they are not skilled and often rely on attacking blindly. Ogres rarely sleep but they do rest. It's unlikely we will be able to catch it completely unaware so as soon as it notices us I will attack and draw its attention. I will leave it to you to kill it. I warn you it will be nothing like hunting an animal. Are you ready?"
Jason had never really seen his father this serious. He was always joking or playing about even when they went hunting. While it did make Jason a little nervous it also woke him up from his dream-like image of what they were doing. He would take this seriously too. "I'm ready."
They headed into the cave and it was nothing more than a narrow path just wide enough for 4 or 5 people to walk side by side. The ceiling was a little taller and even Garion who was tall could easily stand with plenty of room to spare. It made sense when ogres were bigger than humans. As they went deeper it got darker and darker. Garion had brought a stick, cloth and alcohol to make a torch, but they didn't need it as in the distance they could see a light. As they got closer they could see that it was flickering. It was a campfire.
Soon not only could they see a fire but they could also see a figure next to it. It seemed to be eating and it was yet to notice them. As they drew closer Jason took advantage of the situation to check off one of his goals for this expedition. Jason used [Vision of Rylax] on the monster.
[Lesser Ogre Lv. 46]
[Lesser Ogres have great strength and thick skin, but are slow and don't have the intelligence or skill to make the most of their strength. They have little magical ability but can grow to obtain it.]
Jason was pleased to see that when he used the skill on monsters he would even get a short description about them. That would definitely be useful. There was no time to dwell on this new information as they were now getting close enough to the ogre that it was sure to notice.
Notice it did. It immediately lumbered up from the floor letting out a guttural roar. As it did, the food it was eating and its saliva flew from its mouth. It had had its back to the cave entrance so Jason hadn't gotten a clear view of it till then. It had a terrifying appearance, every part of it screamed that it was a monstrous killer. It was muscular and was at least a foot taller than Jason's father. Its mouth was filled with sharp teeth jutting in every direction. Its skin was grey with a sickly tinge of green. It wore a crudely cut pelt of an animal across its body. In one hand it held a thick wooden club that looked more like a large stick than anything crafted. It gave off a vile aura and it clearly had no interest in doing anything but killing the two humans that had entered into its cave.
Garion wasted no time and closed the last bit of distance between the two with his sword now in his hands. Garion and the ogre both swung their weapons. Despite the size difference somehow the weapon that was pushed back was the club. This seemed to only enrage the ogre more as he wildly swung his club faster and faster. But Garion effortlessly dodged each swing as if it was no trouble at all.
Jason had not moved since the ogre's roar, fear had caused his feet to turn to stone. He had thought that he was mentally ready, but looking at a monster for the first time it was far more unnerving than he could have imagined.
However, this pause didn't last long. Shaking himself free of the negative thoughts he rushed forward. Jason had no interest in going back on his word to his father, he had not naively asked to join him, he knew he was ready. It might be intimidating now but he would face it now so that next time that same fear would be gone. Watching from a distance Jason could see any number of openings where he might attack the now frantic ogre. There was a part of Jason that was unsure about killing something that looked sort of human-like, but that was a naïve view. Looking into the monster's cold red eyes, there was nothing but cruelty behind them. If he didn't kill it he knew that the monster could kill someone from the village.
Raising the sword above his head Jason waited for the right moment. The Ogre seemed to be paying little attention to him, which wasn't surprising. He was only a small 10-year-old after all. He didn't look like much of a threat. As the ogre swung his club across Garion this time he rolled under the attack to avoid it. Failing to connect again the Ogre lost all balance. Noticing this Jason began his attack swinging his new sword with all his might, however, while he successfully cut the ogre, the wound left behind was shallow and did little more than anger it even more. It seemed the ogre's thick skin was no joke. Garion took this opportunity to step away and instead of going back to attacking Garion the Ogre now turned its attention to Jason.
As the Ogre continued to swing wildly Jason was relieved to find that he was also fast enough to avoid its attacks. Although he did it far less elegantly than his father and had little time between dodging to attack. But as the fight went on it seemed easier and easier, there were no tricks or feints in the way the ogre attacked, so Jason started to see the attacks coming. Eventually, Jason dodged a downward swing sidestepping easily, Using this moment, he swung his sword against the ogre's lowered arm, but this time he had triggered his [Blistering Slash] skill. His blade seemed to continually pick up speed as it arced downwards. As it did a faint glow surrounded the blade and a low hum echoed in the cave.
There was a thud followed by a piercing shriek. With just the single slash Jason had cut off the Ogre's arm. It looked at Jason with fierce eyes, anger and killing intent were written in them. With its club now out of reach it punched out with its other arm. However, the loss of its arm was clearly slowing the monster down despite it trying to fight on. With Jason's growing advantage in the fight, he managed to cut across the monster's chest. Once again the cut didn't go deep enough. From the fact that the sword could cut through the whole arm with [Blistering Slash] Jason knew the sword wasn't the problem but his own lack of strength which frustrated him.
As the ogre recoiled back from its chest wound, Jason wasted no time raising his hands above his head to do another blistering slash this time aiming for the neck of the creature. Jason was not cruel, he wished to give the monster a fast death if he could. Once again with the assistance of [Blistering Slash] the blade cut unimpeded ignoring the thick skin of the ogre.
[Double EXP For killing a creature at a significant strength above you]
+9,500 EXP
LEVEL UP 35->36
LEVEL UP 36->37
LEVEL UP 37->38
With that blow, Jason had killed his first of many monsters.