(Long chapter: 4700+ words)
As I left the caverns, I used my increased sensitivity and control of spiritual and magical energy to locate the others.
I easily located them where we were previously camped and flashed over to them. Treyni wasn't surprised, but the Ogres bolted to their feet and assumed a defensive stance as they surrounded the smaller pink-haired ogress. Not surprising with how fragile the cute young-woman looked.
I cheekily smiled before sitting down in the space between Mia and Treyni. "Mmm. It smells delicious! I hope you saved me some." catching a whiff of the fragrant curry-like dish, My eyes couldn't help but take a shining to Treyni's mature figure.
Even though less than an hour has passed for them, I had been separated for an entire month from them. In that time, I had developed my relationship with Lilith and Áine much more than I had with both Mia and Treyni so far.
I even missed my gluttonous little family a bit already. I had even instinctively patted Treyni's head when I praised her, something the girls had grown to love, but wound up startling Treyni.
I smiled wryly and apologized, seeing Treyni's expression, but before I could pull back my hand, she grabbed ahold of it and concernedly asked me, "Is everything okay?"
I tightened my grip around her hand slightly as I reassured her, "Everything is fine now. More importantly, though, who are our guests?"
Treyni was about to introduce them, but the red-haired Ogre in the lead stepped forward first. He scowled slightly, seeing my overly close interactions with one of the esteemed dryads. Perhaps my human appearance had made things worse, since he didn't seem to have minded Mia's presence just before my arrival.
Within the Jura Forest, dryads were highly respected by the demi-human species and the adventurers that dared to enter. For someone to be interacting with one so casually, especially if that person were a human, it naturally disgruntled them.
Humans from the surrounding nations captured and killed demi-humans based on their whims. They often enslaved them and slew those that resisted.
Aside from a select few races, only an extraordinarily small number of demi-humans had a magical affinity strong enough to grant them a related Job-Class, making it difficult to defend themselves. The notable exceptions were Elves that had strong mana affinities that had built there own kingdom, and the dwarves that built the Armored Nation of Dwargon in the northern mountains.
While the Elves were largely an isolated race, the Dwarven nation flourished as an economic hub for all countries due to their craftsmanship capabilities.
The Red-haired ogre's was not an unsurprising reaction, but it was rude nonetheless. As the guardian and de facto leader of this section of the forest, I wouldn't allow these ogres to challenge me heedlessly.
I used the increased control of my spiritual energy to pressure the red-haired ogre specifically and startle the others.
"Hey, Orion, wait. I'm sure these guys are just a bit frustrated, given their current circumstances, right?" Treyni said placatingly, as she hugged my arm.
I raised my brow and looked at her for a minute as she used her party chat to ask me to be a bit patient with them. They had apparently gone through tough times recently, so they were a bit on edge.
I sighed and withdrew my spiritual pressure, but I instead looked towards the much calmer elder ogre who had been observing me the entire time. He was a short old man with a lanky appearance, but the sharp look in his eyes and his well-handled sword belied his elderly appearance.
I stood and clasped my hands to give a martial salute while holding my Zanpakuto as I introduced myself.
"My name is Orion Anvindr, a Slime Lord, and guardian of the local Oni village. Might I know your name, ogre swordsman?" The elder ogre gave off a refined and sharp aura different from the youth he accompanied. In terms of pure swordsmanship, he would be a strong and difficult-to-face opponent.
I would naturally not restrict myself to pure swordsmanship in a confrontation, but he would make another good sparring partner.
The elder ogre examined me for a moment longer before nodding. "I am one without a name, esteemed Majinn. I am simply known as the Oni Swordmaster."
I nodded, hearing that. He certainly had a wise and experienced air about him. I then turned to look at the other ogres.
There were five others, but unlike the Swordmaster, nothing particularly stood out about them. There were three warrior types, a scout, and the pink-haired girl looked like some sort of priestess in her current garbs.
"Well, I suppose it's nice to meet the neighbors from time to time, but that doesn't explain why you were following us earlier, no?" I jumped straight to the point, not wanting to drag this conversation into our mealtime.
The red-haired ogre raised his brow, not surprised that we had noticed them following us, but rather that we readily admitted it. Before he could say anything, though, the pink-haired priestess stepped forward and bowed to us.
"Excuse me, Lord Orion, I am the Shrine Maiden for our people as well as the Oni Princess. Might I ask if you have some sort of grudge with the orcs? As well as what exactly a Slime Lord is. I've never heard of such a species." The pinkette questioned as she cutely tilted her head.
"Hmm, grudge?" I looked at Mia and Treyni and asked uncertainly, "Do we have any sort of enmity with the porcs?"
Mia rubbed her temples, and Treyni giggled slightly. "One of the orc regiments attacked us, but we easily wiped it out along with the general leading it, so they probably have a bigger enmity with us than we do them," Mia replied matter-of-factly.
"There's also the fact that we wiped out several of their squads this morning, too," added Treyni.
"Hmm, it certainly sounds like the porcs
are the one with an issue here, not us… Then again, they did attack us without cause… Well, I can't say we have any great enmity with them, though, the goblins seem to have quite the taste for their flesh. Eating a humanoid species wasn't a great feeling, but it was admittedly—"
"W-Wait, you a-ate them? But they were people, not some sort of monsters!" The pink-haired ogress cried out.
I was surprised for a moment, but it helped me understand more about these ogres based on their expressions. The more warrior-like individuals seemed to be understanding, but it looks like the pink-haired ogress had never enjoyed such a meal, at least not knowingly.
The purple-haired ogress put her hand on the princess's shoulder and shook her head when the younger woman turned to look at her. She was telling her not to get so worked up over it, and the pink-haired girl sighed before recomposing herself.
"I apologize for my outburst, Lord Orion. Would you mind telling us about your species? I have never heard of a race such as a slime lord, neither have my companions, I think." Saying this, she looked around, but all of them shook their head to deny it.
"Well, it's not really a secret, but since I have already answered one of your questions, don't you think you should answer mine? Why are you guys attacking the porcs, and why did you follow us?"
Hearing my question, some of the ogres looked down dejectedly while the older ogress and the red-haired ogre clenched their fists in frustration? Perhaps Treyni was right, and these ogres had fallen on tough times, at the hands of the orcs no less.
"Th-that is, our village was attacked, a-and many of our comrades were—" The princess seemed quite hurt as she spoke, but her brother abruptly interrupted her.
"They were seriously injured. Today we were seeking revenge for our comrades until we ran into you. We followed you as it was strange for a hobgoblin, a dryad, and a human to be together within the forest. Unless…"
"Unless I had enslaved them, right?" The ogre prince said nothing, but his piercing gaze seemed to be looking for any indication that I was taking advantage of these girls.
I sighed, in truth, I was taking advantage of Mia, and Treyni was something of a prisoner who held the key to her own cell. The dryads, treats, and I were off to a shaky start, but Treyni was here trying to mend that relationship. Although I had slept with her once, our relationship was just beginning.
"I see. The truth isn't that far off, I guess. Treyni, is indeed something akin to my captive…" I said, looking wistfully at the new tree that had appeared in this meadow overnight.
Treyni was about to clarify things, but the red-haired ogre immediately drew his blade. "Foul demon, I don't know what your plans are, but I won't allow you to harm one of the fairies of the forest. Release lady Treyni at once!" He grizzled while mana began to move within him.
I smiled cheekily at him before turning to Treyni, "Well, you heard the guy, Treyni. You are free to go wherever you wish."
Treyni pouted as she looked at me before lightly hitting on my arm. "Go? You want me to go after all everything you've done to me?" She protested.
"Everything I've done? You snuck into my bed, didn't you? All I did was keep you warm throughout the night." I retorted, completely ignoring the ogres.
It was then that I felt a small tug on the back of my robes. Behind me was Mia, with a dark face and menacing aura surrounding her. "So you played with my body all day, then you went and slept with this tree-lover afterward?" She interrogated.
"Err… Mia, don't misrepresent things so much. All I did was give you a massage, right?" I tried to avoid the hateful stares that the ogresses were giving me as they listened.
"Oh, and what about in the cave, right before dinner?" She asked seriously.
Err, that's right. I sort of forgot about that since we hadn't gone very far, but it was probably fairly significant for Mia. That would also explain a bit why she was behaving so aggressively while we were hunting down the orcs.
Failing to find the right words, I scratched my head and chuckled wryly. "Well, you got me there, Mia. I'd be more than happy to take responsibility for my actions, though."
I smiled towards her, but she simply sighed and looked towards Treyni, "I won't give him up, so you should find some other destined partner."
The girls seemed to have forgotten all about the ogres as Treyni made a smile that wasn't quite a smile. "You may have met Orion first, but don't let that get to your head, Mia. A powerful man like Orion will have many lovers, but I fully intend to become his wife, his first-wife at that!"
"""What?""" Several voices sounded simultaneously, including my own. I even heard Áine stop her snickering as she focused her full attention on this conversation.
Treyni stepped closer and hugged my arm. "Hmph! And you, you're planning to build your own forces her in this forest. My sources tell me that the people of your village have already approached several goblin tribes, and they are heavily considering after learning of the Orc Lords invasion. What do you think will happen when more races begin to join you? Women will be throwing themselves at you, thanks to your strength and influence. That's why—"
"W-Wait! Did you just say orc lord, and that he is invading this forest?" The ogre princess asked somewhat fearfully. Even the elder ogre seemed to become much more focused on our conversation now.
The other ogre warriors became much more severe and focused their attention on Treyni. For her part, she nodded then turned to me to explain our findings, likely to support my authority amongst the group.
"Kohun, kohun… That's right. We interrogated several orc knights yesterday after the regiment attacked us, and we killed the orc general. They mentioned that their leader had recently ascended to an orc lord and was preparing to invade the forest to satisfy his unique skill.
The orcs from the mine are simply an expeditionary force sent ahead to prepare food for the main force. They had mentioned losing a portion of their troops while attacking an ogre village. That wouldn't happen to have anything to do with you guys, would it?"
The ogres didn't say anything, but their expressions said plenty. I almost felt a tinge of pity since the ogre princess looked like she was about to cry, but since they were a warrior race, I didn't think they would appreciate that much.
This time, the elder stepped forward to speak on their behalf. "Lord Orion, if what lady Treyni has said is true, these orcs are an impediment to your plans, are they not?"
"Hmm? Ah, yes, I suppose you're right. I had intended to use the orc stronghold as a training ground for my nascent forces after recruiting the surrounding tribes and villages. I intend to use those orcs to further train my people for the real threat."
"I see. A practical exercise where they can gain experience while everything remains under your control. A wise endeavor, but do you truly believe a bunch of D-rank monsters have a chance against them, when even out village of B-rank ogres were all but annihilated?" The elder asked pointedly.
I smiled. Under normal circumstances, lowly D-rank monsters would not stand a chance against the orc stronghold, even with the evolved Kishin leading them. With my help, everything was different. Where the was no hope before, a bright and dazzling light now shined through in the form of my techniques training, and naming.
The Oni Swordmaster raised his brow in surprise towards my reaction, but quickly understood that I had my own secrets which led to my confidence.
The swordmaster wasn't alone in his comprehension, though. Surprisingly, the ogre prince chimed in, "I see… It seems you have your methods to elevate the combat strength of your people. Is this an effect of your unknown race, or perhaps something else?"
It seems while processing everything I had revealed, the red-haired ogre had calmed down and begin to more critically consider the situation.
"Excuse me, gentleman, but dinner is ready. Perhaps you could leave your probing until later?" Treyni interrupted while removing the lid from the pot of curry.
The mouthwatering aroma brought several gurgles from our guests' stomachs, not to mention my own. I pulled out several bowls and spoons before passing them to Treyni. She filled each one and then passed it around to each person around the fire.
Both the ogre prince and the purple-haired ogress began to voraciously dig into the meal while the other ogres ate with a bit more etiquette.
The only exception was the pink-haired ogress, who seemed hesitant to eat the meal. "What's wrong, princess? Not to your standards?" I asked, surprised anyone could resist Treyni's cooking. Even Mia was heartily enjoying her share.
Treyni looked up curiously as well, but the oni princess quickly denied my question. "O-Of course not, it smells delicious, it's just…"
"You want to know what's in it?" Treyni quickly understood her hesitation and asked. Seeing the pinkette nod meekly, Treyni smiled and explained, "Nothing much. It is just a few chickatrice legs, allural shallots, and sweet peppers. There are a few other herbs that are the secret ingredients, but I promise there's nothing unhealthy or distasteful in it."
Hearing that, the oni princess sighed in relief and smiled. She proceeded to elegantly dig into her food and hum delightedly as she savored it.
The dish truly did have a curry-like aroma and flavor, though, its consistency was more akin to a soup than roux-like curry. Nonetheless, the mild-flavored, Japanese-type curry tasted phenomenal.
After finishing my bowl, I couldn't help but shower the dryad in praise for her wonderful meal. "Treyni, this was fantastic. It was incredibly delicious! Someday, you'll make someone an amazing wife!"
I wasn't thinking about anything other than praising Treyni's cooking and something my parents used to tease me with when I cooked dinner slipped through.
What I said only fully hit me a moment later, but it was too late. When I looked to Treyni, she was sheepishly blushing while a happy smile adorned her face.
At the same time, I felt an icy glare hitting me from behind, which I artfully ignored as I moved to converse with the ogres about their plans for the future.
"So, what are you guys planning on doing now? I hate to say it, but I don't think these hit and run tactics will work for much longer. Those generals will probably shore up their defenses and improve their patrols."
Hearing that, the red-haired ogre sighed and nodded. "Our raids were just to inflict some revenge on the orcs before we left. We were planning to form a mercenary party until we gained the strength to defeat the orcs, but if an orc lord is coming, that changes everything…"
I nodded understandingly. "I see. People trust monster mercenaries?"
The red-haired ogre scoffed, "Unlike goblins and slimes, ogres are considered demi-humans, and those born as ogres are much more accepted within the surrounding empires and kingdoms. Because of our strength and intelligence, we don't have the stigma other monsters have, or at least not as great of one. If anything, it adds to our credibility as mercenaries."
I raised a brow towards his slightly barbed comments. "I see. I was going to offer you an opportunity to get stronger and take your revenge, but it sounds like you guys have everything figured out. I wish you luck in your endeavors."
The ogres all stopped, and both Treyni and Mia laughed. They were both also rather displeased by his words, even if they weren't directed towards the former.
"Ah, that's right, Orion. Let's stick to helping the "monsters" that need our help. We have already got several monster tribes nearby, and I'm sure a whole village would be much more useful than a couple of ogres anyways." The ogres all frowned, hearing Mia's own barbed remarks, or at least all of them except for the elder and the princess.
While the elder seemed to have already noticed we were goading them on, the princess was just a kind person overall and didn't want to see all of us fighting.
The prince, with his fiery attitude, immediately stood, "Hmph, you think a mere hobgoblin has the right to judge us? Judging from your looks, you're just a newborn whelp, only a few years old. Your parameters are probably equally pitiable!"
"Hahahaha, what a joke." Mia laughed. "I was only born a few months ago, and I'm already on the verge of becoming an ogre or equivalent tier species. Look at you, you were born an ogre, and even after all this time, you've never evolved. I can understand the old guy since it seems like he's spent his whole life dedicated to the sword, but what excuse do you have, tomato-head?"
These two were cooking with fire now, so I tactfully grabbed the pot of soup before flash stepping away with Treyni. Having personally trained Mia, I wasn't too concerned after using [Appraisal] on the others.
Despite her diminutive size, she could match the strength of the purple-haired ogre, the speed of the stealthy ogre, and she completely outclassed them all in magic and spiritual energy.
"Give him hell, Mia. I have plenty of high-quality potions for after the fight." I gave Mia a confidant smile and a thumbs-up, and though she didn't understand the gesture, she could sense I was cheering her on.
Through our party chat, Treyni gave her encouragement, and I told Mia not to hold back.
(Go ahead and make full use of the abilities you learned from me, including your magic. If we can entice these guys with strength to join us, it will help speed our group's development. If not, it isn't a big deal since they don't know about my manuals.) I messaged her.
Entirely focusing on the fight to come, Mia responded with a single word, (Understood.)
It wasn't a big deal since the ogres were likely observing us earlier, but if they feel with their own hands just how powerful I can make them, in a short period of time, I might be able to gain their trust, respect, and eventually their loyalty.
Especially for a revenge-seeking, battle-hungry race like them.
The other ogres stepped to the side, retreating beside Treyni and I to watch the battle. I was slightly surprised, but this works out just as well.
I had moved beneath Treyni's tree to protect it, something she noticed and hugged me tighter for.
They each had taken up stances with about 10-meters between them, and feeling the potent magical power Mia was condensing, the red-haired ogre started pooling his own mana, likely to try and beat her at what he thought was her specialty.
Noticing this, Mia smirked. Even if she wasn't some hobgoblin mage, the magic I had given her was on a completely different level than the innate type of magic that ordinary mage subspecies learn from their evolution.
The only troublesome aspect of it was that the user was required to construct their own magic circles for the spells, and they quickly grew in complexity until you learned all the rips and tricks.
Mia could easily cast a dozen magic arrows with [Sagitta Magica], and she was slowly getting a grasp on imbuing the spell with her ice affinity.
If she played her cards right, she would easily be able to catch him off guard with her homing arrows or by condensing a larger, more powerful arrow…
•••Mia's POV•••
'Although I'm sure this asshole is just probing us, Orion gave me the go-ahead to go all out in order to tempt them. I'll make that slimeball reward me after I kick this ogre's ass!'
I quickly summoned three magic arrows with the homing enchantment. My magic finished faster than his, but only by a moment.
The ogre prince launched a stereotypical fireball towards me, but my homing arrows went around it before focusing in on him again.
I easily used the basic movement techniques that Orion taught me to evade the fireball, but it exploded with a much hotter and more powerful blast then I had seen from other mages.
My opponent also tried to evade my arrows, but he was unable to thanks to their homing feature. He continued evading, but after realizing I was already casting another spell, he drew his sword and tried cutting through the magical arrows.
He's lucky they were only regular, non-attribute arrows, or else they might just have exploded. Instead, they created a small shockwave when they were slashed through, knocking the big oaf back a bit.
At the same time, I launched an ice type magical arrow using [Sagitta Magica: Series Glacialis]. It was weaker than my usual magic arrows, but the ice arrow had an increased piercing effect making still a potentially lethal if it hit the right spot.
When the ogre tried to cut through the arrow this time, it burst into a bunch of frozen shrapnel, knocking him back and obscuring his vision and giving him some small wounds.
While the ogre was distracted, I summoned five more normal magical arrows and launched them in various directions while using the homing enchantment.
The arrows burst out like a blooming flower with two arrows shooting forward and the remaining three launching out in a curved path to pincer the ogre from the sides.
Despite his shock from the icy explosion, the red-haired ogre reacted quickly, slashing the two arrows coming directly at him, and he once again jumped away from the pincer attack from the arrows.
He quickly dodged each of the arrows while charging up his next attack. Suddenly, a crimson flaming ball expanded from his fist before launching towards me. He then slowly began dispatching the arrows moving towards him.
This fireball felt even more powerful than the last, but this time I launched another ice arrow towards the fireball. As they collided, the attacks canceled one another out and produced a giant steam explosion.
With this chance, I summoned another five magic arrows and targeted him using my magic perception. Although I wasn't able to see him, my magic senses noticed that only one of my magic arrows hit him from behind, but the ogre managed to avoid taking any serious damage.
"Tch, you're surprisingly tough, I guess this isn't just a difference in experience…" I complained.
"You are much more powerful than any hobgoblin I have ever seen. Your power has earned my respect, but you'll need to do better than that to best me!" The red-haired ogre mildly praised me.
"Hmm, you're pretty strong. Although my magic power can outlast yours, I doubt it can outlast your stamina. I'll try to end this in a final bout."
"Oh, it seems you're determined, young one. I shall respect your wishes and accept your final blow…" saying that, the ogre prince started charging up a large quantity of mana for a powerful spell.
For my part, I was trying to cast a magic arrow spell I had no particular affinity for. I was simultaneously casting multiple spells, one of which was the lightning type [Sagitta Magica: Series Fulgularis] that was hidden behind my back.
In a triangle formation around me, I summoned three Series Glacialis magic arrows, which taxed my mind even further, but I didn't allow it to show as I grit my teeth.
This time, I waited for the ogre to fire his magic before rushing forward until the massive fireball obscured his vision of me and then used the new skill, [Flash Step], that I had just learned this morning.
As the only one with a significant spirit parameter aside from Orion, he taught me a more advanced version of the movement technique he shared this morning, and I started practicing it this morning.
Although, I wouldn't be able to use it to move on the ground without toppling over, I only needed to use it to launch myself up in the air. Then, it would be my final play.
As I got within the last meter, separating myself from the massive fireball that was even larger than myself, I used flash step to launch myself up in the air as far as possible.
Injecting half of my spiritual energy, I instantaneously appeared 50-60 feet in the air. Pretty terrible compared to Orion, but it accomplished the job I wanted.
I gritted my teeth as an instant after I appeared in the air, the ogre triggered the fireball to explode, and although I cleared the explosion, the heatwave knocked me up another 7-8 meters.
Although I received some burns and my legs were heavily injured from using the movement technique, I was well camouflaged from the fireball, and I was ready to launch my attack at the ogre.
Three ice-arrows launched through the explosion of the fireball in a pincer formation towards the ogre. He seemed to sense it at the last moment and took a position to defend himself, but I had another surprise in store for him.
Although it wasn't a full power lightning-arrow, but it was more than enough to stun him for a moment. The lightning arrow launched upwards before falling in a parabolic arc at a speed several times faster than my ice arrows.
The lightning-arrow caught the red-haired ogre off guard with its speed and hit him directly in the back, briefly stunning him.
Unfortunately, my inexperience with the lightning type spell made my timing off, and the ogre escaped the effects of paralysis in time to destroy the arrow moving towards his stomach.
Fortunately, the other two arrows met their marks, piercing through the ogres legs and freezing the legs in place.
As I saw that, my consciousness slowly began to fade while I fell towards the ground. The last thing I saw was Orion flashing towers me and gently pulling me into my embrace.
His smile was kind and proud, making me feel like everything was worth it.