" Told ya," Shyam murmured as he pointed his sword towards the ogre boss while standing side by side with Ravina.
The ogre's roar echoed throughout the entire cave and beyond. Its power was far greater than any boss he had fought so far.
It held a long thick club made out of the finest tree to find in this forest. For a monster to have such an item was truly fearsome.
Its hollow red eyes craved for blood and its movements had only rage.
summon: blue eagle
Shyam murmured, and with a burst of air, an eagle appeared.
White, with blue stripes reaching to its all-blue tail.
" It'll be hard to fight in this cave. Should we lure it out? " Ravina suggested as she prepared her blade for this battle.
" Good idea, let's go," Shyam replied, and they both ran towards the exit. The ogre followed them. Each step like an earthquake, shaking the ground.
beast ability panel! Shyam whispered, and suddenly a system window appeared.
Faint images of some creatures were captured on many circular frames. Much like an MMORPG game.
This was the beast ability panel. The window from where Shyam could use his captured monsters' or beasts' abilities.
" Okay, we are out now. Let's do this! "
Shyam shouted as he dashed forward with his dash skill.
" Yes! " Ravina followed with her sharpened blade.
The ogre did not hold back; it raised its club and spun it to gain momentum.
Dhus
The ogre smashed the ground.
The shake now was greater than the shakes its foot made before. Both Shyam and Ravina tumbled,
but stood up just as fast.
this is a level sixty boss alright
Shyam mumbled as he softened his grip on the sword.
Ravina, however, kept charging forward.
" Love technique: sense of bond! " she shouted as she jumped forward, aiming for its hard neck.
Suddenly, her silver sword glowed with pink and purple as a faint light followed her back.
The moment the glow touched the ogre, it weakened for just a moment as if it regretted even thinking to attack them.
Maybe it was affected by her spell.
But unfortunately, it gained consciousness just as fast.
Ravina rotated her sword counterclockwise and hacked the ogre countless times. Yet, it only left a small scratch on it that healed faster than they could blink.
" It healed?! " Shyam's eyes widened with utmost surprise. He had never seen anyone, not even the strongest beast he had killed so far, heal mid-fight—let alone in an instant.
" ...some can," Ravina replied as she jumped back to him. " We have to sever its head so that it cannot regenerate anymore," she said as she swallowed another pill.
why even am i doing this again?
He thought before looking at the ability panel.
Taking a deep breath, he pointed his sword towards the raging ogre whose mouth exhaled fog. Just for one moment.
" Hardened fly attack! " Shyam shouted, and suddenly his eagle disappeared from beside him.
And then, reappeared above them all. Its head directed to the ogre. It spun slowly, as if descending to the earth to dig a hole in it. Like a drill.
The ogre hadn't noticed the blue eagle that was about to hit it from above.
And it didn't get any time to do so either, as the next moment the blue eagle struck the ogre directly on the head.
But even the blue eagle's best attack could not do much on the ogre. Whatever it did, just healed.
Suddenly, the ogre disappeared.
" Where did it go! " Shyam murmured as he scanned quickly around the entire forest as far as his eyes could see, yet he did not find the ogre.
Suddenly, " Aghhh! " Ravina yelled. Her body flew past him and hit one of the trees. She spat blood, she was hurt. Not just that, but a faint cracking sound came out of her body.
Did she just crack her bones?
That would be really bad in a situation like this. If she was unable to fight right now, then Shyam would not just have to fight for himself but save Ravina as well. For she had helped him so much until now. But of course, if words came to life, he would not hesitate to flee, even if he was unable to save her.
" Are you alright!? " Shyam asked as he used his dash skill to reach her fast.
But the ogre blocked him midway.
" I am... alright... Just hold it off," she muttered as she spat more blood.
" It is time, huh." He murmured.
Hands behind his back and eyes fixed on the ogre.
ways of hydra grimoire!
He murmured, and suddenly a book appeared.
" This is your first battle with me, dragon! " he said as he opened the book.
" Alright so,... the first spell. "
Hydra Orbus
He whispered, and suddenly a thin string of water exuded from the palm of his hand. It stretched as far as the ogre's hand, and the moment it touched it—the hand chopped off, completely!
" Feel it! " he muttered as he read through the other spells of the book and how to use them. But before he could continue, the ogre's roar trembled the forest. After its hand had been cut off, how could it not be angry?
It held its club tightly as its red eyes bled with uncontrollable anger, and its one hand was still not regenerating.
" Uaghhh! " It yelled and disappeared again.
Shyam tried to prepare himself this time, he did not want to see himself in the same situation as Ravina, not right now.
But no matter his preparations, the ogre still hit him.
The moment the club hit him, his whole body flew off as if he was not a person but a bird.
Fortunately, his bone was still fine, but his consciousness had almost given up.
He was a special person, yes. He was a little stronger than an average fighter, yes. But even so, he had just become a part of this world. Having no experience in fighting, his will to survive in a situation where the enemy had enough power to fly him off like a bird...
He could not handle it. Never!
He wanted to give up, to die, to let it all end.
what is the point of it all? I have already lost myself in the first life. I have not made any progress here. So, even if I die... it won't matter now will it?
A very odd thought indeed. Though truly, does it matter?
Should he truly give it all up?
Or should—
you promised me, remember?
A ghostly female voice, far too familiar to him, lingered inside his head.
pallabi!?
It was Pallabi, it was the promise they made before he left. The promise to be an A-rank adventurer when he comes back to Nilgram.
And most of all... It would be pretty embarrassing to faint while a girl with broken limbs was still awake doing her best to fight. To stand again.
" No! I can't die now! " he shouted as he called his blue eagle below him.
The ogre stared at him as if it was the most surprising thing it had seen throughout its entire life!
" Did you think you were the only strong person here? " he whispered as he reopened the spell book.
" Ways of hydra: second spell; Varishravah!" he incanted one of the spells from the Ways of Hydra grimoire.
Water droplets gathered around the target—ogre.
Shaped like pillars, much like a scene where a celebrity is passing by and people gather around them because they like them.
But instead of liking the ogre, supporting him...
They suddenly changed shape into thin water spikes and pierced through the ogre's flesh like raindrops on paper.
From the wrist, neck, hands, legs and all!
This is the brutal form of water. This is the rage of the calm.
But even with all these attacks, it didn't die.
Which meant... It's continuous time!
" Ways of hydra: third spell; Mare Vinctus! " he incanted.
The ogre had been severely injured during the second attack so it could no longer move itself, not even its blood could travel through its veins properly.
Though that did not matter to Shyam if it was even dead. In fact, that would be what he wanted—to see him dead.
Suddenly, the moment he finished incanting the spell,
a few donut-shaped ropes made of water captured the ogre. So tight that even with its current full strength, it could not even move, let alone break or escape it.
" How does it feel to be hopeless now? " Shyam whispered as he landed on the ground softly.
The ogre roared but could not do anything but look at him with those dead red eyes.
Shyam picked up his sword and then walked slowly towards the ogre.
Beside him, a system window flickered.
[ HP = 18%
Mana = 47% - 0.5%/s
LP = 99.8% ]
Ravina still lay on the tree root, watching Shyam as he sliced off the ogre's head with his half-broken sword. Now broken entirely.
" Don't you dare hurt a woman in front of me! " he whispered as he put the sword in his storage ring.
It was now an artifact, just as his first ever sword.
And right after doing so, his eyes closed. Body fell on the ground as if all his energy had been drained. The last thing he saw was a person lifting him up. Though he surely was not Ravina.
" He is quite powerful, isn't he? "
" Yes, very. But we have to train him a little more before he can fight that person."
" Yeah, that's for sure. Should we take her as well? "
" Considering she fought with him, as well as he fought for her, we should. Or else the master might yell at us."
" Well then. Let's go."
He heard them. The voices of two people discussing something. Though not clearly, he could feel his body being lifted by two hands.
---
" So, father. Did you fight well? "
A girl in a red sari asked Shyam as she sat in front of him with a cup of chai in her hands.
Shyam sat before her, with a cup of chai as well.
" Maybe, but... I fainted though,"
he replied as he looked at his chai, regret reflected in his chai. " I could have done better, I know."
" So, can you not do better next time? "
---
Ch-44