Jason clenched his hands and teeth at once.
While he wanted nothing more but to scream his head off, he knew that he couldn't afford to.
Instead, he tensed every muscle in his body, and tried to his best to focus on something else so as to momentarily forget about the pain.
'A forest. I won't be able to get any help.' Jason placed his hands over the wound and pressed with all his strength to limit the blood loss. That was all he could do about that presently.
The floating words started to make more sense now.
His stature, skin, and size made it obvious.
'I've either been turned into an Ogre, or placed into one.'
Both were real possibilities.
'For some reason,' Jason chuckled dryly. 'I feel like I'm going to survive this.'
It was unlikely that he had been brought here only to die immediately, though Jason felt it would have been sadistically comical.
"Status Window." He uttered painfully.
[Name: Jason Wright
Species: Modified Ogre
Status: Severely Wounded
Health Points: 40/300
Endurance Points: 100/200
Stats:
Strength: 19
-Agility: 12
-Perception: 8
-Vitality: 30
-Endurance: 20
-Mana: 10
Skills:
-Predatory Core Absorption [S Rank]
-Ero Core Resonance [S Rank]
-Sublime Regeneration [A Rank]
-Poison Resistance [A Rank]
-Venom Resistance [A Rank]
-[LOCKED]
-[LOCKED]
-[LOCKED]
-…
]
Seeing such high Stats as well as highly Ranked Skills made Jason's eyes widen and further forget about the pain. The nice surprise that was Sublime Regeneration helped tremendously in that regard.
'In the past, most of my Stats were at 10. Strength, Agility, and Endurance were the only ones above that.'
There was something strange, however.
'In the past, my Strength Stat was 15… Why would an Ogre's only be at 19? It should be closer to 25.'
Jason suddenly felt more strength leave his body.
[Endurance Points: 100/ 200]
[Endurance Points: 80/ 200]
[Health Points: 40/300]
[Health Points: 70/300]
'I see.' Jason thought to himself. 'The Sublime Regeneration Skill is consuming Endurance Points to heal the wound.'
While he did not feel safe lying around in the open, he felt it was the best thing to do for now.
'Moving around might worsen the wound. I should let the Skill do its job. Not moving around will also conserve my Endurance better.' He nodded. 'This wound is a clue though. My stomach was wounded, but the attack that killed me was aimed at my head. I wasn't turned into an Ogre, but placed into one.' With the pain having lessened a tiny bit, Jason could press against the wound with a bit more strength now. 'This Ogre was fatally wounded. It might have even died. The body was healed just enough to be viable before my soul was placed into it.'
Jason felt his deduction made the most sense.
While it helped calm his nerves, it also raised a bigger issue.
What could fatally wound an Ogre with such Stats and Skills?
'And more importantly, is it still around?' Jason took a deep breath before taking his hands away from the wound. 'It wasn't made with fangs, but with something akin to a blade. For one reason or another, they fought, and the Ogre lost. Based on how the wound looks, the Ogre was killed and left alone. Whatever killed it didn't do so to eat the Ogre.' Jason gulped. 'Whatever… Or whoever.'
[Endurance Points: 80/ 200]
[Endurance Points: 60/ 200]
[Health Points: 70/300]
[Health Points: 100/300]
'Every twenty Endurance Points gives back 30 Health Points.' Jason chuckled dryly. 'I managed to survive so long in that Dungeon because Ogres have low Agility and Endurance lower than Vitality, but that's coming back to bite me in the ass now. I'll pass out once Endurance hits zero. At this point, the Sublime Regeneration Skill will become inactive once my Endurance Points hit 20, and my Health Points 160. That'll be halfway there, and more than enough to move around.'
Jason had continued fighting even when both his Health points and Endurance Points were below 10 after all.
'Alright,' He nodded a minute later.
[Endurance Points: 40/ 200]
[Endurance Points: 20/ 200]
[Health Points: 130/300]
[Health Points: 160/300]
'The wound doesn't look as bad now.'
Jason rose to his feet while pressing against the wound.
'I should look for shelter somewhere. It'll continue healing once my Endurance Points recover a bit…'
His thoughts trailed off as floating words appeared in front of him.
[Your First Quest has been Issued!]
'...?' Jason raised an eyebrow. Quests weren't part of the world he came from.
[Rewards Upon Completion:
1-One of your Locked Skills will be Unlocked.
2- Three Stat Points to assign to whichever Stats you desire.
3- "Level Up" System Option Activation.
]
'I can't say no to that.' Jason chuckled internally. 'While I'm not in the best shape yet, I'm sure the Quest will take that into account.'
Following his thought, more floating words appeared.
[Quest Clear Condition: Defeat your body's previous holder's killer.]
'That's a mouthful.' The Ogre thought with a sigh.
Jason looked around, checking for something that could be used as a weapon. Unfortunately, apart from a couple of small stones and branches, there wasn't anything.
'Better than nothing.' Jason thought as he bent down, clenching his teeth, and gathered the stones. 'An Ogre wearing pants that have pockets.' He frowned. 'Is this Ogre special, or are Ogres here more advanced than those I came across? I guess the Skills and Species already answer that question. Modified Ogre…' Jason pondered for a moment. 'Was it modified after its death for me, or before that? What does modified mean exactly?'
[Do you accept the Quest?]
'There seem to be no drawbacks to it, so yes, I'll accept.'
Since the System spoke of Rewards but not of penalties, it was fairly reasonable to assume that failing the Quest wouldn't lead to any.
[You have accepted your First Quest.]
[Pinpointing your Target…]
[Target Location found!]
The moment that the floating words appeared, Jason noticed an arrow appear in the distance. It was high up above the forest's trees.
'Based on how far and high it is… The Target should be a couple of hundred meters away. Two hundred or so.'
[The Target is currently 230 meters away.]
'Good to know.' Jason nodded.
Before deciding whether to go towards it or not, he checked his Endurance and Health Points again.
[Endurance Points: 20/ 200]
[Health Points: 190/300]
'Endurance is now the problem.' He stared with narrow eyes. 'I'll head there slowly to get a glimpse at what the Target is, then decide whether to wait or…'
Jason's thought trailed off. He frowned momentarily.
'Hm.' The Modified Ogre nodded to himself. 'The arrow is getting closer.'
Whether the Target was moving randomly or not, Jason did not know yet. What was clear was that it was currently heading in his direction.
[The Target is currently 225 meters away.]
'At least it's moving slowly.'
[The Target is currently 220 meters away.]
[The Target is currently 210 meters away.]
'Yeah, it's definitely heading here.'
Thankfully, dozens of trees separated them, making each invisible to the other.
'It's not running though. Since Sublime Regeneration is an A Rank Skill, it will now prioritise Endurance Points. The healing will get slower, but I'll be able to move freely.' Jason nodded. 'I should prepare an ambush. It might be coming here to make sure that it did finishthe job, or to eat its meal after having tested the surroundings' safety.'
The Modified Ogre stared at the approaching arrow while scratching his chin.
'How do I set up an ambush here with trees, branches, and a couple of stones?'