Its eyes narrowed as the area came into view, previously rendered invisible by the multitude of thick trunks standing between.
The Ogre was gone. Still, a puddle of blood remained.
The creature's eyes widened, as if relieved to see that its previous enemy had survived.
It only took a couple of moments for it to notice the trail of blood left behind by the Ogre, and started following it.
'What the hell is that?' The Modified Ogre thought with a gulp.
The creature was strange, but not unlike anything he had ever seen.
In fact, he had seen many like it. Or at least, like parts of it.
'Its legs and body are those of an Orc, but its head looks like a Reptilian's…?' Jason gulped again. 'More importantly, its arms aren't arms. It's almost like the tails of huge scorpions were attached there. And they're no normal tails either. They look like they're made of iron.' He thought, slightly nervous. 'Is this world simply made up of… Modified creatures? Or are these two related somehow? Maybe they came from the same place?'
The Reptilian head lifted slightly, tongue flicking through the air while it moved steadily between the trees with heavy steps. The sharp, tail-like arms swayed behind it.
'The way they are… It's the right shape for the way the wound was.' Jason nodded to himself. 'Obviously, since it is the Target. System, what is that?'
The question was a bit of a Hail Mary. Systems rarely give out information like that.
[You said it yourself.]
'Hm?'
[It is the Target.]
[Your Target.]
'Right…' Jason sighed internally. Still, he had just noticed another difference with the World he came from. 'In my World, System commands need to be uttered, but it answered my thought just now. There's a telepathic link between Systems and people here.'
It was an important deduction to make, in case there were others with Systems in this world, in case they were widespread like they were in Jason's original world.
"Hsss…" The creature hissed, its yellow eyes narrowed.
The blood was drying. It hadn't hit the ground too long ago.
The Monster stepped closer, lowering its head toward the ground. One of the scorpion tails extended forward, lightly scraping through the leaves of a blood-stained bush.
The stinger brushed through, and Jason did his best not to move a muscle. He could see the stinger, a meter or so away from him.
The bush was dense and large. Large enough to hide an Ogre's body fully.
The creature's Reptilian head lowered further, tongue flicking out.
The stinger moved, revealing other parts of what lay behind the leaves, and just when Jason's position was about to be revealed, he tightened his grip around the sharpened stone in his hand, and struck! Not with all his strength, but all the precision he could manage.
A loud shriek echoed through the forest as the creature stepped back, staggered, and partially blinded.
"Can't pull that out of your eye with those arms, huh?" The Modified Ogre whispered with a chuckle as he leapt out of the bush.
Its right eye blinded, the creature attacked with its left arm in a stabbing motion, exactly what Jason had been waiting for.
He raised the thick, broken tree trunk he had prepared just in time.
The iron-like stinger stabbed the thick piece of wood, impact reverberating through Jason's arm.
It had punched deep into the dense trunk and, as the Monster pulled its arm back, Jason let go, stepping back immediately.
'Not as scary now.' Jason thought with a sigh.
The chunk of wood remained stuck to the stinger, blocking its pointy end perfectly.
"More of a hammer now, which can still be troublesome." Jason muttered. "I won't let you take it off though."
The creature roared in response and swung its arm.
Jason ducked under the swing before stepping to the left and into the creature's blind spot, the side of its pierced eye.
It quickly turned toward him and, as it did, Jason drove another sharpened stone forward with great precision.
Another shriek echoed as the Target was blinded perfectly.
Both of its arms flailed violently, and Jason lunged forward to grab the woodless arm.
'I noticed…' He planted his feet, braced himself, and pulled with everything he had. 'That these don't look particularly natural!'
The creature resisted and growled while Jason twisted sharply.
A crack echoed, and the entire stinger segment ripped free at the shoulder.
The creature stumbled backward with a whimper.
As the detached arm twitched in Jason's hands,
Bam!
Like a warhammer, the stuck trunk collided with his ribs, pain shooting across his side as he grunted.
'Fuck!' Jason cursed internally, half because of the pain, half because the torn stinger had escaped his grasp.
He quickly decided to circle behind the creature.
'Time to put you to sleep!' Jason thought as he wrapped his arm around the creature's neck and locked his other hand behind its skull. "My training…" He whispered through clenched teeth. "Is already coming in handy!"
He squeezed with all his strength, but the creature's body remained standing even when Jason's legs wrapped around its waist.
'Tsk!'
The Target tried to pry him off with brute force, but Jason held on.
'Why…' He thought, straining. 'Isn't it falling to the ground…?'
Ogres were normally heavier and stronger than Orcs, and its body and legs were those of an Orc, so how come it was resisting him?
The creature staggered, but remained standing.
Its legs dug into the soil below as it swung its remaining arm wildly.
Jason tightened the hold further, muscles bulging and veins appearing all over his bicep muscles.
Slowly but surely, the creature's movements lost some of their strength and energy until, eventually, the thrashing around stopped.
Its knees buckled, and its body collapsed forward.
Jason only let go once the Target's body started falling to the ground unconscious.
He stood there for a moment, breathing heavily.
"I'm…" Jason chuckled between heavy breaths. "Already having fun."
He stared at the fallen body before stepping towards the torn-off stinger.
'No System Message yet. Shoot to kill, huh?' Jason thought as he raised the torn-off stinger. 'Good to know.' He nodded to himself before driving it into the creature's abdomen.
It jerked once, before stilling completely.
[The Target has been Defeated.]
[Congratulations!]
[You have Cleared your First Quest!]
Jason nodded silently.
'I wonder if it's the same as there.' He thought. 'It should be, since some of my Skills mentioned Cores.'
The Modified Ogre smiled.
'That'll be my first time harvesting.'
He had never done so, as Harvesting is a job for E Rank Hunters.
They walk through Dungeon Gates, but aren't there to fight. Their job is to gather the resources available in Dungeons, primarily Mana Crystals and Monster Cores.
'Let's see…' Jason thought as he flipped the fallen target onto its back. 'What kind of Monster Core you've got.'
He crouched and gripped the creature's shirt.
'A Monster wearing a shirt is funny enough. More interesting than that, however,' Jason's eyes narrowed. 'Its pants are the same as mine.'
He pulled on the shirt, and the fabric tore easily under his strength.
'Huh?'
Jason frowned.
'Are those…'
Blink-
'Tits…?