Blacksmith Assassin

Forest of Trials VI

A day’s worth of exploration. That’s what Zeke took to clear out the missing parts of his minimap. It’s a dangerous task with a lot of risks involved. He encountered kobolds which, are basically stronger versions of goblins. He also fought against sprites – monsters of pure element which made it tricky for him to actually hit them.

Yet even with all the difficulties he encountered against these said opponents, he still managed to win every time. That’s right, no matter who, or what, he faced, Zeke is able to win within that day. Something which he didn’t allow to get into his head. Instead, he continued pathing to finish this new mission that’s been given to him. The mission of making sure that he finds the base of the ogres.

“Where are they supposed to be? There aren’t even clues left in the mission.” Zeke complained. “Did a retard make this quest or something?”

The only logical thing that Zeke can think of is that the base of these ogres should be nearby to where he is. Tha’s the only logical reason as to why a quest related to the said monsters would be linked to him. If it isn’t that, then he’s right in what he initially thought. That it is a retard that designed these quests.

That being said, it reached nighttime already. Zeke still hasn’t found his goal. That being said, even before it could get dark outside, Zeke decided to find a safe spot where he can camp for the night. A spot that’s properly hidden and has good defense in case he gets attacked.

He isn’t opening any sort of light which makes it hard to navigate but, that’s okay. He isn’t stupid. He knows that it’s safer to do this than to actually open the lights. Doing so, after all, would cause him to reveal his location. And since he doesn’t know what kind of beasts and monsters lurk in this forest, he thought it best to not open any light at all.

Besides, there’s no need for it. Zeke doesn’t need to cook food because he’s already got that covered by the goblins and their supplies. He’s able to find a couple of fruits on their containers. This is the only thing he touched and he didn’t dare eat the meat, thinking that there might be a bad reaction that it’d make on his body.

Zeke’s also able to get a piece of cloth from the said items of the goblins. One that’s good for a blanket. Hence, he really doesn’t need a campfire for anything. Not at all. Zeke’s secure as far as this is concerned. He’s remained as careful and as stealthy as possible. That’s why he’s surprised as heavy footsteps moved towards him.

“What the hell?” He muttered as he got his stuff.

He’s already tired from the days’ worth of moving around and searching for the ogres. Now all he wants to do is rest. But even that seems to be something he can’t have. Not until he takes care of whatever it is that’s causing the noise.

The place that Zeke is hiding in is inside a thick trunk of a tree that has a hole on the base. This is large enough for a person to fit inside comfortably which is what Zeke is doing. But now, he has to get out quickly because the footsteps are getting nearer and nearer.

He has the option of simply hiding inside the trunk but, that’s not a good option. If the enemies know where he is, then he would be stuck there – free to be attacked by the monsters however they like. This means that it’s the worst place to be in.

He scurried to get out as quickly as he could. And as soon as he’s out, all the trees got hacked away. In the span of three seconds, the large number of trees where Zeke placed himself in got destroyed. Leaving no room for him to hide in anymore.

This is followed by flames spreading across the whole of the area. Creating a ring which prevented any form of escape as well as providing illumination. Revealing Zeke, as well as those that he’s up against – five ogres.

Each of these creatures stand at a solid six-foot-one in height. Their bodies are bulky and muscular, as wlel as filled with tattoos all around. They have the facial features of a human that’s mixed with a pig and, they have long hairs tied to variations of braids.

Two wields double axes. Two others wield boomerangs. Then the one at the very back of the group has a staff with him – suggesting that the last ogre is a spellcaster of some kind.

“That’s not good.” These are the first words that came out of Zeke’s lips as the ogres began to chant spells against him. Two of these ran towards him without a second thought while two others remained to guard the last one behind. This easily confirmed who the boss of the group is – though Zeke can’t get to that one yet.

“I have to deal with you guys first.” Zeke took out two daggers from his inventory and, proceeded to run away from the assaulting ogres.

He doesn’t know what these creatures are fully capable of yet. What he does know is that they’re capable of easily taking down a whole group of trees with little effort. As well as set the forest ablaze just to kill him. And those are good indicators that, these aren’t monsters that Zeke can’t kill through normal means.

“Let’s get you guys nice and lined up first okay?” Zeke said continuing to run as he’s chased after by the two other ogres.

They soon caught up to him. It didn’t even take them ten seconds worth their time to close the gap and, as they did this, they swung their axes down on him – catching nothing but air.

Zeke used a bluff. A good one at that. The monsters may be superior to him in strength and every other aspect but, when it comes to speed, he’s confident he can win. That’s why he used only half his speed earlier to fake the monsters and to assess how quick they are.

As soon as he got what he needed, he proceeded to speeding up to full. Getting behind his targets and stabbing them both. He first threw a dagger imbued with his full [Sure Hit], taking out one of the eyes of one ogre and then he proceeded to drawing a dagger to compensate for what he just released.

Zeke then sliced through the legs of these two large creatures. Making them fall to their knees. He wanted to go for the kill but, even before he could attempt any lethal attack, the two tried to grab him. Forcing him to back away. As he did, he is chased after by a fireball that is sent from the backlines.

Zeke noticed this right away because of how obvious it is in the dead of night. He easily avoided the strike from the caster that’s sitting comfortably behind.

Then the fireball exploded.