Ogre-devouring Wizard

I have magic?

Noah choked on the blood being forced down his throat. His teammates—all headless corpses—surrounded him, holding him in a bear hug, preventing him from moving. 

One of them grabbed his hair and pulled it back, another pinched his nose, while a third squeezed his jaw so he couldn't keep it closed. 

Hovering above him, holding its bleeding fist over Noah's mouth with a wide grin plastered across its face was the Ogre. 

Noah's heart pounded against his chest as he struggled. The grip of his teammates didn't falter. He found it harder and harder to breathe.

As Noah locked eyes with the Ogre, its grin widened. 

Blood continued to gush from its hand like a faucet had been cranked to the max. Noah gasped for air, but blood washed down his throat instead.

The Ogre grinned even more.

The light in Noah's eyes started to dim; his eyes became slits; he was losing consciousness.

“You should be grateful,” It said. “If you survive this, your pathetic life will be over.“ It squeezed its fist even harder. “And you'll finally have a chance at saving your brother.“

Noah's eyes shot open as he heard this. He tried to talk but choked on its blood instead. 

The Ogre laughed a deep, hearty laugh as more and more blood poured into Noah's mouth, drops leaking all over his face.

His heart pounded more rapidly, over and over, as if it would explode. He started shaking even more as consciousness rushed out of him.

His eyes rolled backwards. Sounds muffled. Thoughts rushed through his mind.

If only that bastard of a king didn't make that stupid decree. If only he'd fought when his brother was being taken.

“There is much your feeble mind does not know about this planet—much truth that I will not witness be exposed,” said the Ogre. Its smile faded for a moment. “My reward for you is an amalgamation of the potential I hold, safe guidance out of this dungeon, and a codex to guide you through your rise.“

Noah desperately tried gasping for air, but blood drowned him instead. His body shook violently.

“I have to transfer it through this barbaric method, I'm afraid. Once I hold no more potential—not even for life—my body will fall apart,” it said, squeezing its fist even more. “But make no mistake. All I'm doing is simply awakening what inactive unique magic was ingrained in your biology, and erasing your ceiling.“

Tears rolled down Noah's face; his eyes rolled back; his hearing was fading.

The Ogre grabbed his face with its free hand, violently squeezing it till his vision was forcefully brought back. “Congratulations, human. The codex I've crafted is now yours!“ It said, a crack running across its face. 

Then it started bleeding from its nose. 

Its eyes grew redder with each passing moment, its skin grew pale, and it grew emaciated, like it was forced to age a thousand years in a moment. 

As the Ogre resembled a wilting flower more and more, its contented smile remained.

Then it became too much for Noah.

He lost consciousness.

Noah was surrounded by darkness and silence, unable to feel anything, unsure if he was dead or alive.

Then strange runic symbols arranged themselves in a way he could read.

[New host identified] 

[Codex awakening]

[Initialising mutation]

[Error: Host possesses zero spirit energy. Unable to initiate necessary mutation]

[Calculating…]

[Recalibrating…]

[Liquid with high concentration of spirit energy detected. Category: blood. Amount is sufficient for forced awakening protocol.]

[Evaluating biology… identifying unique magic… Initiating forced awakening protocol. Stand by]

Immediately, Noah was dragged back into consciousness by a massive surge of pain shooting through every part of his body.

His eyes shot open as he fell to the floor, clutching his stomach as he screamed. 

It felt like every part of him was being torn apart and put back together—like every pore on his skin was being stretched to its breaking point. 

He screamed, tossing and turning in pure agony.

It felt like Noah was dying. His eyes bulged as they turned to a deep shade of red, forming tears of blood. His teeth felt like they were piercing his gums rather than growing from them. 

It felt like a hot metal rod was being pressed against the back of his throat.

For three agonising minutes, Noah screamed till his vocal cords couldn't physically continue producing sounds.

And then all in one instant, it stopped.

All the agonising pain—the same one that'd nearly deafened him by his own screaming—vanished.

Noah panted on the floor, his chest rising and falling as bloody tears streamed down his face.

[Forced awakening successful]

[Unique magic identified]

[Initiating mutation]

Before Noah could have a chance to think about what just happened, another wave of intense pain shot through his body.

Another five minutes of brain-numbingly agonising pain.

Except this time, his dark hair started losing colour as he screamed—gradually turning white, with the tips of his hair turning red.

And then once again, the pain simply stopped, leaving Noah flat on his back, unable to move, barely sure he was alive.

He panted, letting out one breath after the other, as tears streamed down his face.

As he lay there, shaking ever so slightly, runic symbols arranged themselves in the air above him once more.

[Mutation complete]

[Codex integrated successfully]

[Bonding to new host successful]

[Unique magic detected]

[Magic Tutorial available]

[Codex Tutorial available]

[Pending tasks: 4]

[Recommended activity: Address pending tasks and complete both tutorials]

Noah stared at the writing above him with confusion on his face. The pain had gone, and his mind was finally clearing up.

Still drenched in sweat from the agony, he sat up slowly and took in the room around him.

All four of his teammates' corpses were on the floor, unmoving; he was sitting in a pool of blood—both theirs and the Ogre's; his magic-hindering cuffs were shattered on the floor, and the Ogre was now a withered husk, looking like it was actually two thousand years old.

The same creature that was so undeniably powerful now lay on the floor, its body turning to dust. Yet, it was still alive—barely—with one eye open.

“You…” said Noah. “You're…” A wave of conflicting emotions washed through him. 

What the heck just happened!?

What did that thing do to him!? 

What's with the strange runic symbols he was seeing!?

The Ogre, with what looked like the last of its strength, smiled at Noah. “Good… luck.” It snapped its fingers and turned to dust.

Noah paused… processing everything that just happened.

Ignoring the runic text he'd seen, he took a moment to look around, realising something far more important than anything else.

He'd survived.

Somehow, some way, despite being the weakest one in the party—despite entering a level six dungeon—despite being magicless, he'd survived.

And the Ogre was dead.

Noah reached up and touched his face, not minding the excessive sweat on it. “I'm alive,” he said. 

A smirk appeared on his cheek, and then it turned into a grin, and then maniacal laughter. “I'M ALIVE!!!!“ He yelled with both arms in the air.

His situation wasn't the best; he was still at the bottom of a dungeon and needed to find his way out. A wyvogre's corpse still blocked the only way out of the room he was in. 

But he was alive.

He could figure something out later—maybe carve his way through the wyvogre's corpse and get out of the dungeon—but right now, all that mattered was that he was alive and uninjured.

Taking a breath, he got to his feet easily.

Too easily. 

And it wasn't just because he wasn't wearing the magic-hindering cuffs anymore.

His entire body felt lighter. 

More agile. 

Stronger even. 

Like he was a whole different person.

Just then, runic text flashed in front of him again.

[WARNING: Former host used <spell: unique teleport> on the user. You are about to be teleported to a location outside of this dungeon. Prepare yourself] 

Noah panicked. 

Teleport spell!? Now!? To where!?

He hadn't fully caught his breath—hadn't fully processed what just happened—hadn't even raided the boss's room for loot or anything.

And he was crying, teleported!?

Before he could say another word, a dense, yellow pillar of energy shot up from the floor right beneath his feet, twisting around him.

Then, it condensed and stuck to his skin like a suit, shimmering and glowing brighter and brighter.

And then he vanished—both Noah and the yellow light that'd stuck to him.

One second, all Noah saw was white, and the next, all his senses were flooded with flashing lights and strange sounds coming from every direction. 

And then by the third, he stood in the middle of some space.

It was black on every side, with specs of light scattered here and there, just enough for him to be able to see, like staring at the night sky.

Noah paused. Actually paused. And then he breathed. 

“Where…” he said, taking in the space around him. “Where am I?“ 

It didn't look like wherever he was had an ending, or even a beginning for that matter. And despite standing in what he could only describe as the night sky, he could tell he wasn't outside.

He dug his hand through his hair. “This… this doesn't make any sense,” he sighed. 

Sweat dripped from his face. His trousers were still stained with the wyvogre's blood, but the bruises he'd gotten from Red Jacket's beating were gone.

He stood there, confused. Was he in some kind of trance? A sick spell that one of his teammates had put on him at some point while they were in this dungeon? 

Or maybe a trick of the mist outside Eden? He'd heard stories of the mist surrounding Eden's walls and how it drove Ogre and mankind alike to madness, even going as far as Ogreifying people who stayed outside of Eden for too long. 

Noah pondered, finally catching his breath and being able to think straight. 

Was that what was happening to him? Was he becoming an ogre? The Ogre's blood that poured down his mouth could probably do that… if any of that was even real. 

He tried sitting on the floor, simply falling backwards till he didn't anymore. He looked down, and there was no floor, just the light-laced darkness stretching endlessly below him.

Noah rested his hand on his knee. “What the hell is going on?“ he sighed, sitting in the darkness.

As he racked his mind, trying to understand the situation he was in, he started going through what memories he had—whether false or not.

From the moment they entered the dungeon, to the wyvogre, to the human-looking Ogre, the beheadings, and everything that happened after that.

He didn't ponder too much on his teammates' deaths. In the slums, he'd seen much worse happen to people for—and by—far less. Waking by a corpse that had starved to death, or a group of people getting so desperate for food that they turned to cannibalism, was as routine as his dumpster dives for dinner.

Though he'd personally never stooped so low as to eat someone else, living or dead. Anything else, however, was on the table.

Where his mind pondered, though, was the runic text he'd seen not too long ago.

Messages that suddenly appeared in his vision, talking about mutations and awakening, before he was filled with waves of indescribable pain.

“What did it call itself again?“ he pondered. “Codename?… No… Coleslaw… No, that can't be right…” he scratched the back of his head and thought back. “Codex?“

Suddenly the runic text materialised in front of him again.

[Host: Unregistered (bonded)]

[Unique magic detected]

[Magic Tutorial available]

[Codex Tutorial available]

[Pending tasks: 4]

[Recommended activity: Address pending tasks and complete both tutorials]

Noah blinked as he stared at the text in front of him.

He reached out and tried grabbing it, but his hands couldn't reach. 

His eyebrows furrowed. 

“What the heck?…” he said, standing up. “I can't read…” he reached again, but he still couldn't touch it. “Never learned how…” he took a step forward and tried once more, but he still couldn't.

Why could he understand the text in front of him?

He took three more steps but still couldn't touch it. Then he jumped at it, sprinted and tried to grab it, but he couldn't. It was just out of reach no matter how he tried. Like a carrot on a stick, except he was the horse.

Noah paused and looked at the text again, not sure if he should be more surprised by what he was seeing, the fact that he could read it, or where he was.

But his reality was undeniable.

He was somewhere… with his injuries gone, and runic text floating in front of him.

“What the hell are you?“ he asked.

Then the last row of text became more prominent while the others shrunk slightly.

[Recommended activity: Address pending tasks and complete both Tutorials]

Noah stared at it.

Pending tasks? 

What pending tasks did he have other than going home? And tutorials? 

He looked at the shrunken text again and noticed something that made his heart skip a beat.

[Magic Tutorial available]

Noah's lips trembled. He reached out one more time, knowing fully well he couldn't grab it. His heart thumped with an alien feeling he hadn't felt since Hallel was still around.

The feeling of hope.

“I have magic?“