Chapter 112: It’s All Ogre pt. 3

Kaius’s heart caught in his throat as the Siege Ogre flew across the open space between them. There might have been a stone statue between them, but the Guardian cared little, it may as well have been made of straw for all that it slowed it. Stone shattered into dust.

Every quaking step may as well have taken it another league forward. Something that large should not have been that fast.

His legs burned, legs pumping with skill enhanced alacrity as he pushed off, sprinting to the side. Dread shot down his spine, it was too fast.

It was going to hit him.

Crying out in desperation, he threw himself away from the ogre’s thundering advance, clear of its stomping legs. It swung its iron banded club. Airborne as he was, Kaius could do little other than to hope and pray his dodge had been enough. It wasn’t, the club sailed towards him.

Bones shattered as the crudely shaped trunk clipped his hip, sending him into a chaotic spiral as he skittered across the ground in a flail of limbs. Everything shrunk to a pinpoint, pain suppressed in the shock of the sudden wound. As if from a distance, he watched his sword fly free from his grasp, clattering against paved stone as it spun away.

The world blurred as he tumbled, his head ringing as his helmet thwacked heavily into the ground.

Skidding to a stop by a jagged shard of stone the size of his leg, Kaius groaned. His left leg was twisted, waves of mind bending agony rolling over him. It was just barely held in place by a surge of potent energy from Lesser Regeneration, forcing shards of bone to hold in place as his Health roared free to infuse the site of his injury. Distantly he felt a blare of panic and rage race across his bond.

Gritting his teeth, Kaius pushed himself to his feet and bit back a howl as his forcibly held together hip barely withstood his weight. His Health acted fast, remoulding pulped flesh and realigning bone as his skin rippled under his armour.

Unfortunately his cuisses had held up less well, one of the larger armour plates that encircled his hips half crumpled. It would recover, but it would take time, until then he would have to suffer it digging in uncomfortably. Thankfully it wouldn’t hamper his movements too much, the ogre’s heavy blow had just barely clipped him, and had nearly torn the plate off laterally rather than crushing it inwards.

Porkchop’s howl of bloodlust tore through his pain-addled mind. Without looking, he knew that Porkchop was uninjured, only fury flowed through their bond. For now. Trusting that his leg would hold up to the strain, he forced down the agony of his quickly healing hip and ran for his sword. Resting against the base of a nearby statue of a dwarven warlord, it took him precious seconds to close the distance.

As he ran, he checked his resources.

Resources:

Health – 334/510 (4.1/min +15/min)

Stamina – 367/410 (4.1/min +15/min)

Mana – 16/560 (5.6/min)

Free Mana – 16/560

Reserved Mana – 0

He growled as he took in the damage that the Ogre had done to him. Dropping a hand to his waist, he quickly withdrew one of their precious healing draughts.

Ripping the cork free with his teeth, he barely managed to avoid spilling any of the precious liquor as he poured it down his throat. It tasted of old wounds, clean linen, and the respite of a healer’s care.

**Ding! You have Imbibed a Tonic: Lesser Blooming Rejuvenation**

Another howl echoed out across the peak of the dwarven city, this time closely followed by a frustrated groan. Scooping his sword up, Kaius spun and trained his wild eyes on the Siege ogre. It was slumped over by the system enforced barrier that had closed around their confrontation. Kaius growled in frustration. Without that blasted field of blue, the siege ogre would have sent itself surging off the edge to its death.

Still, whether from the collision itself, or from some deleterious effect of its skill, it was dazed. Unfortunately, it was quickly rising.

He ran.

Porkchop hadn’t taken his assault lightly. Kaius’s bond-brother had charged in after the Guardian, and was now tearing strips of thick muscle from the back of its leg, still focused on disabling the limb. Even from a good forty strides away, Kaius could see the milky white cartilage and silvery ligaments of the ogre’s knee.

Even if it was stunned, it didn’t mean that the ogre was no longer a threat. Shaking its head to throw off its confusion, it groaned in frustrated agony as Porkchop tore another strip of woody flesh away from its joint. It flailed, spinning to clumsily wave its oversized club in Porkchop’s direction. Kaius’s bond-brother snarled, lunging inwards to slip under the blow.

The ogre teetered, the weight of its weapon pulling it off balance. Then with a heavy thud, it got its good leg under it.

Before it could rise, Kaius skidded to a stop by its injured knee. He plunged A Father’s Gift into the joint, sawing at one of the ropey ligaments that held the leg stable. Even with an inscribed blade and enhanced strength, it still felt like trying to cut through steel cable.

This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

Stepping inwards, Kaius shoved his entire body weight into a thrust, the point of his sword cracking into the back of the ogre’s knee cap as he punched through the joint. The ogre howled, the agony of the puncture enough to fully rouse it. Kaius just barely managed to rip his sword free, drawing its edge against vulnerable ligaments, before it hauled itself upwards.

With a slow, thundering step, it turned on them and swung towards Kaius with its club. Danger flared in his mind; He dodged back, wincing as his hip twinged during his pivot to avoid a crushing blow to his chest.