Chương 46

I looked towards the direction Madelline was pointing at in confusion. The hut? Something inside there?

"What do you mean?" I questioned her.

"You know about my ability, right?" I nodded at her question.

"Well, I can see a massive thread going from the boss ogre towards that hut, so, there has to be something inside!" she spoke, waving her arms about with urgency. Okay… but why is she behaving like it is an urgent situation? I looked over at the two massive beasts still duking it out to try and make sense of her actions. She started explaining her thoughts, and the more I observed the boss battle, the more sense Madelline made.

The alpha buffalo was getting small injuries here and there which were slowly but surely adding up. On the other hand, the massive ogre was practically unscathed. That wasn't to say that it wasn't being hit at all, on the contrary, it was tanking each massive hit of the alpha with a smug grin. Each impact rattled it, and I noticed that each hit caused the swirling tattoos all over its body to glow with a greater intensity for a second.

It was clear that sooner or later the alpha buffalo would fall if something didn't change.

"… and that's why I think someone should go there to see what's inside" finished Madelline, out of breath due to how fast she had been speaking. I nodded in agreement. Her insight made sense, and I was glad that she had made the connection before things got much worse. I told her that I'll check it out and asked her to carefully make her way back towards the ranged fighters.

"Why? I should come with you! I would be able to tell you where exactly the thread is coming from" protested Madelline.

"You're right, that would be useful, but I can go invisible, and you can't. I have the best shot at going alone" I explained. She reluctantly nodded, asked me to be careful, and started making her way back to the ranged fighters. I looked over towards the others battling against the ogres. The buffaloes were acting as great tanks while everyone else just attacked whatever they could target. In melee range, I could only see Sara, Lucas, and Hannah, while the others were darting in and out to attack.

Spells and arrows were also raining down on the three ogres, and I was sure it was a matter of time before they went down. Feeling confident that the others had things handled here, I turned and made my way over to some debris, hiding behind it and going under concealed presence before making my way over to the large hut. I had only seen it from a distance, but as I came closer, I thought that my referring to the structure as a hut was a severe disservice to it.

Sure, the structure was shaped like a hut and looked like a hut, just a very, very huge hut. It was immensely large, about the size of a small mansion, but built for something fifteen feet tall instead of a human. The walls were about 2 stories high, and the roof was raised to about half a story further in the middle. I stepped near the large, open doorway, feeling immensely dwarfed. Taking a deep breath, I stepped inside.

Immediately, the temperature dropped by a few degrees and the immense sounds of the two bosses clashing disappeared completely. It was as if the space inside existed in a different plane, where there wasn't a massive clash going on outside. There was a large, open space within the hut itself, and it appeared completely deserted. My sight was immediately drawn to a large, raised mound of dirt shaped like a throne right in the center.

It was weird seeing a throne made out of dirt when these creatures were clearly capable of construction, but perhaps there was a strange reason for it that I didn't know. I stepped forward, slowly making my way towards the center. The whole thing was a large open space, and I couldn't spot anything save for the mound of dirt. I turned towards the wall on the right, intending to search alongside it for anything out of place. I had just taken a few steps when a door was revealed at the back.

It was right in the center, and the dirt mound had been blocking my view of it the whole time. Making my way towards it, I noticed the door was slightly ajar. I slowed down as I neared. I could spot a blue light shining from within the doorway I crept closer, and soon was in a spot from where I could see inside the room. A case of content theft: this narrative is not rightfully on Amazon; if you spot it, report the violation. There was another ogre inside, though this one was clearly different.

It looked to be much smaller than the other ogres I had seen, though as it was sitting down, I wasn't certain to its exact height. What I could see was that it was scrawny, built more like the thin goblin mages I had just fought instead of the burly and muscular ogres. It was sitting within what looked like a formation of some sort drawn on the ground. Numerous lines had been drawn on the ground with some white material.

Some lines were straight while others were wavy or curved, and the whole diagram was encased within a circle. At the center was a bowl that was glowing bright blue, and the ogre was sitting beside it with its eyes closed and hands over the bowl. I couldn't see what was inside the bowl as the blue radiance was blocking my view, but it gave off an unmistakable feeling of being full of mana. Yep, this is definitely something alright. Looks like some kind of a ritual or formation.

The door was barely five or so inches ajar, so I couldn't quite see inside the entire room, so I wasn't sure if this ogre was alone or not. It also meant that I was right to come here alone and under the protection of my skill, as I was certain that the boss would have definitely stopped us if a group of us made our way here. I needed to find a way inside the room without alerting the ogre, and the door seemed like a bad idea.

As soon as the door moved, the ogre would be alerted, and at that point it wouldn't really matter if I was under concealed presence or not. I stepped away and circled the room, trying to find another way inside. However, it was entirely closed off apart from the one entrance. Both side walls had no opening, and the back was flush against the wall of the hut.

I went back to the door to see if there was a window or something similar on the back wall of the room, but I couldn't spot anything no matter how much I craned my neck. Feeling a sense of urgency as I knew we needed the buffalo alpha alive to have any chance of a victory against the gigantic ogre, I knew I had to take my chances with the door. I crept as close to the door as I dared, and started very slowly pushing it, praying that it made no sound.

The next few seconds felt like an eternity, as I kept inching the door open with my heart hammering inside my chest. Slowly, the space in the doorway expanded as the door opened, and soon, it was ajar enough that I could squeeze my way inside. The ogre was completely focused on whatever it is that it was doing, and its eyes remained blissfully closed. I took a few seconds to scout out the room once again now that the door was open, including checking the roof of the room and to the side of the door.

Finding nothing, I was now fairly confident that there was no one else apart from the ogre inside. Taking a careful step inside, I kept my eyes on the ogre while also making sure to check behind the door. The ogre remained oblivious to my entry, and the room was mercifully empty. There was a magical feeling inside the room which was hard to describe, like the room was somehow charged with magic. All my sense tingled with new experiences. My eyes were drawn to the ever-shifting lights within the bowl.

My ears could now hear a faint, electric sound coming from the formation, and there was this strange, slight smell lingering in the air. The hairs on my arms and behind my neck rose, like they were also charged with the electric feeling of the room. It was overwhelming. I stopped just before the ritual, clutching my dagger in my sweaty palm and taking a deep breath to get myself under control.

I thought about stepping forward slowly to attack it, and tactical insight confirmed my fear – the ogre would become aware of my presence as soon as I crossed the boundary of the circle. I looked around to see if I could see anything that could be of help, and now that I was inside, I could see that there was a raised mound of dirt behind the ogre, covered in some leaves with two very clear indentations in the center. So, this is where it sleeps, and this one also lives here probably. Could be its wife… or mate.

I slowly circled my way towards the back, being careful not to disturb the drawn circle. Soon, I was on the raised mound behind the ogre. I could now jump straight at the ogre without disturbing the drawn circle, which could possibly give me a split-second advantage against this thing. Tactical Insight agreed with my plan, and Critical Sense highlighted the usual suspects – the eyes, ears, and the groin.

I thought about using my ability as a sort of distraction, but I figured it would actually hinder me by allowing the ogre additional time. Taking a deep breath and committing to my plan, I used quick step to launch forward at speed. My vision slowed down, and my dagger was raised at the perfect angle to strike. In my slowed vision, I could see that at the exact moment I crossed the boundary of the formation, the ogre's body stiffened in surprise and it raised its head.

That was all it had time to do, as I was moving too fast and my dagger found its mark. A number of things happened instantly then. First, my dagger went inside its ear with a disturbing squelch. Second, I crashed into the ogre while it screamed in pain. Third, the bowl burst apart in a blinding blue light with serious force, which was luckily largely absorbed by the ogre whose body was conveniently between the bowl and me. The blast halted our forward momentum and immediately pushed the ogre towards me instead.

Fourth, the silence that had been prevailing ever since I had stepped within this hut shattered, and the sounds of the conflict from outside reached me. Finally, an absolutely enraged roar sounded out from outside.