Wildness and Masks

Chapter 12 – Power of Thunder and Lightning

"Maybe it's time to save up for a storage item."

Ogre carried a small backpack and held a bag of fish in one hand, feeling somewhat restricted.

He had too many things on him, making it inconvenient to carry. Usually, his backpack could only hold a small hammer for self-defense—though it was a weapon specially made by Ogre.

"Hey, stop!"

A shout came from behind Ogre.

"Yes, you."

Looking towards the source of the voice, he saw two hooligans dressed like thugs. The only notable thing was the blue seven-pointed star emblem on their shoulder sleeves, indicating a local gang.

'Is this a robbery?'

Ogre was used to such things, though he didn't expect trouble just after taking off his mask.

Do I look easy to bully...

"What do you want? This isn't the slums..." Ogre feigned ignorance to probe them—he wanted to know.

What kind of idiot would try to rob at the border between the Inner City and the slums?

"So what? Hand over the fish and your bag! Or don't blame us for being rude."

While Ogre was speaking, the two had already surrounded him. Their practiced stance suggested this wasn't their first robbery.

There was indeed some distance from the Inner City here, with small alleys providing cover. The location was cleverly chosen, allowing for both advance and retreat.

But they hadn't considered why Ogre dared to walk this path.

"This kid's got smooth skin, keeping him around for fun wouldn't be bad either..." The fatter hooligan licked his lips lewdly while staring at Ogre.

"Annoying..."

Ogre's tone turned cold as he understood the situation. These two were just old scum used to bullying the weak.

"What are you sayi—" The hooligan's words were cut off as a swift hand chop struck his throat.

Ogre's hand chop shattered the guy's windpipe and broke his neck.

As the body fell, Ogre deftly took the short knife from the hooligan's hand.

With a flick of his wrist.

The other fat hooligan suddenly had a knife embedded in his forehead—it was his companion's knife.

In just one move.

The two robbing hooligans became silent corpses, not even having the chance to cry out.

Throat strike, knife snatch, knife throw—three moves to kill two men.

During this process, Ogre didn't even look back. He calmly carried the fish out of the alley, as if casually kicking aside a stone blocking his path.

It wouldn't be long before scavengers and stray dogs stripped these guys of everything.

Not a trace left.

Ogre wouldn't bat an eye at killing a thousand of these types who preyed on the weak.

They were the kind he despised most.

...

"Oggy, you're back early today. Did you buy fish at the market?" A passing Dawn missionary greeted Ogre as usual upon seeing him.

Because Ogre had a good relationship with Yard and was generally honest and well-behaved, the people of the Church of Dawn quite liked this hardworking young man.

"Got paid, so I bought some fish to nourish myself." Ogre smiled warmly at the missionary.

The trivial matters on the road hadn't affected his mood.

The wind along the way had already blown away any strange smells on him. No one would suspect that honest Ogre had just killed someone.

"Then you should eat well." The missionary returned the smile, not noticing anything amiss due to the distance.

After exchanging greetings, Ogre carried the fish back to his room—arranged for him by Teacher Yard.

The previous owner of this house was a Dawn follower who died on the city streets for unknown reasons. With no wife or children, the house became Church of Dawn property and was allocated to Yard.

Ogre was just temporarily staying here.

Before moving into the city, Ogre mainly lived on the outskirts of the Demon Beast Forest.

Compared to his residence in the Demon Beast Forest, the city house was much more comfortable, and most importantly, Ogre no longer had to be constantly on edge.

After closing the door, Ogre removed his backpack and some personal items (like the Human Skin Mask and Sleeve Sword).

Then, he placed the dead Lightning Eel on a plate, took out clean knives, casually processed and sliced it, and began eating the raw 'sashimi.'

Honestly, the taste wasn't bad. Perhaps grilling it would be better.

But Ogre's house was out of charcoal.

To get it into his stomach quickly, he kept it simple. After all, an ogre's stomach could digest even metal.

Ogre's stomach wasn't as strong as a true ogre's, but eating raw food was easy enough, especially since it was inconvenient to start a fire in the Demon Beast Forest.

Before his father mastered charcoal-making, Ogre often ate raw food, though he mostly subsisted on fruit and milk.

With most of the fish in his stomach, Ogre sat by the bed and placed the newly acquired Meditation Technique aside.

Ogre closed his eyes.

Innate ability—Ogre Lunchbox, activate!

A faint white mist began to emanate from Ogre's skin through his clothes.

Soon, Ogre's skin turned red.

This time, the body's reaction was more intense than Ogre had anticipated.

The good news was, it worked.

The bad news was, it worked too well.

"Better test the ability."

Ogre sensed another way to 'exert force' within his muscles, a result of the structural change.

If nothing unexpected happened.

This 'exertion' should be the key to generating lightning.

Ogre was a man of action. Once he thought of something, he did it, quickly beginning his test.

Ogre controlled the muscles in his hand and forearm to 'exert force.'

As a spark danced on his fingertip, Ogre's lips curled into a smile—

He knew he had succeeded, he had truly mastered lightning!

"Let's test the limits."

With the excitement of success, Ogre fully exerted his entire body—he wanted to see how strong his lightning could be!

Crackling electricity pierced the air, emitting a dazzling light, causing Ogre to immediately stiffen and fall.

"Are you kidding... My own electricity can knock me out?"

After a moment of recovery, Ogre stood up, realizing he wasn't resistant to electricity...

About seventy percent of Ogre's muscles could discharge electricity through special 'exertion,' and he had just gone full throttle.

"Lightning Bolt couldn't harm me, but I almost electrocuted myself."

After moving his body, Ogre felt a wave of fear, realizing he could only withstand electricity due to his ogre's magic resistance.

Without the ogre's resistance, he might have been the first to electrocute himself.

This reminded Ogre of the scene when the Lightning Eel was brought out; it wasn't very resistant to electricity in the air.

So it wasn't the fish's problem...

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Careless, the book didn't record this.

Of course, maybe it wasn't worth recording.

"But if even I can't withstand this electricity, others probably can't either."

Ogre thought that in close combat, his full electricity could likely knock out professionals without extreme physiques.

But it had to be close combat.

Usually, a professional could kill him before he got close.

Some wealthy knights even wore high magic resistance armor.

This made electrical attacks potentially less effective.

But who said Ogre had to fight professionals? He could fight demon beasts.

As long as he controlled the electricity to harm others without harming himself, it would be a good defensive skill. As for offense, Ogre needed to explore further.

"First, I need to find my limits."

Ogre began his first attempt.

He started controlling himself to gradually increase 'exertion,' ensuring he found his body's maximum tolerance.

Soon, Ogre found the sweet spot.

Discharging from half his body had no significant effect on him; exceeding this limit began to affect him, with more release causing greater impact.

"Thankfully, it's not a useless ability."

Ogre breathed a sigh of relief, then began developing the ability—this was his first non-physical skill.

"Lightning Bolt!"

Ogre tried to 'throw' electricity with a wave.

It worked, but was useless due to the pitifully short range.

"Uncontrolled energy indeed can't easily mimic a mage's spells... I lack something to guide it."

This attempt failed; the attack range was honestly worse than stabbing someone with a spear.

It seemed mastering lightning wasn't so useful...

"No, there must be a use I haven't noticed..."

Ogre never lacked attempts and thoughts.

He soon recalled information about the Lightning Eel.

"How does the Lightning Eel avoid electrocuting itself... Right, water... I need a medium!"

With this thought, Ogre's eyes lit up.

He quickly filled a basin with water from his 'bath' barrel.

Then, Ogre reached into the water.

Discharge!

Crackling electricity spread from his submerged hand, visibly extending the attack range.

"Let's see if increasing the current improves endurance." Ogre increased the current, and with water sharing the 'exertion,' he felt no discomfort even with over half his body discharging.

But then, Ogre noticed bubbles forming in the water.

"Bubbles? Why are there bubbles?"

As Ogre observed the source of the bubbles, flames suddenly ignited where the water met his exposed arm.

Flames flickered, and a blue glow appeared beneath Ogre's white skin—a reaction from his ogre skin's resistance.

Thanks to the ogre skin's resistance, the small fiery explosion didn't cause serious harm.

It just burned him a bit.

"Where did the fire come from!" More than the burn, Ogre was concerned about the fire's origin.