Chapter 9: My hands are covered in ___

profanity warning

I aimed to land on the ogre's neck, but I missed by a few meters. Boom. A crater formed where I landed, though I wasn't injured; I had already covered my legs with essence.

Turning around, I willed essence to envelop my body. With a quick step, I arrived right in front of a guy, blocking the ogre's attack head-on. The tree he wielded as a weapon shattered against my defence.

With another quick step, I was right in front of his face. I supercharged internal destruction. Bang. The ogre dropped backward, hitting the ground hard.

Level Up! -> Level 24

I met the gaze of another ogre holding a small female. He staggered backward, falling with her in his hands, having just witnessed his companion die in seconds. He screamed.

A blonde female behind me shouted, "Hurry up! Do something before it's too late!"

As I prepared to close the distance and kill the ogre, the boy who was with her appeared right in front of me in an instant. He swung his blade at me, catching me off guard. The blade plunged into my eye, slicing through my eyebrow and up my face. I staggered back, shocked, blood pouring down my face. I swung at him, but missed, thinking he was closer than he actually was.

Even the girl screamed out in shock. He had bypassed Alert. I looked at him in surprise, wondering how he did it.

With one eye, I examined him closely. A white male with blue eyes and dark green hair, he held hatred in his eyes. He wore black pants and a T-shirt made of wool. His small frame made him nimble. He stood in front of me, a born killer.

"Fuck, man, you had to interfere. I had this all planned out. I was going to fuck this bitch later, but you had to fuck it up," he said.

I ignored this green-haired freak and dashed at the ogre, who was still within reach. I could still save her. But then the green-haired man appeared right in front of me. We made eye contact as I stopped. I jabbed at him, but he dodged, giving me just a second to use quick step.

I could have closed the distance, but my skill didn't activate. Nothing. I felt robbed of my skill; it should have been mine, but it was taken just like that.

This guy had a beyond-broken ability.

He threw an overhead punch. I ducked. I didn't have time for this bullshit. I dashed at the kid again, this time pushing everything I had into my legs.

But nothing happened. "Fucking hell, I'm going to fucking kill you."

I looked around, but he wasn't anywhere to be seen. Alert didn't sound in my head. I heard someone said "ook down". He was right in front of me. This time I timed him, but I was still stabbed in the chest.

The wound was deep, and blood was gushing out. The first ever human I tried to save had betrayed me. It was unreal but exciting.

I gazed at the ogre escaping with the girl. She reminded me of my daughter, so delicate and cute, that I thought I had buried that memory.

Health: 20

He was going to kill me. I smiled at him, his skills were useful. How had he gotten so close to me, intending to kill me, without triggering an alert?

I called forth all of my essences to protect my body, Blood appeared all over me.. A look of surprise appeared on his face.

He held out his hand, his palm facing me. I didn't know what he was doing; I didn't see any energy exiting his body. The essence surrounding my body vanished. No, it was sealed within me. Now I understood.

He was the reason the ogres killed the other two. They couldn't use their energy. He had betrayed his own kind. I used fire spiritual energy on him; white flames surrounded him, but he didn't burn. He laughed at how useless my ability was.

It seemed like his skill had one main function: the ability to cancel any skill, sealing the energy. But he couldn't seal all types of energy, or if he could, I didn't give him the chance.

The spell he had on me was gone. I appeared right in front of him, my fist colliding with his face.

He dropped and rolled. I waited for him to stop, then I kicked him in the head, snapping it backward. I stomped down and started pummeling his face with my fists. He cried and begged for mercy.

I looked down upon him. I was on top, and he wasn't. My eyes glowed dark black without me knowing. His begging and asking for mercy irritated me even more. They were all the same—everyone begs for mercy when faced with death. I broke his tooth as my fist dug into his face.

"Where's that cockiness you had before?" I asked him. He stuttered and begged.

"Please, I'm innocent," he said while tears ran down his face.

"Where is it?" He didn't answer me.

He was confused—where was what, he must have thought. So I clarified for him.

"Where is the ogre going?" I asked him.

"To the ogre kingdom," the blonde answered.

I stopped in my tracks. He shivered in fear. I realized I didn't need him anymore. I punched harder, and then even harder.

My fist ripped through his mouth, dislocating his jaw. I raised my hand and started hammering his head. His skin burst open. I punched him so hard that I heard something crack. He started to shake and spit blood. I finished him with internal destruction.

I withdrew my hand, covered in blood, and looked at my notifications.

Level Up! -> Level 25

Mission Complete: You have saved your kind by killing it. Reward: Full Health

Weapon: Sword, spear, hammer, axe, dagger, chains, arrow and bow, sai, sickle, flail, gauntlet, whip, javelin, trident, chest plate, shield.

Why was I given a reward for a mission I clearly failed? Or was the mission not what I thought it was?

A chest plate appeared on me, the size perfect. Too perfect. It felt like the chest armour I wore back home.

"Excuse me," a soft and sweet voice said in my ear.

I turned around and saw a sexy blonde-white lady. She had everything: ass, chest, and looks. Her nose was small, and her frame was slim but curvy. But I wasn't interested.

I scanned her and saw how her clothes were better than the rest. They were made out of thread but fit her perfectly—black shirt and pants.

"What's the problem?" I asked her.

"Can you help me find my brother? He will reward you handsomely."

I looked at her. She didn't seem to care about the kidnapped kid, I immediately hated her for that.

"With him, we have a better chance of saving her. But to do that, you can use that guy's radar stone. All you have to do is think of combining it with yours," she said.

"How did you know I have one?" I asked. I hadn't shown it to her, so how did she know? I was facing another weird skill user.

"Everybody who has clothing receives those," she said with a smile.

I see.

That make sense, but I wouldn't say it out loud. I didn't like how she was smiling at me. It creeped me out. She wasn't okay in her head.

I walked up to the guy I killed and took his red stone. I wished for it to merge, and it did. I also stripped him of his clothes—they were in too good condition to leave behind.

I put on his pants and then his shirt. They didn't fit me; they were too tight. I turned around and looked at the girl. She blushed and looked away.

I then looked at the other bodies but didn't find any stones. My assumption was that if we died, we'd leave the stones behind, but it didn't seem like that.

The blonde patiently watched me with a smile.

"What?" I asked.

"Only those who kill the person can merge the stones," she said, turning around to look at the sky.

"We have to go. The dead bodies attract monsters."

I paused for a second and wondered, was she the true mastermind? Not once had she shown a hint of disgust or fear.

"That is true, but you don't seem to be worrying about her," I asked her.

"There is no saving," she smiled at me.

Truly a crazy woman. I noted it in my head. We walked away from the dead bodies, and I willed my tent to open up.

And it did. The system's power never ceased to amaze me. I entered my tent and saw that it was bigger. It had a green table. I gazed at it and saw a blue dot, which I figured was me, and a black dot, which was the girl. The map was flat and green, showing that we were in a forest. It also showed different colours of territories. On the map, there was a pin location, which I guessed was their base. It was a mile from us.

I also saw the mountain at the edge of the map where I crossed. I couldn't see beyond that, and the mountains had a different color, signifying it was a territory.

Lastly, a wave-like radar pulse sent across the map. This radar fed me back information on who was around me and how they were moving.

But most importantly, we were in ogre territory, and I could see the ogre with the girl traveling further away.

I needed to hurry. Something snapped me out of my thoughts.

"Hello," the girl called out to me.

I pushed my head outside of the tent. "What?"

"Can I enter your tent?" she asked.

"Can't you enter my tent?" I asked back.

"Yes, only if you allow me to," she answered with a smile.