Skill

Resi and Bang caught up to the members of the Defending Tip. Resi walked a pace faster, avoiding Bang to forget the weird incident he witnessed.

Gotang was leading his members through the monoliths; everyone was vigilant. So far, there were no casualties. Their experience allowed them to minimize mistakes and maximize their coordination.

They walked for an hour, with their pace at a crawl. Resi stood a few feet away from Bang, sometimes stealing some glances towards him. He was still wary.

Bang caught up to Gotang and followed his steps, making sure to always be behind him.

After what seemed like an eternity, they noticed the numbers of the black monoliths became less dense. The previous part of the valley had a monolith every 2 meters but now, it slowly turned to a monolith every 7 meters in all directions. They had more space but they maintained formation in case a crisis comes up.

Gotang stopped walking and raised his hand. They all immediately halted and searched their surroundings. After a few seconds, they felt a rumble in the ground. This was not an earthquake; the reverberation was like a heart beating. Boom...boom...boom.

Bang gulped. Just from the thundering sounds of the steps, he could tell that it was heavy. Gotang looked towards his left and from the distance, a silhouette of a large and wide humanoid formed in the fog.

His research told him only one thing, an ogre. The humongous ogre showed itself in its full power, roaring to the heavens and banging its chest. It wore a simple leather-like cloth over its waist and its green muscular body was in full showing.

It was almost four meters in height; its wide physique gave them a sense of powerlessness in the face of an immense juggernaut. Two tubes protruded from its temples, which replaced the absent ears of the ogre. Its face was bloated, yet the muscles on its face revealed the rage it was feeling right now.

The Defending Tip braced themselves, moving closer together, ignoring the risk of the monoliths; the danger of the ogre overtook the monoliths. This was a beast, a brute that could take their lives within a flick of the finger.

Gotang stood at the front, facing the ogre with a serious face. His blade was already out of its sheath, pointing directly at the ogre. A turquoise-colored liquid came out of his hands and swarmed the blade, making it sheen in the dim light.

"Formation!"

The Defending Tip moved in unison, surrounding the beast who was thrashing around the trees. Resi stayed behind with Bang and Ligi since he will be interfering with the coordination of the main attack group.

Lobo was opposite Gotang, with the beast in the middle. The two most capable fighters were separated from each other. If the beast was able to attack a side and it unfortunately succeeds, then they would only lose one of their integral members.

"Spear and shield formation!"

They moved together and a curved formation entered the ogre's territory. The ogre got provoked. It swung its right backhand and tried to slap the humans out of existence. The formation deformed like a bending stick; this allowed Gotang and Lobo to attack its vulnerable sides.

The edge of Gotang's sword had spikes formed from the turquoise liquid. With his two hands and his full weight on the sword, he slashed the ogre's side. Blood spurted and dirtied his serious face.

Lobo's sword had the same edge but was cruder and less intense. Gotang's sword had a sense of pressure just by looking at it; Lobo's sword looked sharp but had no substance. It sliced the ogre on the opposite side but the blood dripped down considerably less than before.

After they dealt damage, they quickly retreated. The ogre bellowed in pain, sending shockwaves to all near it. As it screamed, they could see its injuries release black smoke and the wound was visibly closing.

The wound Lobo inflicted was already completely healed, with no scars around it. The one Gotang inflicted had become a flesh wound, just moments away from forming a scab.

"Keep strong. It will eventually fall."

Their reliable leader affirmed their resolution. This was gonna be a fight of endurance and resilience. If they keep on fighting with perfect coordination, it will only be a matter of time until the ogre falls.

The ogre's eyes glared directly at Gotang. It identified the most dangerous being that could threaten its life. It quickly took away the glare and displayed a calm and happy expression. The frown on its green eyebrows gave away the true intentions of the beast.

"This ogre has slight intelligence. Don't be misled, it will go after me."

The ogre cuffed its fists together, creating a devastating hammer that will most likely liquefy anything hit by it. It reared its arms up with intention of crushing the members of the Defending Tip. Like versatile water taking shape of its container, they formed a curve that barely avoided the fists.

As soon as the fists hit the ground, Gotang and Lobo moved. They bent their body low and raised their blades towards the ogre. The ogre knew this would happen; it immediately used its hind legs and kicked towards Gotang.

The ogre did a handstand as both legs targeted Gotang and Lobo. They immediately retreated, Gotang a full meter away from the kick whiLe Lobo barely dodged it as he bent his body back.

The members took this chance and tried to taint their swords with ogre blood. The accumulative damage done by them was skin deep and only served to annoy the green beast.

They continued fighting for about an hour. The members acted as bait while Gotang and Lobo acted as the main damage dealers. The violet blood of the ogre mixed with their sweat dripped down onto the wet ground. The ogre had scratches and wounds on his whole body but it was not fatal and it looked energetic as ever.

In comparison, Lobo was panting hard as his chest heaved up and down. The members were fought as hard as they could but were only useful for distraction, any more and they would disrupt the flow of Gotang and Lobo. Gotang looked okay but his eyes were less clear and had a bit of red as tiredness set in. They needed to end this.

"Stand down. I'll finish this."

Gotang closed his eyes and everyone around him felt a pressure bearing down on them. The ogre felt it too, as it flinched and looked warily at Gotang.

Gotang raised his hand and a violet liquid came out and floated around him.

"Fluid Security."

Gotang spoke underneath the violet liquid. This liquid spiraled around him and converged into his body. He became a humanoid made of liquid until it solidified into a metallic sheen. It started with the head; it covered his scalp and two blue spikes came out that curved like horns. The liquid dispersed around his eyes, revealing a calm and collected demeanor with no trace of tiredness.

The liquid formed a glass protection around his eyes, creating a helmet that covered every part of his face. The liquid settled even further in his upper body. It replicated every muscle and bone as a violet armor appeared on his body. The armor had diamond-shaped bulges the size of a fingernail that covered every part of the armor.

It spread onto his arms. It stopped below his elbow and formed a giant shoulder guard with a parabolic shape. The liquid traveled through his forearms and reached his arms, creating fingerless gloves that had a metallic sheen. It spread onto his blade as it covered every part, doubling the size of the blade and increasing the sharpness.

The liquid on his legs became pteruges, a gladiator skirt. The liquid traveled to his feet and formed armored shoes that had two protruding spikes at the heel and a shoe guard on the toes.

Bang and looked at the new Gotang, impressed and astonished at the show of power. He never knew that power could do that. Gotang exuded strength. The powerlessness they felt because of the ogre was now replaced by a sense of hope. Gotang did not disappoint.

The ogre did not know what to do. It wanted to run straight through Gotang and crush him with its hands but its instincts told him not to; it told him there was danger. That hesitation was enough for Gotang to prepare for the upcoming fight.

Gotang stepped forward lightly, but Bang suddenly saw him behind the ogre, with the violet sword pointing at the ground. From his perspective, Gotang teleported there. Resi only saw a blur.

The ogre suddenly felt a stinging pain in its back. Violet blood spurted from its back as Gotang turned away from the ogre, not even acknowledging the booming roar of the ogre. It fell on the ground with one knee. Its head was fuming in anger, veins on its forehead bulged as it would pop. Blood poured down its back and it turned motionless.

Bang was dumbfounded. Did they win?

Suddenly, a loud sound of bones breaking came from the ogre. Its body convulsed and constricted, making no sound as it had its eyes closed. The green skin of the ogre turned fuming red, starting from the chest. The ogre started to emit white smoke as its body shrunk. Its previous 4-meter height turned into 2 meters, like a normal man.