Chapter 11 - An Unfair Disadvantage

As I expected, I am paralyzed by the Roar.

[The Fanged Ogre has a stronger POW than the user.]
[You have been paralyzed for 6 seconds.]

I lay stuck on my back, not only paralyzed in fear, but also just in general. '6 seconds? That's twice as long as Screech!' I think, cursing the unfairness of the situation.

Desperately, I fight against the paralysis, but it was no use. As I will my body to move, just like my Instinct had been trying to warn me, the Ogre gives me a nasty grin as it sees its move had worked. It looks up to the sky and howls triumphantly, clapping its hands together like a toddler. Calming down, it slaps its fat, dirty hands by either side of my head, and roars again.

[Fanged Ogre used the Skill Roar.]
[Skill is still in use. Skill failed.]

The gross smile on the brute's face disappears in an instant. Clearly, it wasn't expecting that. I wasn't either, honestly, with the fear that I might just be forever paralyzed by this thing stacking the Skill on itself.

A second later, my arm twitches. 'Yes, yes yes yes!'

[Paralysis has been lifted.]

Like a bullet out of a gun, I use every point in my Agility to get my feet under me and bolt several feet away. I stumble every other step, even tumbling and rolling, but I need as much distance as I could get in the next few seconds.

The Ogre screeches angrily. It probably isn't happy that the toy it found wasn't willing to be a toy.

[Ogre has activated the Skill Predator's Glare.]
[The Ogre can now track you for 3 miles.]

I ignore the message and keep running at full speed. Gradually, my clumsiness fades as my long, panicked strides grow faster with each step, until finally I have to stop to catch my breath.

[Stamina: 10/35]

"Was that… three… miles?"

Ding!

[The Fanged Ogre is tracking you.]

"Fuck!" I scream. I can't keep running now; I'd drop from exhaustion before I could get out of range and then I'd just be an easy target.

I sigh, my breath returning to me with it. The Ogre has low Agility, so I should have some time to recover my Stamina before I have to fight it. Pulling out my Inventory, I grab at the box that held the Crude Dagger, and pull it from the screen. Swiping it a couple times, I sit, focusing on controlling my breathing.

2 minutes later, I'm rested enough to speed up my Stamina regeneration. I watch it tick up steadily, sighing in relief. Barely more than a minute later, I hear crashing from in front of me. I frown. "It can't be… That's way too fast."

[Stamina: 21/35]

"Please don't be the Ogre," I mutter, standing on my feet and holding the dagger out. The primitive blade is just a few inches longer than my forearm; it was right in between the length of a shortsword and a dagger.

A grubby, barely-white hand reaches around the tree trunk of one of the trees in front of me. Slowly, a misshapen, human-like head peeks out from behind it, small black eyes like watery boba glaring at me.

The truly unnerving part is the fangs, though, which have gone from a slightly yellowed white to a deep red. They've grown from just above the chin to several inches below it, and look hollow with two diagonal struts in each to reinforce them from within. The two fangs remind me of the tusks of the Boar, and I groan internally. 'Why are things always trying to skewer me?'

The Ogre must have heard my thoughts, because it leaps into the air with a loud roar.

[Fanged Ogre activated the Skill Skewer Bite.]

A red mist, which I know by now was Mana, explodes from the Ogre's mouth and swirls furiously around the fangs. They now jut outwards at a strange angle, and the Mana attaches to the ends of them to extend the length of the human-skewers a few feet.

The Ogre falls exceptionally fast, as if someone had grabbed it and was pulling it back down. The fangs bore down on me, and I will my legs to move to their limit.

CRRRASH!

The Mana-covered fangs slam into the ground where I had just been, and as soon as they made contact, the Mana begins spinning at high speed, drilling deeper into the dirt before dissolving with a loud poof.

I skid to a stop, falling on my ass about 15 feet to the Ogre's right, the knife clattering out of my hands in the rough dirt. I stare grimly at the two new holes as the fangs right themselves in the Ogre's gas chamber of a mouth.

Ding!

[The user dodged a One-Shot blow!
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+1 INT]
[The user is pushing their body past their limits against a much stronger foe.
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+1 VIT, +1 AGI]
[The user is in an unwinnable situation, yet chooses to fight.
This achievement forcefully rose one or more stats.
+1 STR]
[New stats taking effect in 3…]

"I didn't choose to fight, this damn beast forced me to," I grumble, picking myself and the blade up. I don't have time to complain. All I can do now is do everything I can pull off to survive.

"Yo, ugly ass," I call out, getting its attention on me again. Even though I doubt it would understand, I raise my middle finger at it, then spit at the ground. "You're leaving a shitty taste in my mouth."

[New Stats have taken effect.]
[Target is in sight.]
[Critical Eye Skill activated.]

Whether or not it understands, it didn't seem to like the gestures I was making, so it screeches loudly again, slamming the floor like it was throwing a tantrum. It opens its mouth and I see a red ring forming around its black tar-like lips. My Instinct kicks in again. Maybe it was due to its rapid growth, but it seemed to be getting stronger and more clear with each life or death fight I find myself in.

'GO.'

Leaning forward, I dash towards the beast as it unleashes a loud, Mana-filled roar.

[Fanged Ogre activated the Skill Roar.]
[Skill failed to take effect.]

The immature brat yelps and jumps up and down with little hops in anger that its favorite skill hadn't worked. By now, I figure that it was still the equivalent of a child — Analyze had told me it was quite young, but I hadn't realized that it was this much so. But it was good thing it was; I can use that.

Leaping up, I slash at its throat. I can see it knows it can't dodge, as my Agility is much higher than the heavy Ogre's. So, it does exactly as I was hoping for, and raises its arm to protect the neck. I draw my blade back close to my body, completely missing the neck and arm and swinging past it. I twist my elbow around, using all the strength in my arm to cut back upwards at the vomit-inducing face in front of me. My feint works well, and it has no time to react as the dagger cuts into its face, splitting one of its small eyes as it runs across it. It screams in pain, but I smile happily as the message I was waiting to see popped up.

[Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg was adjusted to 350%.]

WHAP!

Large spurts of blood fly from the cut as extra damage is applied, but I know it wasn't right. Narrowing my eyes, I activate Analyze and focus on its health.

[Health: 24/63]

Double checking its Defense, I click my tongue. It had only done about 14 base Dmg, even though I should be able to do 20. 'Why?'

The Critical Mark had been on the inside of the Ogre's eyebrow, and even if I had just skimmed it, I still hit it…

Wait.

The unlucky goblin I had killed had only taken the stick's damage worth. At first, I thought that was just because I hadn't swung it, but it wouldn't make sense, since it had jumped at me full speed. But I had only skimmed the Critical Mark, which was located a little to the left of the dude's groin.

So it had done less damage because it was the difference between actually hitting a target versus skimming it. The Critical Hit only fully amplifies the power that hit the Critical Mark depending on how on target I was — the Damage dealt to the exact Mark.

My head spins slightly as I finally reach my conclusion. At least I understood why it requires 15 ACC, now.

Ding!

A message pops up, but I quickly push it to the side as I notice the Ogre regaining most of its composure. It glares hatefully at me before opening its mouth to attempt to Roar again. With a groan, I pull one of the 6 remaining sticks from my Inventory.

"Shut up, man."

[Target in sight.]
[Critical Eye Skill activated.]

I wind up and chuck the stick at the Ogre, and the stick snaps almost uselessly against its arm. Except—

[Critical Mark has been hit. Dmg was adjusted to 350%.]

CRACK!

The sound of the breaking of the stick suddenly amplifies, and though it didn't do that much damage, it was enough to stagger the brat into canceling the Skill.

[Health: 21/63]

Hopefully, the end was nearing.

Letting out a long breath, I pull the blade of the dagger up near my shoulder. Most of the fear I had felt had already dissipated after realizing I was only fighting a juvenile beast. It was still strong, but I could outsmart it with its lack of experience.

Moving my Mana around, I direct it towards the dagger.

[Slash Skill activated.]

A small humming sound can be heard for a moment as the purple glow grows over the rough edges of the weapon, and I point it confidently at the Ogre.

"Time for some discipline, kiddo."