Ashura's Incarnation Arc - Chapter 9: Ogre

After defeating the orcs, Asura collected the cores of all of them and started searching the pouches that they always carried with them. The old grandma said these things often brought with them herbs that are common deep in the forest.

"Found it." Asura exclaimed while taking out a green herb out of one of the pouches the orcs had. It looked similar to a pandan albeit slightly shorter and having a contrasting color of purple.

I've heard this herb is what the orcs eat after every meal to help their metabolism. Perhaps this herb is something like a supporting ingredient for potion making.

「Asura, let's go home after you're done with looting them. Also, you made sure not to destroy their cores during the fight, right?」

"Understood, and no, I don't think I've found a destroyed core so far."

「Good to hear.」

While Asura was occupied and immersed in collecting our spoils, my life sensors detected a large signature approaching us from the back. It's still a few ways back but it's coming to our direction at a striding speed.

「Asura, prepare for combat. Their boss is coming.」

I expected something like a big orc but what appeared turned out to be something else. It looked like a japanese ogre with a bulging robust figure and holding a giant bat that was swung towards Asura who barely reacted in time.

"F-Fast!"

Asura was surprised but nevertheless blocked the attack with her hands. After she met the strike head on, her two arms seem to have been destroyed, wounded and fractured and her smaller figure was sent flying to crash at the trunk of a tree. She almost let out a scream but before she could fully absorb the pain, I blocked out her pain receptors causing her to slightly calm down.

Regenerating her severely damaged body took me a second but that made us lose alot of stamina. I have to regain it somehow or else I'll have no way to fight.

"Rok fetir, igazima. For tou!"

The ogre spoke of a language unfamiliar to me, which means that Asura also has no knowledge of what that thing is saying.

"Gra rugishima ferin."

The ogre held it's bat menacingly and pointed it's bloody tip towards us. I've noticed during it's poise that it only wore clothes on it's lower body and that it's bat was starting to emanate a sort of yellow light.

It's positioning and stance was considerably better than the orcs. It's obvious this thing won't be an easy opponent.

「I could tell it wants to battle.」

While observing the light coming out of the ogre's weapon, something like a green reticle in my eyesight was focusing itself on the weapon and a loading window appeared below it. Currently it had 7% and still increasing. I don't know what it means but it shouldn't be anything bad.

"Groaar!"

The ogre charged at us in full force, ready to swing it's gigantic bat on us with killing intent. Asura barely managed to evade it's horizontal strike, inflicting a small cut on her cheek.

Despite it's size, it's unbelievably fast. Perhaps even faster than Asura, how can we win against this?!

Before any grave injuries find themself on Asura again, I joined the battle and grew an exoskeleton to protect her whole body even if just a little.

"Ashura-sama, I can't find an opening!"

The ogre kept bashing it's weapon at us in all directions as if attacking us in a frenzy. Clearly it didn't want to give Asura a chance to recover.

「Hang in there, I'll do something about this.」

I quickly browsed through my skills list and began looking for a skill that would match this situation. I have to break this thing's attack pattern or else this'll be a battle of attrition which I'm clear we're likely to losing.

Just like earlier when time seem to have slowed down, I read through all my skills' descriptions again and this time checked on the special skill I had in the case it was something that could help me in this situation.

[Power Boost] increases Asura's constitution by 40%, [Memory Space] would make me capable of browsing through this thing's memories but that only works if I or Asura takes hold of it's brain, [Mind Invasion] only works on those my body latch onto. [Martial Arts] I can't imagine a martial arts that can counter this ogre's attack pattern, and even if I make a blade out of Asura's body there's no guarantee it could break it's weapon, I'd only be wasting energy.

The last skill left is...

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[Monster Book] ⟨Active⟩

- Summon the same type of monsters you've once defeated. After they're summoned, they will have absolute loyalty towards you. Maintaining their presence costs no mana but summoning and regenerating them will. You can only summon the same type of monster depending on the amounts of charges you currently have, you can gain more by killing the same type of monster again and restore a charge by taking the summoned monster back.

MP Cost: Target Dependent

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I expected this thing to be a type of skill that analyzes a monster's information like an index just as it's name suggested but I was mistaken. This thing allows me to summon monsters instead of appraising them.

I used the skill and in my lobby room, a book appeared. When I opened it out of curiosity, I discovered each page contained the same monsters I've killed with photographs and biographies.

The variety of monsters I could summon right now was as follows.

Infant T-Rex (1x)

MP Cost: 35

Adult T-Rex (1x)

MP Cost: 340

Lesser Kobold (4x)

MP Cost: 4

Lesser Orc (13x)

MP Cost: 5

This felt like a shop but with money being mana, but that doesn't matter right now. As much as I'd like to summon that mother T-Rex again, my maximum mana doesn't reach that number just yet.

Despite it being just a baby, it should be far better and less expensive than 13 orcs combined.

"Agh!"

Asura was sent flying again after receiving a direct hit on the chest, shattering the exoskeleton in that area and leaving me with a burning sensation in my chest as if my insides were shattered too.

It's time, I have to use it now before Asura gets into too much of a pinch that gets her head bashed open.

The magic word for this summoning is simply "Come Forth." instead of [Monster Book]? I guess even I would be embarrassed too if I said such a cringey thing out of nowhere regardless if it's by word or by mind.

「Come Forth.」

Asura who was using the remaining armor to shield herself from the constant rain of attacks from the ogre, was stupefied when a large silhouette appeared behind the ogre and bit it's head right to it's neck. It was a familiar monster for her afterall.

After jerking the ogre here and there, the T-Rex tossed the ogre to a tree, making that tree shake violently and drop dozens of acorns on the ground and on the ogre's head.

The ogre stood up once again with a look of irritation on it's face, it didn't lose it's head but it did have a deep teeth mark on it's neck. It's a shock that it isn't even dead yet.

"Grooaarr!!"

"Roaaar!!"

The two monsters intimidated one another before engaging in combat once again, the ogre trying to push back the great size of it's foe and the T-Rex trying to bite the ogre's head off.

Making use of this opportunity, I grew tentaculums out of the beaten Asura's shoulders and dragged her body to the kobolds for her body to eat and recover our lost energy. My mana was only 80/290 by this time so I have to be careful. Especially when it's still decreasing to regenerate the damage the T-Rex is getting from the ogre.

After restoring our body's stamina again, I started to repair all it's damaged tissues immediately since it's internals has been gravely damaged. Just a little more action and Asura could have possibly caused more damage with the broken shards of her fractured ribs.

I should return to battle now.

『Technique observation has reached 100%, obtain the martial technique [Sword Fury]?』

I'm not sure how I got that skill but it must be related to the loading bar earlier. I should make use of it.

『Applying martial technique to the Mind Sea.』

After Asura confirmed that her healing process was finished, she rushed back into battle, I made sure to tell her about the T-Rex beforehand so that she doesn't kill our ally.

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[Sword Fury] ⟨Active⟩

- One of the basic techniques of martial artists commonly used by Murim Warriors. This technique emphasizes on quick and consecutive attacks by enhancing the upper body's sustainability in handling swift and aggressive movements.

SP Cost: 50

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SP? Is that another energy used for skills just like MP? I don't have that so this means I can't use it. I'll just focus on the current battle before paying it any attention later.

The ogre was clearly trying to grapple the T-Rex and make it fall down on it's own weight but they're stuck in a deadlock because of their matching strengths.

I made a blade emerge from Asura's wrist and Asura threw herself to battle straight away. Cutting a large area of the ogre's back which began to bleed wildly.

Now that it's movements were more sluggish, Asura who had her energy fully restored managed to dodge with ease when the ogre launched an attack at her head, the T-Rex found that chance to bite the ogre's head again. This time, crushing the ogre's skull with it's devastating bite.

With a cracking sound that came from our enemy, the fight ended in our favor and I promptly ate it's arm and core.

『Your constitution has increased by +20.』

『Spirit Points has been added to your statistics.』

『Your Spirit Points has increased by +12.』

I was mentally exhausted but celebrating innately, meanwhile Asura was having a staring contest with the T-Rex.

"Master, should I eat it?"

「N-No, don't.」

I completely forgot about this thing.

The T-Rex completely resemble the one I killed back then, it doesn't look like this thing was an undead or anything but it really does look like the original.

Owh?

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Name: None

Race: Earth Dragon - Tyrannosaurus Rex

Constitution: 260/324

Mana: 20/20

Skills: [Fire Resistance Lv1], [Fire Magic Lv1], [Tenacity Lv3], [Doom Aura Lv2], [Search Lv3]

Special Skills: None

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Amazing... So I can check their status too.

In any case, it can come back now.

Something that looked like a magic circle appeared below the monster's feet and like a phantom, the T-Rex phased downwards. I'm assuming that thing leads to another dimension, magic sure is amazing. I should have asked Seven to teach me magic but that would be too much since she already helped us.

"What happened just now, Ashura-sama?"

Ofcourse Asura knew nothing of what I did. So the most I've told her is that, the T-Rex was summoned by me to defeat that ogre and that's just it. I had to receive a shower of praises from her afterwards as we went back to the city.

It truly is amazing that I can fight for that long and get injured so much yet here I am, leisurely and peacefully going back home unscathed.

"Mom, is that a monster?"

"I don't know... I should inform the sentries."

Because Asura's clothes was stained with blood and ripped apart, they were rendered useless or indecent, we had to come back to the city with an alternative method.

"Damn, what is that? A new type of monster?"

"Don't be like that, maybe it's an adventurer. They all look weird."

"That looks weirder than an adventurer though..."

Since we had no other choice, I covered Asura's whole body in an exoskeleton so that her "delicate areas" wouldn't be revealed. It made us look like some humanoid monster but it's better than letting her get in this huge line buck naked.

I really should get extra clothes next time...

And because of that, Asura was taken away by the sentries to be interrogated for her bizarre appearance that caused public panic.