Chapter 38: The Ogre's lair

The Ogre's Lair was one of those dungeons that demanded a party of seasoned veterans to conquer it entirely. No one below the rank of transcendent was even granted permission to enter, let alone hunt the monsters lurking within the dungeon.

Even those who were transcendent were required to be members of a veteran party consisting of experienced warriors with enough ability to protect their party members if anything went haywire.

And, I was standing before the entrance of the dungeon, looking at the swirling runes that protected the monsters from exiting and going on a rampage. I was searching for the rare runes to comprehend their meaning, trying to expand my information regarding the runes and their types that could be created and utilized for my own use.

I wasn't disappointed this time as I had been able to comprehend two runes that were rare ones and could be utilized to seal the monsters while hiding their mystery from the world.

'Rune of Sealing', and 'Rune of Invisibility', these two were the runes that were intricately swirling in the ocean of runes, filled with several other runes that were even more powerful than them.

As their name entailed, one was designed to seal the monsters inside, stopping them from escaping unless the monster inside grows to become even more powerful than the rune it was getting sealed by.

And another, it literally made every other rune invisible to the naked eye. This rune distorted the magical energies within the surrounding creating a perfect camouflage for the other runes to blend within the distorted energies.

These were the lowest-tiered runes, working in tandem with higher-tiered and even more eccentric runes, hiding their wonders while connecting our world with these fractured parts of other worlds that had been destroyed.

It was also the reason why the entrance of any dungeon was filled with chaotic magical energy, making it seem like an entrance to another world.

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"It was irritating."

I couldn't help but feel irritated looking at the exaggerated expressions on the faces of other warriors who had also been waiting for the dungeon to reset.

Their hushed voices, the way they were pointing at me like some exotic monster, and their excited faces, everything they did around me made me more irritated as the time went by. 

Although none of the warriors dared to try and interact with me, It wasn't a very pleasant feeling to be looked at as an exotic monster just because I was alone and stronger than them.

"Why don't they point their fingers towards the 'guild master' or 'the Lord' like they are doing with me?" I couldn't help but grumble as I wasn't going to kill these people for just looking and pointing at me without knowing about the topic of their chat. 

Fwoosh.....

Finally, after about twenty minutes of irritation did the dungeon reset, exciting everyone in the vicinity. I was at the front of the line, if you will, because I had arrived much earlier.

Those who had been camping outside didn't object to me entering the dungeon first, partly because they were somewhat afraid of me and partly because they were confident in their own abilities and the party they were a member of, honed through long-term experience.

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Whissle....

A breeze of cool yet turbid wind blew through my face as soon as I entered the dungeon.

My eyes were greeted by towering stone arches forming a natural gate, weathered by centuries of neglect and adorned with crude, menacing symbols carved into the rock. The air was thick with the scent of moss and damp earth, adding to the eerie atmosphere that surrounded the dungeon. It felt like that gate to the underworld that would haunt anyone who dared to enter the gate in front of me.

I wasn't bothered by the menacing arch in front of me and easily passed through them, entering the hall that was adorned with several destroyed pillars that were supporting its roof. 

Almost all the pillars had some level of wear and tear either formed naturally due to the passage of time or by the Ogres that roamed the hall. Several dimly lit flickering torches mounted in these pillars gave this hall a somewhat chilling look as they were forming such an eerie shadow with everything in the hall making this hall feel even more nightmarish to look at.

There were bones littered on the ground, accentuating the eerieness of this place. The irregular flickering shadows formed by these bones painted ghastly pictures of wailing shadows that gave a sense of foreboding to anyone looking at them. The bones here mostly belonged to human adventurers who had never been able to leave this dungeon, forever haunting the other adventures as a wailing shadow of their past selves.

Creak...

Crack...

Every step I took shattered several bones that covered the entire ground, destroying the silence that shrouded this entire hall. Some directly turned into dust, Puff... to forever remain within the ground, becoming the part of the hall itself.

Grunt...

Rawr...

As the shattering bones started making noises in the hall, several slumbering monsters woke up from their deep slumber. Their grunts and roars echoed in the hall, disrupting my movement. 

As I looked around me, I could see several pairs of eyes staring at me, the ferocity exuded by the beings was palpable, and could easily suppress any awakener that had just ranked up themselves into transcended one.

No wonder, even transcendent warriors weren't allowed to enter the dungeon without an experienced party. Just the aura emanated by these monsters was able to suppress the weaker warriors, fighting these monsters while being suppressed by this aura was almost impossible if you were alone. 

Killing one or two might be possible, but the problem here was there were hundreds of these monsters that were glaring at me, making it literally a death sentence for anyone who entered this dungeon without proper information and planning.

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Monster: Grey Ogre

Tier: 2(Common)

Skills: [Brute strength] [Regeneration(Basic)]

Monsters that might be ferocious or normal adventurers but are the weakest of their bunch. Be ready to deal with even more powerful ones for you have spoken the lair of the Ogres. They are laborers who work for more powerful ones.

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Even the weakest monster in the dungeon was a tier-2 monster, equivalent to the warrior that had just been promoted and obtained their class through their specialization.

Dum... Dum...

The entire hall echoed with several heavy footsteps before the monsters finally showed their appearance to me.

The ones in front of me were colossal humanoid creatures, towering over me with massive, muscular builds that exuded raw power.

Their rugged skin, shaded in gray, added to their formidable appearance, complemented by broad shoulders, thick limbs, and a sturdy frame built for physical dominance. They had distinctively large facial features including flat noses, wide mouths filled with sharp teeth, two tusks adorning their jaws, and small, deep-set eyes that gleamed with malice and ferocity.

Their unkempt manes of coarse hair, sometimes accompanied by fur patches, further enhance their savage demeanor. Despite their hunched postures, they were surprisingly agile, capable of crushing opponents effortlessly with their broad hands and powerful grips.

Their whole physique and demeanor cried of Dominance, utter dominance to those who tried to cross the roads with these brutes. Although they carried no weapon, their bare hands were enough to do the job of crushing their opponents.

Their towering posture with the aura of ferocity was definitely something that could suppress anyone just through visual impact. Fighting wasn't even necessary as some weak and cowardly warriors might even lose their entire will to battle these monsters making them an easy target for the Ogres.

"Yup, this is it."

Even I was feeling somewhat suppressed by these monsters, not by their aura but by the sheer numbers of the ogres present here and looking at me with ferocity.

"There were more than one hundred, as I was able to gain insight about their numbers while learning about the surroundings I was situated in."

I was getting somewhat excited looking at these physical brutes, which made me forget about my main reason for entering this dungeon. I didn't bother with anything before directly jumping toward the monsters with my bare hands.

I hadn't even bothered taking out the blade strapped on my back because I wanted to test my physical limits by battling these monsters without any weapon.

While they might pose no threat to me in a one-on-one fight, facing around one hundred of these brutes would definitely force me to fight to my limits if I wanted to leave this dungeon alive.

Their numbers were the reason I chose this particular dungeon. There were no better options in this town to test my physical limits than facing such a large horde filled with brutal brutes that could kill any awakened warriors with their bare hands while gravely injuring the transcendent ones. 

It was going to be a brutal battle with these giants, I could feel it looking at the monsters standing in front of me, ready to kill me with their bare punches.