9 Reinforcements!
***
"Don't die, don't die, don't die. Please don't die!"
The guard repeated to himself, as he heard the cries of the ogres deep within the forest. He was hours away from the town of beginnings, even if he ran with all of his might. He'll be late, and that <chosen> would be dead, hell he's been running for hours already.
"WAAGH!"
He heard an ogre roar right behind him. When he looked back, he saw a lone ogre wandering there. He readied his steel spear reinforced with that <chosen> mana. Even though he's a normal town guard, he's learned a degree of martial arts required to be a town guard.
The earth beneath him shook, as the ogre saw him from afar, and started charging at him with an uprooted tree in hand. The guard shook in fear, but the image of his dead friend flashed inside his head, and that gave him the courage to face the ogre.
"WAAAGH!!"
The guard leaped to the side, as the Ogre slammed the tree downwards. Then the guard stabbed the ogre in its Achilles heel, tearing its tendon, and making the ogre shout in pain, it swung the tree towards the guard.
The guard pulled out the spear and avoided the tree by ducking, then he stood up and ran behind its back and stabbed it multiple times. The ogre quickly turned around and backhanded the guard.
"Gaaagh!"
The guard flew over a dozen meters before hitting a tree. He coughed out a handful of blood and was in so much pain; that he saw the ogre walking toward him, with a grin on its face.
"I'm sorry... <chosen>... I'm sorry, Adamus, my friend."
The visions of his dead friend flashed before him again, then he heard a voice.
"Get up."
The voice of Adamus, a friend of his who died in the same forest.
"You still draw breathe, so get up. For only in death does duty end."
Adamus' heroic last stand against the goblins before the <chosens> appeared happened in this very forest. The guard who heard the voice stood up. He gritted his teeth as the smell of iron fills the air. The pain in his body intensified as he moved.
"COME AT ME, OGRE!"
He held the spear in his hand and readied himself as the ogre charged at him at full force.
"AAGGHHH!!"
The guard shouted out with all his might and charged at the ogre. His death was approaching, but at that moment he felt no fear, instead of courage that could rival those <chosens> that have multiple lives fill him.
[A <god> of 'The Unknown' is touched by your last stand!]
[A <god> of 'The Unknown' has given you a small amount of his power!]
A golden aura surrounded the guard, and a bright light coated the tip of the spear. The ogre slammed his tree on the guard, but the guard thrust his spear toward the tree and a bright golden light destroyed it, together with the ogre, creating a beacon in the sky.
"This..."
Tears welled up in the guard's eyes as the warmth of the golden light wrapped around him.
"Please, don't die, sir. <chosen>."
The guard fell unconscious as he had a fatal injury, and he have used most of his stamina and mana in that attack. But soon the sounds of the wind whooshing past him could be heard, as the master of the Alcorian Swordsmanship Academy found the beacon.
***
My left arm is broken, and my equipment is on its last legs. My right eye has lost all vision, and my balance has been disrupted. Dodging the attacks of the ogres was hard, and now that I got hit, it became a hundred times harder; I killed another ogre and dropped onto the ground, running in between their legs, finding an exit, and running into the forest again to find somewhere to hide.
[Ogres Killed: 32/500]
"Sh*t."
It was then I saw a bright golden beacon in the sky. There was a signal, so all I need to do was hold out until reinforcements arrive, but how can I do that? The ogres from behind uprooted the trees and started throwing them at me.
It was easy to dodge the falling trees, but it's hard to outrun the ogres, since they can just find me because of my sent, and I'm not allowed to retreat.
I ran out of breath, and the ogres were closing the distance with great speed. I used the breathing technique to regain some of my mana and stamina, but as soon as I get running again, a tree hit me on the back, pinning me against the ground.
The ogres now closed in the distance and picked up my battered body from the ground. I closed my eyes, hoping it would just end quickly since the pain wasn't something I want to witness, then I felt the air brush my hair as it dropped me.
"My disciple, don't close your eyes, face your death proudly as you've fought against these monsters!"
When I opened my eyes, I'm still in the hands of the ogre, but the master was right in front of me, his sword covered in a bright-blue aura resembling flames, and his grey long hair danced in the wind as the ogres in front of him trembled in fear.
"Now, since you've opened your eyes, better watch carefully as your master deal with these heathens!"
The flame aura on his sword responded to his rage, and it became stronger. It was raging together with its master. He swung his sword in front of him, and the blue flames roared out, reaching out to the ogres covering them with blue flames. The ogres in the forefront immediately turned to ashes, and the ones behind them had severe burns.
"WAAGH!!"
The ogres roared out and charged toward the master, but they were charging toward me. He used this to his advantage since the focus was on me, and with swift, fluent motions, his flaming sword danced in the air. Even if you were at the receiving end of the blade, you would describe this as beautiful, with each lick of the flame-like a petal of a rose.
The ogres fell in drive, their hands reaching out for me, cut off, their legs that charged toward me, sliced off of their bodies, and their heads fell from their bodies. This was the current master of the Alcorian Swordsmanship Academy, his ability on display.
[Ogres Killed: 45/500]
[Ogres Killed: 56/500]
[Ogres Killed: 61/500]
[Ogres Killed: 79/500]
[Ogres Killed: 94/500]
[Ogres Killed: 100/500]
In just a few minutes, he has felled 67 ogres, and I take hours to kill 33 of them. The gap in power is enormous, and one day I too would reach that stage. It's just a matter of time before I do so.
"The ogres are here!"
I heard the shouts of players from afar, and I saw a familiar emblem on their banners. They're the Giant's Hand guild, a guild that's under the great Deus Ex Machina guild. They're one of the top 20 guilds, and them being here means that the <quest> should be good as over.
[Ogres Killed: 120/500]
[Ogres Killed: 154/500]
[Ogres Killed: 191/500]
[Ogres Killed: 210/500]
.
..
...
....
[Ogres Killed: 499/500]
[Ogres Killed: 500/500
It took a while to kill all 500 ogres, but since most of them were attracted to me, there was no need to find some of them, since they were already in the vicinity.
"My disciple, I shall commend you for holding out against hundreds of them."
[ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ERROR! ERROR!]
[Your body needs rest!]
[Ejecting you from the game!]
Wait, no I want to see what title I've received and any of the additional rewards!!
[You've been ejected from the game!]
[Thank you for playing!]
***
Clarent opened his eyes inside the pod. He was about to shout profanities, but then the pain surged throughout his body.
"AAAAAA!!!"
The pain from being hit with a giant club, and being struck by a tree thrown by an ogre with strength that could lift a pickup truck, and destroy a building in just a few hits, 'if it wasn't for me leveling up my vitality and my equipment, the pain I felt would've been much worse, and I would've died in the game' is what he thought as Clarent opened the hatch.
"Heh, it's been long since I've gone out, or has it only been 8 hours or such?"
Clarent felt his stomach grumble and checked his wallet. Only a few dollars remain, probably enough for cup noodles, which he eats every day.
"That's the extent of my solo play. Since I play melee, getting a ranged dealer should be beneficial to me."
Going out of the apartment, and breathing in the fresh air. Clarent realized that this was better compared to the stench of blood that permeates the air each time he hunts the monsters.
"This is just the beginning, <Eden> wait for me, for I'll find you!"
