Wildness and Masks

"Maybe it's time to save up for a storage item."

Ogre carried a small backpack and held a bag of fish in one hand, feeling somewhat restricted.

He had too many things on him, making it inconvenient to carry. Usually, his backpack could only hold a small hammer for self-defense—though it was a weapon specially made by Ogre.

"Hey, stop!"

A shout came from behind Ogre.

"Yes, you."

Looking towards the source of the voice, he saw two hooligans dressed like thugs. The only notable thing was the blue seven-pointed star emblem on their shoulder sleeves, indicating a local gang.

'Is this a robbery?'

Ogre was used to such things, though he didn't expect trouble just after taking off his mask.

Do I look easy to bully...

"What do you want? This isn't the slums..." Ogre feigned ignorance to probe them—he wanted to know.

What kind of idiot would try to rob at the border between the Inner City and the slums?

"So what? Hand over the fish and your bag! Or don't blame us for being rude."

While Ogre was speaking, the two had already surrounded him. Their practiced stance suggested this wasn't their first robbery.

There was indeed some distance from the Inner City here, with small alleys providing cover. The location was cleverly chosen, allowing for both advance and retreat.

But they hadn't considered why Ogre dared to walk this path.

"This kid's got smooth skin, keeping him around for fun wouldn't be bad either..." The fatter hooligan licked his lips lewdly while staring at Ogre.

"Annoying..."

Ogre's tone turned cold as he understood the situation. These two were just old scum used to bullying the weak.

"What are you sayi—" The hooligan's words were cut off as a swift hand chop struck his throat.

Ogre's hand chop shattered the guy's windpipe and broke his neck.

As the body fell, Ogre deftly took the short knife from the hooligan's hand.

With a flick of his wrist.

The other fat hooligan suddenly had a knife embedded in his forehead—it was his companion's knife.

In just one move.

The two robbing hooligans became silent corpses, not even having the chance to cry out.

Throat strike, knife snatch, knife throw—three moves to kill two men.

During this process, Ogre didn't even look back. He calmly carried the fish out of the alley, as if casually kicking aside a stone blocking his path.

It wouldn't be long before scavengers and stray dogs stripped these guys of everything.

Not a trace left.

Ogre wouldn't bat an eye at killing a thousand of these types who preyed on the weak.

They were the kind he despised most.

...

"Oggy, you're back early today. Did you buy fish at the market?" A passing Dawn missionary greeted Ogre as usual upon seeing him.

Because Ogre had a good relationship with Yard and was generally honest and well-behaved, the people of the Church of Dawn quite liked this hardworking young man.

"Got paid, so I bought some fish to nourish myself." Ogre smiled warmly at the missionary.

The trivial matters on the road hadn't affected his mood.

The wind along the way had already blown away any strange smells on him. No one would suspect that honest Ogre had just killed someone.

"Then you should eat well." The missionary returned the smile, not noticing anything amiss due to the distance.

After exchanging greetings, Ogre carried the fish back to his room—arranged for him by Teacher Yard.

The previous owner of this house was a Dawn follower who died on the city streets for unknown reasons. With no wife or children, the house became Church of Dawn property and was allocated to Yard.

Ogre was just temporarily staying here.

Before moving into the city, Ogre mainly lived on the outskirts of the Demon Beast Forest.

Compared to his residence in the Demon Beast Forest, the city house was much more comfortable, and most importantly, Ogre no longer had to be constantly on edge.

After closing the door, Ogre removed his backpack and some personal items (like the Human Skin Mask and Sleeve Sword).

Then, he placed the dead Lightning Eel on a plate, took out clean knives, casually processed and sliced it, and began eating the raw 'sashimi.'

Honestly, the taste wasn't bad. Perhaps grilling it would be better.

But Ogre's house was out of charcoal.

To get it into his stomach quickly, he kept it simple. After all, an ogre's stomach could digest even metal.

Ogre's stomach wasn't as strong as a true ogre's, but eating raw food was easy enough, especially since it was inconvenient to start a fire in the Demon Beast Forest.

Before his father mastered charcoal-making, Ogre often ate raw food, though he mostly subsisted on fruit and milk.

With most of the fish in his stomach, Ogre sat by the bed and placed the newly acquired Meditation Technique aside.

Ogre closed his eyes.

Innate ability—Ogre Lunchbox, activate!

A faint white mist began to emanate from Ogre's skin through his clothes.

Soon, Ogre's skin turned red.

This time, the body's reaction was more intense than Ogre had anticipated.

The good news was, it worked.

The bad news was, it worked too well.

The transformation was so intense that even Ogre, accustomed to training injuries, found his face contorted.

'Water, I need to cool down!' This was Ogre's only thought at the moment.

Enduring the pain from the muscle transformation, Ogre pushed open the small compartment door—where a water barrel large enough to hold a person awaited.

This was Ogre's water storage barrel.

Usually used for household water, it was now Ogre's sole target.

The spilled water soaked the floor.

As Ogre submerged his whole body in the water, the white mist ceased to appear.

Once the pain subsided slightly, Ogre regained some ability to think.

'Why is the reaction so intense!' This was Ogre's first thought.

The transformation was unexpected. The previous two 'feedings' had caused pain, but nothing this extreme.

It felt like his muscles were being torn apart and chewed.

'Thankfully, I did this at home...'

This was Ogre's second thought.

The pain was enough to render him helpless, more so than when he first gained high-speed dynamic vision—

With Ogre's senses, even losing sight wouldn't make him a helpless victim. His sense of smell and hearing were far beyond ordinary.

He had spent half a month adapting to the vision, occasionally stumbling.

But he could fight with his eyes closed if necessary.

This time was different. The pain was so intense that even walking was an achievement from his training.

If not for the cooling water, Ogre might have passed out from the pain.

'Meditation... Meditation should reduce the pain.'

With this thought, Ogre calmed himself and began basic meditation.

If anyone were beside Ogre now, they would notice a faint blue glow beneath his skin.

...

After a long while.

A small, clean foot stepped out of the water barrel, belonging to Ogre, who had just completed 'feeding.'

"Hungry, I need food..."

Ogre had never felt so weak, but fortunately, the intense change was quick to pass.

He rummaged through his belongings to find his stash of honey blocks and began devouring them without hesitation.

"Ah... I'm alive again." After eating enough, Ogre exhaled a satisfied breath.

Sugar is always the fastest way for ordinary people to regain energy.

"Seems like I should find a safer place for future feedings."

Feeling the lingering sweetness in his mouth.

Ogre figured he wouldn't want sugar again anytime soon.

But no matter what, being alive was good.

Regaining his senses, Ogre didn't immediately test his new ability but first checked his body.

"I seem to have gotten a bit paler."

Ogre extended his hand, turning it over. The change in his skin was the most noticeable—not just becoming fairer, but also significantly smoother.

It could be described as having skin like jade.

Under his enhanced vision, Ogre could see his pores had shrunk considerably.

This was an unexpected change from the muscle restructuring.

Tighter muscles naturally led to smaller pores.

But this was actually a drawback—since one of humans' strengths was their extensive sweat system, Ogre's structural change meant a reduction in heat dissipation.

"It seems my muscles have been reorganized... and my vision seems to have improved too."

This was the most direct change Ogre felt, trying a punch.

Well, the strength was noticeably less.

"So after all that pain, my physique weakened?"

Ogre casually picked up a dry cloth, wiping his head as he slowly walked to the metal mirror.

The violent movements from the pain had torn Ogre's clothes, so he simply stripped them off and tossed them aside.

By the time he reached the mirror, Ogre's upper body was completely bare.

"My muscles have shrunk by two circles, no wonder I feel weaker." Ogre muttered to himself, looking at the androgynous 'girl' in the mirror.

Ogre had always looked quite feminine, but now he seemed even prettier after this feeding.

Indeed, with tighter skin, one naturally looks more beautiful.

Ignoring the flat chest, no one would mistake Ogre for a boy—his beautiful face could silence those vying for the title of the most beautiful noble at the border.

Ogre had always had a face prettier than a girl's, but his well-trained body was undeniably strong.

Though not as bulky as some, it was definitely impressive, and no one would doubt such a physique belonged to a male.

But this feeding had shrunk Ogre's physique considerably.

With clothes on, he could perfectly blend into a group of girls.

"The loss isn't too severe. If I train back, my strength ceiling should increase significantly."

Ogre clenched his fist, assessing his changes.

For Ogre, mere beauty was meaningless; strength was his pursuit.

"Better test the ability."

Ogre sensed another way to 'exert force' within his muscles, a result of the structural change.

If nothing unexpected happened.

This 'exertion' should be the key to generating lightning.

Ogre was a man of action. Once he thought of something, he did it, quickly beginning his test.

Ogre controlled the muscles in his hand and forearm to 'exert force.'

As a spark danced on his fingertip, Ogre's lips curled into a smile—

He knew he had succeeded, he had truly mastered lightning!

"Let's test the limits."

With the excitement of success, Ogre fully exerted his entire body—he wanted to see how strong his lightning could be!

Crackling electricity pierced the air, emitting a dazzling light, causing Ogre to immediately stiffen and fall.

"Are you kidding... My own electricity can knock me out?"

After a moment of recovery, Ogre stood up, realizing he wasn't resistant to electricity...

About seventy percent of Ogre's muscles could discharge electricity through special 'exertion,' and he had just gone full throttle.

"Lightning Bolt couldn't harm me, but I almost electrocuted myself."

After moving his body, Ogre felt a wave of fear, realizing he could only withstand electricity due to his ogre's magic resistance.

Without the ogre's resistance, he might have been the first to electrocute himself.

This reminded Ogre of the scene when the Lightning Eel was brought out; it wasn't very resistant to electricity in the air.

So it wasn't the fish's problem...

Careless, the book didn't record this.

Of course, maybe it wasn't worth recording.

"But if even I can't withstand this electricity, others probably can't either."

Ogre thought that in close combat, his full electricity could likely knock out professionals without extreme physiques.

But it had to be close combat.

Usually, a professional could kill him before he got close.

Some wealthy knights even wore high magic resistance armor.

This made electrical attacks potentially less effective.

But who said Ogre had to fight professionals? He could fight demon beasts.

As long as he controlled the electricity to harm others without harming himself, it would be a good defensive skill. As for offense, Ogre needed to explore further.

"First, I need to find my limits."

Ogre began his first attempt.

He started controlling himself to gradually increase 'exertion,' ensuring he found his body's maximum tolerance.

Soon, Ogre found the sweet spot.

Discharging from half his body had no significant effect on him; exceeding this limit began to affect him, with more release causing greater impact.

"Thankfully, it's not a useless ability."

Ogre breathed a sigh of relief, then began developing the ability—this was his first non-physical skill.

"Lightning Bolt!"

Ogre tried to 'throw' electricity with a wave.

It worked, but was useless due to the pitifully short range.

"Uncontrolled energy indeed can't easily mimic a mage's spells... I lack something to guide it."

This attempt failed; the attack range was honestly worse than stabbing someone with a spear.

It seemed mastering lightning wasn't so useful...

"No, there must be a use I haven't noticed..."

Ogre never lacked attempts and thoughts.

He soon recalled information about the Lightning Eel.

"How does the Lightning Eel avoid electrocuting itself... Right, water... I need a medium!"

With this thought, Ogre's eyes lit up.

He quickly filled a basin with water from his 'bath' barrel.

Then, Ogre reached into the water.

Discharge!

Crackling electricity spread from his submerged hand, visibly extending the attack range.

"Let's see if increasing the current improves endurance." Ogre increased the current, and with water sharing the 'exertion,' he felt no discomfort even with over half his body discharging.

But then, Ogre noticed bubbles forming in the water.

"Bubbles? Why are there bubbles?"

As Ogre observed the source of the bubbles, flames suddenly ignited where the water met his exposed arm.

Flames flickered, and a blue glow appeared beneath Ogre's white skin—a reaction from his ogre skin's resistance.

Thanks to the ogre skin's resistance, the small fiery explosion didn't cause serious harm.

It just burned him a bit.

"Where did the fire come from!" More than the burn, Ogre was concerned about the fire's origin.