Wildness and Masks-Chapter 96 – Rogue Ogre

"Is there anything else, Cleric Geling?" The young female attendant turned her head.

"Could you please prepare a pair of gloves for me?" Ogre looked at his own beautiful hands and said.

"Alright."

The young female attendant nodded and then left the room, closing the door.

"Phew... finally, I can change back."

Ogre immediately took off the inconvenient clothes and began changing.

...

"That's basically how it went..."

Macal explained the recent events to the gray-robed priest as he walked out of the side hall.

"So that's how it is... Unfortunately, I have to stay here and can't escort you, but I can arrange some guards for you," the gray-robed priest suggested.

"No need, that would make us too conspicuous with little benefit. I just want to quickly escort Miss Geling and the items left by Great Cleric Fra," Macal declined the priest's offer, as he only needed a fast enough mount.

"Well, take this then." The gray-robed priest handed Macal a cross: "This miraculous item can temporarily cast three healing and three shield spells."

"Alright, thank you." Macal accepted the priest's help without hesitation.

At this moment, the magic-blooded horse he had requested earlier was also brought up by the young female attendant.

This magic-blooded horse was primarily pitch-black, and unlike regular demon horses, it had scales of non-equine demon beasts on its body, and its mouth revealed the fangs of a carnivorous creature—this was a demon horse with drake blood flowing through it.

Although the bloodline was thin, it was still a rather valuable asset of the church.

"Thank you." Macal took the reins of the drake-blooded horse.

Similar to a centaur, the reins on this mount were magical items with control effects.

"Kar, I'm ready."

A familiar voice sounded behind Macal.

"Geling... huh?!" Macal turned his head, but at first, he couldn't find Ogre's figure.

It wasn't until Ogre raised his hand.

"What happened to you?"

Macal found it hard to associate the agile young ranger in front of him with Sister Geling.

Even though the other was wearing a mask.

"Just a bit of disguise, otherwise how did I protect myself before?" Ogre said with a smile, removing the mask.

At this moment, he had put on makeup and transformed into a handsome young ranger.

"You put on makeup? Well... it's nothing, I'm just a bit emotional."

If Ogre hadn't said anything, Macal wouldn't have recognized the handsome young man in front of him as the Geling who had previously moved his heart.

This neat and concise outfit, paired with those swift movements, carrying a bow and arrows, really did give off a bit of a professional adventurer ranger vibe.

Of course, the most important thing was still the aura and gaze.

"I am a professional, after all." Ogre smiled slightly, "Time is of the essence, let's move on."

"Alright, alright."

Macal was momentarily stunned, then stopped dwelling on it. Ogre's appearance could indeed reduce a lot of trouble when entering the city.

It's just that the image was quite different.

Macal leaped onto the drake-blooded horse and then extended his hand to Ogre: "Geling, get on."

"Okay."

Ogre took Macal's hand and mounted the horse.

"Remember to hold on tight, the drake-blooded horse will be very fast."

Feeling Ogre's body close to him.

Macal, who had just calmed down, couldn't help but feel his heart race again.

He felt a renewed attraction to Ogre.

This was different from the previous kind of endearing attraction.

The contrast, rationality, cunning, decisiveness... when these combined with the image of that pure girl, the attraction was immense.

'I can't betray Eve...' Macal bit his tongue lightly, stabilizing his mindset.

"May Dawn bless you." The gray-robed priest made a prayer gesture towards Macal.

"Farewell." Macal nodded, then rode the drake-blooded horse away from the side hall of the small town.

"That Geling... so handsome."

As Macal and Ogre left, the young female attendant beside them nudged her sister on the left.

"Don't be infatuated, sister, she's a girl too," the other young female attendant said, slightly helpless.

"I know... but he's really handsome."

...

'The speed is indeed much faster, even the Heartbeat Drum might not compare to this horse... it seems the drake blood really enhances creatures significantly.'

Feeling the rushing wind, Ogre had to hold onto Macal in front of him—otherwise, he might accidentally get thrown off.

At this speed, speaking would be drowned out by the wind.

"Can you handle it, Geling?"

Macal felt the 'girl' behind him getting closer, worried she couldn't handle the fast pace.

"I'm fine." Ogre shifted his body back a bit, hiding his entire body behind Macal except for his hands.

This reduced wind resistance.

Fortunately, Macal was big enough.

'It feels like the speed of this drake-blooded horse could rival a griffin, though I wonder if eating a drake-blooded creature would provide even greater benefits.'

Ogre was contemplating whether to spend money later to get a hybrid drake to try.

With his current strength and physique, eating a weak drake-blooded creature shouldn't be a problem.

After the enhancement from electric current body training, combined with the new Breathing Technique and Meditation Technique for recovery, Ogre's physique had improved significantly.

What he couldn't handle before, he might be able to try now.

The only thing left to consider was when the Ogre Lunchbox would finish 'digesting.'

And what kind of boost it could provide him.

'Twenty-three days...'

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Ogre silently gave a number in his heart—this was the 'digestion' time for the Ogre Lunchbox.

The digestion difficulty of the Lightning Eel was much less than that of the Demon Claw Falcon, but it still took about a month.

However, this time, compared to the power gained, was already very worthwhile, almost in a few days, Ogre had gained strength comparable to a Professional.

Though in many aspects, he was still lacking.

'I hope the next meal can bring me as much help.' Ogre already had some plans for his next meal.

...

"What was that sound?!"

An adventurer in the Demon Beast Forest suddenly felt a sense of threat.

But when he turned around, he didn't see any demon beasts.

All there was, were the bustling trees.

"Captain, maybe you're just too tired." The brown-haired boy beside him casually picked up a water bag and drank.

"Dalic, go check it out." The adventurer drew his sword, still feeling something was wrong.

"But weren't the demon beasts around here eliminated?" The mage girl beside him was also quite puzzled.

"Alright, I'll go take a look."

The brown-haired boy, previously called Dalic, put down the water bag after drinking enough.

Although his words leaned towards the captain, his tone was rather indifferent.

"Be careful, Dalic."

The sword-wielding adventurer instructed, the scar on his face was a mark from narrowly escaping death due to a premonition.

So he trusted these unfounded premonitions very much.

"Okay." Dalic made an 'okay' gesture with his fingers, then went to investigate the surroundings with his weapon.

"No problem, Captain." After a while, Dalic turned around and smiled.

"I told you, the captain is too cautious... Ah!" The mage girl beside him was about to say something about her captain when she saw an unbelievable scene.

"What is it?" Dalic was a bit puzzled.

"Run!" The scar-faced captain shouted as he charged forward with his sword.

"Uh, ah..."

Unfortunately... it was too late, several tree branches had unknowingly pierced through Dalic's chest.

"Captain... quick..."

Dalic weakly extended his hand, but before he could say the word 'run,' he was completely drained into a layer of dry skin.

"Dalic!"

At this moment, the scar-faced captain realized what his premonition was about—

These originally harmless trees... had all stood up!

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And not just one, but all of them!

'It's over...'

...

"Do you want to take a break, Geling?" Macal gradually slowed down.

Of course, this was not only to accommodate Ogre's condition but also partly because of the drake-blooded horse, whose condition was also declining.

Not many creatures can maintain high speed continuously.

The drake-blooded horse was no exception.

After riding for over an hour, a decline in condition and speed was normal.

"No need, let's hurry on... let's get to the village ahead in one go, then we can replenish the horse's strength," Ogre refused the request to rest.

Although the drake-blooded horse had slowed down, it could still maintain a speed faster than a centaur.

"Alright."

Macal followed Ogre's suggestion, setting the drake-blooded horse's speed to a slightly slower pace.

After running for dozens of minutes, they saw a village.

"Shall we rest up ahead?" Macal suggested.

It was just the right time to replenish the drake-blooded horse's strength, though it was uncertain if the village ahead had a Church of Dawn.

"Okay." This time Ogre didn't refuse, as he was also hungry.

"Then..."

Macal was about to say something more when an arrow shot towards them.

'There's an enemy!'

Macal reacted quickly, instantly releasing one hand from the reins to catch the arrow.

"This is a village that has just been taken over by marauders," Ogre said.

He had only just noticed the difference in the 'villagers' guarding it.

"Should we leave?" Macal felt an urge to go forward.

In the usual situation, encountering such a scenario, he would definitely charge in without a second thought to drive away the marauders and bandits.

But now it was different.

With Ogre behind him, the urgency of the mission, and the precedent set by Priest Fra...

Each of these reasons was enough to make Macal retreat.

"Let the horse eat its fill, so we can travel better, how can that be a delay?" Ogre gave the answer.

His meaning was clear—that was to go!

Ogre's super sight told him that they were just human bandits, with no significant danger.

Such marauder groups would definitely not have more than three regular Professionals, otherwise, their target would be a town.

Unlike the issue with Rock Town.

Ogre noticed... there were still some villagers tied up inside, still alive.

"Can you take care of yourself?"

Macal maneuvered the drake-blooded horse to dodge another arrow attack.

Ogre's previous answer left him a bit stunned.

Because Macal hadn't expected Ogre to give an answer completely different from last time at Rock Town.

"I am a ranger," Ogre replied.

This time was different.

They had already attacked, indicating it was no longer a situation that could be avoided.

If he hadn't seen those living villagers, it would be different, but since Ogre had seen them, there was no reason to just leave.

Moreover.

He really hated those scum who preyed on the weak of their own kind.

If he had the ability to intervene, he naturally would.

"Then I can rest assured!"

Macal abruptly halted the drake-blooded horse, unleashing his Battle Qi.

Then he flipped off with a somersault, drawing the sword from his back.