Seeing an ogre the size of a house rushing towards him, he felt a surge of excitement. His heartbeat accelerated, and he jumped down the gate house.
Slamming into the ground, cracks started spreading, before he shot towards the ogre at lightning speeds.
'7 is base human strength, I'm at 41,and with physical enhancement, it's at roughly 49. I wonder if I can fight it equally—'
With each step closer, the world seemed slower. With each step closer, his will to triumph over a powerful foe surged.
He entered the ogre range.
A fist as large as a person shot towards him, the crushing air pressure bearing down on him.
He stretched out both his hands towards the incoming fist.
Bang!
The force surging through his body rattled his very bones, his legs straining to not buckle.
'DAMN—'
His lower body sank into the ground, spiderweb like cracks shooting out from underneath him.
'Stopped it... Can't fight directly!'
Yet as the ogre pulled back it's arm, another fist came flying — this time from above. Magnus tried to break out of the ground, yet his legs refused to budge. Seeing the incoming fist, he could only brace once more.
BANG! CRACK Crack crack.
"BLAST IT, QUICKLY!" Thorgim finally reacted, a despairing expression on his face. "WE NEED TO HELP HIM OR WE'RE MINCEMEAT!"
The dwarves had already begun scrambling to reload the cannons. Yet seeing the one who saves them get so easily taken down weighted on their hearts.
The ogre lifted its fist, grunting.
The two Meter deep hole in the ground only had a head sticking out. Blood oozed from his eyes, and his ears were ringing, yet the dwarves cheered.
"Not all is lost!" he overheard one of them.
'My legs are though!' Magnus thought to himself.
His legs, deeply embedded into the ground, refused to move. His hands, however, still were fine. Grabbing the side of the the rock where he had sunk in, he pulled himself out of the ground.
Another fist whistled towards him, intent on finishing him off.
'ALL STATS, STRENGTH! CAN'T DODGE, SO TANK!'
[41 - > 51]
BOOOM!
Another crater formed in the ground, the cracks spreading tens of meters from the force of the blow. Pulling it's fist back, Magnus was revealed to the world.
'Fucking... Bastard...'
His ear drums had ruptured, his eyes were bleeding, and the metallic taste of blood filled his mouth. In the middle of the crater, his two hands had held against the blow of the ogre.
Yet before he could celebrate—
Another fist was rapidly enlarging in his vision.
BOOOM!
'FUCK—'
Another fist!
BOOOM!
'Off...'
Another fist was rapidly closing in!
Boooooom!
A thunderous explosion cut through the battle, and before he could react—
An earth shattering explosion came from the ogre head, a cloud of smoke and fire engulfing it's head. It staggered backwards, each of its steps embedding a deep footprint into the stone.
The dwarves and Magnus looked on as the ogre raised its head to look at them. A chunk of its skin was blown off, the malice in its eyes burning stronger than before.
It jumped up fron the ground, crossing tens of meters near instantly, before it started charging towards the gate house.
'Move!' Magnus urged his body, trying to intercept the beast.
Another cannon fired, and another earth shattering explosion followed. Yet the ogre charged out of the smoke, having used its arm to block the projectile.
'MOVE!'
Try as he might, his legs were not obeying. He knew if the dwarves get slaughtered it's his turn next.
He saw the ogre reach the gatehouse, both it's hands raising high up in the air. Yet as the fists began their descent—
"FIRE!" Thorgim shouted, and the cannons roared to life.
BOOOOOOOM!!!
Seven cannons shot at the same time, and the massive ogre body was sent flying. With a loud rumbling sound, the ogre body skid on the ground. A trail of blood was left behind, the wounds on its body having started to accumulate.
Seeing this, Magnus sighed in relief. Yet his hopes were dashed in the next moment, as he heard something he didn't want to hear.
"We're out of ammo Thogrim!"
Hiss!
Sucking in a breath of cold air, he turned his eyes towards the dwarves.
'Damn it, how do you run out of ammo so easily!?'
Another thud sound rang out, prompting him to turn around. The ogre had stood up, one of its arms hanging limoly on the side.
His legs regained sensations soon after, and Magnus managed to stand up. His posture was shaky, and his vision still obscured by blood, yet he was resolute.
He charged towards the ogre once more—
A leg the size of a car swept towards him. He knew his legs wouldn't dodge, so he bent forward, slamming his fist into the ground. The recoil sent his body flying, narrowly avoiding the massive leg.
'NOT YET!'
As the leg swept past him, his right hand shot out, digging into the ogre flesh. He was tugged violently as the force of kick pulled his body, yet he managed to hold on.
Rooooar!
'YOU'RE MINE!'
A hand swept towards him, trying to squash him like a mosquito. His right hand left the calf, yet he dug into it with his left, narrowly avoiding being squashed.
Another roar from the ogre, and it tries to swat again. His muscles bulge, and his arms riped the ogre calf apart, propelling him upwards.
He buried his arms into the ogre stomach, the limp arm dangling behind him. The ogre panicked, and grabbed at him.
Trying to dodge, Magnus failed to jump far away, the soft tissue simply giving way to him. A shadow closed in, and the ogre hand wrapped around him, trying to squeeze him to death.
'I WILL NOT YIELD!'
His hands grasped inside the ogre, grabbing he first thing he caught—
Riiiiiiiiiiiip—
As the ogre yanked at Magnus to pull him away, a ripping sound echoed. It saw a long object dangling from the outstretched human hand in his own hand.
Its eyes began losing their luster, and with one final weak roar, it collapsed to the ground.
Seeing that, Magnus nearly collapsed to the ground.
'I lived... I actually lived.'
He panted, body trembling, then laughed to himself.
'I should stop running into things headfirst but... It's too much fun!'
I WANT TO FIGHT STRONG OPPONENTS! I WANT TO FEEL ALIVE, TO FEEL THE THRILL OF BATTLE! I WAN—'
A warm current surged through him.
His broken body began to mend, torn muscles reknitting, crushed bones realigning. The pain melted away.
A slow, victorious grin spread across his bloodied face.
' Level up! '
[Level up.]