Ogre Mage

Ogre Mage

In a corner of the Storm Highlands, within Ogre Valley, more than a dozen ogres gathered around a charred wild boar, holding a gluttonous feast. They eagerly tore at the meat, leaving the ground in a complete mess.

"Mine! It's all mine!"

"You idiot, you think you deserve to fight me for it?"

The tallest and fattest ogre among them knocked the companion beside him unconscious with a blow from his club, snatched the pork leg from his hand, and swallowed it in one bite. Still unsatisfied, he licked his fingers.

His name was Lang Pu, chieftain of the Ogre Tribe.

Lang Pu had noticed that he was becoming smarter and smarter. His subordinates often said so too, though they did not know such sophisticated words. All they could say was, "Really good at finding food."

But clever Lang Pu understood what they meant, and he was quite pleased by it.

In an ogre's dictionary, "good at finding food" was the highest praise, whether one used a thick club or a clever brain.

Besides eating and drinking, Lang Pu would leaf through the books he had previously snatched from the "little snacks." He read them with great interest and learned many useful things from them. For example, he had learned from Sien's Adventure Diary that if he placed a treasure chest or scattered a handful of Gold Coins along the road, then dug a deep pit ahead and covered it with straw, he could soon obtain more "little people." The book called this behavior a "trap," and Lang Pu greatly liked such an elegant term.

What fascinated him the most, however, was something called "spells" in Foolproof Fireball Technique Analysis. They allowed him to hurl fireballs larger than a boar's head and easily turn a mammoth into roasted meat.

Lang Pu had used this method to acquire a great deal of food and gather the nearby ogres, who usually lived in groups of two or three, into a tribe of over twenty. After all, those unwilling to join had been turned into roasted meat by Lang Pu and were now resting in everyone's bellies.

This was an epoch-making achievement worthy of being recorded in ogre history—at least, that was how Lang Pu saw it. Thus, he named the tribe "New Era," another term he had learned from a book.

Unfortunately, no one in the Ogre Tribe understood the name. One subordinate even asked why they could not call it the "Big Meat Chunk Tribe," and Lang Pu ruthlessly smacked him with his club.

Lang Pu always felt that his ogre subordinates were hopelessly stupid.

Whenever he tried to make them form ranks and ambush enemies according to the Complete Book of Military Exercises, the ogres would always shout, "Meat! Meat!" before charging forward in a chaotic rush while waving their clubs.

He wanted to teach his subordinates Common Tongue so they could extort more food from humans, but apart from the three words "eat," "meat," and "food," the ogres had learned nothing.

"Ah..."

"There are still too few smart people in the tribe."

While eating, Lang Pu often pondered and sighed.

The other ogres had no such worries. Once they finished eating, they were already snoring thunderously in deep sleep.

Recently, he had been focusing on training an ogre named Da Tou. The fellow lived up to his name: his head was huge, one of them was worth two ordinary heads. Lang Pu believed that someone with a larger skull might be a little smarter.

"Chief, there's food over there!"

The "scout" Lang Pu had assigned called out excitedly from the mountaintop.

"Da Tou, what's coming?"

Lang Pu happily spat out a bone and climbed up the slope. After all, ogres never got full.

"It's a big lizard! There's tons of meat on it!"

The ogre called Da Tou danced with excitement, waving the Spiked Club in his hand.

A Fire Lizard?

Or perhaps a Wyvern?

Several images immediately flashed through Lang Pu's mind, but none of them were easy to deal with.

"Describe what it looks like."

"Lemme see... it's the same color as fresh meat, red, four legs, two Wings, and one tail..."

The more Lang Pu listened, the more something felt wrong. He personally climbed to the mountaintop and saw the "big lizard" on the other side.

His expression changed drastically. He fiercely struck Da Tou with his club, making that already enormous head swell even bigger.

"You idiot!"

"That's a fucking dragon! A True Dragon!"

Even after saying that, Lang Pu was still furious. He chased after the dull-witted ogre and beat him viciously, making him howl in pain again and again.

Da Tou said aggrievedly, "Chief, why're you hitting me? What did I say wrong?"

"Isn't it just a big lizard?"

Indeed, compared to most of his kin, he was already considered smart. He could recognize it as a lizard instead of simply shouting "meat" and "meat." That was already quite difficult.

"You still dare say that!"

"I'll make you talk!"

"Stop hitting me, Chief! That... uh... dragon you mentioned is coming over."

Da Tou clutched his swollen head and cried out.

Lang Pu lowered his club and looked up irritably.

The red dragon had already flown above him. Its Wings spread wide, and the shadow it cast enveloped him.

Using his clever brain to organize his words, Lang Pu hesitated for a moment before speaking. "Uh... mighty, noble, and majestic Lord Red Dragon, Da Tou is an ignorant fellow who knows nothing of etiquette. I will properly discipline him. I hope you will not lower yourself to his level."

Considering that the creature in the sky was a proud dragon, Lang Pu had deliberately modeled his wording after the Record of Noble Etiquette.

The moment those words came out, that intense bard-like air nearly made Keosius fall from the sky.

The red dragon did not answer. It merely looked down at this exceptionally clever ogre.

Yet an unmistakable trace of surprise showed in its vertical pupils.

[Based on your own strength, you can observe the following information]

Ogre Mage

Name: Lang Pu

Type: Large Giant, Neutral Evil
Race: Ogre
AC: 12 (hide armor)

Attributes:
Strength—18
Dexterity—8
Constitution—16
Intelligence—17
Wisdom—8
Charisma—12

Proficiencies:
Arcana +3, Hunting +4, Traps +3, Reading +6, Military +2, Rulership +4, Herbalism +2, Persuasion +2, Deception +2

Senses: Passive Perception 14 feet

Languages: Common Tongue, Draconic, Giant Language

Actions: Slam, Bite, Pound

Combat Equipment:

Ring of Wisdom Research: A circlet painstakingly crafted by an Archmage for a foolish noble student, capable of locking Intelligence at 17.

Arcane Ring: Arcana +1, Reading +4

Albert's Mithril Bracelet: Negate one 4th-level spell saving throw per day.

Class Level: Level 5 Mage

Caster Level: 5

Spells:

1st level—None

2nd level—None

3rd level—Fireball

Challenge Rating: 6 (2,100 XP)

Evaluation: "This is a rare Ogre Mage. He is truly intelligent, so do not underestimate him. Otherwise, he will use Fireball to let you taste the consequences of scorning a Mage."

Arcana, military, rulership, herbalism... literate, martial, and capable of magic. This guy is talented...

Keosius could not help but sigh inwardly.

With 17 Intelligence, Lang Pu would be an unquestionable sage even in a human city. In an orc tribe, he might even be given the title of "prophet."

Unfortunately, this was an ogre tribe where no one knew how to do anything but eat and sleep. He could only become a hardworking chieftain who searched for food for his subordinates.

The intelligence circlet could be called god-tier equipment for the early stages.

If Keosius were currently a Mage, he would definitely try every possible means to seize it. Unfortunately, he had already chosen the path of the Sorcerer and had no plans to multiclass for the time being.

For now, it would be better to take in a Mage subordinate.

The multiverse was vast and held infinite possibilities.

If even an ogre could become a Mage, what else was impossible?

The air became somewhat still.

The red dragon and the ogre, one high and one low, stared at each other with wide eyes.

Lang Pu watched the red dragon, which seemed to be deep in thought. He tightened his grip on his club, cold sweat streaming down his forehead as he prepared to construct a spell model in his mind.