"Awooo-!"
A green-skinned humanoid monster, two or three meters tall, charged menacingly at Ye Uchiha. It had a powerful, muscular body, an animal-hide skirt covering its lower half, and an enormous bone club in its hand.
"An ogre?"
Furious Ogre LV26
He had not expected this ogre to be so alert. He had barely entered the mine before it detected him.
Ye Uchiha swiftly drew the Blackscale Great Sword. A sharp, cold gleam flashed across its ink-black edge as he moved to meet the monster.
Using his superior agility, he dodged the bone club and leaped in front of the ogre. Cold steel flashed, and the keen blade sliced through its throat. He then planted a foot against its chest and sprang backward.
"Hrk, hrk..."
Clutching its throat as blood gushed between its fingers, the dying ogre stared at Ye Uchiha with disbelief and defiance. Then it crashed to the ground and lay still.
Exp +59
"The sharpness is impeccable, but I haven't tested its special effect yet."
Ye Uchiha flicked the blade, sending every trace of blood splattering onto the ground.
"Roaar-!"
Perhaps the commotion had drawn the attention of the ogres deeper inside the mine. A piercing roar rang out, followed by hurried, heavy footsteps pounding toward him.
Diligent Ogre LV25 Greedy Ogre LV27 Gluttonous Ogre LV29 Avaricious Ogre LV30
More than twenty ogres carrying wooden or bone clubs surrounded him aggressively, shrieking incomprehensibly. Their levels ranged through the twenties and thirties, and red crystals marked "Hostile" floated above their heads. Behind them stood a black-skinned ogre in black priestly robes, holding a skull staff and chanting in a strange language.
Eerie ghost flames suddenly flared in the skull staff's hollow eye sockets. Then red, green, and blue light shone around the ogres, making them seem even more formidable.
Lesser Berserk Aura: Increases attack and defense by 5%. Lesser Swiftness Aura: Increases agility and speed by 5%. Lesser Regeneration Aura: Increases health regeneration speed by 10%.
Huh?
Three buff icons had appeared at the lower left of the portrait frames in the enemies' Status Windows. When he focused on them, their information immediately appeared in his field of vision.
Ye Uchiha's mouth twitched. Apparently, that worked too. He looked toward the Ogre Priest at the back, and its information instantly appeared:
Ogre Priest (Novice Demon Priest) LV38
A Demon Priest?
Did demons exist in this world? Or had I accidentally triggered a hidden storyline?
Seeing the scarlet title above its head, Ye Uchiha was unsure what it meant. But his instincts as a ninja warned him that leaving this creature alone would lead to considerable trouble.
His mind made up, Ye Uchiha gripped the Blackscale Great Sword. Scarlet light kindled in his eyes as he activated his Three-Tomoe Sharingan. Ignoring the other ogres, he charged straight toward the Ogre Priest.
The Ogre Priest let out cries of panic and rage. The surrounding ogres immediately reacted, swinging their blunt weapons and fearlessly throwing their enormous bodies into Ye Uchiha's path to keep him from reaching the priest.
Cold steel flashed. With each rise and fall of the blade, heads and arms were severed, and great splashes of blood spattered the ground. The ogres lucky enough to survive screamed in agony, while the pungent stench of blood filled the mine.
As a member of the prestigious Uchiha clan, Ye Uchiha had primarily trained in ninjutsu, genjutsu, and taijutsu. Though he had never studied swordsmanship, he was a walking weapon who knew how to kill effortlessly with whatever weapon he held, identify an opponent's weaknesses and openings, and deliver a lethal strike.
In moments, corpses littered the ground and blood flowed in rivers. Only a handful of ogres remained alive. They stood rooted to the spot, their bodies beginning to tremble. Nothing could have made them advance; the strength Ye Uchiha had displayed terrified them.
The Ogre Priest kept muttering something and raised its skull staff high. The skull suddenly burst apart, releasing pitch-black mist that condensed and changed shape. Faint, sinister cackling echoed through the air.
Watching the shifting black mist, the Ogre Priest bared a savage grin and opened its gaping maw. It was about to speak when a sudden wet squelch sounded. A black blade pierced its chest from behind.
"Urgh..."
The blade slid free, and blood sprayed uncontrollably from the wound.
The Ogre Priest's round eyes widened as it stared at Ye Uchiha with bitter resentment. It raised a trembling hand to point at him, trying to say something. Before it could speak, its head slumped to one side and it died, its eyes still wide open.
Exp +99
With the Ogre Priest's death, the black mist that had nearly taken solid form abruptly dispersed. The few remaining ogres, already scared witless, lost even the courage to resist when they saw the priest fall. They stumbled toward the exit.
Princess Kaguya happened to be standing in their way. Seeing the ugly creatures rushing toward her, she assumed they were foolishly attempting to attack. With a soft, cold snort, she unleashed an overwhelming pressure that crushed the disgusting insects to death on the spot.
"Oh? What's this?"
Ye Uchiha picked up a purple crystal fragment from the ground. It had dropped from the dissipating black mist, and the information window provided its description.
Demon Crystal [Item] A product of a hell demon's soul. Use it to unlock and learn Underworld Magic and skills. It can also be used to upgrade and advance Underworld Magic. [Use item: Demon Crystal?]
Skills and magic.
Ye Uchiha knew about those.
As a hero, he could unlock and learn skills and magic. The difference was that skills focused on developing a hero's Legendary Weapon. They worked in conjunction with the Legendary Weapon, could change its form, and had tremendously powerful effects.
Magic, meanwhile, had to be learned through study or by using a Magic Crystal to memorize how to cast it. Though most magic was less powerful than skills, it offered a wide variety of support and healing effects. It could apply all sorts of buffs and auras to oneself and the enemy, much like the enhancement auras the Ogre Priest had just used.
Magic could temporarily buff one's attributes, skills, and traits to their maximum, then inflict a whole series of debuffs on the opponent. In battle, it let the caster enjoy the thrill of basic attacks hitting like ultimate moves, with every strike guaranteed to land a critical hit. It could absolutely beat an enemy until they lost the will to live.
Just imagine dueling an enemy. Your gear, skills, and level were all maxed out, but the opponent had an entire group of mages supporting them. They hit you with reduced attack, reduced armor, curses, bleeding, stuns, petrification... the complete package.
Meanwhile, your opponent had Phoenix's Blessing, Divine Aura, the War Goddess's blessing, Absolute Defense... They were clearly weaker than you, yet you could not even fight back. You were supposed to be the max-level final boss, only to get killed by some nobody of a player. Nothing could be more frustrating.
Perhaps that was the difference between a free-to-play grinder and a paying player.
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