Day 41-50/Day 49

When I woke up Gobukichi-kun had experienced rank up and turned into an ogre.

It was because he single-handedly killed a Hind Bear recently, I thought it’d be soon and it was as I expected.

He hadn’t turned into a normal ogre either, but a subspecies.

The color of his skin was “Dark Metallic Red”.

The body color was similar to that of the Red Bear. In most cases having red skin is proof that you have been blessed by the [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection].

When I asked if he could breathe fire, he blew fire as if he was a flamethrower.

Him somehow turning into a subspecies was probably because of habitually using main arms with fire abilities like the fire spirit stone-studded burning Crescent Axe and later the huge double-edged battleaxe as tall as himself, a magic item from Velvet’s inheritance named [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat].

Also, his skin shines with metallic luster, this seems to be [Demigod of War's Divine Protection] in addition to [Demigod of Fire's Divine Protection], so says Gobujii. His arm responds with a metallic clang when lightly struck.

“Being supported by two divine protections is great isn’t it?”, I asked Gobujii, “If you call it unusual then sure, it is, although not as unusual as you.”, he remarked.

Ah, talent is it?

“So Gobukichi-kun, how about a spar?”, I asked him with a smile that is somewhat charming despite being an ogre.The result is: Gobukichi-kun was way too strong.

He was 2m 80cm in height, 30cm taller than me, with shakudou skin and muscular body, his base specs without abilities easily surpassed mine in physical strength and stamina.

[T/N: Shakudou is a decorative alloy of gold and copper, reddish-yellow but can be treated to form an indigo patina.]

I also had increased my body’s abilities using [Absorption] and on top of that, I was a rare variant, so I didn’t think I would lose to Gobukichi-kun who was a subspecies, but yeah, it seemed I lost because of build allocation.

Putting it in simple terms, If I was an all-rounder type with my points divided equally between my physical strength, endurance, and intelligence, then Gobukichi-kun was an aggression specialist-type who concentrated his points on battle-related stats.

It’s also obvious if you look at his muscles.

That said, I still surpass him in terms of hand to hand combat techniques. It was a close match, but Gobukichi-kun is unmistakably a worthy rival.

Concluding the spar, we gave each other a firm handshake and had a face-to-face talk.

Gobukichi-kun who I had initially roped in as a disposable pawn had grown this much, this is frankly speaking far beyond my expectations.

Right now he had the monopoly of being my right hand and a close companion, he was someone I couldn’t do without.

To congratulate him for his rank-up, I put some equipment in order for Gobukichi-kun.

His main weapon didn’t change from the huge battleaxe-type magic item [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat], but compared to when he was a hobgoblin, where it was too heavy if he didn’t hold it with both hands, by becoming an Ogre he could wield the [Decapitating Axe of Demonic Heat] that weighed several dozen kilograms with one hand, so I once again equipped him with a shield.

The shield I gave him was an unrefined massive black iron wall-like tower shield known as the [Black Ogre's Chopping Board].

One of the magic items from Velvet’s inheritance like the battle axe, its rank is likewise [Ancient].

Its abilities are [Weight Reduction], [Durable] and [Impact Reflection] and it’s thus extremely sturdy. If Gobukichi-kun is equipped with these items, breaking through his defenses would be quite difficult even for me.

His armor was made from my thread, the hind bears’ furs and some other stuff that Gobukichi-kun had hunted himself, these are again replaced with a portion of [Unique]-class metal armor from Velvet’s inheritance, customized to suit Gobukichi-kun.

Yeah, he has a great strength. Actually, he has an absurd strength.

Despite holding the huge double-edged two-handed battle axe lightly in one hand as if it were a tree branch, he still had the appearance of an experienced soldier handling it skillfully.

It’s easy to imagine a black, huge and sturdy tower shield that covers three quarters of a gigantic body blocking enemy attacks, with magical items as support, long coat that I made by combining the durable fur of a Hind Bear with the armor of magical items that doesn’t lose to the Red Bear’s, with an Ogre, yeah, he had become an existence I very much wouldn’t want to fight nor encounter, if I were human.

The intensity of the fully-armed Gobukichi-kun was unmistakably higher than me when I just became an Ogre. Equipment notwithstanding, it was something fierce. Well, there’s also the fact that it’s hard to compare to myself.

But nevertheless, after examining him for an hour, it’s as if he’s a machine soldier from somewhere, hm. Even I had to look upwards to meet his gaze, so if it’s a normal human, how are they supposed to do that. It’s easy to guess.

I spent the rest of the day inside doing various odd jobs.

The Elves have not yet succumbed to the lust, so they’re still in jail. It might be because of their sense of pride that’s suppressing their desire, or perhaps it’s their racial biology having a resistance to the desire itself, or maybe both? “That’s why Gobujii, stop coming here every hour…”