Chapter 202 - Short Exchange
“Champion, what is bargen?” Blurak asked with confusion as it proceeded to stand up on its own two legs making for a towering figure. Ed had forgotten how large the ogre was even though he had fought it on two different occasions.
Nevertheless, the ogre was not even the slightest bit intimidating for Ed anymore. In fact, the creature was even a bit pathetic in his eyes. For one, it’s intelligence was simply too poor, it was worse than most orcs.
“I want to make a deal with you” Ed said as he continued to walk closer and closer to the burly giant without a hint of trepidation. Blurak didn’t take note of this confidence however as he was now trying to find out what exactly a deal encompassed.
“Deal?” It asked once more even drawing its ugly head close to Ed who had stopped in front of him effectively breathing down on him. Ed, though bothered, didn’t mind it too much and decided to be more direct.
“I can give you food” He said bluntly planning to then explain the other part of a deal but…
“FOOOD!? FOOOD!” Blurak was simply too excited, it let out a thunderous roar of delight as it tried to think back to how the food tasted. Ever since it was stuck in the cavern it hadn’t eaten anything apart from rock and dirt in a sad desperate attempt to relive its favorite pastime. Ed however now said it could make it taste the savory meat or the delectable greens, could it possibly hold back its excitement?
“Hey! You need to give something too! It’s an exchange!” Ed screamed before the tall pale giant could begin to shake the cavern with its heavy hops of glee.
“I-? Me? Urmmm….” Blurak was however taken aback by this news as it immediately stopped its attempt to hop up and down in ecstasy. It instead started to look around for something it could give Ed.
“You can have this rock” Blurak said after ducking down and grabbing a small rock with its large hand and offering it to Ed. In turn, Ed wanted to ask if it was dumb but he already knew the answer.
“No, in a deal we both get what we want” Ed explained slowly understanding how exactly Blurak was able to make that mistake.
“Umm… What do you want then…?” Blurak, who though confused, still seemed to more or less understand the nuances of “Bargains” or “deals” asked.
This caused Ed to smile involuntarily, he did have it in him to teach others even without the instruction skill.
‘In retrospect, I could have lead with that’ Ed didn’t know how effective it would have been on the oaf but it mattered little now.
“I want some of your blood” Said Ed shortly after smiling to himself. This caused Blurak to feel a sense of danger.
“NO!” Blurak screamed immediately falling back and throwing the rock it held in one hand straight towards Ed. It whistled through the air for a brief second before quickly hitting the ground and shattering into tiny pieces.
[You have been dealt damage. -1 hp]
Ed managed to dodge this attempt on his life but the small pieces of rock somehow still managed to sting him.
“Calm down! I didn-” Ed really wanted to explain his angle but was rudely cut off.
“Shut up! You are dead champion!” Blurak yelled with much anger before slamming his fists on the ground and trembling the rock surface. Ed’s steps were immediately turned unsteady but he didn’t panic.
‘I’ll just take to the skies!’ If Blurak didn’t want to understand the easy way then Ed would just have to get the blood by force! He jumped up and threw out a blast of air behind him propelling him towards the close Blurak.
The techniques he had practiced on the way over there were really not made for long distances as they would only move Ed a couple of feet closer to his target. The only benefit was how unexpected the move might be for close by enemies.
“Bug!” Blurak received the full brunt of Ed’s body as he had propelled himself straight onto his face.
The attack was pretty weak since Ed didn’t have the necessary maneuverability to pull off changing stances in mid-air. His orc body was also rather hefty compared to how it was originally spawned so he had gotten some weight. Ed suspected that his imbalance of attributes was the main culprit.
Still, that didn’t mean he was any slower when on the ground, or in this case on Blurak’s face. Ed tried to pull out his axe which was strapped to his back without accidentally hitting himself.
He succeeded in pulling it out with one hand and with that same hand he lodged the axe onto Blurak’s eyeball.
“Raargh!” Blurak immediately felt the burn. He went to grab Ed but he quickly dislodged his weapon and dropped down off his face while slashing down on Blurak’s body. He ran a streak of red down Blurak’s entire body with the help of gravity until landing on the sturdy ground with a bloodened axe.
“Urgh…” Blurak was on the other hand now forced to clutch the entirety of its body as pain coursed through his body.
“CHAM-!!! …pion?” Blurak’s already slow thoughts were forced to a halt as it saw Ed begin to shift the ground in an attempt at collecting all of its splattered blood. It simply couldn’t fathom why.
After that, Ed formed the earth into a sealed container and retreated rapidly outside of the cavern. Blurak only stood there dazed and confused.
‘This isn’t enough blood but unless Blurak cooperates it will be hard to get much more’ Ed therefore quickly tested entering the system and breathed a sigh of relief as his body started to fall asleep.
Afterward, the magnificent white wasteland was all that lay in front of his sight. Following the temple rising cutscene, Ed ran straight into the storeroom where he got to grab three boar bodies. Ed had easily strangled the three of them and placed them in his storage previously. ρꪖꪕᦔꪖꪕꪫꪣꫀꪶ
He brought them all out rather quickly as his body of light made arms to grab each one at the same time. Once he woke up, there three dead boars right next to him.
‘Not the first thing I’d usually want to see while waking up’ Ed thought casually before hurrying back into the boss room lugging a dead boar body.
Blurak’s usually dull eyes turned lively as soon as they caught sight of this. They were shining with yearning and anticipation.
“Is for me?” Blurak asked expectantly.
“Yeah” Ed said before grabbing the boar which he was lugging over with both hands and launching it towards him. Like a dog, Blurak immediately lunged over towards the flying pig.
“Aaaa” It said as it opened its large mouth to catch the boar and eat it whole. The boar although already dead had the misfortune to fall right in.
“Mmmm!” Now, like a professional, Blurak chewed on the gamey boar meat appreciating each delightful taste. As an added bonus it even ate whatever it was that the boar had previously eaten.
The chewing only continued for about 30 more seconds before Blurak forced the whole boar down his throat.
“Ch- Champion! I want more!” Like a child asking his mother for food, Blurak looked at Ed with pleading eyes.
Ed played it hard by feigning ignorance for a second.
“I don’t know… maybe if I had more blood…” Ed muttered audible enough for all to hear.
Blurak’s eyes sparkled now more than ever as it immediately munched down on one of its arms sending blood gushing out everywhere.
“Champiog Iv gut bloud! (Champion! I’ve got blood!)” Blurak said with glee, its teeth still sinking into its own arm. The pain it had to bear at the moment was likely not small but there it existed no hint of such a thing when food was involved. The only pain was an empty stomach!
Ed was amazed by the display and given in to its sincerity, he retreated back to get another boar.
“Here is another!” He yelled as soon as he came back tossing another boar to a gruesome finish. Blurak wolfed down on the boar while Ed started to collect its high vitality blood once again.
“More!” After another half a minute Blurak exclaimed causing Ed to shake his head helplessly.
“Ai, most of the blood is getting wasted so this deal is rather skewed… maybe if you cou-” Ed didn’t even get to finish his words before Blurak tried to dig a pit into which he could bleed in.
‘Aren’t you suddenly smart?’ Ed thought inwardly having been left speechless.
***
“AAAAH! DON’T KILL ME!!!!” A young man yelled as a madman chased him with an empty bottle of fine wine.
The young man eventually managed to flee as a very stern and upright man stood in front of the drunk madman. He was not amused.
“Miller! Don’t let that rascal get away! He said they sold out!” Khal yelled not accepting such a circumstance. What would he do without his alcohol…. Work? He shuddered at the mere thought.
“Sir, please return to the office��” Miller said with a hint of embarrassment. To think that was the great Duke Lansworth’s own brother!!! As a relatively close confidant of the duke, Miller could only lament such a situation.
Though reluctant, Khal did return to his office where he was forced to grimace while admiring the cityscape on his desk.
Miller closed the door and sat down on a chair while Khal sat down opposite to him.
“I-” Before the aged man could say any of his intricate excuses, Miller spoke up.
“The Bosque kingdom is officially in a state of war” Miller said shocking Khal off his seat. The reason wasn’t a concern but rather that he knew things would get far more troublesome from here on.
Miller glared at him causing him to gulp nervously and asked about what he knew was coming.
“Wh- What did my younger brother say?” The duke was actually Khal’s younger brother, Khal wouldn’t refer to him as such usually unless he was serious.
“He will be fighting on the frontlines” Miller replied solemnly.
“Against who?” Khal quickly shot back. Miller paused for a second before succinctly replying.
“Against the dynasty” Miller said grimly.
Khal’s expression turned pale, and it wasn’t due to the alochol.. How did that happen!? His expression also seemed to scream.