But I didn’t want to leave my other stats behind. Since I was committed to taking charge of the village and being as strong as I could, I took the supreme gamble and spent my remaining twenty-five free stat points. Part of me thought it would make the most sense to put them into Will, but I was an ogre.

  So, I added 14 points into Strength. It was just enough with my bonus to push me over 100. That granted an interesting two-part perk.

  Carrying Capacity Increased by 50%.

  Melee Damage increased by 10%

  Given how powerful my spear was, even though I wasn’t a warrior, an extra 10% damage was nothing to sneeze at. This now left me with 11 more free stat points. I had already committed to this course, so I was going to stay with it. The question was how best to assign them.

  I was content with Will. It was without a doubt my most important stat, but it was over 200 now and I had already used a bunch of free points for it. I know if I was just playing this game from my immersion pod, I would have likely put the extra points there. Min-maxxing was in my blood.

  That all changed, though, when this became my life. Physical strength was a glorious thing to have in day-to-day life. I had hardly been a weakling in the real world, but having the physical might that I had now put me head and shoulders over players I was likely to encounter.

  The same could be said for my Agility. At 43 it was already significantly above most casters, all the other ogres and even melee type players. The only ones who would really be superior in that regard would be rogues like Tauri. My six stat points per level allowed me to close in on that level of skill, too.

  In practical terms, I had noticed that even though my Agility was consistent with Tauri’s, she could still move in ways I couldn’t hope to imitate. Then again, moving a 100 lbs. half-elf body was likely far easier than moving a 1,000 lbs. ogre body.

  Mind wasn’t really a consideration. I had seen huge upgrades in mind recently and felt no appreciable difference. Constitution was another thing, though. If I put all my remaining points into it, I would get close to 100, which would presumably come with its own perk.

  Ultimately, I decided that what was helping me survive was my ability to think and act in ways different from a typical AI run ogre. Reaction speed was important and the faster my base movement speed was, the more benefit Wolf Spirit would grant. So, with that in mind I added 7 points to Agility and 4 to Constitution.

  I took one more look at my character sheet. Today had been productive. Apparently, even my trans-dimensional body had improved. What exactly that meant, I didn’t know. The quest for it was only slightly less obscure than the other quest the odd creature had granted me. These were truly ones I would have to figure out on my own.

  NPC- HI 3a5.x290 (Unbuffed)

  Integration: 27.3%

  AI Usage: 14%

  Call Name: Oogliefrank

  Monster Race: Ogre

  Ht: 9’2” Weight: 848 lbs

  Class: Shaman- Hex Warden, Pack Caller

  Level: 29th

  XP to Level 30th: 0/1,000

  Available XP: 287

  Strength: 91 (100) +10%

  Agility: 50

  Constitution: 90

  Mind: 65

  Will: 169 (203) +20%

  Unassigned Free Stat Points: 0

  HP: 3,490/3,490 +10%

  HP Regen: 1.8/second

  Mana: 2,233/2,233 +10%

  Mana Regen: 12.18/second

  Armor Rating: 26

  Physical Resistance-

  Slash: 18

  Blunt: 8

  Pierce: 7

  Fire Resistance: 35

  Cold Resistance: 30

  Electric Resistance: 30

  Acid Resistance: 10

  Necrotic Resistance: 0

  Radiant Resistance: 0

  Poison Resistance: 31

  Disease Resistance: 31

  Skills: (relevant)

  Blunt Weapons: Proficient 1

  Piercing Weapons: Proficient 5

  Skinning/Butchering: Basic 20

  Cooking: Basic 20

  Mana Channeling: Proficient 7

  Rapid Meditation: Proficient 1

  Dodge: Proficient 13

  Spell Forging: Basic 10

  Spells: Flameburst (B-20), Regeneration (B-20), Flash of Light (B-20), Spirit’s Protection (B-19), Home (B-5), Levitation (B-15), Root (B-20), Walking Sleep (B-20), Wolf Spirit (B-12), Frost Rift (B-20)

  Signature Spells: Frostburn (P-6)

  Spell Like Abilities: Talisman of Arctic Force 3/day

  Racial Abilities:

  Starting Stats: STR: +25, CON: +20, AGI: -5, MIND: -5*, WILL: 0*

  Iron Gut: Poison and Damage Resistance equals level +30%

  Rage: 1/hour

  Frostburn Durability: increased physical, cold, and fire resistances

  Stun Immunity

  Trans-dimensional Body (B-3)

  I was completely satisfied, except that I still needed to create two new signature spells. Truthfully, I wanted to add more spells to my repertoire before I did that. Now I noticed the others opening their eyes. They must have finished going through their notifications. I saw Robert had a new shield, which was clearly enchanted and Elgar was sporting a new staff.

  Apparently, they were getting some good quest rewards. I couldn’t tell what Tauri got, so in keeping with my ogre self I asked, “So I can see what the others got, but what’d you get for the quest, Tauri?”

  She looked at me down her nose with that look women are born capable of performing. How the game captured it so well was beyond me. More than one girlfriend and certainly my sister had given me that look many times in the past. “So, let me get this straight. Did you just ask me to show you mine? Aren’t you supposed to offer to show me yours first?”

  I swallowed. How could I walk into that one?

  Then she burst out laughing. “Don’t worry about it Oog, I know you have ogre manners. I just wanted to get a reaction from you. You look like you just swallowed a lemon.”

  I coughed and said, “Hilarious. I didn’t mean to offend.”

  “No, I know that. But since we are talking about manners and if we are going to be working with you for a while, then I have to know something,” Tauri said. The grin on her face told me I was still being set up.

  “What’s that?”

  “Just wondering if you are going to a holo-theater or something?”

  I was genuinely confused by her question, so it was easy to play the part of the ogre who would have no idea what she was talking about. “Uhh… not sure what you mean.”

  Her eyes twinkled as she said, “I figured you must be, since you have been picking out your seat all day.”

  Robert burst out laughing. “She got you good there, Oog. Seriously, you scratch your butt all the time.”

  “I can deal with that. The harder part is what comes out of that end. Is it necessary for you to fart all the time? And if we agree to this next quest, and we have to help you build up your village…will all the ogres be just as gaseous?” Elgar asked. He had a perfectly straight face as he spoke, so I wasn’t sure if he was messing with me too.

  “Look, if you are willing to help me with the village, then you need to understand some things. Yes, it is going to reek. But I can offer you good food at least. You should have seen the slop they were eating before I learned how to cook. The key thing is that I am going to have to introduce you as experts there to teach some of our new ogres.”

  “For example, I would want Tauri to teach a few of our females how to scout. They are never going to be very good at it, but maybe if I can convince them to put more points into Agility then they will be passable. Robert, I will want you to teach them how to use a shield.

  “I should have the ability to create a forge, but will still need a blacksmith. If I can get them properly armed and armored, they could be a mighty fighting force. I would also appreciate any oversight you can give into helping get the ogres leveled up or just things that are keeping us from advancing.”

  “What about me?” Elgar asked.

  “I am hoping that some of our outcasts will opt to become oracles. Their magic should be more akin to yours. Hopefully, you can teach them some spells. Maybe you can even teach some spells to the shamans, but we won’t know until we try,” I answered.

  “And what are you offering for this?” Tauri asked.

  I laughed. “Free room and board… no, seriously, I will continue to help you level up. You will get an adjustment to faction so that the ogres won’t attack on sight. And we will pay you. When we start attacks again, you will get the first pick of magic items we capture, one per month and an equal share of the gold. War can be profitable. Just remember that the ogre way is strength. You can’t show any weakness with the other ogres.”

  The three of them put their heads together in whispers. I knew this was partially for show. They had already admitted to getting another quest for this, so I knew they would get XP and system rewards. The AI clearly wanted to create more drama in the game prior to it going to full release. Testing these things out in the open beta made sense.

  “We will agree to come take a look. At least once the zone barrier drops here,” Elgar said.

  “That is fine. We all need to sleep and eat. Then we can hunt again tomorrow. But first we need to go release Kittikork. Your faction adjustment should help me keep her from attacking you, but for now you need to be careful. Oh, and she will be hunting with us tomorrow. I know it splits the XP more. She won’t be able to contribute much at first, but eventually she will be another healer for us.”

  “Fine, as long as you can control her,” Elgar said.

  “If he can’t, she is only level nine. I can take her out myself,” Tauri said.

  I could only nod. Hopefully, this went well. There was a seed of doubt in me as I walked back to the cave. It almost felt like I could sense eyes upon me.

  Chapter 35- One More Hunt

  We reached the cave without seeing another monster. I must admit, I was curious to see what the level increase would mean for killing a hill giant. Technically, my spells only got more powerful with my skill increases. But it was well documented that level differences led to spells either being resisted more or hitting harder.

  Inside the cave, I could see Kitty thrashing about. She was clearly unhappy to be stuck. So much so, she had nearly freed herself from their bindings. When she saw me, her eyes lit up. “Did Shemi send youz to rescue mez?”

  “No, sadly, most of our village was wiped out after you were captured. Don’t worry though, they are all being reborn. I have made a deal with the humans who captured you. They will release you now. They are even going to work for our tribe to make us stronger.”

  Her eyes narrowed and her brow furrowed. I could only imagine that such a concept didn’t compute for her. Then her eyes opened wide. “Youz iz elder now?”

  I nodded. “Yes, and that means you must obey me.”

  She lowered her head. It was the ogre way. If she had looked at me, she had to know that I was higher than any ogre she had seen up to this point. And that didn’t even factor in my additional stats. Still, I had to know if she was going to obey.

  “If I release you now, do you promise to obey?”

  “Kitti obeyz elders always.”

  “And you promise not to hurt the humans? They are sorry for taking you captive, but they have learned the strength of ogres and want to be our friends now.” I watched her very carefully as I asked my question, looking for any non-verbal cues.

  Again, she struck a very submissive pose and said, “If that youz order.”

  “It is.” Then I signaled for Robert to come into the cave. We had discussed him as the best option because if Kittikork acted up, he would be best able to take a hit. He was also the most willing to apologize to an ogre.

  He gave her a courtly bow and said, “I must beg your forgiveness for how we have treated you. We were told you were only beasts, but your elder has convinced us that ogres are a mighty people and we would ally ourselves with you.”

  I had finished releasing Kittikork by that point. She stood up as well as she could in the cave. I had to stoop, but she was shorter than me, so was mostly able to stand erect. She stretched out her limbs. I didn’t know how it worked for pure NPC’s but I would have been very sore after more than a day of being bound to a cave wall.

  She looked at the paladin. “Tribe only be friends if youz strong.”

  Not wanting it to get out of hand, I chimed in, “Come outside with me, Kittikork. You can stretch. I am going to cook some dinner.”

  Conversation with an ogre NPC is painful to say the least. It was filled with awkward silences, periods of her staring off into the sky, repeated phrases and, of course, plenty of butt scratching. I found I could stop my own butt scratching, but only if I was consciously focused on it. That wasn’t really possible during combat, but I managed it while cooking.

  I still had some of my root vegetables, so I sliced them into strips. The drake meat I obtained was something like a pork loin. It had plenty of fat to go with it. I rendered that fat down into an oil and set it aside for frying my ogre fries after I cooked the meat.

  I wanted to cook everything in my frying pan since it gave me the advantage of heat distribution and it held my mana better. I chopped up the meat and then put it in the pan over a low heat while I had a brainstorm about various plants I had seen. One looked a lot like chipotle peppers, so I sent Kitti to grab some while I tenderized the chops.

  She didn’t have a weapon with her, so I allowed her to carry my spear with her. While cooking the chops and keeping a steady flow of mana into the pan and the chops, a notification popped up.

  Breach No Longer Detected- Lockdown will continue for 12 hours unless a further breach is detected.

  That was bizarre. Maybe the system was only now deciding that it was clear after I had destroyed the enemy creature earlier. Whatever the reason, I was glad the lockdown was going to end 12 hours earlier. I glanced back at the players who were sitting, napping, or fiddling with gear. None of them showed any sign of having gotten an update, so I assumed it was just for me.

  When Kittikork got back with the peppers, I tried them out and found they did, in fact, have something of a chipotle taste. Diced up, they added some great zest to the chops and earned me a progression from basic to proficient in cooking.

  The fries didn’t taste quite right, but at least the players appreciated the attempt at something besides trail rations. There was no buff from them, but the chops were another matter.

  Spicy Drake Chops: +10 Fire Resistance, +3% to Fire Damage for 2 hours. Stacks up to three times.

  The system deemed it as the creation of my own recipe and I earned 400 XP and another skill up in cooking for the accomplishment. Elgar, of course, was thrilled with it. While he hadn’t taken the fire specialization, he still had several fire spells and he could get a 9% boost to the damage.

  I spent a couple of hours cooking up all the meat and then they put it into their storage, where it could be preserved. There was going to be plenty of opportunities for power leveling and this type of food would help greatly. I also needed to see if I could form a raid party and cast Talisman on more than just a group of six.

  So much to think about. After I finished cooking, we set up turns to take watch. With my growing Constitution, the need for sleep was lower, but I still felt drained after the battle earlier. Some sleep would be welcome. It often helps the mind process better.

  We ended up spending ten hours in the camp. Everyone but Kittikork kept a watch. None of the others would trust her, even if I would have. As we woke, everything seemed fine in the zone. Respawns were obvious. There might only be less than an hour now before we could leave the zone, but I was eager to see how many monsters we could kill in the meantime.

  “Before we leave, let’s see how many we monsters we can down,” were the first words I spoke to the others that morning.

  “That’s my ogre, always ready for more XP,” Tauri grinned.

  “Just need Elgar to invite Kittikork to the group,” I said.

  The wizard focused for a second, and then his eyebrows came together. “Hmm… it says that I have to join the POP faction to invite her to my group.”

  I chuckled. “Pro-ogre player faction.”

  “Yeah, I get that,” the mage replied, “What I don’t understand is why I was able to invite you but not her.”

  “Haven’t you figured it out by now?” Robert asked.

  Elgar slowly asked, “Okay, I’ll bite. Figured out what?”

  “Oog is unique, of course,” the paladin replied.