Gobber's point of view

Hilda gave me the day off… And herself the day off. She took Kite's advice to heart… The two of us should be asking for help, so we left our children at the daycare to make friends with the other children. Hilda shouldn't have been shielding herself from making friends so it would be easier to leave. She is soaking in the hot springs the entire day… While she is doing that… I'm going to explore the places we have portals too. I head to the lizard man island first but after rushing around and seeing nothing, I head to the mouse people's village.

It is very calm and peaceful, I decide to buy a few things for the kids and Hilda. Necklace's for my girls and a ring I'll have a gem added to for my wife. Back to the bigger matter… Exploring, I head outside the village almost at a full sprint. I want to see this entire island by today. A few hours of exploring the woods and shores of the village with not much to see. Some monsters that ran away immediately, too small to worry about. The only place I have left to check is mountains to the south of the village.

I start an arduous climb. The mountain is almost a sheer cliff face, making it far more difficult to climb. I'm so pumped to have a break I don't care, I'm going to run myself ragged today. Climbing it alone is dangerous but even if I fall, I still don't think it would kill me. After climbing for about 50 feet I reach the first ledge. I look around… I see a man up here…

As I get closer, I start to notice more things about this man. He has a mask on his face with a rather large nose. Two wings poke out of his back… Everything else is covered in a robe but those two things make him very distinguished. The closer I get… The more I think that isn't a mask at all but his actual face. He speaks and the thought that it was a mask is shattered.

“You there! What are you doing on my mountain?”

“Just exploring. I'll be on my way to the top if you don't mind.”

“I do mind. It is surprising you haven't heard of me. The villagers should have told you to avoid this mountain as a very strong demon lives here.”

“Ah, is the strong demon at the top? I'm very excited.”

I let a grin slip onto my face as I get excited before he answers.

“NO! I am the strong demon you fool! If you don't leave this mountain, I'll curse you so lumps will appear all over your body!”

“That doesn't sound too bad… I bet I could kill you before you could curse me though.”

The man starts to look more flustered. He pulls out a gourd and continues to speak.

“If you step any closer, I'll open this gourd and flood the entire island with sake.”

“That doesn't even sound like a threat to me.”

I take a few steps closer to him he panics and drops the gourd he had. Pulling out what looks to be a fan of some kind. Yelling now as I am getting close to him.

“If I wave this fan at you, you'll lose your soul!”

“...The main question I'm asking is… Why didn't you start with the fan. You kept getting worse and worse as I got closer… I'm beginning to doubt you have any real power and you were just trying to keep me from climbing to the top.”

“Don't be foolish and throw your life away. If you climb to the top thunder will strike you where you stand and you'll be killed on the spot!”

“ENOUGH OF THIS!”

I start to run at him but he only shrieks in fear as I get close. He continues to speak.

“Stop, stop! I'll serve you if you don't kill me. You must be a splendid man to be able to see through my tricks.”

Pet tamed Tengu

“So what is your name tengu?”

“It… It is Waashaakikaashaa.”

“… My children wont be able to say that name… Can I call you Kikaa instead?”

“I guess… I'm still surprised you were a beast tamer… I had assumed you were a warrior of some sort and when you went to sleep I could flee from you… I guess since you've tamed me I should urge you not to continue further.”

“Why shouldn't I go further?”

“The real reason I sit here and attempt to get people to leave this mountain is there is a dangerous oni at the top of this mountain. He is an ogre variant… A humanoid you wouldn't be able to tame so there is no reason to continue further… A single person like you would never hope to beat a giant like him.”

He must have realized what he had said only made me more excited. YES! Someone to test my new classes against. Two weeks in that tree was more than enough for me to outpace the other two. With the new shield Kite had made me, I need to practice against something very strong. I talk to Kikaa.

“Listen… I'll only go up there and talk to him… If we fight and I don't think I can beat him… We'll just run.”

“Master… You can't seriously think you are as strong as an oni. Their defenses are known to be almost impenetrable. Their skin is a thick as iron, you stand no chance against him. Even if you can harm him they do not feel pain.”

I start to climb the mountain at the protest of my new pet. It is about twice as high up as the other climb, if I fall from this height, I would be in trouble… I have to make sure to not get thrown from this mountain or I could actually die. I get to the top… It is smaller than I thought it would be. At the peak is barely enough room to breath let alone live. The only thing here is a tiny cave with a giant red bear taking up the majority of it. On a second glance, I realize that isn't fur but rippling blood colored muscles… That must be the oni.

He moves his feet to the exit of the cave and stands up… A massive monster easily twice my height. He turns around and pulls something out of the cave. I hear Kikaa whisper.

“You just missed your only chance at survival when you didn't attack him without his weapon. Once he gets his club he will be unbeatable.”

I wait until he manages to get his club out. It takes him 30 seconds to finally manage it… It is as if he was waiting for me to attack him before he was prepared. His club is larger than myself. Even with all my tank classes… I can't get struck by that or it will be the end. The oni speaks but I can't understand it. Kikaa has to translate and he only speaks giant slightly.

“He roughly said… You are an honorable opponent for waiting until he was ready. He'll make your death as quick and painless as possible because of this.”

I let out an excited laugh before speaking to Kikaa.

“Tell him in giant I will also make his death as painless as possible because he is honoring me.”

I hear Kikaa speak some words with a quiver in his voice before he backs away. The oni roars almost loud enough to pop my ear drums. I take it that is the start of the fight. He rushes forwards at me but I don't back down. Slamming into each other, my rapier pierces directly through his club, catching one of his 7 fingers holding the club. The oni doesn't even wince from the pain. Only smiles at the sight of his blood.

He drags his club across the ground trying to throw me off the mountain. I jump over it throwing three more thrusts into his hand before landing on the other side of the club. I run under his legs, sliding to fit as I stab upwards several times. This adamantine tip Kite put on my drill rapier is beyond strong. It is piercing a hide as tough as iron as if it was wood. The spinning action digging in and ripping parts of flesh out as well. The oni has made no indication of being hurt yet.

He swings his club around still sliding it across the ground. I'm ready to jump before I realize that is where he is aiming for. I duck under this club swing. Falling completely prone on the ground to avoid being struck. If he had swung lighter, he could have shifted his aim but he swung so hard the wind from the swing was more intense then any storm I've been in.

I kick up off the ground and climb his exposed leg to get a better vantage point for my attacks. Thrusting the rapier into his face several times, even catching one of his eyes… He still makes no sign he is in pain… What is wrong with h-. The club comes at me again. Shit! This time an overhead swing. If I hadn't gotten used to avoiding deadly attacks Kite would throw at me, I would have been made into paste right then. Barely rolling out of the way. I pierce his exposed hand that is holding the club. If I can get enough blood to flow the club might slip from his hands.

He drags the club towards me again. This time slow enough for me to jump off it and land a few more attacks against him. Vaulting over him, I even land a few thrusts into his unguarded back. With still no sigh of pain yet. Are oni's just immune to pain? Do they fight with no fear of pain or death? He swings his club as hard as he can again. I don't think I can dodge it this time.

I move to parry him but decide that wont be enough. He'll easily overpower me so I strike at his hand in a last attempt to dislodge the club. With the blood already on the club combined with my strike, the club flies loose just before it connects with me. Still enough impact from the swing to force me ten feet back. The club goes flying off the cliff while I almost slide off. Barely catching myself by digging my feet into the ground near the edge. I hear Kikaa yell from the sidelines now.

“Watch out for his horns now! He'll try to impale you on them but they are his weakness! If you can hold onto his horns for long enough his power will falter.”

That is all I needed to hear. The oni begins to speak again. In giant and Kikaa has to translate.

“He said he wants to make it a test of strength against you… He'll let you get to where you were when the fight started and then he'll charge you with his horns. Don't do it master, you have him beat now that he doesn't have his club. Just keep whittling him down.”

I calmly put my weapon away. I managed to hold onto it somehow even when almost thrown to my death. I pull out my shield now… The new shield Kite had given me. To anyone else who would see the shield they would not assume it was a shield… Several tubes exit out towards myself. The shield is almost unwieldy in size, a giant shield that would be very heavy to hold by anyone who wasn't extremely strong. I prep for the final confrontation.

The oni takes his place across from me. I pull my shield in front of me as he lowers his head to charge at me like a bull. He starts to charge. I have to wait until he is in range to active the shields new ability. He is almost in range, head lowered to goring level. I'm not going to let him ruin my new shield. His head finally reaches close enough for me to hit it. I active the shield and active all ten wind scrolls at once. Spinning me so fast that when I slam the shield into the oni's head it spins his body around completely. I also spin several times from the sheer wind pressure. If the oni's strike was the strongest wind I had ever felt before. This wind was easily 10 times as strong. Almost forming a mini hurricane of force from the blow. The oni is down.

I jump onto his back… Checking his pulse I see that he was only knocked unconscious. I call out to Kikaa.

“Hey… Do you got some water to wake this oni up?”

“You just defeated an oni… And you want to wake it up right afterwords? Speaking of which… WHAT THE DEATH GOD WAS THAT ATTACK!? You made the wind pressure change enough for me to have to dig into the ground 30 feet away from you so I wouldn't be blown away.”

“Ahh… This shield is a gift from my master.”

“…A monster like you has a master… Is it a demigod?”

“Nope. Just a normal human… I guess I wouldn't say normal. Here, wake him up while I grab a hold of his horns so he doesn't try anything.”

I'm now sitting on this oni's back while holding his horns, waiting for Kikaa to splash water in his face. He pulls out the same gourd he said was special and could flood the entire island. I ask him about it.

“Ah, it is indeed a special gourd, it has the tweeked version of the endless water supply enchant to make endless sake… It's okay to splash this on his face right?”

“Sure… You're going to have to explain all these weird magic items to my master later.”

He splashes the sake on the oni's face. He goes to stand up but doesn't have the power to since I am holding his horns. The giant has become so weak he can't even lift me now. He struggles for a few seconds then he starts to cry. This oni who had shown no emotions before is now crying like a giant baby. I ask Kikaa.

“How do I tame this oni?”

“You can't, he is a variant of an ogre. He isn't a monster.”

“… Is there a way to make him serve me?”

“Hmm… I'm not sure, they are said to be honorable and cowardly at the same time… It all comes down to their horns. I think I've heard that if you cut a horn off he'll be weak forever. If you tie a string around a horn. He'll only be strong when you deem him to be strong though.”

“Do you got a piece of string I can borrow then?”