Chapter One - Part Three

The Continent of Versailles continued to turn; days to nights and nights to days.

In the Jungle basin of Barbarian Rock, on the Border of Lasalle, Ogre once more appeared. of course only a single day had passed in Real Time since he had last logged in but that was the thing about MMO's, the persistent world kept changing regardless of whether or not your character was there.

Equipped in his new, although badly damaged, leather armour he once more set off through the jungle undergrowth but this was not the same Ogre as he had been four days ago.

Jon hadn't been idle and during his breaks at work, or at any time he could get a few moments to himself, he was searching for information on the Jungle Basin, Royal Road in general OR jungle survival in the Real World.

Especially to see if anything new about his favoured class had been disclosed.

The forums had a few rumours of a Berserker cutting a bloody path across the Continent but nothing more. Or at least not anything other Players wanted to share.

What he had discovered was that the basin had Dungeon like properties, monsters grew in strength as you ventured further toward the core. As he was still near the outer edges the chance of encountering a strong monster was relatively low but not impossible.

Ogre kept this in mind as he swept through wide fronded foliage. A rhymic banging sound could be heard around him.

Whether it was curiousity or stupidity he picked up a few stones at his feet and headed towards the source of the noise.

Several minutes later he brushed aside a large leaf and found the source of the noise, the ground around him reverberated with each motion. Small stones hopped into the air around the big body of a being sitting in a glade. The figure sat in a posture like one might expect from a child, with its legs splayed wide and its back a little hunched.

It was pounding the ground in between its bulky legs with an impressive club. Its head bobbed from side to side as it sung its little song at the same time as whacking away.

"Mining, mining ~ Mining, mining ~"

After beating the ever growing crater for a few minutes it seemed to get frustrated and bellowed.

"Come out Gold! Come out Silva!"

Before unleashing a full-powered two-handed over-head strike that split the earth.

Ogre was so surprised by the force of the strike that he let out an astonished whistle. The sound was louder than he expected and the figure had obviously heard it as its neck snapped round. An ugly scrunched face stared feriercly at him.

It quickly sprang up.

Standing two and a half metres tall, covered in bulging muscles but with a great pot belly and covered only by a crude loincloth the orcish brute was actually quiet imposing.

Outcast Ogre Simpleton

Was visible above its head as it roared and began its charge.

"No take Gold!!"

Player Ogre looked at Monster Ogre with a little trepidation. He rolled the stones he'd pick up in his previous stop around in the palm of his hand. With a snap of the wrist he launched the first one and before it had hit its mark the second and third projectiles were rocketing through the air.

All three hit their mark but it barely slowed the bruiser down.

It stomped across the glade like a charging rhino, raising its club above its head before bringing it down sharply and swinging it wildly from side to side like he was trying to mow down everything in its path.

It brought to mind the fearsome windmill punch that young children would use with equal abandon.

However this reckless assualt had much more power as long stalks of grass bent double and nearby boulders chipped from the air pressure and glancing blows alone.

Jon knew that if he took one head on it would be insta-death. Unfortunately it was too late to do much else as the beast was already upon him. The blurred club came rushing at Ogre from the left and he had to little time to dodge but just enough time to raise his arms to block.

The solid wood met the soft flesh and the inevitable happened.

Ogre's token resistance was crushed without a second thought and his whole body was propelled backward. Ogre crashed through all trees, shrubs and rocks that stood in the way of his flight path.

In the clearing the ogre stood still.

It blinked a couple of times and its cloudy bloodshot eyes became clear. It moved its head from side to side, peering into the undergrowth, as if to say,' Huh? Where'd he go??' Before it return to its previous engagement of trying to extract metals from the earth.

It raised the club up to begin mining again when the sound of something very heavy being dragged through the trees could be heard. Several flocks of birds scattered to the sky and the tops of a couple small trees disappeared from the canopy. Their timbering crash reverberated around the clearing as they were felled with great prejudice. A figure emerged from the path of destruction the ogre had just turned away from.

"Your mother never tell you it's not nice to hit people with sticks?" its breathing was ragged, "Too bad mines bigger."

Ogre sneered, blood dripping from his mouth, as he hauled one of the broken trees he had plummeted through into the glade. His crude block had only lessened the damage as the system messages told him he took 90% of the hit. He gripped the trunk with both hands, putting in all the strength he could muster, before swinging at the carefree creature sitting in the middle of the clearing.

There was no form or style to the technique. It was primal; full of aggresion and the ogre could do nothing but sit there and take it.

It exploded on impact, a shower of splinters and wood pulp rained down, after the smoke cleared Ogre saw his foe still sitting there, still very much alive, with both hands covering his nose.

He clicked his tongue.

"OWWWWW!!!!" it bellowed fighting back more tears "You hurt me? No! Me hurt YOU!!!"

And with that it scooped up its club and made a frenzied dash, blood and tears streaming down its face, toward Ogre, whose own weapon had been reduced to half its former size in the last exchange.

"Bring it on Big Boy!" Roared Ogre as he raced to met the opponent head-on.

For what felt like hours they swung their clubs at each other but with each exchange Ogre's improvised weapon was shaved away in an explosion of wood debris. While he opponents polished hard wood remained intact.

Jon was all to painfully aware of his Health.

It had now dropped to 10%.

It wasn't all one sided however as his opponent had around 23% remaining. he thought it would be a simple case of just hitting hard than the other guy from here on out but Fate is never that kind.

The last of his tree trunk crumbled under the punishing assault.

Weapon-less and barely clinging to life Jon did the only thing he could when the next powerful swing came at him. He took a half step back.

The tip of the club whizzed past just barely missing him. He had steadied himself against the wind pressure of the full-swing and thanks to his time in the Arena had gained enough understanding of this body to be able to use it at least how he wanted.

Exposed and vulnerable from the miss the enraged ogre tried to launch a back swing strike but his opponent was quick enough not to allow him time to recover. A solid foot found its mark between his meaty thighs.

-:You have dealt a Critical Hit:-

Ogre watched as his foe buckled.

'So humanoid enemies have similar weaknesses?'

He tried to approach but his downed foe wiggled the club at him with one hand in a defensive manner, trying to keep him at bay while he insured the survival of his species with the other.

Ogre took a breath and removed what remained of his tattered armour. At 0 durability it would break but at 1 he could still have it repaired, saving himself a little of the cost of a full set of new armour.

Before his opponent could fully recover Ogre scooped up and threw a handful of sand, dirt and splinters into the Outcasts unguarded face.

'That's a dirty trick by Ogre but will the Champ fall. Will we have a new title holder here on BEATDOWN Tonight.' a ringside ex-wrestler commented as his partner made ready with the steel chair.

Dirty fight ha!

This wasn't some refereed match with rules and time outs, this had always been a brawl. A battle for survival. It wasnt the fastest or the strongest or the smartest that lived it was those who could adapt.

Ogre dodged around his prey, the hand from the groin was now up at his face rubbing desperately at his eyes. The club hand wiggling now in a manner like a blind person would feel for obstacles.

Ogre landed a couple of hits to the flanks and followed up with some quick rabbit punches.

He dodged as best he could trying to stay in the dead angles and blind-spots of his crippled foe but he wasn't always so lucky. The club would catch him or a limb would flail out to hit him. Both sides had what remained of their lives shaved down slowly.

In a final desperate act the ogre dropped his weapon and grabbed his enemy in a bear hug, trying to squeeze what little life there was out of him.

Ogre gazed into the crimson bloodshot eyes of the Beast he had been battling so ferociously. A small smile crept across his mouth as he threw his head back and gazed at the sky, pristine white fluffy clouds were racing across it gaily.

"It's Ok. Rest now."

A small calm voice escaped his lips as he thrust his head forward and began to feverishly headbutt the stubborn thing.

It finally exploded into grey smoke and Ogre fell a few feet in the air.

In the battle scarred clearing he collected his thoughts and ate some of the tasteless barley bread.

After a brief interlude to recover his health and satiety Ogre picked up the few item drops that remained from his life and death struggle with a real ogre.

He had gained three more levels during the cataclysmic clash and promptly distrubuted the new points straight into his >. He was also surprised to see his > had increased and he had acquired the > stat. But his main surprise was when he found the ogres discarded club laying amongst the scattered debris.

Weapon drops were quite common he just hadn't expected it. Thankfully its information wasn't hidden so that meant it was somewhere between poor - common quality. Any higher and he'd have to take it to an Appraisers or learn the > skill himself.

-: Ball-headed War Club

Durability: 65/100

Damage: 8-10

A club weapon with a sturdy knot at one end. Made from the side branch of a hard wood tree, the angled hammer heads shape is made by being worn down through constant use.

Requirements:

60 STR :-

Thankfully he had the pre-requisite strength to use the thing or he'd be stuck facing countless mobs bare handed until a decent weapon dropped. Fully fed, watered and armed he trudged off back through the jungle.

His destination was back to the outer edge of the basin, to hunt for trophy kills at the foot of the rock face.

Back to Main Page

So that's all I have for you. A little Bank Holiday present.

I tried a new chapter format; instead of 1000 word prologue and 5000 word chapters. I split it down into prologue(just happened to become a two part'er) and a three part chapter made of 2000 words.

Did this work or should I just stick to my usual 5000 word style? Please let me know your thoughts on this and the work as a whole.

Hope you enjoyed this regardless.

As always thank you for taking the time to read it and so until next time.

SL