The group set off in the direction of the ogre’s camp just like before. Only this time Amelia was following a few paces behind while pushing Christopher along in his wheelchair. Of course, they had to move slower as a result, but there wasn’t really any rush yet.

The five were silent during the whole two minutes that it took for them to reach the edge of the camp. Once there, they quickly split up. Amelia and Christopher would remain just outside the camp where the grove of trees met the open hills. Camila and Ty would serve as a distraction for the chieftain, and Allen would try to ambush the pyrokinetic.

All of them would have Christopher guiding them and supporting them with his tier three Arcane Manipulation skill. At tier one, it could only pull on someone’s mana or move passively burning magical flames. However, at tier three the professor could use it to somewhat control ambient mana or fight against active enemy magic. The effects that Christopher’s skill would have against an enemy of a higher level were probably negligible, but that was still something.

Ty had the fourth tier of Toughness, which increased his bone density and his skin’s durability to various types of damage, including heat at tier four. Then his other two points had gone into Rebound and a classic skill called ‘Fortress,’ which partially nullified knockback by absorbing the force as damage instead.

He was still the punching bag with no offensive skills.

Then there was Camila, who had put her two points from the previous fight into War Cry. At tier one the skill only amplified the volume of her voice, which was useless on a bad day and fucking annoying any day. It wasn’t until tier three that it actually had an effect on anything above her own level.

Allen didn’t exactly think they were ready, but he confessed that they were as ready as they could be. They could always flee if they needed to, but Allen really didn’t feel like bitching out on some ogres he could have killed with a flick of a finger just yesterday. He was determined to kill every last one of the ogres in the camp and get his present from Andy.

That goal was very short term, but it kept him going.

“One goal at a time,” Allen told himself.

The Assassin darted into the camp and through the smoldering structures in the general direction Christopher guided him in. Camila and Ty were moving through the camp not far from where he was, just much more loudly.

Their two targets were near the center of the camp while many of the other ogres were running amok after the attack just a few minutes ago. Allen could use that confusion to get in much closer without being seen, he just hoped the minion ogres would run off with the chieftain when their quick plan went into motion. He wasn’t too confident in his ability to fight more than a few of them by himself, and definitely not with the pyrokinetic there.

Allen sighed. “It’s not really what I would call a master plan… It’s just a bait and switch… buuut, it’s the best we’ve got at level six.”

The grunts and snorts of the ogres drew near again and Allen stopped behind a pile of mostly burnt crates and other rubble. He peered over the smoldering debris and into the crude courtyard near the center of the camp. The Ogre Chieftain was present and grunting at the other ogres that appeared to be making some effort to clean up. The Ogre Pyrokinetic was dousing flames nearby that were still burning all over the place.

Allen focused on his target, zoning in on it. It was just an ogre dressed in black rags, but upon closer inspection, Allen realized it had a buck knife secured under the rope acting as its belt. The quality of the weapon was far too high for it to be anything but stolen, but so was everything else in the camp, so that was nothing new.

“Heh, that’s my knife,” Allen thought with a grin.

Other than the ogre’s blade outclassing his tusks, Allen acknowledged that the pyrokinetic was a mage so it would probably possess less strength and more intelligence and focus. It was definitely not smart by human standards though; not even level two hundred ogres were really that smart, only more cunning.

Obviously, for the pyrokinetic, that intelligence boost would only be marginal. For Allen, it meant that he likely couldn’t just walk up behind the thing and shank it to death like he had to the others.

Allen’s focus was broken as Camila sprinted into the courtyard with Ty right behind her. The Berserker shouted deafeningly, her War Cry skill splitting ears and startling ogres. She chopped at the nearest one's stumpy leg, not quite getting through its kneecap. Then she rushed onward and Ty body slammed it to the ground a moment latter.

The Ogre Chieftain did not take kindly to this repeat intrusion.

“I’M BACK BITCHES!” Camila yelled again.

The chief ogre roared with an almost palpable level of ferocity. All the Brawlers and Brutes around it shook with rage as well before they dropped whatever they were doing to madly rush at the Berserker.

Camila turned and ran off with Ty, keeping a pace just fast enough to outrun the ogres that chased her. That pace immediately increased when the Ogre Chieftain quickly bounded after them, morning star in hand.

Allen moved through the smoldering embers of the encampment. He activated Silent Step just in case. Smoke and ash still lingered throughout the air, reducing visibility to around a dozen meters. His awareness was locked onto the position of the Ogre Pyrokinetic; even though he couldn’t see it, Christopher’s magic was still pointing him towards the monster. It was moving after its chief, but fortunately at a much less urgent pace.

“Might have a chance at this,” Allen thought.

He circled around the courtyard, ducking through smoldering tents and blackened debris. Then he held his breath as he passed through a particularly thick cloud of smoke, choking a little.

Before long, Allen arrived at the pathway Ty and Camila had gone down. It had only been a few seconds since the Berserker’s provocation, but most of the ogres had already gone after her. Rage-filled roars and howls filled the camp again, signaling the chase happening somewhere else.

Allen peeked around some burnt barrels stacked up near the edge of the path. A level seventeen Brawler rushed past without noticing him. Its eyes were clouded by the chief’s domination and its mouth was a frothing mess.

“Not exactly fully sapient,” Allen told himself, “At least not in this state.”

He looked past the last few running monsters and then past the smoke before he found the pyrokinetic. Fire swirled around the monster as it held its out its arms, most likely controlling distant fire to attack Camila.

It walked in the direction of Allen’s hiding spot, oblivious to the waiting Assassin. When the monster neared the edge of Allen’s striking distance, its fire seemed to veer towards its face.

The ogre shrieked either out of shock or annoyance, probably both.

It abandoned the long-range fire skill in favor of fighting the flames swirling around it and coming off of nearby structures. It wasn’t having much difficulty regaining control of its magic, but each time it did another wave of fire would come at it from another direction, singing its robes a little.

Allen leapt out of his hiding spot when the ogre’s back was turned. He ducked under an errant wave of flames before bringing both of his tusks into position for a double neck stab. Killer Instinct gave him a questionable feeling, so he switched the attack to a backstab at the last moment. Feeling surer of his attack, one of Allen’s tusk sank into the ogre’s back with the full effect of Assassinate. The tusk barely reached as far as the metal scrap had on the Ogre Knight, but still delivered its damage, nonetheless.

“Defense is about the same as a level twenty ogre, and his ratty robe is pretty thick.” Allen thought, glancing at the burnt sections of the ogre’s raggedy clothing. “Is it hemp? Maybe wool if it’s this fire resistant.”

The ogre howled in pain and Allen felt his skill urge him to back off. He jumped away just in time to duck and roll under a surge of fire blasting out from the ogre in every direction.

Fire twilled around the monster as its hate filled eyes fell on the Assassin. It charged a ball of fire in its hand before pulling back on its arm. Allen dashed to the side before quickly reversing directions as the fireball sailed past where he had been an instant before.

Tendrils of flame came at Allen next, but one of them swerved off with a mind of its own and went for the ogre’s eyes. The monster spun around and roared, swatting at its own magic and squeezing its eyes shut instinctively.

Allen took the opportunity to circle around the ogre and rush it again. He launched himself forward and summoned all his focus into landing a flying kick on the tusk stuck in the thing’s back. Killer Instinct informed him that it probably wouldn’t be a killing blow, but he went through with it anyway.

The ogre lurched forward. The kick landed, but not as forcefully as it could have. As soon as Allen’s feet touched the ground, he jumped back up and stabbed at the ogre’s neck. Again, Killer Instinct told him the attack wouldn’t be effective, and it definitely wasn’t.

“He’s wearing these rags like a scarf; I can’t stab through this much fabric.”

Instead, Allen quickly stabbed his remaining tusk into the ogre’s right eye, which was still being attacked by its own fire magic. The monster roared in pain again and swung Allen off.

The Assassin landed in a roll before quickly looking back at his enemy. “Am I doing enough damage?”

The ogre growled incoherently as another burst of flame shot off from it. Then three fireballs followed immediately after. Allen ducked under the wave of fire as Killer Instinct screamed into his head. One fireball landed just in front of him as he slid away from the ogre. The second landed in his gut and the third on his left arm as he lifted it to shield his face.

Allen hissed through the pain, much worse than last time. He quickly put his feet under him but stayed crouched, glaring back at the ogre as the heat around him rose uncomfortably. The monster stared back at him through its one, bloodshot eye. Two fireballs formed in its hands then swelled a few sizes larger while tendrils of fire licked at Allen’s feet.

Allen turned to run off down the path, but a wall of flame cut off his escape. The Assassin grinned to himself, but the expression was erased before he turned around, replaced by fearful eyes and an exhausted look.

The ogre’s mouth split into a brutal smile as it crept up to the cornered Assassin. It growled with pride as it stopped right above him and lifted its supercharged fireballs above its head.

“I’m enjoying this too,” Allen said.

With over a twenty in both speed and dexterity, he shot up at his enemy and stabbed it under the chin with his new buck knife. The blade plunged into the ogre’s throat just above the cloak wrapped around its neck, destroying its larynx and filling its mouth with blood.

The ogre’s remaining eye went wide as it choked on the knife lodged in its neck. It threw its fireballs down at Allen, but the Assassin was already behind it. He slammed his shoulder into the tusk protruding from the ogre’s back, finally sending it deep enough to penetrate its heart.

A punch to the Ogre Prokinetic’s leg with Surge of Pain sent it to its knees. Then Allen wrenched his knife out from the monster's neck as it fell forward in a final spray of gore and fire.

He breathed a sigh of relief. “In the end you were just a stupid ogre,” he muttered, finally killing the monster as he stomped down on the tusk in its back.