Banshee? No, an ogre!

Chapter 10: Selecting the ingredients

Having broken the magic pattern on the wooden token in his hand, Oug has also successfully entered the black market.

The first thing that hits you is a mixture of slightly pungent smells. If you had to describe it, it's a bit like the disinfectant water developed by the Church of Truth.

This is a kind of incense that is lit to remove foreign 'odours' that can render most olfactory abilities ineffective.

The downside is that it is easy to hallucinate after smelling it for a long time. In theory, it should be considered a kind of poison.

Only those who have taken the antidote can stay inside for a long time - this is to prevent people from hanging around on the black market.

It also eliminates the unpleasant smell of the slums.

It also has some effect in preventing the spread of epidemics.

Although he's been here many times, Oug still doesn't like the smell. The main reason is that he dislikes the feeling of having his sense of smell disturbed, which makes him feel dangerous.

The stench was not really terrible, what was terrible was the soft, intoxicating smell that made you lose your way.

Og habitually waved his hand in front of his eyes in an attempt to dispel the stench before his eyes, although it did not really help.

Since joining the Colosseum as a brawler, Og has rarely come to the black market. For one thing, he has a relatively stable source of income.

Secondly, due to his abilities (magic resistance), there is not much here that is useful to Oug - too advanced magic potions are unaffordable, and too simple ones are useless.

As for equipment and weapons, Oug has a better place to get Apprentice-level items, and he cannot afford higher-level ones.

So, most of what Oug buys here is still knowledge about various professions.

Of course, that was the previous Oug. The current Oug has enough money, probably around five or six hundred coins.

With this money, Oug had originally planned to buy the f*******n potion - if he couldn't become a professional, he could always become a sorcerer.

Of course, the more expensive the potion, the better, but the cheap ones are definitely not good.

Even if it has a 10% mortality rate, Ouge doesn't want to take any risks.

I'm just here to check the ingredients.

Looking at the people coming and going in front of him, arguing and arguing, Ouge checked his mask again.

After confirming that everything was in order, he walked quickly forward - Ouge's goal had always been very clear.

Most people here, like Og, walked very fast. Unlike the lazy people in the city, the people here value their time, one of their few possessions.

Only well-fed carnivores and ignorant sheep in the enclosure show their laziness carelessly; antelopes struggling to survive remain alert even when well-fed.

Because antelopes that are not alert are dead.

However, because of the proximity of the Demon Forest, even the nobles of the city do not let their guard down completely, as evidenced by their clothing.

People who live near the borderlands tend to dress more practically, and rarely bother with hairstyles and headdresses. That's why Focker and Lange were quickly recognised as foreign nobles.

Only those noble knights who have been away from danger for a long time would wear heavy armour without a helmet - it impairs their agility and doesn't provide full body protection.

Although the nobles of the borderlands are also predators in a sense, they should be more like wolves.

Though predators, they face an unmanageable crisis and must be on constant alert, united against outsiders.

This guest, a fine slave beauty, buy some. It is hard to imagine that the person who said this to Ouge was an ordinary red-haired dwarf.

Ouge's black eyes glanced at the cage behind the dwarf - there were indeed a number of good-looking slaves marked with magical contracts.

At a glance one could see slaves of many races, even a centaur girl.

There were no humans.

Perhaps it was because this was still human territory, or perhaps humans were too cheap...

In a way, s*****y had never really been abolished. Nobles only needed 300 gold coins to kill commoners.

I can't afford it...' Ouge walked away without looking back.

He was neither interested nor qualified to save these people. He had not even redeemed himself yet.

Besides, even if he did save them, it would be useless. Slaves whose value depended on their beauty would only perish faster if they were separated from their masters. It was hard to judge whether the outcome would be good or bad.

The only satisfaction he could get might be the moral satisfaction within himself.

That was the last thing Oug needed.

Maybe everyone was an ogre...

As long as there was a chance to give them a 'human to eat'.

Beneath the distorted prosperity, the buried sins... no one cares.

And in such a turbulent world, only power is fundamental, without which you cannot hold onto your 'wealth'.

That wealth can be beauty, family or money.

Without power, all you can do is pray for fate to smile on you, just like those pitiful slave girls - hoping for a kind but not pedantic master.

What kind of 'ingredients' should I eat?

To be honest, what to eat is the only thing Oug has to think about right now.

He has come here to choose richer 'ingredients'.

After three 'meals', Oug has gained a deeper understanding of his own abilities.

The stronger the ingredients, the harder they are to digest, and the more they are remembered, the harder they seem to be digested...

And the ability to digest them also depends on inherited conditions - this inherited compatibility seems to be the starting point for the transformation of one's own body.

After all, Oug has eaten two birds, but he hasn't seen any feathers or wings grow.

After such a selection process, Oug's target requirements are very clear.

The creatures that can be eaten must be extraordinary creatures, but they must not live too long.

The acquisition of abilities is also two-sided, so it is not necessary to be a particularly powerful supernatural creature.

Og had to choose a supernatural creature that could compensate for its own shortcomings with minimal impact, preferably one that had not survived for a long time.

The choice of abilities was not a mindless accumulation of the more the better. Some abilities that seemed wonderful might have negative consequences that Og could not accept.

The ogre's talent gave Og more efficient energy gathering, magic resistance and self-healing.

But more efficient eating and self-healing meant that Og had to eat more.

Magic resistance can protect you from the negative effects of some magic, but it also negates the positive effects of magic potions.

As for the magical claws, they were a deliberate choice by Ogg at the time, although the fact that he gained high-speed dynamic vision was somewhat unexpected.

That doesn't mean that high-speed dynamic vision doesn't have side effects.

It took Ogg half a month to get used to these eyes, and he fell several times during this period, which was the only time he had to rest.

The difference in coordination between the eyes and the body was really very uncomfortable and gave Ogg the feeling that the goods were not up to scratch.

He would often unconsciously look into the distance and ignore the near, and that was the main thing Oug had to adjust to.

Oug also paid a price - he lost his keen sense of colour.

To put it more colloquially, Oug is now colour blind.

This is also a characteristic of the Magic Falcon.

However, according to the Truth Warlock's research, birds' colour vision should have been highly developed in the first place. They have the power to activate it in their eyes, but for some reason they have collectively and voluntarily degenerated this function.

This has no effect on combat, of course.

In fact, it is the stacking of these abilities that has made Oug the strongest apprentice warrior in this border town.

Healing, magic resistance, digestion and vision," Oug recited the abilities he already possessed.

He discovered that the abilities he had inherited seemed to come from the strongest parts of this extraordinary life, and were not random.

Strength, speed, defence, dexterity, perception. Oug held out five fingers as he walked.

'Unfortunately, the ogre's lunch box can only absorb the abilities of flesh and blood...'

Oug actually tried to eat slime first, but the ability activation failed.

Tsk, as for the taste,

It's like rotten rubber that's been soaked in slime and then taken out.

It's something an ogre's intestines wouldn't even want to digest.

Strength, you can always rely on martial arts and equipment to make up for it, but what about speed?

Speed is indeed a very good way to break through.

Speed can solve many problems, not to mention the help of high-speed vision.

But Oug quickly ran through several faster creatures in his mind and found that they all had one almost common flaw - short battery life.

The Shadow Panther's speed comes at the cost of body fat, and I'm not sure if I can absorb and inherit the Shadow Magic.

The only thing Oug was sure of was that magic had no effect on him, since all creatures had some magic in their bodies.

But he had never tried to absorb magic with attributes.

The main reason was that these extraordinary creatures with attributes had a long life expectancy and were quite powerful, and Oug was not sure if he could absorb them without being affected.

Whether it was expensive or not was secondary.

No, no matter how fast it is, it can't be used in narrow caves, and the ability to preempt itself has already shortened my battery life.

Oug quickly gave up the quest for speed.

What about defence?

The toughness of ogre skin was something Oug had inherited, but it was precisely this that made him hesitant about defensive creatures.

Creatures with shells are definitely out, and the shell is definitely the strongest part of the shell.

But Oug didn't want to grow a shell to bind himself.

The creatures he had eaten before, no matter how, did not have shells.

So should he choose a scaled creature with a tough skin?

Oug shook his head again. No. Unless it was the skin of a dragon, otherwise it would be a waste to sacrifice a human appearance for the defence of scales.

It was not worth it. Who knew, it might even be considered a different species by the Dawn Church.

Right, different species.

Most of the different species are humanoid, probably because of the mixed blood.

Although different species have some weaknesses (such as silver and light), they are really strong when they transform, and they get stronger as time goes on.

Of course, Oug would not eat different species now, because those things should also be suppressed.

But just because you can't eat them now doesn't mean you can't eat them later.

It can be used as an option if you are really desperate. It is much more realistic than the wizard's f*******n potion.

If defence is no good, what about agility and perception? As Oug thought this, his eyes accidentally met a familiar creature.

'Sonic Bat...' Oug had read a lot of books to prepare himself for the meal.

In one of the books about various beasts, there was an entry about the bat.

Its high body temperature can protect it from most diseases, its powerful hearing can hear sounds that humans cannot, and its throat can also emit powerful sonic attacks.

This seems like a very good choice.

But if Oug is right, this thing carries the plague virus...

Never mind, let's keep looking. Oug was not confident that he could be immune to the bat's venom.

Suddenly, Oug stopped.

He had suddenly found a supernatural creature that fit his needs perfectly.

This creature he had only seen in books before.