Wildness and Masks

"Ogre!"

As soon as he showed his documents and returned to the city, Foucault rushed over immediately.

It seemed he had been waiting at the city gate for a while.

"How's Thran?" Ogre untied the gun wrapped in cloth and handed it back to Foucault.

Ogre liked gold coins because they could solve many problems, but he wouldn't take valuable things that didn't truly belong to him just because he liked them.

Otherwise, how would he be different from those marauders?

"The priest said his physical condition is not a major concern... By the way, is your teacher named Yard?" Foucault pushed back against Ogre's attempt to return the weapon.

It was originally meant for Ogre to use.

"You've met the teacher?" Ogre was taken aback, feeling a twinge of guilt in his heart.

"Yes, he took Thrandic away," Foucault confirmed with a nod.

"Did he say anything...?" After a moment of silence, Ogre asked the question weighing on his mind.

"He said not to look for him again in the future..." Foucault replied softly.

"Oh..." Ogre acknowledged, then walked past Foucault with a cold expression. "I understand..."

"Hey, Ogre, why don't we take a few days off..." Lange called out to Ogre, noticing he was clearly not in the right state.

Ogre stopped, turned to look at Foucault, then at Lange, and shook his head. "No need, we'll continue tomorrow. I can do the work of two... No need to hire anyone else, leave everything to me."

"Ogre," Foucault raised his hand.

"What is it?"

"Are you okay..."

Ogre gripped the cloth-wrapped spear tightly and replied, "Since I've made the decision, there's no turning back. Foucault... you're a good person, but you're not a qualified adventurer. I'll help you, I promise."

"Then let's meet at the usual place," Foucault lowered his hand, watching the young man leave...

"Young master," Lange walked up to Foucault.

"Lange, do you have something to say?"

Foucault didn't care if his expensive clothes got dirty.

"Is he really only sixteen...?" Lange asked, looking at Ogre's departing figure with a sense of wonder.

"There are always people better than us, Lange."

"Young master, that's not what I meant. I just find it hard to imagine what Ogre has been through in the past," Lange said, removing his helmet.

He wasn't particularly concerned about where Ogre's strength came from.

Lange was just curious about what kind of past could create such a person.

"Who knows, a poor orphan, nothing is surprising," Foucault recalled the information he had read about Ogre and slowly said, "True strength is never achieved in a short time. Compared to those on the frontier, we're just lucky to have a good background..."

...

After bidding farewell to Foucault and Lange, Ogre habitually lowered his head and walked a few steps towards the location of the Church of Dawn.

After a few steps, he suddenly paused.

Then, he smiled bitterly and headed towards his home...

"After all, I'm still suited to being alone..."

Ogre took out a silver badge, looked at it for a moment, and then put it away.

Back home, after tidying up a bit, Ogre opened the "Thunder Forge Breathing Technique" he got from Foucault.

Because it was placed inside his armor, the goblin giant's blood hadn't soaked it, only the cover was slightly stained.

Come to think of it, when Ogre went back to fight the goblin giant, he hadn't thought much about it...

After taking a couple of deep breaths, Ogre cleared his mind.

He knew well that some things wouldn't change just because of his emotions.

The only thing Ogre could do was to become stronger!

The root of all tragedy stemmed from weakness, and Ogre always believed this.

Once he understood this, the emotions in Ogre's eyes turned into a thirst for power.

With this mindset, Ogre opened the breathing technique he had acquired through "selling himself."

"The essence of a breathing technique is to feel the rhythm..."

This was the first thing Yard taught about breathing techniques.

The Thunder Forge Breathing Technique was no exception.

It detailed a knight's perception of the rhythm of thunder and lightning.

"Exhale, calm, inhale, absorb, exhale, inhale, absorb..."

Ogre slowly tried this rhythm, and the habit of alternating chest and abdominal breathing from previous techniques slightly affected this new rhythm.

But after a few attempts, Ogre quickly resolved the issue.

However, integrating this breathing technique into daily life would take some effort.

"Feel the heartbeat... feel the flow of blood in the body, awaken the dormant power within..."

This step was often needed for knights to sense the power of Battle Qi, but Ogre wasn't sure if martial artists needed to skip this step.

So he did it anyway.

With the immersion in rhythm and concentration, Ogre soon felt his body's functions being activated.

Although he didn't feel the so-called rhythm, as long as it helped his body recover, Ogre felt it was enough.

He didn't know if it was an illusion.

Ogre could feel his body recovering rapidly, and the previous pain in his chest had eased...

After some attempts, Ogre stopped.

"Why is the effect so good?"

Ogre looked at the heat rising from his hand with some confusion.

Logically, the quality of a breathing technique shouldn't have such a significant impact on a martial artist, right?

With this puzzlement, Ogre flipped through the contents at the back of the breathing technique. It was originally meant for knights and contained methods for harnessing and training Battle Qi.

This part should have had nothing to do with Ogre.

But because the breathing technique's effect was surprisingly good, Ogre, driven by curiosity, looked through the back content, trying to find an answer.

And indeed, he found something.

"Thunder Battle Qi... can be accelerated by using the electric current from a thunder-type demonic beast's magic core..." Ogre found the answer.

It turned out this breathing technique was exactly as its name suggested, allowing one to use the power of thunder for cultivation.

The initial rhythm was the knight's fastest method to adapt to thunder, discovered through experimentation, using the damage from electric currents to enhance physical fitness and improve recovery.

"Good stuff, it seems my casual suggestion was useful after all."

Ogre thought of the request he made to Foucault and, for some reason, smiled to himself. "He's really a meticulous guy..."

Clearly, this was no coincidence—it was a breathing technique Foucault specifically found for him, one that truly increased resistance to lightning!

After a moment of reflection, Ogre flipped through the remaining content of the breathing technique again. Finding nothing else useful, he set the book aside.

He resumed practicing the breathing technique until his body could quickly adapt.

Next, Ogre's tasks were simple.

Just train with the power of thunder, eat, and practice the breathing technique—a straightforward routine.

During this process, Ogre could feel his adaptability to lightning improving rapidly.

Along with this improvement, his physique also enhanced.

Looking at the blue hue under his skin caused by strong currents, Ogre could feel that his Ogre Physique seemed to be activated and strengthened.

"Next time, I won't let those around me get hurt so easily," Ogre muttered, clenching his now powerful fists.

Then, Ogre began cleaning his body and organizing his equipment.

He also needed to replenish some consumed supplies.

For tomorrow's adventure, he wouldn't allow any mistakes!