Charges:

  Soul [3]

  Mind [2]

  Instinct [2]

  Professions:

  Survivalist [Novice]

  *Primitive Crafting

  *Exploring

  *Carving

  *Foraging

  Warlockdom [Novice]

  *Orb of Light

  *Purify

  *Floral Bind

  *Plant Life Enhancement

  Wizardry [Novice]

  *Weaving

  *Fireball

  *Wind Blade

  *Sylph Skin

  *Bioluminescence

  Pending Quests:

  [Make an Automated Water System!]

  [Castorimorphian Aid!]

  Wilona closed her status screen. She had no idea what any of it meant, but it should be enough to fight against a bunch of ogres, right? They didn't sound like they would be hard to kill, and besides, ogres are pretty stupid from most of the movies she's seen. Those guys are, like, more cannon fodder than actual threats.

  She briefly considered whether or not using Wind Blade would cut an ogre's arm off. The answer she came to was a hard maybe. It feels like that's the only thing she's sure of nowadays, really. She's not familiar with how this world works, and she also doesn't have access to a convenient search engine containing all the knowledge of the world, so she's forced to experience things firsthand if she wants to learn anything.

  Unauthorized use of content: if you find this story on Amazon, report the violation.

  She had taken Google for granted. Wilona was willing to admit this now that she's no longer in a world where it exists. Getting answers with just a single press of a button had never been more convenient.

  "Maybe I should have watched fantasy as well?" Wilona muttered to herself as she chewed on her fillet. She had been trying different types of soup lately, but besides either making them slightly salty—who wants to eat seawater with a side dish of fish?—and creating a creamy fish stew using the not-so-almond milk she got, she had no other options at hand.

  Not that she wasn't trying a lot of recipes using the two soups available to her. Viscous soup full of poison aside, she could also make mushroom-fish stew, or maybe fruit and vegetable stew, or some other dish that used the creamy liquid she squeezed out of the swamp fruits.

  Wilona popped the cork of her water canteen and drank a mouthful of the fruit milk. She was willing to admit that it did actually taste like almond milk, sour taste and all. And better yet, this liquid was healthy—most fruits are.

  Truly, milk knows no bounds. Even if it comes from, like, some wannabe fruit that Fuzz mistakenly calls beans.

  That aside, was it just her, or were the ogres taking a while to come? The beavers said they raided this place almost daily, so what was slowing them down this time around? It felt like the situation wasn't as urgent as the beavers had made it out to be. She had been sitting in the same spot for the better part of the morning, and the ogres still hadn't arrived.

  What, were they brushing their fucking teeth or something? Maybe preparing some kind of breakfast? Polishing their armor and weapons? What was taking them so long?!

  Wilona flinched when something big crashed into one of the stick piles—wait, no, those were houses according to the beavers. They apparently lived in an open space underneath the dome or something. She hadn't really been listening. Like how she wasn't focusing just now. So, what happened?

  "...A boulder?" Wilona muttered in fear as her eyes landed on the giant rock that wrecked the home of some unknown Castorimorphian. Kids were in there, right?

  Wilona's fear turned into cold anger as the realization dawned on her. Those pieces of shit were willing to kill children! She stood up and scanned the outskirts of the swamp. The ogres were barely visible from how far they were, but she couldn't mistake their rotund forms for anything else.

  She had only gotten basic descriptions from the leader of the Castorimorphians—why weren't they willing to give her their names anyway?—but from what she could tell, the description was pretty accurate. The ogres were large, with hill-green skin, bulging biceps, and a hunched stature. They had bloated stomachs and fat legs. Their skin also had no hair.

  On their person were primitive clothes, nothing more than strips of cloth over their groins, and their chests were bare. According to the beavers, their lack of clothing was because they saw no need to wear them.

  Or in other words—the ogres were tough enough that they didn't need armor or any type of body covering to protect them from damage or the elements.

  They were known to be tough to kill. This was why Wilona was wondering if she could harm them using her Wind Blades. She supposed that now might be the perfect time to see for herself.

  Wilona began moving. The ogres were still far away, so if she wanted to attack them, she needed to get close.

  This was part of their daily raids, actually. During the early morning, they would throw giant boulders at the Castorimorphians to weaken them before going in and swarming the beavers. It was a highly intelligent way to attack for what Wilona assumed were nothing more than brutes, and she wondered if there was someone behind them.

  If there was, then she could only hope they could be reasoned with. And if not, then she needed to reassess her opinion on the pseudo-giants.

  The ogres gathered around dry land devoid of trees. Ahead of them, a large prairie consumed the land. In the distance, Wilona spotted tents made with tough animal hide. Some sort of furniture sat around between the structures. What they were for, Wilona wasn't sure.

  No sign of the supposed commander was spotted as Wilona got near, so she guessed these things were actually smart. They spoke in broken words when she was close enough to eavesdrop, but they could at least articulate their thoughts, so that was something.

  They also weren't architectural marvels, but then again, neither was she.

  Oh, and they were murderers. Wilona only got her thoughts back on track when she saw one of the ogres throw a boulder with an overhand toss. The others started snickering when the giant piece of earth struck a house and shattered it. Sticks flew around. Wilona heard screams.

  "Right. They're not people," she whispered to herself with gritted teeth. "I shouldn't respect what they want because they wouldn't do the same to me."

  Wilona began casting Fireball. Unlike the first time she did this, where she struggled, creating a ball of fire from nothing almost felt natural. She didn't have to visualize anything and just thought to cast the spell. The world naturally obeyed her.

  When she threw the Fireball at the gathered group, Wilona ran away from her previous spot and moved to another one. She hid underneath bushes and watched the results of her magic. She was shocked to see that at least three ogres died from her spell.

  Wait, was she powerful, or were these guys just weak?

  Wilona prepared to cast another Fireball while the ogres began to panic. The ones who carried stone clubs searched the area for any signs of her but couldn't seem to find her. Wilona fired a Fireball at the spot where most of the ogres had gathered and then prepared to cast Wind Blade.

  Moment of truth.

  The air in front of her open palm solidified, forming into a sword without a hilt and slicing the shrubbery. She moved her arm to point her spell at an ogre who got way too close for comfort.

  She released the spell and let the Wind Blade loose. It flew through the air at extreme speeds and struck the ogre before it knew what was happening. It screamed as the spell tore through its chest. It reached out to grasp the gaping wound with its remaining good arm but couldn't do anything about it.

  The ogre must have realized this too because it soon charged at her.

  Wilona backed away in panic. Did it know where she was, or did it take a wild guess?