A/N: So in the end this is the decision I came to. For those that don't understand what I mean with that statement, don't worry about it.
Anyways onto a note everyone can understand, I will be releasing a .5 a bit later and That will mark the end of my pre written chapters. Now what that means is that releases will slow down. There will for sure be at least 1 new chapter every week and at the fastest, a new chapter may come out within 3 days of the last. Now that fact might dampen some moods, but it is to ensure at least a minimum level of quality is maintained, it's already bad enough I don't want to rush it and make it worse. Hopefully, it's an understandable and forgivable situation for most.
Finally if I ever hit a point were I won't be able write or post over an extended period of time, I will try to make a post about it.
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But I never imagined … that I would have only grown this much.
It’s been five years. Since my body supposedly matures faster shouldn’t I look about eighteen or twenty by now? There’s always the possibility that this is my body at full maturity, but I can’t imagine a succubus that looks this young her entire life. That sounds like it would be a detriment for a succubus considering what they ‘hunt’.
I was really hoping my body would develop well too because in my other life I could only dream. Dream about what could have been if I hadn’t been born in a male body, but since I actually have a female body now I really don’t want to look this young for the rest of my life.
Looking in the mirror I would guess my age at around 13 now. Though, I am still short for that estimate at 4.9 feet. My face has lost quite a bit of its childishness, but there is still a lot of promise for the future. As for the rest of me, well, I could definitely tell they were there when I was learning to fight. I was never really able to guess sizes in my other life, but I would give myself maybe, small to medium C? I probably can’t expect to develop into a model figure, but I want a bit more at least. Given that I’m a small part succubus that shouldn’t be too much to ask for.
“This scene is almost identical to five years ago, isn’t it? Your current condition, however, is going to make certain infiltrations we had planned much more difficult,” hearing a voice I last heard five years ago snaps me out of my thoughts and I turn to see Rebecca standing in the doorway.
After staring at each other in silence for a few minutes Rebecca finally says, “What, you’re not going to greet me? Well, whether you greet me or not doesn’t matter. I only came here to confirm the reports that came in. To think that the reports that stated your growth was terribly off prediction would be true. The ones who argued so hard to mix in succubus blood would be rather disappointed if they saw this.
Then again we can probably use this innocent look. Ah, I have to make changes to so many plans now. This would all be easier if your body had properly developed along our estimated predictions, but then again there is still the question of why it didn’t. I guess it could be thanks to that ogre’s training … should we have let your body mature further before starting your training?
Well anyways I did say that my only reason for being here was to verify reports, but there is a secondary purpose to this visit. If you would come and lay on the bed we can move this along.”
After she finishes talking Rebecca walks over to the bed and pats the side to urge me to come over. Following instructions I walk to the bed, get on it and lie down. Rebecca then proceeds to tie my arms to my sides and tie my legs in a way that would only allow me to shuffle along. After tieing me up Rebecca then puts a burlap bag over my head so that I can’t see anything.
“Just a few precautionary measures. While we know that ogre could easily stop you, it would be rather unpleasant if the two of you went at each other in the facility. The bindings may not seem all that strong, but they are regularly used by tamers to capture monsters up to A rank. So don't expect to escape them by yourself with your stats being sealed by the collar and as for limiting your vision. Well, there are just some things you just don’t need to see,” after she is finished I can sense Rebecca leaving the room, but before the door closes completely I hear her quietly whisper one last thing, “I’m sorry.”
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After waiting for about an hour I hear someone opening the door to my room. Since I can’t feel the mana in their body I can assume it's the demon ogre.
“So this is how they plan on keeping you from breaking anything before we get outside. What a rather tasteless method those whelps came up with. If it was up to me I would have just ripped your arms and legs off before carrying you out. It’s not like I couldn’t just fix you once we got outside. It’s too bad that it wasn’t left up to me, now let's get going so I can finally get paid for this job … I just hope you won’t disappoint me.” when the demon ogre finishes talking I feel him pick me up and toss me over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes.
After about fifteen minutes of being jostled about on the demon ogre's shoulder, we finally stop and he throws me to the ground and removes the bag blocking my vision. Regaining my sight I can see that we are currently in what looks to be an elevator.
Crouching down the demon ogre starts to remove my bindings as he talks, “Right those whelps shouldn’t care if I unbind you in here. Honestly, I don’t see what the problem is with letting you see some white hallways. There are probably much easier ways to break out of here than an elevator the whelps can shut down any time they want. Now sit there and wait quietly until we reach the surface.”
After the demon ogre finishes removing my bindings I rub my appendages to help get blood flowing through them properly again. Since I have been told to sit quietly this is a good chance to sort the information that was just learned.
So this lab has been underground? Well, that would explain why there wasn’t any windows at all. Then again I have only ever been in two rooms, but it must be pretty deep down since we have been in this elevator for three minutes already. Where this lab is will hardly matter once this damn demon ogre is dead. Once he dies I can leave this place and never look back.
After spending another few minutes in the elevator I feel it come to a stop and the door opens. The first thing that hits me is the smell of nature. It smells so different from where I have been locked up since I first woke up in this life. The only other thing I notice before the ogre shoves me out of the elevator is that it is currently dark out.
Walking out of the elevator behind me the demon ogre comes around to my front and forces me to look him in the eye before saying, “Alright, before you go getting mesmerized by nature I am going to set one simple ground rule. You can inspect everything as much as you want, but if you ever fall behind more than five meters. I am going to tie a lead to your collar and drag you behind me. Understood? Of course, you understand. Now let's go, we have some walking to do before we reach the nearest town.”
Letting me go the demon ogre turns around and starts walk away. I quickly follow after him while looking around at my surroundings. From what I can see around me it looks like we are in a forest. I can see that the trees around us aren't so densely packed that it would get in the way of combat, but they are packed enough to provide possible opportunities in a fight if used right. The trees are also thick enough to easily break sightlines. It’s a slight shame that there isn’t much undergrowth to trip on or I could have used that to my advantage.
Since it’s currently night I was expecting to have trouble seeing, but my night vision is surprisingly excellent even though I can’t see the moon through the trees. Since I slowed down a little to inspect my surrounding I notice myself falling behind and hurry to catch up with the demon ogre.
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We have been walking for about an hour now, but this forest shows no sign of ending anytime soon. It’s also weird that I haven’t seen any other sign of life at all this whole time. I haven’t been able to sense anything other than myself the entire time. When I was told the world had monsters I was expecting us to run into something in these woods.
Not to mention that this damn demon ogre looks completely unworried that I might try to attack him anytime. Then again, since my stats are supposed to be sealed he probably doesn’t think there is any reason to worry. Maybe it's time I give this psycho a reason to repent for everything he did to me.
Having decided it’s time to act, I release the limits on all my stats and skills except for ‘Draconic Aura’. Slowly I walk closer to the demon ogre. My current plan is to limit his movement by destroying one of his legs. Since the demon ogre is so huge compared to me, I decided beforehand that going for a leg first would be the best course of action for a sneak attack.
I get up right behind the demon ogre and I am about to attack, but I leap back as he stops moving to talk, “About damn time! I was starting to think you were going to disappoint me, but man am I glad he told me that you managed to remove your seal. Otherwise, I might have left myself sealed and man that would have been mes-.”
This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road. If you spot it on Amazon, please report it.
The moment I land without listening to what the demon ogre is saying I cast a flurry of chantless spells consisting of {Fireball}, {Rock Shard}, {Water Blade}, {Wind Blade} and {Ice Shard}. When I am done casting the spells materialize in front of me instantly and launch towards the demon ogre. As my spells reach the demon ogre he effortlessly swats them down one after the other with one hand.
Seeing that none of my chantless spells even matter to the demon ogre I decide to use my current strongest attack spell and chant, “{Icicle Cloud}.”
As I chant the spells name a cloud consisting of tens of thousands of razor sharp, sixty centimeter long icicles forms around the demon ogre. After about a second my view of the demon ogre is obstructed as thousands upon thousands of icicles crash into his body kicking up a cloud of powdered ice in the process. A minute later there are no more icicles left, but I can’t see the result of my spell since there is still a rather thick cloud of powdered ice blocking my vision.
As the cloud of powdered ice slowly dissipates I hear the demon ogre start laughing wildly from inside it as he yells, “I must say that was some pretty impressive magic! It really is a shame that my body is completely impervious to anything made from foreign mana. Just a little blessing I picked up from a certain someone, but if you're done with your little magic tricks let's fight!”
This damn demon ogre still thinks he is in complete control here. If he wants to completely underestimate me then I can just use that to my advantage. Just because my spells won’t work on him doesn’t mean I am helpless. It should be easy enough to outright kill this damn demon ogre with my fully released stats. But I prefer the idea of aiming my attacks to cripple him so I can, slowly, pay him back for taking ‘care’ of me for five years.
I take off the shoes on my feet as I activate ‘Partial Dragonification’ on my hands and feet while also feeding mana to my wings to release them. By the time my wings are completely unfurled my hands and feet look like a mix between a dragon's claws and human appendages. I look over at the demon ogre to see that he is patiently waiting there for me to make the first move.
Deciding to oblige I kick off the ground as hard as possible. As I hurtle towards the demon ogre using my wings to gain lift so I can attack him at around chest level. Reaching the demon ogre I launch in a frenzy of punches, kicks, and swipes of my claws, but it doesn’t matter what I do. No matter how fast I attack nor how perfect my feints are, the demon ogre effortlessly dodges or blocks everything I throw at him.
While treating my attacks, which are currently more than a thousand times faster and stronger than in training, like he is deflecting a small child’s fists the demon ogre starts to talk fervently, “Yes, yes! This is what I wanted! There's no wasted movement, yet there’s none of the rigid predictable movements a well established fighting style imparts. If he hadn’t boosted my stats for this battle I am sure you would have already taken my head, but unluckily for you, I have quite a powerful backer.
This really has been rather enjoyable five years, but all good things must come to an end. Don’t think I haven’t noticed the change in your attacks as I started talking just now. You started off intending to maim me and now you have gotten to the point that every attack is aimed to kill. It’s honestly becoming rather dangerous and so it’s time to end this fight.”
After finishing his statement the demon ogre catches a kick I have aimed at his neck with both hands and spins his body with his arms outstretched ramming my back into a nearby tree, toppling the tree in the process. The impact knocks all the air out of my lungs and I fall to the ground gasping for air. Once I finally start breathing normally again I can only think of one thing. Why?
Why can’t I touch him? Why can he render everything I do useless? Why can such a despicable creature like him be this strong? I am more than a thousand times faster and stronger than before so why? Why can’t I kill this damn demon ogre? Why, why, why, why?!
“Why?!” with my hatred for the demon ogre finally starting to bubble over completely I unintentionally shout out.
“This is it! This is the moment I have been waiting for this entire time. That sweet, sweet climax of rage. That pivotal point where the mind teeters on the border of insanity. Oh, I know! Since this is a momentous occasion how about I give you a name to call me by and while I'm at it, I might even tell you who my backer is. Ah, I can’t wait to finish pushing you into the depths of despair. That moment when you realize your long awaited revenge is going to end in failure.
Now I’m not sure this is the nickname used the most when referring to me, but out of all the things I’ve been called, well this one just kinda has a nice ring to it. The Ripper, people actually started calling me the Ripper because of my hobby. Honestly, I quite like the title, but that doesn’t really matter now does it? This is all about giving you a name to hate, a target for you to hunt in your fruitless quest for vengeance.
Ah, but I made a second promise, didn’t I? Well, he will probably be mad at me for outing him, but you know what, who cares! My great benefactor is none other than the one and only God of War and Peace. He personally asked me to come train you. At first, I couldn’t understand why, but it all made sense once I met you. I have never met a monster so very interesting before. No matter what I did you just wouldn’t break. Well until now at least.
But our time is running short so let me end this by saying one last thing. Once this test is over and I bring you back, you will never see me again. I will leave that facility with my money and no matter how hard you try the Ripper will elude you for the rest of your life. Not matter how hard you try, you will never get revenge,” after the demon ogre finishes his last sentence I can’t hear anything anymore other than the sounds of my ragged breathing and my heart beating erratically in my chest.
As the sound of my heartbeat intensifies it feels like my blood is boiling in my veins. Boiling away the last traces of rationality I have left.
This feeling is almost the same as when I overdose on blood and ‘Blood Rage’ activates. No this doesn’t just feel like it, it is ‘Blood Rage’, but that shouldn’t be possible. I haven’t ingested any blood this whole time. Argh, it’s getting hard to think … wait, why am I even fighting this feeling? If I let ‘Blood rage’ take over this could be my chance to kill this damn demon ogre. This damn demon ogre will finally die.
Before the last vestiges of my rationality slip away, I decide to do one last thing. Just before my conscious is completely consumed by blind rage I activate ‘Overlimit’ at two hundred percent.
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As the darkness retreats from my consciousness I can immediately tell that my body is in horrible shape. It’s immediately clear that I am missing an arm and can barely even stand. After verifying that there is nothing and no one currently trying to immediately kill me, I probe inside my body using my mana. After probing my body I find that most of my ribs are broken, one of my legs might as well have been removed it's so shattered, my remaining arm is heavily fractured, half the muscles in my good leg are torn, both my wings have been ripped out and I am suffering from a colossal amount of internal bleeding along with all the blood I am losing externally. All in all its amazing that I am even still alive right now.
Having confirmed the status of my body I quickly look around at the remains of the battle between me and the ogre. Seeing the carnage around me it’s unbelievable that this used to be a forest. As far around me as I can see it looks like the area was hit by a meteor shower. But I can’t manage to find the demon ogre anywhere. I also can’t see anything that looks like his dead body either, but there is way too much blood around for it to belong all to me. Scouting the devastation I consider the fact that I am still alive and that he isn’t around. Deciding that even if the demon ogre escaped he probably won’t survive long I start thinking about my current situation.
Alright before stopping to contemplate whether or not that damn demon ogre survived I should try to make it through this first. I would like nothing more than to fall over right here, but if I did that the researchers would find me for sure. If they do find me they will probably hire someone stronger than that damn demon ogre to guard me next time, but what can I even do to get out of here? It feels like my body is about ready to give out on me at any moment.
While I am weighing my current options one of the first spells I tried programming comes to mind. The spell in question was my attempt at a teleportation spell. The spell's effect is supposed to fold the space between two locations together, connecting them together like a doorway. The spell in theory, is supposed to be used with preset coordinates but Thinking on it further I come to the decision it’s probably possible to use the spell without preset coordinates. It’s probably rather stupid, not to mention dangerous, but I don’t really have any other choices in this situation anyways.
Since my consciousness is rapidly fading instead of thinking about any further I just chant the spell while pouring in all my remaining mana, “{Interspatial Fold, Gate Open}.”
As I cast my spell space in front of me warps and I barely cross into the warped space as I lose consciousness.