EU: Chapter 038 | Taruk-Tuk of The Stone

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Hovering at an altitude of 300 metres was an island of stone in the shape of a manta ray. Its wingspan reached a whopping kilometre in length, extremely ginormous as it slowly moved towards the Ogre Gate.

Most of the island’s interior was hollow, and it was where the Ogres stayed while the island moved. Currently, holding smooth-looking spears made of stone resembling granite were a total of eighty Ogres.

Strung to their backs were over twenty rock spears each, harnessed tightly by a pair of stone clippers.

“Hoof!”

“Hurk!”

“Hoof!”

The Ogres slowly slammed the shafts of their stone spears on the floor, creating a synchronous symphony of thunder. The arms of each were ripped, capable of snapping the spines of any other living being into two casually.

Each Ogre brimmed with a murderous grace, their bodies riddled with shallow scars in the hundreds. From repeated tempering, their skins had hardened significantly more than their regular brethren.

And most of all, every single Ogre among the group had a Control Factor of 2. They were a trained army, and currently, this army was positioned towards the mouth of the island, from where they could eye the Ogre Gate.

“Your Highness! We’re almost arrived at our destination.” One of the Ogres turned around and slammed on the ground with a thunderous impact. All the Ogres wore thin, rock guards on the joints, such as the knees, elbows, and ankles.

These rock guards were delicately crafted using the toughest of materials and then lodged into their limbs. Ogres reached a height of five metres on average. Such huge bodies placed enormous strain on their joints.

Ideally, an Ogre was capable of living up to 200 years. However, by the time they reached their sixties, their knees were the first to give out. And by the time they were eighty, they were bedridden.

Hence, these stone guards were created, which handled most of the stress placed on the joints. That was enough for the Ogre to live until the end of its lifespan. The material was an extremely rare substance that was found near the roots of the World Tree.

In the past, the Elven King had gifted this material to the Ogre King in hopes of helping the Ogre Race live their natural lifespans. After coming into contact with it, every Level 2 Ogre and above was able to create more of the material, which was how they mass-produced the stone guards.

Rulite!

The Ogre King named it as such, meaning, ‘a divine rock that extended lifespan.’

It had a murky green shade with patterns of yellow resembling Damascus steel. It had antibacterial properties, ensuring the joints of the Ogres were maintained in pristine conditions, even if they had to wear the stone guards for the rest of their lives.

It was tough enough to withstand the Ogre’s weight, which was why it didn’t shatter when the Ogre kneeled with force.

In the direction the Ogre faced while kneeling, deep within the hollow section of the island were two parallel rows facing each other. There were four stone seats on each. And comfortably resting their stony bums on it were Level 2 Ogres.

Appearance-wise, they all resembled each other. They were siblings. Each sibling was in charge of ten Level 1 Ogres.

The oldest sibling, named Taruk-Tuk, an Ogre whose stature almost reached six metres in height, shifted his weight, causing a mild indentation on his armrest. Standing beside his seat were two winged creatures resembling humans.

The torso was that of a human but sported wider hips. The legs were covered by feathers that were brown for males and pink for females. In the place of feet were bird claws, the talons sharp enough to scratch steel.

In place of arms were wings, reaching a wingspan of five metres. They were a mixture in colour, between green grass and golden hay. The head and neck resembled an owl’s, capable of turning their necks by 270 degrees.

The Gravity Race of Harpies!

At adulthood, they ranged between 180 centimetres to 220 centimetres in height and weighed between forty to fifty kilograms. They mostly moved around in pairs once they reached adulthood.

Currently, standing beside Taruk-Tuk was one such couple. Judging by their respectfully submissive body language, they were his servants. Placed on a stool before Taruk-Tuk was a bowl with an array of fruits and meat products.

A piece of meat flew up from the bowl and found itself within the open mouth of Taruk-Tuk. He seemed to be analysing the situation at hand while munching on the meat piece, taking a few seconds before he got up with a start, “I’ll lead the charge.”

He then turned around and bowed respectfully towards an elevated platform at the end of the island’s hollow section. “Mother, Father, please grant me the permission.”

“Permission granted!” Curled on the elevated platform was a ginormous lizard-like creature. From head to tail, it spanned a length of twenty metres. Its body was covered by scales, each tougher than refined steel.

Two horns curled up menacingly and pointed forward like a trident, aligned with the line of sight of its face. Its body was pure white, while the gaps between the scales were sky blue. The horn was a marginally deeper shade of sky blue, same for its talons.

The Lightning Race of Wyverns!

This majestic creature was currently asleep, its soft snores thunderous. Its wings were fully curled up, but when unfurled, they would reach a wingspan of over sixty metres. The Wyvern coiled around two seats that were luxuriously carved, resembling thrones.

Wyverns dominated the skies and considered themselves the direct descendants of Bolomere. As such, their pride reached the skies, surpassing even the Elves. Such a creature behaved as a pet to the two seated existences.

In terms of size, they were a tad bigger than Taruk-Tuk. But in terms of power, they were on a whole other realm of existence. They were the cause behind the ginormous floating island. But were Level 3 Ogres, extremely famous on Gangnea for they loved to enslave other creatures.

The Ogres were the original enslavers. Humans learnt from them the art of enslaving a sentient race.

Stone Race of Ogres—Level 3 (Relic)!

Taruk-Tuk’s father, an infamous being who went by the name of Tron-Tak lightly tapped his arm rest, producing a thunderous sound, “Permission granted.”

Immediately in response, a group of Harpies harnessed at the top of the island, pulling it forward, stopped flapping their wings and took rest. The island arrived at a stop exactly a hundred metres before the Oge Gate.

“Thank you, Father.” Taruk-Tuk stomped the floor in joy and turned around to nod at his team of ten Level 1 Ogres who were ready to move at his command.

But before he could exit the island, Tron-Tak warned, “You can play with the Humans within your line of sight. But the moment you feel the temperature of the entire region flare up, retreat here in an instant. Otherwise, you’ll turn to ash before you can even realise what is happening.”

“Understood,” Taruk-Tuk thumped the floor, knowing very well the warning was about the Warden.

…

“We’re doomed!” Nancho gasped as he stared at the island arrive at a stop, “They could simply rain rocks at us from there and we’ll have no means to survive.”

The officers would be fine, since Level 2 Humans could fly. However, the Level 1 Humans would be decimated.

Nancho turned around and stared at the ash road that headed straight to the World Tree, ‘There’s still no sign of the Warden?’

‘It wouldn’t take him long to rush here once he gets the message. He should have already been here an hour ago.’ As he thought, a rightening possibility invaded his mind, causing colour to flush out of his face, ‘Did something happen to him? No! That’s impossible!’

He shook his head wildly and groaned, ‘It’s impossible to assassinate him.’

“What do we do now, Officer Nancho?” Rachad asked, “We cannot face them.”

“Let the regular soldiers retreat into the Lava Moat. They can harness some of its flames to fight.” Nancho said without hesitation, “We’ll also do he same. Fighting anywhere else is suicide.”

At Nancho’s command, the soldiers promptly retreated with only the most important supplies. The rest were left in the Ogre Gate, which Rachad set on fire as he flew out.

“Two of you, head to the other side and be ready.” One of the officers pointed at two soldiers and motioned for them to approach the Sun Stone embedded on the other end of the bridge, “You’ll have to activate it if we want to cross the bridge.”

“Also,” A moment’s hesitation later, the officer announced, “If it seems like we’re losing, release all the Sun Stone’s heat into the bridge and sunk it.”

The officer approached the Sun Stone on their end of the bridge and activated it, causing it to absorb all the heat from the bridge. The two soldiers hurriedly raced across the bridge. Once they had crossed it, the officer removed the Sun Stone on his end.

“Officer Nancho, you’re the strongest among us.” Saying so, he handed the Sun Stone over, “Please wield the Sun Stone’s power in times of need.”

“I will,” Nancho said as he grabbed the Sun Stone and began charging it with the flames he emitted. He elevated the heat of the flames within to the maximum that he could create. This way, its destructive might could be maximised.

Boom!

Right as they completed their preparations, a spiral staircase of stone extended out of the island and touched the fort’s terrace. An Ogre that was a head taller than the rest of his kind walked out and charged towards the edge.

As he did, a column of stone extended out of the fort and slammed into the Ogre Gate with enough force that the latter crumbled.

“HUMANS!” It was Taruk-Tuk, booming his voice to the loudest his throat could churn, “Prepare to be crushed like bugs!”

His roar, followed by the Ogre Gate crumbling alerted all the soldiers into an offensive. They winced in unison, their bodies sustaining burns as they dipped their feet in the edges of the Lava Moat, at the coldest spots they could pick.

And from there, they harnessed a sea of flames and gushed it towards Taruk-Tuk. As they were all focused on their enemy, they didn’t notice the two soldiers standing on the other side of the bridge collapse all of a sudden.

A Pinaka clone approached them, touched them, and created two more clones, whose form it morphed to resemble the two Humans. Following that, it dragged the two human corpses and jumped into the Lava Moat, erasing all evidence.

The two clones disguised as humans had already equipped the clothes and items of the originals. They stood there only to not activate the Sun Stone, so that the bridge could stand steady.

‘Even for them, it’s necessary.’ Pinaka thought as he observed the island from far away. He noticed the large flock of Harpies perched on the floating island, ‘If I infer from the Sky Boulder’s power, then at Level 3, an Ogre could create floating pieces of stone. But they just float and cannot move on their own.’

‘The Harpies exist to pull them in the air. The heat from the Lava Moat will burn their feathers, irrespective of how much they try to protect themselves.’ He analysed, ‘That means, the bridge is a necessity if the Ogres wish to invade the place.’

Originally, Pinaka wanted to help the Ogres destroy the Ogre Gate and come into the land within the Lava Moat. However, since the floating island arrived, he was sure the Ogres could easily invade.

Therefore, he didn’t have to worry about this fight and could instead focus on his real objective, ‘Now would be a great time to alert the Warden.’

Once the Warden left the Elven Prison, the remaining soldiers wouldn’t be able to endure a fight against him, ‘There still are Level 2 Humans inside, who haven’t been mobilised.’

That was his target, since the ones who haven’t been mobilised had only one role—to guard the World Tree Fruits.

And that was Pinaka’s target all along.

Authors Notes: Gangnea Daily Article 38: Races that made an appearance until now: Elves, Dwarves, Humans, Harpies, Ogres, Wyverns.

Races introduced: Vampires

Races left for introduction: 9/16

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