circle-of-life

Circle-of-life is one of the few ’positive energy’ spells mastered by the Ogre Shaman. It can resist the erosion of dark energy, reduce magic damage, and continuously provide healing power and strong vitality, allowing the Ogre Warriors to maintain their strong combat power for longer.

The pale green dots rising from the flames seemed like a swarm of fireflies just leaving their nest.

Initially, they were only the size of a fingernail, but they grew with the wind, transforming into pale green rings over three feet in diameter, descending from the sky, enveloping every warrior in the camp — whether they were Ogres or Centaurs.

The sudden appearance of the green rings made the Centaur Warriors somewhat uneasy, yet the strong life energy emanating from them caused a moment of hesitation in their reactions. When the rings descended, the seemingly endless vitality pouring from them made them realize it was not an attack spell, but it also caused greater chaos.

Many Centaur Warriors appeared confused and bewildered, looking towards their leader.

The Centaur leader gave the Elder Ogre Priest a deep look.

"Lower your bows! Form ranks!"

He roared, pacing quickly around the Ogre Camp, raising his Long Spear high, swinging it in the air in irregular rings, issuing commands to every Centaur Warrior:

"Trident Battle Formation! Spears pointing outwards! Prepare to charge!"

"Ogre!"

The Elder Ogre Priest, with blood dripping from his hand, struck the ground heavily with his Magic Wand, looking around, addressing every Ogre Warrior: "The King of Fire has sent us a divine message, a sinister omen comes from the Silent Forest. The Centaurs are not our enemies! Tonight, two heads are better than one!"

The young head under its chin lifted with effort, struggling to open its blurred eyes, repeating in a chaotic voice: "Two heads are better than one!"

The green rings beneath the feet of the Ogre Warriors were overlaid with a faint red glow.

"Ogre! Ogre!"

"Ogre!"

They swung their massive clubs and bone shields, responding to the Elder Priest’s warning with fierce roars, standing in chaotic formations around the central campfire, their heavy breathing giving the impression that a Giant was slowly awakening.

Whoosh!

A cold wind passed through the forest, brushing the manes of the Centaurs and the Elder Ogre Priest’s wand tip, causing the campfire to flicker slightly, and deep within the black forest, a pair of dark red eyes suddenly lit up.

Flap!

Along with the sound of chaotic wings flapping, a giant black Raven flew out from the forest, like a cannonball, crashing towards the campfire.

Whiz!

An arrow shot out from the side, precisely piercing through the Raven’s neck, the arrow with great force nailed it to a tree trunk at the edge of the camp, the Raven struggled for a few seconds, the red in its eyes dimmed, turning into a limp corpse.

The Centaur leader put away his bow and arrow, his eyes showing no sign of joy, only intense vigilance.

Because he clearly saw that the Raven he killed took only a few seconds to transform into a mass of black air, flowing back into the surging black mist in the forest.

Undoubtedly Black Magic.

"Change bows! Fall back!" He raised his Long Spear once more, pivoting in place, shouting to correct the previous command: "Form a crescent formation, prepare for free shooting!"

"seize-the-initiative!"

The Elder Ogre Priest pulled out a bone knife, cutting open another of his arms, then sprinkled the dripping blood into the campfire, which blazed up, countless sparks soaring from the leaping flames, forming a blazing orange-red eye.

The fire eye opened, and the crimson gaze seemed to illuminate the entire camp instantaneously.

But in the next instant, the fire eye shattered with a bang, turning back into countless sparks falling back into the campfire, while the surging black mist instead surged past the camp boundary restraints, approaching the Centaur and Ogre coalition, ready and waiting.

Huff, huff!

The Elder Ogre Priest, propping himself up with his Magic Wand, collapsed weakly to the ground, gasping, his fierce expression mixed with a trace of fear: "Can’t see... can’t make it out... even the King of Fire can’t see the face of this monster..."

The Centaur Warriors pawed the ground uneasily, their arrows tensely pointed towards the depths of the forest. The Ogre Warriors widened their eyes, their breathing becoming even heavier. An air of restlessness permeated the entire camp.

Flap, flap!

One by one, dark red eyes lit up in the darkness, no raven calls, no negotiation, only the silent and chaotic sound of wings flapping, overlapping as giant ravens swarmed out of the darkness like a tide, taking only a short time to completely submerge this small tribal camp.

Many of the Centaur and Ogre warriors, standing ready, did not even have time to let out one last roar in life before being swallowed up by the seemingly endless flock of ravens.

The campfire was nearly extinguished.

The light in the forest camp grew dimmer and dimmer.

The ravens folded their wings, resembling vultures, clustering in twos and threes around the corpses on the ground, pecking at the flesh of the Centaurs and Ogres, feasting. The ravens that had their fill stretched their wings and flew back into the black mist that enveloped the camp like a curtain, silently merging with it.

A long time passed.

When there were no more ravens in the forest, nor any other living creatures, only the shattered white bones scattered everywhere and the campfire in the center of the camp that was about to go out.

Crack.

Accompanied by the sound of footsteps breaking branches.

Professor Montreya slowly emerged from the forest. He wore no hood, his exposed face pale to the point of being frightening, his black cloak rising behind him, seemingly holding a corner of the night, and as he stepped forward, more and more blackness and mist were drawn from the surroundings into the cloak, becoming part of it.

By the time the professor reached the campfire.

The black mist enveloping this camp had completely merged into his cloak, trailing behind him like a long black tail.

With the black mist’s obstruction gone, moonlight returned to this small world, making the entire camp even brighter.

"The true universe is darkness and stillness... All things are nurtured from this darkness and stillness. Only by gazing into the purest darkness, can one perceive that slightest glimmer of hope."

Professor Montreya muttered to himself, lifting his leg to crush the last bit of light left in the campfire, then turned to leave.

His lifted cloak obscured his figure, and plunged the entire camp into darkness once more.

Gollum.

An underdeveloped Ogre Skull rolled from under another mature skull, rolling twice on the ground, its empty eye sockets looking at the moonlit shattered white bones and the campfire still faintly smoking. After a moment of silence, it shattered with a roar, turning into a cloud of dust in the moonlight.