NOVPUBIn the past, Shye euntered a False Gorgon raised by a syndicate.
Heuldn't help but wonder whether the hidden ogre clan were the same.
'Superior Stealth!'
Donning two items—the Hadean Varsa Commander Mask, whichnceals one's aura, and the Hadean Varsa Cloak, which boosts stealth skill effectiveness by ten percent—Shye slipped into the cave tonduct a quick rnnaissance mission.
If the ogre clan were under someone's protection, there would be signs of human intervention inside the enormous underground cave.
Entering under thever of invisibility, Shyeuldn't help but marvel at the azure walls of the underground cave, adorned with sapphire gemstones of varying sizes and quality.
Although sunlightuld barely enter, the cave was strangely well-lit with a bluish hue.
From this, Shyeuldnclude that the hidden clan of ogres wasn't under the protection of humans, as the sapphires would've already been harvested had they been.
With this, he breathed a sigh of relief.
He did not want to waste more time looking for a suitable roosting area for his dragons.
Wiping out this clan of ogres was no small task, but it was far easier than wandering aimlessly through deadly zones in search of a hidden area of similar size, with no guarantee that such a place even existed elsewhere.
Nonetheless, this meant that the leader of the ogres was an extremely clever one of its kind.
After all, brute-type monsters were generally dumber than other types, and for them to be able to thrive without being found should all be thanks to a wise ruler.
Ofurse, Shye would take his time to investigate. He didn't want to lose even a single tamed monster due to carelessness.
Proceeding deeper into the cave, Shye passed by a lot of blue-skinned (A-) ranked Ogre Defenders.
To his surprise, they were well-armed.
They were outfitted with roughly crafted helmets and armor forged from Allonium—a unique metal known for its exceptional durability and malleability, though only of mithril-tier quality.
Despite this, the fully armed and disciplined (A-) ranked ogresuld effortlessly decimate even the hardiest of emerald-ranked adventurer parties.
The Ironwood clubs resting on their shoulders as they patrolled the sprawling pathways of their underground cave made them all the more intimidating.
Still, Shye was a different beast. Heuld kill such creatures without them even realizing what happened.
Pressing onward, he reached an enormous cavern, its expanse rivaling that of a medium-sized human city.
Divering such a vast space within an underground cave felt almost mystical to Shye, especially as it was bathed in a soothing blue light whose source remained a mystery to him.
His dragons, who loved fascinating spaces and shiny things, would definitely take a liking to this cave.
Only, there was an issue.
The expansive area appeared to be some kind of dining hall, with hundreds of ogres of various sizes and ranks feasting on massive, grotesque chunks of meat.
It was clear that the meat came from terrifying monsters.
Yet, despite their ferocity, had been reduced to nothing more than a meal for the ogres.
Observing over five hundred ogres, including several (S-) ranks and one (S) rank, Shye noticed a group of six ogres passing through, each wielding massive clubs.
'A hunting party, huh?' he mused.
Typically, ogres hunted solo or in pairs, rarely forming groups larger than three.
The formation of such large hunting parties only reinforced his suspicion that their ruler was highly intelligent, especially given the diversity in ranks within the group that had just left the crude dining hall.
With such a roster, they would be able to at least survive even if they euntered a dragon.
Shye wasn't tooncerned, though.
Sure, theyuld survive a dragon with their efficient tricks and strategies, butuld they withstand the assault of one hundred fifty dragons and an army of high-rankedrpses?
He doubted it.
As long as henducted a thorough uting of the entire cave and identified the strongest members of the hidden ogre clan, he would be able to minimize unnecessary losses to his army.
He even had another plan and hoped it would work.
Soon, he moved on, memorizing the maze-like pathways of the azure cave as he traveled, occasionally hiding to wait for theoldown of his [Superior Stealth] beforentinuing his rnnaissance.
He traversed through several areas abundant with natural resources, including rare herbs, more sapphire gemstones, multiple pristine underground lakes, and an astonishing boar breeding ground teeming with thousands of massive (C) ranked Blacktusk Boars, both juveniles and adults.
It was more like an underground self-sufficient society instead of a hidden base of operations of a clan.
Ofurse, he also took note of the strongmbatants of the ogre clan, slightly alarmed after divering that there were more than ten (S) ranked Bloodskin Ogres roaming about.
Compared to the Bloodskin Ogre Nookie had in hisrpse army, these ogres were armed to the teeth.
To make matters worse, while their armor sets and weapons were still crudempared to the craftsmanship of top human blacksmiths, they were of unprecedented quality for a perceived dumb race.
The quality of their gear was at least peak-Mithril or low-Adamantite.
If his tamed monsters weren't careful, they might find themselves smashed under the ridiculously enormous Ironwood clubs of these Bloodskin Ogres.
After a few more minutes of wandering inside the cave, he finally came across the smithing area, where three ogres tirelessly crafted set after set of armor and weapons, not a trace of exhaustion on their faces.
It appeared that smashing metals into weapons wasn't as exhausting for them as it was for humans.
Additionally, they didn't need to heat the metals for long, as their immense strength allowed them to shape the materials after only a few snds of heating.
In fact, it seemed that their main challenge stemmed from having too much strength in their bodies.
The smallest of the three, who also appeared to be the oldest due to the white hair growing on its body, seemed to be the most skilled.
Its smashes were clearly much more fine andntrolled than those of the other two.
With narrowed eyes, Shye left what he called the Ogre Armory.
Heuld sense that he was approaching the dwelling of the ogre clan's leader.
Soon, his feelings proved spot on.
Just a few minutes away from the armory was a vast, dark room dimly lit by six large torches.
Inside, there was an enormous table and eleven large chairs, all crafted from the finest quality Ironwood.
It seemed to be a meeting room of some sort.
On the far left of the room, a large opening stood, resembling the entrance to another cave, while on the far right, there was a crude gate made of Ironwood, with unsettlingly awkward and clumsily written letters carved above it:
"Baba."
