Landing at the bottom of the staircase, Leezy felt it immediately.
I'm not alone…
The sound of steel deflecting steel echoed from above, ringing through the darkness of the stairwell. Leezy turned just as the noise faded.
A massive chamber opened around him, its walls lined with flickering torches. At the center of the room sat a hulking creature perched atop a massive barrel.
Even sitting down as it was, the creature was massively tall, and gripped a wooden mallet just as large. Thick green skin stretched over dense muscle, scarred from countless battles. Its face resembled that of a warthog—jutting tusks, flared nostrils—and gold hoop earrings dangled from each long, pointed ear.
Leezy squinted through the slits in his helmet.
"Is that a fuckin' ogre?"
A look of disdain crossed the creature's face.
"Meat?"
The tower trembled as the ogre shifted its weight and rose to its feet.
"If you think I'm meat," Leezy said, rolling his neck.
"You bit off way more than you can chew, big guy. Let's see if you can make me break a sweat."
He slung his sword off his shoulder and sprinted forward.
The ogre moved instantly. Its mallet swung with terrifying speed, the air even becoming visible around the arc of the strike.
Fast for a big bastard…
Leezy's legs tensed to dodge—but something wrapped around his ankles.
While he was distracted, water leaked out from the barrel and was coiling tightly around his legs, anchoring him in place.
"Shit—"
With no time to block properly, Leezy raised his arm.
Thwack!
The impact launched him like a cannonball through the lower stairwell and into the far wall. Stone exploded outward as his body cratered the surface.
Rubble settled.
Leezy lay amid broken stone, blood trickling from his lip. His armor was dented—deeply in places—but intact.
A quick scan confirmed it. Minor injuries…
The ogre stared, surprised.
"Strong…" it rumbled.
"Gronk kill you. Gronk eat you! Gronk get stronger!"
Gronk charged.
By the time he reached the rubble, Leezy was gone.
Pain tore across Gronk's back as steel kissed flesh, carving a deep gash between his shoulder blades.
Roaring, Gronk swung his mallet backward blindly—faster than before.
Leezy met it mid-swing. His blade cleaved upward.
The mallet shattered into splinters.
Using the momentum, Leezy twisted in midair and launched a roundhouse kick toward Gronk's head—but the splinters snapped together mid-flight, forming a small wooden shield.
His kick slammed into it harmlessly.
At the same time, water surged up from the barrel, coiling around Leezy's leg and smashing him into the floor. His body rebounded straight into Gronk's incoming fist.
Boom.
Leezy crashed into another wall.
Before he could recover, Gronk barreled forward, shoulder-first, like a charging linebacker.
Leezy pulled himself up and shoved himself aside at the last second.
Gronk smashed headfirst into jagged stone and howled in pain. Green blood streamed down his hands that struggled to cover the deep gash along his scalp.
Leezy didn't hesitate.
He flipped his grip and hurled his greatsword like a javelin before touching the ground. The blade punched through Gronk's hands, skull, and out the back—flinging chunks of brain and bone into the air before burying itself deep in the wall behind him.
Leezy landed lightly, stood up fully and crossed his arms, watching. Gronk dropped to one knee, desperately trying to hold his skull together.
"You…hurt Gronk!"
Hatred burned in his eyes as faded tattoos—barely visible before—began glowing red across his skin. His eyes ignited with the same light.
His muscles doubled in size. The wounds on his body sizzled shut, flesh knitting itself together.
Leezy grinned.
"Now that's Interesting! That's it, big fella—let it all out."
Extending a hand, Leezy summoned his blade with his aura. The sword ripped free from the wall and flew back into his grasp.
Gronk answered Leezy's words by tearing a massive chunk of stone from the rubble and hurling it at him.
Leezy split it cleanly in half sending a cloud dust into the air.
Cutting through it, Gronk's fist slammed right into his chest sending him rocketed through the nearby wall.
As he struggled to rise, a brutal kick sent him crashing into the pitch-black chamber beyond.
Blood spilled from his mouth.
Despite the pain, Leezy laughed beneath his dented helmet.
"Now that's more like it! Guess it's my turn."
Blue lightning exploded from his armor, flooding the dark room with light. Electricity arced across the room as he rose to his feet.
Gronk burst through the already damaged wall, barreling forward even faster than before.
Leezy gripped his sword with both hands and channeled his lightning directly into the blade.
He swung.
A bolt of blue energy detonated into Gronk's chest. The ogre's torso exploded outward in a storm of crackling blood and flesh, his body hurled back into the main chamber where it collapsed in a lifeless heap.
Leezy exhaled.
Approaching the corpse, he spotted a dark blue Soul Gem lodged in the massive hole that used to be Gronk's chest.
He grabbed it and absorbed it sending a feeling of raw power surging through his veins.
Heat flared beneath his armor as new tattoos slowly began to etch themselves into his skin.
Leezy smiled.