Chapter 35: Test of Strength (1/2)
The once intense battle between the ogres and beastmen of the settlement, combined with the scaly red creatures versus the trolls came to an halt at the arrival of eleven more trolls that had suddenly appeared at the edge of the forest. None of the other trolls made a move either and the scaly red creatures had retreated behind the carriages before anyone had noticed. Albert stopped the pursuit of the three trolls who were slowly retreating back to what was most likely their leader.
Although they were not as smart as other humanoid monsters they were still better off than other trolls. They didn't seem to mind the death of their kins most likely because they knew their leader was watching and they were confident in his strength against these opponents.
Albert didn't like the look of this, and the sneer on the troll's ugly faces as they retreated was evident that they were still looking down on them even after being on the losing side of this battle. Trolls valued strength more than anything and would only acknowledge those that wields it, so it was probably natural for them to disregard the weak ones amongst themselves.
Although normally they would have fun fighting or massacring weaker opponents when they went hunting for food, but they didn't mind going up against stronger opponents as well. Gray trolls were especially more vicious and sadistic. Having successfully withstood the corruption of undead creatures ordinary cave trolls had evolved into gray trolls with greater resistance to fear and a slight increased in their cognitive functions as well as higher dexterity and battle strength.
They would only show fear and respect to those that could completely suppress them.
The leader of this group of trolls, a Gray-War troll caught the hilt of his hamaxe and spun it around by the chain while it leisurely walked towards the group with his entourage in tow. The beast had an air of dominance around him and carried himself with confidence and what might constitute as dignity for a troll. The 10 trolls around him were also vastly different from the others they had seen so far. They wielded bone weapons from unknown creatures that could be passed as swords, maces, clubs and some even wore them as parts of an armor.
The war troll strolled to the battlefield at his own pace and once the three trolls had retreated to his side, he slammed one of them in the head with the side of his hamaxe causing what would be a fatal wound for most races. However, as a troll the wound quickly healed up as it's regeneration ability kicked in. The Gray-War troll snorted, then it ignored the scared faces of the other two and stopped just a few meters away from Tyler who was now at the front of the battlefield after switching places with Azar.
Of course Albert had immediately ordered his team to pull back when Tyler had decided to step in and the only one remotely close to him now was Liz and Albert himself. Erin still remained at the carriage side healing those that had gotten injured in the battle as much as she could while conserving her Mana.
The ten trolls that appeared with the Gray-War troll spread out to form a semi circle around the group in an attempt to box them in place with their carriages acting as a wall behind them.
The Gray-War troll swept his gaze around the battlefield before locking his gaze on both Albert and Tyler. ”Ku ku ku, for you to be able to see through my camouflage shows you have some skills. You were even able to block my initial attack. Not bad, Not bad, my blood is boiling in anticipation. However, you're still weak.” He turned to glance at Liz before staring at the distant Erin and made a sound of chucking.
”Did you think you could hide from me? Keeping your strongest fighter in the rare is a coward's tactics. Ku ku ku... No matter i am going to kill you all anyway, your bones will make excellent weapons for m ty men.”
Returning it's gaze back to Albert, Tyler and Liz it spoke again raising it's head high. ”Since the three of you are the strongest here you can all attack me at once. As a show of respect for your bravery i will not permit any interference from my tribe.” It spoke with a horse and slightly broken voice that seemed like he hadn't used his voice for a while now.
Tyler had completely ignored the beast ranting in front of him and was staring at the massive blade he was holding as he was in the midst of his thoughts. 'It's light, way lighter than it should be. Does this blade have any weight reduction enchantments attached to it. Even so it shouldn't be this light right. Then again i did take care of those Magic beast a lot easier than i thought and i know my speed and body control is nothing to scoff at. The only issue is my magic, i didn't do any proper mage training in the past and only used my innate ability... Huh, speaking of my innate ability, do i still have it? With my current level shouldn't something like Potential Break be a proper overpower abili—'
”Insolence!”
He didn't get a chance to finish his thoughts when the Gray-War troll snapped from being ignored and threw it's Hamaxe again. ”Ice Wall.” Liz pronounced and a massive wall of ice shattered in front of Tyler as the Hamaxe fell helplessly to the ground.
”How dare you, bunch of weaklings ignore the mighty Kadiz Ral Ke Lizor!” Kadiz bellowed as dark grey mist started to be expelled from it's skin. The other trolls around him took a step back, and then several, trying not to get caught up in Kadiz's attack. Tyler saw the Gray-War troll preparing to attack and thought again. 'Damn i lost my train of thought, what was i just thinking of? Anyway i shouldn't just stand here and do nothing. Magic is unstable and any minor mishaps would leave me incapacitated and i still don't trust anyone here to help me if that happens. So i suppose close quarter combat is my only option.'
Tyler raised his head to look at the large Gray-War Troll in front of him. 'This guy seems strong, should be almost as strong as those magic beasts right? He should be even more challenging than them. Since it looks like it has a lot more battle experience than me, this might be good for me and also a way to gauge how strong I've become so i can make more effective plans in the future.'
Tyler lips curled up slightly into a smile as he gripped the two handed sword he was wielding with one hand tightly. ”Alright, I'll play with you for a bit.” Tyler said tauntingly at the war troll that was now swinging his hamaxe by the chain like a fan above it's head. The troll's anger grew and it's aura intensified as it continued to bellow. ”Rodents like you dare look down upon the great Kadiz, the left hand to Mighty Zerahut of the Four kings.”