The troll was being driven into a corner. The yellow-haired boy in front of it was relentless with his attacks. Most people wavered at the sight of a troll. They were hulking figures almost three-hundred centimetres tall, after all. But this boy did not seem to care whatsoever. He came forward again and again, swinging his greatsword with ruthless intent.
The troll swiped at Ryoma with its claws, who quickly and almost seamlessly stepped to the side and avoided the attack, then swung his sword toward the troll's abdomen. The greatsword was a large and heavy weapon to wield, but you would not have thought that if you saw how easily Ryoma handled it. He managed to get a good hit on the troll, drawing blood, and sending it retreating a few steps back.
"Gurgah!" it roared its annoyance at the boy, baring its many teeth.
"Watch it." Ryoma wiped his face. "You're getting slobber all over me."
Arrogance. The troll did not know what that was, but when he looked at the boy before him and how unfazed he was, it got angry. It wanted nothing more than to tear him apart.
But Ryoma was simply no match for it. The troll tried to claw him, but he dodged. When it tried to bite him, he simply moved backwards. It could not get its hands on him no matter how hard it tried and that enraged it even more.
"If ya keep tryna get Ryoma-kun, then that leaves all kinda openings for us, ya know?" Chloe released an arrow she had nocked for a while. She'd been watching the troll the entire time, staying her hand and waiting for an opening. It came once it became too focused on Ryoma, and the target was almost too easy to hit.
"Geeergghhh!" the troll screamed in pain as an arrow lodged itself into one of its eyes. It pulled out and blood oozed from the wound. It then glared at Chloe and charged for her.
"Not so fast." Ryoma raised his sword and planted it inside the troll's ankle, causing it to scream out in pain and trip over.
It was surrounded and wounded badly. It struggled to pick itself up and gave a defiant roar seeing as that was all it could do now.
"[Flurry of Blows]." It did not even see the next frenzy of attacks coming at it. They happened so quick that they only registered once they were done and it was falling over forward, its spine shattered.
The troll caught itself before it fell over completely and looked behind it where the attacks came from. There was a boy there with a ponytail atop a clean-shaven head.
"Pst," the troll heard a whisper. It looked ahead, and the last thing it saw was the boy with blonde hair.
Ryoma plunged his sword into the troll’s head.
Stolen from its rightful author, this tale is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.
The troll's body fell limpless on the floor. Despite that, though, it still was not dead.
"Finish it off," Ryoma called for one of his companions.
Haru, the party's mage, approached the troll's corpse and held his hands with his thumbs touching and fingers spread. There was a faint sound of flesh and blood, and that was because the troll had regenerative abilities. Given enough time, it could reattach its lost limbs. For now, it was momentarily disabled, not dead. They'd found that out earlier when they first battled a troll, and it got back up even after they’d cut it down. They’d experimented with this after and learned that even if they’d cut off its head it could still move and would simply attach it back onto its body. The only way to stop this process and kill the troll completely was with acid or fire. Those two elements put a cease on the troll’s regenerative abilities for good.
Haru’s hands began to light up and a thin sheet of flames short forth from his fingertips. The troll began to groan as it was engulfed in flames and killed for good. Eventually, the flames died down, and it stopped moving.
Chloe plumped down on her rump. “Whew, I’m beat. Can we head back now? Oy, Ryoma, can we? I’m tired and I’m sweaty.”
Nadako appeared from whatever corner of the cave she was hiding herself in. She always had an air of arrogance about her, despite being the shortest in the group by a bit. If one didn't know any better, they could easily mistake her for a middle schooler. “Hm. If this much is enough to tire you, Chloe, then maybe you should quit? You won’t be able to keep up with the likes of us.”
“Heeehh? All you do is stay away from the fight and heal us afterwards, Nadako-chan. You barely even throw any spells! How would you even get tired?”
“Hmph. I don’t need to exhaust myself when I have you opening acts to do all the work for me. Ha-ha-ha!”
For a small girl, Nadako had a very big personality.
“These trolls are becoming easier to handle,” said Kouenji, the monk. “But they are still tiring to deal with.”
“Mhm,” Haru agreed. He only ever spoke in grunts and moans, never with actual words. At first, it took some getting used to but now they were all beginning to understand him.
“It’s still early,” Ryoma said. “We can keep going and find more.” Despite doing quests and fighting since morning and it now nearing sundown, Ryoma did not look exhausted in the least. In fact, it looked like he wasn’t even breaking a sweat.
“But I’m tiiiireeeed,” Chloe complained, falling on her back and throwing her arms about like a child. “Please can we go back?”
“Let’s get moving or I’ll leave you behind.” Ryoma started walking off.
Kouenji sighed. “Does that guy know how to slow down at all?”
“Mmm…”
“That’s what I love to see from my meat shield!” Nadako shouted. “Yes, lead on so your adorable cleric may hide behind you! Don't die, though, okay? Or if you do, do so far away from me so I have plenty of time to run away.”
Chloe was still whimpering and complaining. And then she stopped, and she got up. “Oh, well. This is fine, too.”
“You’re fine just like that?” Kouenji asked her.
“Well, I love money, ya know?”
“Yeah, yeah… Women..."