The villagers were saved and safely escorted back to their homes without further casualties. The village elder explained to Solin and Bones that when the goblins first started raiding, the locals took up arms. They managed to fend off the attacks for a while, but couldn't keep up after sustaining injuries. The renegade group of goblins numbered around twenty and were between levels eighteen and twenty-three, outclassing the villagers. The locals used what little mending herbs they had on the injured, and with no other options left, sent one of their young men on the fastest horse to the nearest town for help.
The young man had left the previous day and had yet to return. The goblins didn't relent overnight, kidnapping those who couldn't barricade themselves in time. The villager Solin saved was a desperate father who went after the goblins to rescue his kidnapped sons. If it weren't for Solin's and Bones' timely arrival, the goblins would likely have taken or killed all the villagers eventually.
The village elder offered money as compensation, which Solin refused. However, he gladly accepted the offer to stay for lunch. Later that day, the young man returned with a few well-equipped men following behind him.
The leader of the newly arrived party introduced himself as Wilmer, a silver ranker at level forty-two and a captain of the guard. He explained that they came as soon as they could after the young man arrived in town urgently seeking help. Wilmer thanked Solin for fulfilling his adventurer duties and scrutinized Bones, unable to identify him. He marked the goblin subjugation quest as complete and checked his own quest as well. Solin, however, didn't seem overly friendly with the captain and his men, and he didn't hide his displeasure.
Bones understood where Solin was coming from. If it weren't for the two of them, the party of adventurers would have arrived at a goblin-infested village without any villagers left alive. He recognized the grim fate that awaited the captured villagers when he first saw the goblin camp. The little greenskins weren't at the top of the food chain, and the villagers were easy prey.
"C'mon, Solin, it's time we set off," Bones said.
Solin agreed, and after saying their goodbyes, the two continued their journey. If they traveled at a leisurely pace and through the night, they estimated they would reach the last village around noon the next day.
The duo didn't encounter any more situations like the one with the goblins and only stopped once to rest the horses. Around noon the next day, they reached the last village and left the horses at the stable. Solin bought a few more necessities he deemed essential, including a map of the local area. Bones didn't ask why, but Solin offered an explanation anyway: the maps provided by the guild were often outdated and could be inaccurate, a risk they couldn't afford on a quest like this one.
The quest had no time limit but would be voided if they didn't report back once before a month had passed. They also wouldn't be the only ones in the area undertaking the quest. It had been posted recently, and multiple hunting parties were already involved. This underscored the urgency of the quest and the need for its completion.
The last sighting of the trolls was about an hour away from the village, alarmingly close to civilization. Solin and Bones observed as a party of three adventurers battled one of the Forest Trolls. The adventurers noticed them watching but remained focused on the troll. The fight was chaotic, with the troll, a massive, wobbly-moving giant, swinging a tree trunk with brutal force. It was significantly larger and stronger than its mountain counterparts.
Solin and Bones watched the battle for a while longer before Solin broke the silence, reminding Bones to note the troll's weak spots and memorize its attack patterns. Despite the injuries inflicted, the troll didn't bleed and seemed unphased by the crippling traps the hunter in the party continuously placed around it.
Solin frowned and said, "This spells trouble. It doesn't bleed due to its absurd high regeneration." He turned to Bones and added, "The two of us will have to out-damage its regeneration to have a chance of putting it down."
Bones nodded but corrected him, "You mean the three of us, no?" Solin smiled and nodded. He didn't seem worried. Both of them were damage dealers and used mobility to evade their opponent's attacks. The troll would be like any other opponent, only sturdier and more resilient.
"Fuck, this is going to be a drag," Solin commented, then motioned for them to continue moving deeper into the forest.
They hadn't met any other parties on their way and soon encountered their own tree trunk-swinging troll. Their meeting was rather unexpected; as they entered a clearing, they found themselves not even ten meters away from the troll. Their eyes met, and Bones was the first to react. He summoned a golem next to him, directing it to flank the troll from the right while he cast Bone Lance. Solin surged forward, quickly catching up to and passing the golem from the left, and was the first to strike the troll. The Bone Lance hit right after, embedding itself in the troll's shoulder.
Without pause, the troll swept the area with its trunk, sending leaves flying in a whirlwind around them. Through the leaves, the golem lunged, thrusting its spear against the troll's side. The spear hit, but it didn't pierce the thick skin.
"This is going to be tougher than I thought," Solin grunted, dodging another swipe from the troll. He slashed at its leg, hoping to slow it down, but the troll's regeneration began to heal the wound almost immediately.
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"We need to keep the pressure on," Bones called out, preparing another Bone Lance. "Focus on its joints and eyes. We have to cripple it!"
The golem continued its assault, attacking the troll's legs and keeping it off balance while Solin and Bones coordinated their strikes. Solin's agile movements allowed him to dodge the troll's powerful swings, landing precise cuts and stabs, while Bones launched a relentless barrage of Bone Lances and directed his golem to exploit any opening.
The troll roared in frustration, its movements becoming more erratic as it struggled to fend off the relentless assault. Despite its high regeneration, the combined efforts of Solin, Bones, and the golem began to take their toll, wearing the creature down little by little.
"Keep at it!" Solin shouted, ducking under another swing. "We're getting through!"
Bones nodded, channeling more mana into his attacks. "Just a bit more!" he urged, his eyes focused on the troll's increasingly desperate movements.
Finally, with a coordinated strike to its knee and a powerful thrust to its eye, the troll stumbled and fell, unable to keep up with the onslaught. With one final, concentrated effort, Bones and Solin delivered the killing blow, ensuring the troll wouldn't rise again.
Panting and covered in sweat, Solin looked over at Bones and the golem, a tired but satisfied grin on his face. "Not bad for our first troll."
Bones gave a curt nod, recalling the golem and letting it dissolve back into its component bones. "Let's hope the rest aren't as tough."
With the troll defeated, they took a moment to catch their breath and assess their surroundings. The forest was silent once more, the echoes of their battle fading into the distance.
Solin sat cross-legged and immediately entered meditation. Bones didn't need to, as he permanently enjoyed the effects of meditation, a fact that made him feel a bit smug. He settled down next to Solin, taking out a set of small bones to construct a miniature bone cat. Solin opened one eye, catching sight of Bones, but didn't comment, turning his focus back on regenerating his resources.
Ten minutes later, Solin asked, "Why a cat, though?"
"I haven’t really thought much about it. I just like cats," Bones replied.
Solin nodded, adding that he was more of a dog person. He then began to analyze their battle with the troll. Its attack patterns were easy to remember and easy to discern when an attack was coming. The problem was the troll's large area of attack with the tree trunk. Bones could stay out of its range, and Solin was capable of evading the attacks, but the golem…
Both turned to the golem, and Bones commanded it to come over. The golem had cracked bones in places, and Bones tsked, thinking of the work awaiting him, but nothing that needed his immediate attention.
"Ready to move on?" Solin asked, wiping his blade clean.
Bones nodded, his eyes scanning the trees. "Let's keep going. We have a job to finish."
The duo continued north along the border, encountering their second troll three hours later. This time, they rushed the fight, aiming to deal as much damage as quickly as possible. The fight proved to be riskier, but they managed to halve the time it took to kill the troll. Their third encounter was more paced and with less risk, as they applied what they had learned from the first two fights to be more effective.
By evening, they stopped fighting and set up camp. Solin tended to his weapons while Bones inspected the damage to his golem.
"What's the damage?" Solin asked.
"Don't ask!" Bones retorted, clearly unhappy with the extent of the damage. "It'll take a while to repair the bones and redo the engravings. Are we planning to camp for the night?"
Solin nodded and replied that there was no reason to rush the hunt and that proper rest was needed between the fights. At least he needed proper rest. Bones worked on the golem through the night, fixing and replacing the bones as needed. By morning, the golem was as good as new. The damage wasn't as severe as he initially thought.
Bones wasn't exactly unhappy with how the golem fought. It was programmed with a set of instructions, so he wasn't expecting it to think and act independently. However, it did bother him that he had to constantly direct the golem when to attack and when to stop and retreat. When the golem was commanded to attack, it kept attacking without stopping.
"I wish I could give it more complex instructions," Bones muttered to himself as he examined the golem. "It's too rigid. It needs more adaptability."
Golem mastery affects how well the golem receives and applies instructions. Is there a way to program the golem to be more self-sufficient? Maybe advanced golem mastery would make it capable of doing just that. It's something to ask Hemdus about—he's the only one I know who uses golems.
"Morning," Solin said, summoning a meal he had prepared beforehand from his spatial ring. Bones stored the golem, greeted him back, and asked if the plan was the same as yesterday's.
“If it works, don’t try to fix it!” Solin remarked with a grin. He would keep engaging the troll in melee, using his evasive maneuvers to keep the troll’s focus on him, while Bones would provide support from range. With his powerful lances, Bones would create opportunities for his golem to deliver precise, crippling attacks. The two had hunted five trolls in total so far, netting them a good amount of experience.
Bones gained a level in his race, bringing him to level twenty-four, just one level below the anticipated race upgrade at level twenty-five. By the end of the hunt, he expected to gain a level in his class as well.
"How long until you advance your race?" Bones suddenly asked. Solin looked up from his meal and replied that he had already done so a month ago. Bones gasped, asking him why he hadn't said anything.
"It wasn't that big of a deal. I had a classic race upgrade, like most humans do at level twenty-five."
"What do you mean by classic? Is advancement the same for all humans?" Bones asked, curious.
"It's common knowledge, but essentially I gained a fixed increase in stats and a slight boost in overall experience gained. Unless a human follows a specific path that significantly alters their physical body, like a transformation, they'll have a standard, or classic, upgrade."
Solin confirmed that the majority of humans had the same classic upgrade. "What about you? Have you found any information on undead race advancement?"