Chapter 74 - The Troll’s Variants II
The spells flew in silence. The five ice spells increased their speed and rotation, covering the distance between them in a flash until the shards impacted the troll`s skin. The force of the impact created a shockwave, pushing the surrounding bushes away as the sound of flesh being torn was heard. The drills kept going into the troll as the creature ceased running; it felt the pushback from the spells.
The creature's body trembled as a high-pitched howl echoed. Two shards were now embedded into its right forearm, one in the left, and the remaining two in its abdomen. The troll looked up at the sky; its hand reached down, grabbing both ice drills lodged in its guts. Holding each with one hand, the beast pulled them out without much trouble. Bryn could tell the spell had taken effect from afar, but it was not nearly deep enough. It analyzed what had just hit it, confirming it was the same thing that killed its friend. The creature roared, breaking both spikes with its hand and removing the other three from its arms.
As the defiant red-haired troll once again challenged Bryn, the figure at the rear muttered something. Bryn's instincts told him that was his true adversary despite the immediate danger before him. The other two creatures advanced, aligning themselves with the still-roaring troll.
One by one would be easier, but it won't be impossible! The ice drill was not much, but it did hurt a little. I'll combine them with the water spheres—no need to hold back anymore. Bryn thought as the tree creatures lined up. One of them clapped at the other; it perplexed Bryn a little; more and more, they looked closer to humans and demi-humans, not like beasts.
As the three tolls advanced, Bryn started moving back as he prepared a few water spheres and defensive ice spikes. His spells had gained tremendous booths with the leveling he had gotten training with Jonas, and water spheres were now as natural as any physical attack for him. As the spells formed, Bryn decided it was time to test the combination and the impact his knowledge of physics could have in actual battles.
He now sent alternating spells toward the troll further to the right. As the spells traveled, he prepared new ones to replace his defenses and evade back. Having seen the effect on its partner, the creature faced the spells head-on, only protecting its face from the impact. The ice spikes had the expected effect, only breaking the first few layers of skin from the beast's arms, not slowing it so much this time. Still, Bryn's smile was on, waiting for the second portion of his desired effect.
The water sphere reached its target only a second behind; its size made it much harder to aim, so Bryn went for the arms. As it contacted the skin, the portions frozen from the elemental mana dispersed by the ice shards simply broke down. The pressure and heat transfer were so fast and significant that the damage from the previous shard was nothing compared to the wounds the beast now faced. The cries it let out as the second spell hit were genuine but lasted only a moment. Bryn even rubbed his eyes to confirm he wasn't dreaming.
How could I forget why I was only using Ice? Damn it!
The troll's torn muscles, veins, and flesh started to contract, stretch, and strangely search for one another. Dark blood combined in the mix, reforming all the damaged portions. It wasn't instant, but the regeneration was much faster than when Bryn faced it.
"How is that fair?!" Bryn exclaimed to himself.
There's no way they can regenerate forever, but for me to be able to kill them, it's going to be a grind. There must be another way. He continued to think as the three creatures followed him at their maximum.
The green-skinned troll observed the battle in the back as it followed a few yards behind. Since its three minions were not in imminent trouble, it allowed them to have fun with the peculiar prey that dared near their home. Different from the three in front, it was already new that their battle would be more complex than they had thought. The little creature's speed was higher than theirs, meaning it could cast those attacks from a distance. The three remaining guards were all focused on physical power; the damage they would take would be minimal, but that way, the battle would take forever, and unless the small thing got tired, the three of them would die.
At that moment, the troll's eyes started to change color. The green from the forest receives sunlight reflected from the inside. It felt again the power that had earned it the leadership of its generation inside the nest. As its eyes became utterly green, the ground around it shook, and boulders started to destroy the forest ground as they emerged from it.
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Each of the stones was about in height and diameter. The troll's smile was evident; it felt like the master of the forest at that moment. The noise and tremors from the spell were not unnoticed by the others.
Bryn’s body slowed down when he glimpsed the area emanating the mana and disturbances. Hoy, isn't that too much? A magical troll?! Bryn thought as his eyes kept looking at shadows from the emerging boulders.
The other three trolls' blood boiled inside. They all screamed at the appearance of their leader. The burst in morale allowed them to increase their speed, shortening the distance to Bryn's static face.
Watching magic being used against him for the first time was extremely disturbing; the enemy’s possibilities were never a concern for Bryn. Boars quickly used the forest to hide, but their attacks were the same every time. Elks were different from the boars, using their antlers to add variety. Bears had been the most versatile, using claw attacks, bites, and dashes.
That is why magical beasts are regarded as on another plane! The trolls already had hands with opposing thumbs, and with their high status in a fight to the death, it would be a thought battle. They eventually could learn to use weapons and strategies also. Bryn thought about the repercussions of magic in battle as the boulder flew at him across the threes.
The three creatures pursuing him evaded enough not to risk getting hit, but they remained on target. The rock kept increasing in speed, and his perception of their size finally manifested. The first boulder came, crushing everything at a meter high.
Bryn woke up from his daydream as the rock arrived. Thankfully, the troll was not very good at predicting movement that far away. Bryn used the rock's size and path to prevent the trolls from seeing him casting a few more spikes and spheres.
Five ice drills and spheres were before him when his body appeared on the side of the boulder. Instead of running away, he approached the nearest troll for the first time.
About 3 yards from the troll, the beast burst into excitement as its arms rose, preparing for a frontal assault. Bryn used his entire energy to halt his movement, trying to send his body's momentum toward the spells accompanying him. On top of each ice drill's spins, the five spells before him circulated clockwise. As the movement of the ten spells warmed, he began to shoot alternating spells at the troll.
The spells covered a few yards faster than the creature could react. As Bryn the spells launched at the top of his head, another would immediately form, substituting it. He knew that speed was a better metric than power. He couldn’t allow the beast to recover from the injuries, meaning a nonstop attack.
As he tried maintaining a three-yard distance, the other two beasts could circle him. He could feel the one under his pressure succumbing, but looking around him, he knew the danger around him.
Before Bryn finished the one he focused on, the first troll jumped at him from his right side. Without stopping mana from his core to form spells toward one of the beasts, Bryn dashed near the ground, evading the beast's jump from below. As they crossed in the air, Bryn felt time slow down instantly. He saw the saliva dripping from the troll's fangs. The smell of putrefaction came from the creature's mouth as their faces passed inches away from each other.
Evading the first one, Bryn regained his fitting, running around the troll he kept throwing spells at. By this time, the creature had its bones exposed to the freezing and exploding pressure from the water spheres. The right portion of its torso had no flesh, only freeze bites and white bones.
The third troll could not coordinate its attack in time, but its Perdue of Bryn forced the faun to move constantly. Looking at the fire situation, their leader threw the second and third boulders. Its distance had reduced a bit as Bryn focused on his spells. The time to avoid the two rocks, now reduced, caused Bryn to kick the ground with all his strength, going after the injured troll. His eyebrows constricted as the rock approached.
Brace for impact! Bryn thought.
As the rock’s distance diminished, its size seemed more impressive than before. This time, both were coming straight at him, at one yard; their size covered Bryn's entire body. Bryn could see compressed dirt, rocks, roots, branches, and a few other materials from the forest ground that formed it. From this close, he could count the warms in it.
Still looking back, he thrust his hand forward and felt it. The feeling of bracing a horse's mane, the frizzy hair of the troll's back. As he grabbed as strong as possible with one hand, his core sent a mana pulse to his lumbar. The region was so close to the core that the spells manifested instantly. The first portion formed the thickest Ice he had ever created, separating him from the second. A water sphere that detonated instantly at the thick Ice barrier. In the air, holding the hair in the troll's back, the spinning force generated by the maneuver was enough to launch Bryn to the side. His hands are holding tight at the troll, both his fingers as the troll's hair stretched to their limit. The resistance of the red fur was impressive; under that amount of rotational speed, Bryn's skin tore as the hair remained intact. After a three-quarter rotation, Bryn let go completely.
The air behind him caused his clothes to shake. A solid thud stole everyone’s attention; the crushing sound of bone hitting concrete at incredible speed followed. The bones from the troll, already under tremendous stress from the impacts of Bryn's spells and the severe temperature changes, could not resist that boulder.
As the rock sent the troll's belly body flying with it away from Bryn, the centrifugal force allowed Bryn to evade both it and the second one by the thinnest of margins. Landing poorly on the ground, Bryn's body stumbled and rolled in the dirt. He ended yards away from the creature, trying to locate himself and his enemies. Using his hands to get up, his body lost balance to his left side. Looking down, the immense rock caught three fingers and his left wrist. The flanges bent unnaturally backward, and his fist that didn’t respond to commands when added with the troll's body squished to the ground caused Bryn's eyes to constrict, looking at his wound.
He screamed with all his force, but the pain he expected didn’t arrive. Instead, his skin became paler and paler. His eyes shone ice blue as every hair in his body raised. He could see the two trolls coming at him nearly from the same direction. The third, the magic one, was confused by the result of its spells, but it readied another attack nonetheless.
At that moment, the blood evaded any irrelevant area from Bryn's being. His knees started to tremble as his second battle with fear intensified. MOVE!! He screamed inside his mind, but apart from the trembling, there was no change.