"Wow. Now there's a Troll. They're really going all out today." Hiro said. Mei couldn't help but shake her head at Hiro. This state of denial is getting out of hand. He's eventually going to get himself killed.
Hobbling with an injured leg and a burned arm, Hiro still walks toward the troll with no fear. The size comparison is really apparent as he stands only a few feet from the troll, showing that Hiro is barely even the size of his leg.
"Run away." Mei shouted.
"Yeah, run." Sungwoo said as softly as he could.
"You think an extra in a suit is going to strike me?" Hiro said, turning to the others while pointing towards the troll with a facial expression that could only be described as pompous.
Hiro then returns his attention to the troll, reaching up and poking the troll in the stomach, his finger not making even the slightest indent. Very muscular is an understatement when describing the troll. With muscles bulging everywhere, the tough skin of the beast appears like it is barely holding it all in. The monster takes a deep breath and exhales a giant smoke cloud, exiting the troll's nostrils and into Hiro's face. He tries shaking off the pungent smell but couldn't help but cough when the fumes enter his lungs.
"Hey, whoever you are. I have some questions. If you answer all of them, I'll put in a good word for you." Hiro turns to the rest of them, winking and giving them the thumbs up. But as he turns back to the troll, a branch slams against him, sending him flying above and past the others. As Hiro crashes into the nearby tree, they all stare at each other and yell.
"Scatter!”
They all split up and ran into the forest, scrambling for something sturdy to hide behind. Kenji found a massive boulder and sprints behind it. He hears a ruffling noise above him but as he motions to run, he slowly turns his head and looks up, realizing it isn't the troll, but something else jumping from tree to tree. Kenji is struggling to comprehend everything and shakes his head, struggling to think of a plan. What should we do? If we try to run, that thing will catch us, but we can't stay here. Kenji surveys the area, staring at a cliff in front of him while the troll closes in behind them. He slowly realizes they were trapped.
Hiro can barely open his eyes due to the blood covering his face, forgetting what happened seconds ago. But as a giant tree flies over his head, he remembers the troll. Barely able to get up, he makes his way behind the tree he crashed into, shaking with fear.
"Guys, I don't know if you know, but as the leader, I need to inform you that this isn't a trained animal or an extra. It's some type of monster. So, for the sake of the group, we need someone to sacrifice themselves and go as bait while the rest escape. I vote for Ito." He waits for a response but only hears the surrounding wreckage.
Chung tries to move further from the impact area as the troll smashes every tree and throws large branches and rocks across the forest. Chung moves behind a nearby bush when a shadow appears above her. A branch slams down on her leg, stopping her in her tracks. Chung covers her mouth, trying to silence the scream from the pain. She tries to lift the branch from her leg, but only feels the rough edges of the tree grind against it. Panicking as her leg slowly turns numb and covered with blood. She looks around and spots Ito hiding behind a nearby tree.
"Ito." she loudly whispers. Ito, help me."
Ito turns to Chung as the troll runs in their direction. The ground shakes around them with each heavy step. Ito then turns in the opposite direction and disappears into the shadows, leaving Chung behind. Chung is in disbelief as she hears the troll no further than a few feet behind her. The footsteps become louder and louder when she hears a loud thud behind her. A large rock crashes into the troll's back, filling Chung's ears with a monstrous roar. The troll then runs in the direction the rock came from, searching for who's responsible.
Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.
Ito races to Chung and uses all the strength he has left to lift the branch off her ankle. The branch doesn't budge. Ito shakes his hands, getting ready to try again. Chung stares in amazement as it seems Ito's arms double in size, while he lifts the branch easily off of her. He picks her up and promptly carries her somewhere further away from the troll, trying to find a spot to lay Chung down. As he checks if her ankle is broken, Chung looks again at Ito's arms and notices it's back to what it used to be. "Can you move it?" Ito asked.
"Huh? Oh, yeah, luckily, it didn't land directly on it." Chung said, startled, still in the middle of her thoughts. Ito tears off some fabric from his costume and ties it around her leg to slow down the bleeding. "Unfortunately, I have nothing to disinfect it, but this should help."
"Thank you. It already feels better."
"C'mon, let's take you to a safer area."
Hiro shakes with terror, scanning the area for somewhere safe. Forget this. I'm going to run, but where? He'll kill me if notices me. Why doesn't anyone try to escape? Hopefully, he'll only catch one of us if we all dash in separate directions. That gives me decent odds. Ugh, no one will agree to that. Why is everyone so stupid? Hiro thought. Hiro's heart sinks as he notices the light from the moon illuminating above him. The tree that once provided some protection, is no longer hiding him, but now raised above his head. His eyes become wide and filled with fear when he turns to find the same glowing eyes he saw before, right behind him, holding the tree like a baseball bat.
A flash of speed zooms past Hiro when the wolf from earlier leaps on the troll's head, gritting his teeth and biting down on its ear. The monster swings his head desperately and tries to fling the wolf off. The massive hand of the troll latches on to one of the wolf's legs and whips him across into a tree twenty yards away. He picks up a large rock, ready to finish the wolf off as he launches the large rock, narrowly missing the wolf. As the rock lands behind the tree and into the bush, a scream rings throughout the area. Mei reaches down and holds her ankle, feeling the immense pain after the giant rock bounced off her.
As the monster sprints to the scream, Hiro notices Kenji leaping to his feet and searching for a rock to attack with. Hiro, paralyzed with fear, unable to move forward to help, as the troll is seconds away from finding her. Mei turns and sees the troll rapidly approaching. She searches and finds a branch, using it to try and get up. Kenji dashes and leaps, aiming for the neck of the monster. The troll notices someone from the corner of his eye and swats him away like a fly at a bbq, slamming Kenji to the ground, as he rolls to a grinding halt when meeting a boulder.
As Mei struggles to stand up, the figure jumps out from the tree, revealing an Arthmon, a bear-like creature with curved horns similar to a ram. He raises his wand, flaring out a bright light, as a dragon emerges from the forest, sending trees to bend from the force of his wings. The bear points to the troll, requesting the dragon to take him down. The troll lifts both arms, letting out a roar as he begins to strike down. Cutting through the air, the dragon seizes the troll with its claws, piercing the tough skin of the monster. The dragon flies past the cliff's edge and throws the monster off, smashing all the trees as he crashes below.
Hiro, finally able to breathe, relaxes his hand, revealing a sharp rock indented in his palm. He stands there trying to process and think of an explanation of what he saw, which became more and more difficult. He watches as a seven-foot bear sprints toward the injured wolf and feels for any injuries. "Are you okay, Panko?" He doesn't wait for an answer, as he continues to look for anything wrong. He lets out a sigh of relief when he finds only minor wounds.
"Luckily, there are no broken bones, but let's take care of those wounds." He closes his eyes to concentrate, while a bright blue light shines around the arthmon, as his paws gently hover over his cuts.
Hiro watches in astonishment as the cuts slowly heal as if they were never there. The light fades as the arthmon finishes up, feeling weak and almost falling over. Panko rises back up, shaking the debris off, and jumps on the bear, licking his face. "Alright, alright. I'm glad you're okay. Why would you do such a dangerous thing when you have no energy? It terrified me I might lose you. Next time, wait for my orders, okay?" Hiro's brain is nearly smoking from everything he has seen. Unable to deny it any longer, as he comes to terms to where he is.