Forty-five minutes. Less than an hour to find and kill a Trawll, or face an alerted zone full of trawlls that would be elated to hunt him down. Jelani's eyes kept drifting to the timer in his peripheral vision, each passing minute adding weight to his already heavy shoulders.

The forest had grown quieter since Ahsar's betrayal, as if the very trees were holding their breath, waiting to see what he would do. Jelani moved from shadow to shadow, tracking groups of Trawlls from a distance. His mind kept wandering to Tobi and Reason, wondering if they were still alive. He couldn’t help but think if things would be going differently if they had partnered up.

"I didn’t really know those guys so they could’ve just as easily stabbed me in the back too," he thought bitterly. "At the end of the day, I’ve gotta be strong on my own,” He pushed the thought away with a scowl. No point dwelling on what-ifs. He had enough problems without adding regret to the mix.

A group of Trawlls lumbered past in the distance, their massive forms casting long shadows in the strange light. Jelani counted four of them, each carrying crude weapons that could turn him into paste if they got a couple clean hits in. He needed to find a loner, some weakened straggler he could take down solo.

He only had three cores left after the trawll fight with Ahsar. “God dammit! This shit is starting too look bad for me” Jelani thought. “Either I manage to find a few more specters to re up on cores or I find a weaker trawll I can take down with my current cores”.

The timer ticked down to forty minutes.

Jelani's search grew more desperate with each passing minute. He'd seen plenty of Trawlls, but they moved in packs like wolves, never straying far from their companions. Even when one appeared to be alone, closer inspection always revealed others lurking nearby.

Finally, after what felt like hours but had only been minutes, Jelani spotted what looked like his chance. A smaller Trawll, if any of them could be called small, limping slightly as it moved through the trees. Its gray skin was darker than the others, almost black in places, and it carried what appeared to be a broken piece of column as a club.

Jelani's heart raced as he began to move closer, staying low and quiet. This was it – his opportunity to prove he didn't need anyone else, that he could handle this trial on his own.

Then he saw them. Two more Trawlls, barely visible through the trees about a hundred feet away, but definitely watching their injured companion. The realization hit Jelani like a physical blow.

"Fucking bait," he snarled, fury rising in his chest. These weren't mindless beasts – they were hunters, and he'd almost walked right into their trap.

The rage bubbled over, and before he could stop himself, Jelani's fist shot out, connecting with the nearest tree trunk. Pain exploded through his hand as splinters of bark embedded themselves in his flesh, but he barely noticed. The physical pain was nothing compared to the frustration burning in his chest.

Thirty-five minutes remaining.

Jelani found himself in the shadow of another ruined tower, similar to the one where he'd seen the meteor mural earlier. This one was smaller, but on its inner wall, he could make out a miniature version of the same scene – a sorcerer calling down destruction from the heavens to an army of foes surrounding them.

"Bruhhh, how nice would it be to call meteors down right now" Jelani muttered, sliding down to sit against the wall. He'd gotten cocky after those early victories, started believing all that bullshit about destiny and purpose. But reality had a way of reminding you that it didn't give a fuck about your dreams or ambitions.

His hand drifted to his pocket, finding the remainder of the blunt he'd been smoking when this whole nightmare began. A bitter laugh escaped his lips as he pulled it out. If he was going to fail, maybe he should do it with style. He didn't have enough of a blunt left to get as high as he wanted, only enough to make his experience less dreadful.

"Fuck it," he said to no one in particular. "If I'm going out, I'm going out my way."

The familiar ritual of lighting up brought a strange calm. As the sativa strain he often bought from his plug back home began to work its magic, Jelani found his thoughts shifting, becoming more fluid, more creative. His eyes drifted back to the mural, studying the way the meteors rained down on the giant figures below.

And then, like a revelation from the ether, an idea struck him. It was crazy – the kind of plan you'd only come up with while slightly high and desperate. But as he looked up at the massive cones hanging in the canopy above, a grin spread across his face.

"Sometimes crazy is all you got," he muttered, pushing himself to his feet. The plan was simple in theory: use the forest itself as a weapon. Those cones had already proven they could do serious damage. If he could lure a couple of Trawlls into the right position...

It was a terrible plan. The kind that would probably get him killed. But as the timer ticked down to thirty minutes, Jelani realized he was dead already and fresh out of better options.

He moved through the forest until he found what he was looking for – a group of three Trawlls moving together. They weren't the largest he'd seen, but they were big enough to make his heart race. Deciding it would do him no good to procrastinate he stepped into their line of sight.

"Hey you ugly motherfuckers!" he called out, immediately questioning his life choices. "Yeah, you big backed bitches I’m talking to you!"

The Trawlls turned as one, their small eyes fixing on him with predatory focus. Their lips pulled back in savage grins, revealing rows of jagged teeth. They seemed almost amused by his audacity.

"That's right," Jelani muttered, already backing away. "Come get some."

The Trawlls began to move, their long strides eating up the ground between them with terrifying efficiency. Jelani turned and ran, his mind racing faster than his feet. He needed to find the right spot – somewhere with plenty of loose cones overhead and enough space to maneuver.

The forest began to thicken again as he ran back down the slope of the mountain, the canopy above splitting the ominous moonlight around him. Perfect for what he had in mind, but also terrifying in its exposure. Behind him, he could hear the Trawlls' heavy footfalls, their grunts of effort as they pursued their prey.

Jelani's first attempt at positioning them went badly. He got them under a particularly dense cluster of cones, but the timing was off. By the time the cones began to fall, the Trawlls had already moved past. His second try wasn't much better – only one cone fell, and it missed entirely.

"Come on," he growled, frustration mounting. "Work with me here."

His third attempt showed more promise. He managed to get one Trawll in position just as a massive cone detached from its branch. The improvised projectile caught the creature in the shoulder, drawing first blood. But it wasn't enough to kill it – only enough to make it angry.

Jelani realized he needed to weaken them first. But with only a few cores left he was going to have time his activations. More pressure. He activated Hex on the wounded Trawll, watching as the sickly green aura seeped into its gray flesh. As he directed the hex at the weakened trawll, a cock-eyed one to its right lept forward with its bludgeon in mid swing.

Unlawfully taken from Royal Road, this story should be reported if seen on Amazon.

He saw the club coming at the last minute but couldn't quite get out of the way in time. The impact felt like what Jelani could only imagine getting hit by a bus felt like. It sent him flying, pain exploding through his ribcage as his bones cracked and he felt internal organs break.

He hit the ground hard several yards away, rolling several times before coming to a stop against a tree trunk.

For a moment, all Jelani could do was lie there, trying desperately to draw breath into lungs that felt like they were full of broken glass. In an instant he opened his status scroll then mentally flipped to his inventory. With trembling hands, he caught the potion that manifested in the air, nearly dropping it before managing to get the cork out.

The liquid washed down his throat feeling unmagical, but almost immediately he felt the worst of the damage begin to knit back together. His shoulder, which had never fully healed from the guardian fight, finally stopped aching. But his ribs still felt tender, not quite right.

"Gonna have to be enough," he gasped, pushing himself back to his feet. The Trawlls were closing in, and he couldn't afford to stay still any longer.

As he ran, a new plan began to form in his mind. The Trawlls were being careful now, actively avoiding the trees and keeping their eyes on the canopy. He'd have to force the issue.

Jelani activated Enhanced Slash, his blade erupting with harlequin green energy. He had only one core left. Instead of attacking the Trawlls directly, he turned his enhanced blade on the trees themselves. His strike bit deep into a trunk, the impacts sending shudders up through the branches that dislodged more cones.

A few snapped and mostly missed his targets but one cone smacked into the back of a Trawll with a half fitted helm on the left. It stumbled forward to its knees, temporarily slowed, as the others trawls were distracted for enough seconds that Jelani could think of his next action.

He found a natural choke point between two massive trees ahead, their trunks close enough together that the Trawlls would have to go around rather than through. It was perfect for what he had in mind.

Dancing back and forth between the trees, Jelani used them as cover while continuing to strike at their legs. The Trawlls' attacks were powerful but predictable – their massive weapons couldn't maneuver effectively in the tight space he'd chosen.

Sweat poured down Jelani's face as he danced between the trees, moving between other sets when they tried to pincer him in, his movements finding a desperate rhythm. Strike, dodge, move. Strike, dodge, move. Each slash did small chinks of damage against their thick skin and made their legs wet with blood. There swings were also sending shudders through the canopy above.

His arms burned with effort, but he couldn't afford to slow down.

The first Trawll, the one he'd hexed earlier, was starting to show more signs of fatigue. Its movements had grown sluggish, its massive frame hunching slightly as it tried to maneuver in the tight space. Above it, a particularly large cone began to shift, loosened by Jelani's strategy of scuttling around between trees like a roach.

"Come on," Jelani muttered, timing his next dodge. "Little more..."

The cone fell, catching the weakened Trawll square on the crown of its head. The impact drove the creature to its knees, and before it could recover, a second cone crashed down onto its exposed back. There was a sickening crunch, and the Trawll's form began to fade, leaving behind a glowing core.

“Let’s fucking goooo!” Jelani shouted. He couldn’t believe he had started to tell himself it wouldn’t be possible. He knew he could do this.

One down, two to go.

The remaining Trawlls roared in fury, their attacks becoming more reckless. One of them swung its crude weapon in a wide arc, taking out a smaller tree entirely. But their anger made them predictable, and Jelani used that to his advantage.

He led them through a series of tight turns between the trees, each move done with careful footwork despite his racing heart. His enhanced slash came off cooldown. He had one more core so he had to make it count.

He ran behind a tree and took a few seconds to look for another another one that would fit his next play. To his southwest was one that looked ideal with a few more cones than usual. He activated enhanced slash and used it to weaken his target trees trunk, this one already leaning precariously.

"Bet you ain't used to prey that bites back," Jelani taunted. The tree fell with a thunderous crack, its trunk split nearly in two by Jelani's enhanced strike. The enraged Trawlls, one of their reactions dulled, couldn't move fast enough. Branches and cones rained down, crushing the helmed one beneath their weight while the last trawll slid to a halt behind it.

Twenty-five minutes remaining.

Jelani's breath came in ragged gasps, his ribs still ached with each movement. But he was in a flow state now, his mind crystal clear despite the pain and fatigue. He could see every possibility, every angle of attack.

The last Trawll approached more cautiously, its small eyes glinting with something that might have been respect. It held its weapon in a guard position, showing more skill than its fallen companions.

"Just you and me now, big guy," Jelani said, resetting his stance.

He darted forward, staying just outside the Trawll's reach. Each time the creature swung, Jelani guided its attacks toward the surrounding trees. The Trawll caught on quickly, trying to pull its strikes short, but Jelani had found its weakness – it couldn't help glancing upward every few seconds, checking for falling cones.

In those brief moments of distraction, Jelani would dart in, his blade finding gaps in the creature's defense. None of the cuts were deep, but they added up. A slash across the thigh. A nick on the forearm. Each small victory drew a rumbling growl of frustration from his massive opponent.

Jelani maneuvered them toward a dense cluster of trees, their branches heavy with cones. The Trawll's movements grew more precise, its swings tighter and harder to dodge. One strike came so close Jelani felt the wind of its passage ruffle his locs.

Something changed in the Trawll's eyes then – a shift from professional to personal. With a snarl of frustration, it threw its cudgel aside. The weapon crashed through the underbrush as the creature raised its massive fists.

"Oh, so it's like that?" Jelani muttered, adjusting his grip on his sword.

The Trawll's punches were devastatingly fast for something its size. Jelani weaved between them, but couldn't completely avoid a swift jab that grazed his right side. The combination of the air displacement and minor impact sent him staggering back against a tree, his breath catching in his throat.

Jelani dropped to one knee, his free hand clutching his side. The Trawll's eyes lit up with victory as it lunged forward, massive hands reaching to crush its seemingly wounded prey.

Too late, it saw Jelani's smile.

He rolled aside at the last possible moment, letting the Trawll's momentum carry it full-force into the tree trunk. The impact shook the entire tree, sending vibrations up into the heavily laden branches above.

The first cone caught the Trawll in the shoulder, staggering it. The second crashed into its skull with a sickening crack. The creature turned to face Jelani one last time, its eyes showing not anger, but a dazed acceptance of defeat.

For a moment, Jelani felt a pang of something like sympathy. Then he remembered Ahsar's betrayal, remembered every other betrayal and setback that had led him to this moment. In this trial, hesitation meant death.

He leaped onto the Trawll's broad back, raising his blade high. "Nothing personal," he muttered, then drove the sword down through the base of its skull.

The massive body began to fade beneath him, leaving behind a final glowing core. As Jelani landed lightly on his feet, he couldn't help but feel a twinge of respect for his fallen opponent.

But in the end, he'd been more hungry.

When the dust settled, three cores lay glowing on the forest floor in different spots. Jelani moved quickly to collect them, his hands shaking slightly from adrenaline and exertion.

Fifteen minutes remaining.

A laugh bubbled up from his chest, part relief and part genuine joy. He'd done it. He'd actually fucking done it. Three Trawlls, solo, with nothing but his wits and hella finesse.

"Bet you didn't see that coming," he said to the empty air where the creatures had stood. His ribs ached, his muscles burned, and his head was buzzing from the combination of cannabis and combat-high. But he'd won.

Without wasting another moment, Jelani turned and began to sprint back toward the barrier. Each step sent jolts of pain through his torso, but he pushed through it. He was running on a small burst of adrenaline now, his mind already racing ahead to what came next.

The forest seemed to blur around him as he ran, trees and shadows melding into a continuous stream of motion. The timer in his peripheral vision continued its relentless countdown, but for once, Jelani wasn't worried about it.

He'd faced impossible odds and come out on top. He'd proven – to himself more than anyone else – that he had what it took to survive this trial. Let Ahsar have his head start. Let whoever was number one think they had an advantage.

Jelani was coming for the top spot.