With my new tracking skill working passively, green areas in my vision were highlighted as my eyes scanned the ground before the bridge. Additionally, some intuitive information was included as I made connections between the swooping lines someone’s movement had kicked up as they danced around the area. There was certainly a flow to the battle that raged some time ago It looked like a tall man in heavy boots, judging by multiple gouges and marks of the stone underneath, had faced off against a slightly larger humanoid creature. Whatever the second creature had been though was less certain to my eyes though. In places where I would now expect to see footprints, there instead now seemed to be broken beds of moss, some a few inches wide and others as wide as my hand. It was as if someone took a handful of clumps of some green moss and flung it around.
As I continued to take in the screen, I soon noticed a large misshapen lump of moss a few feet off to the right of the bridge. To my eyes, it appeared nothing, unlike someone who had taken several trash bags full of discolored moss and dumped it into a pile half as tall as I was. Taking a few quiet strides out to investigate, a sensation built in my head. It wasn’t painful, but more like a pressure was starting to build. Just as I noticed it and paused, the pressure lessened and then was gone entirely. Confusion had my eyes peering out intently. Nothing for it, I once again moved ahead, as silently as I could. The pressure started coming back and felt almost as if something in me was reacting to some external factor. It was hard to describe. As I moved closer to the pile of moss, the pressure built.
Pausing once more, trying to make sense of it, the sensation dropped drastically almost as if it only increased when I was moving. Something’s not right, I thought to myself. The next time I moved my boot, it scrapped across a stone that had been buried under some leaves causing a slight crunching sound to be heard. Immediately, the pressure in my head spiked and an almost overwhelming sense of being spotted flared in my mind. That was it! It was from my new Stealth skill, I thought furiously. Confidence bloomed at the thought, the pressure was directly related to the likelihood of being discovered while in stealth.
Pausing once more, I took in my situation. It was clear that someone had fought with something not too long ago, perhaps a few hours or more at most. From the pungent smell, at least one of the combatants had likely been set ablaze based on the scent of burnt flesh. Though, where was the body? Next to consider was the awareness of my stealth skill queueing me on. Something or someone was nearby, perhaps Duke himself, but I doubted it. Duke wasn’t aware that I was trailing him so why would he stick around. That left one option, either whatever he fought while passing through or something that had been attracted by the sickening smell.
While I remained motionless, though fully exposed in the middle of the road, the pressure from my stealth skill was highly muted. Who or whatever was nearby could not or had not spotted me. Knowing I couldn’t remain in the open indefinitely, I inched forward to get a better look at the moss pile. With every step closer, the pressure built but then receded when I stopped moving. Then I stepped on a crisp, dried leaf… There was no doubt in my mind. Whatever was impacting my stealth skill was either under the moss or behind it.
No matter how hard I looked though, I couldn’t determine what it was. I was close enough to look down under the bridge and the stream that was flowing underneath. It wasn’t that deep, likely a few feet of water to the rocky stones beneath. Still, nothing alive as far as I could tell. The only thing that was kind of out of place was the pile of moss to the right of the bridge. As I continued to look, another lump of moss was just to the right support pillar of the bridge. That pile though was blackened, and I knew it was the source of the burning smell. Even as I looked, small wisps of smoke curled up lazily in the air.
The desire to move closer to that bed of death was kept in check by my stealth skill. From my current angle, I was able to see small bits of the burnt moss slowly falling to slide into the stream below, creating small eddies of black and brown goo that were slowly drifting away with the current. If it wasn’t for my stealth warning me of a nearby presence, I doubt I would have thought anything of it. In fact, I guessed that Duke likely had a similar reaction when he passed through the area. That was it, I thought. I was literally making the same mistake Duke had. Whatever fought him appeared to have either died or had been scared off, though I was hardly as powerful as my nemesis was, no doubt.
With that realization, the large bed of moss looked more and more out of place. It wasn’t natural. Everything before me was hinting that the misshapen moss only several feet away was dangerous. So, thinking it wouldn’t cause any harm I purposefully thought Inspect while looking at it intently. Nothing happened. Either it was truly nothing or, perhaps, it had a stealth skill a lot like mine. If it had a stealth skill, my guess was that I would be unable to glean any information about it with Inspect.
Feeling confident in my plan of action, I held out a palm towards the pile. My flamethrower spell was instant cast, so one way or another we would find out what it contained. Instantly, a gout of flame shot out of my hand striking the mound and the flame curling around it like a pair of greedy hands enveloping it hungrily. An instant after the flames touched the moss, it exploded upwards throwing the green substance like a volcano. A damage notification lanced across my vision. At the same time, I became aware that whatever that was had been inflicted by Burn.
Even though the spell would be cast continuously, the sudden and violent explosion caused me to lose concentration of the spell causing it to wink out as if it had never been. The pressure in my temples from my stealth skill also instantly vanished, though I had somehow been made aware that the damage-increasing effect from hitting while in stealth had been triggered. Flinching backward from the torrent of excess moss flying all around, the wish that I could have maintained the spell raced in my mind as I eyed what now towered above me. Even as I spied the massive creature, damage notifications from the burn debuff passed in my vision. Damage inflicted from Burn, 27. With a quick thought, my system interface stopped the message from directly appearing in my vision. Green eyes stared down at me, while I looked back in amazement.
Our unstable stalemate was broken as I sensed the burn debuff damaged the creature once more. Instead of a damage notification, I was somehow made aware of the damage and its intensity from the System. Based on the feeling, the damage was not overly large when compared to how powerful the beast appeared.
As the tickle of damage bit the beast two things happened at the same time. First, I overcame the shock the creature’s sudden presence had shackled me with and thought Inspect. It hadn’t worked before, but perhaps it would now. Second, the moment the text appeared in my vision, the monstrosity charged heedless and uncaring of the tiny flames eating away at the creature’s mossy hide. With the threat the massive creature posed as it barreled towards me, all rage and fury unleashed, I didn’t read the message like usual. Instead, the system stepped in to help me understand the peril this creature posed to someone of my insignificant level. The information washed over me, and I was aware of its contents as if it had been downloaded so directly, I understood it in the same instant.
Moss Troll (Level 15)
Like all troll-kin, Moss Trolls are a blight wherever they reside. These large, feebleminded creatures are as ugly as they are fetid. Moss Trolls enjoy spending their days hunkered with misshapen lumps of the moss that cover every inch of their body, awaiting to ambush any prey that stumbles across their path. Don’t let that green moss deceive you, for underneath lies a rock-hard, powerful creature with the strength to rip even a grown bull asunder. Moss trolls enjoy dragging their shattered and broken prey down within the flows of a nearby river before taking massive bites of flesh that will turn any river blood red. Moss Trolls, unlike most of their kin, have no access to magic. Instead, any mana that it could have possessed is instead turned into additional health points. Weary should be any Hunter misfortunate enough to lay eyes upon this devastating creature.
Trolls were a staple in most fantasy worlds so I was acutely aware of how powerful they could be and just how dire my situation was. Trolls were notoriously difficult to take down and could easily take down foes with their sheer ferocity and ability to regenerate health. There was no way of knowing if trolls in the Game were similar, but in the seconds I had before the beast reached me, I felt it prudent my impression of the enemy was correct. The only hope that sparked in my mind was whether this creature shared the same weakness of the trolls of my memory; their weakness to fire.
I had a split second to decide on how I would react to this fight. Thankfully, my flamethrower spell had caused the troll to be inflicted with a burn which, I hoped, meant that it couldn’t regenerate as long as it was up. The creature’s health pool was massive, so I decided to take advantage of the burn status. I was reminded of my new damaging spelling as it shared the same pattern of damage, striking at the monster’s health pool every six seconds. With the readily apparent difference in strength, height, and likely health pool, I needed all the extra damage I could muster. With a thought, my axe was stored back in my inventory even as both of my hands came up ready to dual cast my new spell, Minor Heat Blood.
Even as the troll charged ever closer, my fingers whirled through a complex series of gestures as if they were mirror opposites of the other. The ground shook with each thunderous footfall, fear trying to spike its way into my mind to disrupt the spell casting. Somehow, thankfully, I was able to maintain my concentration and complete the necessary verbal and somatic components of Heat Blood. Unlike the magical energy that normally proceeded most of my spell attacks, this power was akin to superheated air blasting towards the troll, leaving a haze of distortion between us. Lightning-fast, sweltering heat impacted the troll’s chest and burrowed into its chest, stopping it in its tracks. The air between us cooled as quickly as it had been heated, leaving a half dozen paces between the two combatants. The beast looked to its chest and then leveled its glowing jade eyes at me. What I could only describe as a quizzical look passed over the troll’s disproportionate face, almost as if it was trying to comprehend what had just transpired.
Then it happened. Awareness of the damage my spell caused crashed into my psyche even as the troll howled in pain, its massive hands flinging outward and its trunk-sized head rocketing backward. The sound of boiling steam held under intense pressure sounded from deep within the creature’s colossal chest. The outrage in the beast’s bellow caused me to flinch in response. When the creature’s raging eyes met mine once more, I realized this fight was far from over. My subconscious was aware that the amount of damage my spell had inflicted was far higher than I had expected, especially considering the spell’s description described it as ‘causing the target’s blood to simmer.’ Boiling was altogether different. That was a thought for another time, I realized in horror as one of the massive paws of the enraged troll came swiping down at my face.
A shout at my side from Stella reminded me I wasn’t alone here. “Health remaining at seventy-three percent!” That got me moving.
I had little time to think, but I knew by doing over one hundred damage every six seconds with the combined effects of my dual cast heat blood and the burn debuff. All I had to do was play for time as the damage added up, though with the utter hatred and ferocity that was the troll barreling down on me, I could hope to do little else. Bringing my axe back to my hand, I used it in an attempt to parry the obviously overpowered swing coming down upon me. The strength of this creature nearly overwhelmed me as I attempted to redirect the attack. It far out leveled me, but I felt with the damaging spells ticking away at its life, I might just bring it down along with a few swings of my powerful axe.
Back peddling, it was all I could hope to do as I backed away from the troll’s brutal claws and tried to get past my frantic attempts at parrying and dodging. It was as if I was nothing more than a thick reed trying to survive the gales of a hurricane. I wasn’t fast enough as the troll’s claws finally connected, pain exploded in my shoulder. Feeling the razor-sharp nails penetrating my flesh caused me to cry out in pain. I cried out in pain and dropped my guard. That felt like it was a mistake. You have suffered 37 damage. You have suffered 31 damage. Those notifications were not minimized, and the hot agony of the damage nearly brought me to my knees. My shout of pain dropped my guard enough that the troll’s fist was unimpeded as it slammed into my chest, blowing me backward and causing even further damage. Worse yet, a new message appeared and nearly stopped my heart as realization dawned at its meaning. Cold, icy dread slipped in my veins.
Did you know this text is from a different site? Read the official version to support the creator.
Notice! You have been poisoned. You will suffer 15 damage every 6 seconds for the next 30 seconds.
“Xaz!” Stella’s shout was distant but was able to break through the pain I was suffering.
My eyes flashed down to my health bar, which was sitting at what seemed to be a measly seventy-two points. Quick mental math showed me that the damage from the poison alone was going to deal slightly more than that. In the next thirty seconds alone, seventy-five damage would be enough to end my life, let alone the raging beast that was still standing a half dozen paces. Even now, it was bellowing to the sky in apparent victory. Regardless of any damage the troll seemed sure to inflict upon me, its poison alone was going to kill me. My only hope was my sole healing spell, Minor Healing Wave.
“Careful, that poison is enough to kill you!” Stella’s voice was closer now as if she was just next to me. My eyes never left the feral creatures roaring in triumph.
Didn’t I already know that, I thought without voicing it. My immediate concern and only hope was to get a heal off. Unfortunately, the troll was soon to return to finish the job. Even now, its massive arms were coming back to the ground, surely enough to tear the life from my body. I had no choice, I had to get a heal off or nothing else mattered. The only problem was my simple healing spell wasn’t likely to make enough of a difference. It healed for around twenty-eight health the last time I had checked. It also took a full second to cast and couldn’t be immediately recast. That wasn’t enough. So, I had to look to another skill to hopefully pull me through this battle; channeling.
You have suffered 15 damage from Troll Poison!
Ignoring the damage notification was easier than I thought, it mattered little with my plan set. Thankfully, the troll’s moment of victory gave me the time I needed. One hand holding my axe for dear life, my other waved in the air as magic escaped my lips. The spell completed and I channeled minor healing wave. The enchanted syllables pulled the rest of the troll’s attention. It starred daggers at the utterance as if my words held its very existence in contempt.
Healing energy washed through me for a pair of seconds, but then without my conscious realization the spell cut off. My lips stilled and my hand went motionless. Nothing else mattered as the troll was once more bringing down its blackened claws hurtling toward my small frame. The troll must have believed it was delivering a fatal blow as it put everything into the attack. All the strength it could bring to bear was an instant from slamming into me. The attack looked to be capable of splitting a boulder, but it never touched me. My mind had quieted out everything else, all external stimuli were silent to my ears. I was committed to the fight, everything else was secondary. A single sidestep was all that was needed as the giant’s hand slammed into the ground with crushing effect. Then, I countered.
I cut into my enemy’s strength; my axe cut him down without mercy into the depths of his spirit. A memory of my past life flew through my mind, as quick as lightning. The image of a sword representing truth and true justice flickered there as my axe connected. In a fight for your life, nothing else matters more than to cut down your enemy. As the troll bellowed and crashed forward, my axe bit deeply. I cut so deeply that the troll’s arm was sheared off.
You have been healed for 46 HP as your health begins to regenerate.
I was aware of the message, feeling immensely better, but my focus never wavered. I found that the spell cut itself off. Instead, I found a buff icon on my screen but had no time to check it out as the troll howled in pain. How it howled! Second, the troll reached its remaining hand and clamped it over the stump of an arm that was gushing out blood.
“It only has eleven percent health remaining!” Stella’s form darted out, circling the mighty beast’s body. She couldn’t damage the creature, but perhaps she could try distracting it. That’s what it looked like anyway, or perhaps she had something similar to adrenaline pumping through her veins as well.
Once more, the troll bellowed, this time in pain and outrage as its thick arm fell to the stones below. Part of me understood my damaging spells would be enough to finish the creature, but it wasn’t quick enough in my eyes. Feeling the monster’s unbridled rage turn back on the thing causing it so much agony, I needed to both create some distance between me and the feral, dying creature while also closing the door on its life as well. So, I did both.
Stepping back, I threw my axe at the creature’s chest with all the strength I could muster. It landed with a meaty thwap and sunk deep into its chest. In the same instant, awareness of my spell damaging the beast on the inside flashed in my mind. It was enough and the giant troll toppled backward, thudding into the ground, dead, even as moss blew outwards from the impact.
Exhaustion and relief brought me to my knees. The troll’s body twitched slightly and small waves of power drifting upwards from the creature signaled my heat blood spell ending. The area around was dead silent now with the conclusion of our battle. It took me a moment to realize I was not in any pain, whatsoever. In a matter of seconds, my wounds had healed over completely. Rotating my shoulder in experimentation, it was as if they were never there. The lingering sensation of cool energy that had concentrated on where I had been wounded faded from my awareness, “Um, Stella?” confusion evident in my voice. “How… am I not hurt, let alone alive?”
Before she could respond, I was bombarded with System notifications. As my eyes scanned the messages, it was clear, this battle had been so worth it.
Experience Awarded: Moss Troll (level 15) – 1,800 experience points.
You have earned a new achievement, ‘You're Lucky You’re Not Dead!’ You have defeated an opponent five times your level! This is a rare feat as most Hunters have little chance against such superior opponents. Fare well, as this feat is unlikely to be repeated and for good reason.
Congratulations! You have been awarded 4,000 experience points.
Level Up! You have earned enough experience to advance to level 4 and level 5. You have 14 attribute points to distribute. Fight well, Hunter! Slay all that stand in your path!
Congratulations, you are now able to select your initial Hunter Class. Connect with your accelerator for more details.
Congratulations! New Spell Unlocked: [Minor Boil Blood]
[Minor Boil Blood] A blaze of magical energy strikes into a target within 100 feet. The target is afflicted with the debuff "Searing Blood" which causes the victim’s blood to boil at an extreme temperature causing massive internal damage. After 60 seconds the target's blood cools and the debuff expires. The spell causes 20 plus 2n damage immediately and then every 6 seconds thereafter, where ‘n’ equals intelligence. Additionally, spell damage has a small chance to stun the target for 1 second. Cost: 45 MP. Cast Time: 1.0 seconds. Cooldown: 1.0 seconds. Duration: 60 seconds. Plus 10 feet maximum range, plus 4 base damage, and plus 1% chance stun to target per spell level.
Congratulations! New Spell Unlocked: [Minor Regen]
[Minor Regen] A wave of healing energy flows into a target within 30 feet. The target receives the ‘Minor Regeneration’ buff which heals the target for 22 plus 2n health immediately and then every 6 seconds until the spell expires, where ‘n’ equals intelligence. After 30 seconds the spell ends. Cost: 30 mana. Cast Time: 1 seconds. Cooldown: 1 second. Duration: 30 seconds. Plus 1 foot maximum range, and plus 6 base healing per spell level.
Spell: Minor Regen has increased to level 2.
Spell: Minor Flamethrower has increased to level 3.
Spell: Minor Healing Wave has increased to level 2.
Skill: Axes has increased to level 3.
Skill: Dual Casting has increased to level 3.
Skill: Channeling has increased to level 3.
Skill: Stealth has increased to level 2.
Skill: Tracking has increased to level 2.
Spell: Heat Blood has increased to level 2.
Spell: Boil Blood has increased to level 2.
I was a bit taken aback by everything that had just been awarded, “That’s an incredible haul.” Two new and, honestly, quite powerful spells were among the best of the bunch, not to mention earning two levels from a single fight!
Worry and a hint of exhaustion were evident in Stella’s posture. “I’d say congratulations, no really, I am happy for you, but that was far too close. That achievement, well, it’s an extremely rare accomplishment that most Hunters never see. Getting this low is about the only way it happens and, even then, no one would expect a level three less than a day Hunter to defeat a level fifteen gigantic troll!” Some exasperation seeped out of her words there at the end. “Sorry, I just… I don’t want our journey to end so quickly. If at all, if I can help it.”
Stella’s last comment was said under her breath, but not low enough that she didn’t intend me to pick it up. She was sitting in the air next to me, her head staring upwards with her eyes firmly closed. I placed a hand gently on her small shoulders, “Neither do I, Stell. We got lucky. I’ll be more careful next time.”
“Well, we survived, so to the victors go the spoils.”
Spoils indeed, I thought. Kneeling near the troll’s body, my nostrils screaming that they were not yet nose deaf to the smell, I reached out to place a hand on the body when a slight movement caught my eye. “Oh, no you don’t, you son of a bitch,” I said with a tinge of heat in my voice.
“What,” Stella asked as her head swung down. She looked at me, then her eyes followed my gaze before widening as she saw the threat that was trying to wriggle away to safety.
The arm that I had looped off the troll was trying desperately to reach the relative safety of the calm stream, no doubt hoping to live another day. In quick order, my hand lanced towards the mossy flesh and flames leaped away to engulf the still-living limb. In a second, it blackened before ‘falling’ over, truly dead. Not canceling the spell casting, I turned the spell to the troll’s body and immolated it for several seconds to ensure it was also truly dead.
“I’m guessing trolls, like from the legends from my world, can only really be killed permanently with fire,” I said when the fire of my spell gutted out, taking any last vestige of troll life with it.
“It would appear so,” Stella said as she flew closer to the scorched limb. She appeared hesitant to get too close, for good reason considering I had received the system notification claiming we had defeated the mob. “Though, I have never encountered one myself, nor had Stouter, to my knowledge.”
“Ok, then.” With that taken care of, I reached down a hand once more, lightly touching the smoldering troll’s corpse, willing its inventory to open. Spoils indeed.
Congratulations! You have received {Bracers of the Moss Troll}.
{Bracers of the Moss Troll}. Quality: Above Average. Rarity: Rare. Type: Leather. Slot: Wrist. Durability 1000/1000. Armor: 8. Effect(s): Wearing these bracers will increase your constitution by plus 1. You will also have improved resistance to disease debuffs, plus 10%. Secondary Effect(s): Health regeneration is increased by plus 3 every 60 seconds. This effect is doubled outside of combat.
“Definitely an upgrade to my other bracers,” I said as I stored my not-so-old Hide Bracers of Constitution and equipped the new set. The leather wrapped around my forearms of its own accord, which was a bit creepy, and was dark emerald in color. Each had the appearance of the moss troll’s skin, but no actual moss grew on it. It was more of a cosmetic sentiment, I guessed, though I was equally thankful I wouldn’t have flecks of the green substance falling off any time I moved.
Remembering the burned moss bed from earlier, and now suspecting it was actually a dead troll in its own right, we walked closer to the bridge. My palms were ready to fling fire once more should it wasn’t actually dead, we found as I suspected. It was indeed another troll’s corpse with its life burned away from what was surely a fire spell from Duke’s arsenal. While the body was not as crispy as the one we just defeated, it did have a significantly large hole blasted straight through its misshapen head. Studying the body, I guessed that Duke had killed the creature with a singularly powerful spell before ending its regenerative properties with something like my own minor flamethrower. On a whim, I reached down and brushed my fingertips over the body.
“Well, would you look at that,” I said in astonishment. “Apparently, Duke couldn’t be bothered to even loot the thing. Damn, I bet even he would be regretting that if he could see those bad boys.”
You received Blood of the Moss Troll x2.
Congratulations! You received {Emerald Moss Troll Earring}.
{Emerald Moss Troll Earring}. Quality: Superb. Rarity: Rare. Slot: Ear. Durability 1000/1000. Effect(s): Wearing this earring will increase your constitution by plus 5. Additionally, you will regenerate an additional plus 5 health per 60 seconds. Secondary Effect(s): Your wounds will regenerate at twice the normal rate while you are out of combat.
Notice! System message - This item's secondary effect will not stack with your Troll Hide Tunic of the Bloodless. Only one such effect can be applied.
Immediately equipping the earrings, my Constitution shot to twenty points which brought my health total to two hundred points. I felt healthier than ever before, vitality surging throughout my body for several seconds as my stats were increased. Further, after a quick inquiry with Stella, my health regeneration was around one point per second. Even better, if I ever swapped out my tunic, I would keep the doubling effect outside of combat. As it stood now, I would fully heal from just a single health point to full in less than two minutes.
A thought struck me as I remembered one small message among the slew of system notifications from before. I turned to Stella, excitement fluttering in my chest. “So, what’s this initial Hunter class business?”
She beamed back at me, matching my excitement, “You’re going to love this part.”