They got quite the haul that afternoon. But Bilsor insisted on keeping some of every new fish species they found. He said, “I want to get to know the local waters and its inhabitants. We have to find out what is edible and good catch for the future.”

So most of the common fish was put back into the sea. The most common one was the same species as they had yesterday in the fish soup. But they also got some unfamiliar ones. One fish, a yellow dotted one, looked poisonous but Haf said that he knew with absolute certainty that this was a rare delicacy. The fish was over a metre long, so there will be enough for all of them to try for dinner.

They spent a couple of hours getting back. While their homes came into sight, Jack tried to open the Tome again to check if there were any changes with the pages. Still nothing. Not that he was overly worried. He had five tall weathered Nordars under him. Although he was a little concerned that in a world of countless new races and beasts this might not be enough. Not to mention that he himself was not battle-hardened or tough like the others. ‘Only thing I can do is learn and adapt. It is still the first day of my new life. Rome wasn’t built in a day.’

They finally come back and put the longship back on the shingle beach. Bilsor mentioned the need to additionally bind the boat to the shore because of the tide. So while Haf and Bilsor were doing that the rest started unloading the still alive fish which was kept in barrels filled with saltwater.

Asa came out to greet them. “I see you caught quite the catch today. Tonight we can get a real feast started.”

Jack answered, “Thanks to Bilsors expertise we were successful today. But we did see some distressingly big fish further north. I just hope these are not common. It might make fishing more dangerous than we assumed.”

“Compared to you, I had no bad surprises today. I finally found some more or less familiar herbs further inland. But they are more used as seasoning than for medicine.” Told Asa. ‘This is great news. My spoiled and pampered tastebuds rejoice just thinking about a little seasoning.’ Thought Jack to himself while listening to Asa talk about the rest of her findings. He almost started salivating right then and there.

Jack had to wait barely an hour when a delicious fragrance permeated the surroundings. By the fire, between the warehouse and the shore were six different fish, all roasted and stuffed with some herbs and a little sea-salt.

“Let us thank our leader and dig in.” Announced Bilsor, to which Haf added, “ Don’t forget to try the yellow wave diver. They are a true nordarian delicacy.”

Haf was the first one to try every fish. He said it was to make sure everything is edible. But Jack had a suspicion that he was a foodie, when it came to fish. After getting the all-clear from Haf the rest of them started digging in.

Maybe because they only had some soup yesterday or Jack didn’t know the appetite of a Nordar, but within minutes all the fish was gone. Thankfully Jack had some of everything. Most notably was the so called delicacy. It was the most fatty fish Jack ever had but at the same time it had a really special aftertaste to it. Hard to describe but undoubtedly delicious.

After dinner everyone was so full, they were getting ready to sleep. While Jack was lying in his hut and hoping that there wont be any nightmare disrupting his sleep tonight, he heard Haf run out of his hut with a scream. Standing up and looking out side the hut he watched Haf run into the woods next to them while holding his stomach and his behind. Drenched in sweat.

This tale has been unlawfully lifted from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

‘That can't be good.’

Not even half an hour later everybody had run into the woods. Jack had never had such a bad case of stomach problems.

‘I bet it’s that stupid yellow fish. Who ever thought it’s a good idea to eat a yellow spotted fish in an unknown world.’

That night Jack spent most of his time wishing for the nightmares about his death. He just wanted to get some sleep. By sunrise Jack was the only one still suffering in the woods. The others were finally able to sleep.

As Jack was using some snow to clean himself he heard something move through the snow-covered forest. Hit by the light of the rising sun he saw a figure. A big figure. Almost as tall as the trees. And it walked straight towards him and the village.

‘I really don’t have any luck. Lost in a new world, without any real information, suffering from food poisoning and now by the looks of it a over five meter tall troll is walking towards us.’

Jack stumbled back as fast as possible while cursing. Arriving at the huts he starts yelling, “ Wake up everyone! Theres might be a troll attacking us. Eskil and Ragna, take the big battle axes. The rest takes throwing axes and shields.”

While everyone is scrambling out of their huts, Jack already goes into the warehouse and takes one of the three shields and a hatchet. ‘I better leave the throwing axes to the others. We will probably distract the troll with while wearing shields and the rest throws axes and uses the battle axes to chop at the trolls legs. How am I so calm now? Half the time in this new world I can barely think straight. I just feel numb. And now it just works.’

The others arrived at the warehouse. The only one missing was Bilsor. Jack stepped to Eskil and asked, “Where is Bilsor? Is he still asleep?”

“No leader, Bilsor went back tot he ship to get the two harpoons. He thought they could be useful against something big like a troll.”

Jack led the four Nordars outside the warehouse, where they were joined by Bilson carrying the two harpoons. “Ragna and Eskil, wait behind the warehouse with the battle axes and throwing axes. If the troll attacks us three with shields you attack him from behind. Bilsor stays behind the shields with the harpoons. Haf and Asa take one of the shields and a hatchet.”

Once everyone got their weapons, they got ready just in time to see the troll leaving the tree line to the beach and the village. The troll saw them swell and roared while picking up speed. Weighing probably around a one and a half ton at least, the hulking monstrosity run past the warehouse to the four waiting Nordars. Luckily he had no club or any other weapon, and the shields hopefully hold out against his fists and claws.

Haf next to him said, “That is the weirdest troll I’ve ever seen. It looks nothing like the ones I’m familiar with.”

Jack gulped, looked at the charging troll and bent his knees a little for a lower centre of gravity. Jack reminded Haf and Asa, “Focus on keeping him occupied. Try not to die and let the others do the killing.”

Then the troll arrived. With his two fists raised high, he came down on the small group of Nordars. All of them didn’t even reach his stomach. ‘Great, I’m exhausted from the sleepless night and now I have to endure the full force of a charging troll twice as tall as my. Probably more than four times my weight too.’ Was the last thing Jack could think of before he was sent flying by a heavy-footed kick. Haf had to endure the two defending fists of the Troll and barely remained standing. During this time Asa shouted at the tall to get his attention and the two heavy hitters finally arrived behind the troll and sank their battle axes into his thighs. The troll screamed and started turning around to the two attackers that injured his legs. Jack had no doubt that once the troll reached one of those two shieldless Nordars, they would be dead within seconds. From behind Jack a shout came, “Take that you abomination of a toll!” Following that came on of the harpoons, firmly hitting the trolls right side right underneath his ribs. Now the troll was really screaming. It sounded like a pig being slaughtered. And the volume of that thing almost gave Jack a bleeding ear. Ragna saw the troll injured and closed in on him for a second attack.

It was then that Jack lost consciousness and drifted into sweet nothingness.