Chương 33: Juvenile Troll

The constant walking would have bothered me far more if my muscles weren't magically altered. I took a quick walk to base and broke off a torch from the intermission room before returning to where I was before. I've played plenty of low-quality video games. The ever-burning torches don't even faze me at this point. With the intermission room at three torches instead of four, I now stand in front of the mysterious cave with the glowing stick in hand.

I have to awkwardly hold the spear in my armpit while I hold the torch up to see. The darkness inside is pushed aside as I make my way in. Just like the tunnels from before, this one is entirely made up of cobblestone. The system probably saw the texture and said 'Hell yeah, let's put this on absolutely everything'. With uneven ground, I follow the tunnel through a few bends and turns. It doesn't take long to find what lives inside. My shoulders tense, and I take a very slow step backward.

Large, warty skin, plenty of fat. Green skin, giant mouth. It lies on its side, but I can tell it dwarfs even an orc. It wears a loincloth that looks the size of a bedsheet. A large, wooden club lies beside it. Every breath is as powerful as a ceiling fan. Luckily, it's sleeping. It's either a troll or an ogre. Based on its width, I'm going with troll. If my memory serves me right, the name of the game here is regeneration. As I use my skill, a window pops up. [(II) Juvenile Troll lv. 18] [Identify Living Being(lv. 7) > (lv. 8)] Oh. Oh no. Maybe I should try my luck with the wooden fortification one more time. As I turn, the head of the spear swings awkwardly in my armpit and scrapes against the wall. A painful wince shoots onto my face. I drop the torch in a hurry and equip the spear in its place. When I flip, the troll's eyes are wide, staring at me.

"Kevin, don't block, just dodge."

"Focus on the fight." With a grunt that vibrates the walls, the troll stands. Its head barely touches the ceiling. A coldness tingles down my spine, but the command wipes it away. The troll stands at a massive nine feet tall, with a width to match it. Giant rolls of fat on its stomach make my poor gauntlet useless. I doubt my fist can even reach its head. It steps once, then again. It's already closed half the distance between us. I do the same and step to meet it.

It lazily lifts its club- No, its tree to the side as the weapon begins to let off a slight yellow glow. The tingling of danger comes back, but it's not in any particular place. It covers my entire body, except for below my knees. My mind panics, but the command forces me to move. My legs give out like a puppet with its strings cut. The tree-like club blurs above me, kicking up a storm of wind before crashing into the cave wall. The wall explodes as giant lumps of stone shoot out and cause explosions of their own.

"Holy shit!" In a way I didn't know I could move, my legs bend under me and spring me forward in one smooth motion. Diving under its arm, my spear pulls back. I wince right before I strike, knowing where it's going. The spear jerks forward, piercing through the loincloth and striking the groin. The bellow of the beast shakes the walls, but my body refuses to stand still. I slide to the left and slam my fist into the side of its knee. It's like punching rubber reinforced by rebar.

The troll twists and stares at me with rage in its eyes. Its tree is lifted overhead, glowing yellow again. This time, my entire body fills with the tingle, no exception. If you come across this story on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it. Instantly, my knees go limp. As I fall backward, the muscles in my legs grip the bone tightly before exploding, launching me backward. Fatigue plagues both legs like I did squats for ten minutes straight.

Again, the tree blurs and slams into the ground, sending stones flying like bullets. One stone collides with my left arm in a heavy crack. The weak spike of pain through the command tells me that it's bad. My gauntlet clangs against the ground as my arm goes limp. The command refuses to let my body take a breather. Bouncing off the ground, I dash forward. I leap over the club and slip around the arm reaching to grab me. My spear stabs three times into its right ankle.

A tingle spikes, and I jerk to the side as it tries to kick me. Two more stabs come out before it tries to grab again. Like water, I take the path of least resistance and dodge every attack. The spear comes down as I stab the ankle on repeat. Every stab feels like poking through a thick layer of rubber. The flesh clasps around the head of the spear and I pull it out forcefully. My legs begin to slow down from overclocking themselves on repeat. My left arm swings like a pendulum with every movement.

I slip under its legs and stab twice more. It struggles to turn properly in the enclosed space. After another two stabs, the beast finally falls to one knee. Waiting for the opportunity, my legs compress and swing me around to the front of the troll. The head of the spear flicks forward and slams into the bottom of its jaw. The flexible muscles of the neck bend inwards, making the spear only pierce in a sliver of an inch. It reaches out to grab me, but I bend around the giant hand like an acrobat.

The spear slams in again, piercing through its jaw and into its mouth. The tree comes flying in, and I collapse, causing it to fly over with barely inches to spare. The wall explodes on contact. A flying stone slams into the ground next to my head, hard enough to make it split. My eye snaps to it, sending terror into my chest. The command nullifies it and sends me to my feet. The spear shoots up again, sliding through the wound in its jaw with incredible precision.

It strikes against the top of its mouth, and stops in its tracks when hitting bone. Crap! How do I kill this thing!? The tree drops out of its hand as it reaches out to grab me with both arms. I dash backwards, the troll unable to follow due to the injury in its ankle. Alarm races as I stare at its ankle. The dozens of holes in the flesh are thinner than before, the river of blood reduced to a trickle. Dashing forward to the left, I flip on my heels as it reaches for me. Time for good ole' reliable.

I slip around to the back of it and stab right at the base of its skull. The flesh resists well, making every thrust feel meaningless and wasteful. The troll pushes up, intending to stand with its healing leg. Shit, shit, shit.

"Kevin, stab as hard as you can!" My muscles collapse to the bone, blood spraying out of tiny rips in my arm and shoulder. The spear flickers forward, ripping a chunk of meat out of the back of its neck. Instantly, the troll goes limp, falling forward into the ground with a crash. I try to open the combat log, but nothing happens. It's still alive. I dash to the troll's body. My legs flag and shake as I move. When I step up onto its back, I slam my metal foot into its neck. The step comes down pitifully weak.

I want to panic, but the command pushes it out. My eye stares a hole into the troll's neck. Perception shows itself as my highest stat as I watch the flesh inexorably knit itself back together. My eye flickers, and my mind runs at a million miles an hour. Both arms hang uselessly at my side. One bends at two places instead of one. The other is puffy and red, with tiny, bleeding seams up and down it. My legs are both too weak to do anything. Thoughts spin in circles as I can't think of a single way out of this.

Then, it clicks. I have one weapon left. Falling to my knees, I stick my head into the orc's neck. With my mouth wide open, I bite down on the bloody flesh. The texture is that of the toughest, fattest, rubberiest steak I've never eaten. But the taste… Why does it taste good? Frantically, I take as big of bites as possible, ripping chunks and chunks out of its neck. I constantly turn my head and spit the bloody meat out of my mouth. Once, I bring my head up and breathe for air.

"System! Bring back the chime for kills!" It only took me a single battle to realize how important it was. My mouth returns to the wound, constantly biting off chunks of troll meat and spitting it to the side. Blood spews endlessly from the wound, making me cough on repeat. It pools under the troll's neck, growing with every second. Several times, my teeth scrape against the troll's spine, making me shudder. This thing just won't die! My movements grow both more frantic and more sluggish.

Luckily, I finally catch a break. Chime Without waiting, I go limp, tumbling off the back of the beast and onto the ground. The pain in both arms spikes slightly as I roll over. Several minutes go by, and I do nothing but struggle to breathe. The air comes in slightly easier as a burst of weight is removed from my shoulders. Endurance. At the same time, a well of life opens in my heart, dulling the pain in my arms. The weakness all over my body also lessens a bit. Vitality.

Even with the level up, exhaustion grows quickly. With my teeth clenching in pain, I shift my knee up to lie on my hand. I prepare to pull my shoulder and set the bone, but hesitancy digs deep. Three. Two. I don't do it.

"Okay, okay" Three. Two. One.... Seconds go by as I stare at the right angle break in my arm. Bile grows upwards as sweat runs downwards.

"Kevin! Stop hesitating!" I scream. My shoulder snaps upwards, setting the bone back into place with a loud click. A blood-curdling scream rips out of my mouth, echoing through the confines of the tunnel. Panting heavily, I look inside myself. The small amount of mana I have saved starts to swirl into the healing skill. It only lasts a few seconds before slumber drags my consciousness away.