Chapter 51: 51

We ran through the forest after Sandra as fast as we could with Zirani leading the way. The array she'd placed on Sandra allowed her to get a feeling when she was in the right direction and she was letting out the occasional green pulse, though it wasn't the normal version she'd taught me. The green pulse she was using as we ran moved as though it was in a tunnel, moving only forwards.

Misty kept up just fine and once again I was pretty sure she was holding back so she could stay with us.

As we ran I tried to think of everything I knew about trolls. There were many different types of them, but they were all large two-legged creatures with a hunchbacked appearance and low levels of intelligence. They were prone to violent outbursts of anger and had innate techniques which boosted their strength when they'd taken a lot of damage, not to mention their greatest strength, their regeneration. A troll could have half its body destroyed but as long as its brain was still reaming, it would regenerate everything back, which meant you had to destroy the brain if you wanted to keep it dead, and the only way to negate their healing factor was fire or some sort of acidic substance. Basically, something that kept damaging them constantly. None of us had that which meant we'd have to go for the brain if we needed to fight it. If we had the opportunity to grab Sandra and run, that's what we'd be doing.

I still couldn't believe she'd chosen to try and fight a two-core aether beast. Sandra was only at her first core and while she was close to the hydro stage, even if she reached it she still wouldn't have much of a chance against a troll. As far as I knew she had no way of negating its healing factor, no defense to survive a solid blow, and most importantly her attacks, as far as I'd seen, weren't going to do much to it.

"It's probably a moss troll," Zirani said. "Or a mountain troll though I doubt that. This area isn't rocky enough and there aren't any mountains nearby."

"A moss troll?" Misty asked in a worried tone.

It could have been worse, all things considered. Moss trolls were nature affinity aether beasts, and Zirani probably knew every nature trick in the book, not to mention that it was smaller than other types of trolls. From what I'd read, Moss trolls were generally fifteen feet and were called moss trolls due to the moss-like material that covered their back. Another odd thing was the fact that they were actually ambush hunters. Their bodies were the color of dirt and they would dig the ground up, lay down and blend in, looking like a small bump or hill, and when someone passed by, they struck. They may have low levels of intelligence, but instinct was there.

We kept on moving and around an hour in we heard a loud roar coming from straight in front of us. We glanced at each other in worry before we picked up the pace, and a few minutes later we burst into a large clearing to find a shocking sight.

I'd expected to find Sandra on the ropes, trying to run, or badly injured, but instead what I saw left me baffled. Sandra was standing opposite the troll and a smoky like darkness seemed to be radiating from her body. Her eyes were wide and her mouth was covered in the substance. Her body was still and she had strings made out of darkness coming out of her hands, attached and wrapped around the troll who was roaring and trying to tear them apart, but it seemed as though he was having trouble.

"What the fuck?"

"Stupid girl," Zirani hissed. "Keep an eye on the troll while I try to get her out of this mess. Don't try anything stupid, just try to stay alive."

"Zirani, wait wh—"

My words were cut off as the troll let out a loud roar and I looked over to see a reddish-green flow appearing around its body. An innate technique, bloody great. It tore what was left of the dark strings off its body, then moved to charge at the still Sandra.

I threw a rock in its face. It did no damage, but its beady, rage-filled, eyes turned to me and I winced as I saw its brownish jagged, rock-like teeth.

"Misty, I'm going to need your speed," I said. "As Zirani said, I don't think we can fight it, just get its attention and dodge."

The blonde looked very hesitant to move and quite scared, but I didn't have time to say anything else as the lumbering beasts charged me. I barely managed to get a lashing vine formed and wrapped it around a nearby tree to swing away.

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Misty dodged but she still looked terrified. If I wanted to survive I'd need her help.

A sudden idea came to me as I remembered all of Misty's other fights. It was risky, but could work, although it depended on just how enhanced an aether vampire was. Zirani had told me they had miraculous regeneration even at lower levels, but just how correct was she? There was no time to ask as the troll turned and charged at me once again, forcing me to make a decision.

I formed a bark gauntlet with a spike on it, and as it drew near I jumped, wrapping the vine around another tree, and as I swung past I struck out with my spike, scoring a long gash. Bluish red blood poured from the wound, but to my dismay, it was already closing. It seemed my plan wouldn't work, or at least that was until a blur shot by and latched onto the troll.

Misty had her claws out and that bestial look in her eyes as she latched her mouth over what remained of the wounds and began to drain the troll. It roared and tried to pull her off and beat at her, and I winced at the sound of breaking bones, but Misty didn't even flinch, and I watched as her wounds healed even as more were inflicted. The troll began to panic, and I took the opportunity to do another swing by, and lash out at its face, striking at one of its eyes. It let out a roar and tried to swipe at me, but I was already gone.

The troll movements slowly got more and more sluggish as no matter what it tried Misty wouldn't budge. In fact, I was almost certain, the constant intake of blood and essence was helping her.

The troll fell to one knee a few moments later, and dropped back to the ground, and watched in awe as Misty, my childhood friend, drained the beast of its blood and essence. Zirani had told me that aether vampires were some of the deadliest hybrid type aether beings, but knowing and seeing were two different things, although Zirani had also said that Misty was a special case and seemed far stronger than she had any right to be.

Soon, the troll fell onto its stomach, drained and dead. I didn't bother trying to attack its brain since its essence was gone. There was no life for this beast without its essence. I looked over to Misty who was wobbling around, trying to remain standing. I managed to catch her just before she fell. There was a drunk look in her eyes and her skin felt like it was electrified.

"She actually killed it."

I looked over to see Zirani walking towards me with an unconscious Sandra in her arms.

"Yeah she did," I said, still in shock. "She drained a two-core aether beast. Is this the power of an aether vampire? Should I be asking how to become one?"

Zirani shook her head. "Like I said she's a special case, and trust me there are quite a few downsides to becoming an aether vampire, some of which are very limiting. There's a reason they haven't taken over more land or hold more influence. Sure, you'd get a boost to a lot of things and it would seem all beneficial at first, but as you grow, things start to become more limiting, not to mention the kill on sight order by most groups and their society. Besides, you'll benefit from her as she will from you, but that's for later, let's get back to the camp then we can talk."

"You're finally going to explain?" I asked hopefully.

She nodded. "I am, I didn't think I would have to this early, but things have come to a head and it seems I need to move up my timeline."

We left the area with the cave troll and once we were close enough to the camp, Zirani moved back into her core and handed me Sandra. I got a few looks from people as I entered the camp, but fortunately, no one approached, and I soon made it to my tent.

"Alright," I said after placing Sandra and Misty down and Zirani manifested.. "Explain."

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