Chapter 22: 21. Bloody Canvas

Besides the screams of the fallen Troll, I could hear a faint sound of rumbling. I had to concentrate to sense its presence, but it was there.

I crouched and put my ear on the ground, the sound became much clearer. It reverberated, resembling a tremor and it was getting louder and louder.

It seems like this guy managed to attract at least thirty Trolls, I thought. I would’ve preferred a smaller herd, but this is still within my means.

According to the information that adventurers provided in my past life, this area had more than a hundred Trolls. Due to the abundance of Regenerative mana, creatures like Trolls and certain types of lizards liked this location. They could absorb the ambient mana to improve their innate regeneration capacity. Trolls were very common here, and that made them the most valuable resource of this area due to their loot.

The drop rates were awful according to what those guys said, I thought. As always, the [Dismantle] skill is proving its value! Too bad the (Common) Dismantler class is shitty.

I could see some silhouettes on the horizon, and they were moving at speeds that should’ve been impossible for creatures as large as them. They were getting closer to my location from all directions.

After confirming the success of my plan to attract some Trolls, I finished off the one that had been screaming.

[Troll] (Uncommon) (Level: 48) defeated! Host earned 475000 EXP.

 

-Host levelled up x1!

 

There was another system window saying that I’ve gained some tutorial points, but I didn’t pay it much heed at this point due to its vague nature.

Most Trolls in this area had levels between thirty and sixty, depending on their age. They lived in tribes of ten to twenty individuals, each led by the strongest Troll. Their lifestyle was primitive and they were reckless creatures, but they still cared about their kin.

I waited under a large tree’s shade; my [Shadow Assimilation] skill was active. After a couple of minutes, many large monsters approached the location of the dead Troll from all directions.

There is no way that this herd is made of thirty trolls! I thought. It’s more like fifty!

It only took me a couple of seconds to calm down once more as I still had the upper hand in this kind of environment. I scanned the herd for the strongest Trolls; those that I needed to get rid of early on.

There were three Trolls that had a level of sixty; each of them was twice as tall as I was. Their bodies were painted with some weird colorful patterns, serving as proof of their position as captains of their communities, and each of them held a large wooden club. They were usually much smarter than regular Trolls, which allowed them to make simple strategies. Despite their differences from the regular Trolls, the system gave them the same race name; [Troll].

Getting rid of the leaders should spread confusion among their underlings, I thought. It’ll get much easier once I accomplish this.

I pointed my finger at the head of the Troll that was the farthest from any shadows and unleashed my [Burn that Invader!] attack. The monster fell immediately on its face, showing no signs of struggle. Trolls were resilient and could regenerate from almost any injuries that weren’t fatal, but an accurate headshot would always deliver a swift death.

Besides, I need to keep the corpses in good shape to maximize the quantity of loot, I thought.

Commotion spread among the herd of monsters, especially in a certain group that had been close to the Troll that died.

I used [Shadow Assimilation] to teleport behind another leader, taking advantage of his confusion. I set myself on fire and attacked him. The extra stats from the [It’s fine!] skill were more than enough to bridge the gap between my physical prowess and my target’s; as a single punch to the head destroyed a large portion of its skull.

Punching monsters with one hand and holding a staff in the other didn’t feel comfortable, and the gory mess that followed the last Troll’s death wasn’t something that improved my mood either.

I can’t wait to be done with this shit, I thought. At least the levels and the eventual loot are worth it.

Many system notices appeared at the edge of my view, but I dismissed them for now. I didn’t have much time before the third Troll leader snapped out of his confusion, so I had to act quickly.

I sprinted toward my new target and punched its head. A lot of blood splattered from the wound, but it stopped leaking as the flames cauterized the flesh that surrounded the injury’s location.

I smirked; there was no remaining Troll that could take the lead. I put all of my belongings inside my bag of holding which I hid under a certain rock; the next battle needed all of my attention.

I raised the temperature of the flames that burned my body to nine hundred Kelvin. It was much more painful, but I felt that I could keep it up for quite a while.

Each of my physical stats increased by ninety points compared to my regular state, and the power that I attained was amazing.

I ran around the battlefield without caring about the possible risks, the Trolls’ attacks seemed so slow that I was able to evade them with ease.

Whenever I was close enough to a creature, I made sure to strike its head. Sometimes I used my fists, and other times I had to use my legs. In all cases, every hit caused a Troll to fall.

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I occasionally used [Kill Them Before They Spread!] and [Burn That Invader], but they weren’t as effective as the good ol’ fists.

It was a one-sided slaughter, and I made sure to kill the creatures with as little damage to the corpses as possible. After I killed half of the trolls, something interesting happened.

Another group of Trolls appeared on the battlefield. There were around fifteen Trolls, and they were led by a captain similar to those that I defeated earlier.

I am sure that none of the trolls that I defeated managed to use [Cry], I thought. This group must’ve heard the screams of the first troll, and arrived late due to the long distance.

Suddenly, the Troll leader shouted from afar. His speech consisted of howls and shrieks, but it was much more elaborate than what a regular Troll could utter.

There were around thirty Trolls from the first group that I still hadn’t defeated, and they regained a certain focus in their eyes as they stopped flailing aimlessly and calmed down.

The creatures were dispersed around the battlefield, but they quickly started getting closer to me from all directions.

They’re trying to encircle me, I thought. It seems like the new leader is applying some kind of strategy.

I quickly moved from my current location and started running randomly around the place. I tried to kill another troll by kicking its head, but its reaction startled me. Instead of trying to defend its head like its former comrades, it opened its arms widely and tried to catch me.

I managed to kill it with a kick from my left leg, but its arms managed to grab my other leg and my torso. As I was trying to break free, another Troll that was close by jumped over me and tried to grab my left leg.

They’re sacrificing themselves to bring me down! I thought.

I grinned; this spectacle was amusing! I didn’t want to use that skill this soon, but I couldn’t take any risks against so many enemies.

“[Plasmic Torch!],” I shouted, and my body instantly turned to pure plasma. The temperature was much higher than that of the flames that burned my body before; it managed to melt the bodies of the trolls that were hugging me instead of just charring them.

I controlled my current shape to be akin to a thin disc, then I flew around the battlefield. I cut off the heads of each troll as I passed through their necks. The motion was easier than cutting butter with a knife, and it didn’t take me more than an instant to kill each creature. Each kill was clean and beautiful, blood didn’t leak from the wound as it got cauterized instantly.

Weird thoughts aside, this class skill is truly amazing! I thought.

After I managed to defeat every Troll that was close by, I turned back to my human form. I didn’t want to lose my sanity any further, and the remaining opponents weren’t too hard to take care of at this point.

Most of the trolls from the new group had blank expressions on their faces, except their leader. He stood out due to his bigger body and the patterns that were painted on it, but his facial expression brought even more attention to him. He raised both of his thick eyebrows, opened his eyes widely and his mouth was agape.

He started screaming similarly to the first adult Troll that I killed.

Didn’t they use the [Cry] skill only after getting driven to a corner? I thought. This guy is much smarter than the other bunch!

He started running away, whereas the group that accompanied him rushed toward me.

The piece of shit is sacrificing his comrades!

I smirked. I tried to use [Plasmic Torch] once more, but the cooldown wasn’t over yet. Sighing, I burned my body with 1000° K flames and sprinted toward the treacherous leader. I knew I wouldn’t find him again if he ran away, hence my urgency of killing him.

I killed five Trolls on my way to their leader as they were standing in my path, but this side quest didn’t hinder my mission of defeating him. Once I was close enough to ensure the accuracy of the attack, I used [Burn that Invader!] with a diameter of ten millimeters. It expended a thousand mana points, but it killed him instantly when it struck his head.

Too bad the EXP diminishes every time I kill a monster of the same kind, I thought. If that wasn’t the case, it would’ve been much easier to reach level seventy-five and evolve my class once more.

I came back to the remaining Trolls and killed them one by one. After finishing the last task, I looked around me. The beautiful scenery was no more; a grotesque landscape of corpses and blood took its place. My flames scorched many of the trees, and I could see some melted rocks around me.

Those rocks must’ve been close to me when I used [Plasmic Torch], I thought. This class’s capacity for destruction is astounding.

I shook my head; it wasn’t my goal to ruin the beauty of such a fine area. Hell, some people liked gore and flesh!

I grabbed my bag of holding once more and equipped my belongings, as there was nothing to fight at this point. I also had to dismantle as many corpses as possible before the arrival of the next groups of Trolls.

Their essences will prove to be very valuable outside of the tutorial, I thought. I’ll be able to monopolize the potion industry once I open my guild and hire that talented Gnome.

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