Yuki accepted one of the packs of rations that Yuna offered to him. With the heat of the fire enveloping him as he sat against a tree, he considered his next course of action. Saying that one would attack was completely different from executing an actual attack. Yuki’s job wasn’t made any easier by the fact that he had limited resources. He would not be able to go full power during this fight and so would need to rely on his teammates to make up for that.

‘But they don’t quite fill me with confidence to say the least,’ Yuki thought, munching on his small dinner. ‘Besides Yuna, I’m not even certain about their combat capabilities.’

What Yuki needed to figure out was how to finish the objective in the safest way possible that would result in the least amount of injury. The objective was to clear the troll settlement. Or in the words of the email that was sent to him, clear the monster nest. 

‘If I go by the wording, then that doesn’t mean that we have to kill every single monster in the village.’

Clear only meant that you had to break apart the nest in anyway you could. If you could disperse the monsters within the nest, then that would be considered a clear. Killing the monsters would be the most desired outcome as it would prevent them from regathering at a different location but it was required. Based off of this definition of clear, Yuki needed to only think of a way to get the trolls to separate. 

‘Well, trolls only have one leader and that’s the chieftain. If the chieftain goes, then the trolls would no longer have a uniting factor and should go off on their own. So the optimal target would be the chieftain.’

The problem with this was that the chieftain just so happened to be in the middle of the entire village. That meant that the fifty some trolls that Yuki estimated lived there were between Yuki and the chieftain. The chieftain also had guards that were probably the strongest of the trolls. And the chief itself would have very high combat capabilities.

‘If I was by myself, I would just have Akira help me out here and sneak in. Then I could just assassinate the chief.’

But this wasn’t an option now. Yuki needed to formulate a plan that would be able to use whatever skills his team has in the most efficient way possible. Since they wouldn’t be able to take on that many trolls in the first place, that meant only one thing.

‘I need to make a distraction to get as many trolls as possible to leave the village. That might be easier than expected since they are stupid. Or that could make it harder since unintelligent creatures tend to have delayed reactions.’

Yuki sat there munching away at his dinner as he thought of ways that he could distract the trolls. Magic would be used as a last resort. He didn’t want to alert the chieftain to their presence or the person that created the massive barrier that surrounded the area. 

‘Well, the stupider the target the more they rely on primal instincts. And the more likely that they would be affected by more simpler distractions.’

With that thought, Yuki realised that one of the simplest distractions would work the best. It was something that not even intelligent beings could ignore. 

‘Explosions and fire.’

But Yuki wasn’t planning to trigger massive explosions that would set the entire forest on fire. That would be overkill and the forest would probably be destroyed. What he wanted to do was create some extremely loud and violent explosions in a contained area. Then set a fire that would produce very large amounts of smoke. This would be done relatively close to the village and unless the chief was a complete moron or was the smartest being alive, trolls would be sent to check it out.

‘And that would be the best course of action. At least, the best one I can think of right now with the resources I have.’ 

Yuki crumpled the bag that his rations were stored in and tossed it into the fire. He stood up and stretched for a bit before sitting back down. Putting his hands to his head, he began the process of completing his rudimentary plan. 

‘I need to create an explosion so I need to make some explosives. That’s not the hard part at least. Then I’ll need to find a suitable place to set them off. After that, I need some materials to create the smokiest fire that ever existed. Then I need to get my team into position to do all of that while I wait by the village to sneak in the old fashion way without using magic.’

Nodding, he clapped his hands to get the attention of his team. They were chatting with each other while they were eating. At the sound of his hands, they stopped and waited for Yuki to speak.

“I’ve come up with a general plan,” he announced. “I’ll fill you all in tomorrow. But I’ll tell you what we’re up against right now. There is a village of trolls that has a population of around fifty based on the amount of buildings and how many trolls live in each building. The chief lives in the center of the village and has four guards posted around their house.”

“Wait, fifty trolls,” Jared repeated.

“Yes, that’s what I said,” Yuki nodded. “Anyway, that’s what we’re up against. I have a plan that I will tell you all tomorrow, like I said. I’ll be heading to bed now. Wake me up in four hours for the next watch.”

Yuki reached into his bag and took out the rolled up sleeping bags he had stored inside of it. He tossed one to Yuna and unrolled the other one for himself. Then he wiggled himself into the sleeping bag and promptly closed his eyes and fell asleep.

Sitting behind bushes, Yuki watched the village before him with undivided focus as he waited for the plan to begin. Before he left camp, he had given Yuna and the team instructions on what to do. Their job was to create explosions using magic and create bonfires. Yuki wasn’t worried about anyone sensing his team using magic. If they did, it’ll only help in the distraction. 

‘So now all I need to do is wait for them to start and for the trolls to clear out.’

[Not to be pessimistic here, but what are you going to do if the trolls don’t clear out?] Akira piped up.

‘Then that must mean the trolls are even more primitive than I thought and so would require a different plan of action.’

[Like?]

‘Well, if I can’t distract them, I could probably scare them so I’ll just detonate an explosion. They’ll run away. Probably.’

[I take it that I’m your last resort then.]

‘Yup. I would prefer if I don’t have to ask for your help because this place isn’t very private but if it comes to that, I’ll just try to create as much cover as I can. That’s why I told Yuna to go with the rest of the team.’

Yuna initially had volunteered to come with Yuki to help in killing the chieftain, saying that she didn’t want Yuki to bite more than he could chew. But Yuki insisted that she go with the rest of the team and watch over them. He didn’t want her around if the situation grew out of hand and he would be forced to have Akira come out to help. 

[Alright, I’ll leave you be then. I’ll keep an eye out to make sure you don’t get caught off guard,] Akira said.

‘I appreciate it.’

With that, the ground shook and Yuki heard the piercing sounds of an explosion echo throughout the forest. Looking up, he saw plumes of smoke rise above the treetops around the village. Though the explosion was extremely loud, Yuki knew that it was very weak based on the shockwaves that came from it.

‘Now bite, trolls.’

Yuki watched as the trolls slowly come out from their shelters and look at the sky with complete confusion. The guards posted outside of chieftain’s house rushed in and came back out a few moments later. They let loose a guttural cry that rocked the village and the other trolls responded with cries of their own. Then with a few grunts, the guards gave out instructions. A number of trolls thumped their chest and ran out to the surrounding forest. The rest of the trolls went back inside of their homes.

‘I need more of them to leave. I think about twenty of them left. I would like it if twenty more of them left.’

With that, Yuki began to compress heat into the palm of his hand. When he could feel the heat begin to radiate out and the air around it change pressure, he lobbed the ball into the center of the village and released it. Then he covered his ears. The extreme heat rapidly heated the surrounding air and triggered an explosion that damaged a good number of buildings and was loud enough to cause some ringing in Yuki’s ears.

‘That should scare them off. Hopefully.’

Sure enough, the trolls came out of their houses again and at a much quicker rate than before. Yuki readied another ball as he watched the guards cry out to control the panicking trolls. A few seconds later, the guards screamed again and many of the trolls dispersed and ran from the village. The strongest looking trolls stayed behind and surrounded the central building that the chief resided in.

‘Time to start this party.’

Yuki walked silently, hiding in the shadows of the wooden buildings around him. Still holding the ball of heat in his hand, he peeked out to note the positions of where the guards were. Then he lobbed the ball on the opposite side of where he was, covered his ears for the resulting explosion, and watched as the guards rushed over to investigate. When they did that, he quickly stepped his way to chief’s building and slipped inside.

“Who you?” a raspy voice boomed. 

Yuki turned around and saw the troll chieftain glaring at him with red eyes. It was seven feet tall and carried a knobby staff just as tall. Around its neck were a number of chords and charms. It had a large nose and jutting sharp teeth that came out from its mouth. Around the chief were three more trolls that were a foot taller and had double the muscle mass.

“Oh come on, I thought I got rid of all of the guards,” Yuki said. 

“Enemy,” the chief hissed. 

“Yup, I’m an enemy,” Yuki nodded. “Now, just give up quietly and I’ll leave.”

“You here? For her?” the troll asked, raising its staff.

“What?”

“Must protect. Queen,” the troll hissed. It tapped the ground and the ground shook. Two golems emerged from the earth and assumed battle stances with a groan. “Leave, enemy.”

Yuki blinked, his annoyance of his whole situation growing rapidly. This assignment had just been proven to him to be the most bothersome thing he ever had to deal with.

“Look, chief. I’m going to give you a chance here,” Yuki sighed. “Just let me kill you and I’ll just let everyone else go. No more deaths. You’ll be sacrificing yourself for the better of your people. Alternatively, you can send your guards and golems at me. I don’t know where you got those golems but if they are from that queen you were talking about I’m going to need to go find her and smack her for bothering me. Now if you do decide to attack me, just know that I am not in the best of moods right now and am quite tired. I will kill everyone in this room and every single troll that I run into. Capeesh?”

“Enemy!” the chief roared.

The guards roared with it and the golems began to run forward.

“Seriously? That’s all you got from my monologue?”

Yuki sighed again and gave the charging monsters a glare. They stopped in their tracks, the trolls backing up and the golems looking back at the chief whose red eyes were narrowed. Around Yuki, an oppressive aura had formed that intimidated the monsters. 

“I’m not in the mood to fight so I’ll let you experience a little spell that I’ve been working on. You can tell me your opinions on it. If you survive,” Yuki said, the last part almost sounding as if it was meant for himself.

He tapped his foot on the ground, earthen shackles rising and tying down the trolls where they stood. 

“Now watch carefully.”

With a snap of his fingers, a magic circle bloomed underneath the chief and began to grow rapidly until it took up half the room. Then it began to shimmer as mana began to fill up the room. Yuki pointed downward with his hand and the circle erupted in a brilliant explosion of magic that destroyed the entire building and blasted Yuki backwards.

‘Was not expecting that to be that strong.’

He pushed some broken logs off of himself and pulled himself up. Brushing the dust off of his clothes, he observed the results of his spell, the ringing in his ears slowly subsiding. 

‘I need to take a shower. I got dust all over me.’

The spell had damaged half of the village, the destruction expanding outwards from the central building in a circle. And that was only from the resulting explosion. The trolls that were caught in the main attack fared much worse than the buildings around them. The blast had effectively ripped them apart as well as the building they were in. 

[A New Magic Technique Has Been Detected. Would The User Like To Name It?]

‘A name? Let me see.’ Yuki thought about it for a few seconds. ‘Mana Strike will do for now.’

[{Mana Strike} Has Been Added To Magic Techniques.]

‘That’s nice, guess I’ll meet back up with the others.’

As Yuki turned, he heard the sound of wood being moved and metal creaking behind him. Looking back, he saw the two golems rising up from the rubble of what used to be the chieftain’s house. Yuki looked past them and saw the staff of the chief on the ground along with parts of its necklaces. 

‘So the troll didn’t create the golems. Otherwise, they would have fallen apart or disabled because their creator’s dead.’

The golems started to creak toward Yuki as they were doing before Yuki had blasted the entire building. They slowly gathered speed as they moved, raising their metal arms as they approached. Narrowing his eyes, Yuki channeled mana to them.

‘I recognize this signature.’

Now that the troll chieftain had been eliminated, Yuki could clearly sense the mana signature of whoever created the golems. It was the same signature as the gigantic golem Yuki fought in the Academy Forest. That golem was also made out of metal.

“I'll deal with this after,” he sighed, flicking his wrist. Two blades shot out and he grabbed their hilts before rushing forward to meet the golems.

With a few deft strokes, Yuki sliced through the golems as if they were made of butter. By infusing his blades with earth magic, the metal that made up the golems gave no resistance. A few seconds later and the golems were chopped into multiple pieces that fell to the ground with a muffled thump. 

‘That was anticlimactic.’

Yuki bent down and picked up one of the pieces that he had sliced from the golem. Examining it with his eyes and with mana, he confirmed his suspicions.

‘It’s the exact same material as the golem from the Academy Forest. Same mana signature and materials mean that the same person made these golems. Akira, what do you think?’

[I think the same thing. Whoever made these golems made the one that attacked the Academy. I think they made the barrier as well.]

‘Mmm, I didn’t think of that. She probably made the barrier as well.’

[She?]

‘Yes, she. The troll chieftain was talking about a queen earlier and was trying to protect her,’ Yuki explained. ‘Trolls don’t have queens so I’m thinking that this person made a pact with the trolls where they protect her and she protected them. I think she gave them the golems.’

[By protect, you mean distract right?]

‘Yeah,’ Yuki nodded. ‘They were there as distractions. This person is strong enough to protect themselves. But now we know who made those golems.’

[So what’s the plan?] Akira asked.

‘You know the caretaker of the Academy Forest?’

[His name’s Shindol right?]

‘Yes. He came back to the Academy the day before the assignment started. At least, that was what Uriel told me. He’s the one that probably let in that golem. So he would know about this lady who made the golems.’

[And you want me to pay him a visit?]

‘That would be nice. He would be able to answer many of our questions. Mind doing it when we get out of here?’

[That won’t be a problem.]

‘Good to know,’ Yuki replied. ‘Let’s go back now.’

Yuki scanned his area and located where Yuna and the team were. They seemed to be in the middle of combat. He turned toward their location and sprinted, dust flying into the air and mixing with the dust that still remained from Yuki’s spell.

FriendlyDragon

Small thing to note. Yuki took the pieces of the golems. They're materials he could use and also to get rid of evidence of them.