For a hunter, all roads lead to The Great One. And the duty of our kind was to step further until the journey was completed. For a hunter, there was no bigger honor.

I was no exception. While I was considered young, the burning desire for domination was already there. Like most of our kind, I was born with it. From the day my eyes shot open, I had known it.

Still, there was no such thing as a free meal, neither any honor in it. If The Great One bestowed upon any of us blessings such as great power to dominate the rest, we had the duty to put in the effort and became an example to be followed. 

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 *drip*

I had no name. But that wasn't going to remain like that forever. All I had to do was to achieve a great feat during the sacred hunt and I was sure that the Great One would grant me one.

*drip*

” Grrowwl... sleeeep. ” 

A drop of water attempted to wake up one of my kind... but failed miserably. 

These slags. Bringing shame to us and dishonoring the name of The Great One. It was a shame, but while the desire for greatness was present in most of us, few were the ones to achieve it.

*snort*

 They could stay there and rot in misery while great feats would be achieved by me. There wouldn't be much until I gained enough strength to beat the current leader an became the new one. All females would become mine as well. 

After that, I was going to bring our tribe to new heights.

Whit this resolve in my heart, I stepped outside of our cave. The Great One was going to grant his great red blessing upon us soon. Even the laziest of our kind would come out to join in the sacred hunt at that time.

 My eyes bathed in the scenery outside of our cave and my heart jolted at the thought of adding a new trophy of my great hunt to it. 

Which prey would have the honor to decorate and stand as evidence of my glorious feat? Nobody knew what The Great One prepared for them until the very moment. That was the thrill of the hunt.

I raised my head and looked at the sky. It would manifest soon. Our bodies would be bathed in the gift of The Great One.

*Grrowwl*

I could hardly maintain my composure at times like these. I couldn't help it. It was soon. I could feel it. The time to prove my worth in from of The Great One was close.

*sniff*  *sniff* 

An intriguing smell awakened me from my daydreaming state. That wasn't good. For a hunter to be oblivious of his surroundings like that...

More importantly, that particular smell was not something we meet so often. On the contrary, sometimes, it was a sign for one of the rarest prey.

Even though I never hunted those rare prey, I had witnessed in the past how our tribe did it. It was not too long after my birth so I wasn't allowed to join at that time, but this time was different. 

I looked frantically in the direction from where the smell came and saw the gray mist rising to the skies. These stupid prey liked to make that thing which allowed us to find them much easier. 

How could creatures so stupid survived until this day was a real mystery. With that behavior, they should have been at the bottom of the food chain. 

Thinking about it, I understood why they were so rare in these parts. They must be hunted down by a lot of predators. 

My enthusiasm somehow dropped at the thought. An easy hunt wasn't what our kind longed for. Neither any honor in it.

I could not understand why our elders made a big ruckus about these weak creatures at that time... There must be something special about them.

” Grrowwwll... grray... mist. ” a sweet voice came from my back.

Aaaaahhhhh... That couldn't be... 

” Gray... miszt. Ggrrrrr... ” 

The angelic voice came again so I had to accept the truth. I turned my head, somehow upset that I could no longer hunt these weaklings alone.

” Grrowwwll... grray... ” she sweetly growled while pointing her big hand toward the direction from where the smell came.

” Ggrrrr... ” I had no choice but to acknowledge the fact. She growled back at me and headed back into the cave to announce the discovery. 

Her back was big and hairy as always. I could hardly believe that she was a female of our tribe. 

She was so big that very few of our males could compare with her. The strongest and wildest female I had ever seen. Not to mention that the number of strong trolls she gave birth thus far wasn't small. 

” Gggrrrr... ggrrrr... ” 

My breath started to get heavier and my lust popped up like a volcano which was about to break rampant. 

I had to become the new leader and get her. 

” Grrowwwll... mine... ggrrrr... mineee... Grrowwwll... MINEEEE... ” 

She had to be mine. She would be mine soon. That... was something I was confident in.

” Sshe... ggrrr... mine now. ”

No. She couldn't be mine right now. She was very excited about these weaklings. I had to break them into pieces and impress her. The old leader didn't need to know.

” GRROWWWLL... ” 

” Quieeet... roaaarrr... ” another ragged voice came from behind me again, this time one which I despised very much.

A big and bulky troll with a lot of scars and a missing fang growled at me. He was accompanied by other trolls prepared to start the hunt.

I had to recognize that he looked like a real hunter, with all those battle marks engraved on his very skin and fur. But his glory wouldn't last much longer. I would take that place sooner or later. 

” Hunt... GO!! ” he roared and we marched towards the gray mist with anticipation.

Somehow, the mist vanished as we approached but the smell was still there. Our prey was so stupid to think that they could fool us.

 When we approached the place where the mist came from, we could see three atrocious creatures. 

While they shared some similarities with us, they were devoid of most bodily fur. They were even uglier than the goblins. At least the goblins had fangs and claws, but this abomination of a creature... 

How could they mate I wondered? With that ugliness, nobody would want you as a mate... Maybe that was the real reason for them being so few? 

I somehow started to pity them for their misfortune. But as a hunter, I had to grant a suitable death to these pitiful creatures no matter how ugly they might be.

” GRROWWWLL... ” 

We didn't waste any more time and headed toward them in full force and my previous assumption was proved to be on point.

They weren't just weak and ugly, they were cowards as well. 

They didn't fight as a real warrior would do, instead, they run away from left to right and there was one that was throwing sticks at us from a distance.

I did understand at that moment why my kind was so eager to hunt these miserable creatures. Their existence was an insult to the hunt. 

They didn't deserve my pity. They were rightfully made so ugly to match their ugly behavior. 

While I was preparing to throw myself in the fight like a real warrior, the hateful one which was throwing sticks at us was ironically hit by a similar stick that came out of nowhere and died on the spot.

” Grrowwwll... DIEEE. ” 

The punishment was delivered. That must have been The Great One watching upon us. He punished that wretched creature for his sins. 

Now that The Great One was with us, I didn't have a reason to hold back anymore. I had to show him my worth. I assumed the others were thinking the same as how eager they got.

We started to fight with even more vigor as our prey continued with their cowardly behavior. From time to time, The Great One would hit them with a stick as a form of punishment but not even this stopped them. What a disgusting creature.

I had to do something. I couldn't afford to let this disgraceful fight to continue when our God was watching upon us even one more second.

When I was prepared to step in again with a mighty charge, my face was suddenly hit by something. When I looked to see what it was, I couldn't believe my eyes. There was a club. One of the greatest weapons our kind was capable of crafting.

Was my God telling me to use it? That must have been the case... 

While I picked it up, more clubs were thrown towards the others. That hateful leader picked up one of them even though he already had a weapon.

*Roaaar*

Reinforcements started to come from the cave as well. These hateful creatures had to die here. With the newcomers and the help from The Great One we quickly took down another one but the last creature managed to run away. I could not believe how far their cowardice could go...

I quickly ran after it to finally put an end to this shameful hunt. It seemed that the leader had the same idea. 

We had to bring him down no matter what but while we followed the coward, the leader made a mistake and got stabbed right in the middle of his chest. 

” GGROWWWWLL... dead... ” I roared with all my might. That eyesore might be finally dead. I had to bring down my prey no matter what, so I could take his place as the new leader.

What a joyous and fortunate course of events. I quickly followed him up and headed toward the other side of the forest.

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My memory became a bit foggy after I followed the prey out of the clearing.

 I vaguely remember another creature that was a little bit more pleasant to the eye than the previous ones. Not by much but that one had more fur, sharper fangs and longer claws. 

My head started to hurt the more I tried to remember. But I was sure that they got me in a cowardly manner. I was unwilling. I was unwilling to accept such a fate but alas, my conscious slowly faded away...

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The next time I opened my eyes, I was shocked to witness a small silhouette clad in a burning aura approaching us. My view was a bit blurred but I managed to engrave it in my memory.

After a short period, the strange newcomer killed effortlessly that hateful coward. My consciousness started to fade again but I mustered all my power for a weak grunt.

At that point, I was sure. The Great One wasn't capable to endure that coward and descended there personally to bring down the punishment. I could feel the burning aura coming closer and closer to me.

Even though I wanted to be the new leader, to be with our God was something I didn't even dared to think about after my failure. I... I wasn't worthy of such honor.

My consciousness faded away again as the burning sensation was approaching my face.

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[*Ding: You survived from a near-death experience!]

[*Ding: Your faith had surpassed the threshold!]

[*Ding: Individual {Cave Troll} eligible for evolution!]

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[*Ding: Anomalies detected in the surroundings!]

[*Ding: Reloading...

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[*Ding: A name was granted to you(Kurzol)!]

[*Ding: Due to abnormal individual traits and special conditions fulfilled, a special evolution was completed. Race changed from {Cave Troll} to {Troll King}!]

When I woke up again, the occasional voices and symbols appeared in my mind. This time, however, I was able to understand them far better.

I was able to understand a lot more than I ever did. My body changed. My mind changed. I felt stronger... No, I felt better than ever before. But most importantly, I knew that I was granted a new chance to prove myself in front of The Great One.

This time, for sure, I wouldn't fail.