Her mouth hung agape. She stared empty-eyed at the sight of the dead beast. “I didn’t think a single person could kill such a ferocious beast. How can someone…Argh…” Her head and her hands shook. They were scorched and a yellow blister had begun to bubble.

I wanted to know where the other beasts were, but she wouldn’t be able to speak right now. I approached her, slowly at first, but seeing that her eyes were closed, and she didn’t even seem present I went up to her. Her bag was laced around her waist on the opposite side to her scabbard. I looked through it and found a potion, but before I took it, I untied her scabbard and took it for myself.

While I applied it on her hands I asked, “Where are the other powerful beasts?”

The transparent liquid slid down her hands and left them a nice shade of pink. “I don’t know,” she said as her face showed a great deal of relief. “Boss tells us where to go. You’d have to ask him.”

“I’m not interested.” I couldn’t believe I’d have to deal with more people. “I’ll help you to the city and wait for you outside.”

She looked me up and down. “Are you sure? I know you’re strong, but the cold can kill, and you need to eat. Not to mention a good bed is miles better than sleeping on dirt. Plus, a bath…” Her hands were shaky.

“I’ll be fine.” I remembered that I was still missing my sword. “Could you lead me to where you found me?”

She looked down at Victor. “I can, but I have to bring him to a healer first.”

“You planned to use me as bait. If he dies, it’s not my problem.” I put her sword back in its scabbard and laced it around my waist. “I’ll carry him.”

Her teeth ground, but she gave in and nodded.

The man wasn’t too heavy, and we found our way to the riverbed in a few minutes. Water rushed down and broke against tall rocks and felled trees. I had been lucky to get out of this river with my life. We continued up the waterway until we stumbled onto a pond connected to the river. It sat under a hole in the cliff’s face. The river rapids filtered in and created a whirlpool. At least this increased the chances of my sword being there. I was tempted to jump in, but it was too risky, especially with a stranger on my tail. I tried to save the location of the whirlpool, planning to return later. I could only hope that the sword hadn’t flowed down the river.

“Let’s go,” I said.

#

The Silver Daggers were based in Forange, the second largest city in the kingdom of Liliana. The forests stopped a few thousand feet from its walls. That’s where I waited.

The next day she returned wearing clean leather pants and a black tinted breastplate under which she wore thick red clothes.

My tunic was muddied, bloodied, and itchy. I could get new clothes later.

“Victor should be fine,” she said. Her eyes were red.

The situation which led them to use me as bait was unfortunate, but they were at fault, and I didn’t have anything to add. “Do you have the location of another beast?” I asked.

She nodded, “But why are you so desperate to kill beasts? You’re still young and more than strong enough. I’m surprised you aren’t maxed out already. With your skills, you could live a comfortable life in the capital.”

“Don’t worry about me, just lead me to the beast.”

We traversed the forests, but this time headed to the Grand Mountain range which extended all the way down here from the Ebony Forest. “What are we hunting?” I asked.

“A troll,” she answered curtly. “Villagers have spotted a troll somewhere up there.”

“How strong are trolls?” I asked. She fell behind and didn’t answer. “Hey… What’s your name by the way?”

“It’s… Sophie,” she said through heavy huffs and puffs. The air cooled. It turned the exhale of our breaths into distractions as we traversed the dense forest without knowing what to speak about. I searched for somewhere to rest, but we were in the thickets of the forest.

Eventually, I found a nice rock thickly covered in moss. I sat down and waited for Sophie to catch up. Her breaths were cloudy white and the rustle of leaves steadily crescendo’d. When she reached me, she collapsed onto a dead trunk. I lit a small fire in my palm. if I had wind magic, I could’ve let the heat circulate about, but for now, this would do.

A few minutes passed. The silence was fine, but talking was more comfortable. Perhaps this was Julian’s personality leaking through. Surprisingly, I was no longer mad at their attempt at using me as bait. I wondered why. I knew how the old me would have reacted, but I was unable to relive, regain those emotions. Julian was too forgiving, too passive.

“How did you get roped into this?” I asked.

“Didn’t I already say? A debt trap.” She pulled out a dusty and dry piece of bread from her waist pocket.

“Why did you need money?”

“Why do you ask?”

“I’m just curious.”

“Then don’t be.”

I was getting tired of getting brushed off. No one did so to me. “Look, I just want to know the person I’ll be hunting with a bit better. If you don’t want to talk then you can return home on your own, and don’t think you’re getting your sword back. I’m not traveling with someone who wanted to use me as bait without even knowing what kind of person they are.” The fire in my hand grew hotter and larger.

She hid her hands behind her back and turned her face to the side. She exhaled. “Fair enough.” She set her block of hardtack bread on the tree and smashed it with her fist. It broke into four pieces ready to be soaked in water. There was a small stream nearby.

#

After the short break we continued.

Eventually, we found ourselves at the edge of the forest. The night had descended, and the moon had woken up. The clouds had decided to retreat, and the moonlight blanketed the mountain. On this mountain foot, a village slept. Not a single candle flickered through an open window.

When we reached the village palisade, we were met with two guards in mate blue and brown clothes. “Who are you?” They whispered, their spears out and ready to strike.

“The adventurers sent by the Silver Blades,” I answered.

“Humph, at least you send what you promised. No, half what you—”

“You’re talking too much, let’s go inside,” muttered the other guard. He waved us in and led us to the largest house. There, we were met with bated breath and quiet words by the chief. “I have more than one question, but tonight is not the night for such discussions. There are four beds in the shed. Goodnight.”

“Sleep?”, I asked Sophie, “Do trolls primarily use their hearing to locate prey?”

She nodded.

I suppose if anyone took such things seriously it’d be adventurers.

#

“So why do we have to whisper?” I asked Sophie before we left for the chief’s house in the morning.

“You don’t have to worry about that anymore,” she said while padding down her bed hair. “Mountain trolls are nocturnal.” She pulled out a small wooden comb from her waist bag. “Their eyesight isn’t much better than ours at night, but they have great hearing. So, we’ll go hunting during the day when they’re asleep. We’ll also have to get you a shower after that. You look like a homeless rat. Let’s go.” She stashed her comb back into her waist bag and headed out before me.

I did feel disgusting but was it that bad? I grabbed some of the hay on which we slept and rubbed it on my arm. The golden straws turned black and smelled of onions, garlic, and shit. I’d need a bath as soon as I finished this job.

Back inside the chief’s main residence, I asked for the troll’s location.

“We’ll lead you guys to it. But are you sure you can defeat them on your own?

“If I die then it’s my problem.”

The chief, dressed in thin, clumped up robes didn’t nod, but he did bring me a parchment on which he gave basic instructions to the troll’s hideout. “And don’t you dare use fire magic.”

#

I decided not to take Sophie with me. I couldn’t trust her. Plus, the way she and Victor performed against me in the cave, she would probably be more of a liability. Perhaps I should have spared the archer.

#

I didn’t have to go too high up before I spotted the troll’s hiding spot. Small trees and bushes still grew here. The troll lived under a cliff’s edge. The area was surrounded by felled tree trunks and dirt. The area was dark and if not for the map I’d have passed by here thinking it was a lumberjack’s dump.

An adventurer would likely try entering the troll's hideout during the day, but that clearly was a bad idea.

I turned back and found the easiest way up the cliff and climbed it. Then I crawled to its edge, both afraid that the cliff might collapse or that I may make too much sound and wake it up.

If only I had earth magic, I could make this cliff edge collapse on the beast.

My mind overheated thinking over different ways of killing the troll. I exhaled.

The troll’s eyes shot open. It jumped on its feet, roared, grabbed a rock from a pile and hurled it at me.

I pushed back from the cliff’s edge. The rock whizzed by. They could have told me trolls were so sensitive to sound. I guess a good old fight was the only approach…

#

You killed 1 troll; you gained 1000 Exp.

LVL 10. 505/2200

You gained 1 skill point.

Before a bath I needed new clothes. The fight against the troll didn’t damage them, but ever since Sophie joined my adventures, I had grown more self-conscious. I didn’t have money though. “Sophie, how much money do you have?”

“Just enough to buy a meal for two days, the Silver Blades take the rest to ‘pay back my debts. If you want to buy something either go harvest some beast organs to sell off or steal it.”

Why should I need to do any of that? I should be paid for what I did. “Then I’ll go talk to the Silver Blades.”