Ryusei slithered towards Haku, staring up at the stars.
"Haku... are you okay?"
Haku closed his eyes and gently exhaled before he softly spoke.
"Yes," he answered before turning his head towards Ryusei, meeting his gaze. "You remember Phase Three, right?"
Phase Three? Wasn't the plan a failure?
Ryusei answered in an uncertain tone. "Yes... fighting the troll..."
Haku gave a nod. "I left the troll alive. Without the shaman, its combat power is basically halved, meaning he would be the perfect target for you to face."
Haku could see the uncertainty written all over Ryusei's small face. That's when a sudden chill hit him. What if Ryusei becomes a Tyrant? What would happen?
He had noticed it the first time they met, but the little snake didn't realize how strong it really was.
Haku sighed. "Don't be so scared. If I see the troll overwhelming you, I'll step in."
Haku's words did bring a sort of closure to Ryusei, but there was still something he wasn't sure of—the skill or magic the troll used. The ray of light. If he didn't have Fast Strike, he would definitely have died.
Ahhhh! This is so frustrating. Why the hell does a troll even use magic? I bet fans would've flamed this if it were a game.
Unbeknownst to Ryusei, he had picked up the habit of slithering in circles when he was deep in thought. Haku noticed this and walked to sit against a tree in the distance, leaving Ryusei to figure out what he wanted to do. He let out a chuckle.
For some reason, Ryusei reminded him of his companion. Their personalities were completely different, not to mention their appearance, but it was that curiosity both possessed that seemed the same. Haku couldn't help but smile as he stared at Ryusei, deep in thought.
Screw it! I'll just go in blind and figure things out while fighting. What's the worst that could happ...
STOOOOP!!!
He sharply exhaled.
I almost said some famous last words...
While still thinking, Ryusei could sense movement coming from behind him. He thought it was probably Haku. He looked back, only to see a spiked club come down. Although it was slow—very slow.
He tried to move, but his body wouldn't follow what his mind was thinking. He used Fast Strike to dodge backward.
The club dug through both the grass and ground, a small hole visible where it landed.
It was the troll. It had woken up, but this time, it used a club. Where did it even get it? Ryusei thought.
But what was more confusing was what happened earlier. It was as if the world slowed down for a moment—everything except his mind. This had happened once before. He slithered back to create distance between them.
As Ryusei was now a few meters away from the troll, he used Black Hole, but like before, the skill only grazed its leg because of the Iron skill it had.
The troll charged towards him. Ryusei widened the distance between them using Fast Strike.
He used Black Hole. It failed. The troll continued to charge at him. Its fighting style had drastically changed.
It was now swinging the club recklessly and didn't even use magic.
Is this why Haku said to kill the shaman first?
It continued its flurry of swings, every one missing Ryusei, who used Fast Strike to dodge and Black Hole to attack.
That skill, Iron—it covers a part of the body that gets attacked. It takes about 0.2 seconds to activate. But it looks like its leg gets heavier.
Ryusei's eyes widened as the corners of his mouth lifted, forming a grin. He completely understood the skill.
I'll be copying that skill!
Adaptation: Iron Skin
Iron Scales
He then used Iron Scales. Three of his scales vibrated loose before they levitated above his head. They then turned to iron.
The troll came charging in, but Ryusei immediately used his new skill. With the troll swinging down with a heavy blow, one of the scales moved to where the attack would land. Upon hitting the scale, the troll's club shattered into pieces.
The remaining two scales headed towards the troll's head, one right after the other. The first one pierced the Iron Skin of the troll, while the second hit it deeper, allowing it to shoot right through the beast's head.
Without even knowing it had died, the troll fell backward, its corpse lifeless.
Ryusei's eyes widened. "Huh?" He tilted his head. "Huh?! Wasn't that too easy... I thought—"
Before he could finish, he felt his heart stop. Silence filled the air as he felt his body absorb the troll's mana.
With each passing second, his heart slowly beat—louder than the previous thump.
The troll's body started to turn into black particles, every one drifting into Ryusei's body.
He could feel his mana increase by bounds, practically doubling the amount he previously had.
With the troll's whole body absorbed, he instinctively knew he had achieved the rank of High King, but other than his body feeling stronger and his mana having increased, nothing else felt any different.
He glanced over at Haku approaching him, still naked. That's when he remembered—he still had the clothes he got from the system.
Haku tried speaking, but Ryusei interrupted him. "Haku, before you say anything, do you know how to use an inventory ring?"
Haku stopped, slightly taken aback by the sudden shift in topic, but he crouched down and picked up a silver ring from the ground. Sliding it onto his finger, before he spoke.
"Inventory."
A glowing hologram appeared in front of him, listing categories and numbers beside them.
—————
Weapons: ⁵
Equipment: ⁴
Items: ⁰
Scrolls: ⁰
—————
Haku then explained, "The numbers show how many items are inside the category."
He then clicked on the Weapons tab.
—————
Club × 3
Spear × 1
Staff (wooden) × 1
—————
Ryusei looked at the screen, finally understanding how the ring around his tail worked, but what he didn't understand was why the troll had so many items.
He looked over at Haku to see if he knew before his eyes widened. "Whaaat! Weren't you naked just a second ago?!"
Haku wore a brown leather coat with brown leggings reaching his ankles and leather shoes.
Haku glanced at Ryusei, raising a brow.
"Noooo! That's not what I meant. I'm just asking how you got those clothes!"
Ryusei immediately knew what that look was—the look that said: I didn't know you swung that way.
Before Ryusei could further deny Haku's thoughts, they felt vibrations throughout the island. It was shaking slightly... before stopping again. They looked at each other, confirming that they both felt it. Haku closed the inventory and spoke in a hurried tone.
"We need to move. We have about six months to find and clear the dungeon."
Ryusei slithered closer to Haku. "A dungeon?"
This was the first time he had heard about clearing a dungeon—whatever that meant. And why exactly did they need to do that?
______________________________________________
Troll's Status Menu
Name: Grum
Age: 20 years
Race: Troll
Species: Chief
Rank: High King
Skills:
Common: Weapon Handling
Rare: Iron Skin
Legendary:
Spells:
Light Ray, White
———————
Troll's Skills Description
Weapon Handling
Grants the ability to wield multiple weapons with the same proficiency as the user's most mastered weapon. If proficiency in the best weapon is low, all other weapons will also have low proficiency.
Iron Skin
Reinforces the targeted body part against incoming attacks. The affected area becomes heavier as a result.
———————
Troll's Spells Description
Light Ray, White
Fires a concentrated beam of light from a wand, moving slightly slower than a bullet. This spell can only be cast using a wand.
———————
Author: A Troll that uses magic like a wizard, that's a first, well at least without the shaman it was as dumb as a rock. In the previous chapter the shaman used both a wand and staff... but who's wand could that be?
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