Chapter 36: Gray-War Trolls

Kadiz massive body flew like a projectile untill it made a devastating impact with the hard rocky ground, bouncing off a couple times before hitting a massive rock. His troll regeneration kicked in and he recovered almost instantly before getting up to his feet. His head felt dizzy for a moment, and he couldn't believe what had just happened. Was this a dream or did someone like him just get tossed around like a weakling.

"Your regeneration ability is impressive. That should mean you still have a lot of energy to continue, alright bring it on."

Kadiz unconsciously took a step back at the continuous casual tone of the young man before him. There was no way a war troll like himself would continuously fail to notice the strength of their opponent after trading blows with them. His previous attacks were amongst his most powerful, and yet, the man had managed to shatter both of them so easily like he was blowing out a candle flame.

That was not even the scariest part, the fact that this man looked at him with not even a shred of hostility in his eyes made him uncomfortable. He didn't even think he was being considered an opponent much less a worthy opponent. The man looked at him with as much interest as you'd give a pet. Well, one you wanted to use as a test subject. His mouth was dry yet Kadiz still swallowed a mouthful of saliva.

"What nonsense!", Kadiz bellowed. "Me a pet? Me! The great Kadiz Ral Ke Lizor, the left hand of Lord Zerahut, The Undead king of the west." Kadiz let go of the handle of the Hamaxe in his hand as he held his head, roaring both in pain and absolute fury. He continued, "I cannot lose! I will never lose."

Kadiz tightened the grip on the chain of his hamaxe as the grey mist his body exuded turned to pure black smoke. Silvery glowing runes and glyphs of different shapes and sizes started appearing all over it's body.

Tyler had no idea what this mad troll was screaming about but he had a bad feeling about this. He then saw the runes and glyphs appearing on the trolls grey body and no longer took this lightly, he was unable to read or decipher the runes or glyphs even though he had already studied basic magic runes so he had no idea what they meant.

The Gray-War Troll tugged on the chain and pulled in his weapon, he then gripped his hamaxe tightly and some of the runes on his right arm squirmed around like they were alive before moving through the handle of the Hamaxe unto it's blade. The weapon vibrated softly and the troll planted it's right foot firmly on the ground. The massive body of the Troll forcefully kicked off the earth with a mighty bang, and lunged at Tyler with incredible speed.

The practically flying troll flung the axe side of it's weapon down at Tyler in a swift motion. Tyler quickly brought the great sword forward to block the attack, he was fast enough to consider the attack slow however, with the resounding sound of metal hitting metal Tyler slid back a few feet, his weapon trembling in his hand.

A frown grew across Tyler's face, "That wasn't just brute strength, was it? Interesting. Those markings should have something to do with this." He didn't get the chance to analyze further as the mad troll charged at him again, immediately closing the gap. It swung the Hamaxe diagonally and Tyler hurriedly took a step back, enough to avoid the reach of the Hamaxe.

However, the Gray-War troll immediately let go of the hilt of the Hamaxe, extending it's reach with the chain. Tyler had no choice but to meet the attack with his sword. Swinging the large great sword would be too slow to meet the attack so he brought the weapon to his side, using his left arm as support.

The hammer side of the Hamaxe meet the great sword and another resounding clang was heard with Tyler being pushed several meters to the side, his weapon vibrating violently. Kadiz continued his relentless attack and chased after Tyler to close the gap, his movements swift and fast. Tyler wouldn't learn anything from just defending so he swung the great sword with his right arm at the approaching troll.

There was a sound of clashing metals again and the great sword was deflected, but it wasn't by the Hamaxe. Rather the weapon was deflected by the bare skin of the Gray-War troll's left arm that still had it's glowing silver runes intact. Tyler's eyes narrowed.

While that had only been a probing attack, the Gray-War troll had deflected that strike with only it's skin. It would seem that the runes on its skin did more than just improve it's speed and attack strength, it's skin was now harder than most metals.

Tyler chased away these distracting thoughts that had no place in a high speed battle. The troll had continued it's attack after deflecting Tyler's. It swung the Hamaxe at him from above and Tyler forcefully controlled his body from the awkward position of having his attack deflected and jumped back a few feet.

|Blindness|

One of the runes or glyphs on the Kadiz chest flashed red and a wave of the black smoke like aura from the Gray-War troll swept at Tyler in an instant. Unable to block it a vail of black curtains covered his vision and everything went black. Kadiz had used a spell that causes temporary blindness at Tyler, he then continued his mad dash to close the gap one more time and swing his hamaxe with all his might.

The vail in front of Tyler shattered almost instantly as he had forcibly resisted the spell without much effort, but that instance was enough for the Gray-War troll to close the gap. Tyler saw the large weapon coming down at him, he twisted his body to the side and avoided the horizontal strike. He was about to use this opportunity to launch a counter strike of his own when, suddenly another rune or glyph in the trolls chest glowed and it used an actual skill.

|Flow Control|

This was a skill that Tyler knew well, it was something every experienced warrior had in their repertoire. He immediately regretted his decision to attack right now. The Hamaxe stopped short of hitting the ground and switched directions with a red arc of light trailing behind it as it sliced through the air aiming at Tyler.

Tyler, now with little options twisted the great sword in his had into a reverse grip, holding it like a shield to meet the attack head on. The Hamaxe slammed into the great sword and it vibrated vigorously as Tyler was pushed back three paces.

Tyler felt his arm vibrating as he saw a crack appear in the middle of the great sword. He turned to looked at the enraged troll who was already upon him with a faint smile. He was glad he did this, taunting the troll was indeed a good idea as this level of intensity was something he couldn't get even if he had ask Albert to spar with him.

He was learning a lot from this battle, although Tylet was certain he would win easily if he used his overwhelming speed and strength to attack, he wouldn't gain anything from that. This was a very suitable stage for melee training. The troll's unexpected change in attack pattern and intensity as well as the unknown ability it was using to make his attacks affect Tyler even though it's strength was insufficient was something Tyler hadn't expected.

These were all factors that would've be dangerous for him if he had gone toe to toe with someone even a little bit stronger. With his lacking skills and techniques, no matter how fast or strong he was he would undoubtedly still lose in front of someone like Albert or Liz without the use of magic, and even that had its own drawbacks.

The massive Hamaxe appeared in Tyler face breaking him out of his thoughts. The troll had thrown it's weapon again and Tyler could only tilt his head to avoid the attack. The troll immediately tugged on the chain causing the Hamaxe to stop mid flight and return back to him. It lunged at Tyler with a deafening roar that contained his full wrath and fury.

Tyler no longer avoided it's attacks as he lunged forward as well and met the troll head on. He swung his great sword which was deflected by the trolls left arm and the troll countered with a diagonal Strike only for Tyler to swiftly avoid it. Tyler continued swinging the greatsword, and the Gray-War troll continued its adroit deflection of his blows while also trying to strike back. They continued this fierce battle for a while when suddenly, another glyph on Kadiz body lit up, and it cast a spell.

•••••••

In the west side of the Darknar Forest, an underground cave like structure laid underneath a steep hill surrounded by dense vegetation. The tall trees and large leaves block almost all rays of the sun, causing this place to be in a state of eternal darkness and the wind that came down hill made the area cool and damp, giving it and eerie atmosphere.

Two hulking giant creatures stood guard at the entrance of the cave. They wore full sets of bone armor which was combined with a type of metal and held long bone spears and shields with skins almost as dark as the dark and damp forest.

Inside this cave that seemed to expand unnaturally, there were several other similar creatures lazing around while others dug out the glistening red rocks on the cave walls and gathered them in a pile. These massive creatures doing such manual labours were indeed Gray-War trolls. They either worked or rested in rotations when suddenly they all stopped and gathered to the side, standing as straight as they possibly could when they had head the sounds of footsteps coming from one of the tunnels in the cave.

Three creatures appeared from one of the unlit tunnels revealing themselves within the rays of the dim lighting of the touches in the cave. An undead creature wearing a slightly tattered luxurious robe with purple threads that designed it's edges, holding a wooden staff with small red crystals embedded in it and a large one attached to it's end. It wore a bone crown with the red crystals adorning the tips of the spiked parts of the bone crown.

The undead creature moved leisurely with two knights trailing behind it. They were also undead creatures with blood red coloured dried up skins and red full plate armors that looked imposing. They carried long swords and a massive red shield as they marched uniformly alongside their master.

The Gray-War trolls lowered their heads when the undead creatures came in and they dropped to one knee with trembling hands. The undead creatures walked by them as it headed for another tunnel within the cave. It soon stopped upon nearing the entrance to the tunnel and turned it's bony head to look at one of the trolls closest to him, startling the troll.

It had rotten skin attached to its white bones beneath it's robe. It's face was a mixture of the rotten flesh and a skull, however, beneath its rotting exterior lies a pair of evil eyes brimming with intelligence. Although those eyes where nothing more than floating lights in it's empty eye sockets.

This was a Lich, it was shrouded in an aura of negative energy that covered its body like a thin fog, giving off a menacing atmosphere that send chills down the spines of the Gray-War trolls.

"Where is Kadiz?"

It spoke with a ghastly voice that didn't seem to belong to the living, making the troll it spoke to lower it's body reflexively. "He... er... He left... he went to subdue the village of kobolds in other to expand our territory to the east as per your command." The troll spoke with great respect and apprehension.

"I see, how many went with him?"

"Around 10 regular trolls and 10 elite trolls."

"Hm... For just a few kobolds? ...Kadiz may be getting too weak for his position, perhaps i need to make some changes around here." It said conclusively as it walked leisurely into another tunnel with it's two Doom Knights and slowly disappeared into the darkness.