Chapter 124 Volume III - Chapter 45: First Hunt
Night had fallen and the air had grown colder as we continued to make our way through the dungeon.
It had been a few hours since our first encounter with the apins. We encountered a few more as we walked around the lake, but they hadn't given us much trouble.
And now, we were inside a cave we had found. It took us a while to close the entrance, but somehow we managed to do that with some trees and rocks. We had just finished eating and now... we needed to get some rest.
"I'll take the first watch, you go to sleep."
Alexander took a deep breath and got into the sleeping bag he had taken out of his backpack. He didn't protest me one bit, he didn't make a fuss, even though he normally has an ego. He just sighed a little as he got into the sleeping bag and made an expression of relief.
"Don't forget to take the pill."
He stood up from the sleeping bag after taking a deep breath again. Then he took out a pill from his bag, which we had bought from the potion store before we came here, and swallowed it.
This pill increased the efficiency of sleep. It could give a person the vigor as if they had slept for six to seven hours, even though they had only slept for two to three hours. It was a bit expensive and caused problems with repeated use, which made those who wanted to take it think twice, but for those who entered the dungeon, it was a blessing in every sense of the word.
Of course, I had to pay for that too.
After swallowing the pill, Alexander crawled back into his sleeping bag and closed his eyes. After a few minutes, his breathing slowed and his face became more relaxed, as if he was asleep.
I sighed and went to my watch, which of course had no internet connection as we were cut off from the world, but it still performed certain functions.
I set an alarm on my watch that would vibrate and alert me in an hour and a half, and then, reassured that Alexander was asleep, I walked back to the entrance to the cave that we had blocked off and stepped outside.
When the cold air hit my face, I breathed deeply and after making sure that the entrance to the cave was well secured, I took a potion out of my bag and scattered it at the entrance. This potion was to make sure that the creatures would not be able to smell the smells of food, people, etc. coming from inside and would not find this place.
"Alright... Let's go for a walk then."
'I still say what you're about to do isn't logical.'
'I need to get stronger, Sith, and to get stronger I need experience. And there are a few things I need to do if I want to clear this dungeon the way I planned.'
'Suit yourself... I know arguing with you will lead nowhere, so I give up.'
I smiled, unsheathed my sword, and turned toward the lake behind us.
"It would be sweet if you tried a little harder. But don't worry, I'll walk around for an hour or so and then be back."
With that, I started walking toward the frozen lake. I didn't need to check behind me because the Sith was watching my back, so I could focus on what was in front of me. After a few minutes, I reached the frozen lake.
There was no one around. Either they were hiding well or I was alone, but with Sith watching my back I was sure I could escape as long as I had mana.
I came out of my hiding place, closer to the frozen lake, and as I walked slowly, I turned my gaze to the sky, a sky not unlike the one on Lunerra and my old world. I couldn't help feeling like I was in the middle of the poles. The only thing missing was the northern lights, but the view was breathtaking even without them.
'Aiden.'
I lowered my eyes from the sky and looked in front of me, not too far away from me, a very small red area caught my attention. When I got a little closer and focused my eyes on it, what I saw was a troll standing with its back to me in the midst of eaten pig-like creatures, torn apart in various ways.
The troll hadn't had enough of the pigs around it and was busy disemboweling a new one with its claws.
A slight smile appeared on my face.
'No, Aiden. Trolls are troublesome creatures.'
"And they're pretty good fighters."
'That's what I'm talking about! It's fine if you can find a few apins or creatures of that level, but trolls are a challenge!'
"Look, you say it yourself. They'll 'challenge' me, but they won't crush me."
Sith snorted angrily. He was about to say something to me, but I ignored him and kept walking toward the troll.
'Damn it... you're crazy, Aiden!'
"Thanks for reminding me."
Sith was suddenly speechless. Meanwhile, the troll had stopped tearing the pig apart.
'I- I didn't mean it like that...'
"I know, but I think it's better if we focus on what's in front of us instead of talking about it. Because our big friend noticed us."
Since I hadn't tried to sneak up on him, the troll had heard my footsteps and turned to me. His face and hands were covered in blood as he was busy tearing apart and eating the creature he had killed. His already ugly face was even uglier because of this. Moreover, it started growling at me in a disturbing way.
"Calm down big guy, it's just the two of us here."
I gripped my sword with both hands, making my breathing steady.
"Ah... right, there are three of us."
Sith said nothing, and I began to spin my mana inside me.
This was the first phase of Ambiguous Flow, and it offered a more efficient way of using mana than just using it straight. Of course, since this part was missing from the style's manual, people who studied it learned it incorrectly, and even if they could apply the method, they wasted their mana like water.
As for me, I know this style like the back of my hand.
My mana began to tremble slowly as it spun faster and faster inside my body. As soon as this happened, I carefully, slowly spread it over my body. As the flickering mana spread over my body, it felt a little uncomfortable, almost painful, because I still hadn't mastered it.
The return wasn't bad though, I could feel my body filling with power.
All the while, the troll stopped growling and roared, and then it started running toward me. Like a gorilla, it was using its hands, not very agile, but certainly not slow.
I took my stance, gripped my sword tighter, and kept my eyes fixed on it. I saw my exhaled breath vaporize in the air, time seemed to slow down. I was calm, and focused, even though a dangerous creature was running at me.
As time slowed down, the troll came up to me and swung its huge arm at me. The flow of time suddenly returned to its normal speed.
I took two steps back from the onslaught like a sledgehammer, planted my foot hard on the ground, and prepared to swing my sword, but then I realized that the troll had already swung its other arm at me.
I clicked my tongue and ducked, I felt the troll's sharp claws touch my hair and a chill ran through my body. The troll kept attacking me like this, like a madman, but I avoided its every move.
It wasn't actually too difficult. It was quite easy to focus on its attacks, especially with the help of the Absolute Mind. Nevertheless, his attacks were so random that I had difficulty reading some of them and avoided them by the skin of my teeth. There was no room for mistakes, and my inexperience was clearly showing itself.
When the troll realized that it was useless to attack like this, it stopped attacking one after the other. He clasped his hands together like a sledgehammer, raised them, and brought them down on me swiftly.
I threw my body to the side and managed to dodge the attack, but it was so strong that the ground shook, the light layer of snow scattered and some of it got into my eyes, causing me to lose my balance.
For a moment I felt like I was going to fall, but I managed to pull myself together by grasping a tuft of fur on the troll's arm. Not only that, I took the opportunity to climb onto the troll's arm, which was still recovering from its attack.
The troll roared with rage, swinging its body to knock me off it, trying to grab me with its hands, but I quickly rose up onto its shoulders and put my sword to its throat, forcibly directing the mana swirling in my body at it.
The image of my sword blurred for a moment, trembling slightly as if its very existence was being disrupted. This was the first and most basic step in the use of Ambiguous Flow with the sword, forcibly holding the brutalized mana in the sword.
There is actually a technique in the world that is directly based on this. But this style builds directly on it and is quite effective.
My sword, normally unsure whether it could inflict heavy damage on the troll, sliced the troll's throat when enhanced with the technique of Ambiguous Flow, even with difficulty. Blood gushed out of the troll's throat like a waterfall.
The troll's movements seemed to slow down for a moment, weakened, but it did not give up. It should have died instantly, but not only had I failed to open the wound properly, but also the troll's regenerative ability was working as it should, healing the wound almost visibly.
This was the most troubling thing about trolls. Even though they were low-ranked creatures compared to the general, they had superhuman healing speed.
The troll tried to roar, but with its throat cut, it could not. Instead, he felt the pain more intensely and his whole body trembled. This made him even angrier and he quickly waved his hand at me as if he was trying to swat a fly.
I had to jump off the troll inevitably, and I landed on the ground.
The troll looked at me with intense anger as its throat healed by the second. As if it didn't care what it was doing, the moment our eyes met, it charged toward me. It attacked me in a frenzy, even crazier than before.
His movements were faster now, with more power in them, but they were also more understandable than before. This was the most dangerous thing about raging during a battle, but it was also the thing that would win me this fight.
"Let's make this quick before we attract more creatures, shall we?"
I dodged another attack and threw myself back about two to three meters. I took a deep breath and then raised my sword.
"Sith, help me please."
I didn't get an answer from Sith, but I felt the flow of mana inside me change and warm up, and the troll lunged at me again.
A smile appeared on my face, my sword was covered in a teal glow and I drew it down.
The teal glow on the sword separated from the sword as I swung it and shot out at the troll in a sharp gust of wind. It was so fast that the troll could not even react properly. The wind wave made a rather large gash in its chest.
Of course, the troll soon began to heal it, but its movements slowed even more. I seized the opportunity to pounce on it and swung my sword swiftly at its throat. The troll's throat, which had only just healed, opened again.
I didn't stop, I spun my sword around with the strength from my previous attack and swung it again at the same spot. The wound was enlarged by this move, but it still wasn't enough.
I swung my sword again, again and again. Finally, the troll's head separated from its body, and its whole body trembled violently. Its blood oozed from its throat and soaked its whole body, and when it fell to the ground it mixed with the blood of the pigs it had eaten earlier and watered the ground.
The troll struggled for a short time. Because its superior healing abilities kept it alive, even for a very short time, I could see all the pain in its eyes as it looked at me through its disembodied head.
It stopped struggling and looked at me one last time. Then the slight glow in his eyes slowly disappeared.
"Tch... As if we hadn't fought to the death..."
I sighed deeply and looked at the time, erasing the image of the troll from my mind as much as possible.
The battle had lasted almost four minutes... I had to get out of here quickly or I would soon be prey to many creatures.
I opened one of the dimensional buttons in my bag and poured a mana potion from it over my head. Although it didn't look like much of a struggle from the outside, I had used up a lot of my mana, especially since my last attack had drained my reserves a bit.
With my mana quickly replenished by the potion I drank, I left the troll's corpse lying there and headed into the bushes. It was at this point that I finally noticed a very slight ache spreading throughout my body.
I guess using a style that I still haven't mastered, especially a dangerous one like trying to control the mana going wild, had tired my body more than I thought...
Anyway, it's not important for now.
"Look, I told you, didn't I? I'm not even hurt."
'If even one of the attacks you narrowly avoided had hit you with its tip, we'd be discussing very different things, maybe we wouldn't be discussing them at all.'
Despite what Sith said, I grinned as I dived into the bushes.
"You're so boring, you weren't like this before. You kept saying we should go on adventures."
Sith sighed deeply.
'That was then.'
I let out a low laugh and looked around in an excited search as I continued to sneak forward.
To be honest, it was fun to fight. Because of the Absolute Mind, the brutality doesn't affect me so I can just look at my progress and have fun. As for the pain in my body... Maybe if I continue this for a long time it might be a problem, but as long as I pay attention I don't think it will be a problem.
"The night is not over yet, I want to fight a few more creatures."
My blood boils for more... I want to fight more.
So I started to sneak deeper into the forest, but in the meantime, another thought popped into my mind.
I won't get addicted... right? It would be a bit... ridiculous and funny to get addicted to something like that for me, I guess.
*(A/N: This is a bit important for me and you guys, so I will write directly instead of cutting it short.
I am currently going through one of the most difficult periods of my life both financially and spiritually in many ways. On top of that, the economic situation of the country I live in is also a bit... troubled. So, in short, I need money. Even the little pocket money I get helps me in every way.
So even though when I first started writing the novel, I told you that I was very attached to it, that I didn't want to give my rights over story, and that I wouldn't sign a contract... I thought about it for two days and finally decided to sign it, even though it was difficult for me.
I apologize for breaking my promise. I don't know when the contract will be done, but the chapters will be locked when I sign the contract if I can make it. I just wanted to let you know, and I apologize again.)*
The source of this c𝐨ntent is freewe(b)nov𝒆l