~Warning! A little gore around the end. You have been warned~
-
"GGGRRROOOOAAAHHHH!!!!!" A deep, guttural roar came from the gate.
"There's a troll in the basement!" someone yelled from the gate.
Everyone turned to see several guards and academy staff members running out of the open gate, screaming in terror as they ran away.
*Thud*
*Thud*
*Thud*
Heavy footsteps came from the basement.
"SHIT! EVERYONE GET READY! ALL TANKS TO THE FRONT, ANYONE WITH FIRE OR ACID-BASED MAGIC TO THE MIDDLE LINE, RESTRAINT MAGIC LIKE ICE OR PLANT TO THE BACK, ALONG WITH ALL HEALERS OR SUPPORT MAGES! ANYONE UNABLE MOVE TO THE BACK AND HELP WITH EVACUATION! WE DON'T HAVE LONG UNTIL THEY GET HERE!" I shouted as I ran to Orin, who was still out cold.
Matthew looked at me, surprised.
"First time actually fighting against a troll, but that doesn't mean I don't know how," I shouted at him.
He nodded at me and began issuing orders to the students, positioning them, guiding the guards, and assisting other fleeing staff members while also drawing his swords.
He then pointed at the staff members who ran from the basement gate.
"Go inform the guards of he situation and call all available forces to the arena. I will work with the students to hold back or kill the trolls. We should be able to handle one or two trolls, but if there are more, we will need help," he commanded.
The staff member nodded and ran towards the exit.
Araki followed me and helped me pick up Orin. We quickly carried him to the back lines and leaned him against the wall.
I looked at Ark, who followed, and said, "Keep an eye on him. He isn't seriously injured, but he won't be moving anytime soon."
Ark looked at me, then at the gate, scared as the footsteps grew louder.
Seeing his worry, I said, "It sounds like only one troll. We should be fi-"
*Thud-thud*
*Thud-thud*
*Thud-thud-thud*
*Thud-thud-thud*
I paled hearing more footsteps. "Of fucking course, scratch that. I HEAR THREE OF THEM! BE READY."
I looked at Araki and Zek.
"Zek, how good are you at long-range ice maker magic?"
"I can block off the gate from here, but it won't be strong," he said, pulling out his wands.
I nodded and said, "Stay in the back and listen for any orders from either the professor or me. Until then, prioritize defending the students and restraining the trolls when possible. Coordinate with Terra."
He nodded and ran to Terra, making a small ice tower for himself so he could see.
"Araki, you use your bow to shoot their eyes. If we can blind them, then we will have an easier time, but remember that trolls have a healing factor. If they remove the arrows, their eyes can heal in seconds."
He nodded and ran off.
Finally, I turned to Ark.
He looked around, worried but also amazed at how fast this happened.
"Ark, I know you are scared, but I need you to keep an eye and ear out. If you see or hear anything abnormal, let me know."
I pulled out one of the books and ripped out a page, and handed it to him along with a pencil.
"If you notice anything but can't speak, write it on here. I will know," I said.
He accepted the paper and asked, "Are you sure I can't help more?"
I looked at him, worried. He wanted to help, but his fear also held him back.
I took a moment to think before saying, "I'm sorry for being blunt right now, but you aren't able to do much. You can't fight, and your magic is too weak to do anything against trolls. Scouting is the best right now."
He looked down, clearly ashamed.
"...I'm sorry," I said apologetically before running back to the other students.
Looking over it all, it wasn't too bad, but it wasn't good either.
Most of the students here are fighters, being either tanks or archers.
As for mages, aside from Zek and I, there were only 8 other mages. Thankfully, at least all of them are second or third years, so we have some more skilled mages.
But when I looked at their wands to see their affinities, my frown deepened.
Zek was the only fire mage here, and aside from Terra, all the others were light, water, or wind mages.
'Including us, there is 1 lightning, 1 fire/ice, 1 plant, 2 wind, 3 light, and 5 water mages. Not a great setup for trolls, but thankfully, it seems I don't need to give them orders.'
"Water mages use [Water Slash] and [Shape Water]. We have an ice mage that can freeze your water and restrain the trolls. Zek, use that and work alongside Terra to bind them," Matthew shouted, giving orders to all the mages.
"Light mages! When the trolls appear, use [Flash] to blind them. Then use healing magic on any injured.
Once we have them restrained in ice, water mages stop your attacks. Wind mages begin to use [Wind Slash] and [Air Bullets].
Zek, once the water magic stops, use fire magic on the trolls. Remember that trolls have a high healing factor, but fire or acid can counteract that."
"I have bottles of acid and alchemist fire!" I shouted.
Matthew looked shocked as I ran up and pulled out two bottles—one with a green, viscous liquid and another with a bright orange one.
"I have a couple, and I'm pretty accurate with them," I added.
Matthew nodded and said, "Perfect. Change of plans! Restrain like before, but don't attack the one on the right. Jack will use acid and alchemist bottles on them!"
I nodded and ran back into the crowd.
'This is odd. The academy wouldn't capture trolls for the arena, and there is no way they would let trolls live in the labyrinth. Hell, trolls don't even live around here. They typically live around mountains, and the closest mountain is a few days away by horse.
The books I read in the library about the labyrinths under each academy said only rank F monsters live anywhere close enough to the surface to make it out without anyone noticing. Yet a troll is C rank on its own, so how did three get here without any alarm?'
I wondered to myself as the footsteps got louder.
*Thud-thud-thud*
*Thud-thud-thud*
*Thud-thud-thud*
*...*
"Rahh"
*Booom-Crash*
The gate exploded, and a massive tree trunk swung through it, and dust and stone debris flew out.
"[Gust]," the wind mages shouted, blowing the dust away.
"[Vines]," Terra cast as vines shot from the ground, stopping the larger chunks of stone.
Once the dust cleared and the trolls' faces could be seen, the light mages cast "[Flash]," blinding the trolls.
"Groou!" The trolls lurched back in shock as their eyes adjusted.
But as I got a better look at them, I realized something was off.
A troll normally has large tusks and a more animalistic face, grotesque-looking and vaguely human-like, but only if you look for it. Yellow eyes—typically one is crooked or larger than the other. Standing at around 9–10 ft tall, yet normally hunched over, with long, lanky arms, sparse pale body hair, scraps of leather and animal hides placed around their bodies, and pale gray skin, making them look almost sick.
But these trolls have pale green skin, stand at around 12 ft tall, even while hunched over, red eyes and black hair, and are a lot bulkier.
^Notice: High Race detected! Beginning Appraisal.^ the book warned.
"Shit! THOSE ARE HIGH TROLLS!" I shouted.
"That's possible?" someone shouted.
"What do we do!" another looked at the trolls in fear.
"What are high trolls?"
"EVERYONE CALM DOWN! If they are a high race, then they are likely just tougher than normal ones. Continue with the plan!" Matthew shouted, calming down the students.
Everyone nodded, many of them still shaking.
"Water mages!" he shouted.
"O fluid grace that knows no chain,
Answer now, my guiding reign.
From scattered drops to gathered line,
Move as one beneath my sign.
[Shape Water]"
Tendrils of water formed on the ground and started to form and wrap around the trolls' bodies, confusing them.
The one in the back, however, who wasn't stunned by the flash spell, pushed forward.
*Thwip*
*Cung-putch*
"Argh!" The troll lurched back as one of Araki's arrows sank into its eye.
Seeing the opportunity, Terra lifted her staff and slammed it into the ground. [Control Vines].
Several large vines shot out from the ground and wrapped around the trolls, too.
"Zek!" Matthew shouted.
Zek pointed his ice wand at the water and cast "[Freeze]."
*Ccreee*
The water quickly froze, closing around the trolls and locking them in place.
"Now attack!" Matthew shouted.
Many students started chanting, and spells started flying.
Finding my target, I also threw two vials of acid at it.
They shattered on contact, and the acid splashed all over its body, but the troll didn't react.
In fact, looking closely, it didn't seem like the acid did anything at all.
I stared in shock as spells started flying too.
*Pom-Pom-Pomf-Pomf-Flash-Shink-Thwip-Crackle-Fwomph*
I watched carefully as I noticed a terrifying thing.
The trolls weren't reacting to the acid, water, or wind spells.
While they were still being hit, they seemed to have a high resistance to those elements, and so far, only physical and fire-based attacks were doing anything.
"Only physical and fire attacks are doing anything!" I shouted as I pulled out two bottles of alchemist fire and threw them.
They cracked open, and the trolls started burning.
"Wind mages! Use [Control Wind] and send as much air into the fire as possible!"
The two wind mages looked at me, confused, before doing so.
Casting spells and sending air into the fires.
The fires then started glowing bigger thanks to the added air.
I nodded, then shouted, "Matthew, do you have any fire-based magic items or spells?"
"My swords can use attributed mana from magic crystals, but I don't have any!" he responded.
I pulled out two of the ones filled with fire mana that Zareth gave me yesterday and threw them at Matthew.
He caught them and realized what they were instantly. "Terra and Zek, create walls and separate the trolls! Matthew, once they are separated, go in and kill the one on the right. All students, focus on the other two and continue to hold them back. Once Matthew finishes the first, he will move on to the next!"
"Right!" many of the students responded.
Terra and Zek then began working and shifting their focus, creating walls between the trolls.
I looked behind us and could see Ark and Orin.
Orin was awake now, probably from all the noise. He still seemed out of it, though, as he was still sitting down.
As for Ark, he was hunched over with his head between his legs.
'The battle must be getting to him,' I thought, worried. 'We need to finish this soon.'
Once the walls were up, Matthew placed the two fire magic crystals I gave him into some slots in the hilts of his swords.
He then said, "Ignite," and the swords burst into flames.
He then ran forward, using a mix of both magic and technique to move fast toward one of the trolls.
He jumped and sliced off one of the troll's arms with one sword before stabbing the other sword in the troll's side and using the momentum to swing upward into the air.
He soared high before plummeting down and swinging hard, slicing right through the troll's head, splitting it open and killing it.
"Yeah!" several students shouted, seeing one troll down.
At the same time, I had pulled out my wand along with two more alchemist fire bottles.
I threw one at each troll, hitting one in the head and the other in the arm.
Then I raised my wand and cast [Lightning Bolt].
The circle appeared, and a bolt of lightning shot out, hitting the troll on the left trolls in the head.
I then watched as its head lurched forward. It stopped struggling against the ice and vine restraints and went limp.
'What the?' I thought in confusion, as that wasn't strong enough to kill a normal troll, even if it was a headshot.
Many people paused in shock as two of the trolls went down within a few seconds of each other.
"What the fuck?" I said, confused, as that was way too easy.
Then I felt it.
A surge of magic rushed out from the two dead trolls, specifically their heads.
I looked closer and noticed the broken remains of a core hidden inside the head of the troll Matthew cut in half.
'Cores cannot form inside the head. That means these must be some sort of artificial high troll,' I thought as I watched the mana flow toward the third and still living one.
^Warning: the mana from the cores of the two dead trolls is flowing into the core of the final one. This is likely some sort of forced evolution experiment! Beginning Appraisal.^ the book warned.
^Understood.^ I responded and watched as the mana flowed into the final troll's core, and I was unable to stop it.
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~Author's note~
Jack is not summoning any spirits because of the number of witnesses. He did during the hellhound incident, but the circumstances were different (spirit magic works great against demons but not trolls, as they are physical beings. Yes, the hounds were in physical bodies, but that only protected them to a certain extent), and those watching were too far away to tell what really happened.
Jack also isn't using any items he got from Zareth or Kion, as Aaron's situation is more serious. Jack doesn't like it, but if he must let a few students die so he doesn't have to use those items, then he will; the only ones he would ensure got out are his friends.
If you still don't understand, it's the lives of 20 or so students against an entire kingdom.
Whenever someone asks him (he is asked off camera, will be changed in the rewrite), he has always claimed that Volt was summoned from a magic item. As for the vines controlled by willow, he claims that Terra gave him a magic item that did the same. And since the two don't hide that they are friends, most people won't question it.
Also, Willow and Volt are the only spirits Jack can summon right now that can fight, and neither of them can kill the trolls without possibly harming the students.