Chapter 64: Stun and Kill

They came from three directions at once.

From the north three massive shapes emerged while crashing through the same road earlier enemies came.

Rotwood Trolls.

Each one stood at least three meters tall with bark-like skin and arms way too long for their bodies. Green-black veins pulsed across them and even from fifty meters away Eren felt nauseous from just looking at them.

“That’s their poison aura,” Emily said without looking away. “Don’t get close but if you have to, don’t breathe too deep near them. Their blood and even their sweat is toxic.”

The eastern trolls were smaller but there were four of them with a strange rolling gait and behind them came at least fifteen kobolds on foot, all armed with crossbows or scimitars.

They were too far away from the western side of the village so they didn’t know it yet but two more rotwood trolls pushed the roads and coming dangerously close to houses. No kobolds or any other thing came with them.

“Emily…” Eren whispered. He could see the western side from this high and his Wolf Eyes skill helped a lot.

“I see them.”

Nine trolls in total and fifteen-plus kobolds from the east side. And they were all coming from three sides simultaneously while the south forest was their only unblocked escape route.

Oldir’s smoke dropped from his lips. Toris gripped his handaxe so hard his hands were almost white. Mel’s voice came from behind them.

“What do we do?” She didn’t shout but still looked braver than others.

Emily drew her katana and the ring of steel cut through the silent village like an answer to Mel.

“We will kill them.”

She looked at Eren with her focused eyes, then at the wolves who had appeared at the eastern side.

Her face was weird for a second when she looked at his face again. “Everyone, don’t try to be a hero!”

She came closer to Eren and whispered. “Stay alive and fight smart, silly. I need you in one piece tonight.” She winked.

All the capable ones, close to thirty villagers, grabbed their sticks, blades and farming tools with shaking hands.

“Eren, take the west side with the wolves. Kite them and kill them quick before their poison gets to you. I’ll take the north poison trolls alone.” She pointed toward the eastern gap.

“Thadric! You and the rookies handle the eastern trolls with the rest of the villagers. Those ones are smaller and not poisonous. Use your numbers and don’t go too close!”

Mel protested for a second with “we aren’t rookies anymore..” but everyone ignored her.

Emily looked at the crowd one last time.

“Nobody runs south to pull the creatures. That’s our only open side and I want it to stay that way.”

..

Eren sprinted toward the western gap with both wolves running from his two sides.

[Their blood smells wrong.] Fury’s voice echoed in his mind Short and to the point as usual. [Like rotting wood mixed with something that burns the nose.]

“Rotwood Trolls. Emily says their poison aura is dangerous even without touching them. Don’t breathe too deep near them.”

[We know what they are.] Rury was running beside him with her teeth bared but her golden eyes had that excited gleam. [Our mother killed one when we were still newborns. She lost three claws and couldn’t eat for two days from the poison. Two whole days without eating! Can you imagine that kind of torture?]

Of course Rury’s biggest concern about fighting a three-meter tall poison monster was the two days of missed meals.

“How did she kill it?”

[Ripped the tendons behind both knees so it couldn’t stand. Then waited for it to bleed out for a long time. Days of repeat killed it. They can regenerate flesh but tendons take longer to grow back and they also need food for energy.]

That was useful information. “Tendons behind the knees and they aren’t immortals. I think I know their limits better now..”

[Can we eat troll meat after?] Rury asked.

“It’s literally made of poison.”

[But it smells interesting.]

She’s insane.

They reached the western side of the village and there was no barricade here. Just open ground between two houses with a few hastily planted stakes that wouldn’t even stop a determined squirrel. This area was the main household section of the village other than the middle section.

The two trolls were about sixty meters out and walking slowly like they knew nobody was coming to stop them.

Up close they looked like someone had carved an angry face into a dying tree and brought it to life. There were moss, some bugs and even a weird bird nesting on the back of one of them. Their mostly cracked leathery and oily skin oozed green saps and smelled disgusting.

Eren could smell their odor from this distance with his stats and half-elf senses. If he could shut it all, he would do that even if doing that took a portion of his combat abilities.

One of the trolls spotted Eren and grinned with its reddish yellow teeth came outside.

I’m going to have nightmares about that mouth for weeks.

“Rury, left one. Fury, right one. Go for the tendons like your mother did.”

[And you?] Fury tilted his head.

“I’ll make sure they’re too busy staring at my handsome face instead of looking behind them.”

[Oh, that skill again. Okay use it without stopping!] Fury said.

[I love my hunt stay still like good little bunnies.] Rury agreed and was already circling wide to the left. Eren didn’t know how much she was toying with her food or torturing the poor bunnies now.

But he had to hurry and activated Lovely Eyes after locking his gaze on the left troll.

He didn’t expect it to work on something this ugly and dumb. Lovely Eyes was a charm skill that worked on things capable of thinking and feeling some kind of emotional pull. Trolls were barely a step above goblins and they were like combination of walking trees and abominations. So why would they care about his pretty face or charming effect?

He just wanted to try once then switched to his bow or scimitars until troll’s advance suddenly stopped.

Huh?

There was something going on in the troll’s eyes.

Its eyes met Eren’s and something flickered behind those giant sunken pupils. Not attraction or anything emotional, but raw confusion like it forgot what it was doing and just looked at him.

It lasted one and a half second and it was all Rury needed.

She hit the troll’s left leg from behind at full sprint and her evolved claws with her attack skill closed around the thick tendon above its ankle. She pulled with her entire body weight and twisted sideways until she was sure it was hurt.

The troll screamed and swung its massive arm backward but Rury was already three meters away and running away around it’s poison aura.

Her attack took just a couple seconds but she felt something in his body already. Rury escaped while Eren was using his skill again and again on the trolls. It didn’t always worked but he knew what he was supposed to affect them a little bit now.

Fury hit the other troll like his sister did but went for with his teeth. His bite was cleaner even if he didn’t use a skill. Troll’s legs and knees got bloody and dropped with a crash that shook the ground.

[Lovely Eyes levelled up: Level 5 > Level 6]

[NEW: Lovely Eyes can now affect low-intelligence creatures with sufficient base thinking ability. Charm duration against these creatures reduced by 25%]

Eren stared at the notification while Fury was dodging a wild swing from the kneeling troll.

“IT WORKS ON EVERYTHING NOW!” He shouted it like a mad person because he basically was one right now.

The skill description wasn’t that detailed about what Evon considered intelligent or not. But he was excited with the new upgrade. All he needed now to multi charm option and he could stun entire groups or armies!

His charm skill could freeze a three-meter poison troll for one and a half second even in the first evolution league. If it ever worked on something bigger like a drago…

Don’t think about that now. Kill the damn trolls first.

He stopped using the skill for a short while and the cubs were almost captured in that short time frame.

The first troll was already regenerating. The torn tendon knitted itself back together with visible speed as green sap oozed from the wound and the flesh beneath pulsed with new fibers growing. Emily was right about how disgusting it was to watch their regeneration.

But regeneration took time and time was all Eren needed to abuse his active skill!

He dropped the bow after seeing that it wouldn’t be useful against these enemies.

Drew his scimitars and closed the distance to one of the kneeling trolls in two strong jumps while still using his skill.

It still didn’t work all the time like he would prefer but it did at some point and he attacked with all his power. Eren didn’t know how well he swung both blades at the same torn tendon on its ankle but it was the best of his abilities.

I am not a sword master or some genius in fighting. This is the best I can pull off.

metal touched the half-healed flesh deeper than wolf teeth or claws could.

Wounded troll toppled sideways with a weird screaming.

Eren tried to understand if it was saying something meaningful but it was pointless. Trolls didn’t have a language system.

While Eren was attacking the troll, its poison aura washed over him. His eyes watered instantly while his throat burned like he’d swallowed acid.

[Poison Resistance levelled up: Level 2 > Level 3]

I need to get other versions of resistance skills.

He decided to try some extreme things on his body after this shit ended. Like burning or freezing his hands to get skills similar to Poison Resistance.

After the skill level up, the burning in his throat faded slightly. Still nasty but manageable enough to breathe through. That was the beauty and horror of Evon’s system, you literally got stronger from the exact thing trying to kill you.

Both wolves had their troll pinned in a cycle of hamstring attacks. Rury circled in tight loops biting the regenerating tendons every time it started healing. But it was tricky to dodge Troll’s hands and big wooden stump.

At the same time Fury did the same from the opposite side.

Eren learned fast that hitting the unwounded places was pointless after his second swing bounced off like hitting a tree trunk. He aimed for the same ankle wound over and over instead, deepening the cut with every swing. At some point he switched to it’s face but he didn’t realize when that happened.

It took almost ten minutes to bring the first troll down. Ten minutes of cutting it until both scimitars were coated in green-black vomitory blood and tissues.

Iyyk..

[You gained 60% energy of Rotwood Troll – Poison Variant (Level 28)]

[Congratulations! You have reached Level 31]

-All stats increased by 1

-You gained 1 Stat Point to distribute

He put the free point into Mana again. His mana pool was growing but still nowhere near the 1000 needed for Clone or longer times for Door Master skill.

The second troll lasted another five minutes before Fury tore something critical in its throat while Eren kept the legs from healing. It bled out in thick green-black sludge that smelled worse than anything Eren had encountered in either of the two worlds.

[You gained 30% energy of Rotwood Troll – Poison Variant (Level 27)]

This time he contributed less and it was almost the cubs’ solo kill.

Rury sat next to the dead troll and sniffed it with interest. [It doesn’t smell like food anymore now that it’s dead. Disappointing.]

[You never wanted to eat it. Stop joking and run to hunt others..hrrrr] Fury didn’t find his sister’s humorous and time wasting actions.

Eren didn’t stay to talk to them after hearing the second notification. Emily and all the elves were waiting for him.

He sprinted with all his might.

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