Unfortunately, he was right.
The final reserves of the goblin army had joined the battle minutes ago. That included Heqht-jo who was currently exchanging blows with Yoshi. Both Professionals had destroyed the soldiers of the other side, but once they locked eyes, they had known only one of them would live to see the sunset. Yoshi had raised one blade in salute, and the battle was joined!
Radg-or and the other goblin mages had also gotten close enough to the battling armies to cast their spells. Bolts of black lightning, spheres of acid and rays of Death energy began to descend upon the allied forces! The Druid himself was casting a spell that was causing the clouds to darken above him.
The allied forces quailed before the magical onslaught, but then Hisako and the sprite magi entered the battle! The five mages supporting her began casting counterspells. The bolts of necrotic energy fizzled out, the lightning was redirected to strike the ground harmlessly, and walls of earth rose to block the acid globes. Hisako focused on the Druid.
Radg-or’s spell completed, and lightning began to crackle across the sky. The Hearth mother cast two Earth spells in quick succession. The first, Spire of Iron, made a thirty-foot high spike of black metal rise from the ground. The second, Superior Earth Shield (Active), erected a powerful sphere of protection around herself and one other mage who kept his hand on her shoulder, feeding her mana. The protection was specifically attuned to resist the Air magic the Druid was summoning.
Hisako’s globe appeared just in time. The first bolt of lightning struck the spire a second later, followed in quick succession by twenty more. Instead of savaging the allied forces, the lightning was spilled into the ground and into the Hearth Mother’s shield. She winced slightly at having to feed mana into her active spell, but her protection held. The sky began to clear, and both she and her support mage downed blue mana potions. The Druid stared across the field at her with hate in his heart. The pale red glow in his eyes deepened to crimson, and he pulled deeply from the Bloodstone’s mana.
While the Druid prepared his next attack, the fighting grew furious between the two armies. Richter and Sion battled side by side. The chaos seed blocked an overhand swing with his moonstone short sword, and Sion opened the goblin fighter belly to balls with his elementum blade. The sprite cast Weak Lightning Bolt at a grinder who blocked with his shield. The damage was decreased, but the goblin was still stunned for a crucial second. Another allied soldier stabbed the green skinned creature in the leg causing him to fall back with a cry when the Stun status wore off.
The goblins grew to fear Richter’s blades. Periodically, the Disarm enchantment on his elementum short sword would fire, and whatever goblin he was facing was left without a weapon. It became a common one-two punch. The goblin was left partially unprotected, and then the enemy encountered the horror of his Dense Moonstone Short Sword of Goblin Slaying. The merest touch of the blade drew wheals on their green skin, and Richter was not being gentle. Massive rents appeared in the bodies of the goblins he faced, and his entire front was drenched in black blood.
Then Richter fought his first troll Warrior. They eyed each other for a moment that Richter used to Analyze his foe.
Name: Vuzembi Race: Troll Disposition: Distaste Profession: Warrior
Trolls are more evolved than their wild cousins. They still possess modest health regeneration, but it is much weaker than their ancestors. The sacrifice has not been in vain, however, as troll society can be as evolved as any human kingdom. Trading has been known to occur with other races but is unlikely for two reasons. One, due to their martial prowess, warfare has become almost a racial pastime. Two, even goblins are considered handsome compared to frightening visage of trolls. Trolls gain three points to distribute per level, and each level gives +2 to Constitution. Due to their regenerative capabilities, “cutting” is a popular practice among troll mothers to increase the Constitution of their children.
Level: 25
Health: 734 Mana: 130 Stamina: 240
Strength: 36
Agility: 25
Dexterity: 26
Constitution: 71
Endurance: 24
Intelligence: 13
Wisdom: 11
Charisma: 8
Luck: 12
Richter’s face paled slightly at seeing the troll’s insanely high Constitution. The fact that he had a couple of rings augmenting his stats and what looked to be sturdy armor didn’t help. It was somewhat of a surprise that the troll’s disposition towards him wasn’t lower than “distaste,” but he supposed that to the mercenary, he was just a payday.
The troll saw his hesitation and smiled while hoisting both shield and mace. Richter snarled back, “Keep laughing, asshole!”
The merc swung his mace in a mighty blow, left to right. The chaos seed dodged back and counterattacked with Samara Seed Falling. The troll had immediately reset his stance, however, and both of Richter’s whirling blades encountered only the mercenary’s shield. The green-skinned Warrior activated a Talent, Shield Bash. His steel shield struck Richter fully in the face. The chaos seed was knocked down onto his back and blood gushed out of his nose. The Warrior brought his mace down, but Richter caught the weapon in the “V” of his crossed blades as he spat his own blood. Richter’s lips twisted in a bloody smile when the Disarm enchantment fired from his blade, and the mace was cast upward.
Richter got to his feet. As he did, he was shocked to see the troll had somehow maintained a grip on his weapon. The Warrior had needed to stumble back several feet in order to arrest its movement, but still, his Strength was enough to keep the handle in his grip! The troll brought his weapon back in front of him and reset his shield. Then a gloating expression took over his face. He insulted Richter in his native language. Then in heavily accented common tongue, he said, “You will have to do better than weak enchantments, human.”
Congratulations! You have learned: Trollish.
In perfect command of his new tongue, Richter replied, “Whatever you say, fugly!”
It was the troll’s turn to look surprised, and that expression only worsened as Richter pointed a fist and unleashed Grease from spell storage. The mercenary went down along with three of his fellows. Both swords went back into their sheaths on Richter’s back in one fluid motion, and the chaos seed spoke a word of Power. Flames shot from his fingertips and ignited the grease patch. All four trolls started screaming as they cooked.