Weapons of Mass Destruction

My first instinct is to run away. The monster is easily more than twice my height, and its arms are abnormally long, reaching the ground. Its legs are a bit shorter, and it's slouching. Its mouth is full of long, sharp-looking teeth.

As I turn around, something makes me stop. Both Kevin and Tess are holding their spears, pointing them in the direction of the monster. Their stances are wide, and they are clearly ready to fight, even when the tips of their weapons are shaking slightly, especially Kevin's.

I clench my teeth.

Since when?

Since when have I become like this?

I squeeze the weapon in my hand.

I kept thinking about running away; I did start relying on Hadwin, and I even waited for him to make the first move and take me with him.

What bullshit.

I hear another roar and stomping behind me.

It's fine if I am realistic and run away from fights I can't win, but why did I stop believing in myself and didn't even think about fighting the monster?

[Focus]

[Mana Manipulation]

[Mana Perception]

I activate all of my skills, and the world loses some of its colors as the mace in my hand creaks.

I am angry.

I am so pissed off, but up until now, I tried to hold it back.

Hadwin?

Piece of shit. I will fuck him up for even thinking about messing with me.

Sophie?

Just wait, there is a lot you have to pay for.

Cinderbear?

Fuck you, you overgrown asshole.

I bury my leg into the soil, and the ground under my feet cracks slightly as I dash right against the attacking monster.

I focus more, and the world loses even more of its colors. Everything other than the troll seems blurry, and the sounds the troll makes sound louder.

Pain hits me as I use both of my hands to grab the mace.

The troll swings its right hand, and without any hesitation, I move to the right, closer to its body and duck under its hand.

More mana.

My muscles complain from stress as I don't even try to save mana and let it wildly flow through my body.

Crunch.

I hit its knee with the mace. Together with a loud crack, a roar escapes its mouth, and saliva flies out of its mouth.

The troll supports its weight by putting its hand on the ground, but I instantly lift the mace high into the air.

Crack.

The mace hits its arm.

Another roar, and the monster's bloodshot eyes look at me.

I duck under its swinging left hand and hit its wounded knee once again.

It lets out a louder roar full of pain.

At the same time, a spear hits the side of its face, but it only scratches him slightly. I grab the falling spear from the air and throw it back where it came from.

Another swing, and I dodge again. Then the monster puts more weight onto its wounded knee and tries to charge me.

The charge is slow, and I carefully move behind the tree. The monster roars at me.

Then another spear hits him. This time on the back of the head. The troll roars and turns around.

Instantly, I move closer and with full power hit its other knee.

My muscles burn. My forearm hurts from aftershocks. The wound I made seems devastating, the mana strengthening my attacks beyond belief.

The troll turns back to me and Tess quietly gets behind the troll.

Kevin helps and stabs the troll a few times. He isn't able to hurt him too much, but it makes the troll try to turn around while supporting his weight with his hands.

Crack.

I hit its unwounded hand as it tries to turn.

It roars full of pain and hate. Then the troll turns back to me again.

It's breathing wildly, drool is flowing from its mouth, and it keeps making biting moves with its mouth.

I hit its hand once again, and Tess and Kevin continue stabbing it from behind.

This time, the troll doesn't turn around and keeps staring at me with the eyes of wild animal pushed into a corner.

Through my [Mana Perception], I feel Tess collecting a large amount of mana. Right after her spear burrows itself deep into the back of the troll's neck, and blood starts flowing out of its mouth.

While trying to put some weight on its legs, the monster wobbles and falls down. It tries to support its weight onto its arms, but it's unable to, and it falls face to the ground.

Waiting for that, I run more mana through my body and quickly step closer and hit the side of its head with as much power as I can muster.

Then again and again.

Blood splashes onto me, and its roar is almost deafening.

One of its arms partially hits me, and it throws me flying away.

I roll to reduce the impact and stand up.

The mace is still in my hand.

Tess grabs Kevin's spear and throws it at the troll with a push of her mana, and this time it burrows deep into its eye.

The monster tries to stand up using its hands, but it's just flailing wildly, unable to do so.

While dodging its arms, I step closer and once again hit the side of its head.

Crack.

Its movements slow down, and the monster spasms a few times before powerlessly falling down.

[You have defeated the Troll Lvl 6]

[Lvl 3 > Lvl 4]

Without thinking, I put all three of my stat points into Mana.

I proceed to pull out both spears and throw them back to Tess and Kevin.

In the process, more blood lands on me: on my hands, my shirt, my face. But I just wipe it off with the palm of my hand, forgetting that it's also full of blood.

"Use your stat points," I tell Kevin.

He nods.

"Already did so," says Tess.

I check the troll from up close, but there doesn't seem to be anything useful worth taking. So, instead of that, we move to the deer.

It's smaller than the one before, and we make Kevin carry it while taking short breaks once in a while.

When we get closer to the clearing, Tess notices something and stops us.

"Two goblins, level two and three, red tattoos," she whispers.

I don't like that at all.

They are too close to our base, and their tattoos are different.

"Level three is mine. You and Kevin take care of the other one," I say.

It's good for them to get as much practice as they can.

Kevin slowly puts his deer on the ground, and then we sneak closer to the goblins. Tess leads us right into their path, and then we crouch behind the trees and bushes and wait for them to walk into us.

Lets see how you like it.

I still remember them doing a similar thing to us while being led by the goblin shaman and that goddamn wolf.

They slow down as they come closer, and I can hear them sniffing.

Without waiting any longer, I rush at them as a surprised scream escapes their mouths.

The level three goblin stabs at me, but I dodge it and hit its head while strengthening my body. Its head explodes like a watermelon hit by a sledgehammer.

Pieces of bone and brain fly everywhere, and its headless body falls to the ground.

Heads up! Oh, wait...

Well, that's one way to blow someone's mind.

Not having anything else to do, I watch as Tess and Kevin fight against the other goblin that is also armed with a spear.

Tess is holding back a little bit and letting Kevin fight the goblin, but every time it tries to charge him, she stabs at its leg.

At some point, Kevin uses his skill, and the goblin's attack bounces off while he pushes closer, and his spear goes through the goblin's chest.

After a while, the green monster dies.

We then grab both spears, and Kevin once again puts the dead deer on his back.

"Ugh, why did I have to end up with Bambi on my back?!" the 18-year-old schoolkid complains, struggling to maintain his balance as he carries the dead deer through the forest. "Seriously, though, can someone remind me why I'm the one doing this? I mean, I'm not even a certified deer-carrying expert!" He continues to grumble playfully, trying to lighten the mood despite his obvious discomfort.

I mostly ignore his rumbling, and Tess is focused on keeping watch.

Her [Farsight] has proven itself really useful this time.

As we walk through the forest, I circulate mana through my body. Not a massive amount, just a little bit to get more used to it. I also keep using [Mana Perception] once in a while, but the only reaction I am getting is weak pulses of mana from Tess.

In the end, we safely get back to the clearing. Before we enter, I stop them.

"Starting from now, try to avoid Sophie as much as you can. She has some skill that can influence people's feelings or make them feel what she wants."

Sure, I wanted to ignore what she does as she could make other people stand up and do something that isn't hiding inside the bus.. That would also increase my chances of survival.

But now that they kicked me out of their club?

Fuck them.

I want to see them dealing with a bunch of angry people if it gets out.

"Tell others to be careful and don't let her touch you. It makes her skill stronger."

I am sure Tess will be careful, and I have a suspicion that Kevin's skill might counter hers if he levels it up.

[Reflection]

What would happen if he used it while she is trying to influence or manipulate him?

"If Sophie talks to you, try using your skill," I say to the Kevin.

"Who knew being a human mirror could come in handy, huh? So, no worries, my brain is staying off-limits!" He chuckles.

We enter the clearing. As we get closer, we find people once again huddled closer to the bus. There is a bunch of people surrounding someone.

As we get closer, I spot a haggard Hadwin, Sophie, and Dominic.

And Cassian?

He is sitting, his back against the wall while they push a piece of cloth against a terrible wound.

His entire right hand is gone.