[Quest: Kill the Axem-infused troll. Failure to do so will result in the death of the forest, its creatures, and you will receive a fatal aura backlash. On the bright side, this can be quite rewarding for a potion maker or alchemist.]
There was a lot to take in here, but the Axem-infused wording proved to be the most glaring thing of the prompt. It should be worlds away in the dungeon, potentially universes away to account for the power of an S-ranker. Not that any of us knew what to expect.
And so all we could do was tell the apprentices to watch the shop, Wolverine, Mazu, and Cheetara protect them, and off Milia, Chenzu, and I went into the forest.
I didn’t know how I felt about having a fight in this place, but at least our home area now had divine protection.
It didn’t take us long to find the monster, sitting in a lotus position. The troll stood the moment we got within twenty or so yards of it. However, something within told me its appearance did not match its living counterpart.
It was an ugly thing too and I don’t mean just its looks, but how unnatural it felt. Perhaps even the feeling of a presence only to see nothing there. Just staring at it gave me chills, despite fighting skeleton abominations. So yeah, like Milia, I developed a bone-deep dislike or sensitivity to necromancy. The fact that it existed once again blew my mind.
It was fifteen feet tall, wide and muscular, gray with random patches of skin missing all over it, giving it the appearance of a polka dot monster. Its eyes were pure white without pupils and its mouth hung open, drooling black sludge.
Yet the undead troll clearly waited for us, armed with a black spiky club.
“The Axem gives you his regards,” it said in a voice that betrayed its appearance. It sounded sophisticated. In the dumb troll sounding smart sort of way, equipped with a Scottish accent too. “Now die.”
[Enemy Analysis.]
[Unable to scan undead. Your identifying skill isn’t ranked high enough to affect the undead.]
[Mini-boss fight, begin!]
Black aura erupted from around the monster, along with wind and incredible killing intent.
“Fan out,” I said, already on the move, just barely dodging the club. “I’m assuming undead are weak to holy magic. Milia, ranged attacks. Chenzu, weaken it. I’ll keep its attention.”
“It was nowhere near this strong when it attacked our forest,” Milia said, firing the first divine energy ball. The troll effortlessly leapt over the attack, landing in front of me, cackling.
I blocked its backhand.
And immediately regretted it. A wave of darkness oozed from it so fast I couldn’t react, swallowing me as it sent me flying into a tree. Chenzu stopped his song, opting to manifest a longsword.
“Self-light enchant!” Chenzu shouted. “I hope this new spell works.” His spell book was at his side.
Milia didn’t summon Flamie, choosing to stick with her divine-based attacks. I burst from the tree.
“Collapse, come forth Yukihara,” I said. Aiming a hand, the first spell I chose to activate was Blood Lightning Cage. I willed it to be as small and crushing as possible, goal hopefully to spill troll guts in the processes. It seemed to work, spawning around the troll, shrinking until subjecting him to a constant stream of immense electrical energy.
“Filthy undead,” Yukihara said, glaring at the monster as she floated above the spell book.
Milia plunged her mana sword through its heart, pulled it out, allowing black sludge to burst from it. She flooded that hole with a flurry of divine energy balls until she couldn’t do so anymore.
And it still didn’t kill the bastard. In fact, it enraged it.
Chenzu’s light-coated sword was quickly bloodied as he stabbed and cut at it as much as possible to no avail.
With my Dragon Magic Burst done charging, I unleashed it. Normally this would be the part where the good guy said a one-liner, followed by the monster bursting into chunks. Instead, the troll roared, breaking from the Blood Lightning Cage’s restraints, and punched at the ground, creating a massive hole. That allowed him to fall inside, dodging my giant red ball of death narrowly. It took out some trees with its explosion. None of the residents, of course, were stupid enough to stay in an area where an undead was present, and had long since fled according to my senses. Milia called many of the forest inhabitants friends, after all.
“You’ll have to do better than that,” the troll said. “I am handsome, cunning, and strong. You are but a greenhorn compared to me.”
He blurred, appearing in front of me, fist balled, telegraphing his incoming punch. Sighing, I dodged it and returned a roundhouse kick that should’ve sent him flying. Instead, my feet bounced off a translucent-blue barrier.
“But don’t underestimate me,” the troll laughed and again, a wave of darkness came for me. This time, I was ready for it.
I cranked my saint aura to the max, tanking the darkness.
“Yeah, no, you got me fucked up believing I’d fall for that again,” I said as I spin-kicked him in the stomach. The barrier from before couldn’t spring up in time. Unfortunately for me, my foot left a nasty hole in its stomach, allowing for black sludge to get all over my boot and pant leg. “Goddammit, I just did laundry this morning.”
I unleashed a Dragon Magic Burst through the same hole, sending the surprised troll undead flying.
“Milia, Chenzu, I don’t have holy or light magic,” I said. “Finish him, team.”
My fiancée and beastkin friend didn’t hesitate to do just that. Milia conjured a giant divine energy ball. Chenzu came down on its brain with a light-infused long sword.
Yet the fucker just didn’t die. It roared, creating a shockwave that would’ve blown any normal person away, but Milia and Chenzu tanked it like champions.
“Stab and blast it again!”
They did. Again and again and again. Hell, I didn’t have light-based powers, but still joined in.
“Enough!” the troll undead yelled as it jumped high into the air, surrounded with a black mist-like substance. “I cannot believe I let myself get in a compromising position by a barbaric primate, a tree, and a wolf. How embarrassing.”
“Shit, cutting the head off is the way to kill an undead, right?” I asked.
“That’s what I’ve been trying to do,” Chenzu said, “but the big bastard’s not making it easy for me. He dodges the moment I so much as think about going for his head.”
“The other way to kill the undead is by destroying its core,” Milia said. “Which is what we were doing the entire time. His use of darkness is making this quite difficult. I believe he can move the core at will, but not to his head.”
“Shyuki! Death Ember!”
We didn’t take our eyes off the flying troll, but in a blink, he landed, slamming a fucking giant hammer made of darkness onto the ground. The ex-club not only created a massive crater, but a shockwave of dark magic that spread from him.
“Die!”
Rather than allow the shockwave to expand and cause massive destruction, I countered it by unleashing as much saint aura as possible. It instantly evaporated every trace of darkness.
“Wow, this is overpowered,” I said. “If I can master it, maybe I can find some useful purposes for it. Perhaps condensing it for potion use.”
“Not that aura works that way,” Chenzu said.
The surprise on the troll’s face only lasted a moment since it met my silver knuckles. Teeth flew in all directions, bones that weren’t mine cracked and shattered. The force sent the troll flying.
I met him on the other side, but instead of allowing me to act like a Dragon Ball character, he vaulted upward, peppering me with energy balls of darkness. They failed to get through my aura.
I honestly wasn’t sure what my mana limits were, but I did feel a bit of tiredness. Not that same kind like from the fallen angel battle, but getting there. If this kept up, I’d exhaust my power.
“I seriously need to learn how to make mana potions,” I said. “Milia, bring him down with energy balls. Chenzu, aim for his head. I’m going to finish this.”
Yukihara pouted. “I seriously cannot stand the sight of undead. Especially those brought to this plane by necromancy. Wanda will be furious when she finds out.”
Milia began her flurry of energy balls. The troll zipped through the air like a gaseous cloud of death. It dodged and weaved, and I just knew the dryad wasn’t going to hit it. I needed to take a risk.
“What’s the matter? Aim’s off?” taunted the troll. “Darkness Gnashing! You will perish before the might of the Great Axem, Lord of this Region!” He laughed maniacally.
Geysers of black beams no wider than a standard car fell from the sky, raining down on us. We pushed our speed to the limit, but it wasn’t going to be enough. I tossed Milia and Chenzu speed boosting potions to fix the problem.
Well, the potions were vaporized by a beam that manifested right on top of me. Pain and tiredness swallowed everything.
I didn’t feel like just taking the attack, so I pushed everything I had into as much blood lightning as possible.
“Tell the Axem I said he’s a dick, and I hope the dungeon collapses on his face,” I said, pushing back the black beam. The troll’s eyes widened.
“Why…?” the troll said, wildness in its gaze. “Why are you so strong? This isn’t fair!”
All of the energy deflected from me to the troll, smashing it quite fast, shredding its left arm to fucking ribbons. It exploded higher into the sky moments later.
The troll stared at me with ice and venom in its eyes. It descended halfway, raising a hand into the air after seeming to debate something internally. Perhaps its strongest move? Serious mana began to gather around it.
“Time for the risk,” I said as I drank the shadow potion. While his darkness didn’t give me the same alarm bells as the fallen angel, it wasn’t safe either. The thought of something going wrong… Well, either try or deal with whatever spell the monster charged.
Slipping into the shadows, I made my way over to the troll. It wasn’t long before I was met with resistance and a burning pain. It felt like I was attempting to push through water or perhaps walking through knee-deep tar.
Pushing with everything I had, I damn near roared as I strained with every muscle in my body to break through the troll’s hidden defenses. A snapping sensation filled my senses and I emerged from the darkness at its side, Dragon Magic Burst aimed at its head.
The troll reacted a second too late, twisting, only to still get blasted through a dozen trees.
We followed after it. What we came across was the remains of its headless body and darkness coating the grass.
I took empty vials from my storage ring and began collecting the tainted grass. I felt quite woozy at the moment, but given the circumstances, figured the adrenaline of fighting a battle like that would subside along with any side effects. “That guy was a bastard to take down.”
Hearing no reply, I turned to see Milia right there, eyes concerned.
“A… are you okay? You’re losing color in your skin,” she said.
The system took the perfect opportunity to finally tell me something was wrong.
[You have been inflicted with unholy sickness. Normally it is recommended to immediately go gravel at the feet of a healer, but… let’s not think about feet or unfortunate AI desires. You’re a potion maker.]
“Ah shit, hold on a sec,” I said. I pulled out a basic purification potion from the inventory and drank all of it. Within seconds, the wooziness vanished.
[Basic Purification Potion. You may consume or pour this on anyone tainted with darkness, undead, and unholy sicknesses, blights, or various effects. A high-quality version of this potion will prevent these effects for 24 hours.]
Milia gaped at me.
“It was a little… unholy sickness,” I told her. “I’ve learned how to make basic purification potions using the water from the fountain, mana, and some of the herbs. They… probably wouldn’t be a good match against something far more serious—”
I stopped to see the two gaping at me. Chenzu, who finished cleaning his sword using what smelled like a bottle of booze, probably whisky, pulled his lute forward and played a song.
“Ohhhhhhh, unique existence, ohhhhh, a bloody weird one,” Chenzu sang. “He’s a mad lad, punching boulders, a mad lad, with thick shoulders, a mad lad, marrying a dryad, a mad, mad, laaaaaad.”
The power of the song had an effect that provided me energy and even a little sharpness.
“What kind of self-training are you inflicting upon yourself to learn your recipes?” Milia asked. “Or was this another one from the dungeon?”
“Just another tidbit of knowledge gifted from… Wanda, I guess,” I said. The system’s existence made explaining phenomena quite difficult and I doubted they fully bought my words. Sticking the vials in my storage ring, I stood and glanced down at my boot. “Uh. Milia, do you have anything to help with this?”
I checked the corpse and found two things. A bronze key and a pocket watch.
[Special Bonus Loot Key. At the start of the second floor, you’ll find your S-ranked locked chest. Use the key to open it and acquire your loot. Note: these keys are impossibly rare.]
[Wanda’s Lost Heavenly Spirit Pocket Watch. Item rank: S. Item quality: Extraordinary. Possessing this increases your chances of finding spirit coins and also increases the number of heavenly spirit coins you receive from any source. You may also activate its once-a-day ability: Spirit Boost. Select a target. For five minutes, their strength, speed, vitality, and even luck will be increased by 50% and then multiplied by 2. Never underestimate the value of an S-ranked item.]
[Too bad you don’t have the exotic version of this. Now that thing is truly a world-breaking item. Wanda will be quite annoyed when she finds out what’s missing. It is recommended to keep quiet about this item.]
The system might have been a dick, but sometimes it treated me well. Or maybe taking risks, like entering an A-ranked dungeon, changed its mind about me. Whatever the case, I was more than pleased at the loot received from the mini-boss.
I did look back at the fight and wondered if I should’ve thrown on the outfit Milia made for me. Then again, I just did laundry. I’d definitely be wearing it during our upcoming dungeon run. In the meantime, I’d try to acquire more suits or get ahold of some gear.
The suits were technically gear, just far nicer and with its properties, better than most. However, it’d be useless if I didn’t actually wear it. Sludge or not. But seriously, I didn’t want zombie goo on it, assuming things could be helped.
Milia commanded the earth to swallow the undead troll body. Afterward, she covered the area with a plant that gave off a scent similar to bleach when one got too close to it. The plant released something that essentially repelled animals without hurting them.
[Quest completed. Nicely done! You must feel really proud of yourself, bucko. Reward: Rank D Kingdom-wide Merchant License. Good luck affording to upgrade this. Aren’t nobles a stinker? See any merchant guild to upgrade and pray local lords haven’t raised prices.]
[Would you like to become the lord of Kyushu? You could just build your own Merchant Guild. Politics, smolitics, no big deal when your life will be both significantly more difficult and easier. That sweet, sweet town menu. What say you? Would you do it for a Scooby Snack? Yes or No? Yes?]
I selected No, though it tried to shuffle the options a bit right as I began to select. Just when I complimented the system for being a slightly less of a dick, especially compared to day one, it began to grow a little persistent.
When we made it back to the main area, the first thing I did was wash my boot. For the job, I selected the trusty purified water and soap. To my surprise, the fountain’s water dissolved sludge remains into steam.
Neat!
“What happened?” Harmony asked as she rushed out of the shop. Lucas, Mandi, and Alexander attended a few customers. I noticed the twerp, Maxus, and Nuwa approaching from afar.
“There was…”
“An unholy abomination in the forest,” Chenzu said. “It’s gone now.” He shook his head. “Kid, try not to take your apprenticeship for granted. Many would be lucky to be in your place.”
I snorted, shaking my head. “I doubt it. Don’t think much of that or I’ll make you work out and garden at the same time.”
Wolverine leapt into my arms. “Finally, I was wondering where my best buddy hid. Are you hungry? How about some beef slices with some nice gravy?”
Wolverine barked once, tail wagging. He licked my cheek.
Milia began to examine me again, an innocent thing, but when Harmony blushed, I stopped her.
“The purification potion really did its job. I’m fine, Milia,” I told her. By now, the apprentices were emerging from the store, having dealt with the final customers. “Here’s a pro tip. When using the shadow potions, don’t vault through the darkness of a dark-based creature. Not unless you truly know what you’re doing and also have holy aura that can keep you alive. I’m not sure saint aura’s the same as holy aura.”
“It’s essentially the same,” Milia said.
“It’s also extremely rare,” Nuwa said as she and her friends approached.
“Hey there. Dropping by to give me money, I presume?” I joked, earning myself a bonk from Ronica, of all people.
“What kind of friends wouldn’t drop by for a social visit?” Ronica asked.
“Fair point,” I said as I pulled Milia into me. Whatever worry she had early finally calmed down.
In other words, unholy sickness was very serious. My potion had to be as far from common as possible, despite its mundane name.
“Is everything okay?” Nuwa asked.
I told everyone about our encounter. At the end of the story, a messenger bird dove from the sky, landing right on my arm. The letter it held had Gwendolyn’s seal.
I looked at the bird, sighing. “What now?”
