The deer scattered at once, bolting into the forest in a panic. The trolls, startled at first, turned their attention to the loud human waving steel like a lunatic. Their hunched forms tensed, eyes narrowing with fury. With guttural snarls, three of them charged forward—massive, gray-skinned beasts thundering toward him with terrifying speed.
Adrian didn't wait. As the first troll came within striking range, he swung the rope forward and let it fly.
The sword spun in the air, whistling before burying itself deep into the lead troll's chest with a wet thud, slicing its torso open.
The beast stumbled, but didn't fall. Its flesh quivered around the wound—then began to mend, slowly knitting itself back together.
"Tch. Figures," Adrian muttered, snapping his hand back. The sword yanked free and flew through the air, pulled by the rope as if reeled in.
He turned and sprinted toward the trap, the trolls roaring in rage behind him.
The pounding of their feet grew louder—closer. Adrian's breath came faster. Two meters. One.
As he reached the edge of the hidden pit, he pretended to stumble. His body pitched forward unnaturally—just enough to look real—before he launched himself into a dive, clearing the brittle surface by inches.
Behind him, the trolls didn't slow.
The false floor cracked.
Then shattered.
All three trolls plummeted into the pit, crashing down onto the sharpened wooden stakes below. A wet chorus of impact and crunch filled the air, followed by silence.
Adrian rolled to his feet, panting, then turned back to the hole and grinned.
"Hahaha! You stupid morons," he laughed, wiping rain from his face. "How stupid do you have to be to fall for the most cliché trap in the book?"
He stepped closer to admire his work—but then froze.
A heavy hand slammed against the muddy edge of the pit, claws digging in deep.
One of the trolls was still alive.
Its head rose slowly, eyes blazing with fury.
Two of the monsters had landed headfirst—their skulls split clean by the stakes—but the third had fallen feet-first. Blood coated its legs, and jagged wood pierced its thigh, but it moved as if unfazed.
It dragged itself upward, hauling its massive frame out of the trap and standing tall before Adrian. Its muscles rippled, body soaked in rain and blood, steam rising from the gashes that were already starting to close.
It let out a low growl.
And then, with a deep inhale, it roared.
"Fuck, really? Damn, I'm unlucky," Adrian muttered, eyes narrowing. "Well, it's just one… at least."
Without hesitation, he spun the rope once more and launched the sword. It whistled through the air, striking the troll's leg with a heavy thunk, piercing through flesh and muscle until the blade jutted out the other side.
Adrian grinned.
He channeled mana into the weapon. The metal shifted, twisting and bulging at the end into a jagged, anchor-like shape—barbed and brutal. There was no pulling that out without tearing something vital.
He yanked hard on the rope.
The troll howled and fell forward, crashing into the mud with a heavy thud. But to Adrian's irritation, it pushed itself up almost instantly, surging to its feet with a violent snarl, drool pouring from its maw.
It charged.
"That's your first mistake," Adrian said under his breath.
He let the troll come.
Just before impact, he reversed the anchor's shape, morphing the blade back to its original form with a thought. The instant it loosened, he ripped it free.
The troll shrieked in agony, staggering mid-charge as blackened blood sprayed from the wound.
Adrian took a step forward, calm and measured.
Pain. That's the trick. Trolls heal from anything, even being split in half… but only if their brain can still send the signal. Cut that off, and they die like anything else.
Adrian circled as the troll groaned, trying to steady itself. It was slower now. Limping.
He closed in.
With a steady hand, he raised the sword—still slick with dark blood—and drove it upward, straight into the center of the troll's skull. The blade sank in with a crack, and he poured mana into the steel, reinforcing it with raw matter manipulation to keep it from snapping under the resistance.
The troll shuddered.
Its arms twitched once… twice…
Then fell limp.
Adrian held the sword in place for a moment longer, watching steam rise from the wound as the rain hissed around him. Then, slowly, he stepped back and let the body slump forward.
It was done.