We arrived at a small village near Root, where the troll was reported to be living close by. After being welcomed by the villagers, they immediately informed us of the current situation. To summarize, the troll had killed a few people already, and they're afraid that it might come back once more if it gets hungry again.
Unlike the notorious goblins and orcs, trolls don't toy with their victims, and they only hunt them for food. The chance of an ordinary human to survive a troll encounter is much smaller than with any other monster. Even the villagers do not seem to be hoping that their kidnapped people will be save anymore; all they want now is to be saved on their own.
"Please, help us! If it gets hungry again...!" the chief pleaded to us.
"Of course! We'll defeat it for sure, that's what we came here for after all," I reassured him.
"You don't need to worry, I'll personally deal with it myself," Fin added as well.
"Tha-thank you very much!"
"Oh, if you can point out where the enemy's home is, that would be helpful."
"We're too afraid to look for its base ourselves, so we only know the direction it's coming from..."
"That's helpful too."
That is usually the case for stronger monsters. Since it's extremely dangerous for ordinary people to search for their nests themselves, the knights, or more commonly, the adventures, have to work blind and locate the monsters themselves. However, it's not actually that much troublesome, since low intellect monsters always leave tracks that are easy to follow. For a big monster like a troll, it's easy to find its footprints.
With the help of the village chief, pointing the direction where the troll was coming from, Fin and went on our way. Entering the small forest neighboring the village, we found its trails - cracked branches, fallen trees, and more importantly, its large foot prints.
"Gulp..." fin nervously swallowed after seeing the massive mark of the troll's foot on the ground.
Ignoring him, I continue to track the footsteps, and soon, we found its base. Its base was on higher ground, on top of small hill. There wasn't really anything much there, but a small campfire, below two branches of wood to hold a massive skewer. Thankfully, there wasn't any meat being cooked at the moment, or else, Fin might not be able to endure the sight.
Nonetheless, there were evidence of the people that were kidnapped there as well. Although, there wasn't much of them there anymore but a big pile of bones.
"I heard that trolls are massive, but... I didn't expect them to be this..." seeing the massive frame of the troll, Fin nervously comments.
The troll was three meters tall at the least, but it isn't really its height that gave it its intimidating appearance, rather, the massiveness and fullness of its body did. It has pale blue skin, a hunched back, wide arms, and a round stomach that's sticking out too much. At hindsight, they appear kind of similar to orcs, but with a bit of observation, you can tell just how much more massive and muscular they were than the pig headed monsters.
It appears it just finished eating, and is now taking a rest. Its snores were loud, indicating that it's deep in its sleep.
"How should we...?"
"Fufu... since you're not an assassin, you can't just go behind its back and slice its neck now..." I laughed, saying the stupid thought that came into my mind out loud.
Definitely, if it was me, I would just go around it and slice its neck from the back, maybe even just go right at it and stab it in the guts, but that won't work for Fin.
"Then, just fire your strongest spell at it, see if it wakes up."
"Is that so...?" Fin replied, the doubt evident in his voice.
"What else can you do anyway?"
If he was a more advanced mage, he should be able to set up trap spells, or he can even enhance himself a bit more. However, he's not in that level yet, all he can rely for now was his raw magical prowess.
"Then, excuse me, Eria-sama..." he reluctantly gave in.
Bravely going out of hiding, Fin pointed his staff at the sleeping monster. With a quiet sigh, and a sudden tighter hold on his staff, he casted the most powerful spell he knows.
"Fire magic: Fire Javelin!"
As the spell was released, a number of javelins made of fire came shooting at the troll, crashing as they hit their target perfectly.
As if he was showing off, Fin casted the first spell I showed him when we first met. It's a mid-tier spell, something he shouldn't have learned so fast as a beginner caster. And as expected, that shows.
"Ugh...!"
The spell was executed well, but its magic output was far less than it should have had. It turned out weak, and most of its damage was absorbed by the trolls thick skin. Of course, even though the pain inflicted on it was little, it was enough to wake it up.
"Gruoooh!!!"
With its loud and intimidating voice, it roared. As soon as it noticed us, it glared at us with murderous intent.
"Fin!" seeing how it suddenly focused its eyes on Fin, I momentarily panicked.
"I... I'm sorry, Eria-sama! I messed up my attack..." biting his lips, Fin hurriedly apologizes.