~~~~
*9Ether World*
*Hollie Continent*
*Rosia Kingdom*
Making great time, the new party Ninefold Niflihiem were practically blazing through the forest like track they were traveling through, at the head of their carriage were two horses being led by an oldman.
Inside the carriage it was silent for the most part, Leon was sleeping, he was down just 10 minutes into the journey, Arrilie was praying and both Maria and Illise were challenging each other to an epic battle.
Illise nibbled on her fingernails as a nervous sweat beaded on her forehead, she glanced up to Maria simply gazing out the window.
*Click*
Maria smirked looking back at Illise as she made a move."Don't you know anything about poker face, but either way..."She said, then her smirk widened as she made her own move.
.""Checkmate"".
."Ah dammit, how many times is this now!."Illise exclaimed holding her head, she was extremely frustrated at this point, she can't seemed to be better than Maria at anything.
Maria chuckled a bit."Come on don't look so down, if you..if you.."She spoke as an uncharacteristic gloomy flare appeared in her eyes."If you had to go through what I went through, would you still be happy with these "gifts", I wonder..."
."Huh, what do you mean?."Illise asked bewildered, even though she had not known Maria long she would've never connected her to any vulnerable emotions whatsoever.
Illise could feel a sadness just wafting off her, she reached out her hand."A-are you ok?."She inquired seeing her like this feeling bad.
Maria glanced up at her as the glum disappeared from her eyes."But yeah, just work hard and eventually you might maybe reach 1% of my impeccable power and talents Hahahaha."She said before bellowing out in laughter.
."You!."Illise gained an angry tic on her forehead as she bawled her fist, then she turned her face away."*Hmpm* And to think I was actually feeling sorry for you, I should've known."
Maria's smirk lessened just a bit as it transformed to a soft smile."Don't feel sorry for me, I've sinned just as much as you..maybe more."She whispered as she glanced out the window.
As they both went silent, a desolation filled the air, only the sound of the horses hoofs and carriage wheels could be heard, the void was calm and the moisture was as pure as distilled.
Then suddenly...
*Fsh*!
Maria's eyes creased as her blade appeared in her hand startling a confused Illise, Leon who was asleep snapped opened his eyes instantly as he roared out.
.""HAAAA!!!"".
*Boom*!
*Boom*!
*Boom*!
Multiple explosion rung out as the carriage they were riding on was instantly decimated, broken pieces flew everywhere, both the horses and the old driver were killed.
.""Dammit!"".
From the broken shards Leon jumped out holding Arrilie and Maria appeared holding a stunned Illise and her long sliver blade.
Landing safely they braced themselves, Arrilie remained calm as she summoned a white dagger instantaneously readying herself for anything.
."W-what's going on, Maria, Leon?."Illise was a bit shook as she looked at the destroyed carriage and the horses sprawled out on the ground and whatever the other god forsaken pieces of meat were.
Leon grit his teeth as his red eyes blazed with anger, Maria merely groan annoyed."Seems we have company and they purposely destroyed our only transportation."She said rolling her eyes.
.""Kek kek kek!!!"".
.""Kek Kek!!!"".
.""Kek kek!!!"".
.""Kek!!!"".
From the bush around them several ugly screeches, it sounded out like a key scrapping across a metal carriage, followed by dozens of ugly gray creatures armed with weapons and donned in armor.
."No way, Goblin."Illise exclaimed with shock and disgust, her face was extremely pale, she knew their reputation well and all the disturbing things the species does.
Quickly the group was surrounded by Goblin all grinning and screeching as though laughing, Maria quickly glanced at them."These are usually between Lv.1 and to 10 but the true threat is that one behind."She said frowning."I believe it's a Troll, an evolved Goblin, usually Lv.11 to 45."
."Oh no, then what should we do, none of us are even beyond Lv.20 let alone Lv.45."Illise said worried, she grit her teeth summoning a basic magic staff which she tightly gripped in her hands.
Arrilie watched on calmly only positioning herself at the side to support, but she knows already that they will be fine for now.
Leon cracked his knuckles as he stepped forward."Girls stay back, leave this to me, the manliest man of all manly men, me Leon Heart!."Leon said with a wide grin on his face."Goblins, steps forward and accept your punishment!."
.""Kekkkk!!!"".
The Goblins as though hearing him screeched long, one odd looking Goblin that was slightly bigger than the others made a sound and 10 Goblin rans at Leon wildly just flailing their arms around.
*Shhh*!
Leon didn't waste any time, he also moved rushing at them, jumping in the air he land direct between the 10 Goblins, he grabbed two of them by the head and slammed them into the ground killing them instantly.
.""Kek kek!!!"".
The other Goblins shrieked in panic seeing their fellows Goblins killed so easily, the strange Goblin in the bush made another sound sending forth all of his other Goblin followers.
*Bam*!
*Spurt*!
*Crunch*!!
Like a caveman or a raging wild beast Leon "devoured" the Goblins as they came as though they didn't even exist, with a smile on his face and with every swing of his giant arms a Goblin was erased from the world.
."Wow, Leon is actually pretty good, practice is one thing but he is actually dominating them."Illise said amazed, she of course knew about him and the things he could do from back on earth but in a magical world, it was a different playing field.
Maria remained silent as she glanced around the area, she then looked at the Troll silently watching Leon destroying his men.'Something isn't right here, as far as I know Trolls are not usually in this area.'She thought as she then glanced at Arrilie.
Soon enough Leon had disposed of all the Goblins, littered around him were the corpses and mushed fleshed of what remained of them, he stood dripping in their blood.
."Haa haa haa, that was so much fun, hahaha!."Leon said excitedly as his breath rushed just a bit, he then noticed the stationary Troll."Oh, How unmanly of you, just watching, scared?."
The Troll simply gazed at Leon without an expression or even a will, this was when Illise also noticed something strange that made her notice something different.
."Huh, wait a minute, now that I think of it why is there a Troll here, aren't they native to the west, why is one of them here in the east."Illise questioned confused, they were all given a handbook of common knowledge and common demons.
*Rumble*
Suddenly gently vibrations ran through the ground, Leon, Illise, Maria and Arrilie looked at each other, for the first time since coming to this world Arrilie appeared stunned.
."Oh shit, it was a trap, those were the sacrificial scouts, run!!!."Illise shouted urgently as she took off but not before grabbing Leon's arm and pulling him, she knew he wouldn't run from a fight otherwise.
*Shhh*!!!
Maria without hesitation threw Arrilie over her shoulders and ran after the two, glancing back she was just close enough the see what was In store for them.
Walking out from behind the one Troll, was another Troll, then another and another and soon well over a hundred of them came walking out the forest, each donned with impressive quality armor and weaponry.
.'Now this is a pickle.'Maria thought as she sped up her pace.
The Troll at the very front simply watched them run away, it's eyes were filled with nothing yet at the same time viewed so intelligently, it was a strange dissonance, reminiscent of an android.
Less than quarter mile away in a cave, an odd looking man sat on a throne made of stone, he was extremely old almost like a fossil, his lips were dry and broken, his face hollow and his eyes dull but bright with a golden glow.
."Kok Kok Kok, you lot can run, but for how long, you have to stop eventually and when that time comes I'll snatch you up."The old fossil said with a hoarse tone of voice like sandpaper, he calmly gazed at the wall.
But was the wall what he saw, no, what he saw was an entirely different vision, he saw the vision of a hundred Trolls, every last one of them acted as his eyes, mouth, nose and ears.
.""I haven't had some fun in a bit, I suppose I could play for awhile, so dance in my palm like seeds of life swimming to an egg"".
~~
After running for a few minutes Leon and the other's decided to walk for awhile to conserve energy, but they were still hurriedly moving feeling that the Troll army was not far behind.
."Haa haa haa how could this happen, now we don't have any transportation and the next village is 30 miles out."Illise said nibbling on her index fingernail in thought.
Maria looked at her as she smirked."Well, then what do you propose we do dear second in command, with our leader absent, its on you."She said suppressing her cackling laughter.
."...Ah, y-you bitch, you knew something like this was going happen didn't you!?!?."Illise said pointing an accusatory finger at Maria with wide eyes of betrayal and annoyance.
Maria raised her shoulders and hand in innocence."I've no idea what you mean, I am not the leader, I'm the shadow."She said smiling.
."Agg, *sigh* forget you, let me see, um right now the closest thing to us is the capital we just for from, there's nothing else for miles around."Illise said with a finger on her luscious lips."Mm, I don't think we can stay on this path, we might need to travel via the forest while using the path as a guideline."
Illise creased her brow."This path is literally like an arrow pointing out where we are at all times, Trolls are said to be smart tricksters and if they are at any level higher than us it means that eventually they will catch up to us."She said biting on her fingernail again.
Leon scratched his chin glancing around."I see, hmMm hmMm, I see."He said looking at the ground, obviously not knowing heads or tails of what she's even talking about.
."Not bad at all, I knew the little business princess still had a brain, I'm so proud."Maria said with a clap of praise."But yes you're right, they will catch up to us eventually before we can make it to another town and at that time we will be tired, preparation is key."
Illise grimaced at her sarcasm like praise."Yeah, um hey Leon, do you think you could run a full mile?."She asked him contemplative.
."*Hmpm* Of course, that was the one thing I realized I was lacking so to be the manliest man possibly I've been practicing endlessly to increase my endurance."Leon said with a shining smile glad she asked, he would've shown off to Navir but his manly bro wasn't here.
Illise acknowledged it."Good, I'll keep that in mind, Arrilie you are a Cleric right, what skills do you have access to so far."She said her.
."Hmm, since I'm only level 15 from the demons the guild let us kill, I have Minor Recovery, Holy Bind, Holy Arrow and Purification Ritual."Arrilie said gazing at her own statistics...
●
[Name]:{Arrilie Venquis}
[Title]:{Medium Of The Gods}{300k Selfless Prayers}
[Race]:{Human}
[Age]:{19}
[Attribute]:{Holy/Water}
[Level]:15{Exp:120/600}
[Class]:{Cleric}
[Class Skills]:{Cleric Class:Minor Recovery(D), Holy Arrow(D), Holy Bind(B), Purification Ritual(A)}
[Unique Ability Skills]:{???}
[Racial Skills]:{None}
[Hp]:(85)
[Mp]:(100)
[Str]:(17)
[Agi]:(17)
[Dex]:(17)
[Int]:(17)
[Wis]:(20)
[Vit]:(17)
[Luck]:(63)
[Items]:{1×Basic Robe}{7×Basic Rations}{2×Health Potion {2×Strength Potion}
[STAT POINTS]:{0}
[QUEST]:{0}
●
Illise nodded."That Purification Ritual and Holy Bind will come in handy, we'll need to set some traps and do some major planning if we are to survive this."She said seriously.
Arrilie gazed at her curiously, Illise seeing this tilt her head."What?."She asked also curious.
."Why were you so hesitant to take charge, you're doing pretty good, isn't she guy's."Arrilie said looking at Maria and Leon who both nodded, Maria fold her arms with a smirk.
Illise was surprised at first then she sighed and smiled a self deprecated smiled."Yeah but unfortunately just leadership without power won't get you anywhere."She said looking down at her staff.
Maria opened her mouth to say some but before she could.
.""KEEEKK!!!"".
A malevolent screech sound out from the distance, everyone became serious, sweat coated Illise's brow but she grit her teeth."Everyone into the forest quickly, just run straight and we'll make a sharp right turn."She said rushing into the forest.
*Shhh*!!!
They all disappeared in an instant at the order, after they left in the far distance a massive shadow converged on the area, this was the army of Trolls.