Looking around, there is "nothing" amiss. Rather, it appears all to be in the norms, but his instincts keep on telling him something is not right. However, a small, barely noticeable shake hit the ground.
Looking back, the shaking comes from the west. Something is coming from the west, going by how the vibrations are spreading on the ground… "This is going to be a bad time." James runs towards the source of the vibrations.
Calling someone wouldn't be possible, the internet is down, by process of elimination, all other means of communication that aren't radio, probably, are also down. Who knows when the others may come to know what is happening?
He has to be quick, reach the possible danger, and do something to stop it for long enough for others to come. Sprinting for a few minutes, he comes to what is possibly one of the edges of the base, the source of the vibrations strolling there.
An immense creature, at very least twice his size, its form humanoid but bulkier and with stronger musculature than what should be humanly possible, thin and straight hair coming out of its head in stray strands.
If anything, this creature goes by the book's definition of a troll. Its steps are heavy enough to shake the ground. How did this beast get there in the first place? In a well-defended base? Looking at where it came from, the wall was demolished. It trespassed without issue.
For now, it is walking aimlessly. It didn't even notice him. It went in without even noticing the wall. There is no way he can bring something like that down with one attack. "hey, you! Get out!"
It hadn't started to rampage or even go towards where people were sleeping or gathered. It is just… wandering. For now, there is no way to know how it may react if given the wrong stimuli. The "troll" notices him. Its bulk and mighty form turned around, green eyes staring down.
"————" The troll roars, as if trying to communicate, yet all he can hear is a roar. Maybe it can understand simple communication? Pointing to the troll, and then pointing back to where it came from.
It may understand simple body language. "Out. Get out." It follows the movement of his hand, staring back and forth from it to where it entered the base. Shaking its head in refusal, the creature lets out another roar.
Out of the blue, it advances with a speed something of its size shouldn't have— closing the distance between them in a few seconds, raising its big hand in a simple slap. Dodging it is out of the question, its arm and hand are simply too big and long for a dodge to have a meaning.
It shouldn't be possible, not with his capacity, to bring something of that size down in a single hit, but it doesn't mean it is impossible to simply parry or stop its attack. With fists clenching, James answers the attack in kind: landing a punch on the troll's palm.
A loud impact echoes from their attacks, spreading through the knuckles to the fist, then to the forearm, all the way to the shoulder, reverberating through the bones, as if punching a wall of solid steel.
Both he and the monster let out a small whine. "Alright, you asked for this." In a second, knuckles twist against the palm, using the previous momentum of the punch to add more damage to the monster's hand.
"——!" Noticing the damage, the monster takes its hand away, holding it, seeing the twisted and torn flesh of the palm. However, a smile, or something close to one, starts to form on its ugly face.
Much like the monster, his hand is not intact, blood dripping from the knuckles, damaged from the impact. 'I will have to punch it with all I have.' The creature's wound soon closes itself. There is no way to fight it without going all out.
If only his powers were around fire like K.J and Cain's. Alas, no use to think of these things, there is a monster to be fought. Getting in a boxing stance, breathing in and out, the fight will soon escalate.
The monster lets out a roar, and both advance towards each other. While fast for its size, it can't be faster than someone half its height, and God knows how light. In a blink, James unleashes a fury of punches to its gut.
Punching and twisting against its belly, feeling like a wall of metal being punched multiple times in a row. The monster, however, doesn't even flinch, rather laughing at his attacks. Raising both of its arms to attack. "As if!"
Despite their size difference, James jumps, his arm raised right in an uppercut. His left hand hit the monster's chin in the bullseye, and a loud crack, both from his hand and the monster's jaw echoed.
The bones of each finger crack and shake against the bone, spreading like an earthquake through the hand, making it shake and pulsate, blood starting to drip from each finger without stopping.
This time around, the monster flinches, taking steps back and holding its mouth, muffed laughs coming out of its mouth, was it enjoying all of this? "Gah." Despite noticing the damage, his hand also suffered due to the impact against the hard bone of its chin.
It also didn't go unnoticed by the monster, who stares at the bleeding and trembling hand. "Go out, now! You will cause problems here!" It didn't attack until he called its attention. It may be focusing on him because of this, or maybe because he said for it to get out.
Who knows, either way, it didn't start to rampage right after entering there, going on a bloodthirsty killing spree like the goblins. It may be calmer, or he is just seeing too much into it. "———!" The monster roars again, pointing at the darkness.
Looking at where it points, something steps out of the shadow. No, a giant creature appears out of it, as tall as a building, however, it has human proportions rather than the mass of muscles like the troll before him.
"What is it? A playing partner you say?" A booming voice, yet as silent as the breeze talks to him and the troll. The contradictory tones hammering at the eardrums, as if trying to make them explode.
The creature looks at him. "I see. We can't take him with us, he is a human. You shouldn't be here as well, son. This place is far away from our home. Far away from where we should be."
In a lecture tone, the monster sounds tired. "I'm sorry, human. Our children don't know the boundaries well. This mother, however, thank you for humoring my spawn." Looking back at the troll, it let out another roar at its "mother".
"You like him? Does he have spunk? A good playmate? You sure ask for a lot of things. I can't take him with us, it is against the current rules. However, I can call him when we have reached our new homes. Yes, I can do that."
James falls to his knees, the hammering in his eardrums getting worse as the "mother" continues to speak. "Human, my spawn liked you, so I'll grant you a silver lining." She crouches, extending her immense hand towards him, and the tip of her finger, almost his size, touches him.
Like a wildfire, his body feels as if it was set ablaze. "Ah! Guh!" The skin of his body feels like it is melting, veins expanding and appearing. However, the sensation is short-lived, disappearing as quickly as it appeared.
"Good, you survived the silver lining. Myself and my spawn will soon depart. Sorry for the inconvenience, human. I bid thee good tidings in the sprout to come." The immense hand reaches out to the troll, taking it in its grasp, before vanishing back into the darkness.
'What happened?' Taking a breather, the redhead falls to the ground, confused, to say the least. Did he smoke something? From where did this giant of a being and her spawn appear?
Of all the things that happened, this one felt like the most otherworldly thing to happen in the past day. Were these things trolls? Can trolls look like human beings? If only L.L was there to help him understand what happened just now—
If any of this is real, how's it that not all monsters out there are evil, some can be argued or hold sapience. It is strange… suddenly, the alarms of the base come alive. Did they see the troll and its mother or is it something else?
With a grunt, he gets up, staring at his left knuckle, strangely healed. "She gave me a silver lining and I survived it, huh?" Whatever more this "silver lining" entails, he can't know. This is not the time to dwell too much on it, there is something more happening in the base.
'I just hope you, K.J, and Cain are well, and that nothing like this troll and its mother appear near here' While the troll wouldn't be a problem to K.J due to his sword, and Cain, because he has those strange flames— taking down the mother, would be an entirely different question.
Could it be taken down without causing casualties to escalate massively? The obvious answer to that is now, even if his strength failed to give meaningful and lasting damage to the troll, then his mother must be even stronger.
They may need all the help they can get. Things won't get simple from now on, they will only escalate from bad to worse if the giant "mother" is any indication for the future. Will the people here be okay?
There is no way to know. He— won't go out there to risk his life, someone has to be on Spencer's side, but if a problem comes their way, there will be nothing to stop James from helping take the hindrance down.
Nothing.