True Hero

I stared at the panel of attributes with deep interest, adding another cell for the troops. I had heard about this ability; with its help, Warriors could somewhat compensate for their small number of units, compared to Mages. I had hoped to get it, but did not expect to receive it so quickly and certainly not at this low level.

"My name is Klaus," my new companion said amiably. It was hard to decide how I should react, since I had no idea whether this was an appropriate name for a troll or not.

However, I was looking at him with great pride. Level 5 was a big advantage for me. High strength and movement speed made him a very powerful ally; no wonder he took the place of five creatures at once. I was sure he would be of great help to me. A sudden thought came to mind—I remembered a story from childhood about trolls and their amazing ability to pick up a scent, or, at least, that was what the book had said.

"My name is Dan. Can you sense any living beings nearby?"

"Dan... hmm, what a stupid name! I'll call you Dark Lord." It seemed my joke was beginning to gather momentum. On the other hand, I already had a troll in my army—a good reason to be a serious contender for the title of 'Your Darkness.' The reply came swiftly and was delivered in a casual tone: "I feel two settlements."

He waved his paw in the direction from which I came, and then somewhere to the east. The first was clearly mine, but the second one clearly belonged to my first neighbor. To be honest, it was a weak point of my plan: how could I find my opponents in the game? After all, if we were all weak now, it was possible to be at a distance of just a few hundred feet away from each other and not notice a thing. However, if they became strong and increased the size of their army, then it would be too late. Now, it seemed this problem had been solved, and I was now ready for anything.

"Lead on, Klaus!" A smile curved my lips as we rushed through the forest.

I was not very good at running, but at this point, I ran as though I could not be fatigued. Klaus was howling, and at some point, I started to join him. Then, my eyes saw the icon of a new buff appear:

Wild Hunt, level 1

You get a blessing as two or more creatures give in to their animal instincts

Fatigue is reduced by 90%

Strength, Dexterity, and Endurance are increased +10

As soon as I concentrated on the inscription, the buff immediately disappeared. But it didn't take me much time to once more awaken my feral side. My club began to tap a wild rhythm as I flew past the trees, and I howled. Satisfied, Klaus began to hum a strange melody. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the buff icon had appeared again, and a thin smile appeared on my face.

"Master, the enemy is upon us!" Klaus shouted.

"Don't stop! Charge forward!" The troll ran ahead, and I stayed a little behind him. No one else should have the power to stop such a monster, but it was better not to take that risk. Klaus lowered his weapon, dragging it along the ground behind him and causing a terrible rumbling. As I thought about the point of his behavior, everything immediately became clear: dust, dirt, and forest debris—all these things, getting into the air, surrounding the troll with a solid cloud in which his figure was lost. Could I also do this? At first, nothing happened, but then I noticed that tapping a club was not as chaotic as I had thought at first. In our own world, you could say that many things weren't as simple and meaningless as we sometimes thought they were, initially. Then I tried to repeat the pattern of my new friend, copying his every move.

Small cloud of dirt, level 1

Reduces the accuracy of remote attacks by 50%

Reduces the damage of zone attacks by 30%

A giant troll and a man following behind him emerged into a clearing, where six footmen in mail armor and about a dozen peasants armed with various tools were already ready to do battle. It was hard not to pay attention to the talent of this player: during those few hours that I had spent running through the forest, they were able to organize their settlement and had even trained some of the soldiers to the level of footmen.

I also admired that the peasants were standing up for this player. Achieving such results, while still staying popular with the populace, was no mean feat. It seemed to me that any other attempt to attack this settlement early on would have been doomed to failure. Not mine, however.

Imagine a charging troll, rotating a huge club with the speed of a chopper. It was really hard to stop him, especially given he was a much higher level than his enemies—it was almost an impossibility, in fact. In the next few moments, the soldiers disappeared in the cloud of dust and then reappeared when the dust cloud passed by, dead on the ground. Without the support of a professional army, the peasants immediately lost their nerve and dropped their weapons. I was confused. Where was the hero? Was it possible that they'd run away?

As I was thinking this, a bolt of lightning hit me.

You have been struck by lightning for 70 damage

Someone had dealt me seventy damage with just one spell, and for some reason, I was still alive. I realized that the wild hunt buff had added ten endurance, giving me an extra 100 hit points. Since I didn't have any d.e.s.i.r.e to get hit by such magic again, I hid in the woods and ordered Klaus to destroy everything in sight until he found the magician. He was immediately taken with this idea. He wasn't feeling disappointed that he'd agreed to join me now, that's for sure. The next lightning bolt hit the troll but didn't damage him at all. It was not surprising, given the difference in levels and his natural resistance.

As for me, I already had a charred spot on my skin. I was lucky that the sensitivity of my new body was low, otherwise, I would have been frantic due to the pain. I could only guess how ordinary soldiers survived here.

Player Samantha Hollins was defeated

You gain 2 levels

Strength is increased +2

You gain 2 attribute points

Apparently, the troll had found my opponent. You were a good player, Samantha, but I was better. A sardonic expression crossed my face. Two levels wasn't that much of an achievement, certainly, but she didn't have a large detachment. My strength had been increased, apparently due to my level up, and I had also gotten two more points to spend freely.

The question was, how should I spend them? I was sure that I didn't want to increase intelligence—if the feeling of pain was turned on, I would end up regretting it for sure. I also didn't see many advantages to leveling dexterity, so only endurance remained. If there hadn't been any buffs on me, I would now be dead. Ten health points was a very small number; I needed at least more than seventy. That way, I wouldn't have to be afraid of first level spells. On the other hand, in the future, my enemies would get higher level incantations. Would I always be forced to spend my free points on vitality? One defense could not defeat an enemy, but as I had already proved, it was possible to make do with strength alone. So I made my choice:

Strength +2

I came out of the woods, and went back to the settlement. In the meantime, Klaus had managed to destroy the last building, a stone tomb. I should've stopped him earlier; after all, this was my property now.

"Do what you did before." I waved a hand to the peasants. If this girl had a plan, why shouldn't I try to use it?