Chapter 21 - Ally or enemy?

The mine was plunged into darkness. Lighted with our lanterns, we plunged into the hole of the burrow. We dodged many enemies with the help of his compass and although there were only three of us, we were doing pretty well.

Shining mushrooms outlined the path. I picked up a few. After about two hours in the cave, we were able to reach a sort of hidden ladder that led to the treasures of the mine.

The room was relatively large and smells of a heavy and saturated smell were flooding the air. And that's when we saw it: a troll of the mountains then a second troll emerged from his sleep with the smell of fresh flesh. One thing I knew for sure, I'd pay dearly for my skin.

"You take the one on the left, I'll take the one on the right," I say quickly. He was a little stronger than his colleague and I wanted to improve in level. I produced a fireball which I kept until I attacked with my burning daggers. With a powerful kick, I fired into the ball of fire which came to fit into the thick brown fur of the troll. I jumped on him and pierced him in each shoulder, moving my daggers in all directions to maximize the damage. A smell of burnt flesh filled my nostrils and blood gushed out of my body. And it collapsed to the ground.

"Notification! Increase dagger control, current level = 6"

I peeked at my acolytes, they had chained the creature and subjected it to a sleeping potion.

"Do you want to tame it?" I asked ironically.

I doubt it, only we can recover rarer ingredients when the beast is still alive."

Very interesting thought I.

"I can handle it if you want, I'm a pretty good hunter and I know how to skin a beast."

"Alas, it is not enough, you have to know the anatomy of the animals to get the most profit from it, hold for example, did you know that a diamond of blood can be found in trolls? That's what allows them to regenerate. It's usually in the right biceps next to the berserker vein."

This mercenary seemed to be one step ahead of me, he is older and more experienced. The trolls were emitting a kind of fine greenish dust, it's as if I still felt strength in them although one is dead. I hit my forehead when I remembered the explanatory video on the mental source, I can collect their etheric waves. I then tried on the living, I drew with my strong hand the waves that formed this green smoke and I felt my limit increase slightly. I continued with the corpse, it was less intense but perceptible. So the living brought more? And as a result, can they recharge to reiterate the transfer of etheric waves? I put these questions aside and continued the exploration. Depending on the find-path, we will be there in 300 meters. A loud roar reached my ears. The creature who had claimed these riches must have been powerful.

We approached as discreetly as possible to see that it was nothing but a Goliath! This creature could reach 10 meters high and a formidable power. We needed a plan of attack.

We gather to consult, one of the mercenaries named Disca could hinder the beast to prevent it from rising, I and Themi would attack his head. The plan seemed possible also we prepared our arsenal, I filled my dagger with sleeping potion and their enchantment with fire. Ready for action! We snuck by his side as discreet as a lynx. Disca cast her restraint spell, the Goliath was powerful but not very agile.

However, it didn't work as expected. The Goliath got up on his feet and threw his leg at me. I made an expert leap on it and reached its neck, which I struck with flaming blades that made it waver. Then he reached me with his thick hands and threw me against a wall of the cave.

When a piece of rock that had been cracked fell on me, I activated the mental barrier at the last second. Notification! + 1 Mental Source Point» I had succeeded! I was trying to get out of there as best I could when I flinched. The Goliath had attacked Disca and squeezed him under his powerful jaw, a *crack* was heard meaning that he had punctured his skull. The situation was getting much worse. Only a few seconds . . . And a thud rose, the goliath had crushed with all its weight Themi. It was the end, I thought, and I was screaming in my mind, unable to utter a single word.

A black, fast form reached the Goliath and killed him in 2 strokes. A hero? I got out of my trap and went to meet him. He was by no means a hero, this pale complexion, these redeyes and this dark aura. He was a vampire, I was sure now.