CHAPTER 24 – Fuck you, Murphy

"This is like the fourth one we kill." I thought while looking at a troll's corpse. With the help of Muninn, we've been going around the place looking for trolls, and apparently, there're more of them than it looked like in the movies.

{This forest sure is big.} I thought to myself while thinking about the seven trolls I've killed until now.

"Hey, Muninn… I think that's enough trolls for the moments. Do you know some other creatures? Or at least another type of troll?" I ask the Raven that's standing over my summoned bear.

"CAW" It nodded.

"Well, lead the way, my man! And please don't let it be centaurs. I don't want to win them as enemies." I tell the raven.

"CAW!" It started flying towards somewhere inside the forest. I once again went over the bear's back, thanks to the few rides I've had while hunting trolls, I got the trick of it.

{Just sixty more points. And I'll be ready.} I thought to myself.

It was until a few moments that I finally reached my next target. Another troll.

"*sigh…* Just another troll…" I muttered.

"CAW!"-And Muninn shook his head.

"Mm? What do you mean no?" I look closer to the troll. "Oh, this one is different. Another type of troll?"

"CAW!" He nodded this time.

"Oh… I see, let's do this then!" I said while jumping down.

The troll that was in front of me was different from the mountain trolls I've been fighting. Its skin was of a pale-green color, contrary to the other's grey one, while it was slightly smaller than the mountain troll. It did look stouter, while the mountain troll has a small head with big ears, this one's head doesn't look that unproportioned, and it has even a beard full of dark-green hair. There're some patches of green hair all around its body, and on its hand, it holds a bone-club and not a wood one.

"Mm… Maybe you're smarter?"

"UH? ROAR!!" He looked at us, and a moment after started roaring again.

"You're alerting everyone… Stop shouting." I shook my head. "I guess you're just the same stupid troll as your friends."

I was in a hurry, so I didn't waste any time.

"Exevo Gran Vis Lux" While the troll ran at me with the club raised and roaring, I raised my hand and incanted. Sending a great energy beam that pierced its chest, making it fall to the front, death.

[You've killed a forest troll! 35pts have been earned!]

[Congratulations! You've killed a forest troll for the first time! 50pts have been earned!]

"So, you were a forest troll…" I thought while reading the system's message. "Wait… That's 85 points! I'm finally done!"-Without waiting for any second, I opened the vocation store.

Or at least tried to.

"CAW! CAW! CAW!" As if calling for immediate attention, Muninn shouted three times.

"Mm? What's wrong, man?" I turned to look at my Raven, who was flapping its wings.

"CAW! CAW!" He cawed twice while looking somewhere into the forest.

"Grr…" Even the wolf was growling somewhere there.

"Growl…" While the bear stood on two legs and started looking at the same place.

"…" I frowned, not sure what to expect, but decided to prepare my wand just in case some monster appeared.

"See. I told you it was over here. Rakepick." A man's voice sounded from the place all my animals were looking at, followed by another voice.

"You were right. What do we have here?" A redheaded woman, that I could have passed as a Weasley, said while following a guy with quite dirty clothes that was wearing some kind of mask that didn't let me see him clearly.

"…" I frowned at them, something they couldn't see. {I'm glad I'm not showing my face right now.} I thought to myself.

{Utamo Vita} And just to be safe, I incanted the shield spell.

"Who are you…?" The woman asked while sizing me up. "Mm? You don't look to be someone old, maybe some small guy?"

"Hahaha or maybe a little girl?" The guy in front suddenly talked with an excited voice.

"…"

"Not one too talkative, huh?" The woman said. "Oh well, doesn't matter." She then turned to look at the troll's corpse. "Huh? Did you do this? By yourself?"

She then got closer at the corpse, while the guy didn't stop looking at me or at the animals beside me, who didn't stop growling at them. But I asked them to be quiet for the moment.

"Mm…" She touched the injury on the chest. "To pierce his chest while leaving such a big wound…" She rubbed her chin.

"She asked you a question, kid." The guy said.

"…" I didn't answer.

"*tch.* What? Are you a mute?" The guy took his wand out.

"Grrr…" My wolf stepped in front while growling. But I put my hand out, asking him to stop, which made him back.

"Hoho… Look at that!" The guy suddenly shouted. "Controlling such a monstrous wolf without even talking."

"So? Did you do this kid? Relax, we're not bad persons, it was just that we heard some grunts and weird sounds while patrolling around, and came to see." The woman said. "We're hunting some dark wizards around here, and came to see if we had some luck finding them."

{Who the fuck are they? Shouldn't the Forbidden Forest only have creatures in it?} I thought to myself while thinking about what to do next.

"Hey, we're asking you questions here!" The guy said.

"Calm down. He's scared. I would be too if two grown adults suddenly appeared in one of the most dangerous forests."

"Ha! As if. Don't you see he's here, and not precisely alone, with the corpse of a forest troll? I don't think he's all that scared. I think maybe he just doesn't want to talk!" He then turned to me. "Why don't we stop playing around, Rakepick!"

"Shut up. Be quiet, will you?" The woman's face turned into one of scorn at the guy. "Look, kid. We just want to know why would you be here, and if it was you who killed this troll, that's all. So, could you answer us?"

"…"

"Oh, come on! I'm tired of this, Imperius!" The guy pointed his wand at me.

"…" But nothing happened. Well, something did happen, but it was the guy having a slight headache, as it seemed from the way he clutched his head.

{I wonder… Is that because of my magic shield? Or maybe because of Occlumency? I did read that Occlumency is a good way to defend from the Imperius curse in some fanfics…} I thought to myself while looking at the guy and the surprised woman.

"You…" Rakepick suddenly took out her wand. "Now this is getting somewhat interesting. I'm also getting a little impatient here, kid, who are you? And what would you be doing here."

"…"

{Playing the mute is somehow making them angry, talking about aggroing, and this is even Tibia.}

"That's it, kid! You got me angry, let's see who's under that turban of yours! Petrificus Totallus!" The guy shot his spell, which sent some kind of light towards me.

Activating the great haste spell, I moved out of the way while unconsciously swinging my Wand of Vortex towards the guy, sending a spark of energy that he stopped with a protective spell.

"Idiot!" The one I suppose is called Rakepick suddenly shouted and started shooting spells at me. Which I just evaded, taking cover behind a tree. Meanwhile, both the wolf and the bear started running against them, giving me enough chance to think.

{I don't want to kill them… I must get the fuck out of here.} Taking the chance while both creatures were distracting them both, I went out of the tree, only to be received by a flurry of attacks. But the bear and the wolf were hurt, but still distracting the guy, while Rakepick was advancing towards me, throwing spells at me.

"Shit. Utana Vid." I turned invisible while jumping and levitating towards one of the upper branches of one of the trees closer to me. The link I had with both beasts was broken. {This is getting a little bit complicated…} I thought to myself while looking down at them.

"Mm? Where is he? Did he escape?" The guy asked Rakepick while clutching his left arm, where a claw mark rested.

{At least they could hurt the bastard. Rest in peace.}

"..." She just pointed at the tree I was a moment ago. "Hey kid… Come out, this was all a misunderstanding, we just want to talk. But we had to defend ourselves, you see? I'm sorry about your friends… But I promise we won't do anything to you."

"…" The guy just clutched his injured arm, while walking towards the tree, and just went a few meters remained, he started running towards me.

"No, wait!" Rakepick tried to stop him.

"Die! Aveda Kedavra!" But it was late. A green light went out of the tip of his wand towards the place I was moments ago. "What!? He isn't here! Are you sure you saw him coming here!?" The enraged wizard asked Rakepick.

"What…? He should be there! He tried to escape but I didn't let him!" She ran towards the guy.

"*snort* Clearly, he's not here!"

{*sigh…* To use the killing curse…} I thought while looking at them. {These guys are not normal ones…} I started to think hard about what to do. Then suddenly, a system message appeared.

[New quests have been generated! Access your quest interface!]

{Huh? At this time?}-I quickly went towards the quest interface.

"Look for him! He couldn't be far. I'll stay wait here." The guy said.

"And why don't you go?" Rakepick said with a frown.

"Don't you see I'm injured!? That bastard's wolf clawed at me!"

"*snort* So much for some great wizard… Fine. I'll go. Alert me if you find him here. He can't be far!" Rakepick said while running somewhere.

[Quests

New quests!

- Baptism of blood. A dark wizard tried to kill you once, and will surely try again whenever he sees you. This is a decision you should make. Is this a world where you can choose not to kill other humans? Or is this a place where it is either kill or be killed? Be baptized by blood, and kill the one who tried to kill you. (100pts.) (Optional.)

- Advocate of Life. To live is a desire every being has. For those who don't desire to leave a path of blood behind them, there will always be a choice. Escape from the dark wizards, and get back to the castle. (100pts.) (Optional.)

- …]

"Come here, kid… I know you're around! It's just you and me. That bitch went away. Let's solve this like two men." The wizard was looking around while walking as if searching for me.

{…} Not knowing what to do, I started pondering on my options. {I have to adapt. People here don't like to kill, at least the good ones. But as it was proved in the last movie… It's either kill or be killed… I-I have to this…} I tried to justify my actions, and started to move.

I jumped high moving towards his back, and right when I stepped down, the leaves sounded.

"There you are!" The guy turned to me, moving his wand towards me. While I turned off my invisibility to save magic power.

"Exevo Gran Vis Lux" But I incanted before he could.

"What!?" Surprised by the sudden beam of energy, the guy tried to use some protective spell but was thrown far to the back, hitting against one of the trees. "ARGH!" He fell.

"Shit. Exevo Gran Vis-" I tried to shot him again, but Rakepick appeared from behind.

"Ha!" She threw a spell against me, sending me back close to one of the trees.

"URGH!" While the spell didn't injure me, it did take a chunk of my magic power, and even the impact hurt. I stood up and quickly hid behind the tree, turning invisible once again and levitating towards one of the trees.

"Running again?" Rakepick said. "I applaud you kid. You sure are quite powerful for someone your age… It makes me think that you maybe are not a kid." She said while walking towards his companion.

"Urgh… That fucking kid…" The guy stood up, difficultly. "What the fuck was that!? It wasn't a spell I knew of…"

"That kid's not normal… He even received the impact of my Expelliarmus and stood up as if nothing."

"I know! Fuck, why didn't you use the killing curse!" The guy shouted at her.

"Because I want him alive! He can be an excellent asset for us!"

"What!? You want to let that freak live!?"

{I'm sorry, but I don't plan on joining whatever you guys are part of.} I thought to myself while going through the vocation list.

[Vocations / 1025pts

- Druid (1000pts)

- Arcanist (1000pts)

- Summoner (1000pts)

- Tactician (1000pts)

- Master Sorcerer (7500pts)

- ???]

{… Summoner and Druid are not going to change my skillset too much… Tactician… I would bet it's some kind of support role. Maybe… Should I try with Arcanist?} After thinking for a bit, I tried to focus more on using my current skill set.

{It would be a joke if I can't beat these two using my current spells.} After taking a deep breath, I took out an explosion rune. I slowly went down. And before almost touching the floor, I attacked the woman with the explosion rune.

"Over there!" The guy found me and tried to attack me.

"Utori Vis." With a quick electrify, the guy got stiff, making it hard for him to move. While the Rakepick had to defend from the purple light of the explosion rune.

"ARGH!" But even if she stopped the spell, the explosion sent her and the guy away.

{Now!} Running towards the electrified guy I raised my wand towards Rakepick. "Exevo Flam Hur." From the tip of my Wand of Vortex, a wave of fire went towards Rakepick, who was still trying to stand up after impacting against some tree.

"What!? Protego!" She defended against the wave of fire, but that got me enough time to get close to the bastard.

{Better not take any chances.} As I got close enough to not miss any spells, I raised the wand and swung it at him. Shotting an energy strike towards him before he could attack me.

"ARGHH!!!" He got hit directly, getting further electrified, and convulsing slightly, and dropping his wand.

"Exori Mort!" I shouted the spell with force as if trying to convince myself. And a black ghostly missile went towards his chest.

"AAARGH!!!" He screamed, while his clothes got old and torn by themselves, and his skin quickly turned black, decaying, as if each cell on his chest died. Not even two seconds passed when he stopped screaming, lying dead with his chest, and probably his heart, in a necrotic state.

{…} I looked at his corpse. Not knowing what to do now that I killed him. Until I remembered that there was another one. And turned to look back.

"Avada Kedavra!" Enraged, Rakepick threw a killing curse at me, which I evaded thanks to my levitation and great haste spell. Instead of coming towards me, she ran towards his companion, while sending spell after spell at me.

I landed and rushed behind a tree. "Utana Vid." I turned invisible again and flew up towards one of the branches. Looking down at Rakepick, who was looking at his companion with a terrified face.

"…" She turned to look around as if looking for me. "I'll remember you! R will not forgive this! Live in fear, not knowing when you'll die!" She shouted before apparating away with his companion's corpse.

With a sigh, I deactivated my invisibility and sat on the branch, resting against the tree, trying to recover my breath. Until I saw the system message in front of me.

[Congratulation! You've completed the quest 'Baptism of Blood'! You made your choice. And while it won't force you to do anything you don't want to. Future quests may depend heavily on your choice today. Quest 'Advocate of Life' will disappear.]

[100pts have been earned.]

[You've killed Dark Wizard 'Aaron', 200pts have been earned.]

[Congratulations! You've killed your first dark wizard/witch! 300pts have been earned.]

[Congratulations! Your ML has increased by 2!]

"*sigh…* I'm tired…" Without energy to even move, I just lay over the branch, resting against the tree.

"CAW!" Muninn came to me and perched himself on my shoulder while rubbing his head on my own.

"You're okay buddy?" I asked it with a low unenergetic voice.

"CAW!" It nodded. Before looking far into the forest. "CAW!" I started pinching my cheeks, pulling my head towards the other way. It seems it wanted me to leave.

{I didn't listen to you quickly. I better do it now.} I wasn't sure he wanted me to leave the place. But I sure wouldn't wait this time to see what he's trying to say. With the magic power I still had, I jumped down, levitating only before reaching the ground to stop my fall. I then activated the great haste spell and ran towards the opposite side from where Muninn was looking at.

I went slightly slower than I could, to wait for my raven that flew to where Rakepick disappeared. He came back with a wand, that was the one the guy, Aaron dropped. Not knowing why Muninn gave it to me, I dropped it into my inventory and started running behind Muninn that was now guiding the way. I didn't stop to hunt, or anything. I just ran away from that place with one thought in my head.

{Fuck you. Murphy.}