#103 Snow Trolls

When we were done eating, I paid for both of our meals and then she started showing me around the town.

.

.

"And this is where most of the festivals are usually held." Spear said while pointing at the town's square.

"I see..." I mumbled while holding my chin and looking at where she was pointing.

We continued walking for a while before she finally stopped.

"That should be everything important, I am sure you would like to explore it also on your own. I also didn't show you some...inappropriate places that would probably catch your interest." She explained with a smile before looking down while blushing a bit.

"Thank you for everything, Spear. You have been a great help." I thanked her for being a good guide with a small smile while ignoring the last part she said.

"N-No need to thank me! You even paid for my breakfast which was very nice of you. Say...do you still want to go out for some hunting?" She instantly panicked when she heard my words and then she started fidgeting while she asked me in a low voice.

"Sure, we spent quite long on this tour so let's eat whatever we hunt..." I said with a big smile as any other passionate hunter would do.

"Alright, let's meet in 15 minutes in front of the town's gate. I still need to go fetch my weapon." Spear's expression instantly brightened when she heard my answer so she didn't waste any second and quickly said before running away while waving at me.

"Sure." I said with a smile while also waving at her.

When she finally stopped waving at me, my smile disappeared.

'Follow her' I ordered my wriggles to follow her just in case something bad happens I will know where their hideout is.

I decided to go and buy some weapons I could use for our incoming hunting session.

After 15 minutes passed by, I was already waiting for Spear in front of the gate.

"Akashi! Sorry for the wait!" She came running to me while waving at me with one hand and with other she was carrying a spear with a one-sided blade at the end. A weapon slightly similar to Naginata or glaive but with a much larger blade to be able to pierce through Danger Beast's defenses.

"No need, you are here on time. Shall we move while there is still light out?" I shook my head with a subtle smile and asked her.

"Yes, let's go! By the way, I thought that Akashi would be using bow or perhaps javelins instead of a spear. Are you also someone interested in the art of spearmanship?" She replied and we slowly exited the town and while we were walking to the outskirts, she asked me with a curious tone while looking at my weapon.

"Weapons such as bow or javelins are needed only when your pray is running away. Danger Beasts are arrogant without a sense of danger so there is no need for such weapons. And I am only slightly proficient in using spear so please don't laugh." I said while scratching back of my head with an awkward smile.

"Oh...Right, you have said that you are hunting Danger Beasts...Sorry to assume something like that." Spear nodded in understanding.

"Plus no need to be so polite with me, Spear" I added while resting a similar spear to hers on my shoulder.

While we were walking towards one bigger forest I noticed 2 people following us ever since we left the town. They were dressed as regular hunters but I noticed that those 2 people also came from the same direction as Spear when she arrived in front of the gate.

Although it doesn't look like it, I can pay quite a lot of attention to the surroundings and its details when I want to.

They must be her bodyguards or it could be also a big coincidence but judging from her status I highly doubt the coincidence thing.

I thought but I decided not to do anything with them since they are here just to ensure her safety. Plus they are just another lead to Chouri. They will probably report to him that

When we entered the forest we instantly started looking for some Danger Beasts but after 30 minutes of walking around, we only met a few Class 4 Danger Beasts Frost wolves. Their strength was just slightly above those normal wolves so there was no problem with dealing with them but I could use such an opportunity to have a look at Spear's proficiency with her weapon.

She was able to cut through all of them despite being heavily outnumbered. With each movement of her hands, she cut wolf in two and despite being much stronger than them, she still used minimum strength required just to kill them.

Hmm, I can't see much from this since her proficiency is already high enough to deal with such weak opponents. I will be able to judge more after seeing her fight something of equal strength.

I thought and after we were done exterminating all of the wolves, she turned at me to check on my situation just to see me standing there looking at her.

"Oh?! You are also done?! And I actually wanted to be first to finish..." She exclaimed in surprise while pouting.

"Well, healthy competition is always good but let's be careful. These were just weaklings so let's not get ahead of ourselves." I replied with a smile before choosing the next direction we should go. I have already deployed my Wrigglers to look around and find some stronger Danger Beasts because I was getting bored walking around without any real destination in mind.

"I know, don't worry!" Spear quickly followed after me and replied with a cheerful tone.

I already had destination in mind and when we arrived in front of some kind of cave, we instantly heard series of angered roars.

*Roar!* It was apparent that it came from inside the cave and it was because I ordered my Wrigglers to anger those beasts and make them leave the cave.

"?! It sounded like much stronger Danger Beasts. Are you ready, Akashi?" Spear readied her weapon while asking me with a confident smile.

"Sure but let's wait here, we can't fight efficiently inside that narrow space with our spears." I replied with the same confident smile and suggested that we wait and Spear just nodded her head while looking in front of her with a determined expression.

---

'It sounded like much stronger Danger Beast...Maybe I will be able to impress Akashi with my skills.' Spear thought with a happy smile before her expression turned serious.

---

After a few seconds passed by when we first heard those roars, a few beasts run out of the cave.

"? These are actually Snow Trolls. As long as we don't let them hit us, we are fine. They aren't even that fast." Spear muttered before charging forward.

To think that we would meet so-called Snow Trolls after saying that I am usually hunting them despite not even seeing one with my own eyes before this event. Now that I look more carefully at them, they look slightly similar to Frost Trolls from Skyrim just a bit larger, *sigh* I really miss days of playing video games.

I thought while charging at them together with Spear while maintaining my speed around Spear's level.

The trolls immediately started roaring at us when they spotted us so Spear make of this chance and jumped up while slashing her spear from left, instantly decapitating one of the trolls.

Before she could fall down on the ground, another troll tried to grab her while she was falling down but before he could catch her, he got his neck pierced with my spear that I had thrown at him.

*bang* *bang* When both of the trolls have fallen down, they cracked the ground while making snow fly around for a bit. I jumped on top of the shaft of my spear while balancing on my one leg and taunting others to attack me with my hand.

*Roar!* *Roar!*

They were instantly enraged by our actions so they bounced on us. I quickly jumped down from my weapon and pulled it out of the troll's neck, making blood spray around. I was attacked by 2 trolls, sweeping their hands with claws at me from both sides.

I waited until they were near enough and then I jumped up, narrowly evading their attack and instead of making them attack each other. While one of them won the exchange and other lost balance, I threw a spear into the stomach of the one who won the exchange and then jumped on the weapon stuck in his stomach and bouncing from the shaft of the spear on the troll's shoulders. I took 2 daggers from my belt and buried them into his neck from both sides and then jumped behind while still holding on my daggers. He instantly lost balance and while my daggers were slowly tearing his flesh on his neck, he has fallen on his back. I rolled a few times on the ground while leaving those daggers behind.

---Some distance away from Spear and Akashi---

"Whoa, that guy is really strong...And more than that he is also fast and acrobatic" One of the previous hunters exclaimed while looking at the fight with wide-open eyes.

"That's right, I knew that not just anyone would be able to catch lady Spear's eye. But let's be careful, we need to protect her from any threats." Another guy was more composed and just nodded his head while saying with a serious tone and narrowed eyes.

"Maybe we can recommend him to lord Chouri. He would be a great addition to our ranks, there are too few of us who remained by lord Chouri's side." The first guy said with a slightly sad expression.

"Maybe...But we still don't know him at all, we can't just take him to lord Chouri. Who knows, he can even be an assassin sent for lord Chouri's life" The second guy replied before focusing on the fight in front of them.

-------

[+1 XP for killing your enemy while limiting your strength] x2

Class: Blade Master (Lv. 8; +15 Str, +15 Agi, +7 Const) 34/1280 XP

Hm? I gained some experience from them...interesting but I guess it won't work the same way with everyone. They need to have at least a considerable amount of strength.

The second troll that finally regained its balance, once again thoughtlessly charged at me, swinging its hands at me in a mad manner and since my weapons were nowhere near me, I kept dodging his attacks which weren't that hard to evade despite the fact that I was limiting my speed. Although I limited my strength, I can't limit my senses and his attacks were simply too easy to read.

I decided to take advantage of the surroundings and kept dodging while slowly approaching some trees. When my back suddenly hit the tree, it looked like a troll smiled a bit while throwing a straight punch towards my face.

"Heh" I chuckled with a mocking smile and jumped to the side narrowly dodging his punch. His fist went through the entire tree and it started falling down on him. The troll could just look up before he crossed his arms in front of him to lighten their impact. However, the tree still managed to knock him on the ground and I had enough time to go back for my weapons and finish him off.

[+1 XP for killing your enemy while limiting your strength]

Class: Blade Master (Lv. 8; +15 Str, +15 Agi, +7 Const) 35/1280 XP