Age of Adepts

Enemy spotted!

The entire army of trolls still marching thirty-five kilometers away quickened their steps when they received this information.

Several green figures rushed through the dense forest, sprinting with their bare feet and causing unrest to spread throughout the woods. The forest creatures, predator or prey, scampered back into their homes with their tails between their legs. They trembled and whimpered in fear, not a single one of them daring to peek out for a look.

With a clear target in sight, the march of the trolls advanced at a shocking speed!

In just half an hour, the commanders of the army had arrived at a clearing. They discovered the troll hunter, who was now shrouded in a cloud of green and yellow smoke.

The hunter was on his last legs. He was lying on his back in the clearing, where all the grass had already withered. He was curled up into a ball and coughing violently. The blood that he coughed up caused smoke to rise wherever it landed on the grass below and the bushes nearby.

The surrounding plants would also wither rapidly after coming into contact with the smoke.

The commanders couldn’t help but step back at the sight.

An unusually large and muscular troll emerged from the ranks of the trolls and shouted, “Get Master San’ge here, now!”

The troll warriors turned and headed into the forest upon receiving their orders.

Not long after, the sound of snapping branches rang out. Master San’ge appeared, so frail and weak for a troll; he seemed almost like an elderly human.

Compared to the other trolls, Master San’ge was very skinny. His back was hunched, and he leaned on a black wooden staff taller than himself. All sorts of strange accessories hung from the staff, from animal tusks to polished rocks. However, most of these accessories were the skulls of living beings that had been shrunk down after soaking in an unknown brew.

Master San’ge was a Second Grade voodoo doctor. The constant contact with the poisonous substances he worked with had also affected his Physique tremendously. The hide of an animal was draped over his body like a robe, while his exposed chest and face were covered in unusual patterns drawn with violet paint.

Master San’ge’s gaze was drawn towards the cloud of poison when he appeared.

“All of you, back off. Be careful not to touch these clouds of smoke. They contain terrifying poison inside.”

“Master San’ge, do you think you can clear the poison?” The commander of the squad of trolls here was an exceptionally strong Third Grade hunter. Supposedly, he should be able to give direct orders to the old voodoo doctor, being of a higher grade.

Unfortunately, spellcasters were extremely rare in the troll empire. Even voodoo doctors that only had meager control over elementium magic and some poison ability were well-respected among trolls. They were welcomed and greeted by prominent individuals wherever they went.

Consequently, even a Third Grade troll hunter had to be respectful towards the Second Grade voodoo doctor!

“I will give it a try!” San’ge frowned slightly. “The poison used by the enemy is of an unusual sort we have never seen before. It is not extracted from plant sap or animals, but…it seems like the poison itself is a bunch of extremely tiny and terrifying living creatures.”

“Living creatures? Master, do you mean that all these poison clouds have a life of their own?” The troll commanders were shocked to hear this. Their faces were filled with disbelief.

“Yes! These smoke-like things are, in fact, composed of many, many tiny poison creatures. That’s why it’s tough to deal with them.” At this point, San’ge took out a pungent oak branch and lit it on fire. The smoke that rose from the flame instantly dispelled the poison cloud and chased it away.

Master San’ge took this opportunity to bend over the infected troll hunter. He took out some sharp-smelling patches of herbs from the jar hanging from his waist along with a black scorpion. He put the herbs and the scorpion into his mouth and started chewing.

The shell of the scorpion shattered as its black blood spilled everywhere.

San’ge spat out the strange mixture created from chewing the herbs and the scorpion and dabbed his finger in it. He began drawing a strange pattern on the troll hunter’s forehead. From a distance, this rune appeared like something. There was a circle on the very outside, an upside down triangle on the inside, and an eye-like symbol inside the triangle.

Strangely enough, when he finished drawing the rune, it glowed with a blinding light. Every line was now brimming with light. It seemed to be emanating an unusual heat, causing the hunter’s skin to sizzle as if it was burning. The rune itself began to sink into his flesh as if to imprint itself upon the troll’s skull.

Gun’da, the troll hunter, screamed and leaped up from the ground, despite being on death’s door just moments ago. He opened his mouth, and a torrent of poison smoke poured out. It lasted for a dozen seconds before the smoke started to thin and lose its sickly color.

After another seven or eight seconds, Gun’da shivered and crumpled to the ground, having expelled all the poison in his body.

Even though his aura was fragile now, his life force was slowly recovering.

“You saved him.”

“Amazing!”

Joy appeared on the faces of the troll commanders, and they all expressed their gratitude towards San’ge.

“Take him down for treatment! The damage done to his body by the poison won’t recover for a while. He needs some rest before he can resume fighting!” Master San’ge gave a few instructions, and the warriors lifted Gun’da and carried him behind the lines.

Compared to the joy of the troll leaders, San’ge was not smiling at all.

It was a terrifying poison he had never seen before. He could sense traces of magic within. If the invaders were able to spread this poison on a large scale, he would not have any means to save the entire troll army.

However, just as his own concerns occupied San’ge, the shouts and cries of troll hunters could be heard in the distance.

They had managed to catch up to the enemy’s ranks!

The troll warriors were weaving through the forest in pursuit, letting out all sorts of weird battlecries while sniping the enemies with their precise javelin shots.

A dozen vampire bats were twisting between the trees in front of them, desperately dodging the terrifying javelin attacks. Unfortunately, no matter how they fled, the number of troll warriors in pursuit all increased.

Pupupu!

The javelins shredded the trees, bushes, and the vines to pieces like bolts of black lightning. Green sap splattered through the air. Several red bats that couldn’t dodge in time were pinned to the trees, still twisting and struggling with all they had.

Even more javelins and spears flew their way, turning them into unfortunate skewers.

A crimson cloud of smoke erupted, and the bats returned to their original forms, revealing their actual appearance.

Green skin, vicious faces, terrifying tusks, and the strange patterns drawn all over their skin.

The troll warriors started cursing angrily. They could see that these dead bats were their former companions. Who knew how the damned enemy had turned them into their ugly, bat-like forms.

“Chase them…spread out and chase them. We cannot let these invaders escape.”

The troll commander’s furious shout rang throughout the forest and was echoed by the cries of several dozens of trolls.

The tough, elite troll warriors pursued the last remaining bats closely, quickly advancing into a small basin.

The cries of the troll warriors could be heard everywhere here.

Judging from this, the trolls had successfully cornered the enemy in the basin.

However, they had no idea that just a few kilometers away on a cliff above the forest, Mary, Soros, Remi, and the vampires were gathered, gazing at the battlefield from a distance.

“The enemies have walked into the trap! Remi, it’s up to you now.” Mary nodded at Remi, and the Spirit of Pestilence smiled cruelly.

He patted his mount, and the giant poison toad jumped a few paces forward. He stood on top of the toad and extended both arms before letting out a silent howl towards the distant forest.

A strange soundwave traversed the five-kilometer distance and echoed in the basin.

Several squads of troll warriors had now spread out in the forest with their javelins held high. They carefully searched the basin for enemies. If there were even the slightest of movements, their javelins and spears would rain down on the area.

With their strength and precision, no prey could escape their attacks!

A small squad of troll warriors was searching near the edge of some shrubbery. A little rift opened in the ground where they were walking past, and light-yellow smoke drifted out from below.

The smoke wasn’t very thick. Mixed with the natural mist of the forest, it was difficult to notice.

There were over a hundred of these plague spreaders throughout the basin forest, each of them hidden beneath the bushes or the trees.

There was no wind in the basin.

The light-yellow poison cloud lingered in the air, not at all obvious initially. However, when the smoke started to thicken, some of the trolls began to notice something was wrong.

A troll warrior suddenly stabbed with his spear and pierced the bark of an ancient tree in front of him. He retracted his spear, and hanging from the tip was a fat, wriggling worm, still spitting out some strange yellow mist.

When the troll warrior lifted the worm closer for inspection, he unintentionally inhaled some of the poison mist. He immediately felt his head sink heavily and his limbs go numb and weak.

“A trap…this is a trap! Retreat, hurry and retreat!”

The next second, the troll warriors’ panicked cries of anger filled the entire forest.

Sadly, they had realized too late!

No one knew when, but a massive poison cloud had already enveloped the entire basin.

The sound of trolls coughing could be heard everywhere.

“Get out…get out of the basin!” The troll commander raised his voice and roared.

The troll warriors quickly rushed out of the basin under his orders.

Unfortunately, a poison cloud lingered around every troll warrior after they had escaped the basin. Several warriors who were badly poisoned clasped their necks and fell to the ground upon escaping. They wriggled on the ground and screamed in agony.

The trolls were indeed very resilient with a tough body. Sadly, none of them could survive the frightening poison personally laid out by a Third Grade Spirit of Pestilence.

For a moment, the forest was filled with screams of pain and silhouettes rolling across the ground in agony.