Re: Tales of the Rune-Tech Sage

Chapter 154: Armoured Troll

CH154 Armoured Troll

***

”A troll?” Lieutenant Cross frowned. ”Why would a troll come all the way into the Dankrot Forest? Is the Alpha sure it’s a troll?”

”It gave me a description. I was the one who concluded it was a troll from that,” Alex replied. ”Is there a problem?”

Lieutenant Cross nodded. ”Trolls are notoriously lazy. They don’t move unless forced to. They’re one of the few Wildkin groups from the Ironmourn Desert who rarely attack human settlements during Wildkin raids. They’re neither battle-thirsty like orcs nor starved for food, since they can eat anything with meat—including other trolls and Wildkins.”

He paused for a moment, then continued, ”Add in their laziness... a troll wouldn’t normally make such a long journey from their territory deep in the Ironmourn Desert to here—close to the eastern border of our lands. That’s several hundred kilometres.”

Now that Cross had pointed it out, Alex couldn’t help but frown too.

’He’s right. Even if a troll were to travel that far, it would most likely do so through human territory which is easier to navigate, and full of easy prey. Why take the risk of going through a place like this—a place like the Dankrot Forest?’

”What seems more likely?” Alex asked aloud. ”That something chased the troll here... or something—or someone—brought it here?”

He and Lieutenant Cross locked eyes.

Neither answered aloud. But the silence between them spoke volumes.

They both knew what the likelier option was.

Neither of them pressed further on the matter. Without another word, they began preparations—organising the platoon for the battle that would come at sunrise.

If the troll was indeed the source of the upheaval in the forest, then it had to be eliminated.

Alex volunteered to take the night watch while Lieutenant Cross and Laura rested.

”You two let me meditate earlier,” Alex said, ”so I’m more refreshed. Go get some proper sleep. You’ll need your strength tomorrow.”

He didn’t stop there.

”You should sleep too,” he said to Udara through their mental link.

”I can still stay awak—”

”No. Go to sleep,” Alex said firmly. ”I might need you come sunrise. You won’t be at your peak if you don’t rest. Don’t worry. Nothing will attack us for the next few hours—not with the corpses of the Forest Wardens forming the perimeter.”

”...Alright, Master.”

Alex’s lips twitched.

Clearly, Udara intended to be stubborn about calling him Master to the very end.

Alex and Fen took watch over the camp while the rest of the platoon slept.

Well—Alex did.

It didn’t take long before the little cub began to snooze by his side.

’Well, it is unnsurpring. He is less than six months old,’ Alex thought. ’He still needs the sleep.’

He didn’t disturb the pup.

Instead, he let his thoughts drift.

’If Cross and I are right... then we were never the forest wardens’ actual target.’

’Their real aim was the troll and anything that had gathered around it.’

’We were just caught in the crossfire... by accident.’

After all, it didn’t make much sense for the forest to send out its wardens specifically against them.

If one considered the Dankrot Forest as a massive living organism, then the Verdant Stalkers could be likened to that organism’s antibodies.

Meanwhile, due to the rumoured unspoken agreement between the Empire, the Fury family, and the overlord beasts residing deep within the forest’s heart, human adventurers and Fury soldiers were more akin to detox supplements—or freelance sanitation workers—who periodically culled bloated beast populations on the forest’s behalf.

It would be absurd for the antibodies of a body to attack its detox agents—unless a mistake had occurred... or something had gone terribly wrong.

Alex remained quiet, maintaining watch as his thoughts churned.

The first golden rays of dawn crept through the canopy and gently lit his face.

Like spring sunlight melting away the stubborn remnants of winter, the morning light melted away Alex’s lingering unease and thoughts of conspiracy.

’It’s not like me to dwell on things beyond my control. As always, I’ll deal with the problem the moment it materialises.’

With that, Alex reaffirmed his personal Carpe Diem principle and pushed the doubts from his mind—for now.

The sunlight served as a silent signal. Even without orders from Alex or Lieutenant Cross, the platoon members began to stir at the first beam, waking naturally and moving with quiet discipline to prepare for the day—and the battle ahead.

Some checked weapons. Others, along with Fen, prepared breakfast, while the rest began packing camp supplies—readying everything so the platoon could move at a moment’s notice.

After breakfast, they moved according to the plan laid out the night before.

Laura and half the archer unit mounted the direwolves to scout ahead toward the troll’s presumed location.

Initially, the Alpha seemed reluctant—clearly preferring to be mounted by Alex and no one else.

However, he eventually relented when Alex introduced him to Laura. From the Alpha’s perspective, she was essentially a female version of Alex—which, in his mind, was even better.

She shared Alex’s silver hair and red eyes—the only other person in the platoon with such traits.

[A.N: Correct me if I’m wrong, but most people can’t tell individual animals apart unless they’re familiar with them, like pet owners. This flips that idea for beasts.]

With that, the scouts set out.

The rest of the platoon followed a few minutes later.

Thanks to the direwolves leading the way and Laura’s scout team plotting an efficient route, the platoon managed to avoid unnecessary confrontations with forest beasts.

Still, the deeper they travelled, the denser the beast population became—particularly around the troll’s estimated location.

The troll’s arrival had displaced many creatures, pushing them out of their original territories and into overlapping zones. This led to spikes in local population density and increased risk.

Thankfully, the direwolves’ presence intimidated most would-be attackers, and the scout team took extra care to navigate through the path of least resistance.

Even so, it wasn’t a perfect journey.

Eventually, the platoon entered the territory of a dangerous local species:

The Needleback Bagger.

For some reason, mother nature decided it was a good idea to give the aggression and bravery (recklessness) of a honey bagger to a creature which was giant cross between an armadillo and porcupine.

The result?

A menace of a creature that had the armoured defence of an armadillo and the venomous, barbed quills of a porcupine mounted all across its back like a walking deathtrap.

To make things worse, this damned beast wasn’t even a carnivore.

It was a herbivore.

Yet, despite that, it picked fights with anything that crossed its path—beast, human, or otherwise. Not because it needed food. Just because it wanted to.

So when a platoon of thirty-plus trained soldiers froze at the sight of a single, one-metre-tall menace sauntering through the forest like it owned the place... it was entirely justified.

”Retreat!” Alex ordered immediately.

The entire platoon turned tail and bolted.

Alex didn’t care if it looked cowardly. He would rather fight a dragon than this unholy spawn of nature’s bad joke.

Like its Earth counterpart, this beast had a bad habit of aiming between the legs.

Only this one had spikes.

And worse—it knew how to use them specifically for attacking between the legs.

It was a lose-lose situation. Fight and risk his family jewels—or flee and keep them intact.

Alex had made his choice.

Between honour and his still-unused family jewels...

He chose his family jewels.

No regrets.

Ironically, that brief interlude served to lighten the mood across the platoon. Soldiers laughed quietly about it, and more than a few took playful jabs at the horrified expression Alex had worn when he called for retreat—so uncharacteristic from the usually calm or cold-faced commander.

It made him feel more human to them.

More relatable.

After all, they would have made the same choice in his shoes.

So, by the time they arrived at their destination, the tension had eased, and morale had quietly improved.

They arrived at a wide forest glade—an open clearing deep in the periphery of the Dankrot Forest.

And at the centre of it sat a monster.

A four-metre-tall behemoth loomed on a throne made entirely of bones.

This was the creature the Alpha had warned them about.

It was massive, ugly, and unmistakably a troll.

This bloated hideous humanoid monstrosity was grotesque to say the least.

It had three eyes, massive arms, tree-trunk thighs, and a belly that jiggled with every twitch. It looked more fat than muscle... but appearances were deceiving.

Because that throne—if it could be called that—was made up entirely of bones.

Bones of countless powerful creatures native to this periphery of the Dankrot Forest.

”Just how many beasts did it kill and eat...?” one soldier muttered in a cold whisper.

The sheer volume of bones was enough to form a solid bed for the troll’s massive body.

”Sir. It’s armoured,” Lieutenant Cross whispered beside Alex, his voice grim.

”I can see that,” Alex replied with a deepening frown.

That detail changed everything.

This wasn’t just a regular troll.

It was a Troll Warrior—a rare subspecies known for wearing natural bone armour, forged by crushing and fusing the remains of its victims.

That meant more strength, more resilience... and more danger.

Alex turned back to his platoon, his voice sharp and clear.

”Alright, enough gawking. Move according to the plan. We need to turn this place in our favour before the fight begins.”

”Get moving!”

***