I Became the Teacher of a Troll Tribe

Chapter 15: The Envoy (4)

Thank goodness for the Spatial Pocket.

Thanks to it, we could shove everything in and get moving immediately.

“Jinyu! What’s going on all of a sudden…?”

Toka, who had managed to doze off in that short time, woke up in confusion.

There wasn’t much time, so I kept it brief.

“The mercenaries we met earlier. There’s a good chance they’re heading this way.”

“...Why?”

“They weren’t waiting for us; they were waiting for the Imperial envoy.”

I didn’t know exactly what their objective was, but if my guess was correct, they’d have noticed something was off with the envoy by now.

“Gromnar! Get the map.”

We checked our current position on the map.

We were still within Naplen’s Grasp.

Judging by where we encountered the mercenaries, we didn’t have much time.

We couldn’t afford to linger.

I put Stone Grunder at the forefront since Gromnar wasn’t at full strength, and we quickly broke camp.

“We’re taking the shortest route to Iron Jesro.”

“The shortest route?”

It was Morgan who asked, as if the answer wasn’t obvious.

Of course, we had to cut straight through the central zone.

“That area is known for its apex predators. You’re aware of this, right?”

“Better odds than running into those mercenaries again, Kruk,” Gromnar answered for me.

He wasn’t wrong.

We just had to avoid a direct encounter.

And even if we did run into something… well, we’d deal with it.

After all, aura had proven itself effective.

“…Just so we’re clear, the official acting leader of this envoy is me, not—”

“Quiet!”

“Wait, what did you just—”

“Monsters.”

Kieeeee!

‘A swarm of giant spiders. And…’

The grotesque forms of massive spiders, each over a meter tall, scuttled into view.

Among them, one stood out: larger than the rest, its grayish hue contrasting with the others.

‘A Primal Spider.’

Anything labeled “Primal” in the game was notoriously awful.

Many players quit the game solely because of the Primal series of enemies.

Their ridiculous resistances were one thing, but their unpredictable attack patterns made them a nightmare to fight.

This one was no different.

“Toka! Bring the antidotes!”

“I… I-I got it!”

The regular giant spiders were easy enough to handle, but…

“GOOOOO!!! SPIDERRRSSS!!!”

“Stone Grunder, stay calm. We’ll get it this time.”

Kreee!

Boom!

The Primal Spider disappeared again, leaving only a cloud of venomous mist in its wake.

‘Damn it. If only Lockhart had tagged it somehow.’

The spider had a unique mechanic: it was immune to attacks from anyone except the one it marked.

At least the mark wasn’t on Toka… though that was small comfort.

Whoosh!

Thud!

‘Another miss.’

We’d been stuck here for over 30 minutes.

“Human, do any of the spoils include a magic-sealed artifact? Even a simple fireball would do.”

“Nothing of the sort.”

“Krk! This thing’s giving us the runaround. At this rate, we’ll be stuck here forever.”

“Cough, the venom concentration in the air seems to be rising. That could be its goal.”

“The antidotes are almost gone!”

The situation was deteriorating fast.

And on top of that, the mercenaries could be closing in at this very moment.

I really didn’t want to do this, but…

“Morgan. Take Toka and Gromnar and move ahead.”

“What? What about you? You saw for yourself that aura doesn’t work on it.”

“It’s better for you to clear the path while I hold it off. I’ll catch up once the situation is handled.”

“…Makes sense. But if you’re not back in time…”

“I’ll rejoin you before you cross the central zone. Trust me.”

“Hmph, fine.”

I sent the rest of the group ahead, leaving only Stone Grunder behind.

At this point, I’d already revealed my aura, so there wasn’t much left to hide.

Still, the last thing I wanted was for Morgan, with his ties to the intelligence division, to learn too much.

Once I confirmed the advance group was gone, I approached Stone Grunder.

He was seething with rage, practically vibrating with frustration.

“GOOOOO!!! SHOW YOURSELF!!”

“Stone Grunder, listen carefully.”

“HUMAAAANNN!!!”

“I’m about to use an artifact. It contains a powerful attack spell.”

“Didn’t you say we had none?!”

“…It’s worth a lot of money. Surely you can understand.”

“Krk?”

It took him a moment to grasp my meaning.

“You… you’ve always been obsessed with money.”

“Come on, you’re a troll. You understand. Without money, we humans die.”

He was, in a way, my savior. Without him, I’d have died penniless long ago.

Once he nodded in reluctant agreement, I got to work.

[Master of Black Flames]

The power of the infernal flames, said to burn endlessly once they latched on.

In the game, this ability was used as an aura-like enhancement around the body.

Fwoosh!

But here, it had a more versatile application.

[The hidden trait Master of Black Flames has been activated.]

Flare!

Black flames erupted from the tip of my blade.

They didn’t light up the surroundings much, but their eerie glow would instinctively terrify anyone who saw them.

To bolster the effect, I layered on [Descent of the Shadow]. The resulting spectacle was nothing short of overwhelming.

“It’s an artifact. See?”

“…GOOOOO…”

With [Eyes of the Dark Priest] active, I focused on the darkness.

Though the spider vanished after each attack, its movements always left faint traces.

If not for Stone Grunder’s lack of agility, we could’ve finished this long ago.

Sssss—

Gotcha.

Sensing movement behind me, I turned swiftly and hurled my blade.

The spider, known to release venom even as it died, was my target.

I tracked the black flames as they spiraled toward it.

Shhhhhhhhk!

The oversized spider, easily 1.5 meters tall, was already accounted for in my calculations.

The blade, charged with power and precision, pierced its heart perfectly.

Thud!

‘Wait… heart?’

“Res… Res ponit…”

Huh?

What are you doing here?

***

At some point, I’d read a book titled War Mercenaries.

It detailed the rise of mercenaries during the first Racial War—fighters who sought money over honor and aligned themselves with no specific race.

Their ranks varied widely, from lone legends to entire mercenary clans.

Their prowess grew so infamous that both humans and trolls eventually sought to hire them with hefty bribes.

Mercenaries were classified into nine tiers based on their skill and achievements.

Even a 6th-tier mercenary was said to rival advanced troll warriors.

5th and 4th-tier mercenaries matched great warriors.

3rd-tier mercenaries could lead entire battle units.

2nd-tier mercenaries were on par with battlefield commanders.

As for the 1st tier… there was no point in comparison.

They were akin to Arkan, the strongest troll warrior, in terms of power.

Stone Grunder’s fear of the 4th-tier mercenaries we’d encountered earlier made sense.

Two 4th-tier mercenaries together were enough to silence even the most reckless troll.

And yet…

“GOOOOO…”

The dwarf mercenary, pierced through the heart, collapsed.

Unfortunately for him, my blade had been imbued with aura and the black flames of Ogrehampton.

A magician’s body couldn’t withstand that.

[An incredible achievement! You have defeated a foe equivalent to a 4th-tier war mercenary.]

[Your stats have increased.]

A system message flashed before my eyes, and I felt a faint tremor run through my body.

My stats had increased for the first time.

But that wasn’t the problem right now.

‘Holy hell, what have I done….’

Stone Grunder and I weren’t the only ones stunned by what had just happened.

“……!”

The archer, who had just watched his partner die, stood frozen, his mouth agape in disbelief.

“…It was an accident. Sorry about that.”

“Huh?”

“I didn’t realize you’d be there. You, uh… shouldn’t have jumped out so suddenly…”

“……”

“My bad. Can we let this go?”

The ridiculousness of my tone must’ve struck even me because I cringed inwardly.

I mean, I didn’t know this would happen!

“Beratulf… taken out by some… insignificant wretch…”

Was that the dwarf’s name?

Rest in peace, Beratulf. Truly unfortunate.

“Well then, I guess you’ll have to pay for this.”

Crap.

This was bad.

“Stone Grunder.”

“Krk?”

“From now on, I shall avenge my commander.”

“…….”

Why so silent?

This is the kind of thing Stone Grunder would normally love.

Wait… don’t tell me… he’s chickened out?

THUD!

What?

Stone Grunder collapsed.

***

“It’s fair now.”

What the hell just happened?

Stone Grunder, a warrior who had never fallen even with his back exposed, was suddenly down, utterly powerless.

“Now, kneel.”

At that moment, a gut-wrenching pain wracked my body, as if my organs were twisting and turning inside out.

[The hidden trait Unyielding Will is activated.]

[Pain resistance has increased.]

“Gahhh!”

Even with [Unyielding Will], standing upright felt nearly impossible.

The pain coursing through my entire body was unbearable.

‘…So this is what it is?’

I realized it instinctively:

This bastard had a special ability.

And a nasty one at that.

“…You certainly have something, don’t you?”

He seemed genuinely surprised that I was still standing, his expression saying, How are you enduring this?

Even as my heart felt like it was about to explode and my intestines twisted in agony, I forced myself to straighten up.

“What a… goddamn annoying ability.”

A 4th-tier war mercenary.

One who had clearly made a name for himself in real battles.

How many people must have fallen to this bizarre ability of his?

‘No time limit on this either?’

The unrelenting pain wasn’t going to stop.

I had no choice but to fight through it.

I focused all my attention on my lone remaining blade.

[The hidden trait Descent of the Shadow is activated.]

Whooooosh—

Aura surged around me.

With this, I had an idea of his ability.

It had to be something like [Fatal Internal Injuries] or [Gut Wrenching].

If that was the case…

That meant he didn’t have a defensive ability to block aura.

Unless, of course, he was some sort of Multifaceted Ability User—an absolutely hellish possibility.

Swish—

The bastard pulled out a bow.

TAT!

The moment I saw that, I charged at him without hesitation.

No matter how much pain I was in, I had to close the distance.

When fighting a ranged opponent like an archer, the number-one rule is to close the gap.

Failing to do so means instant death.

Whoosh!

“You little shit.”

As I approached, he tossed his bow aside and pulled out a dagger from somewhere.

His reflexes were so sharp that even my enhanced perception couldn’t keep up.

I was supposed to have the upper hand in close combat, but…

Swish! Whoosh!

The bastard evaded every single one of my attacks like he could read my movements.

My aura-infused blade didn’t even graze his clothes.

“Haaaah!”

Then, out of nowhere, his kick came flying at an impossible angle.

THWACK!

I took the hit square in the stomach.

‘Goddamn it. That hurt like hell.’

My insides, already in chaos, felt like they were tearing apart as the blow sent shockwaves through my body.

My vision started to blur.

‘Just once… just let me land one hit.’

My only chance of survival was to stab him with my aura-infused blade at a vital point.

It seemed he knew that too.

He kept his distance, likely planning to finish me off safely with his bow.

I couldn’t let that happen.

I had to stay on him no matter what.

“Where… Do you think you’re going… you son of a bitch…!”

I pushed off the ground, chasing after him.

Swish!

Again, my attack missed.

Shink!

I felt his dagger slash across my shoulder.

At this point, the pain barely registered anymore.

Whoosh!

“Why don’t you give up already? Wouldn’t you like to rest?”

And now he was talking smack.

He must’ve felt the gap between our skill levels.

But I wasn’t going down like this.

Thud!

I offered up my thigh, taking another hit.

Slash!

Using the opening, I lunged forward with my blade aimed straight for his head.

But…

Clack!

He crossed his arms in an X and grabbed my wrist, stopping my blade inches from its target.

My trembling blade hovered uselessly in the air.

The aura surrounding it began to fade, my strength completely drained.

“What now? You’re down to one blade.”

Clench!

He gripped the dagger lodged in my thigh, driving it even deeper.

“Kneel.”

…This guy had an obsession with making people kneel.

I loosened the grip in my right hand.

Clatter.

My last weapon fell to the ground.

“Good choice.”

He smirked, clearly confident in his victory.

He shoved me aside to retrieve his dagger from my thigh, leaning in close as he did.

That was when I made my move.

Fwoosh! Sizzle!

Black flames erupted from my hands as I reached up with both arms and grabbed his ears.

[The hidden trait Master of Black Flames is activated.]

“That’s right. Good thinking.”

I grinned.

“You’re about to learn the meaning of jam jam. You bastard.”