Weapons of Mass Destruction

The "suns" are gone once again. As before, a terrible wave of mana washes over the entire first floor before they disappear.

This time, it's a bit colder than before, so we collect more wood and hunt more animals while expecting even colder weather next time. A few more people have learned how to skin them without damaging the skins, so we're keeping them in case another cycle becomes even colder. So we hunt as much as we can and smoke the meat.

There are more animals.

There are more goblins, many more.

And now, even groups of wolves have started attacking us.

In the forest around our camp, we've also found terribly mangled corpses of giant wolves and trolls.

We don't know for sure what monster did it, but I have my suspicion.

Cinderbear.

Oh, I almost forgot.

The corpses are mangled with limbs broken, torn-off limbs, and gouged-out inner organs, but they are not eaten, and that's what worries me the most.

Did Cinderbear develop a taste for a human-based diet?

If yes, why hasn't he come back?

People would be terrified, so only a few of us know about mangled corpses.

The bus is even more "armored" now, and we're using bigger and bigger pieces of logs to make it more durable. It's still our go-to place to sleep or hide. Our surroundings have also changed a lot.

There is an insane amount of sharpened logs pointing outwards.

There are some palisades closer to the bus.

We are building pitfalls with more sharpened sticks inside them, and Hadwin has taught us to set up some traps.

We are also collecting as much food and water as we can.

And we are leveling up.

I don't even bother killing level-two monsters anymore; I just break their limbs and throw them in front of someone else to finish. Sure, it's less experience than if they killed it on their own, but it's something.

In all of this, I try to have some fun as well.

When I'm fighting anything under level five, I don't use any weapon, just my hands and mana.

It was a bit hard and awkward at the start, but now it has become good training for me. I've learned more about their physiology and weak points.

Oh, and the level seven troll we fought some time ago together with Tess and Kevin?

Well, it was a baby.

Just a cute little baby and I think we found its mom.

Or dad, who knows.

I'm sitting high up in a tree and looking down as the troll slowly comes closer and closer to where I am.

[Troll, lvl 12]

During the past few days, I've been watching it together with Tess. From really far away, careful to not get noticed. We learned its routes, and the troll is more reliable than your country asking you for taxes. It always walks the same way, and we suspect it either comes from its house or goes towards it.

And now, we are here. We both washed in water, both our bodies and clothes, and then we threw some mud on ourselves and finished it by rubbing some plants onto our skin and clothes. All of this was to cover our smell as much as possible and to smell like the forest in hopes of avoiding its nose.

It truly has a humongous nose, I must say.

The troll's skin is more grayish this time, and it is probably 50% bigger than the baby troll we met. Its muscles look much more dangerous. The earth shakes a bit as it moves and stones crack under it´s feet.

It moves closer and closer, and when it is right under me, Tess makes some noise where she is.

The monster instantly stops and looks towards her, smelling in that direction.

Nice timing.

Now it's up to me.

[Focus]

[Mana Manipulation]

I activate my skills, and my mind enters a calming, deeper state of focus. Everything other than this hunt ceases to matter.

I grip the mace in my hand and exhale.

The troll starts turning towards me when a spear comes flying out of nowhere and burrows deep into its left eye.

ROAR.

Another spear comes flying and shatters as it hits the troll's skin, unable to wound him at all.

The monster turns towards where the spears are flying from, and I jump down from the tree directly towards its head.

My muscles feel as if they are burning, and I swing my mace as hard as I can right at the back of the troll's head. The amount of mana going through my body is no joke, and I hear a crack as my mace hits.

Crack

Terrible wounds appear on the back of the troll's head, and the mace shatters to pieces. I throw away the now useless handle, instantly pulling out the short sword I have with me.

The troll staggers, confused and most likely with some brain damage.

Two more spears come flying and hit the troll's face, unable to do more than distract him.

I land on the troll's shoulders and dodge the hand reaching out for me.

[Oscillation]

I send mana through the handle of the sword and towards the blade. It creates a thin mana coating around one side of the blade.

My head hurts, and blood starts running from my nose.

I focus more and more.

Mana on the blade becomes denser and denser and moves towards the tip. Using the Oscillation skill, the blade begins to vibrate rapidly, its edges humming with energy. The swift back-and-forth motion of the mana enhances cutting power. With the full power of my mana-strengthened body, I stab the sword inside the wound left by the mace.

Then, I hold on tightly to avoid falling and have to dodge its hands as the troll starts thrashing around. When given the opportunity, I pull out the sword and stab again right next to the first wound, but the blade bounces off the monster's head; [Oscillation] is gone, and even my [Focus] can't keep it running any longer.

So, I stab the already existing wound again and again. Every time I do, the monster's roars become weaker and its movements slower.

A chilling, piercing noise fills the forest as spear, propelled by psychokinesis, slices through the air like a deadly projectile. The steel blade gleams menacingly, streaking towards the troll's neck at breakneck speed. The terrifying combination of Tess's psychic force and the spear's sharpness drives it deep into the creature's flesh, leaving it lodged within its throat.

I stab again and move with the sword while it's lodged inside the troll's brain, creating disgusting wet noises as i make a mess out of the monster´s brain.

Finally, the troll starts falling to the ground, and while jumping down, I grab the spear and pull it out so it doesn't break.

You're welcome, Tess.

The monster lands, and I finally get the message.

[You have defeated the Troll Lvl 12]

[Lvl 8 > Lvl 9]

I invest my stat points and look at Tess coming closer. She answers my unspoken question, "I did level up, yes."

Good.

The spears she threw, start floating in the air and then move right towards her. She slowly checks them out one after another while the remaining ones float around her in a circular orbit.

That's just plain showing off!

Well, whatever, just wait until my [Focus] shows its true power; even you will shudder in fear.

We get to the clearing, and I realize that we've been here a bit over a week. It's surprising to me how some people have adapted to all of this.

As more and more time passes and I observe them, I come to realize that none of us are normal.

Maybe it's not that we were randomly put into hell difficulty, but that we were put into hell difficulty because of who we are?

My theory is that the system places people into the difficulty it thinks is best for the person. As for the fact that an entire busload of people got here, maybe we are all suitable for hell difficulty?

There are so many people on Earth; there have to be groups of people together where all of them are a good fit for a specific difficulty, right?

Anyway, that's just a little theory I came up with.

What welcomes us at the clearing is an angry Hadwin stomping right towards us, with a few people following him, probably wanting to enjoy the free show.

Well, I can't blame them. These days, it's hard to find something amusing to do.