The Adventure of the Light-Bearer

CH. 23 - Burning Rock

The trolls stared at Levin and blocked the exit. Levin just fell silent, he brandished his sword forward just in case, while the trolls in front of him clenched their teeth and shouted at Levin, some of them throwing pebbles at Levin, but no one dared to attack him.

The head of the troll walked up to the plateau, approached a large object there made of somewhat rusty iron and hit it with a wooden bat that was leaned there, giving rise to a very loud sound. The sound echoed throughout the cave and made the trolls close their ears and go berserk.

Levin was panicking. He was mobbed by hundreds of raging trolls. He knew he wouldn't be strong against them all by himself, so he just fell silent and thought hard. The trolls rolled him up and gave him no way out.

The head of the troll then walked into a large chair which was a throne. There was a chest on the side of the chair, he opened it and carried a large object similar to armor. The object glittered, candlelight reflected in the iron armor that looked very thick. The troll master was wearing it proudly, slowly he thrust the armor into his huge and terrifying body.

The terrifying sound of trolls in the cave was heard all the way to the dark and cold forest outside. The head of the troll then held a handle behind his stone throne, which was made of stone, he pulled it out with all his might to make the throne shatter and carry a huge sword that was extremely sharp and shiny.

"Destiny says something to me Sagmorat! Fate says that we will both fight and one of us will die a disgusting death! Destiny does not tell who will die, fate does not write who will bear the sad fate. But my sword will! Get ready to see the Hartlova Sagmorat!" shouted the head of the troll while jumping towards the crowd and stepped on small trolls with large bodies that caused the sound of splashed water.

The head of the troll raised his greatsword, pulled it back and swung it towards Levin. Quickly and swiftly Levin lowered his head so that the sword swung past him and slashed into the trolls around him. The sound of iron cutting through the flesh was clearly heard in the huge cave stretching up to it. The blood of the deep red troll poured out and splashes about Levin's body. Dozens of trolls were killed by a single swing of the deadly sword.

The sharp, shiny sword hit the floor and cracked it. Levin realized that the troll master was carrying a sword so heavy that he needed time to swing it, it gave Levin enough time to predict his attacks and avoid them.

Trolls around him then ran in front of him, giving him little room to fight. Levin was silent waiting for the next swing from the troll chief while putting up the horses to dodge. The head of the troll then moved the ladder so that it made a slow swing at the beginning but quickly when it swung, unfortunately the nimble Levin was already squatting before the sword was swung towards him.

The sword swing cut through the flesh of the trolls that were running around filling the empty place of the former trolls that had been chopped up. The sword gently pierced through their skin and made a sharp knife-like sound skinning the goats. The sword now struck the wall and pierced through it, making the sword tucked away.

"I didn't expect the burning anger to close one's ability to think. I think that feeling is so contrary to logic, I should still make him angry like this, I think his stupidity will be my strongest weapon at the moment" said Levin in his heart. He then carried a lump of troll meat lying everywhere and waited for the head of the troll to look at him, while other trolls ran towards him at a distance not too far away.

The head of the troll then looked towards Levin with a very terrible face. Levin took a breath, held him back and swung his hand throwing the wet flesh at the head of the troll.

'Plakk!' the sound of wet meat fell on the mouth of the troll leader so as to make the cave quiet for a few seconds. Levin threw a lump of meat a second time and hit the troll's right eye. The face of the troll leader then changed, he wrinkled his face and shouted in a voice that hurt the ears greatly. The head of the troll then ran towards Levin and stomped on another troll without carrying his sword stuck in the cave wall.

Levin was surprised, he did not expect and predicted that the troll chief would release his sword and rampage like that. Levin galloped swiftly dodging the troll chief's rampage to the higher ground towards his throne. The big troll chief ran after Levin and ignored the men he kicked and stomped on, but Levin's agility and speed allowed him to avoid the troll's rampage easily.

Levin climbed up the plateau rock with some difficulty, the rock was quite high and he had difficulty reaching for it. The head of the troll was getting closer, while Levin did not have the time and space to run in the other direction, he looked left right in panic. The head of the troll dashed towards Levin who was exactly ten meters in front of him, he clenched his hands, lifted him up and slammed him towards Levin. But Levin had predicted the attack and jumped to avoid it, so the attack missed and hit the rock plateau and made the stone crumble.

Levin swiftly crept behind the troll chief's back making him wander in search of Levin who disappeared from his sight for a few seconds. With his strong and fast legs Levin then jumped onto the slightly crushed rock and climbed it easily. Levin saw left right observing the place, he looked towards the surroundings and found a wooden staircase leading up to the cave. His round eyes followed where the stairs were going to take him. He then saw a hanging object made of wood that held candles, similar to a large palace lamp but larger in size and made of wood.

Levin continued climbing upwards, his hands getting tired and he could feel his body getting heavier. Gravity began to pull him down more strongly, the wood stuck to the cave wall the distance began to be a bit away and the size was getting smaller so he had difficulty moving quickly up. He then looked down for a moment, to check how far he had climbed. He saw a very terrible sight, he saw the head of the troll throw him with the troll weapons, the throw continued to miss.

Levin's heart pounded even more, he had no choice but to climb straight up, and he did so and fight the unsettling fear in his mind, the fear obscured his mind so much that he had trouble thinking.

Levin's trembling hands swung upwards in search of the next wood. His heartbeat paused for a moment, seeing that his hand was only grasping a small piece of wood that he could only pull out using his finger. He lifted his head up to look at the wood, which turned out to be the smallest rung of stairs. He cursed the trolls below him for making the worst staircase in Ydaya.

A troll then hit the wall right next to Levin and made a disgusting sound of water and splashed blood on Levin's face. His hand then became more and more trembling, he could not feel his breath, he then looked down with his teeth shivering and saw the head of the troll throwing his men up, towards Levin.

Levin began to limp, his head twitching and his eyes began to blur at that height. His breathing began to feel heavy, he had never felt this scared in his entire life. He heard the terrible rampage of the trolls below him, one by one the trolls hit the wall where Levin was now and shook the wall. Levin could hear the sound of a broken bone and see the face of the troll being smashed against the wall next to him. He hugged the wall and held the wood on it like a lizard. He felt that his life would end here and the miserable fate that the troll chief said would befall him, he would fall from a height and his body would be crushed to the ground.

A troll thrown up and slammed down makes a disgusting 'Cleeek' sound. But the voice inspired Levin, reminding him of Clea who was waiting for him at the tavern yesterday. He also recalled Arnold and Alisa who made him gain a little more energy from that memory.

Levin tries to grab the small wood with his four fingers and tries to climb it. He put his strength and courage there, he pulled himself up to grab another larger wood on it and managed to do it. He then climbed up normally, his survival instinct burning back inside his chest, he tried to grab the hanging wooden object.

A troll thrown up and finally hit Levin. The troll slammed into Levin's lower edge and his hand was smashed into Levin's leg, slipping his leg and smashing several wooden steps underneath. Levin tried to ignore it and kept climbing upwards, he almost got to his destination.

Levin struggled to turn around and face the lights behind him. He had to let go of one hand and grab the lamp that was behind him, but fear made it difficult for him to do that. He forced himself and let go of his trembling left hand to grab the thing, his hand swaying trying to hold the wood, while his other hand held the wood in front of him firmly. Levin finally held the large wooden object holding the candle with his left hand, the wooden object tilted due to the weight and pull of Levin.

There was a sound of a crack in the rock that held the object, maybe the wood that was attached there was so long ago that the object was almost released. The sound of a loud 'TAKK' then echoed in the cave, it slipped and fell down to hit the head of the troll right below it.

The fire then appeared and spread rapidly. Levin looked down and saw a very terrible sight. The wooden object stuck in the head of the troll leader and saw a lot of blood scattered throughout the corner of the cave. The other trolls were running around in fear, they were screaming because the fire from the candle was burning them. The fire was getting bigger, the blood of the trolls turned out to make the fire propagate, Levin had heard a rumor from the royal guards that the weakness of the trolls was fire, Levin had heard a rumor from the royal guards that the weakness of the trolls was fire, it turned out that the rumors were true and their blood was stronger than oil. The place was getting very hot burning.

Levin could feel that heat on his body that was still hanging above. The shrill screams of the burning trolls made her hair awaken, the screams more terrifying than the screams of the woman about to be killed. Levin looked down in horror to the point that he forgot that he had to get out of the place. A shiny object due to the burning embers on it then stole his attention, it was stuck in the stone where the wooden object was stuck. Levin realizes that it is a piece of Calemiara's crystal.

Levin had no idea what it was to reach for the crystal. He then resigned and did the only choice he had in his head, which was to bring the pieces of crystal in his face and point them up.

Levin was eager to shout excitedly, when he saw that the trick was successful, the two crystals emitted a bright light and stuck to themselves. Not only that, Levin was also eager to pat his head if he had empty hands, because now he did not know how to get down and out of the cave.

end of Chapter :)