Triple Strength

37. Bonded: Wiremu

Koza came to me the next evening and said, ”The day after tomorrow we will be passing through the territory of a Mountain Troll. Normally if we pass through during the day and are well outside by the evening this would not be a problem. However, this is good training for you and a monster core for me.” He smiled then continued, “Velikan and I could do this on our own, if we had too.”

That was absolutely incredible. I was stunned.

He continued, “Depending on the terrain and on the Troll it would be a six to eight hour fight for us. We think that with Pip’s help we could halve this.

I was stunned that they could fight for six to eight hours straight, so it took me a while to click that they didn’t want my help, they wanted Pip’s. “Wait up,'' I said .”I need some explanation here. Please start with how the hell can you fight for six to eight hours straight.”

“This is a weakness you and Pip share. Your bond is good, Journeyman Level if I am not mistaken.” I nodded. “Yet you don’t fight together.” He continued. “You use his senses to help you track, but you don’t hunt together. Velikan and I hunt together all the time. You are used to playing the role of Pip’s protector, but he is a hunter too. Your skills are unbalanced between you and you must learn to hunt together and share more skills. The Skills I have from Velikan include Stamina and Strength boosts, Hide Skin, Speed Burst and Bond Senses. It is these shared Skills and the way we fight together, trading off the aggro between us, that make extended fights possible.”

I realised I only shared Bond Senses with Pip and he has Granite Bones and Camouflage from me. I also realised that apart from the occasional hidden strike from Pip, he was right that I did all the fighting. Taking down the cat was a classic method from us. Yet it wasn't us, it was me. How could we fight as a team?

“So how will Pip halve this time?” I asked.

“Mountain Trolls are big, strong and have a huge amount of physical regeneration. But they are dumb. A fight with a Mountain Troll is a long fight wearing through their regeneration. Pip’s venom will eat up a lot of that regeneration and hence shorten the fight,” he replied.

“Are Mountain Trolls like Field Trolls?” I asked, “as I have fought one of them.”

“Very good,” he replied, “you have some experience. Mountain Trolls are bigger, stronger and have more attacks than field trolls. But they are just as dumb. They will repeat the same attacks and that can be predicted and avoided.”

That matched up with my experience with the Field Troll. “I remember my old Hunt Master saying the way to take down a Mountain Troll was with Spiritual Trapping. Would that work?”

“Yes, but your Hunt Master must have been a Master Trapper, with Spiritual Trapping at least in the Journeyman levels. What Level is your Spiritual Trapping?” he asked.

“Novice,” I said.

“Bring any traps, but don’t expect much effect at that level.” he advised. “To fight with your Bond you must always be aware of your Animal Bond skill. It is through this you communicate and share skills.” he continued. “You will get to understand each other better and anticipate each other. Pip’s weakness is mobility. He will need you to get him to where he can be effective. It is also unlikely he will be able to bite through Troll skin so he will need you to make a cut or to put him in a weak or damaged area.”

Great. Rocky was my horse and I was Pip’s horse. Shows who the real boss is. I wondered if Pip would get the riding skill.

“Now,” he continued, “Injuries and loot. Velikan and I can take bigger hits than you. I have two health potions with me. Erik and Ashby will have some for emergencies, but this is a private hunt, so you have to buy them. You and Pip will be getting very close to the Troll, Pip will be on the Troll and then escaping along the ground, probably. Pip’s biggest danger is being stood on by a five ton troll. Your biggest danger is being hit when dodging close to get Pip in place.”

“Pip and I both share the Skill Granite Bones, which currently gives a 17% crushing resistance. I took a glancing hit from the Field Troll and it pulled me through.” I responded.

“That will help. Pip will probably survive if he keeps on soil to cushen any misstep. If he gets crushed against rock nothing will save him. Velikan and I will draw the Troll away, but all sorts happen in a fight.” Koza observed.

“Tabitha helped with the field Troll. She has some unique skills that could be helpful.” I thought Tabitha could be very helpful, but she would also be grumpy at missing out.

Koza looked at me. “Several of the dwarven warriors could also help. I am not training them, I am not training Tabitha. I am training you. Too many people and I can’t save when they do dumb shit. I have watched you fight, I can keep an eye on you and Pip, and help, when you do dumb shit.”

I noticed it was a when and not an if.

“Now Loot,” Koza continued, “There won’t be much. We will have to leave most of it. Every part of Trolls are valuable, like the Rock Serpent. But Trolls are flesh and you need special solutions, or most of the treasure will be rotting within a day. I will take the core, we will split the rest 50/50. We will get the skin, teeth and claws. Pip and Velikan get everything they can eat and you can take as many bones as you can carry. You have to cut them out yourself.”

“What are they used for?” I asked.

“The skin is for really tough, but light armour. Take it to a leatherworker. Don’t do it yourself. A Leatherworker will preserve some properties and it will self repair. They make good boots too, he said showing his. Bones are used for many things, but you want ribs for reinforcing in the armour. I have heard they can also be used in bows, but not my field. Teeth and claws are usually ground down and used in alchemy.” He replied.

“One more thing,” he said. “You also have a chance at getting the Monster kill. All you have to do is beat me to the final blow.” He grinned.

My chances were obviously not great for that. Not that I wouldn't try. Then I realised that half the conversation had been in Orcish. I checked the Skill and it was now apprentice level. So that’s the reason Koza was suddenly talking more. I think he is more comfortable speaking Orcish, and maybe his Common isn’t that high a level?

I prepared the best I could that night. I reinforced parts of my armour with the boar hide and created extra throwing darts. It was the serrated stone knives I really stocked up on.

The next day dragged. We left the team before dinner and headed into the mountains. Mountain Trolls were like their field cousins and only emerged at night so we were planning to fight through the night. I had my bow and spears and traps and I was loaded with knives and darts. I think I had too much.

Velikan located the Troll first, of course. Koza started the fight with a thrown spear which lodged in the Trolls thigh. That got his attention and the roaring started and Koza was charged. The spear was dislodged in the charge and I could see the wound closing as I watched. Velikan came in from the side and tried to hamstring the Troll but only drew blood. I went in from the other side and stabbed a serrated knife in its calf and left it there. This bled for longer, but then the skin closed up around the knife. I think it really annoyed the troll having a knife stuck in its calf. It was reaching down to get rid of it and I got an arrow in its neck. Embedded stone knives were really going to slow the Troll down which will help. Maybe I didn't bring enough.

Koza distracted the Troll with a spear in the belly, ducking the return swipe and leading the enraged Troll in a circuit. Velikan was in and out and then I went in embedding another knife and left it there, but this time Pip was curled around the handle and he added venom to the wound. Pip then slipped off the Troll and onto the ground and slid away and in my next pass sliced a ragged wound and then I picked him up. We did that again and the Troll had had enough and saw me as the easier target. Koza had warned me about the rock throw ability and still it clipped me, and I rolled, coming up with a spear as the Troll was charging me after the throw. No way was I meeting that charge and I rolled again tossing a dart toward his eyes. It just bounced off his forehead. We were only five minutes into a three hour fight and I had taken a hit and was feeling it. I needed to pace myself.

Velikan took the aggro by biting the troll's leg and not letting go, shaking his head and working his teeth deeper. The Troll spun around to pound him and both Koza and I went for a leg each as he escaped. I went for the leg Velikan had been chewing on and left Pip to add his venom. I was taking Koza’s advice and really keeping Animal Bond at the front of my mind. I could feel Pip injecting the venom through the bond and knew when he was done. This time the Troll didn’t follow Koza or me but swiped at his leg, clipping Pip and sending him flying. I sent an arrow at his eye but only ended up taking off half his nose. He had stopped looking for Pip, who had stayed still and activated camouflage. Mountain Trolls have poor eyesight the same as Field Trolls, so Pip probably didn’t even need to use camouflage. I knew he was wounded, but his skin and Granite Bones had stopped most of it. I had never realised how much information and feeling I could get through this bond. I am assuming it was reciprocated for Pip. I made a pass behind the Troll using my serrated knife to cut a jagged line right across his back and scooped Pip up on the way past. Ten minutes gone.

Koza started another round with a spear in the belly of the troll, again. Velikan and I went for another pass at the legs and I left another knife embedded, in the thigh this time, with Pip attached. Knowing when Pip was done I put an arrow in the Trolls buttock and Pip was able to reach it and perform a second injection. The Troll swug an arm back to dislodged the arrow and Pip went flying again. This time I tried to send some Spiritual Strength into his Granite Bones Skill through the bond to help. No idea if it worked and again I felt his skin and bones soak up the damage. Pip would need to take a break soon to regenerate some Venom. My Identify skill came into play and indicated strengthening the bond with Spiritual Agility would help Pip regenerate Venom faster. I tried. This was really starting to feel like we were a team.

Koza started the next round with a spear in the belly of the Troll. This time he wasn’t quite fast enough and the Troll’s swiped clipped him and sent him flying. Velikan was already heading into the rear of the Troll, so I took the aggro so he wouldn’t charge the downed Koza. I put a spear in his belly. I made sure I ducked out of the way in plenty of time but he came after me with one of those fast charges the Field Troll did. I rolled, but my armour took a hit and I kept rolling for quite a while. Pip was somewhere off in the grass and I felt him trying to strengthen my skin to take the damage. Nice try. Using the bond to help each other was fantastic. By the end of the fight we might even get it to work.

Velikan had taken the aggro and was dodging rock throws. Koza was moving in behind the troll with his spear and a wicked looking knife I had not seen before. The knife actually tore the hamstring this time and the troll went to one knee and Koza’s spear went in under the troll's arm. I rolled to Pip and tossed him to Koza, who caught him and let him inject the hamstring before rolling away. That slowed the healing and the Troll was dragging that leg for the entire next round. We got some good damage done during that time. I stood behind the troll stabbing him with my spear half a dozen times before the tip broke against his rib. Koza got the shoulder very loose and Velikan took some fingers away to chew. I was amazed that the finger stumps were already sealing over and starting to regrow.

We were nearing the half hour mark, or maybe it was past it. I was losing a sense of time. We will just have to count rounds. Pip would need a couple more rounds to recharge his venom. I could feel it through the bond. The next pass I sliced my knife along the Trolls back trying to replicate the feeling of injecting venom. Worth a try. Must try all these things, more than once.

Koza started the next round with a spear in the belly of the Troll. Seriously, what does it take to give this guy stomach ache? Pip was making his way forward through the grass when the Troll activated his Quake skill for the first time. I went to one knee and I could sense Pip bouncing around uncontrollably. I tried to strengthen the Bond with Strength again and got my bow and got an arrow in his groin hoping it would disrupt him from using the skill. It didn’t seem to. He was looking to charge Koza while he was unbalanced which would also go over Pip, so I threw out a Spiritual Trap and it caught his leg causing him to get off balance in the shaking. He went to one knee and a hand went down onto the ground to support him, perilously close to Pip. Pip didn’t waste the opportunity and bit the weak skin between his first and middle fingers. The Troll bellowed and raised his hand with Pip still attached. He shook his hand and Pip went flying. The skill finally stopped and I leapt for the back of the Troll before It could go after Pip. I had a dagger in one hand which I stabbed into the shoulder to keep me there and the other hand went up to the back of his head and I triggered Granite Spike from my palm into his head. It bounced off his skull. I left the Knife embedded and slid down the trolls back to the ground receiving a kick that sent me flying, his feet claws tearing through my armour. I felt Pip pushing Snake Skin in my direction. The world was spinning when I landed so I don't know if it worked.

Koza got the Trolls attention and started the next round by thrusting a spear into the Trolls belly. Velikan was hounding the Troll from the rear. Pip was in the grass to my right somewhere. I collected my Bow. I had to restring it. Pip was making his way to me, so I took my time and lined up a shot. This time I tried to imbue Venom into the arrow. I got his eye, on the third try. He didn’t like that and yanked the arrow out. I couldn’t tell if the green dripping off the end of the arrow was a successful imbuing of venom or just gunk from his eye. Hope for the first, expect the worst. Koza was in trouble, Pip had joined me. I grabbed a new spear and ran in.

I got the Trolls attention and started a new round by stabbing the Troll in the belly. Then I shoved Pip in and dropped and ran. I think Pip finally gave him stomach ache. He bellowed and chased me. I took a hard hit this time, but I landed softly on Velikan. I am not sure if Velikan thought it was soft. Pip had dropped to the ground during the dash and was making his way toward me. Koza had the Trolls attention trying to widen the wound in the stomach. I needed a moment to get my breath after that hit and check nothing was broken. Velikan headed in determined to get a hamstring, I think. I lined up a shot with my bow again and was trying to poison my arrows. I didn’t have many left. I was aiming high so I didn't hit any friendlies. The poison didn’t seem to be working on the arrows. I am not sure it was working at all. I loosed the arrow hitting the back of the neck. I missed the grab for the next arrow, but then something clicked and I was aiming a green tinted arrow. I let loose and hit the Troll in the back. The arrow point penetrated then the whole arrow seemed to be absorbed into his back. I don’t know what the new Skill was called, but I had definitely made a poisoned, spiritually created, arrow. It took a lot of energy so I would have to use it sparingly until it levelled. But I definitely had to try it a second time now. I worked the same as the first. I would check the details later, now I had to enter the frey again.

Velikan started the next round by trying to rip an intestine out of the Trolls stomach. He was partly successful, but took a hit for his trouble. I saw claw marks dripping blood from his side, but it didn’t even slow him down, which was just as well as the Troll was going for a Rock Throw at him. That is until the Trolls arm went slack as Koza and his wicked knife sliced arm tendons. The Troll changed tactics at that and Koza almost added a troll bite to his collection of scars. Velikan and I were both coming fast. I went low for a tendon, he went high onto the Trolls back, driving him to the ground. I got five quick strikes at the tendon before the Troll raised himself up again. Pip got a bite in as well.

Koza started the next round by thrusting a spear into the Troll's stomach. The Trolls' regeneration was definitely slowing down. Velikan’s Intestine was still hanging out and the arm was taking longer to become active. I went for the damaged arm using quick strikes and trying to imbue poison in the strikes. In the end I left a dagger embedded and Pip to do the job properly. I was running short on stone daggers too.

I moved to the front and started the next round by throwing a dart in his eye and stabbing him in the stomach with my spear. Pip was having a second bite at his arm. He started his Quake Skill again and I tried to roll away from him but my leg got pinned by his feet claws. Blood was dripping and I curled up and attacked his foot with my dagger and a dart in the other hand. I couldn’t take off his claws without stabbing myself, especially as everything was shaking. I tried to take off his food instead with a series of quick strikes and imbuing poison. When I got to his bone there seemed to be no way to get through it. I put my hand against his ankle joint and tried ramming Granite Spikes through it. The bone was chipped and had pieces of granite in the joint when he took a step and released me and I rolled away. My leg would have been broken in two places if not for Granite Bones. It was still dripping blood so I wrapped a strip of hide tightly around it and looked at what was going on.

Pip was not on his arm and more but up by the back of his neck. I am not sure what he is going to do up there as I don’t think he could bite through the neck skin. I was the strong one. I tried to channel Physical Strength through the bond. I have no idea how that worked but Pip suddenly bit clear through the skin and injected poison into the main artery there. I restrung my bow, again and when Pip had finished he rolled down the trolls back and into the grass. I put a Poison Arrow into the same artery. The Troll was moving very slowly now. I lined up another shot when Velikan got in my way and got a good grip on the troll's throat and he worked at it hard and more and more blood started coming out around his jaws. Then he got thrown and Koza ended the rounds with a spear thrust through the neck and stepped back as the troll fell and didn’t rise again. Koza made sure and severed the head.