Chapter 30
The news spread like a forest fire.
An hour after the declaration of the blood duel by Fredrick, whispers were already running across the fort. By the evening, everyone seemed to know of it, and once the sun was down, the betting market had opened.
Soldiers talked about it everywhere. In the training grounds, in the mess hall, and even during patrols. In just a matt...
2025-12-06 09:01:58 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 29
Captain Edran didn't look to be in a good mood. He swept his cold, calculating eyes over the group while fiddling with the pouch of gold coins, a twitch at the corner of his lips as if he was greatly annoyed. Rayne could guess the reason for his annoyance on his desk.
Besides the maps and rosters, there were several ledgers stacked together with documents lined around. He...
2025-12-06 09:00:22 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 28
Fredrick's words rang across the training ground, every single chatter dying for a couple of seconds before every soldier started whispering among themselves. A hundred gold coins was a lord's sum. No ordinary man would see so much money in a single lifetime.
In response, Rayne simply looked down at his person, raising his hands as if showing that he had no coin on him. ...
2025-12-06 08:59:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 27
The ranking bouts continued throughout the day. The circle buzzed with excitement, shouts, sneers, and everything else as names were called out one after another. Soldiers walked in with confident expressions, but only some left with the glee of winning.
The defeated were left with sneers and bloodied faces. One man even got his leg crushed and went back with a limp. The ...
2025-12-06 08:58:02 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 26
Rayne smelled smoke, melting iron, and the pungent smell of sweat as he entered Master Lander's workshop, the only blacksmith travelling with Captain Edran's warband. Kesh walked in next to him, looking around in wonder.
Weapons lined the walls—swords, spears, axes, halberds, shields. The standard of the army, but he even saw a trident sticking on the far wall, looking...
2025-12-06 08:56:49 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 25
Casper wiped soot from her eyes, smoke burning her throat as another spell matrix pulsed in her hands. The battlefield had quieted down compared to before; the soldiers had managed to kill the other trolls and the goblins were nothing more than stragglers.
But none of that mattered until the warlord was dead.
“It's losing its breath, men!” Edran barked, blood dr...
2025-12-06 08:46:30 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 24
A roar split the sky.
Rayne jumped out of the reach of a troll's club and snapped his head towards the forest, just as the warlord stepped into the battlefield. It looked as terrifying as the last time he had seen it, if not more, with flames harmlessly licking its hide.
His heart thundered with dread at the sight.
In a matter of seconds, the battlefield still...
2025-12-06 08:45:15 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 23
Rayne felt like he had been hit with a sledgehammer. His lungs burned. His muscles screamed and his legs wobbled as he tried to stand.
Up ahead, the troll stood, knocking away the formation like they were dolls. Soldiers circled around it, striking with their weapons, but each wave of its massive hand threw them backwards.
Its eyes burned with hatred and bloodlust a...
2025-12-06 08:44:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 22
What Rayne expected soon turned to reality.
Edran gave them marching orders alongside the other squads as the threat of the trolls kept making everyone nervous. Day by day, more trolls attacked, and more of them died.
Bran told him that a few squads sent more scouts down in the caves, but none of them returned. But with the trolls behaving so strangely, they had to ...
2025-12-06 08:41:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 21
The cool morning mist clung to Rayne's troll armour as he stood in the training grounds right behind the tower. Pale sunlight filtered through the clouds and a group of soldiers sat on the side, some drinking milk from the barrel and others chewing tobacco.
Other than the usual suspects that were his party members, he recognized Hobbs and Andar among them, both of them wh...
2025-12-06 08:40:10 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 20
Captain Edran stayed seated long after the other squad leaders had left. Hours had passed since he had heard the report of the troll warlord sighting, and the meeting that came after it had been one of the worst of his life.
He'd only been in the position of a warband captain for a year and a half, and not every squad leader took his every word as a command.
Despite...
2025-11-29 04:20:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 19
Rayne's breath caught in his throat as the massive foot emerged out of the hole, then slowly the whole body revealed itself. The goblins that had grown quiet began chattering unanimously.
He briefly saw a few of them bowing before focusing on the creature that had emerged.
Just a glance at it made every instinct in his body tell him to run, to not look at it, to sim...
2025-11-29 04:19:01 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 18
The troll's eyes squinted at him. Rayne's heartbeat quickened and his senses rang out in warning, telling him to run. To not become flesh for the troll to feed on.
Rayne ignored them, gripping his sword with a steady hand and pushing the status screen to the back of his head so it couldn't interfere at all.
The troll slowly got up. The body fell from its legs, and f...
2025-11-29 04:18:00 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 17
The arcspider slammed into his shield with the weight of a cannonball. Rayne groaned, and this close to it, he was able to get a good look at it. Dread filled him as he stared at the multiple crimson eyes of the spider.
It let out a shriek, a sticky black substance flowing out of its mandibles, and raised its hairy black legs to puncture through his shield.
Rayne di...
2025-11-29 03:37:45 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 16
Rayne's feet sank into the muddy bottom of the river and he almost cursed at the cold water, even under the sun. It rushed past him in roaring waves, threatening to make him lose his balance, and the gear he carried overhead in the river.
The water had been calmer near the bank, but the current had grown stronger the deeper they got.
If not for the ford Bran knew of...
2025-11-29 03:35:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 15
Edran Sinclair, second in line of House Sinclair, stood by the tall window of his office, arms folded as his gaze caught the smoke trails in the distance coming out from the forests. Another nest burned.
How many casualties would it have taken? One, a few, or a lot more than that.
He had no way of knowing until the report sat on his desk, but he had a feeling it wou...
2025-11-29 03:34:54 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 14
It turned out Rayne had to wait more for his new armour, and unfortunately, he had orders to follow.
“Rayne, to your left!”
Bran's voice alerted him and he turned to see a goblin charging right at him. He didn't panic and put his shield forward.
The goblin hit it with all its strength, but it barely pushed him back. Giving it a scowl, Rayne swung his swor...
2025-11-29 03:33:54 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 13
As Rayne had realised early on, rest was apparently not a part of the army. At least not with Bran standing over their heads.
The sun glared down over Fort Algar, and Rayne’s feet pounded against the dirt roads, running with all his might. They were already on their ninth lap of the fort, and Bran seemed to have no intention of giving them a break.
On top of it, t...
2025-11-29 03:19:11 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 12
Edran dropped from the fort like thunder on the ground. His blade glowed red-hot as he charged at the troll. It shrieked, swinging its massive fist, and Rayne almost shouted, seeing the captain continue on his path.
But at the last moment, he shifted, his body a blur and appeared right at the side of the troll. His sword moved in an arc, stabbing deep into its side.
Chapter 11
Rayne's leg ached as he walked. The crude cloth he'd wrapped around it had soaked through with blood long ago, but the wound was far from healing. It sent a dull pain up through his ankle with every step. His pain tolerance skill could only help so much, after all.
Kesh only had a bit of potion left, which Rayne didn't want to ask for, and his injury hadn't looked as bad...
2025-11-29 03:16:27 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 10
Fire crackled low in the center of the camp, casting flickering shadows over Rayne's face. He couldn't believe their luck—or bad luck, in this case.
Not every injured person had health potions in the end. It turned out two of them were also forsaken like him and Nate, and others had refused to share. Bran hadn’t brought any, which Rayne found strange, while Kesh had n...
2025-11-27 04:57:06 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 9
Boots crunched against mulch and fallen twigs. Rayne cast his eyes on the thick trees all around them as they headed deeper into the never-ending forest. He saw no birds on the branches, and everything felt quiet. Too quiet for his own good.
Until Kesh spoke the same words for the third time.
“How did I end up offending Axel for him to send me to die here?”
Chapter 8
Rayne stood near the door in Axel's office, still caked in dried goblin ichor and sweat, as the lantern hanging at the back of the room cast a golden light upon everyone. He felt disgusted and reeked foul, but even then, only one thought turned in his mind.
Fredrick was an asshole.
“Sir, the scouting mission was a success. We managed to kill a pack of six goblins a...
2025-11-27 04:52:30 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 7
Rayne eyed the trees as they moved. They were thicker, with branches growing at odd angles, trying to cover every part of the forest. Light wafted through the canopies, and he saw squirrels and birds on the treetops. Animals, not monsters.
They were as normal as they were on Earth, not twisted by mana in any way or form to give them instinctual abilities of destruction. 2025-11-27 04:47:24 +0000 UTC View Post
Chapter 6
Rayne thought that the worst was over when they had gotten back to Algar after killing the troll, but it had yet to come.
“Look me straight in the eye, trollface. See the sword coming for your neck!” Hobbs shouted over the cheering of the spectating soldiers.
Rayne brought his shield for the blow just in time and felt a jolt that numbed his arm. Hobbs followed ...
2025-11-27 04:45:25 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 5
The sparse trees thickened the deeper they moved. Bark changed color to a slightly reddish hue here. The squad marched quietly, and Rayne kept his eyes on the ground, careful not to step on dry leaves and branches.
The excitement of leveling up and gaining a new skill had faded after an hour of following troll tracks. Each time he looked down at a new imprint, he realized ...
2025-11-27 04:28:37 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 4
“Form up! Perk up your ears, and if I see anyone yawning again, you'll get lashes before you even get close to becoming monster meat!”
Hobbs shouted over the wind, and Rayne felt the man beside him stiffen, shutting his mouth before anyone could catch his yawn.
All around him, men stood in a loose formation, with more stepping out of the tower to join them.
Chapter 3
The hard, impatient, and thunderous knock almost made Rayne trip over the stool as he made his way toward the door. He picked up a rusty dagger he had found thrown on the floor and hoped it would be enough to keep the angry man at bay.
Another rap on the door made him frown. “Who’s there?” he asked, still feeling odd at how Valerian felt on his tongue.
“Open ...
2025-11-27 04:26:03 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 2
In that brief moment, Edran's urging made countless thoughts race through Rayne's mind. Should he run away? Should he admit he was an amnesiac? Should he reveal the truth about who he was and how he had no idea what was going on?
Each option felt like a deathtrap given the sparse memories he had. But as he thought harder about a way out, he realized the best answer lay in ...
2025-11-25 03:47:52 +0000 UTC View PostChapter 1
He gasped as a greasy, terrible scent flooded his nostrils and felt like he was living his worst nightmare.
It twisted his stomach into a knot, and he tasted copper in his mouth.
He gagged and rolled over, coughing saliva mixed with blood onto black dirt. Only, it wasn’t dirt after a second of watching it. It was soil caked with blood, scrambling footprints all...
2025-11-25 03:41:55 +0000 UTC View Post