"Well, bring it on then! "

The troll was strong, but slow. Taking advantage of its cumbersome size in the narrow mine, Dorian ran as fast as his stamina let him, closing the gap between them.

' If I have to kill this thing to escape, I might as well do it sooner rather than later...'

[ you have applied weak spider venom to the training sword. all attacks will deal a small amount of additional poison damage over time. ]

Stepping sideways to dodge the trolls swinging arm, Dorian lifted his sword in a diagonal arc, cutting the troll from its waist to shoulder. The sword felt like a paddle, cumbersome and heavy as he tried to cut through the thick skin. A small scratch showed up on the troll, just having broken the surface of its skin, not enough to draw blood.

' What sort of skin is that!? It might as well just be made of stone! '

His arm actually ached from the impact, feeling like he had just broken a bone or two in his hand. Which, he actually might have. Since his health went down from that attack.

[ you have taken 2 damage ]

Dorian stabbed forwards with his sword, lunging as if he was performing a fencing thrust, ducking under the trolls attack.The blade went straight, slicing through its tough skin and piercing its torso, spreading the poison that was still on his blade into the troll. Furious, the troll smashed down with both arms, shattering the blade that was still caught inside its body, taking deep lacerations on its arms as it did so.

[ Critical hit! ]

-12

[ the training sword has broken! ]

[ Take it to a blacksmith to be repaired! ]

-10

-4

-4

-4

-4

...

The poison was helping a lot, continuously chipping away at the trolls health, while dorian did his best to weave through the attacks. The blade, now less than an inch long after it had snapped off, had become useless. Dropping the handle, Dorian pulled out something he had hoped to save.

[ you have broken the shamanic charm! ]

[ the vengeful spirit inside is finding a target ]

[ the vengeful spirit inside is haunting the emaciated troll! ]

An invisible blade started to hack down on the troll, like a ghostly companion, opening up wounds with every strike. A thick, dark blood soon started oozing out of them like tree sap. The shamanic charm was based off of the goblin that it dropped from, so a shamanic charm that was dropped from a lvl 30 goblin witchdoctor and the lvl 10 goblin rogue would have completely different power levels. Their rarity, despite already being a rare drop, only increased as the levels increased.

-6

-6

...

Now all he could do was pray that the charm would kill it, ducking under its clumsy attacks and using his shield to block the ones he couldn't avoid. It was becoming more and more irate, with an ominous redness starting to spread in its eyes. Each shard of stone that exploded off of the walls dealt some damage to Dorian, leaving him unable to focus completely. After another strike from the ghostly sword, it let out a roar, shaking the surroundings and knocking Dorian off his feet. Seeing a stone coming quickly towards him, Dorian raised his already half destroyed shield. Thunk. Cracks ran through the boards, splitting the shield down the middle. The rock was still embedded in the wood, along with other fragments of stone.

[ the beginners buckler has lost 8 durability! ]

[ the beginners buckler has broken! ]

[ you have taken 10 damage! ]

[ you are at critical levels of health! ]

' Damn, this troll has too much health! Even after using poison and the shamanic charm, it still hasn't died...'

He chewed on one of the disgustingly overcooked rats meat, restoring his health to acceptable levels and trying to keep his distance while he recovered, but the troll had other plans.

Rushing towards him, its eyes became fully red, with raised veins popping up all around its body. Its skin started to protrude jagged spikes of what looked like bone, which glinted menacingly off of the light coming from Dorians lamp. Charging towards Dorian at a speed at least twice what it was before, it lowered its head to try and bite him with its oversized teeth.

Still backing up, Dorian waved his arm over his equipment list, taking out the only thing he could and waving it in a windmilling circle like a cartoonish power strike. His proficiency with it was lacking, to say the least.

" If you think you're so tough, watch me kill you with a pickaxe! " He let out an absurd line, swinging just as the teeth came closer and closer to taking off at least a good chunk of his body.

[ Critical hit! ]

- 32

"....Huh....?" He didn't really know what result he was expecting, but it wasnt that. The troll looked about as shocked as Dorian, falling on one knee and staring with its one good eye towards the small human that had somehow done the impossible. Lodged deep in the trolls other eye was the pickaxe.

The troll finally collapsed, shaking the ground as it fell down from its kneeling position. Dust rose up in a cloud, choking Dorian who had almost been turned into troll food.

' Well...that was interesting...'

[ you have defeated the emaciated troll lvl 25! ]

[ an additional xp bonus is given because of the massive level difference! ]

[ you have learned the skill Critical Strike! ]

[ you have earned the title 'Mine protector' ]

[ the Dungeon 'Trolls Dungeon' has been cleared of enemies! ]

[ Returning status from Trolls Dungeon to Small Mine ]

[ you have gained troll hide ]

[ you have gained noxious loincloth ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

[ Level up! ]

The system dinged repeatedly as Dorian was once again bathed in the golden light of a level up. First things first, Dorian wanted to know what the new skill actually did. Honestly, the loincloth was probably better left unexamined. He would gift it to the next person that annoyed him.

[ Critical Strike Lvl 1. (passive) ] (0%)

> Increases your chances of landing a critical hit by 1%

>increases the damage of your critical hits by 5%

- Every enemy has a weakness. Exploit it. -

[ Mine protector ]

> you can buy items at a discount from miners. You can sell items for a slightly better price to miners.

- Thou art Mine Protector. I thank thee for thine service -

Looking pleased with himself, Dorian pulled his pickaxe back out of his inventory, finally ready to start with his quest. That is, if nothing else disrupts him...