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 stilled, the trolls and goblins letting out roars and shrieks at the arrival of their master.

  The warlord's eyes swept across the battlefield, then the pressure hit. A suffocating wave of mana that froze him and the others around him. A sense of fear and nervousness hit him at once.

  All around him, soldiers staggered, flinching at the sight, knees buckling, and some even dropped their weapons. The air itself thickened, and he put all his strength into not going down on his knees under the crushing mana.

  Only once he heard another roar from the troll closest to him did he focus back on the battle.

  As he watched, the troll surged forward, heading towards a frozen soldier who had dropped his sword. He doubted the soldier even saw the troll coming, and before he knew it, Rayne moved.

  His body screamed under the mana pressure, but he shoved forward, shoulder-checking the man out of the way just as the troll’s club smashed into the dirt where he stood. Soil exploded upward, shards of stone and dirt slamming against Rayne’s armor.

  The soldier looked at him with wide eyes. “W-what?”

  “Snap the fuck out of it. Or get out of the battlefield,” he replied, then turned without even checking if the man had listened.

  The troll's eyes were on him, narrowed. It cracked its neck and let out a harrowing roar. In a blink of an eye, it was upon him.

  Rayne kept his shield on himself, dodging to the side, but the troll closed the distance again. The club came for his shoulders, and he ducked, slashing at its legs.

  It leapt back just in time, then twisted, the club hitting Rayne directly on the shoulders and throwing him back. Fiery pain burned across his shoulders and he cursed.

  But he had the presence of mind to not stop.

  At this point, he'd already killed a lot of trolls, and this one was no different. He charged again, dodging under the club that came for his head. The troll twisted again, but Rayne didn't jump back.

  Instead, he ducked under the strike, then closed into the troll's guard. His blade bit deep into its chest and it jerked backwards.

  Rayne took the opportunity to take out his blade and sidestepped as a hand smashed the ground where he had stood a moment ago. The troll charged again, but almost went down on its knees as more soldiers struck him from the back.

  Arrows flew through the air to land at its shoulders, and it swatted them away with its club.

  The battle was just long enough for the other soldiers to get used to the crushing mana and get out of their stupor. Rayne took a breath, pain lancing across his shoulders and arms.

  “You did great. How many has it been? Five?” Nate's voice came from the left.

  Rayne looked at him, raising an eyebrow at the blood on his face. “I don't know. Not enough at least. You okay?”

  Nate grinned. “Yeah, some broken bones, I believe. Not my blood, fortunately. And I think it's enough. No other soldier killed as many trolls as us, or you. We are just assisting you.”

  He shook his head. He wished he could explain all of this was less about killing trolls, and more about finding that regeneration skill. He had no idea if he would get the chance again.

  Despite him almost losing his life several times, it had still eluded him.

  Rayne swept his eyes across the plains. Most of the trolls were already down, and the ones remaining were dealt with by the squad leaders. Most of them were killing the monsters quickly and moving towards the warlord. Explosions rocked the plains as Casper and Edran took it on.

  But he didn't get to watch that battle. Another roar from the troll made him focus on it, and his eyes widened.

  Even with the soldiers surrounding it and giving it lesser wounds, it still roared and charged right at them. A club swing smashed a soldier right on the side of the hill, and he dropped unmoving.

  He took a step forward, intending to aid it himself. Just then, an arrow hit the troll right in the neck. It jerked to the left, almost crashing into the soldier standing there, and turned to look at the archers in the distance.

  Blood trickled down its neck and more soldiers jumped at it, but it swatted them away. Then, it raced towards the archers in a sprint.

  Bran screamed, dodging a strike that blasted the head of a young archer, then took out his sword from his hips. But Rayne doubted he would be able to take it on alone with the archers scrambling to get out of the way.

  The troll was probably the highest-leveled one they had faced yet. The others had perished in a matter of minutes, but it still swung the club with the same frenzy.

  Marco's face suddenly flashed in front of him, the half-eaten corpse that still made it hard to sleep. The fear of seeing more of his party the same way ignited in him, just as the troll kicked Bran right in the chest, sending him sprawling through the dirt.

  The other soldiers chased after it, but halted as the troll roared, smashing the ground around it in madness.

  Rayne rushed in then, reaching the soldiers in seconds before jumping close to the troll. He hesitated a second, then dove right in between the flying dirt and rock. His blade slashed through the back of its knee.

  It turned, the club coming for his head, but Rayne ducked, then leapt at the troll's stomach, stabbing at the wound he had created that already seemed to be healing. Blood gushed out of it as the troll screamed, and this close, he felt nauseated by the smell.

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  Another swing of the club came at him. He pushed his shield forward, bracing the impact even as his arms screamed, then stabbed the toenails of the monster.

  It jerked backwards, and Rayne took the opportunity to slash across both of its knees, hoping it would be enough to make it plummet.

  But unexpectedly, it came down at him. Rayne widened his eyes, pushing his sword forward. Steel met flesh. Blood erupted right in front of his eyes as he felt the weight of the world bury him.

  At the last second, Rayne heard the buzzing of notifications at the back of his head.

  Inaudible shouts took his attention back, and he felt hands pulling him out of the troll. He screamed at the pressure on his shoulders, but soon found himself staring at familiar faces.

  Kesh, Nate, John stared at him alongside Bran, who had blood streaking down his head but looked fine as he stared at him. All of them had taken their helmets off. Other faces were there too, soldiers he had fought with, but didn't even know the names of.

  “You are fucking crazy, gravewalker” Kesh said, and he saw others nodding along.

  Rayne didn't reply. Instead, he focused back on the notifications he had gotten. He had gained several since the start of the battle, but he only focused on the last ones.

  You have slain Troll x1.

  You have gained adequate experience.

  You have levelled up. Level 21 reached.

  +2 points gained in Strength. +2 points gained in Endurance. +2 points gained in Agility.

  Skill Stealer Activated.

  +1 point in Agility.

  You have stolen the skill Lesser Regeneration (Rare). The skill has been registered as a new skill.

  At once, Rayne felt like every feeling holding him down evaporated. He kept staring at the notifications. He had done it.

  Finally, he had the [Lesser Regeneration] skill. How many trolls he had killed for it? He didn't want to think about it. All he knew was that he had finally gotten it. A skill that might just save his life on the battlefield one day.

  Lesser Regeneration (Rare) - Level 1

  A lot of monsters can regenerate their wounds and bones, and now you can too.

  The skill allows the user’s body to recover from wounds faster than normal. Flesh knits, bruises fade, and blood loss slows. The process drains mana to work.

  Gives lesser regenerative qualities to heal and knit wounds faster than any human.

  Even as he stared at the skill description, he felt hints of warmth spreading through his body. Whatever amount of mana he had, the skill was using it to heal him.

  His exuberance was cut short when he felt a hand right in front of his face, moving across the notifications. He dismissed them, seeing Kesh crouching right beside him.

  “What are you doing?” he asked.

  The man clicked his tongue. “I should ask you that. What are you doing? Simply staring into space. Did you hit your head?”

  A few soldiers nodded as if agreeing with Kesh.

  Rayne sighed. “No, I'm fine. Pull me up.”

  Nate gave him a hand, letting him sit. He sighed, taking out his own helmet and feeling pain all over his body. He turned to look at the troll corpse right next to him. It had died easily in his opinion, for all the club hammering he had taken.

  Only once he got a good look at it did he turn to inspect the battlefield.

  The plains felt muted now. The forest still burned, and soldiers still chased goblins, but the trolls were all dead. Only one of them still remained, the troll warlord that fought Casper, Edran, Axel, and the other squad leaders in the centre.

  Every soldier avoided the battle, and Rayne saw several standing just like them, having already killed their fair share of monsters for today.

  Everyone seemed to know going against the warlord at their level would only mean death.

  “Don't charge right at it, for Henrexa's sake,” Bran said, and he glanced at him. The veteran sipped a health potion. “I know you want to.”

  Rayne almost shook his head, then realised he did actually want to charge right at it, only for the chance to get another skill. What type of skills might a troll warlord have? But his body screamed in pain even as he simply stood.

  And just watching a few seconds of the battle was enough for him to know that the difference between them was sky and earth.

  Even Casper and Edran were being pushed back repeatedly.

  As he watched, the warlord let out another shriek, mana rolling out of him in crushing waves. A few soldiers around him buckled and went to the ground, but the ones fighting the troll seemed to take it better.

  Edran charged at it with his blade burning red hot and slipped under its axe while Axel and another squad leader he recognised as Gregory jumped at its back. The warlord simply swatted them away.

  Casper unleashed her spell just then. A blast of heat in the form of a knight manifested right in the air and clashed with the warlord. It slashed with its axe, screaming as the flaming knight managed to cut deep into its shoulders.

  The warlord jerked in pain and the squad leaders took the opportunity to throw ropes around its legs, aiming to take it down. It ripped them off with its axe. More spells came at it—flaming lances, fireballs, and everything else.

  But the warlord seemed to heal as much as it took damage.

  It didn't seem to deter Casper. Air itself seemed to simmer in front of her as hundreds of flaming arrows conjured themselves right in the air. She shot them at the warlord, and Rayne saw them twisting in the air.

  Everyone jumped back as the arrows blasted around the warlord, its scream filling the plains.

  Rayne watched it all with awe. “That's amazing.”

  “Isn't it,” Nate replied, sitting on the ground. “That's the power of a mage. I heard she was at the top of her battle magic class in Astra Academy.”

  “Astra Academy?” another soldier asked.

  “It's the academy in the capital where anyone who gets a magical class is trained. Magical classes need far more theoretical knowledge, so they are the premier institution for that,” Bran explained. “But rather than just her class, that's the power of mana. Every skill that requires it has a lot of power. That goes for all spells.”

  Rayne recalled his Arcane stat just then, one that he hadn't been able to grow. He knew it related to mana, but he had no skill to use it with.

  He was sure that even Edran's glowing strikes used mana. So could he do it too? It certainly seemed possible. But not for today.

  Right now, he could only watch the battle unfold. See the warlord charging even with blood oozing out of its wounds and Casper holding it back with her spells while the others rushed with their weapons.

  All while thinking he would be there one day, taking on a monster like that. And not just sitting on the sidelines after killing ordinary trolls and goblins.

  “You did well enough for today,” Bran said, seeing his expression. “Rest and hope that they kill that thing.”

  “What if they don't?”

  Bran grinned. “Then, we run. But know that you and everyone else have already played your parts. It's now for the leaders to do their part. Can you walk?”

  “Why?” He asked. “You want to chase the remaining goblins?”

  He shook his head, pointing at the heaps of human bodies around the plains. Far too many soldiers had died today.

  “We need to see if anyone is alive. Everyone who can walk is going to go look for survivors. Is that clear?”

  A few soldiers groaned at that, but others were already getting up. He saw John and Kesh being the first one to check on a few that had been hit with the troll's club.

  Rayne followed them, but not before taking another peek at the battle that seemed to be at its end as another explosion rocked the plains.

  ***