A troll, a bloody troll! Come on, that was way too unbalanced. This is a game-breaking bug. The irony of that thought came to me a few seconds later. I am a game-breaking bug. Yet, hacks would not save me from getting smashed.

  "Can you, like, go all Kitty Pryde and phase us out of here?" I asked the half-ghost next to me.

  "Kitty Pride? Phase? I do not know what you are talking about."

  "Oh, come on, Dani Phantom. Can't you just touch my arm and make us go ghost?"

  "No, I can't do that! And that's not my name!" She spat, with a little venom in her voice.

  An oppressive roar broke out from the troll's disgusting maw. It felt like actual physical pressure as he screamed a battle cry. Adrenaline nearly made me bolt in a random direction, but luckily he didn't charge at us. He was just beating his chest and playing to the crowd.

  "Bloody showboater." I muttered angrily.

  "I can't use my powers to escape; the walls have magic in them."

  "And that matters why?" I asked, genuinely curious but also shit scared.

  "Magically infused walls! You can't walk through magically infused walls!" She screamed in my ear.

  "Walls! You ripped out that dude's brain back there." I pointed back at the brainless corpse.

  "His magic was weakened!"

  "How was I supposed to know? I don't know shit about magic."

  She rolled her eyes, dismissing me with a wave and a sarcastic "whatever" before returning to the task at hand. That being the giant troll that had just finished riling up the crowd. The bastards were chanting the name "Titan" repeatedly.

  "Titan?! Oh, we are so dead!"

  [Congratulations on reaching level 15 in the Class: Systemologist!]

  [Skill selection available!]

  [Sonic Inception (Standard). Description: Project a powerful sonic attack directly into the mind of your target. Range: 40 metres. Cost: 50 SP]

  [Distort the System (Advanced). Description: Distort the target's character sheet by randomising their skills and abilities. Range: 15 metres. Cost: 200 SP]

  [Transmute Energy (Standard). Description: Transmute system energy into health, stamina or mana. Cost: 5 SP per 1 unit]

  [Skill Lock (Standard). Description: Disables the last used skill of the target for 30 seconds. Cost: 100 SP]

  The abrupt series of notifications was pretty jarring. But considering death by crushing was not too far away. Politely, I had to decline the inspection. Sending Jenny a thought that I would get to it later. In response, she played soft and steady instrumentation with a tambourine and gentle bass. Vocals repeated the playful sentiment that said She got me, babe. I recognised the song and its romantic undertones, but I doubted that was what she was trying to convey.

  [Skill Suggestion: Skill Lock.]

  [Do you wish to accept this skill? Y/N]

  Initially confounded at the sudden notification instead of a selection. Just a suggestion of a skill she thought would be useful. Pausing for only a moment, I affirmed a universal truth. Jenny was my girl; she would never lead me astray. Mentally selecting yes, I dismissed the next notifications because we had more important matters to attend to. The two of us were still standing in the centre of the blood-soaked arena, with a pissed-off troll bearing down on us.

  Checking my notifications didn't seem wise with potential death on the line. Still, the skill name showed well what it did. So, with the fastest possible mental command, I commanded the skill description to show.

  [Skill Lock (Standard). Description: Disables the last used skill of the target for 30 seconds. Cost: 100 SP]

  Sadly, I didn't have time to really examine it or even test the skill. A war cry that shook the entire arena fired off like a cannon. Followed by the ground rumbling like successive mini-earthquakes. It was pretty clear what the cause was.

  "Run!" Xynthia screamed before transitioning into a mad sprint.

  She didn't need to tell me twice, and I fell into step beside her. My stamina bar was getting a major workout from all the running. If I had a cool suit and a penchant for calling myself a doctor. Maybe I would have already come up with a brilliant plan to escape and save everyone. Sadly, I would never be that cool with a bow tie. But I had a female companion, so close enough. As we ran, the thump of every footfall told us that death was imminent. I will admit, I think I pissed myself a bit.

  "Little rats!" The troll bellowed in a powerful, gravely voice.

  "That's demeaning!" I yelled back.

  "Shut up!" Xynthia chimed in, scowling as we ran.

  "Demeaning?!" the troll said, sounding confused.

  He sounded like a dumb oaf who preferred to smash than think. Listening to his fists rather than his other parts. But that could just be the cadence of his voice. Deep and baritone, with only simple words.

  "Where are we going?!"

  "Anywhere that's not back there!"

  She made a valid point, but we were soon running out of sand. Only after a full thirty seconds of sprinting did we make it to the edge. With the troll still hot on our heels, I could hear the lumbering creature. He groaned as if he were in pain. I looked back and noticed a massive slab of metal. It took me a moment to realise he was hefting a giant mace, twice the size of me. A brief inspection told me that anything hit by it would be a fly on a windshield. Splat they go when the troll drops low.

  "Smashy smashy!"

  "No smashy!" I retorted just as the mace descended.

  The sand erupted as the giant metallic object of death parted it like the Red Sea. Luckily, I was just shy of the impact and had a lovely time flying before the sudden drop. Thank you, all-powerful cape of levitation. That would have been significantly worse. Still, it affected the sands rather harshly, and I lost track of Xynthia after the impact. The bastard set up a giant sandstorm that obscured my vision. Yet the giant shape was clearly Mister Troll, digging his weapon out of the ground.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  Giving him no time, I bolted in the opposite direction. Heart pounding in my chest like a jackhammer. I ran as if my life was on the line. Maintaining a respectful distance, I swiftly turned around. Taking stock of my abilities, I quickly came up with a plan to take down this beast. With a thought, I sent a few notifications. One to Marius and the other to Xynthia. Hopefully, they would be on board with my strategy.

  The plan was simple — something I learned from a friend who loved video games. When you fight a powerful boss when you are under levelled. The only option is to cheese them. That being said, I hadn't checked.

  [Name: Mash. Race: Troll. Level: 35]

  The inspect skill did not endear me to this creature. The massive lug was level thirty-five and had a major level gap between us. Which means he probably has insane stats and several deadly skills. Also the name Mash, wasn't that an old army TV show I watched a couple years ago? Or did it allude to the idea of mashing people like peas?

  "Little man running..." tapping his chin with a low hum in his throat, "would make it hard to make an art of him."

  "Art? What are you talking about?"

  Mash, the giant troll of death, looked at me curiously. Like the question genuinely confused him. The pause was minuscule and wouldn't have really left him open to attack. Not that I had any plans for a direct attack, anyway. The plan, if you can call it a plan, was not to run at him like a madman, slashing every bit. Grouping up and hitting it until it dies sounds great, but lacks complexity.

  Finally, he got out of his musings and seemed to have got his brain moving. Not sure why I wanted to hear him explain. Perhaps it was because while he was talking, he wasn't smashing me into bits. Yeah, that makes way more sense than a morbid fascination in the mind of a hulking monster.

  "Mash makes art with his mace." He spoke as if every syllable was a weight to carry. "I release the art from your body when I smash it."

  I gulped and maybe peed a little. What was worse is that he didn't seem malicious about it. Now, I am no scholar studying the ecology of trolls. But I think I am an excellent judge of character. This guy just seems like a brutish idiot. He spoke slowly, using small words, and took a while in between sentences. That suggested someone of low education, if trolls even went to school, that is.

  "You are small, not much paint for my art. But if I got the little girly, she'd make more paint." The oaf looked around, trying to find my companion.

  Again, he seemed to just be having a casual conversation about a subject he enjoyed. Like a hobbyist explaining their abiding love of putting paint to canvas. But when you are the paint, you can't help but take it personally. But thinking this over would get me nowhere. It was time to act.

  "So you are going to make a work of art out of me, huh?" I questioned a little sarcasm thrown in.

  "Yes, little one, I will call this next piece, Little Man and Girly."

  "I don't think that's going to happen, dude. Ill make some art of you." Trying to threaten, my blade activating and I hoped I looked cool.

  Instead of the lug getting angry, he seemed to beam with happiness. I could tell by the massive toothy grin he was sporting. Teeth in need of some serious maintenance. Trolls probably didn't have dentists, and I could tell from how every single tooth was yellow. Saw a few little or probably massive chunks stuck between massive teeth. Hopefully, whoever that was, died quickly.

  "You are a painter too?"

  "Yes, buddy, I am a painter that uses red!" I raised my sword high in the air, trying to get the crowd's attention, not sure why.

  "I use red too! We have so much in common!" The troll roared excitedly, his feet jumping up and down.

  Earthquakes occurred with every slam of his feet as the troll went at it like a kid at Christmas. Once he had his fill and the ground stopped shaking. He turned to me, the grin still there, and started charging forward. Bracing for death, I paled as a giant made his way to kill me.

  "I'll show you how I do my art!"

  Before I could even register the giant, he closed the distance with a few barreling steps. More like leaping to me and the crazy troll loomed over this tiny little meat sack. I was the fleshy bug to his giant mace, which was now descending at speed. Dodging? Like I had time for that. Instead, I drew every drop of my force attribute into a force blast of such power it nearly broke my hands.

  Going full Super Saiyan mode, I screamed a bloody war cry and aimed my cupped hands to the sky. Except there was a smiling troll and a big ass mace in the way. Rage and fear warred within my breast as my power projected forward like a tidal wave. So powerful was this blast that it sent me flying back.

  Luckily, the backlash was minimal, just pushed me back, but I dropped my blade. Fortunately, the immense force of my great power pushed Mash back. Quickly and before he could come back. I triggered force attract and reclaimed my weapon. Instead of reactivating the blade, I scrutinised it for a moment before returning it to my bag.

  "This little pig sticker will not cut it." I muttered as the image of an outstanding anime came to the forefront of my mind.

  With a thought, I activated Max Decibel and piped a very specific song into Mash's brain. A beloved theme song for an equally beloved Japanese animation about a martial artist searching for balls to summon a dragon. Channeling the will of its main character without that man's skills. It was time to blast a troll to smithereens.

  rating or review to strengthen my story with motivation!

  early access and support the author at .

  Discord — we’ve got snacks and chaos.