The Lone Wanderer

The troll’s second attendant – the one Percy hadn’t personally fought – rushed out to tend to its leader’s injuries. Pulling a few of the verdant mushrooms out of its body, it brought them to the king’s mouth before crushing them into paste.

Percy didn’t interrupt, partly because he didn’t wish the troll king any harm, and partly because he was genuinely interested in seeing the mushrooms work. Learning from the experts would only save him a lot of head-scratching later.

‘They’re less effective when eaten…’

He watched the life mana spread through the creature’s frame, though its effect was greatly muted compared to earlier. Evidently, cultivating the fungi in their own bodies wasn’t just some weird fashion statement, but a practical consideration.

“You’re not actually going to plant mushrooms under your skin, are you?” Nesha asked, breaking him out of his thoughts.

“Ha! Don’t you think they’d look good on my shoulders?” Percy chuckled.

The girl rolled her eyes, but didn’t bother responding.@@novelbin@@

Of course, he wasn’t really going to do that. From the first moment he’d laid eyes on the mushrooms, he’d been thinking of brewing potions out of them. Strictly speaking, the green ones weren’t anything revolutionary. Just another ingredient rich in Orange life mana – like countless others that could be found all across Remior. While Percy wasn’t sure if the Guild’s alchemists were familiar with these particular mushrooms, there was no doubt they could be brewed into healing potions, on par with the ones he'd bought in the past.

This was something he had been interested in since before coming to the Trollsden. After all, these potions were still somewhat handy for him and Nesha for the time being, and his stash had already dried out. Plus, his recent mastery of the extraction principle, coupled with his mutated eyes would make his job a great deal easier.

Now, those were something he hadn’t come across before. Maybe the Guild’s alchemist hadn’t found any ingredients like that in the past, or maybe a potion that enhanced one’s physical strength just wasn’t that useful for the average mage. Unlike Percy whose fighting style and boosting art both relied heavily on his physique, others mostly fought by hurling their spells at one another. Either way, he wanted to know more about them.

It wasn’t until about an hour and a dozen green mushrooms later that the troll king’s condition seemed to stabilize. At the very least, he didn’t look like he was going to die if left unattended. Still, it would probably take him days – if not weeks – to recover completely. His body was withered and weak, his eyes drooping. One thing was for certain – the crimson mushrooms had pulled quite a number on him.

‘Useful or not, I’ll have to be careful with them.’ Percy thought grimly.

Unaware of Percy’s thoughts, the attendants then grunted at him, capturing his attention. No longer concerned with their leader’s survival, the trolls were finally free to lead him to his prize. To their credit, the creatures appeared to have every intention of honouring their king’s promise. Even better, they seemed to have dropped any thoughts of challenging him to another duel.

The water affinity troll appeared to say something to its companion – likely telling him to stay with their king. Next, he walked towards a certain direction, gesturing at Percy and Nesha to follow. Thus, a man, a woman and a demi-human delved further and further into the depths of the Trollsden, in an area untouched by civilization. The longer the trio walked, the taller the trees in their path became. Older too, their barks rotting and peeling.

As for the artificial graveyards by their roots, they expanded greatly too, the skeletal remains of the trolls’ ancestors growing denser by the second. The same was true for the mushrooms cultivated there, the whitecaps both larger and more numerous than the ones they left in their wake.

And that wasn’t everything. As the interweaving canopies of the ancient trees blotted out what little moonlight had previously sept through, a different source of light took its place, illuminating the swamp. Soon, some green mushrooms began to appear amidst the whitecaps – the same ones Percy had seen on the trolls’ bodies. At first, the magical mushrooms were both small and rare. Still, they started to dominate the area before long, bathing the bog in a soft green light.

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“Wow. The place is full of them.” Nesha said, keeping her voice down.

“Yeah…” Percy nodded. “No wonder they were so open to giving them away.”

That said, he didn’t miss the conspicuous absence of crimson mushrooms in their surroundings. And those were arguably more important for him, as he didn’t know if he could find a different ingredient with a similar effect. But there was nothing he could do, besides hope that the trolls had more of them somewhere.

Eventually, the attendant led them to a clearing.

Finally, the tall trees gave way, allowing the gentle moonlight to blend with the eerie glow of the verdant mushrooms, their combined lime-coloured lustre reflecting off the shallow waters of the swamp. This area wasn’t that large, and neither was it empty. It was densely packed with leather tents and totems of bone. And it was pretty crowded too. Dozens of trolls sat around the campfires set up on a few dry patches of soil. Most of them were busy tending to some routine task such as roasting some whitecaps by the fire or crafting simple wooden tools. These trolls were definitely adults, but they weren’t quite as tall as the ones Percy and Nesha had seen before. ṟаΝôВƐṢ

“Are these their females?” Nesha asked, her voice hushed.

Percy shrugged, tentatively agreeing with her guess. Apparently, all the male trolls were assigned to the outskirts of the Trollsden, protecting the heart of their homeland where the more vulnerable members of their society resided. The women weren’t the only ones here. Many smaller trolls were running all over the place, yelling and tossing handfuls of mud at one another, immersed in all sorts of primitive games. Percy smiled at the sight, tilting his head to avoid a ball of dirt thrown at him by accident.

It was at this moment that their arrival seemed to have caught everyone’s notice, however. Sharp breaths and exclamations could be heard from everywhere, as the female trolls approached the trio, pulling their children behind them. Though they didn’t do anything drastic just yet. Instead, they turned to the Yellow troll, unspoken questions lingering on their expressions.

“GAAAHUUUK!” the king’s attendant said, before making all sorts of signs and gestures, trying to explain the situation to the women.

He pretended to swing a massive club, or to crouch, seemingly in imitation of the troll king’s hunched back. Every now and then, he pointed at Percy, before throwing a few rapid punches in the empty air in front of him. The trolls’ gazes shifted between the two, as awed expressions soon began to overtake their confusion.

“I think you just got yourself some new fans.” Nesha teased, jabbing him with her elbow.

Percy just ignored her, patiently waiting for their escort to finish whatever he was doing. It wasn’t until half an hour later that the interrogation reached its conclusion. By now, the female trolls looked at him with fear and respect, as even the children seemed to have understood something, not daring to stare at him for too long. Honestly, it was a little uncomfortable. Percy wanted nothing more than to receive his mushrooms and get out of this place.

Luckily, his guide didn’t keep him waiting much longer. He gestured at them to follow him once more, before delving back into the trees. This time, they only walked a couple dozen metres, however, before reaching a rather strange place. Percy’s eyes widened as he saw a colossal tree – wider and taller than any other he’d seen in the entire bog. The air around it felt heavier, almost suffocating, as if centuries of reverence and death had soaked into the soil. Its base was covered in troll skeletons, though these were larger too, their bones thick and sturdy.

“Is this where they bury all their leaders?” he wondered, his tone solemn.

There was one more thing that corroborated that guess. Unlike all the previous mushroom farms they had seen, this place was covered in only one type. The crimson ones. They pulsed faintly, casting shadows that seemed to shift like watchful spirits.

“Glak.” the attendant said, keeping his voice low. Apparently, he wasn’t willing to disrespect this place either.

“Am I allowed to take them?” Percy asked, getting a nod back.

Manifesting a cyan sickle, he harvested enough mushrooms to fill his bag, though he left most of them untouched.

“Should we return for the rest later?” Nesha asked.

“Nah. Let’s not be too greedy. Besides, whether we have 20 or 200, they’ll still run out sooner or later. I’ll have to find a way to grow more of them.” Percy said.

Once he was done, the attendant escorted them back the way they had come. However, they did stop at a few more spots for Percy to collect some of the green mushrooms too. Beyond that, the troll also took the opportunity to show them how to plant the mushrooms in their bodies. Apparently, it was as simple as cutting a shallow wound into one’s skin and burying a few spores in it.

‘Informative, but I’d rather do that to corpses than living people.’

It wasn’t until they had returned to the troll king’s side that the attendant finally waved them goodbye, letting them continue the rest of the way by themselves.

“Percy… are you sure you don’t want to check all those women and children for a rare affinity? That was your original reason for coming here, wasn’t it?”

“It was…” he sighed.

That said, the thought of possessing a troll child after all the trust the creatures had shown him left a poor taste in his mouth.

“Leave it. We’ve gained more than enough from this place anyway.” he added after a moment.

His new spells aside, he had two brand-new ingredients to play around with. Once he figured out how to cultivate the mushrooms and brew them into potions, he’d get even stronger…