"Forest" Troll

'I guess asking to be accepted into the guild without incident was asking just a smidgen too much.' Sven sighed internally to himself as he readied his blade. He found himself inside the arena's pit, the arena itself had been dug into the ground, a glass ceiling high above allowed natural light to cascade down into the darkened cave setting - a torch here and there covered for spots the sun couldn't illuminate itself. Across the battlefield Sven noted a large metal cage, inside was his opponent. The creature was roughly his size, a little taller if it stood on its hind legs and stretched out its back but the creature dragged its hairy knuckles along its cage like a modern day gorilla.

'And just like a gorilla.' Sven thought to himself as he watched the creature rail ferociously against the iron bars that imprisoned it. 'It's got all the strength of a gorilla to boot.' The troll roared out a foul fetid breath, spittle being shout out of its mouth and onto the cage floor as it looked forward to its freedom.

"Are you ready Sven, this is your last chance to back out! While we have trained healers on standby, the risk of **** is still present! This is your last chance to walk away!" The minister shouted down from his observation booth, raised from where everyone else was seated as he was accustomed to.

"I'm sure, a forest troll is... manageable." Sven tried to convince himself.

"You can do it master! Slice that big ugly brute!" Ignis shouted out in encouragement.

"If you beat that thing then you can... Have me!" Alice commented flirtatiously, Ignis wasn't too impressed however. Sven sighed.

"Very well, then with your consent and with a crowd of impartial viewers standing witness - the challenge shall commence!" The minister signaled for someone to let down the trolls cage, with a few cranks the metal wall that kept the brute trapped inside was lowered to the ground. Now freed, the troll lumbered out of its cage menacingly, his two beady black eyes set stoutly on its prize: Sven.

'It's ok Sven, this is just like dealing with Infernal Trolls in those high class solo dungeons, you just gotta-' Sven was comforting himself before he was brought out of his thoughts by the beast taking off in his direction, it made the ground quake ever so slightly as it ran. It was the same size as he was height wise but it was much more built than him, probably two, even three times his body weight - and hardly any of that was baby fat. The beast charging at him was an absolute threat, and thinking about pointless stuff right now is an easy way to die a virgin.

The creature was mindless, this was an exploitable weakness as some monsters like trolls have a predictable attack pattern - the problem however was its durability and high damage output combined with its ability to stun lock slower adventurers. Sven didn't exactly have the highest Agility or Athletics stat so as he was now, as a classless level 22 vs a level 25 mini boss - the margin for mistakes was razor thin in this match up. It didn't help that Sven was still wearing like 10 armor, on his travels he wasn't lucky enough to find any upgrades. Just his trusty Slyvian sword and his recently acquired basilisk hide shield.

Its attack was choreographed and seemed to happen in slow motion for Sven, however as he ducked under the creatures pummel, the air pressure he felt was something else entirely. Had he been hit by that he would of been out for the count. Carefully Sven used his rolling momentum to take a slice at the creatures exposed underarm. The Troll barely made a sound as it rounded back onto Sven once more. Attacking the creatures tough skin would be ineffective in this kind of a fight, its joints were weak spots so it made sense to strike there first, even if the creature didn't seem to even feel that it was being cut.

Jumping back several times Sven dodged the creatures barrage of punches, waiting for his moment to strike. Finally the beast had tired from its relentless attack enough to hold its hand up high, high enough that Sven managed to slash at the creatures other under arm before vaulting forward out of its powerful blow. When the trolls fists came down upon the stone floor it almost caused Sven to fall over, but he managed to keep his footing.

Before the creature could retaliate, Sven seized his advantage and cut the back of the trolls tendons in his ankles. The troll didn't seek to even care as it charged at Sven, however this time it was uncoordinated and Sven dodged it with barely any effort. As the creature landed behind where Sven had been, Sven took this moment to stab at its hip, but before he could commit to the attack he got a dreadful feeling in his guy, instinctively Sven readied his shield low to the ground just in time to block a vicious kick from the grounded troll.

Sven was sent spinning in the air, only barely managing to land somewhat on his feet, picking himself up he couldn't control his shield arm from shaking - the kinetic **** from the kick was still sending electrical impulses all the way through him. This troll wasn't the kind of opponent you can make this kind of mistake against, cursing himself he willed his arms to be steady, the creature would not give him much more time to recover.

'Wait, forest trolls don't kick while they're grounded, their legs are too stubbly.' Sven suddenly realized, looking up at the minister he saw a small smile creeping its way onto his face. 'That bastard set me up! This isn't a forest troll, it's a-' Sven didn't have time to complete that thought as the mysterious troll was set upon him again, Sven took note of the creatures legs now, if this creature was who he thought it was, then its arms were just a feint for the real deal.

After a time of dodging and jumping out of the way, Sven finally anticipated the moment he was waiting for - the creature tried to use a sweeping. Jumping in the air to dodge the blow, Sven simultaneously jabbed the creature in its neck with several inches of his curved blade. Still, the beast made no noise, save for its usual grunts and heavy breathing noises.

Speaking of heavy breathing, Sven wasn't doing so hot either. That blow had really knocked the wind out of him and he hadn't the chance to properly recover, along with all of his jumping and dodging he was starting to feel the onset of battle fatigue settling in. He would have to finish this off quickly, trying to win a battle of attrition with a troll is a foolish idea. Looking to a half corroded pillar that adorned the arenas pit, Sven got himself an idea.

"Come here fatty, yeah come at me fat boy." Sven motioned for the troll to chase him in a taunting fashion, the Troll seemed to take the bait as it roared its way towards him. While running Sven could hear the troll gaining on him, it was now or never.

Activating his invisibility he jumped off the side of the pillar and propelled himself high up into the air, the troll that had been chasing him seconds prior was beginning to slow and stop as it looked around for the human it was just in pursuit of, as Sven fell he lined up his blade in just the right angle and then...

SPLAT!

Sven reappeared from his invisibility standing atop the trolls shoulders triumphantly, his blade sticking through the creatures eye socket and all the way out the other end of his skull. The creature didn't even make so much as a whimper as it fell onto its back, Sven freeing his blade from the punctured skull just in time for the beast to collapse into the cave floor.

"The winner is Sven Gate, newly admitted PikanVale Institution student!" Goram congratulated, the crowd cheered at the amazing feat they'd just witnessed - all but the minister who had kept his smirk ever since the beast kicked him. Sven himself however merely panted as he cleaned his brow of sweat, that creature would have been a challenge had it been just a simple forest troll, but Sven knew in his heart of hearts that what he had just slain was no simple forest troll.

"Bravo young man, you've really set my expectations soaring. Perhaps the guilds metrics don't take everything into account when we're looking for talent." The minister made a scene of slow clapping as he made for the door. "If you would meet me in the hallway I would like to have a word with you in private, before you settle in for the night that is." It was true, the light was beginning to dim down in the pit and Sven was becoming more and more reliant on the torches illumination as he climbed up the stone mason stairway. Finally Sven came face to face with the minister, however his smug smile was now gone, replaced with a look of concern.

"Well done, I apologize for the treatment but I had to be sure what I was reading on that document was the truth." The minister began, Sven looked perplexed.

"Had to be sure of what? And what the fuck did you make me fight, because I know a forest troll when I see one - and those fuckers squeal like pigs when you stick em, so why was that beast so quiet then? And his legs! He kicked me, forest trolls don't-" The minister held up his hand dismissively.

"Yes alright, one at a time young man. I had to test you to see if you were one of those infamous heroes, after seeing what I just saw there is no denying it." Sven hadn't seen the document state he was a hero, he scolded himself for his careless mistake. "And I had you fight a jungle troll instead of a forest troll to make truly sure you were a hero, under my illusion magic you perceived it to be a forest troll and this is why the troll was mostly silent when you..." The minister searched for a more civilized word than Sven had used. "Struck them." Sven's eyes narrowed as he took this all in, this guy was a mentalist class, a master of illusions and a rather dangerous character to have as an enemy.

"You made me fight a level 35 when I was a level 22? Are you fucking insane? Even if I am a hero I could have just died!" The minister sighed in annoyance, something that really rubbed Sven the wrong way about this guy was that he treated everyone else like children that didn't see the bigger picture.

"You're alive aren't you? Complaining about what has already happened is pointless. I would never have given you a challenge that I thought was impossible for you to achieve." Waving any further questions or chances to argue away he motioned for Sven to follow him. "Enough of this matter, you've passed with flying colors and we would be happy to admit you into our hallowed halls as a free agent. We look forward to your upcoming contributions hero, but know this, you aren't the only one of your kind that we house here at PikanVale."