Battle Through the Nine Realms - Chapter 37 - Battle Field Tested (Patreon)

“Einar! Gorm! Pinch it in!” Skarf shouted.

Both men moved immediately, flanking a different side as the group of four punished the wood troll that had left the safety of its brethren.

Three troll corpses already lay on the ground, hacked to pieces by the warband, and only two remained.

Gorm ducked as the troll swung its weapon, a huge trunk it appeared to have used for a while, bits of rotting flesh and dried blood smeared across the bark that had been smashed into the cracks.

A gust of wind came from how fast the trunk had moved, and the troll continued its swing, the log hitting Skarf’s shield and sending the hardened thegn down.  The impact of the shield and tree trunk altered the path of the attack, and Magnus moved in, thrusting his long spear deep into the troll’s thick skin, sinking the entire nine inches of metal within its body.

Putrid blood came, and the creature roared, trying to get its weapon back under control. 

The other two Vikings, Gorm and Hoskuld, both moved as one.

From the front, the black-haired thegn, Hoskuld, who was shorter by at least four inches compared to the rest of his Viking brethren, drove his spear upward into the troll's exposed throat as the weight of its weapon put it in a vulnerable position. Gorm’s spear struck with the speed of a viper, and the leader of their band drove his spear between two ribs, feeling the bones grind against the thick wooden shaft.

His Strength easily overcame the creature's defenses, and with the first thrust, over a foot of the spear was wedged inside, puncturing a lung.

“Back!” Skarf called, taking a few steps himself to recover from the impact of defending against the blow.

All three men obeyed the command and danced backward like performers at a play, leaving the creature with three spears sticking out of its body.

Roars and gurgles came from it as the creature slammed its weapon into the space Einar had been a second ago.

Stumbling, the monster tried to support its own weight with its weapon, but the spear in its throat had struck true, severing the esophagus and sending blood down into its punctured lungs at a faster rate.

In under twenty seconds and after one last horrible attempt at a swing, both the troll and its weapon crashed to the floor of the forest, shaking before Grom ran up and sent his axe to the creature's neck, severing its spine.

[ Rune Experienced Gained ]

As their leader checked the troll they had just killed, the other three spun to see what was going on with the last creature. It was on one knee, both arms missing from the elbow down, and a massive gash running the length of its chest.

Thorodd and the others were cheering as the creature fell, taking their time to end its life now.

“Finish it!” Grom shouted, ignoring the grumbles as the men watched Thorodd step forward with his two-handed axe and remove the dying troll's head with a single swing.

“They enjoy playing around too much,” Skarf said as he spat.  

Einar laughed and nodded.  The red-headed man was all business, like Gorm and Hoskuld.  Some of the other men in Jarl Bior’s warbands played around too much, and he had put in a lot of effort to make sure he was part of Gorm’s group.

“Five trolls… seems like they’re becoming more of a nuisance than before,” Hoskuld said as he wiped his axe head on the rag he always kept.  “How many more groups like this are we going to see, Gorm? It’s been three in three weeks.”

A few complaints drifted over from two warriors who had gotten injured. Their healer, Knutr, had already started healing them when it was safe.

“Mother of a goat’s arse,” Gorm cursed as he saw his spear had broken under the weight of the trolls' fall.  “We’ll keep doing what Bior commands.  The attacks along the barrier have increased, and acquiring the reagents the city needs is all that matters.”

Skarf elbowed Einar and winked. 

“Nice work with the spear thrust.  How is it you always seem to hit the same spot?”

Shrugging, Einar laughed and pointed to the side of his own body.  

“You and I both know how much it hurts when someone hits your kidney. I can only imagine the pain these trolls seem to express when I spear that spot.”

Skarf laughed, his thick accent coming across even then, and gave Einar a pat on the back.

“Every day I tell Gorm you are going to surpass us, and today was another example.  Fine work!”

Stretching a little, Einar just smiled and took in the carnage around them.

The forest area they were in was littered with trash that these trolls had acquired.  Hunting groups had gone missing, and they found many of the remains.  Those men who had been resurrected talked about the bands of trolls that were working together, ravaging the forest, and killing those who came close.

Bior had been overly anxious when he explained the news to the warband and sent out two different packs of ten, needing to split up and stop the losses they had endured.  Bags of mined ore lay scattered, and the pieces of animal and human bones that hadn’t been eaten yet were discarded in a pile.

Gorm was talking with Hoskuld, and Thorodd was moving his massive body to join the two.

“It’s hard to believe it’s almost been two years,” Einar stated.  “Just the other day, I was defeating you in all of our duels, and now I’m landing more killing blows on trolls.”

“You little arse!” Skarf exclaimed playfully, ignoring the laughter from some of the other men who had gathered nearby.  “I’ll gladly place a wager on the next one we kill!”

Einar shook his head and pulled out his axe, motioning to the corpse near them.

“For now, let’s get this chopped up and take care of it before Gorm gets upset.”

Groaning, the thegn with six tattoos joined his training partner, setting to work like trained butchers.

***

All five corpses had been broken down and were being transported to the five carts on the trail leading to the mining area.  The giant horses snorted in displeasure from the smell of the trolls but didn’t react otherwise, having been trained for this task.

A few other new recruits stood by the wagons with their training warriors, still in their first two years and relegated to tasks everyone had already put their time in.

“Einar! Skarf!”

Both warriors moved quickly upon hearing their names from Gorm, jogging along the path to where he was waiting with Hoskuld and Thorodd.

“I often forget how short Hoskuld is until I see him next to Thorodd,” Skarf joked as they got within ten yards of the leaders.  

“Tell him that again,” Einar replied.  “I enjoyed what happened last time.”

Both were chuckling when they came to stand before the trio.

“Nice work back there,” Gorm said, his black beard covering his mouth, never giving away a hint of any emotion the man might feel.  “You two and Thorodd are going to head to the mining camp. There is a shipment that needs to be delivered, and I want you three plus one other to make sure it doesn’t have a problem reaching the barrier.”

“Should I ask why you’re sending us?” Skarf asked, not caring how the ranks ever seemed to work between warriors.

“Because your commander has said so!” Thorodd exclaimed, his frown breaking between the braided brown beard. The warrior was as tall as Skardi had been back when they dueled, except he had about forty more pounds of muscle on him and possessed six tattoos.

“I’m just saying,” Skarf started before he saw the look from Gorm.

“Use your brain, you red-headed fool,” Gorm said. “We’re traveling at least a day with five fresh corpses, five large horses, and a group of men and food.  I’m going to need people to stay and defend, which means I can only spare a few to protect the shipment from the camp.  You three are going because Einar and Thorodd are my best warriors.”

Everyone except Skarf was chuckling as the man’s face turned the color of his hair.

“I swear, sometimes you all think I’m the stepson or something,” he growled before walking away.  “Just tell me what they need to be done later, Einar. I need to piss!”

As the warrior sulked away, Einar sighed.

“I’ll get his underclothes removed from his arse in a few.  I’m ready for whatever you need, sir.”

Snorting, Grom nodded.

“I know why Bior gave you that man.  He’s good, but that temper… reminds me of my first wife… Now, back to the important part of all this.  Thorodd knows the terrain. He has done this patrol before, and just because we have killed over twenty trolls in the last month, don’t think for a moment there won’t be more.  It’s like something draws them to this area, and no one knows why.”

“It’s the other realms,” Hoskuld said before spitting. “They know how important the ore in the mountains are and placed a curse!”

Shaking his head, Thorodd rolled his eyes. 

“Enough.  We’ll leave at first light, and there will be no horses for us.  It’s two days to the fort.  We’ll have food and water, but we need to move fast.  Night is when things are going to get bad.”

“You know I’m here for anything you need,” Einar replied.

Grom nodded and held up a hand to stop Thorodd and his never-ending commentary.

“That’s why you’re up.  Time to earn that title once and for all. Return with the shipment, and Bior will officially give you the title of thegn.”

Einar fought to stop the smile that was beginning to appear.  He wished facial hair would grow so that he could hide the facial movements better, but alas, Odin had decided that he would still be unable to grow any for a while.

“We’re going to put all this training we’ve endured because of you into work,” Thorodd stated.  “Go get a few extra weapons. Odds are we’ll probably need them.”

Pounding his chest with his fist, Einar turned and took off toward the weapon wagon.  

As he jogged, he wanted to check one thing.

*****

[ V.A.L.H.A.L.L.A ]

Magnus / Einar Sibbison

Age: 32/18

Strength - 22+7

Endurance - 19+6

Agility - 23+2

Perception - 15+5

Wisdom - 13

Mysticism - 9

Runes:

Gungnir’s Strength (Chest) Legendary (Hidden) 

Max Training Stat for Strength, Endurance and Agility is 50. 2.5 x Growth Rate

25% Bonus to Perception - No Stat Limit

Max Training Stat for Wisdom and Mysticism is 50. 1.5 x Growth Rate

Valkyries’ Blessing [ Death Penalty Mitigated ]

Muninn’s Memory - Learning Speed [ Normal ] 2.5x

Rune Level Bonuses:

Lvl 1 - 10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance

Lvl 2 - 10% Bonus to Agility and Perception

Experience 9%

Warrior’s Defense (Back) Intermediate

10% Bonus to Endurance

Experience 59%

Warrior’s Blessing (Stomach) Advanced

10% Bonus to Strength and Endurance

5% Bonus to Damage

Experience 59%

Might of the Viking (Right Arm) Advanced

10% Bonus to Strength

10% Bonus to Damage

Experience 59%

*****

His stats had increased across the board, and with the two runes he had picked up at the start, he felt far stronger than possible.  Between Odin’s boon and the training, his weapon skills started surpassing most of the older warriors.  Even now, running all day was easy, and there wasn’t a doubt in his mind that no sprinter back on Earth could beat him.

I guess it’s weird I now think of myself as Einar…

That change had occurred a little over a year ago after the constant calling of his name every day during training.  He realized for now that he was a Viking, and that meant accepting it and moving to embrace it.

Looking at the tattoo that ran down his right arm, it was hard not to admire the beauty of it and how the black lines appeared. A few other choices were available, but he passed, knowing there was a specific path he wanted to go.  Getting there would take time and money, but if he was right, his ability to improve would be drastic. 

Bior said I’m a fool for pursuing that route.  It hasn’t been done in 100 years or more because of the cost to improve, but if I’m right… it’s exactly what we’re missing on the front line.

Smiling to himself, Einar slowed down as he got to the wagon with all the supplies.  

If they were going to need weapons, he was more than happy to have his pick of the stock.