Musclehead

My expertise in killing goblins rose by leaps and bounds, and I killed the fourth of the day in probably less than a minute. Mostly because of my physical improvements and apart from that, also because of my Shadow Strike, which became more potent as I noticed. Not to mention my Illusionary Glamour that now seemed a bit more effective in hiding my presence as well.

"What a nice day!" I meowed in a carefree manner as I sped over a moss-covered forest ground.

Life started to become quite enjoyable lately, and I felt like being reborn as a cat wasn't all that bad now. I had a way to increase my odds of survival, and my tummy was filled with the sweet blood of a small bird I killed as a snack. Yes, I was a very happy cat.

Still, I was a lonely cat, and I decided to slowly kill my way towards the cornfields so I can search for a small village or something. Not that I wanted to make friends with humans all of a sudden, but I liked the idea of finding out how the people in this world lived like. They had magic after all, and I was sure that there should be some major differences from life on Earth.

[Stoneskin Troll – LvL 7]

"Oh, fuck!" I miaowed in surprise when I suddenly spotted a three to four meters tall mountain made out of muscles that appeared in my vision.

The troll looked just like I remembered him from fantasy stories, humanoid with rough grey skin and slightly hunchbacked with a short neck. Its appearance was somewhat ape-like with a stupid and witless look looming over its face. That didn't change the fact that it was packed with cable-like muscles and armed with long claws that weren't sharp, but that didn't matter anyway, given its obvious immense strength.

It didn't look like it noticed me yet, and I could see that it currently occupied with carving a whole tree into the form of a mace – with its claws being the tools.

'I wonder how many levels I get by killing this troll?' – I thought inwardly and let my unrealistic imaginations run wild.

Unrealistic wishes aside, the troll seemed to prepare himself for something. I wasn't sure what a dumb brute could even plan, but the piece of loincloth that covered its genitals and the bone-necklace around its neck made me guess that it was probably preparing to hunt something. My idea was to use the troll and see if I can benefit somehow by sneakily following after it.

That being said, I climbed a tree and waited patiently until the troll crafted its wood mace. And just as predicted, it started moving towards a particular direction as soon as it finished. Its facial expression made me assume that it had a goal in mind, and so I ended up following a troll into an unknown adventure.

…

The presence of the troll was unsurprisingly like a protective sphere for me as it made every other predator in the area, mostly goblins, run away at first sight. Still, the large brute wasn't all that dumb and managed to snatch some of the green bastards that became too careless or bold. It then simply stuffed the goblin into its wide maw before chewing on it like on bubble gum.

I had no real idea why the troll didn't attack me so far. It didn't take me long to see that it was a huge glutton that stuffed everything that moved into its mouth, sometimes even large moss-covered boulders it mistook for goblins. That was the moment when I realized that it must have a crappy eyesight and that my ability Illusionary Glamour made me basically invisible in the eyes of the troll.

Our travel also led us outside the dense forest as the trees around us become less while bushes and patches of high-growing grass increased.

'Don't tell me that the troll is targeting a human village?' – I though in the back of my mind when I saw square fields of crop appearing in the distance.

It made sense that it would target humans since they hoarded food, and they were most likely a good meal for the troll themselves. I also understood now why it took the effort to craft itself a mace, carrying a weapon like that should increase its odds of success. A single hit from that massive thing was probably enough to turn a cow into a puddle of blood.

The fact that this world had creatures like the huge troll in front of me was still baffling me. It was very much possible that there existed even bigger and stronger creatures, and I could only shake my head when I saw that I was a little cat myself. However, that didn't mean that I was destined to be weak. I was more like an assassin than a warrior; my expertise is to wait for the right opportunity before I go for the kill – that was how I tried to do things at least.

…

It took us some time, but the troll eventually found his village he could plunder. We were both pretty happy about this. I because I could see how humans in the world live, and the troll because he could eat his fill.

"TROLL!"

"TROLL ATTACK!!!"

"Quick! Get the children into safety!"

The humans that lived in the village welcomed the troll with a proper greeting and chaos broke out as soon they saw the huge brute approaching their home.

The village itself was relatively small and built in a circle with a large courtyard in the middle. The small settlement was mainly made of blocky wooden cottages with thatch roofs that looked primitive. There also stables full of cattle that were built behind the respective home. Everything looked clean and well-kept, and I could very well imagine that the people that lived here had a comfortable life… so far.

I watched the troll march into the cozy little village before it swung its mighty wooden mace at the first building that stood in its way. The woman that was hiding in there screamed from the top of her lungs, but her screams soon ceased when her head disappeared into her maw of hungry visitor that was demolishing her home. The remaining villagers were currently gathering at the other side of the settlement, arming themselves with spears and torches.

'I wonder if stuff like this is a common thing in this world?' – I thought in the back of my head while watching the bloodbath in the village unfolding.

The troll ruined house after house and killed all the inhabitants it managed to catch while the villagers were desperately trying to impale its tough skin with their pitiful spears. It was crazy, but the huge brute didn't even care about the attacking humans. It focused all its attention on wrecking the settlement, its grey eyes burning with the fierce determination of a mad priest that wanted to purge the world from all evil and unclean.

'Is the troll on a personal vendetta, or act magical beasts or creatures generally like this?' – I thought inwardly, confused.

It would sound logical if it attacked humans to satisfy its hunger, but all I can see was a troll who wants to see the world burn. It didn't even care as much for the people that lived there as it cared for the destruction of the village.

Time passed, and half of the village was now in ruin. I even spotted growing flames inside two demolished buildings.

'Time for some chicken nuggets!' *meow*

My instincts kicked in and I used this chance to rush into one of the stables where I spotted defenseless poultry waiting to serve me as food.

*slash* *slash* *slash*

I was like a furred angel of death as my claws took the lives of all the chicken and turkey in my reach. But I didn't stop here and rushed into another stable where I pounced after the neck of a cow to cut its throat with Shadow Strike.

Why would I do such a thing? Well, training mainly. The poultry were quick and allowed me to practice my moves, and as for the cow, it was a huge target, and attacking it wasn't as dangerous as fighting a magical beast. My claws were small given my size, but they were razor-sharp, and the poison from my Shadow Strike soon made the cow fall to the side.

Yes, yes, killing the cattle of defenseless people is bad, but they had bigger problems at the moment. The troll didn't look like he planned to let any of them alive and I also didn't feel that bad for what happened to them. I mean to ask… why are they building their village out here if there was so much danger lurking close by? Who is the leader of these people and what was he or she thinking at that time?!

I wasn't a saint but a little cat, and I had my own problems. Feeling sorry for these villagers would sooner or later only turn me into part of a pile of troll-shit.

"That should keep me satisfied for a day or two," I miaowed to myself after I filled my belly with the blood of the cow I just killed.

Yes, killed. I needed to learn how to take advantage of weak spots and so on. Goblins were easy to kill since they weren't all that bigger than me, but a cow? Harmless, but I still had to struggle killing it just because it was so much bigger than myself.

I never expected that I would end up like this when I rushed into another stable to search for more training dummies I can use to practice my skills upon.

…

The troll was still demolishing the village after I killed all the cattle that didn't flee yet. I was sitting on a tree close by as I watched the villagers preparing to flee the place that was their home. They gave up after seeing that their spears were useless against the thick hide of the rampaging creature.

'Huh?'

'Hmm… are they adventurers?' – I thought in the back of my mind when suddenly I saw a group of five people on horses galloping towards the village.

Three men and two women, and just by the look of it, I could say that I was seeing two knights in heavy iron-plate armor, two archers in leather attire, and a mage in beautiful robes carrying a staff. It didn't take a genius level of intellect to guess that this world was somehow just like in these fantasy stories I was always reading. Mages, knights, trolls, goblins… heck, maybe even dragons!

The troll noticed the new arrivals as well and greeted them with a wild roar before it threw its mace after the mage. My eyes widened in surprise when I saw the cunning move, but the eyes of the mage must have popped out of her skull from shock because the rather young lady was hit square in the chest by the massive wooden weapon.

"Fuck my life…" I miaowed silently when the upper body of the mage disappeared in an explosion of blood and gore. Her horse continued running with the bloodied lower body until it slid to the side and dropped to the ground.

The four remaining adventurers paled drastically at the sight of the terrible death of their companion. They weren't given a chance to mourn because the troll was already rushing towards them with a murderous growl that thundered across the whole area, making the birds that were sitting in the trees flee in fright.

I watched the two knights trying to jump off their horses, but the troll was faster and lifted one of the horses before tossing the animal along with its terrified rider at the other knight. The spectacle was mind-blogging, and I couldn't comprehend how these humans thought that they could go against that frikkin hulk – pure madness!

The villagers that were cheering a moment ago at the sight of the five adventurers were now running away like a flock of scared up chicken. Some even forgot about their crying kids in their fright, and I could only shake my little furred head… life in this world was so much different than in my old one!

I decided to make use of the situation and jumped down the tree on a patch of high-growing grass before I snuck closer to the battle with the troll against the four humans.

Well, the knight that was hit by the horse didn't look very healthy, but he could at least distract the troll by screaming very loudly. And see here, it worked, and the mass of muscles grabbed his terrified horse before smashing it at the knight who was twitching in the ground in pain. His screams ceased under the weight of his steed, but that gave his companions time to prepare their counter-offensive.

"What a bunch of idiots," I miaowed in a mocking tone.

I watched the three remaining humans struggle to flee from the troll that was pursuing them across the fields that surrounded the village. Their display way ridiculous, but I guess that they never expected that the troll could be that strong either. I simply couldn't think of another reason why they believed that they have a chance to win against such a creature.

Ignoring the three fools and the giant chasing them, I carefully made my way to the remains of the mage in order to… well, drink some of her blood. Yes, yes, I am a monster. But how could I ignore such an excellent opportunity to absorb some mana?

The troll was the best example of how dangerous this world can be. Fuck, I was a little cat now and even my bigger cousins the tigers get hunted down for their pelt, what cruelty will happen to me if I don't become strong enough? Cat-soup? Or a fur cap?

"Yes, give this cat here your strength," I miaowed with a serious look as I approached the bloody lower-body of the mage.