Risks

"Form- SHIT! AHHHHHH!!!"

The guy that was just talking disappeared in a cloud of blood and gore when the troll burst into a quick sprint before swinging his mace. I watched the remaining bandit-… guards pale in utter horror when the troll used his mace to hammer the heads of everyone into their necks. Most of the panic-stricken merchants were already fleeing over the fields, and I could see that the guards would shortly follow that example too.

"Time to show these cowardly humans what a cat can do!" I miaowed fiercely before chasing after the merchants.

*slash* *rip* Shadow Strike!

"AH-AHHHRG!"

I jumped at the back of an obese old man and cut his vest open before using my magic to poison him. Shadow Strike would dull his senses what made running away impossible. I was a LvL 3 beast while this merchant was a commoner and a fatso at that. He was at the mercy of my claws.

The other fleeing humans stopped and watched in horror when they saw me, a little cat, attack one of their own. I could see them look at me as if this was a bad joke and that made me quite pissed.

"Fuck you all and your prejudices!" I hissed angrily and rushed at another obese merchant who was sweating heavily.

"No! Away with you, damn cat!"

"What did you just say you sweaty walrus?!" I growled fiercely and jumped at the face of the merchant before shredding it into a bloody mess.

The obese merchant must have been someone important because the other humans suddenly stopped fleeing and returned to help the bleeding walrus. Never matter, I did my job and poisoned the man with my Shadow Strike so that even a completely drunk would appear more in control of his body.

"What are you doing you damn fools?! Screw the cat! THE TROLL IS COMING!"

"What?!"

"OH NO-!"

These stupid fools were so focused on revenging the walrus that they forgot about the hungry troll that was now rushing towards them. The guards were obviously a lot faster than their lazy-ass masters and half of them already fled over the fields and disappeared into the forest that was close by. I could only shake my head and retreated from the merchants to make way for the rampaging troll that approached them with a murderous look burning in his dark-grey eyes.

I didn't want to witness the carnage and turned to walk back to the caravan so I could see if there were any interesting riches. Not to take something for myself, but just out of curiosity. I was in a new world after all.

"How is this new world so similar to Earth?" I miaowed in confusion as I inspected the goods of the merchants.

There were humans, chicken, cows, horses, and even the grain in the fields looked identical like the stuff on Earth. Sure there were no trolls or goblins on Earth, but I was sure that the humans in this world should have ended up on a different path of not only biological but also cultural evolution since they had to deal with different problems. However, it was as if there existed barely to no difference at all, just that there was magic and dangerous magical creatures. Heck, I could even understand the language the humans here were speaking!

Well, I had to gather more experience and explore more of this world, but everything was strangely similar so far. It wasn't exactly bad that it was like this because I had an easier time to understand everything, but I was still curious how I ended up in this world and why everything was so bizarrely familiar.

"Hmm… nothing but crap!" I miaowed in frustration when I finished my inspection.

The merchants sold nothing but stuff that was only useful for humans but not for cats. I couldn't even find a piece of meat, bread, or generally food at all.

'There should be a town or another village close by if they are traveling without provisions' – I concluded with a thoughtful look.

Most of the merchants were obese and the remaining people I saw weren't slim either, folk like them wouldn't travel around without any food. The only reason should be that there was no necessity for it - and that meant that there was a town or bigger village with an inn or tavern close by!

"Is the troll going to attack an even larger settlement after this?" I miaowed a bit worried.

The troll was certainly very strong, but I couldn't help against so many humans. I was already damn lucky when I attacked the LvL 4 mage that nobody paid attention to their surroundings. The raging troll also made them underestimate the danger I posed and I had an easy game. But I knew that I couldn't count on my cat-luck every time I encountered such a strong group of humans.

I watched my troll buddy come back after he got rid of the bodies by hiding them in his mouth. He didn't show much interest in the goods of the merchants and used his mace to smash everything into dust before he ate the horses and the bandi-… guards that he killed in the beginning.

"What now big boy?" I miaowed with a questioning tone.

The troll just grunted in response and scratched his bald head while looking around as if he was searching for something.

'Don't tell me that he wants to chase after the guards' – I thought with disbelief.

The bandi-… guards looked shabby but not dumb. They were most likely miles away at this point, and chasing them was only a waste of time since they were normal humans that just tried to make some coin by protecting even weaker humans.

'Huh?'

My eyes widened a bit when I suddenly saw another group of five adventurers appearing in the distance. They were all armored in impressive-looking armor and even the two staff-wielding mages were somewhat armored with surcoats and cloaks on top of their robes. The worst was a guy that was riding on an oversized boar because he looked like a gorilla and had a double-ax hanging on his back that looked big even from the distance.

"Troll!" I miaowed in a worried tone. "These humans are too dangerous!"

I sighed when the grey musclehead replied with a nonchalant grunt to my warning. The troll didn't look like he would flee the fight, but like one of these crazy warriors that sought a so-called glorious death by looking for the biggest bully in town. There was no glory in death, especially not for a nameless troll who will be forgotten by everyone after his death.

'This stubborn motherfucker!' – I cursed inwardly with frustration.

"Troll, do you best and beat them up, but I can't help you here anymore…" I miaowed in farewell as I retreated towards the edge of the forest.

'I am too young for this shit…'

The troll was still standing in the middle of the road, surrounded by the destroyed carriages and carts with their goods, his gaze firm, and his mace ready to smash some heads.

I quickly made my way to the edge of the forest to be as far away from the new humans as possible. Their armor was a whole lot better than the crap the LvL 4 mage wore, and I didn't want to mess with people like these. Catnip already warned me once that there were humans that could sense my presence. It was only reasonable to assume that they had some kind of tracking-magic that made it easier for them to hunt magical beasts.

The new arrivals were the best example. How in the holy fuck did they know about the troll? And the second group too. They all seemed to possess some advanced GPS system that pointed out where the next monster was waiting.

"Catnip, can you maybe explain how these humans found out about the troll?" I miaowed in a questioning tone. "They all appear like they knew that there is an attack in the area. Did the villagers alarm them somehow or what?"

[Catnip: Apologies, but that's up to you to find out. I am unable to help you in this regard]

'As expected' – I sighed inwardly.

Catnip was a great help, but I not something like a universal library that could answer my every question.

I climbed on a tree as soon as I reached the edge of the forest and saw that the humans stopped some meters away from the troll. They didn't attack but waited patiently for the troll to make the first move. My big buddy did the same what was rather foolish in my opinion. He was probably not aware of it, but I could see the mouths of the mages moving. Whatever they were doing... they needed a lot of time.

The guy that was riding the boar lifted the massive double-ax from his back and stood at the front while being flanked by two other guys that wielded shield and sword. I observed how the staffs of the mages started to glow blueish as the two groups continued their starring contest. The light slowly started to burn brighter until a large blue fireball was floating above the group of humans.

*GRAAAAAAAHHH!!!*

The troll erupted with a thunderous roar that echoed thought the whole area before he lifted his mace to burst into a mad sprint. The mages moved their staffs and the blue fireball exploded with a bright whitish glow as soon as it hit its target. I could only shake my head with a sigh when I heard a pained cry erupt out of the ball of fire.

"What the fuck?" I miaowed with bulging eyes when the humans started screaming too.

Their skin turned red and their bodies started smoking, high-pitched screams of pain echoed into the forest. It was the gorilla guy that acted first when he lifted his massive ax to rush at the troll that was still hidden by the ball of blue-white fire. The large human swung his terrifying weapon and I thought that this was the end of the troll. However, the massive double-ax was surprisingly blocked by a burning arm before another arm gave the burly man a punch into his gut.

"This stubborn…!" I miaowed in awe and astonishment when I saw the troll lifting the human by his legs to misuse him like a mace as he stepped forward for his counter-offensive.

The two knights that had to block the mace that was their former comrade looked as if they weren't sure if that's how things are supposed to be. They eventually gritted their teeth and shouted curses at the troll before lifting their shields in defense while the mages started their next assault.

"Did the big boy hide his strength or what?" I miaowed to myself with a perplexed tone.

He didn't show this much strength when he fought the second group. Well, they were more, but the troll was a whole lot more impressive this time. The rain of small magical arrows from the mages along with the fire that still engulfed his body didn't stop the troll from beating up the two knights with their own buddy. The guy that was abused to act a mace for the large creature was additionally attacking his comrades with sound-attacks of pain and agony that reduced the fighting-spirits of the listeners.

I jumped off the tree and made a large circle to approach the two mages with utmost care. There was a real chance to win this shit, and I only needed to hide and wait for the right opportunity. Well, that was when the troll attacked them and one managed to flee from the fight somehow. I would make sure that he wouldn't come far.

The still-burning troll kept smashing with the fleshy mace at the two knights until they were forced to use their swords to defend themselves. It was a quite sensational fight and the mages kept showering their foe with magical arrows that appeared out of the glowing peaks of their staffs.

'Hmm… maybe I can pounce at one of the mages, scratch his head before I run as if the devil was after me' – I pondered in the back of my head as I watched the battle.

It was worth a try and I was confident that I would survive even if one of these magic arrows were to hit me. The cowardly stay weak all their lives, while the risk-takers get stronger because they dare to face greater enemies!

The greater the risk the greater the reward!

Yes, these mages were like giants in comparison to a small little cat like me. But they full of blood that will make me stronger, and I had to take the risk if I wanted to obtain it!

"Fuck them and to hell with their cheap magic!" I growled before rushing at the staff-wielding bitch-ass mages.

My body was a lot stronger and faster than it was when I was still LvL 1, and my claws were sharper as well. I wasn't as dangerous as the troll, but I could become a pretty nasty opponent if I got my chance.

[Human Mage – LvL 4]

I shot to the mage with the shorter hair-cut and pounced at his head with a ferocious hiss.

'Shadow Strike!'

"Time for you to get a new hair-cut!" I growled viciously and used my claws to scalp the skin of the mage's head.

"What- AHHHHHRG!!!" The mage screamed with panic and pain as I cut his hair like a murderous hairdresser "Get it off! Get it off! Get it off meeeee! AHHHHHRGH!!!"

I stopped shredding the head of the mage when his partner hit my back with his staff. Ice-cold pain shot through my body and I hissed furiously before jumping down to rush into the fields that were close by. The mage shot a bunch of his stupid arrows after me, and I did my best to dodge them, ran zigzag and jumped around like a clown, but was still hit by one eventually. I gritted my teeth and escaped in the safety of the fields where the high-growing corn would shield my body from the mage's furious gaze.

"That fucking hurts!" I hissed silently.

It took some time, but my body was overwhelmed by a wave of pain as soon as I found a secure place to rest. I was bleeding heavily and my spine felt as if it was broken in two. The magic in my body reacted to the wounds and I felt its regenerating effect, but fighting was impossible now. I am not even sure if I could run away if the mage decided to look after me.

The worst was that the troll didn't look like we would win this fight. It was painful to watch, more painful than my poor spine, but the mage that I just attacked took a green bottle from his belt and poured the stuff over his head. His skin healed at a visible rate and my heart dropped when he took another bottle that made his eyes glow with power.

'Fuck this cheater!' – I cursed in the back of my head and forced myself up to escape towards the safety of the forest.

My back was luckily not broken, but just a bit damaged from the staff the mage hit me with. The foreign mana was extremely aggressive this time and felt ice-cold at first before it swiftly turned into scorching hotness as it entered my body through the staff. The wound at my rear was still bleeding, but my cat-magic was already concentrating on the spot and I could feel the skin slowly closing as I escaped from the fight.

*GRAA-!*

The roar of the troll entered my ears before it turned into a pained groan when a loud explosion boomed in the area. I could hear the high-pitched sounds of the magical arrows and the exhausted voices of the knights screaming at the mages that they shouldn't hold back anymore.

"Frickin humans!" I miaowed in a grumpy tone before I crawled into a rabbit hole that suddenly appeared to my salvation.

The sound of cheering voices soon entered my ears as I made my way deeper into the rabbit hole. It was unfortunate that the troll died like this - judging the situation by the sounds I could hear - but there was nothing I can do. I did my best and failed because I wasn't strong enough.

"At least I am safe now," I sighed in relief and allowed my eyes drop shut as my mind decided to fight the exhaustion and the pain of my body with a regenerative and relaxing slumber.