A Slight Miscalculation

Initially, Cassie planned to fake her scouting attempt. After she had escaped the sight of the party which had been stalking them, she would double back around behind them and hide in the shadows lying in wait to strike them at the opportune moment.

However, things did not go according to plan, the mad man who lead the ambushers had used a monster call to infuriate a nearby troll. Until now, trolls had been a mere rumor, there had never been a confirmed sighting. Nor could anyone really verify if they existed.

There were a few skills that existed that allowed one to analyze data of monsters, beasts, and plants, they were commonly used by dedicated scouts. However, if one wanted to spot a troll they would have to venture deep into the monster-held territory.

Both parties were staring at the malevolent monster as it rushed towards their position, there was no way any of them could survive the encounter. A troll of this size would be at an incomprehensible level when compared to the current status of slayers in this world.

Alex shouted to his teammates in an attempt to break their shock

"Scatter!"

with that said his party immediately split up and fled in different directions. The bald-headed burly man looked in shock as he did not expect Alex and his party to run away so quickly, he had not even set up a method to contain them.

Instead, the enraged troll seemed to be darting towards his own party, as they were the only ones still within the area. He too quickly gave the order to run, albeit reluctantly. It was not supposed to be this way.

However, the troll had locked onto his party's scent and began chasing after them, allowing Alex and his comrades the ability to escape from the monstrous creature. Alex could hear the blood-curdling screams of the other party as they were torn to pieces by the troll one by one. He felt no sympathy, the idiots had brought this upon themselves.

With the troll in the area, all other monsters had completely vacated the premises, a creature of such a high level, and low intelligence was something to be avoided, even by other monsters. As such, Alex and his party were quickly able to regroup at the liquor store's location.

If the bald man knew that his failed attempt to massacre Alex's party would actually allow them to get to their objective without difficulty he would probably suffer a heart attack. However, his plan had backfired spectacularly and he was probably already at the river Styx.

After regrouping with his party, Alex was excited to see not a single one of them was harmed. The frightening troll really did go after the morons who enraged it. Cassie struggled to catch her breath, even if her stamina was quite high, sprinting away from the troll-like that was no easy task. Between each breath, she expressed her thoughts

"What kind of moron would create a monster call that has such a disastrous effect like that?"

Alex and the others started laughing at her remark, it was true what she said the person who created the item must either be an absolute moron or had ill intentions. Either way, they were lucky to be alive. They might be the first party to be able to accurately claim to have succeeded in surviving a troll encounter! The boys at the tavern would love this story.

After spending some time gathering themselves, the party eventually decided to delve into the liquor store, despite there being no monsters in the region they were still cautious as they entered the building. It was quite possible a monster or two took refuge in the liquor store to evade the troll's wrath.

Luckily for them, no monsters were present, as such they were easily able to swipe the goods and fill up their bags with various bottles of liquor. Obviously, they weren't able to loot everything, so they chose the top-shelf stuff. The higher the quality of the liquor, the more rewards they would get.

Humans could not survive on scavenging forever, there were only so many unopened bottles of alcohol in the world. Sooner or later they would have to learn to survive without electricity, but for now, they managed to get by from scavenging the ruins of the old world.

After the party had gotten what they needed they rejoiced by taking a few 40 oz bottles of malt liquor and celebrated. Though room temperature, they could still feel the fatigue from this expedition evaporate as they savored the splendor of drinking. It was not every day they could afford to drink on the job.

After enjoying themselves for some time they prepared to head back, the sooner they left the better. After all the monsters who had dwelled in this area would be quick to reclaim it once the menacing aura of the enraged troll dissipated. They checked to make sure they had gathered everything they needed one last time and began to set off back to the airport.

The party had made quite some gains this time, and despite the unexpected circumstances they made it to the liquor store in one piece. The Journey back would be much easier as they had already cleared the way not long ago.

With the silver sun illuminating the fractured purple sky and the ruined world below, the party set off towards their destination. It would be nice to sit back and relax at the Swan Song Tavern after a hard day's work. With all the vouchers they would gain from this quest they would be able to drink like kings for some time.

Alex on the other hand was thinking about harassing Emily once he returned. He couldn't help himself the girl was too cute. As such, as he made his way back to the airport he had a stupid grin on his face, which the other party members instantly recognized, forcing Cassie to muttered under her breath

"This idiot..."