One Against Two, Negotiating with Trolls

Pfft!

Black blood shot into the sky.

Aaron drew his dagger, performed a beautiful backflip, and landed in a superhero-like manner.

The thin Ogre let out a huge cry of pain and casually threw Bombur away.

He clutched his head, staggered a few steps, rolled his eyes, and collapsed to the ground.

This scene stunned everyone present.

The dwarves were stunned, but the next moment they cheered.

In their eyes, although Aaron was bigger than them, he was just a child, not a qualified Golden Snitch.

But no one expected that his combat power was so high. Although it was a sneak attack, killing an Ogre was still a remarkable achievement.

Bilbo looked completely bewildered and couldn't help but swallow hard.

I've never seen such a monstrous human before, especially a thirteen-year-old child. Are all the stories in books just lies?

"You killed Tom." The Ogre, turning the grill, realized what was happening and glared fiercely at Aaron.

"Don't worry, Orm, he's not dead." The Ogre wearing an apron tapped the grill with a spoon in his hand. "Right, Tom?"

Tom turned his head with difficulty, tears streaming down his face, and said in an extremely weak voice, "It hurts, it hurts so much."

"See, I told you he wasn't dead!"

However, the injury is too severe; it probably won't heal for at least a month or two.

"His health bar is really thick; he won't die even if you pierce his skull."

Aaron muttered to himself, gaining a new understanding of how troublesome the Ogre were.

However, he did manage to achieve his goal. Although the Ogre was not dead, it lost its ability to fight and could not move for a short period of time.

"Humans, or children?" The Ogre wearing an apron looked at the dwarves on the barbecue grill. "You're in cahoots with them."

"No, no, no, don't misunderstand." Aaron waved his hand. "I don't know them. I just want to kill you."

What are you saying?

"That's right, Gaius, you're our Golden Snitch."

"You signed a contract, after all."

The dwarves were filled with righteous indignation and were extremely angry at Aaron for betraying their group.

"A bunch of idiots!" Aaron felt a pang of heartache. Admitting his identity was tantamount to providing the Ogre with a dozen hostages.

"You'll get used to it." Bilbo shook his head. "Although it's hard to get used to."

Wait, didn't I tell you to go find Gandalf?

"Gandalf will surely come, but I must make sure you are still alive before he comes."

"Luckily I didn't leave. This is such a dragging of the deal! Peeling off my skin? Why didn't you say you had cramps?"

"Actually, I was going to say that they have bugs and that eating them will make you sick."

"You mean Parasitic Worm?" Gloin said unhappily.

"We don't have Parasitic Worm!" Kili roared. "You're the one who has them!"

"You can't stop someone from wanting to be eaten," Aaron said speechlessly. "You could just say you'd put them down, massage them gently, dilate their blood vessels, and make the meat more tender."

Alternatively, you can wash it with warm water; it will be chewy and won't get stuck in your teeth.

"Really?" The Ogre Orm wiped his drool and was about to untie the bag.

A spoon hit him on the head.

Wearing an apron, the Ogre said angrily, "Can't you tell he's lying?"

"But I think what he said makes sense."

"Regardless of whether it makes sense or not, just arrest them first."

"That's true." The Ogre Orm nodded and pounced on Aaron.

"This sword is really not easy to use!"

Aaron flicked the blood off his knife, dodged to the side the instant Orm charged, and slashed Orm's thigh with his blade.

As the opponent staggered, he used his amazing physical abilities to leap onto the opponent's back, and with a flash of silver light in his hand, he cut off a piece of black flesh.

The Ogre howled as it threw Aaron off, then touched the black blood on its back and roared, "I'm going to skin you alive, tear out your tendons, and smash your bones to make soup!"

"That's really rude of you to say it, but I shouldn't expect you to have any manners either."

As soon as he finished speaking, Aaron took the initiative and charged forward, wielding a giant short sword.

Orm instinctively made a grabbing motion, and Aaron leaned back. The short knife sliced through a layer of grayish-white skin, spun around, and then fell into Orm's hand.

Black blood gushed from the circular wound. Before Orm could react, the second blade struck the back of his knee.

Orm knelt on one knee, then roared and grabbed at it.

Aaron seized the opportunity to leap onto the opponent's arm and thrust his short knife down with all his might.

"Ah!"

Orm screamed in agony, but Aaron was much stronger than the dwarf, and with Ogre ogre weapon, he easily pinned Orm's arm to the ground.

"What are you still watching? Come and help!"

Wearing an apron, the Ogre reacted and charged forward on its huge, short legs.

Aaron drew his large dagger and ran two quick steps along Orm's arm to the top of Om's head.

The dagger pierced his back and then slashed down, leaving a long, dark, bloody gash on his body.

This injury is not fatal to the Ogre, but it is extremely painful.

Orm roared, "How dare you skin me alive!"

"Good!" Kili shouted excitedly.

"That's how it should be," Dwalin laughed.

The other dwarves joined in the cheering, and even Thorin and Balin had smiles on their faces.

"Can you shut up?" Aaron said speechlessly. "Don't bother me at a time like this."

No sooner had he finished speaking than a large fist came hurtling towards him.

Before he could even draw his knife, Aaron clenched his fist and swung it with all his might.

Aaron was sent flying more than ten meters before he could barely regain his balance, while the ogres wearing Ogre also took a half step back.

The Ogre blew on his fist, trying to lessen the burning pain on the back of his hand.

Aaron fared even worse, with his right arm drooping.

"Gaius, are you alright?" Bilbo asked worriedly.

"It's alright." Aaron pressed his left hand against his right arm and pressed down hard.

Clatter!

With his right arm reattached, Aaron took a deep breath, stretched briefly, and then picked up the giant dagger that had fallen to the ground.

"You're not human." The Ogre wearing an apron helped his companion up and looked at Aaron warily as he asked.

"Exactly, humans couldn't possibly be that fast." Orm used his limited intelligence. "I know, it must be Half-blood of human and elf."

"Impossible. If he were Half-blood person, he wouldn't have that much strength," the Ogre wearing an apron retorted. "Besides, he doesn't have pointed ears."

"Uh... don't make wild guesses. I'm a perfectly normal human, not some kind of Half-blood."

"What the book says is all lies," Bilbo muttered. Aaron was several times stronger than the humans he had read about in the book.

The two Ogre exchanged a glance and then grabbed Bilbo.

One of them held Bilbo's head, and the other grabbed his legs, then looked at Aaron triumphantly.

"Put Wu Xun down, or we'll tear him to pieces."

"Damn it! The worst thing I feared still happened." Aaron sighed helplessly, then raised the weapon in his hand.

The two Ogre had just started to smile when Aaron's next words stunned them, "Put down your weapons? Do you think I'm stupid?"

"What did you say?" The Ogre wearing an apron asked incredulously. "Don't you care about the life or death of your companion?"

"Our comrades are important, but do you think you'll let us go if we put down our knives?"

"Of course not, do you know how difficult it is to get a bite of meat?" Orm said matter-of-factly.

"That's why I'm not putting the knife down; it's my bargaining chip!" Aaron said meaningfully, then walked up to Tom and put the knife to his neck.

For example, like this.

"Put Bilbo down, or I'll send him to meet his maker..." Aaron stopped mid-sentence, realizing that God might not exist, and quickly changed his words, "Or I'll send him to his death."

The two Ogre were dumbfounded; the hostages in their hands didn't seem to pose a significant threat.

The two released their grip at the same time, and Bilbo fell to the ground.

"Very good, the fire is out."

"This..."

While Orm hesitated, the Ogre wearing an apron poured a pot of soup onto the fire.

"Release them now."

"Impossible, you only have one hostage, we have fourteen."

Aaron pushed the dagger forward half an inch, and a black line of blood appeared on Tom's neck.

The Ogre had been ripped open, widened its eyes in a final burst of lucidity, "Ram, Orm, are you going to watch me die?"

"But that's not fair." The Ogre (Ram) wearing an apron shook his head. "One person can only be exchanged for one hostage."

The dagger slowly sliced across Tom's neck, and the black blood flowed even faster.

I don't want to say it a second time.

Tom trembled with fear, looking at his two older brothers with pleading eyes.

"To replace or not to replace?"

Ram was silent for a moment, then said, "We can only exchange four at most, no, three."

"No," Aaron said firmly.

"Human, don't push your luck. This is the bottom line."

Aaron rolled his eyes. Negotiating with not-so-bright Ogre was definitely a brain-teasing task, and getting food out of them was no easy feat.

He was hesitating whether to use magic when he saw a figure in a gray robe running towards him, and a smile involuntarily appeared on his lips.

"Okay, I agree."

"No," Thorin said immediately. "I will not abandon any of them."

"Thorin, you should trust me now. I have a plan," Aaron said speechlessly. "All you have to do is lie still and not provoke them before the deal is done. You know they don't have brains."

Before Thorin could say anything more, Balin secretly kicked him and gestured for him to look behind the Ogre.

When he saw a pointed hat sweep across the dawn, he immediately realized that Gandalf had arrived and promptly shut his mouth.

"Have you made your choice?" Ram asked.

"Wait a minute, let me think!" Aaron pretended to be deep in thought, his eyes sweeping between Bilbo and the dwarves.

Then the Grey Wizard finally climbed onto a huge rock, and in the light of dawn, his figure looked particularly sacred.

"Let the dawn subdue you!" Gandalf roared, staff in hand.

Who is that?

"I don't know, is it safe to eat?"

Gandalf raised his staff and struck it hard against the Monolith.

The Monolith split in half, and the light of dawn shone into the dark hollow, also illuminating the Ogre.

The Ogre seemed to be scorched by flames; their skin cracked, and their bodies, exposed to sunlight, turned bluish-gray. Finally, amidst a piercing scream, they turned to stone.

As the dawn broke and the dwarves' faces shone, they immediately cheered.

Aaron threw away the mugwort in his hand, tapped Tom, who had turned to stone, and couldn't help but sigh, "Even though I was mentally prepared, it still felt a bit unbelievable when I saw it with my own eyes."

"I didn't expect you to be so powerful." Gandalf walked over and looked at Aaron with a half-smile. "My intuition that day was right."

I would never have believed it if I hadn't seen it with my own eyes: a seemingly ordinary human child was actually capable of fighting two Ogre.

Aaron:...

That old bastard must have arrived a long time ago; luckily, I managed to refrain from using my magic.

"Don't worry, I won't ask questions I shouldn't." Gandalf gave Aaron a knowing look. "All I need to know is that you're a reliable teammate."

Aaron pursed his lips, not expecting Gandalf to be so perceptive, not even bothering to make up a reason.

"Um... could you untie us first?" Bilbo said. "Being tied up in these bags is really uncomfortable."

"Understood." Aaron picked up the dwarf's weapon and rescued them one by one.

Gandalf tapped the stone statue that the Ogre had transformed into, a hint of seriousness flashing in his eyes as he smiled.

"Where are you?" Thorin asked as he walked over.

"He went ahead to scout the way."

Why have you come again?

"Let's go and find out," Gandalf said. "Luckily, no one else is in trouble."

"Your Golden Snitch... isn't entirely without flaws."

Bilbo may not be very brave, but his courage is commendable.

"Moreover, he knows how to stall for time, something none of the rest of you thought of."

"Perhaps!" Thorin shrugged. "But the other person's strength is something I didn't expect."

"I told you, their contributions are beyond your imagination," Gandalf said calmly. "That's the foresight of Warlock."

"Gaius," Thorin looked at Aaron, "Who exactly are you?"

"Uh... Anyway, I have nothing to do with elves."

"Of course you have nothing to do with elves," Balin said as he walked over. "Thorin is asking about your identity. You are so strong that you don't seem like a human at all."

"Slander! This is blatant slander!" Aaron slapped the petrified Ogre with righteous indignation. "This is disrespect to my mother, who is a human being."

"Then how come you are so strong? You can actually go Ogre- to-toe with an ogre."

Aaron proudly raised his head and uttered four words: "Born with superhuman strength."

"And what about your swordsmanship?" Thorin asked. "Even among elves, few can match your skillful movement and swordsmanship."

"My ancestors were knights, and as their descendant, it's not unreasonable for me to learn a move or two!"

Balin and Thorin looked at each other, knowing that the other was most likely making things up, but they couldn't find a reason to refute it.