The Encirclement Hunt 2

Before he had time for any extra thought, Blade Tusk, who had already rushed up close, raised a hand and cast a Vine Spell over it.

Vines as thick as thumbs burst from the ground just as the "moose leader" had yet to fully launch itself, winding tightly around its legs.

The vines were exceptionally tough. Though they showed signs of snapping after only a moment, even that brief span was enough for the Trolls to dodge aside.

"Whew... thank you, Witch Doctor."

The startled Troll hunters hurriedly cleared the front and thanked Blade Tusk gratefully.

Blade Tusk nodded in acknowledgment, but neither his finger movements nor the incantation on his lips stopped. He continually reinforced the vines on the verge of breaking.

Then, seizing the only gaps that were too short to fit another spell into, he shouted orders.

"Hunter squads, let the warriors move in!"

Ever since the old notion of "warriors" had been divided up, the adult Trolls had taken on roles such as hunters and warriors. Yet because they had continued militia training, the Trolls' combat strength had not diminished. On the contrary, their organization had improved markedly.

Take this order, for instance. Back in the days when everyone was a soldier and yet no one truly was, they would never have been able to understand and carry it out so quickly.

Now, with Blade Tusk's less-than-complete order given, the hunter squads swiftly reacted. They gathered by squad, leaving gaps between one squad and the next.

Seeing this, the full-time warriors, who had intended to help but had been blocked on the outer ring from the start, seized the chance to slip through those gaps into the front line, replacing the hunter squads in tightening the encirclement.

Throughout this, Blade Tusk kept using Vine Spell to slow the strongest "moose."

That beast was simply too strong. A single vine could not hold for long before snapping, leaving Blade Tusk with no time to cast other spells. He could only keep patching up the Vine Spell passively.

Fortunately, the warriors quickly filled the gaps.

At Blade Tusk's signal, they tried to press close to the moose leader behind their shields, intending to compress its room to move.

But the other lesser leaders did not simply stand by and let events unfold. They turned and charged over, seemingly intending a rescue.

At this, most of the shield-bearing warriors split off and circled behind, using spears to slow the charging moose.

Then they locked shield to shield into a shield wall and steadily drove them back step by step.

Three more squads of warriors swiftly slipped into the opening created by the main force's advance. With no worries about their backs, they layered in behind their shields and pressed down on the moose leader.

With that, the moose leader had no room left to maneuver. It could only struggle on the strength of its muscles.

But when had Troll warriors ever been easy opponents in a contest of strength? Not to mention that they were now pressed tightly against it from every direction, in two layers.

At last, the giant beast was completely subdued, and Blade Tusk finally had time to use a more complex spell.

He did not choose anything overly flashy. He merely strengthened the basic Vine Spell.

With layers upon layers of runes stacked together, he created monstrous vines as thick as wrists and as strong as Steelwood. They coiled around the moose leader again and again, dragging it to the ground beneath its unwilling gaze, leaving it unable to rise again.

While they dealt with the moose leader, the main body of warriors that had split off earlier joined with the remaining hunters to form a new encirclement.

The circle continuously compressed inward, restricting the lesser leaders' space to maneuver and preventing them from building up speed to smash into the formation.

The wolf pack worked hard as well.

Led by the alpha wolf, they repeatedly risked leaping onto the "moose" backs to harass them, constantly stirring up chaos and preventing the "moose" from exerting force in a single direction.

By the time Blade Tusk and the three squads of warriors working with him arrived, the three sides had already coordinated in waves, suppressing the remaining moose within a circle so cramped that they were nearly pressed against one another.

This made things much easier. Using the ground beneath his feet as the point of origin, Blade Tusk created vines of the same strength as before and guided them into the "herd," picking out the lesser leaders one by one, binding them, and pulling them free.

After repeating this process, he finally dealt with all the tough ones.

As for the rest, they posed no threat at all to the warriors and hunters. Even catching them one by one would have done the job.

In fact, if the Trolls had not developed the notion of capturing them all alive, surrounding and hunting these thirty or forty "moose" would never have been this troublesome.

At least, that was certainly true for the warriors equipped with greatshields, heavy throwing spears, and spears.

The hunters, whose equipment was comparatively backward and who possessed little more than traditional short throwing spears, might have found it somewhat more troublesome.

But only somewhat. Traditional encirclement-hunting methods would have been enough to kill most of them during the pursuit.

But back to the point.

Not long afterward, the other Witch Doctors arrived one after another after hearing the news. With more vines joining in, the capture of the remaining "moose" was swiftly declared complete.

Then, beneath the expectant gazes of the Trolls, Witch Doctor Sharp Tusk stepped forward to carefully observe the captured "moose" reactions. Combining that with the hunters' overlapping accounts of what they had seen, he reached the conclusion that they should be domesticated.

Knowing their hard work had not been in vain and that there would be new meat to eat in the future, both hunters and warriors erupted into cheers.

Amid that fervent atmosphere, Blade Tusk thought of another use beyond "eating"—riding.

Perhaps this could be the chance to unlock Troll cavalry?

Whether they could be ridden, how they could be ridden, and so on would be affected by many factors.

For instance, how much stamina these "moose" would have left while carrying the not-inconsiderable weight of a Troll warrior. Still, there was no harm in trying, was there?

Even if the forest lacked room for large-scale cavalry operations, perhaps small scouting cavalry units could work? Perhaps they could be used to expand the range of explorable territory?

With those thoughts in mind, he slowly walked toward the strongest "moose" leader.

Once before it, Blade Tusk crouched down and reached out to stroke its neck, hoping to draw their relationship a little closer.

But judging by the increasingly furious look in the leader's eyes, the result was clear—failure.

Perhaps, to the moose leader lying on the ground with its freedom restrained, this felt like an insult?

"What are you doing?"

Meiya crouched beside him and asked in her pleasant voice.

"I want to ride it."

"???"

Meiya, who only understood the word "ride" as it was used in the bedroom, looked at her husband with shock mingled with sorrow, vaguely feeling humiliated.

"Why? I can no longer satis—"

"What are you thinking? I mean, I'm wondering if I can have the warriors ride these fellows to run and fight."

Blade Tusk cut off his wife's wild thoughts, half laughing and half crying, then motioned for her to step back a little.

Having never seen or even heard of the concept of proper cavalry, yet having witnessed Trolls going into heat over animals, Meiya still had her doubts—but she obediently retreated some distance.

Seeing this, Blade Tusk looked straight into the moose leader's eyes and slowly untied its restraints, one strand at a time.

Since he had decided to keep this moose as a cavalry mount, he could think of no more effective method than conquering its leader.

A little late, but here is Chapter Two. Also, please support with all kinds of votes.