Going home

What Yu Lin Bloodhawk had fired was no ordinary arrow, but a Concussive Shot.

Concussive Shot was a slowing spell fired from a bow. It could only be dodged, not blocked, because the magic would burst and take effect the moment it touched anything.

It dealt no damage and only reduced speed by 50%, and its duration was fairly short. Compared with a Rogue's Sprint at the same rank, it lasted only half as long.

But it had one advantage: of all a Ranger's magical shots, it consumed the least mana. Any Ranger could use it, and it was a mandatory shooting skill in recruit training.

Trolls had fought elves for thousands of years, so naturally they knew this spell.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk dropped to the ground and ran for his life, not daring to look back.

He was 100% certain that his last shot had worked. At the time, he had felt utterly detached and clear-minded. He did not know why, but he had felt that wherever he chose to shoot, his target would be unable to dodge. It was a wondrous feeling. He could have hit his target even with his eyes closed, as though he possessed a pair of eyes within his mind.

But this was a matter of life and death. He had no time to think, no time to reflect on that feeling. Never mind something as complicated as reflecting on it-his head was swimming, and even with his rapid breathing, he felt he could not get enough oxygen.

The Troll followed Yu Lin Bloodhawk's route and leaped onto the fallen tree in a few bounds. By the time he spotted Yu Lin Bloodhawk, the elf had already run far ahead.

The Troll ground his teeth in fury.

He had been about to catch up, only to fall for the brat's trick. A Concussive Shot had hit him, widening the distance between them again.

"Crafty little bastard. Looks like I underestimated you." The Troll drew another dagger from his waist and continued the pursuit, his eyes fixed on his target.

One chased, the other fled.

At first, the distance between them gradually widened. After a while, it began to shrink again.

The Troll's Sprint had worn off, but so had the slowing effect of Concussive Shot.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk's stamina was failing. The Troll, however, was a higher level and had greater endurance, so the gap between them began to close again.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk felt as though every breath would tear his lungs out. As he ran, all he could hear was his own labored breathing and a little wind.

To anyone watching, he would have looked like a nimble rat, but only he knew that he was on his last legs. His legs felt as heavy as lead, and he could sense the Troll drawing closer.

But there was nothing he could do.

He did not even dare look back to see how far apart they were, because every second mattered now. Sheer willpower was largely all that kept him running.

He had tried firing another Concussive Shot at the Troll, but his opponent had easily dodged two consecutive attempts. The same old trick was hardly going to work again so easily. The Troll had even mocked him for it. After that, he stopped wasting his strength and time on futile efforts.

Gradually, he heard the Troll's footsteps behind him, and even the Troll's heavy panting.

The Troll was not in particularly good shape either. He had pushed himself too hard early on to catch his target, and had also taken a Concussive Shot. If Yu Lin Bloodhawk had been running a three-thousand-meter distance race, then the Troll had been sprinting those three thousand meters. Sprinting and distance running consumed different amounts of stamina.

Still, the difference in their strength was plain to see. Whatever the case, the Troll was in far better shape than Yu Lin Bloodhawk.

The Troll was thoroughly sick of this ratlike elf, who was both cunning and infuriatingly quick at scurrying away.

He was only a dozen meters away from catching him, yet somehow he could never quite reach him.

Gritting his teeth, the Troll hurled a dagger at Yu Lin Bloodhawk's back. Whether it hit or not, as long as it slowed Yu Lin Bloodhawk even a little, the elf was certain to die.

That spine-chilling sense of danger saved Yu Lin Bloodhawk's life once again.

By then, Yu Lin Bloodhawk's mind was no longer thinking about anything. He ducked instinctively, but his forward momentum carried his body onward against his will.

He fell flat on his face, then rolled like a log into a clump of bushes, narrowly avoiding the flying dagger.

The Troll rejoiced. "Finally caught you!"

Without hesitation, he charged into the bushes after him.

Bang! The moment the Troll stepped into the bushes, his body was frozen solid.

"You son of a bitch! That's what you get for chasing me!" In the bushes, Yu Lin Bloodhawk's face was smeared with mud and bleeding from scratches left by branches. His expression twisted savagely as he roared, drew his saber, and lunged.

The Troll did not even have time to break free of the ice. He could only watch as the long saber pierced his torso, sinking all the way to the hilt, with a long stretch of its tip protruding from his back.

The ice shattered, and blood flowed.

The Troll stared blankly at his abdomen.

That strike had also used up the very last of Yu Lin Bloodhawk's strength. After piercing the Troll, he could no longer even hold the hilt. His body swayed twice before he fell out of the bushes and rolled several times down a small slope before coming to a stop.

He panted incessantly. In truth, even if someone else had come at him with a knife now, he could only have watched. He did not have the strength to move a single finger.

He ended up lying on his back after rolling down, which happened to give him a clear view of the Troll, who seemed to have fallen into a stupor.

After a short while, the Troll slowly raised his head, shifting his gaze from his abdomen to Yu Lin Bloodhawk, until their eyes met.

"Did you think you'd won?" the Troll suddenly said, slowly and hoarsely, in Thalassian, his face contorted with malice.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk's eyes widened in terror as he stared at the Troll speaking the elves' language.

He still isn't dead? Yu Lin Bloodhawk felt as though this Troll were a vengeful ghost straight out of hell. Frightened, he wanted to flee at once, but he had no strength left, not even enough to shout.

Holding his sole remaining dagger, the Troll dragged his feet forward, advancing toward Yu Lin Bloodhawk one step at a time.

His expression was savage and cruel, his eyes filled with boundless hatred.

"The gap in rank isn't something your little tricks can bridge," he rasped with difficulty as he walked, as though mocking Yu Lin Bloodhawk for overestimating himself.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk heard no trace of mockery, but saw the venomous gaze filled with boundless

hatred.

"You bastard... you've got to be cheating!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said weakly.

Even that wasn't enough? A sense of helplessness overwhelmed him in that instant, extinguishing all hope. He no longer had the will to resist, nor did he have even a trace of strength left to do so.

If he had had just a little strength to spare earlier, enough to twist the blade and pull it out, would this Troll still have dared act so arrogantly? No-he would not even have needed to pull it out. A single twist would have sufficed.

Unfortunately, there were no ifs. That strike had exhausted every bit of his strength.

The Troll was fewer than ten steps away.

Step by step, he moved with difficulty.

Every step was clumsy, yet each one struck Yu Lin Bloodhawk's heart like an immense hammer. Every heavy footfall sounded to him like the god of death's cold laughter.

Those few steps would not take much time. Yet to both of them, that brief span felt like billions of light-years.

At last, the Troll persevered until he stood a single step away from Yu Lin Bloodhawk.

Looking at the Troll's savage expression, Yu Lin Bloodhawk accepted his fate.

"It's over. I can finally go home!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk said, sounding almost relieved.

Yes, he believed that although his body on Earth had died, his soul could still go home. It was less a firm conviction than a wish.

"Go home..." the Troll murmured hoarsely, then fell silent. He neither stepped forward nor spoke again. He stood fixed in place, his eyes staring straight at Yu Lin Bloodhawk without moving.

"Yes, go home..." Yu Lin Bloodhawk said quietly, looking at the motionless Troll.

The Troll did not respond. He simply stood there in silence, watching him.

The two stared at each other, neither moving.

One did not move; the other lacked the strength to move.

One stood; the other lay on the ground.

After lying there a while, Yu Lin Bloodhawk began to feel some of his strength return.

He tried moving his hand and found that the Troll did not react. Then he sat up, crossed his legs on the ground, and looked up at the savage-faced Troll.

"Buddy, make it quick with that blade. I'm afraid of pain. Have been since I was a kid!" he said, tilting his head back to look at the Troll.

The Troll did not respond.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk was helpless too. Although he had recovered a little stamina, he really did not have enough strength to run.

After another while, seeing that the Troll still showed no sign of movement, he said, "Since you're not going to kill me, I'm leaving!"

The Troll remained motionless.

Yu Lin Bloodhawk began to wonder whether the Troll was still alive, but he truly did not dare check. He admitted that this Troll had terrified him. Anyone who had gone through what he had today would have been frightened.

"I really am leaving!" Yu Lin Bloodhawk stood up cautiously, taking the opportunity to sneak two steps backward and put some distance between himself and the Troll.

Could he really be dead? Yu Lin Bloodhawk wondered. He considered going over to check, but immediately rejected the idea.

He backed away another five or six steps. Whatever happened, he needed to get away from this terrifying fellow first. If the Troll was not dead, would he not simply be delivering himself up to be killed?

Only at that distance did he begin to feel a little reassured. This fellow had truly frightened him out of his wits. Whether the Troll was dead or not, he decided not to provoke him again.

After backing away a dozen or so steps and seeing no response, he finally turned and quickened his pace to leave.