It all started badly. The Ice Troll was hidden in its lair. A stiff breeze was blowing up the mountain from the sea, which meant that if we wanted to be downwind, we would have to be higher up the mountain on the ice. This meant we stayed a long way down the mountain and off to one side, so the troll was not forewarned before we were ready.

  As guards, we have to learn tricks to protect people and things. Part of that learning is preparing traps to stop attackers. Trapping skills are not required for the Guard Class, but they can be useful tools. Yoboc, the commander, and Eric have the Skill. I am not sure how many other of the guards have it. It is doubtful I will learn it in the time I have, but there is plenty of time after I have the class.

  Eric and the Commander have gone to draw out the Troll while Yoboc supervises the trap we are building. We built it in the middle of a clearing so we could move easily around it if the Troll came from an unexpected direction. The clearing had the added benefit of being free from ice and snow. There was still snow this high up the mountain in summer, but it was mostly in the shaded areas. Further up, there was permanent ice and snow.

  Eric was in charge of the Patrol of Guards. They preferred to be called Patrollers rather than the name of the class they all had. I don’t know why. There were eight of them: me, The Commander, Yoboc, and a person who surprised me.

  The surprise addition was Thranmack Bolderblade. He was the one I called the titless dwarf when I first met Yoboc and Goldie. Thran started his career with a basic class as a Miner. He levelled it to Journeyman and then worked and gained the Adminstrator basic Class. He was on this expedition to level the Administrator Class and gain the skills to specialise in either Foreman or, preferably, Overseer. That was why he was rotated through various different jobs, so he knew what people did and had an idea of the challenges and requirements of running an expedition. Technically, he was Thomwea Forgemaker's apprentice.

  I never liked Thran, ever since he laughed at me when I didn’t understand what was going on. He has tried to strike up a conversation with me since, but I have not been interested. I suspect he was told off and told to make it right. Yoboc gave me a clue when he told me the Administrator class was about organisation and supply, but the Overseer and Foreman specialisations are more about managing people. I suspect he was told to make nice with the only non-dwarf here to level his people skills. I am not interested in helping him. He can learn the consequences of stuffing up instead.

  Thran did the bulk of the work on the trap. Every dwarf here had the Mining Skill, but he had the Miner class, which provided a lot of bonuses to the skill. I don’t even have the skill yet. I still avoided him.

  A massive roar came from up the mountain, signalling that the Commander and Eric had the Troll's attention. We roughly covered the trap. It did not need to be carefully hidden as the Troll was short-sighted, and our smell was already all over this place. Keeping the Troll enraged was the key, and it sounds like they have done that, and us being in its territory will keep it enraged.

  They were coming fast. We moved around the trap, and it was between us and the incoming monster. We lined up with shields and spears were ready. I was right on one edge as I was so tall my shield didn’t line up with the dwarves.

  The Commander and Eric were coming at full speed through the light scattering of trees. The troll was crashing through the occasional trunk that got in its way, bringing down the trees and cascades of snow. It would have been faster if it avoided the trees, but it didn’t care.

  As Eric reached the clearing, he turned and yelled at the troll. The Troll roared back and redoubled its efforts to catch him. I figured it was a skill of some type that Eric used.

  The commander slipped around the trap and joined the other end of the dwarven line. He did not have a shield but a large two-handed Warhammer. One side of the hammer had a lot of small ridges and looked like a meat pulveriser. The other side had a large spike. The Hammer looked way too heavy for him to handle. His Physical Strength must be incredible.

  Eric ran straight for the trap and jumped over it. He slid to a halt and joined the centre of the line of dwarves as the Troll came barreling forward. As it hit the edge of the trap, the ground fell out from under it, and the stakes we had placed, tried to pierce its hide. One of them may have.

  I tossed a bladder of liquid that splashed over one side of the troll, and then Yoboc let loose with the fire arrows. The hay we had piled up in the bottom of the hole caught alight, and then the liquid I had thrown caught fire.

  The troll went crazy. The flames were eating at its Ice, and the smoke was playing havoc with its sense of smell. It raged and struck out at anything it could reach. It smashed one of the dwarf’s spears, and several shields were left with claw marks.

  The dwarves started stabbing with their spears, aiming for the areas weakened by fire. Then, the commander’s large two-handed hammer slammed down on the back of the troll. I wondered why he used the mallet end, not the spike until I saw the shower of ice crystals falling from the troll's fur. He was weakening the ice armour.

  This angered the troll further, and a wave of freezing cold radiated past me. All the fires were snuffed out, and the Ice reformed on the troll's fur even thicker than before. Frost appeared on my shield.

  A sharp command came from Eric. Another bladder splashed on the troll, and the Commander’s hammer came down again, which only cracked the outer layer of the new ice, and a few splinters fell off. The new liquid fire flared, weakening the ice. This was a fight of attrition. We needed to work through the Troll's ice until its spiritual energy was low and then work through its physical regeneration until we could kill it.

  Ensure your favorite authors get the support they deserve. Read this novel on Royal Road.

  The Troll was not going to take this standing still, and the hole was only up to its chest. It raged at the closest dwarves and looked to climb out of the hole. A yell rang out, “2… 1…. Bash!” and three dwarves in front of the troll coordinated a Shield Bash that sent it stumbling back.

  Shield Bash is another Skill I have yet to learn. My general Shield Skill has only just graduated from the novice levels, so specialised Shield skills come later. The Commander is focusing on the essential skills for the guard class, and the added extras will have to come later.

  Stab, twist, stab again with my spear. I was on the edge away from the troll's direct wrath, and the dwarves receiving that wrath switched out with others as needed. It was this type of coordination and working together that was very effective at controlling a larger opponent.

  The commander was all over the place, striking from different angles all the time. The occasional arrow came in from Yoboc. He has several different arrow skills, and he had said his Power Arrow and Piercing Arrows skills were the only ones that would have a chance. He had been trying to teach me a power throw skill, but he thought my Physical Strength was still too low.

  My spear thrusts caused less damage than the other guards because my physical strength and spear skills were lower.

  The second time the Troll tried to escape the pit, he was bashed back again, but that enraged him more, and he started throwing chunks of ice. He was not skilled in creating sharp spears of ice, so they were just hunks of ice, but they were big hunks. This was one of the reasons we had shields. The shields were denting if you didn’t manage to deflect the ice. If you did deflect the ice, you had to be careful not to deflect it to the person standing next to you. I think this was another reason they had me on the end of the line.

  I noticed Titless … sorry Thran was not on the line but standing back watching. I assume that was what he came for.

  From a bad start things were going pretty much as planned. The Troll’s energy was being used up with only a few minor injuries. I think only one health potion has been used to date.

  As soon as that thought entered my head, I knew it was a bad omen. The troll had had enough of staying in the pit trap. There was only enough time for a quick warning shout, and the troll basically lept out of the pit. I think it used its strong arms more than its legs, but I couldn’t really see.

  This time, it was the dwarves that went flying. Two managed to dive clear from the warning, one got stomped on, and two flew backwards.

  The Commander must have used some skill as he flew over the pit, landing a huge blow to the troll's back with his hammer spike. I saw the spike go deep, and blue blood started mixing with the ice and fur. The trouble was the spike was not coming out. The commander hung on to the hammer as the troll went wild and started rampaging. Then I realised what he was doing. The bloody commander was riding the troll and steering it away from the injured. That was bloody incredible.

  I couldn’t stop to watch as the dwarves that were standing were reforming. They were discarding their spears and bringing out the axes.

  I rushed to the dwarf that got trampled and realised it was Eric. He was already trying to sit up and grab a potion. I shoved one of mine into his hand, amazed he didn’t have broken bones.

  “I am tougher than I look, lad,” he said. “Good Forgemaker armour helps. I will be fine in a few minutes. Go get back on the line,” he commanded.

  I looked around and noticed Titless... Thran was helping the other fallen dwarves. One did look like he had broken something. I looked back to the fight, and the shield wall was back up, and somehow, the Commander had the spike out of the back of the troll. I noticed the bleeding had stopped already.

  I saw another bladder of liquid splash over the troll's back and burst into flame. This kept the flame away from the shield bearers, and I think the Commander wanted to keep attacking where the spike had gone in.

  I dropped my spear and sprinted to the side of the troll with my shield up. I didn’t have the skill Shield Bash, but coming in with the momentum of a Sprint and an appropriate jerk of the shield to hit the troll was close, and that was the way to earn the skill. It was all in the timing.

  Hitting the troll like that hurt my arm worse than it hurt the troll, and I only saw a few shards of ice dislodge from its fur. My frustration rose, and I laid into its shoulder with the spike side of my axe.

  The troll was swinging with fists covered in ice, forcing the dwarves back with his blows and denting shields. The Shield wall was retreating, but I noticed they were manoeuvring to stay in the clearing. It was a controlled retreat.

  A wave of freezing cold swept over me as the troll put the fire out and reinforced its armour. The cold wave was definitely shorter than the previous ones. Trolls are not smart. They use what they have at the moment with no thought of the future. It was used to powering through its opposition. It was not wise in its use of resources.

  I was chipping at the shoulder, and the dwarf next to me was making better progress on the troll's leg. I would have joined the same spot, but I was vulnerable, bending that low. Stupid short dwarves.

  Bash with the shield, spike, spike, bash. If the ice is thin enough, twist the axe and see if I can draw blood with the blade. The troll was focused on the dwarves in front of it, so I was not getting attacked. I just had to watch its movements.

  I bashed again. Then I thought about my skill, Tremor. I was told it was a mining skill, but I did not learn it in a mine. I learned it on the ice. I wasn’t even on the ground; I was on an ice shelf over water.

  I tried another shield bash, this time using Tremor with the shield. My timing was off, but the skill seemed to work. I bashed again, but this time, I left my shield against the troll for a second and used Tremor. Then, I stepped back in a hurry.

  A huge shower of ice fell from the small area the shield had been against. I would think it was all the ice in that area. I chopped with my axe blade, cutting through the fur and hide to draw blood. Oh yeah, this was fantastic. I have a way to do some real damage. I am not just an accessory here like Titless Thran.

  Unfortunately, what I did also drew the attention of the troll, and a thick, ice-covered fist came at me. I only just got the shield up, but it was not angled properly, and I was not braced properly. I went flying and landed on my back, having all the air knocked out of me and skidding along the ground.

  Patreon is 10 chapters ahead if you want to support the story. You don't need to support the story, as it will be free here.