The two of them tiptoed into the cave. In the darkness, three enormous Trolls were sprawled out on the ground, snoring loudly, completely unaware of the enemy's arrival.
It was midday—according to the Trolls' nocturnal habits, this was the equivalent of their dead of night, the deepest point of their slumber.
"My lord, should we head back and call for Caden and the others?" Zakri whispered.
Kaen shook his head, then unsheathed his longsword. Silently, he walked over to one of the Trolls and, without a trace of hesitation, drove his blade straight down into its skull.
Squelch!
The sword plunged into the Troll's head. Its snoring stopped as its eyes snapped wide open. Its mouth opened as if to scream, but no sound came out.
Its limbs twitched for a moment, then its pupils gradually dimmed—and soon, all movement ceased.
EXP +8.
Zakri, though shocked, had a spark in his eyes as he looked at Kaen with newfound admiration.
He carefully drew his own sword from his waist, stepped up beside another Troll, and mimicked Kaen's action by plunging his sword into its skull.
Squelch!
Just like the first, this Troll had no chance to struggle before life left its body.
The two men looked at the final Troll. They exchanged a glance and nodded.
They approached the last one, preparing to end it the same way.
But unexpectedly, the blood on the blades triggered the beast's bloodthirsty instinct.
Its nostrils twitched.
Slowly, it opened its eyes.
It saw two gleaming, blood-soaked blades hanging over its head.
Its pupils shrank in shock.
Too late to react.
Both swords plunged downward—straight into its eyes.
"ROARRRGH!"
The Troll let out a painful, guttural scream, thrashing as it struggled to rise. Kaen and Zakri were caught off guard and sent flying by the creature's violent flailing.
"ROAR! Will! Tom!"
"There are intruders in our home!"
"Get up! I'm going to eat them! I'll chew them to pieces and swallow their bones!"
The enraged Troll rampaged wildly through the cave.
Both eyes still had swords embedded in them.
Kaen climbed to his feet. Seeing Zakri rise with a grimace, he pointed silently toward the cave entrance, where the sunlight poured in.
Zakri looked and immediately understood. He gave a quick nod and sprinted to the cave mouth, shouting:
"Hey! I'm right here, you big dumb lump! Come and get me if you dare!"
"RAAARGH!"
"Thief! Filthy human! I'll kill you!"
Blinded and completely enraged, the Troll roared and charged toward the sound of Zakri's voice.
It burst out of the cave, only to be struck directly by the scorching midday sunlight.
The moment it touched the sun, the creature screamed in agony.
Ssssszzzz!
Wherever the sunlight hit its massive body, thick white smoke hissed out like oil dropped into fire. The Troll's entire form began to petrify rapidly.
Zakri moved with lightning speed. Just before the creature turned to stone, he dashed forward, gripped both swords, and yanked them free. With a nimble roll, he landed steadily on the ground.
The petrified Troll let out one final wail before it turned into a statue of pain and fury.
Kaen rushed out of the cave. Seeing Zakri safe and standing, he asked quickly, "Are you alright?"
"I'm fine, my lord. Here—your sword." Zakri shook his head, then offered the blade back to Kaen.
Kaen took the sword and, with Zakri at his side, returned into the Trolls' den.
The cave was vast, like a massive underground hall. The sun couldn't reach inside, and it remained shrouded in shadow.
A foul stench lingered in the air.
They lit torches and avoided the two already-dead Trolls as they ventured deeper.
At last, they reached a corner of the cave, where an immense hoard was piled up.
There was a mountain of food—flour, wheat, honey, hams, bread...
Weapons and armor lined the stone walls, clearly looted from unfortunate victims. Many of the weapons were rusted with age, but some still gleamed cold and sharp, silently declaring their quality.
In the far corner, treasure was heaped in abundance: countless copper coins, tens of thousands of silver coins, and piles of gold packed in jars and chests, along with ornate and valuable items.
It was a staggering fortune—neither Kaen nor Zakri had ever seen so much wealth in one place. Both of them gasped in disbelief.
Trolls didn't create wealth. It was clear all of this had been plundered and hoarded over a century by those three monsters.
But now, it all belonged to Kaen.
Zakri swallowed hard and muttered, "Lord Kaen… is this the treasure you spoke of?"
Kaen nodded, then ordered, "Go get the others. We'll need everyone to move this. This will be our foundation for the future."
"Yes, my lord!"
Zakri nodded and turned to run off.
Kaen began sorting through the hoard by himself.
He dug through the weapon pile and uncovered many fine and well-crafted arms and armor.
From the craftsmanship, some were clearly of human origin, and others—elven.
Among them, Kaen found three famed blades from the original tale—swords once wielded by Gandalf, Thorin, and Bilbo.
They were:
—Glamdring, the sword of Turgon, King of Gondolin in ages past.
—Orcrist, the Biter, famed for slaying Orcs.
—Sting, the small but deadly dagger.
But that wasn't all. There were more than a dozen elven-forged weapons here, many of which were no less exquisite than the three legendary blades.
In the original story, the dwarven company had only taken a small portion of food and those three swords, hiding the rest.
Now, it seemed what remained here was no less valuable.
Soon, Zakri returned—with Caden and the rest of the group.
When they saw the hoard laid before them, every single one of them couldn't help but drop their jaws in astonishment.
….