Chapter 189: Trollsden
Percy wasn’t sure if the central area of the swamp had a name. He certainly hadn’t heard the townsfolk mention one if it did, and he was confident the trolls couldn’t give it one either. From what he’d seen, the creatures could only communicate by gestures, grunts and growls. Thus, at the risk of looking silly later, he’d taken it upon himself to give the place a monicker, to make it easier to refer to.
The Trollsden.
Over the next few weeks, he and Nesha continued to visit the place daily – whenever Percy wasn’t busy with his chores, at least. Micky joined them too, whenever he was both free and sufficiently bored.
Every time they ventured into the Trollsden, they entered from a different side, to avoid meeting the same trolls over and over. As they’d come to learn, the creatures were split in several small tribes, each consisting of six to eight individuals. Most of them were typically Reds, with a single Orange caster leading them. And these pocket-sized groups tended to be highly territorial, never straying far from their own homes.
Suffice to say, the two groups that had joined up to attack them on the first day had been outliers, as nothing similar had happened since. Percy guessed the two Orange leaders might have been siblings or something, overcoming the societal expectations of their kin to give themselves an advantage over other tribes.
That said, it wasn’t like he particularly cared about the trolls’ social structures much either. During each venture, they sought out a new tribe to challenge, giving Percy an opportunity to test his developing Foresight spell against different elemental affinities and flavours of casting.
“I think it’s close to evolving!” he said, a shit-eating grin plastered all over his face.
Laying face-up on the ground in front of him, a troll chieftain gasped for air. As for its subordinates, they weren’t doing much better. Evidently, Nesha had improved a lot too, keeping the creatures occupied without exerting herself all that much.
“Have you found an affinity you like?” she asked.