At the abandoned shop, Shurt laid Yalo down behind the counter, then concentrated and began chanting. He sent his most powerful healing magic into the limp Tarutaru, who stirred and managed to open one eye.
"Thanks, bud" mumbled Yalo, still weakened from his knockout.
"You stay here and recover, little man," Shurt replied. He looked over his shoulder when he heard the sound of a heavily armored troll approaching below. When he turned back to Yalo, a devilish grin was spreading on his face. "And I'll protect you!"
Shurtugal moved out of the shop to crouch behind the small wall overlooking the stairs. He peeked over and saw a troll hoplite ambling up them. The troll was intent on another adventurer it was chasing, and was about to pass right below Shurt.
Without hesitation Shurt vaulted over the wall, aiming to land just in front of the troll. As he fell, he used both arms to smash his shield onto the thing's head as hard as he could, producing a loud clang and practically knocking the huge beastman over. But of course that was his intent, and after landing, he quickly jumped up, kicked both feet into the troll's chest, and fell onto his back as the troll went over, producing another resounding clang as it hit the ground.
Shurtugal sprang to his feet and immediately climbed up to stand on top of the beastman, drawing his sword and planning to end it quickly with a stab in the throat. He readied himself for the killing thrust, and then an explosion blasted him into the wall and he crumpled to the ground. Alas, it was never that easy in this world.
Not too hurt but very confused, Shurtugal picked himself up, but threw himself down again behind the fallen troll hoplite as he saw the source of the trouble and another shell went whizzing over his head. The shell exploded on the wall, spraying chips of stone everywhere. A short distance away a troll cannoneer began reloading its gun for a third shot.
"Blast!" he exclaimed, in a harsh whisper. "Why'd you have to make so much noise?" he asked of the hoplite, which was still lying upside down on the stairs and having quite a hard time getting up. Shurt peeked again at the cannoneer; it still had its sights set his way. "You're going to have to wait," he informed the hoplite.
He ran out from behind the fallen troll and at the same time cast a quick spell at the cannoneer. A brilliant light flared up in front of its face, temporarily blinding it. In its confusion it hesitated, and by the time its vision cleared Shurt was nowhere to be seen. Immediately a sharp pain in its backside told it where Shurt had gone. It quickly put away its gun and turned with a sweeping punch, which Shurtugal ducked. It followed up with a quick straight jab, and Shurt held up his shield to block. Although he slid back several feet and nearly toppled with the huge force, he laughed.
"Come on! I could do this all day!" he taunted. Frustrated, the troll pulled out its gun again and fired at Shurt, who rolled sidelong to get out of the way. He began to run around to flank the troll again, but as he looked behind the thing he thought better of it. Instead, he squared himself off in front of the cannoneer, safe from the charging hoplite that now came up behind it, and braced himself for whatever would come next.
The cannoneer already had its gun reloaded; it was well trained in this respect. But perhaps it was not so well trained in other respects. That gave Shurt an idea. As the troll lined up another shot, Shurt exploded into motion, diving through the beastman's legs and casting again the blinding spell. Then he stood and shouted at the top of his lungs. The stupid troll spun and fired where the sound had come from, nailing its ally the troll hoplite right between the legs and knocking them out from under it. With another huge clang the hoplite hit the ground again, and Shurt laughed again, surprised at how well his trick had worked.
"This is just not your day, old buddy," he said to the hoplite. The angry troll swiped at him with its mace, forcing him into a quick leap with which he barely cleared the weapon. That gave Shurt another idea. He whacked the fallen troll several times on the helmet, just to anger it as much as possible. Then instinctively he ducked and moved backwards through the cannoneer's legs, barely dodging another blast from its gun. As quickly as he could, he pulled out another strange white drink and gulped it down. This one magically enhanced all his movements, not just his sprinting.
"Alright!" he growled, wiping his mouth with the back of his gauntlet. He threw the empty bottle at the cannoneer, which was reloading once more. Behind it, the hoplite rose to its feet again. "Time for some fun!"
The cannoneer snarled and spun around to face Shurt again, but the man was no longer there. It recalled a similar incident not long ago, and braced itself for a stab in the behind. What it got was an explosive blow to the small of its back that produced an audible crack, and with that the cannoneer fell forward and lay very still. Meanwhile Shurt, laughing again, still dodged and weaved to avoid the thrashing troll hoplite. Shurt's hunch was right: the trolls were not trained to fight together; they were only trained to fight. When the cannoneer had spun on him, Shurt had run around and jumped onto its back, falling off again just in time to dodge a mighty swing from the troll hoplite, which of course is what crumpled the cannoneer.
But now Shurt was back at his original problem, and he suddenly regretted letting the unarmored troll fall first. Making a quick scan of the hoplite's armor, he noted a few areas that the armor did not cover: some toes, the fingers, the elbows, and the throat. As he continued to dodge and weave, a plan began to form in his mind.
After dodging a particularly heavy swing, Shurt stepped in and stabbed the troll's exposed skin on its foot as hard as he could. The troll growled, glared at Shurt with pure rage in its expression, but then gave a powerful stomp and seemed to regain its self-control. Shurt made sure to scramble back out of reach. The troll's foot was bleeding, but otherwise the act seemed only to make the troll more dangerous.
"Oh, balls…" muttered Shurt. Worse yet, he could feel his hastening magic wearing. He looked at the giant spiked mace again, and suddenly wasn't so sure he could keep this up all day. But that only meant he had to end it now! He shook his head, clearing any thoughts of self-doubt. "Let's try this, then!"
Shurt whacked the troll on the chest plate once for good measure then dived out of the way of the incoming mace. He went to the troll's side this time, and swiftly stabbed the troll in the elbow, pushing the sword in as deep as he could before the troll turned around. The hoplite roared in agony and spun on Shurt, and Shurt dived out of the way again, forced to leave his sword behind, half buried in the thing's arm. The troll roared again and tried to swing its mace, but its arm was no longer functioning correctly, and the mace fell to the ground.
"Hope that hurt!" Shurt yelled. But now they were both unarmed, and the troll certainly still held an advantage when it came to fist fighting. Shurt had one last idea to try. He scampered over the body of the fallen cannoneer, putting it between himself and the hoplite. Then he looked over the hoplite's shoulder and put on an incredulous expression. He pointed and asked, "What is that?!" The troll only charged wildly, paying no attention to what Shurt was doing. Shurt grinned; he hadn't really thought that that would work. Instead he cast his blinding spell again, and this time the troll was confused. It hesitated in its charge, and when its vision cleared, Shurt had the cannoneer's gun propped on the cannoneer and aimed right at the hoplite's face. The hoplite's expression turned to one of terror, and then it wore no expression at all, because an explosive shell blasted it square in the jaw, snapping its head back so forcefully that it now faced the wall behind it.
"Ooo…" Shurt breathed in sympathy. "That one hurt." As the troll fell for the last time, Shurt retrieved his sword and ran back to check on Yalo.
"You have been watching his friends?" asked the first man when his two associates entered the dark room.
"Yes sir, as ordered," the second man replied. The first motioned for him to continue. "They are good, sir. It is a marvel that they are not better known across Vana'diel."
"On the other hand, I might add, they do not seem to have any outstanding accomplishments," explained the third. "As of now, they are content simply to improve their own skills and arsenals."
The first man rubbed his chin in thought. "Are you sure they are good, and not just reaping the benefits of having such a powerful friend?"
"Sir, I just watched two men take down a grown Wamoura and two trolls," assured the second man. "They were not even fighting together. The power achieved when they combine their efforts must be extraordinary."
"This is good," declared the first, "this is good. I believe we have found our men."
Yalo was swaying a bit, but standing, when Shurt returned to the abandoned shop. Yalo shook his head and looked as sternly at Shurt as a Tarutaru could.
"That was extremely dangerous and completely unnecessary," he scolded. But Shurtugal just laughed in his face. He knew Yalo well enough, and seeing the Taru pretending to be stern was a comical sight indeed.
"I had to protect you," countered Shurt, with a grin and a wink.
"Yeah, well…" Yalo began to argue, but he couldn't keep it up. "You crazy bastard! That was flipping awesome!"
They both laughed, but Yalo's laugh was weak, and now Shurt grew concerned. He studied the Tarutaru for a while, but suddenly the color returned to Yalo's face, and the little man stood up straight and steady as ever. Both men were a bit confused.
Yalo blinked. "Well that was weird… I guess I'm better now." Shurt just shrugged. He tossed Yalo some curing spells for good measure.
"Let's find some more fun, shall we?" exclaimed Shurt, and together they ran off. Neither one noticed the figure watching them intently from the shadows of another abandoned shop. Neither one would have really cared anyway. It was time to fight.