Rhonda was starting to look at her stats when, predictably, another pang of hunger struck. She staggered against the wall, wincing. Was this a normal occurrence with Giants? Or was this happening because of her awakening from the nothingness?

“They pulled me from absolute peace,” Rhonda muttered, “to deliver me in a life of pain.”

Her situation was ridiculous. How was she going to follow the System’s hints if there was an attack inside of her stomach? It was like an angry draugr had gotten into her belly without her say and…

...

Hey, what if I…

No, she shouldn’t.

But what’s stopping me?

Well, nothing really, but this thought was creeping toward a disturbing idea—a dreadfully bad one.

What’s wrong about it?

It was challenging for her to answer that question posed by, well, herself. It made Rhonda realize she was in conflict with herself.

One side of her, something from the past, something that had lived a tragic life, was trying to dictate her actions. The past her was helpful in giving current Rhonda the right words and understanding for things she hadn’t learned traditionally.

But that was all the past her was good for because this Rhonda was now a Noble Giant Progeny. With a bad case of hunger.

This Rhonda, having had survived a draugr’s abuse… no, attack… by fighting back, wanted to do what was best for current her. Not for the old Rhonda.

“I’m in c-control now,” Rhonda stammered, clenching her fist. “And I need to eat.”

With that declaration made to herself, the past her sunk into the deep place of their collective consciousness. That part of Rhonda could stay there until needed.

Relieved now that the inner turmoil was resolved, Rhonda enacted her spur of the moment desire. She knelt beside the torso of the defeated Draugr dozens of feet from when she slapped it. She reached down and⁠—

 

Do you wish to loot the body? Yes or no?

Yes.

 

Denied. It would help if you had pockets, a bag of holding, or something other than your hands to loot via System properly.

 

“Ugh! Fine! Then I’ll do what I want anyway.”

Rhonda snatched the skeletal torso by the ribcage, her fingers digging into it like it was made of sloughing dough with brittle crackers inside. Every inch she brought it closer to her face, the more urgent her hunger became. Under close examination, the skin of the enemy was torn. The insides were blackened. It was all rot, ooze, and brittle bones.

Rhonda’s hunger still found it appetizing anyway.

The far back of her mind was nudging her about weird concepts like losing her humanity and how cannibalism was wrong. The back of her mind wasn't making sense because this Rhonda wasn’t human. She couldn’t cannibalize what wasn't Giant.

Besides, it had attacked her. It had scared her, hurt her, and made her cry. Now that it was down, she felt that it was her right to do as she pleased since she was the victor. And the victor takes the spoils!

With a brave face, Rhonda gingerly bit the side of the ribs and snapped off a piece.

She chewed once.

“Bleeeegh!”

Rhonda spat the disgusting draugr bite. She tossed away the torso and wiped at her tongue. In its small corner in the back, the old part of her was probably snickering at the current Rhonda’s misfortune.

“Okay, blegh. I should’ve listened to my… conscience?” Rhonda shrugged. Sure, it would probably work for the long term if she called old Rhonda her conscience.

 

I see that you’ve acquainted yourself with the taste of necrotic flesh and find it rather unagreeable toward your palette. One such as yourself shouldn’t acquire an appetite for such things. It’s beneath what’s planned for you. Now, mighty, Noble Giant, be a good candidate and follow the hints. In fact, here are some more hints delivered in a way that the Administrator says would, well, be understandable for you. Hint 1: Strength and Vitality are goooooood. Hint 2: Agility and Charisma are baaaaaaaad.

 

Rhonda glared at the System message. She got a sense that it was condescending or overbearing. She quickly passed over the hints.

“Charisma, agility, vitality, strength, whatever,” she muttered. Begrudgingly, she recalled the stats again and focused on the attributes.

 

Attribute Points Total [71] and Attribute Points Unspent [16]-- Strength: 32 Vitality: 30 Endurance: 2 Agility: 1 Perception: 2 Intellect: 2 Charisma: 1 Faith: 1

Hmmmm.

Rhonda had [16] points she could use after reaching level 3. She contemplated some basic arithmetic and concluded that each level up netted her [8] points normally. She figured she received a point based on the number of attributes she had to grow, which was eight.

Now, what did the System say? She recalled it had mentioned something about Charisma. With a hum, Rhonda placed a point there. She waited to see a change.

Nothing changed. Hm?

She glanced at the unspent points and saw [15]. She reexamined her Charisma and saw that it was still at 1.

Did I break it? Had it been broken? What was she supposed to do, try again?

Rhonda shrugged.

“Meh.”

It was too much work to think about. She would rather roll with it and see for herself.

She tried putting another point in it. Her Charisma grew from 1 to 2. Her unspent points were now [14].

It seemed to Rhonda that it took [2] unspent attribute points to move her Charisma up a tick. Would the same happen with Agility? Probably… but let’s see anyway. Rhonda repeated the process with Agility and got the same result. She was now down to [12] unspent.

 

Candidate, were the hints not adequate in⁠—

 

“Shush,” Rhonda said. “I’m doing it.”

The System quieted, but it was too late. Rhonda’s calm mood broke all of a sudden, raising her stress. Her hunger fed into fouling her mood, especially while under the pressure of spending points for some weird and brutal... game? Exasperated, Rhonda dumped the last of her points evenly in Strength and Vitality.

She quirked an eyebrow when she saw the two attributes grow greatly in comparison to the last two.

 

Attribute Points Total [97] and Attribute Points Unspent [0]-- Strength: 32+[6] —> 44 Vitality: 30+[6] —> 42 Endurance: 2 Agility: 1+[2] ⁠—> 2 Perception: 2 Intellect: 2 Charisma: 1+[2]⁠—>2 Faith: 1

 

Rhonda scratched the back of her head. It took her a while to do the math again. Eventually, she realized the truth of what the System was hinting at regarding her stats. Strength and Vitality would double every unspent attribute point. Agility and Charisma required double the unspent points to go up in value.

“Huh, maybe I should’ve listened more.” Rhonda frowned. She was a little ashamed of herself for spending points on attributes that were harder to raise. That was too much effort. If Strength and Vitality were the easiest options, then she would happily drop her points there.

I wonder why that⁠— Nope. No time to wonder. Too hungry for that.

Now on to the next hint.

“Um, uh, quest?” Rhonda asked, hoping there was food involved this time.

 

Sleeping Giant Origin Story (1/3) A Ghostly Father’s Woes (Locked) (locked) Start questline? Yes or no?

 

Rhonda tilted her head slightly. Her curiosity was piqued a bit. Then the pain of her empty stomach smacked her curiosity⁠—and her patience⁠—out of the way. No time to think. She had to bulldoze forward until she acquired sustenance.

Yes.

“Daughter, oh daughter!” wailed a throaty, masculine voice.

Rhonda jolted, her heart leaping into her throat while the new voice echoed through the halls.

It kept repeating "Daughter!" over and over again. No matter where she looked, Rhonda couldn’t source the voice. There was still enough sunlight beaming through the ceiling, but she couldn’t see anyone.

“Who are you?” Rhonda asked.

“Oh daughter, it is I, your father!” wailed the voice. It sounded like it was happening from everywhere. It was speaking to her through the walls, through the floors, through the hallway itself.

Like a phantom.

“You’re scaring me. Stop it.” Rhonda shivered.

“Please do not fear me, daughter. Your father still loves you even after all these years.”

Uh, okay, sure. “What do you want?”

“I do not have much time, daughter. I must relay this message to you, for I have waited long for you to awaken! My spirit and the spirit of your loved ones and servants have been trapped here for almost half a millennium. Ever since the Great Tri-War between our mighty kin, the accursed dragons, and the dastardly fey, you’ve been lost to us due to a⁠—”

“This is probably stuff I should listen to,” Rhonda said, “but I don’t have time to listen to it right now. How do I get food?”

“Of course, my daughter!” cheered the fatherly voice emitting from all around her. “Your survival is most prominent! You are the last of your kind of Noble Giants. The mightiest and smartest of Giants. We must see that our bloodline persists with you.”

My bloodline will die with starvation. Get to the point!

“But first, you must help clear these halls of the former servants. They were human, yes, but they were loyal and dutiful. They do not deserve the suffering that was wrought upon them by the sinister curse from our elven enemy! The same curse that froze you in Forever Sleep all those years ago!”

Curse? Rhonda blinked. That's no curse. That's paradise!

Annoyed, Rhonda drummed her fingers along her thigh. She refocused on the other parts her father mentioned.

“So the draugrs were once your⁠—I mean⁠—our servants?” Rhonda tried to recall the appearance of what was supposed to be her new past.

She received strange images of a portly giant about twice her height. He was wearing fine pelts and cloth that were intricately embroidered, and when he stood above her, he was always looking jolly. Father?

The images were… off. They didn’t rise from the depths of her being. They felt like they were implanted there just suddenly.

Rhonda then remembered the servants who had stood above knee-high or taller when next to her. They were humble, friendly, and quick to attend to her every need. The images showed how much they smiled up at her.

So happy, but so... off?

These flash images of sudden memories were fascinating, but Rhonda had a sneaking suspicion they were falsified. The little voice in the back of her head was in disagreement with the picturesque memories.

Doesn’t matter. Do quest. Get food.

“What am I supposed to do again with the former servants?”

Instead of a response from her father, the System returned:

 

Your father’s ghost requested your former servants' lost souls to be sent to the next voyage beyond. Kill 10 draugrs to satisfy this portion of the questline and progress forward.

 

“Will I finally get something to eat?” Rhonda asked.

No response.

Rhonda clutched a hand over her chest; her heart had skipped a beat. She was starting to panic again. The first fight with a draugr was scary enough. But now she had to hunt them through the dim interior of the haunted estate of her dead family? Supposedly dead family.

“Whatever, I have to do what I have to do,” she said, sounding braver than she felt.

She had already defeated one enemy. She had even attempted to eat the rotten flesh and bones of the body. She would probably cross more lines when she got to them.