Chapter 21 F

 

        Skiing down the hill, we followed the path Branwen had taken. The open ice field exposed our group as we approached the camp. I took my skis off, and the rest of the party followed suit. The six massive tents, semi-permanent shelters hid us from the watching eye of the only giant guard. 6 meters of hard flesh and corded muscle covered lightly in leathers and rings of chainmail. Its skin was light blue with areas of a light tan. Standing in front of a large fire, the head of the metal banded club furrowed the ground. Thick braids of snow blond hair spilled like a cape down its back. 

 

       Hidden in snow flurries, the backside of the guard was facing Titus and me. Looking at Titus, I received a nod as we approached from the rear of the crafting tent. 

 

       “I think it’s time I show you my other secret,” I said in a muffled voice as Titus’s eyes widened.

 

       I could have rolled out and put on a show for the group. Fighting the giants like normal, but with their revelation about their participation in the coffin road, I knew I could trust the Titans’ shield. I needed to secure my power and form an unshakable group. One that could help me with my other goals. 

 

       I walked out leisurely from between the two tents that hid us. Sasha dropped her act as well and stepped out as the group fumbled with what to do. 

 

       “HEY!” I yelled at the guard. Its massive body whipped around faster than I thought possible. There was no hesitation, club rising in the air, knees bending to spring forward onto me. 

 

       I didn’t give it the chance to launch itself, dumping mana into my [Flame whip] spell, I lashed the coiled plasma of death at its legs. With a flick of my wrist, the supersonic end of the whip tore through the legs of the giant, just below the knees. 

 

       “ARRR…” A wordless howl left its mouth, its club falling to the ground. Screaming and shouts came from the far end of the tents as the three other giants tore from their shelters. One of the males and one female emerging from the same tent.

 

       The flame whip had cost me a paltry 50 mana to cast. The 2 seconds it took the other giants to run from their tents, I had already regained my mana. Raising my hand, I focused [Mass paralysis] onto the group of giants. 200 mana dropped from my mana pool instantly, and five mana per second was drained from my recovery rate. With 23 mana per second, however, the powerful forms of the giants froze like the ice that covered the level. 

 

       “Sasha and Milly, I want you to kill one of the male hunters. Brie and Allie take the other. Ashley and Rachel kill the brood mate. I’ll finish the guard.” I said as I walked up to the frozen legless body. My spell was so complete that blood did not even pump from where the legs had been burned through.

 

       “By the holy cock of Ack, what is this….” Lucius said as my wives and slaves moved to carry out their tasks. Milly and Sasha began hacking and smashing. Brie and Allie each cut the legs of one of the hunters, sending it to the ground. Ashley ripped icicles from the air and flung them into the frozen body while Rachel activated a blue cutting flame from her forearm on her suit and tore through the legs. 

 

       You have killed:

           Protector Glaies giant. 60000 XP.

 

     You have leveled. Level 35.

 

       The system informed me of how much the giant was worth as I withdrew my sword from the back of its neck. The deep purple blood of the giant coating my blade. 

 

       “By the ever-dripping cunt of Sippsie Eric, what was that?” Rachel yelled as she stomped away from the smoking skull of the female giant.

 

       The rest of the group formed around me expectantly, “Along with being a world walker, well, I got…oh just look.” I said, sending my stat sheet to the group.

 

       They all looked at my affinities for a moment, then Lucius said, “100 percent, that’s not possible.”

 

       “I guess it is for me.”

 

       “So, you have been holding back?” Titus asked.

 

       “Had to be sure I could trust you. Now that I know, I can. No point in it.”

 

       “This explains why you’re not on the ground; a twitching mana drained mess.” Rachel said, crossing her arms over her chest.

 

       “So, will you all keep it a secret?”

 

       “By the gods yes, if this got out…I don’t know what the emperor would do.” Titus answered.

 

       “I see why you didn’t tell us, but it does hurt my feelings a bit,” Ashley said, huffing out her answer. Waring with herself between elation and anger at my deception. 

 

       “I thought you just had higher affinities, like one of the legendary exalted mages from old. This, I don’t think there has ever been anyone like you. Though now that I think of it, I guess there are a few stories that are a whole lot more believable if people could have affinities close to that high.” Rachel explained, uncrossing her arms and tapping her lips as she thought out loud.

 

       “Well, this changes things in the dungeon, I guess. 23 mana a second? So much, I need to think about this. Let’s clear the camp and see if there is a chest.” Titus ordered.

 

       “You took a mana pill earlier Eric, don’t do that now. It is extremely dangerous to have a mana overload in your system, not to mention addicting. Okay?” Rachel’s light blue eyes fixed me with a harsh stare, punctuating her seriousness. 

 

       “Thank you, Rachel I didn’t know that. Explains why that felt so good.” The rest of the group went into the shelters and began to drag out the belongings of the giants.

 

       “No chest. Plenty of furs, though.” Chariklia said.

 

       “The crafting tent has a few Nix Phantus hides,” Branwen said, pulling out three of the massive shaggy furs.

 

       “Should we stay here tonight?” I asked Titus as the group bundled up the valuable items from the camp and stored them in Clymiphae’s saddlebags.

 

       “I thought we would have to have time to recover after the giant camp. However now… How are we all feeling?”

 

       “Good boss,” Lucius said.

 

       “I can keep going, love.”

 

       “Well, I am sick of long walking in this cold, but the sooner we get this done, the better,” Ashley added, torn between the warmth of a tent and the promise of her bed at the end of this.

 

       “If we could travel faster, that would help,” Titus said offhand.

 

       “Let me see; I might be able to come up with something. There are no more of those ice pools, right?” I asked.

 

       “Yeah, after the bridge, there are no more on the lower side of the mountains,” Lucius answered. The rest of the group finished with the furs and racks of meat from the food storage tent.

       

        “What’s the terrain like up head?”

 

       “Mostly open forest and snowfields. Unless we head to the outer edge or closer to the mountain spine.” Titus said.

 

       Jumping onto a log that was placed around the dwindling fire, I thought. ‘A snow machine would be good. Hell, a helicopter would be best. No way I could make one of those right now.’ “Rachel, do you have any enchanting mana crystals on you?” I yelled over to the group who was finishing their work.

 

       “No, sorry, Eric. I have one from my armor you could use if you really need it. It’s small, though.” 

 

       “No, that’s alright.” 

 

       ‘Have to make something Clymiphae could ride in so she can keep up… A toboggan it is then. Well, a big one.’ 

 

       “let’s head back to the tree line once we’re done packing up this place; I have an idea,” I yelled over the lightly falling snow.

 

       Skiing back to the edge of the forest, I found one of the ever-purple trees that were big enough for what I was going to do. “The dungeon doesn’t get mad if you attack the trees, right?” 

 

       “No, but they are nearly impossible to cut down. They heal extremely fast.” Titus answered.

 

       Reaching my mana out, I tried to manipulate the plant first. Connected to the dungeon as it was, I was unable to get it to move. That left me with cutting.

 

       Using the basic cut spell, I carved a large block of wood from the tree. 6 meters long and 1.5 meters wide, and 1 meter thick, the chunk fell from the tree. The gaping hole in the tree bled a dark green sap and began to close right in front of the group. 

 

       Using cut, I hollowed out the center of the chunk of wood, rounding the front and leaving the back square and angular. I now had a flat bottom sleigh, it would be a tight fit for all of us, but we could manage. Using the cut spell as I worked, I focused on making the outside a smooth as possible, especially the bottom. 

 

       From the front, I ran the mana input runes and linked them to two kinetic force-generating glyphs in the back. This would allow me to directly power the pushing force of the runes with my mana. At the same time, it allowed me to turn left or right a small amount by directing my mana to the right or left kinetic force thruster. 

 

       You have created an enchantment:

           Kinetic thruster. This enchantment, when supplied with personal mana, will create a moderately efficient thrust. .1 error… .1 mana per 1 … formulating … 1 mana per second per .5 meter per second. 

 

       “It might be a little tight, but this should work,” I said as the group stood staring at the toboggan. 

 

       “You can’t power that for long…well, I guess you can. Explains why you could fix my enchanting notes.” Rachel said, looking confused. 

 

       Titus pulled out a map of the level and showed me where we were going. “Will head for lower small mountain there is a dungeon survival cave there.”

 

       “All aboard. Choo choo…” I said, slightly excited to drive my new creation. 

 

       “What’s a choo choo?” Ashely asked Rachel.

 

       “I have no idea.” Shrugging her shoulders, she just shook her head.

 

       I sat in the front, placing my hands on the mana input runes I had made. Clymiphae folded her legs in the center of the sleigh while Titus sat behind me. The rest piled into spots, and the sleigh was notably heavier. It did feel very stable, however.

 

       I began trickling my mana into the enchantment. Feeling it flow through the sleigh and back to the thrusters. I was going slow, so I could detect any flaws before I got us up to speed. 

 

       Moving slowly, the sleigh inched forward, a few centimeters at a time. With 2 mana per second flowing through the sleigh, we moved at roughly 3 kilometers an hour. Gradually increasing the mana flow, I made a few wide turns as we headed back toward the giant camp.

 

       6 mana, 11 kilometers an hour. We were moving at the speed of a slight jog now.

 

       12 mana, 21 kilometers an hour. The flow of air was noticeable now. 

 

       20 mana, 36 kilometers an hour. 22 mana had us moving close to 40 kilometers an hour. I kept the speed steady, adjusting the thrust to either side as we traveled into a more open area. We moved at double the pace we could have managed on the long walkers, and this took far less energy for the rest of the group. Weapons were still at the ready, and eyes scanned our path for anything that would try and attack us. 

 

15:12

 

       Snow and more snow passed. The occasional tree or shrub. I veered the sleigh around small hills of snow and the one herd of Nix phantus we saw. Titus would tap my shoulder and point when I was getting off course. The small mountain was growing closer as we glided along the ice.

 

15:30

 

       There was a very distinct difference in the speed of our travel. Ice and hard snow allowed us to move at nearly double the rate while fresh drifts of powder slowed us to normal. I guessed friction still applied in this world.

 

       “Just up ahead,” Titus said, pointing to a grouping of rocks.

 

       I moved the sleigh to the cave opening, and Titus hopped off. He quickly stormed into the cave. Coatings of ice cracking off from him as he entered the rest area. The remainder of the group slowly got from the toboggan, shedding ice and looking weary from the long day.

 

       With the all-clear given, we hurriedly got into the rocky shelter. It looked much like the one at the beginning, and soon a fire was going. Warmth spilled from the white wood as a covering was placed over the opening. Bedrolls were laid out, and nothing was said as we all stretched out and fell into sleep.