Chapter 21 I

 

       Toboggan, sleigh, sled, bobsled who truly knew what my snow vehicle would be classified as. It was more snow machine and sled than anything. Regardless of its long shape, it served its purpose. Gliding us at a maintained speed over the ice and snow. So much ice and snow, freezing wind, and ghostly light. 

 

18:24

 

       We glided through the forest, the ever-purple trees maintaining their enormous watch over us. Our speed was reduced but not by much while we traveled through the snowdrift valleys. We kept our eyes and senses open to the world around us. Nothing attacked except for the biting cold. Jerky was eaten, and the 12 of us made sure warmth was not forgotten.  

 

       Breaking from the trees after hours of travel, the towering form of another great tree loomed in front of us. We headed for the base, where another giant camp was occasionally located. 

 

       Kicking the ring of giant stones around a long-dead fire pit, Titus said, “Haven’t been any here in a while.”

 

       “You said there was a temple around here?” 

 

       “Hum, yes. Up that way, the mountain temple. Did you want to raid it?” Tilting his head toward the indicated direction.

 

       “What do you all think?”

 

       “We’ll be here even longer, and I don’t need any mana crystals,” Ashley said while rubbing her arms.

 

       “Mana crystals would be nice to get; I can always use more.” Words muffled by the series of stretches that Rachel was moving through. 

 

       Casually shrugging his shoulders, Lucius answered, “We’ll go if you want.”

 

       “Well, I’m sick of this level, but I don’t want to pass this chance up. Is it worth it, Titus?”

 

       “Mana crystals are expensive but not outrageously expensive. You really could just buy them.”

 

       “I guess you are right. Rachel, I need to buy some crystals anyways, so I’ll get you some also.”

 

       “Really, that’d be great.”

 

       “So next camp?”

 

       “Yes, but I would advise not blowing this one up. The giant loot chests are quite valuable.” Titus said, shaking his head.

 

       “Wasn’t planning on it,” I said with a chuckle. 

 

18:48

       

       Four hours later, coming over a small hill, the temple came into view. I stopped the sleigh at the top of the rise. Standing in a line overlooking the building that was half-carved into the side of the mountain reaffirmed my decision to skip the temple. There was loot and levels to be gained, but the building was taller than most of the trees. 

 

       It was a large building built for giants, and that made it big. Really big. Sloping roofs are sectioned off floors of the building. Nine in total rose nearly to the top of the mountain. The stone was dark in the light, though it was made from a gray rock. Windows as large as great double doors for a human doted the sides. The entryway door glittered bronze in the faded light.  

       

       “Don’t try and blow this one up; I have no idea what the dungeon would do if you did,” Titus said as he stood next to me.

 

       “Yeah, that might piss it off. You don’t want the dungeon mad at you; that’s not good for one’s health.” Lucius added.

 

       “I’m not going to blow everything up; I just wanted to make sure it would work.” 

 

       “Right, husband, we all know boys like things that go boom.” Ashley chided.

 

       “We should go; we have a lot further to travel.” I said out loud, then under my breath, “Probably wouldn’t have worked anyway.”

 

       We came out on the lower side of the mountain behind the camp. Much closer than I thought we were going to. As we got closer, we heard it, drums. A massive steady bass boom thundered through the air. There were four fires burning bright and tall in the camp. From our perch overlooking the camp, we watched as the giants drank and ate. Massive legs roasted over the fires from the mammoth creatures as giants stumbled about, appearing to be slightly intoxicated. 

 

       “What’s going on down there?” I asked from my stomach, peering at the camp. We had left the sleigh near the forest as we made our way on foot to a hill that allowed us to watch the camp.

 

        “That’s just how the chiefs camp is. How many do you count Branwen?”

 

       “There are 15 down there. Wait, yes, 15.” She got the count using some unknown ability.

 

       “Looks like five guards,” Lucius added. 

 

       “Two archers with swords and three spearmen,” Branwen confirmed.

 

       “That’s a lot of giants. Can you freeze that many?” Ashley asked.

 

       “No, that would take too much mana. There might be another way, though.” I said, thinking of my options. I could kill most of them outright, all of them except the chief and the magic users. 

 

       The battle plan went off without a hitch. Circling around to the side of the camp that faced the ice planes, we formed a line. Branwen went forward, getting in range of the guards. She loosed five arrows from her bow within seconds of each other. Each found their mark within spots on the giants. She was fully visible, not having hidden at all. The giants charged her, all five as she turned and fled back to us. 

 

       The giants were slow at first, but when they got up to speed, they tore up the distance fast. Bronwen’s much higher level was the only thing that let her make it back to us ahead of the charging giants. I noted the bowmen had dropped their bows and drawn their swords in the chase. 

 

       It did not matter; when they were in range, I struck. Casting internal severing on the guards, I tore their lower spines apart. Severing their connection to their lower legs. They fell like weighty trees; faces burrowing into the ice. 

 

       Howels of outrage and pain the death crescendo coming from the giants as we ran forward. I watched, making sure none of the flailing arms struck the lower leveled members of the group. I wanted Sasha and Milly to kill the guards, along with Brie and Allie. They needed the experience. 

 

       Wet smacks of hammer strikes and the tearing sound of swords filled the air as the giants went limp. Their cries; however, had alerted the camp that all was not well and before we could much think of anything else, six more giants ran from the camp at us. 

 

       Half dressed, they looked crazed, running in the twilight of the level toward us. I would have been scared had I not been so powerful. “Fuck ’em,” I said as I raised my hand and severed their lower spines as well. We ran to them as well; I took a half-naked female, ending her life quickly with the same spell. 

 

       The others dove into their work, dodging hands and floundering bodies as they dealt death to the crippled foes. Frost blood coated our weapons, and if not for the buffs, frostbite would have burned all our bodies. 

 

       “Four left,” I said. As the group nodded.

 

       We ran in the direction of the camp. Snow and ice passed underfoot as we spirited between the giant tents. The central clearing now held the giant chief, two shaman-looking giants, and one attractive-looking female. By giant standards, she must have been a supermodel.

 

       The chief roared and jumped forward, swinging a massive ax. Titus leaped ahead; his tower shield poised to block the attack. The crashing ring split the air when the two collided, the chief being thrown back by the reverberation of the concussive force. 

 

       Paralysis or internal severing would not work. Well, not completely true, but with my mana pool, I could only cast the spell once on the giant shamans. I would recover my mana in seconds, but I did not want to take all the experience as well. 

 

       So, I formed a new spell, a variant of the fireball spell. Casting both hands, fingers splayed out horizontal with the ground, I focused. Creating a thin line of condensed plasma in an arc past my fingertips. I cast the spell sending a blade of fire at the legs of the two giant shamans. They elongated slightly in the air, becoming about 2m in length. The energy sliced cleanly through the legs, sending the shamans onto their stomachs. 

 

       New spell learned.

          Plasma blade: Error… .1 mana per blade. Casts a highly condensed plasma blade that destabilized atomic bonds, separating atoms cleanly at an atomic level.    

 

         Turning my hands vertical to the ground, I loosed two more plasma blades from each hand, severing the shaman’s arms at the shoulders. Shasha and Milly went to work, killing one, while Brie and Allie dispatched the other. 

 

       Titus had bashed the Giant chief to the far side of the clearing. He wore a focused look but was relaxed. I had no doubt that he could have killed it with a few thrusts of his spear. The female giant was occupied by Chariklia and Lucius, similarly, keeping her engaged. Rachel threw stun disks while Ashley filled the woman with quills of ice. With the female being bombarded by Rachel, her forearm shooting small, powerful fireballs at it, I turned to the boss. 

 

       Running over to Titus, I waited for the right moment. When the chief’s ax bounced off from his shield, I found my opening. I cast a plasma blade at his neck, three in quick succession. The first spell cleaved its head off while the other two passed nearly unimpeded, flying off into the twilight of the level. 

 

       You have killed:

           Giant Glaies Chief: XP 80,000.

 

     You have leveled: level 40.

 

       The crackle of lightning dissipated, and the sounds of battle faded into the dark of the level. The orange glow of the bonfires was the only sound as they consumed their wood. We all stood silent for a long time, just staring at the corpses. It was a fast fight; hard it was not, though. I could only guess how many levels the others had just jumped. The looks on the titans’ faces told me how easy this had been and how quick. 

 

       Disbelief and fear waged war with each other across the faces of the group, “So, that wasn’t so bad.” I said.

 

       “You’re a monster, Lord Eric. A monster. But you’re our monster.” Lucius said, putting away his weapons.

 

       “I’m glad you showed us your power, but it is only a matter of time until the emperor finds out what you are. Be ready for that. The most powerful of the empire crowd around the emperor like flies on shit.” Titus took off his helmet and stored his weapons as well. The rest of the group following suit.  

 

       “That has been on my mind. How do you think he will react?”

 

       “There is no way to know with any certainty how he will react; I have never met him. Be ready for anything, though. We should loot the camp.” Everyone broke off, leaving Rachel, Ashley, and me standing by one of the fires.

 

       “Do you have any idea?”

 

       Rachel sat on a log, “if you do not threaten him or his power, you should be fine. Loyalty is everything to him; the imperial court, however, is not as simple. Some will try and gain your favor while angling to kill you. Others may seem to be opposed to you while helping you.”

 

       Ashley rested beside her friend, “Yes, it will all depend on what position the emperor provides you. He may not even care, but I doubt that. Our fathers are very secure in their positions at court; once they get over that we will be marrying, they’ll help us.”

 

       “Great, but that’s a whole other problem. Let’s help finish here.”

 

       Two chests were brought from tents, weapons were gathered, and the supplies in the camp were gathered and stowed. These chests were stone with iron hardware. We circled around them, and I opened the boxes pulling the items out.  

 

       One chest had the next level keys that all of us clipped onto our dungeon chains, all except the Titans’ Shield. There were four medium-size mana stones and two large ones. Four bars of frozen steel, three radiant ice sapphires, along with 36 bars of cold iron. 

 

       The second chest held items.

 

       Items gained:

     

           Steel bow: Quality: expertly crafted. Scarcity: Rare. An enchanted normal-sized bow that will increase the size of an arrow fired from it to that of a giant arrow. 

           Heavy Hammer: quality: Expertly crafted. Scarcity: Rare. Two-handed metal hammer with an enchantment that will increase the size of the head by 10X at will.

 

     That was it; I gave the bow to Sasha and the Hammer to Milly. I took the mana crystals and gave the metal bars to the Titans shield.

 

       “We’ll sell all of the collected gear; we can get a better price in the city.” Titus offered.

 

       “That sounds like the best option. Meet in a few days?”

 

       “That should be plenty of time. If there is nothing else, we will be heading out.”

 

       Looking at Ashley and Rachel, they each shook their heads. “No, I think that’s everything. Thank you for your help.”

 

       “It was a pleasure Lord Eric; we will be seeing you.”

                  

       Undressed from our armor and scrubbed clean in a hot shower, I lay in bed. We had exited the dungeon quickly after making our way back to our apartment. Ashley and Rachel, with Brie and Allie, went to soak in a bath. I was tempted to join them, but having just spent so much time in the dungeon, all I wanted was sleep. With Sasha and Milly now clean along with me, we cuddled close under the blankets.

 

       I would sort out my levels and points in the morning.

 

21:35.