Chapter 16 - Giant

He looked up from the tracks in the mud. It was close.

A bow stretched back, right near his head, aiming past, at a quickly weaving shape in the trees, dashing between the trunks, and under the enormous roots.

He raised his hand, and the bow stayed taught. His eyes narrowed.

Several others moved soundlessly in the brush of the woods, getting close. A pack of mundane monsters, who hadn't even found their first fixation. His leg stung. The poison was spreading.

It wouldn't be long now, a few days, at most, before his body would start degrading, even the strength of a Master, could not refute a Corrupted Monsters fang. They got within striking range.

Thirty mundane monsters. Fur of needle-like brown stone, and bodies seemingly forged in the fires of a furnace, headless as they were, their magical cohesion was strong, he could feel the invisible tanglings of a hex, on their bodies.

His hunting party drew.

He raised his hand.

They looked at each of their marks.

They locked their targets.

He lowered his hand.

Arrows the size of thick branches careened through the air, impaling over fifteen of them, all at once, the others, instantly reacted and started attacking.

Their bows dropped, and they took out their clubs, swinging with their immense strength, and sending them flying, however, many of them managed to dodge, even attacks that they wouldn't have been able to know were coming.

Within the Hex, they could see every minute movement, but that didn't mean they could react in time to all of them, if they were fast enough.

His serrated club split one down the center and crushed what refused to be cut, his voice low, rumbling the woodlands, and causing birds to fly, carried on the distrubed winds, "...Slaughter them." 

The Hex shattered, from his words infused with aura, the disturbed Hex threw them into confusion, as they tried to reform, but this was no amateur hunting party.

The Headless Monkeys scattered, but they could not escape, his eyes followed one, that broke the encirclement. 

They wordlessly gave chase.

///

"...How many damn monsters are here? Are the dungeons completely unchecked? How could they allow this?" Constance laid the complaints on thick, as she pulled her sword out of yet another of these monsters.

It was a worm, that sucked people in its hole, and suffocated them inside, having long spindly legs and arms, with long fingers, it was exceedingly creepy, but also deceptively fast.

She wanted to take a bath already.

It had been two days since they'd entered the mountains, and almost immediately gotten lost, using Constance's senses to avoid a massive pack of monsters, and being forced far away from the road.

Giant groups of starving monsters were rare, more so there were stragglers and small groups of several dozen, but the fact that there were so many, meant that things were going to become complicated.

This was the ninth pack of monsters they'd encountered.

And the further into the mountains they trekked, the harder it became.

The horses were going to start starving soon, as well, though she could rid them of fatigue, she could not sate their appetites.

Horses were horses, not monks.

Argo cut open an owl bear and ripped out its heart, cutting it open to reveal a small magical stone.

Things like these were used as fuel for magical devices, like his hat, among other things, and were quite valuable everywhere one went. 

The girl was crouching at his feet, poking at the dead owl bear.

He knocked on her head, and she looked up, he tossed her the core, which she caught, and stared at.

"It's a Magic Stone. Proof that that monster had a magic affinity. Humans don't have them, since we are inherently blessed, by the Goddess. But, monsters, abominable filth from other lands, need those to mimic a fraction of our divine right." Constance smiled, crouching next to the girl.

In these last several days, she had been trying to get closer to the girl, by being as friendly, informative, and attentive, as she could.

The fact that Argo was being liked more, had wounded her pride, more than she had expected, and she was determined to have the girl let her pet her. 

The girl looked at her, and then up at Argo.

He wasn't looking at her but felt her sight, and his lips parted, "Dungeons appeared some time ago. Monsters enter our world through the concentrated something, that is a Dungeon's core. No one really knows what. That thing is a stone that enhances their innate magic. No one knows why they have it either." 

"It is a molestation of life, so they can use our rightful gifts." Constance stood up, and shook her head, "Sometimes I wonder if you're truly a faithful of the Goddess." 

"Regardless of how it manifests, I am a believer through and through." Argo's gaze turned through the trees, peering at the woodland.

There were no survivors from this pack of monsters.

But, if they kept having to detour, it was likely that this trip would take far longer, and they would be even more lost in the mountains.

For now, they were encountering only vague starving remnants of dungeon breaks, but, with such a high number of them, they had to be eating and fighting each other, which meant they would grow stronger.

Unlike humans, who needed to train, monsters only needed to fight, eat, and survive, to grow stronger with age and experience.

They were abominations, to the natural order, in the sight of many, but they rarely attacked cities, in any number that mattered, because they were regularly slaughtered to the last.

But, in this place, monsters that had been allowed to grow, were highly likely.

Monsters above the Mundane-Rank.

Defiled Monsters that had completed their first fixation, and had evolved from being a common senseless spawn, into a driven thing, with low intellect, and skills, on par with those of a Junior Knight, or Magician, or Priest, was devastating.

However, their direct strength wasn't what was so worrisome.

It was the difference in abilities.

No two Defiled had exactly the same abilities, or tricks, since they were inherently creatures that had found their fixation and completed it, depending upon those experiences leading to it, they would manifest different abilities.

In a similar way, not all Aura users were combat-focused, some did not achieve aura through martial arts, but through the expression of their souls in a different art, like gardening, or painting, or perhaps a merchant with an exceptional drive to sell.

Monsters had their fixations, and Humans had their obsessions.

The more one played to their own soul, the stronger one became, though, most humans no matter how much they played to it, never got far, because their bodies weren't strong enough.

But Monsters who fight every moment of every day, seeking it out, or being sought out by another, have their bodies toned for combat, at all times. They are forced to be apex predators, spurred on by their biology to fight, and kill.

A single Defiled, couldn't destroy a town, but it could wreak havoc across the countryside, and this place, looked like a spawning ground, with so many monsters simply roaming.

He shook his head.

If the Boundary was this unrestrained, that meant that were was certain to be a catastrophe in a few years time, he noted it in the back of his head, to secretly prepare for it, and send out some notices under an alias, to the proper authorities and powers.

Perhaps Ichi could be the messenger, and say that one of his caravans…

…Argo's hand flew onto his saber, but a sword burning with holy fire was already crashing down! 

It made contact with the flying foe and swatted it to the ground, his eyes widened, the girl had just turned her head, but hadn't moved her body, the thing was throwing itself at her.

Constance dove forward, but Argo was faster, his violet aura manifested, in under a second, and drew a horrifying line between the monster and the girl.

Constance broke through the violet aura wall, that had been cut into existence, with her holy fire, and struck again, kebabing the monster, by stabbing her sword down where it's throat would have been.

All of its orphices exploded with flames, as it was cooked from the inside out.

Argo grabbed the girl and lifted her. Inspecting her for injuries, she had light scratches, from coming into contact with his violet aura, which had burst forward violently. 

Seeing that she was only a little hurt, he frowned tightly, "Pay attention to your surroundings, or you won't last. Do you know what that thing would have done to you?" 

"Argo, she couldn't have-" 

Argo turned his frigid gaze on Constance, and she frowned, but didn't back down, her eyes growing strong at the challenge, "She is a child. She can't be expected to know what to do, or have senses enough to notice something like that. Even you were slow to react." 

"So? Should she be coddled? Told that it's okay, to stand still? She is not a privileged girl. No one will save her, when we are gone. If you want to take away this lesson from her, then it's on you, when she gets kidnapped, sold, chopped up-" 

"-Enough! Are you insane? What are you saying in front of a child??" Constance grit her teeth.

She had had enough.

Argo's jaw tightened, his eyes severe, "I'm telling her, what she needs to hear. Life isn't all God and goodness. I thought you might know that by now." 

The tension in the air hung thick enough to be cut by a knife. The two stared at each other, without a single intention of backing down.

"Children are meant to be protected and raised." She gripped her sword.

"Like what happened at Crissus? Archok? Or maybe Heinal." Argo laughed coldly, at her gesture.

She pointed it at him, "You've gone too far. Take it back." 

"Take what back? The truth stings. You can't ignore it." Argo let the girl down and raised his saber.

"We lost brothers and sisters, to that crisis. We did what we could." Constance was starting to get really mad, now, with her blade starting to shimmer.

Argo's saber began to develop a violet flame, every wisp like a blade of its own, he smiled beratingly, "The church swept it under the rug. You wondered if I am devout. I am, to the Goddess. Not the church."

"Take it back, Argo. I can't let this go." Her voice was cloaked in ice.

His sword blazed with violet flame, "I have said nothing that needs taking back." 

The time for words passed. The two were cloaked in their respective miracles and aura. 

The girl looked back, at the woods. There were dozens of eyes staring at them quietly. Observing the dispute. She felt one looking at her. They were warm, beckoning.

She walked over. Argo and Constance noticed at once, and turned as she was raised onto the shoulder of someone who was several heads taller than even Argo, who stood at over two meters in height.

"Don't let us interrupt you." A voice that rumbled like boulders falling from cliffs, and had an attraction like a chilly breeze on a hot day, it resonated with the woodlands.

"Come here, girl." Argo lowered his saber to his side, he stared at her, with his gaze fixed on the giant human, who had the sensation, of someone who was far too powerful, to battle.

But, he had a duty, to see the girl's safety, through to the end, and to take care of her, until they could find her a proper home, to take care of her.

Constance's nose scrunched up, she didn't like Argo, his actions, or the way he thought, but it was true that the girl should not be in some random person's arms.

They turned on the giant human. He looked down at the girl, she was trying to be let down. He gently kneeled, and let her off. She ran right over to Argo, and got behind him. The giant human had a smile on his face, like a bear's.

"You are a good person, with a closed heart. We are the Children of Avancia, sons and daughters to the Ancient Giant. My name is Awick Avancia, I am Hunt Leader and Chieftan. It seems you are in need of accommodations. And it would be wrong of us, to not offer them, after our failure, sparked your plight." 

Argo started noticing a lot more, and the information flooded in.

Awick had several bruises, scabs, scars, and scratches across his body, but his hunting party was also freshly injured, they also had bodies slung over their shoulders, or under their arms, those of the Headless Monkeys, like the one that had come barrelling out of the woods.

Argo weighed the options, If they were to stop traveling right now, and went to their settlement, it would put them behind, a day or more, it wasn't going to be a viable option, given the urgency he had for this mission.

The more time passed, the further along the signs would start to show, and the closer the invasion would draw. Stephan in Loch, continued preparing everything, hedging on the bet that Argo was going to make it and come back, with reinforcements. 

Normally, from the first sign to the last, it would start in the summer, and the invasion would come in the fall. But, he couldn't be gone so long, he needed to do it fast, or else, if he wasn't there when the Duke of March arrived, there would be too many questions, and it could spark a conflict since it was disrespectful.

His thoughts ran wild.

"We'll go. We need to resupply, and the girl needs a good bed to sleep in." He turned and looked at Constance, who had made the decision without consulting him at all.

It was so simple for her. He had displeasure in his eye. And she caught it, and raised a brow, before turning her head and heading for the carriage.

Awick and the hunt party saw all of this, only observing, they exchanged looks with one another, and Awick came forward, revealing his full form.

He stood as tall as Rodrick, but where Rodrick was stocky, and his spine was bent slightly forward, like a hunch, with big forearms and a foreboding feeling, Awick had a straight back, and a body that looked like it had been blessed by God, forged in a volcano.

His very presence gave off an air of power. 

He was reminded at last, what it was, that this was.

Awick is a Master. 

He had brought himself, beyond the level of a Knight, who wields aura, and had become a Master, who can use auric abilities. His power was immeasurably higher than a Low-level Knight rank, like himself, who had aura but no real training.

Awick looked down at him, and he heard his voice, but his lips did not move, there was some wiggling in his powerful voice, like a stifled laugh, "A lady's heart is mysterious. We wish you well." 

Argo frowned, Constance passed them, without even looking over for a moment, he felt like pinching his nose.

Without her, he would have no way to avoid the massive packs of monsters in the mountains. Originally, he had planned to use Sin's connections in Durleigh to gather a group and go across, but with her there, he had chosen not to reveal his other trump card, and now had to pay up for it.

Especially with a child, he couldn't be careless. He had killed her father, right or wrong, it was upon his shoulders, that that responsibility now laid. He walked over to the carriage, and put the girl in the back, before hopping on as well.

He sat next to Constance up ahead, but he didn't look at her, or speak to her, and she didn't look at him either.

Neither of them felt they were wrong, and neither was going to back down on this.

One of Awick's brothers looked at him, and he raised his hands, giving a look, the others in the hunt party looked at each other, man and woman, they started laughing and chuckling.

The girl looked back, at the battlefield, of dead monsters, with the same round eyes. Her gaze flickered. An emotion swirled. 

"..."

Night was coming.