One week after they had been transferred to the Ascended Rank area, Karl and the others had gotten into a solid routine. Breakfast in the fort, hunt anything that they had spotted on night watch, return for lunch, then either rest or make another loop in the afternoon if there were still signs of more monsters.
They were also beginning to amass a rather considerable amount of money, thanks to the Giantsâ habit of carrying gold and silver in their pouches.
It was a mystery who was making coins for them, or who they had stolen them from, but the raw materials were still valuable, and they could make a fortune trading it in when they returned.
But that wasnât the only thing that they had gained. Everyone was feeling much more confident and comfortable with their powers, and the last few days the Giants had seemed to fall without much of a fight.
It was difficult to tell if they were getting stronger or if the last few batches were weaker than usual, but they had a good feeling about taking the strength tests after they finished the mission.
[I sense magic in the area. Strong magic.] Hawk announced that morning, just as everyone was getting ready for breakfast.
âHawk says there is magic nearby. He didnât say magical beast, just magic.â Karl whispered as Doug dished out the breakfast.
They let Hawk lead them away from the fort, headed for the strong sense of magic, and only stopping for a moment to deal with a small group of Lizardmen.
Hawk swooped down and landed next to a small pile of rocks. They were piled on top of each other to look vaguely like a person, and the hunters and trappers used the design as a trail marker. If you followed the direction of the marker, you would find the next waypoint and landmark on a trail.
[Itâs under here.] He instructed, then poked at a larger rock nearby.
Shattering the stone wouldnât be a problem for him, but he was concerned that if he broke it, he might break the magical thing. Some of them were fragile, and Hawk understood that the group was trying to get as many good things as they could while they were here.
Just like the last time that they were out, but with fewer magical plants and more monsters.
Thor flipped the stone with his horns, and a large pile of glittering gems was revealed, just sitting under the rock, as if they belonged there.
They werenât cut stones, just raw gemstones, but that was clearly where the magic was coming from, and now that the rock was moved, everyone could feel it.
They had patrolled past here yesterday, only a few metres from this spot. If Karl looked hard toward the bottom of the hill, he could likely still see the blood stains from the battle a few days earlier as well.
These gems had to have just appeared here, unless something had buried them here and left no signs of disturbed ground.
Doug went through them, cleaning them off in a pouch full of water he had created, and then stacking them on the ground in an order that only made sense to himself.
âTheyâre imbued gems. You donât usually use them in this form, theyâre normally carved and set into magical jewellery and items. These all have different properties, but I have sorted them by their basic elements, or aspects.
Do we want to sort them now, or after?â Doug asked.
âWe can do it after. Weâve still got a zone to clear for the day.â Bob gently reminded them before they could get distracted by the shiny objects.
Doug sorted the stones into small pouches and tucked them in his robes. That must mean they were exceptionally valuable, if he wasnât willing to leave them in his backpack with the rest of his gear.
His pack was getting lighter, as they slowly worked through the rations and other supplies they had brought, so it wouldnât be a burden to add a few stones. It was only Karl and Bob who had truly heavy packs now, as they were packing all the gold and silver that the group had recovered.
If the gear wasnât made of monster leather, it might have ripped under the abuse of heavy loads and violent movements, but they were holding up well so far.
Hawk hadnât even had time to take flight again when they heard movement in the woods nearby. Something else had been attracted by the stones, or by their presence, and it was large.
Thor turned to face the threat, and the golems shifted to take positions around the mages. There werenât many creatures incoming, it sounded like only a pair of large ones. That was confirmed when they crashed through the trees, but the fact that it was only two was no comfort today.
Unlike the Hill Giants they had been fighting, these two were heavily armoured, like human knights of old, and carrying mauls with heads on them that were larger than Karl.
There was no doubt that these two were both Commander Rank, and not on the low side of it either.
Hawk took flight, knowing that he couldnât take a hit from something like that, and Rae skittered up into a tree, waiting for the right moment to strike.
With them covered in metal armour, she didnât know quite where she should hit. She knew from experience that armour could be more durable than it looked, and this looked thick.
The Giants roared as they saw the humans, and Bob looked grim as he squared up against them. Thor wasnât going to take many hits from those mauls even with a barrier from Donni active, and the Golems werenât going to fare much better.
The only chance they had was to finish them quickly, but with the armour on, that wasnât going to be easy.
But other than their Commander Rank status, these two also smelled like magic, and Karl got the feeling that if they could defeat these two, there was something good in it for him.
The Giants made a sudden lunge forward, and Thor smashed the ground with [Earthquake] while Karl and Bob both sent attacks at their weapons, trying to slow the attacks, or deflect them off target.
The Giants stumbled and Rae saw her chance. She flew out of the tree, and both forelegs plus her mandibles pierced one of the Giantsâ necks right below his helmet line.
The attack wasnât enough to break the bone, and with a spurt of silk, she pulled herself back into the trees. But the damage was done, and the giant was bleeding heavily from the back of his neck, courtesy of a triple [Lacerate] attack.
The Giant fell to the ground as his body spasmed in pain, which allowed the Golems to wrap him in vines, slowing his recovery while Bob and the mages unleashed their best attacks on him.
Karl focused on attacking the arms and weapons of the other Giant, weakening his attacks against Thor. The Cerro had dodged the first attack, but the Giant had regained its footing, and the second real attack wouldnât be as easy to avoid.
It didnât seem to care about its partner as it found its opportunity and swung at Thor, who rolled over once with the impact, but landed on his feet with his Lightning Barrier intact. The first layer of shielding had shattered, but between the two it had been enough that he wasnât injured by the strike, just thrown to the side.
Donni was already rebuilding the shield as Thor charged inside the next strike and Hawk attacked the Giantâs face. It simply ducked its head and the attacks hit its helmet, but the distraction was enough that Thor finished his charge and slammed into one thick leg.
The knee buckled, and the second Giant nearly fell, only catching itself with its maul. That kept it off the ground, but it left the Giant out of position when Karl attacked again, aiming for the gaps in the armour.
The Golems had pulled the helmet off the other Giant, and Rae moved in for the kill, aiming at the soft flesh of the neck.
That seemed to be the trigger for the upright Giant to realize that something was wrong with this scenario, and instead of fighting back, it pushed itself to its feet and fled, running in the direction it had arrived from.
Within seconds, the other Giant died a brutal death, and by the time that Karl had finished checking Thor and Rae for injuries, Bob was already starting to strip it of its armour to see where the feeling of magic was coming from.