A rock larger than my head flew from high up in the mountain. It crashed into the path a few feet to my left and broke apart from the impact. The crack of the rock breaking echoed like a gunshot from the mountains around us and momentarily covered the sound of the roaring beast far above. The roaring was getting louder.

  Abernathy flipped a toggle on his dash and went into reverse just as another rock smashed into the ground where he had been.

  Encore: It’s a Mountain Giant! We must hurry past and flee before it reaches the path. It comes!

  Abernathy hopped out of his car and stored it in his inventory, sighing with relief.

  “Was a bit scared that wouldn’t work.” He said as we hurried through the debris and stone-littered path. “Hoped it would though. I can store whole crafting tables so why not an ute.”

  “Glad that worked.” Katarina was looking up the mountain as we hurried past the biggest boulder. “Two questions. How did it see us through the Tatsu? And why isn’t it throwing any more rocks at us?”

  An ominous shadow passed overhead as a massive figure leapt from higher up the mountain and landed in front of us on the path. He stood more than thirty feet tall and wore white hide armor that was nearly black from stains. He had two regular eyes, and a third eye on his forehead that opened vertically and had no pupil. The only hair on his head was a long beard that was braided with bones. He had a canvas sack the size of a cart in one hand and a wooden club the size of a tree trunk in the other. His nameplate read Mountain Giant Exile Ghork.

  Ghork sniffed at the air and groaned in pleasure.

  “Manflesh. Yes. I missed the caravan, but knew there’d be more. There’s always more.” His voice was deep, nearly below my ability to hear. It sounded more like a dozen boulders grinding together than a voice, but the words were distinguishable.

  “Come, don’t be difficult. In the bag you g—” he had started walking towards us, crouching down, when Encore flew in from the side and collided with the large eye at the center of the giant’s forehead with a wet, sucking sound.

  Encore: Now! While he is distracted! Quick!

  Ghork roared. The sound was so loud it vibrated the air around us and caused a minor landslide further down the mountain. He was doubled over, scrabbling at his face.

  I began performing Kinetic Overload, activating Quicken Song. Abernathy squeaked, hopping nearly to the edge of the trail to get around the flailing giant. Katarina ran toward the giant, between it’s legs, and jabbed the blade of her prosthetic into the back of the giant’s ankle, yanking it forward with her momentum and a powerful kick. She cut through the thick leather boots and the giant flailed, falling backwards. His hands flew out as he tried to regain his balance and failed. She had cut the tendon at the back of his leg and it no longer supported his weight. He fell backwards, and as he did I saw a crimson angel fly from the bloody socket in the middle of his head. Encore easily avoided the clumsy grasps of the falling giant as he soared into the air.

  The ground shook around us as he hit the path. A thunderous crack sounded from all around us.

  “GO!” Katarina screamed, dodging a flailing leg as I hurried around the giant, finishing the song and enchanting her with explosive potential. The ground lurched beneath our feet. We ran.

  Ghork rolled over, getting to his knees and crawling after us. Abernathy continued hopping away about twenty feet ahead of us. I saw him hop over a hairline fracture that went from the edge of the ravine to the side of the mountain, then continued past us and behind the giant. The crack grew larger as we raced to get off of section of road that was beginning to slide away from the mountain.

  I felt a pair of strong hands grip me below the armpits and looked around to see Katarina launch both of us with an explosive enhanced jump from her remaining leg. She repeated the move mid air, changing our trajectory to be more parallel with the ground and launching us between Abernathy and the tall mountainside.

  She pivoted in the air, flipping me around and landing feet-first on the ground. She slid another ten feet, holding me up slightly. I was facing the broken section of roadway break free from the side of the mountain and saw the giant, crawling at an alarming speed towards the break.

  A final deafening crack echoed as a hundred foot section of the path broke and tumbled into the valley far below. The crashing sounds echoed for several seconds. Katarina stopped sliding and sat me down, saying something that I couldn’t hear. I didn’t turn to look at her. I saw four massive fingers that grasped the edge of the broken road. Ghork’s head rose as he began lifting himself up. His eyes locked on mine and I froze, a sudden paralysis locking up my body.

  “He didn’t fall.” I whispered the words through lips that didn’t want to cooperate.

  “What?” Katarina asked, looking around me. “Oh shit. Oh hell no.”

  She sprinted forward as Ghork’s other arm reached up and found purchase on the path. Katarina ran between us and broke the stare, freeing me from the paralysis.

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  “Don’t look him in the eyes!” I shouted, beginning to perform Kinetic Overload as Katarina launched herself with another explosive leap. She flipped through the air, angling herself into a flying kick aimed at the giant’s face as he continued climbing up on the roadway.

  I poured mana into Quicken Song, hastening the performance. Katarina’s foot smacked into Ghork’s face and she detonated a charge of Kinetic Overload. The force of the explosion sent her flipping through the air away from the giant. She landed gracefully a dozen feet from the giant, who continued raising himself up. A small circle of scorched flesh on the bridge of his nose was the only mark left from Katarina’s kick. I started performing the song again.

  “Shit",” she breathed.

  Ghork pulled himself up over the lip, crawling towards us at the same terrifying pace as before. He crossed the distance to Katarina in less than a second. I finished performing Kinetic Overload as she leapt in the air. She jumped again, avoiding Ghork’s grasp by leaping from a platform of solidified air. He roared in fury as she ran along the steep mountainside for a few steps, launching herself with an explosive jolt and angling the blade of Wind’s Edge to slice a line down the giant’s back.

  The blade left a deep, bloody gash. Katarina spun, blade still sunken into Ghork’s lower back. His health dropped below half and he rolled over, precariously close to the edge of the path. Katarina nimbly withdrew the blade and leapt into the air once more, leaving a scorched circle of flesh near his navel where she launched herself. He grunted in pain, reaching for her. She flipped through the air with her bladed leg extended, slicing into his hand.

  Blood spurted from a deep cut right between two fingers, but he managed to grab her in one fist, which encompassed nearly half of her body. I finished performing the song as Katarina slammed a fist down on one of his fingers, exploding it into a mist of blood and bone. I sent the explosive energy into her, refilling the charges for Kinetic Overload.

  The giant roared,throwing Katarina over the side of the cliff. She stopped midair, crouched on a solidified circle of air, and launched herself back at the giant, this time at his face. The giant brought up his uninjured hand, swatting at Katarina. She shifted, using the blade of her prosthetic leg to intercept the slap. The blade sank into Ghork’s palm and he screamed again, bringing his injured hand up to crush Katarina.

  I pulled one of the poisoned daggers from my inventory and drove it down at the top of the giant’s head. The blade sank into his scalp but was deflected by the bone. I stabbed three times in quick succession, the blade sinking into his bald scalp only to be deflected by his thick skull. The charges in the dagger dropped from 5/5 down to 2/5. I saw a notification.

  Mountain Giant Exile Ghork has resisted Piscivorous Venom!

  Mountain Giant Exile Ghork has resisted Piscivorous Venom!

  Piscivorous Venom successfully applied to Mountain Giant Exile Ghork!

  My stabbing distracted the giant, who spun again, sending Katarina careening into the side of the mountain as he pushed himself up on two bloody hands. His health was flashing, deep in the red.

  Katarina managed to angle her body, landing against the side of the mountains in a crouch. She launched herself from the side of the mountain, extending Wind’s Edge into a bladed flying kick.

  The giant’s attention was on me, and the bloody dagger I held. He didn’t see Katarina, who slammed the blade of her prosthetic leg into his temple. His head lurched to the side from the impact. He spasmed for a second as his eyes lost their focus, then fell motionless on the ground. Katarina dislodged Wind’s Edge with a grunt.

  Blood leaked from numerous wounds across the giant’s body for a moment, then a notification appeared.

  - Ding! -

  Welcome to level 14! New Stat Points available for distribution!

  I crouched over, heaving in great gasps of breath, as I sent the dagger back to my inventory. “That… was a close one.”

  “Allocate those stat points, lute boy.” Katarina said without looking at me, walking over to the giant and kicking him gently with her foot. She stopped, turning her head and looking down. “Huh. I guess there is a limit to the size of what we can fit in our inventory. He’s too big to loot all of. Has some interesting things though…”

  I put my stat points in Endurance, bringing it up to 16. “What do you mean? Interesting?”

  Encore landed on the ground next to me. I had never seen him in such a state. Covered in blood and bits of what I assumed were that giant’s third eye. He looked smaller with his fur all matted down, especially his tails.

  “Oh buddy, here, let’s get you cleaned off.” I tapped directly into the water I had stored in my inventory, forming a circle with my hands and producing a stream about as strong as a kitchen faucet.

  “That is very useful,” Encore moved into the stream, washing off the blood as Katarina spoke.

  “Well aside from his clothes, which I am going to take last so I don’t have to see this thing naked, he has a few hundred gold pieces, half a goat… like literally half a goat. I am scared to pull it out and see which half… and a Writ of Exile.”

  “What the heck is a Writ of Exile?” Abernathy asked.

  “He was called a Mountain Giant Exile,” I replied, “Maybe it is something to do with his name?”

  I closed the stream of water. Encore had washed off most of the debris. He shrank down and grew back in size, absorbing the trace amounts remaining and sighing.

  “Much better. Thank you. You will likely find more information in that Writ, as my knowledge of giants is limited, but they are not brutish, wild people. Theirs is an advanced, cultural society, high in the mountains. They are not kind to other races. The scent and taste of manflesh drives them wild, and they strive for clarity of mind. For this reason, none are allowed within their realm and little is known.”

  “Wait… Giants are sophisticated?” Katarina asked.

  “Mountain Giants, yes. There are many giants, as there are many people.” Encore bumped his head against my leg. I knelt and scratched behind his ear as Katarina spoke.

  “Well this Writ is interesting. Here, examine it, Chanter. I’m not reading all this aloud.”

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