13 Hunting and War

Eating the last bite of...probably my 9th burger, I looked over to Artoria, "Though a little glutton like you probably would search me out for food," I laughed, seeing Artoria grumble while eating the last of her own burger, "Why did you come find me? Probably something to do with the Giant's, right?" I said and Artoria swallowed her last bite before nodding in reply.

"Yes," she cleared her throat, dabbing away at her mouth with a piece of cloth, "After we observed the bodies, or rather what was left of them," she gave me a slight glare, to which I put on an innocent smile, "They aren't from any of the Giant Tribes around Camelot. I have the blessings of the Fae and the non-humans around this area. I treat them fairly and they respect me in return. So, we are dealing with a Giant's Tribe from up north."

"And?" I asked, an eyebrow raised, "Does that change anything? I'll go and track them down in a bit anyway."

Artoria looked at me and shook her head in denial, "You don't understand, Gabriel. Giant Tribes are very territorial. They defend their territories very ferociously but other Giants try their best not to step into another Giants territory because it more than likely develops into a territory war." Seeing me continue to stare at her, as if to say 'And?' still, Artoria sighed before speaking, "What I mean to say is that this wasn't a random act of aggression. Nor was it because we had people outside Camelot's walls. They came here for a reason," she finished and I gave a nod of understanding before leaning back into my chair.

"So, what you mean to say is that this was more than likely aimed at you? Or because of you, at least," I asked, earning a nod from Artoria. Weighing it back and forth in my mind, I looked up at the ceiling lazily before continuing, "Then do we have a war on our hands?"

Everything went silent for a few seconds before Artoria spoke up, "We might."

Smiling, I stood up before looking between Artoria and Morgan, "Do either of you have a book on the Giant's language? I think I should go and find out who sent our gigantic friends, right?" I said, feeling my blood boil at the thoughts of what was to come and the hunt I'd be going out on in just a few hours.

. . .

Taking a deep breath in, I smelt everything within the air. My own scent. Ignore it. The grass and dirt. Ignore it. Horses and horse shit. Ignore it.

Then I smelt something utterly horrid. Like rotten eggs or meat that was decomposing.

Giants. Oh and Giant shit.

Opening my eyes, I rejoiced as I was back on the trail again. Bursting forward, I held up the book Morgan gave me which detailed the way Giant's spoke and how to communicate with them. You see, Giant Language is impossible for a human to speak because of the differences between the vocal cords and how human vocal cords can't move the same way as a Giant's. You could say they have more range than humans which is why they can speak English and other human languages.

I, on the other hand, had no such problem. Not that my vocal cords were any different than a humans, honestly, but what I did have in my arsenal was unnatural body control. Just so happens that the vocal cords are two pieces of elastic muscle.

Singers learn to gain a semblance of control over their vocal cords. I don't need to learn. I just have that control already due to my ever evolving bloodline.

So, I could basically force my vocal cords to move and make the sounds necessary.

Still took a bit of trial and error though. What didn't take any trial and error was learning the Giant's language. Easy as pie. Especially when you have a brain as attentive as mine.

"Hrak'ku Narr...Who are you...Damn, this is uncomfortable as hell," I mused to myself as I continued to learn the language as I blasted ahead, following the scent I'd picked up. Though it was definitely getting stronger, so I wouldn't have much time left for practice.

Shame the Giants weren't clever enough to make up sign language for their language. Though, to be fair to them, Giant's can't be born deaf and those who become deaf later in life are abandoned by their tribes. Talk about cold-hearted, right? But from what I gather from this book and it's short few chapters on Giant history and culture, their entire society is based on the term 'survival of the fittest'.

I mean, they don't have a clue what evolution or natural selection is but what they do know is that if only the strong and healthy adults have kids, then there's a big chance the kids will be strong and healthy as well.

Simple observation, ain't it?

As I continued to think about this, I looked past the book I was holding and saw a puddle of blood. Putting my foot down, I came to an abrupt stop before bending down and sniffing at the blood.

Animal blood. Probably...Deer? Yeah, a Deer.

Looking up, I sharpened my hearing for a few seconds and picked up on some crunching nearby...and wouldn't you know it, that's where the scent I'd picked up earlier was leading me.

Turning to it, I began a light but silent jog in that direction and before long, I saw the two Giants who'd ran away earlier, chowing down on a couple of deer. Wonder why I'd only seen a single puddle then. Questions that will never be answered, I guess.

Seeing the dense flora around them, I ducked down deep before blasting up into the trees, as silent as could be. The Giants, too busy eating and speaking loud enough for anyone within a couple dozen meters to hear them, didn't even notice my arrival or my jumping, so I got into position above the smaller one.

Rule numero uno of hunting a group - Go for the weakest members first. Instill some fear in the bigger, stronger ones. Let it brew and they won't be so big or strong anymore.

Rule numero dos of hunting a group - When you do strike...don't let anyone see you do it.

I waited for the right time and when the bigger Giant rubbed his eyes, I dropped down, throwing myself with enough force to flatten a car and collided with the smaller Giant's neck. A thud rang out and just as soon, I was gone, back up in the dense canopy above.

As the remaining Giant opened his eyes, he saw his younger brethren fall to the ground like a puppet without strings. He gave a shout of surprise, standing up and tripping over the massive rock he was sitting on.

I watched from above, remarking at how easy it was to bypass the defense of people who don't know how to use their muscles to stop force.

Too much brawn, not enough control over it.

The Giant clambered to his feet, picking up his one-handed blade that looked like a machete, brandishing it around as he spun on the spot. Stupid bastard didn't even look up to the canopy to try and find me.

Looking down at my hands, I extended my claws before dropping down and slashing across the Giant's back, leaving a cut long enough to stretch all the way down it's back. But as it howled in pain and swung around, I stepped between it's legs just at the right time to avoid being seen by it and blasted back up into the canopy.

Fear. That's how you get to someone. It's universal. Understood by everything that values it's life. It also helps to scare someone before you interrogate them - it makes sure they answer you.

This continued for a little while, with me dashing down and cutting the Giant before going back up.

Don't get me wrong, I could easily destroy the Giant in a 1 on 1 fight. I took on a group of them, after all. But right now, I'm not here to win a fight, I'm here for information that will lead to a multitude of fights--To a full-on war! I can afford to keep calm now for the pay off that will come.

After I knew the Giant was scared enough and that he was about to make a run for it, I dropped down in front of him. In his fear, his mind wasn't working right and he just roared, his eyes wide in fear and pain as he swung his machete at me. I was unperturbed as I put up my hand and settled into a steady stance.

Power...is like a wave. That's how I see it. It moves in the direction you make it. Like when you flail your arms about in a pool of water - you create ripples. But unlike ripples, power and force can be controlled.

The crude machete came within inches of my hand and time seemed to slow down as I dipped my hand under the edge of the blade and placed it upon the flat side of the blade.

Power and force can be controlled. Whether it be your own or not.

The Giant's brawn and power were greater than my own - for now, anyway - but their control over it was...horrendous. Crude and simple. It was like giving a toddler a handgun or a large cleaver. It was sloppy and messy. But there's one positive to this:

Their own control was weaker than my own...so I could hijack the waves of power and force they created.

Ducking under the blade, I moved my other hand to the flat of the blade and grasped at the waves of force I felt there. Like a malleable substance. 'Putty in my hands' would be a way to put it. Taking a hold of these waves, I disarmed the Giant and swung his own weapon's handle right back at his face.

He looked confused for a second before the handle of the blade crashed into his face.

His nose broke under the impact and he stumbled back and onto his ass, a thud ringing throughout the dense forest as he did.

Planting the weapon firmly into the ground, I looked down at my hands and nodded.

A good thing that worked, honestly. It was all theory and whatnot until just now...so I can control other people's force if my control is higher than theirs. No idea how that works or if I'm on some Wuxia shit right now...but either way I don't care. It's a pretty cool power to have. I wonder how far I could take it? Maybe if my control gets high enough I can control force* itself? That'd be pretty cool. OP too.

Using my muscles to control force...Ah~ Way better than relying on those stupid energies, right?

(*A/N - Hey, don't get me wrong, this ain't an energy like Mana or Chi. Just the endgame for what his control can become, I guess. No reinforcement via energy. Just controlling force aka kinetic energy...with his muscles. So his muscle power is the basis and the foundation. Muscle reigns supreme. Though this is, like, really far in the future. Nowhere near now.)

"Now," coming out of my head, I spoke to the Giant with the limited vocabulary I had, "Who...sent you?" I asked with a rough accent, feeling the pain of forcing my vocal cords to move in ways they weren't designed to do, almost instantly.

But despite the rough accent, and most likely bad enunciation, the Giant quickly answered me.

...Seriously, talk about cold-hearted? This guy's selling out everything? Damn.

. . .

"...So you're telling me that the Giants and Fae of the north don't see me as fit to be King, so that group of Giants was a declaration of war?" Artoria spoke to me, relaying what I'd just told her, with a grim look on her face. Upon me nodding in reply, her eyes instantly went cold and I felt like I was looking at a new person, "Then war it is. Sir Kay," she called out.

The knight that was there next to Artoria and Merlin the first time I'd met them stepped forward from Artoria's side and turned to her, "Yes, Your Majesty?"

"Relay my message to the Captains and Generals of my army; We go to war! I want to provisions and logistics to be settled by the end of the month. Then we set off for the north!" she gave a valor filled shout that caused the hearts of the guards and knights around her to be set alight with fervor.

...So this is what a natural-born ruler is like, huh?

Meh. Not as good as being a natural-born fighter~