Chapter 8 in the Giant's mountains live what?!

You decide to go to Lia-Ki rather than the cursed place known as Meddiki Forest. Lia-Ki is a small city/big town that was founded a few years before you were born. From what you have heard, It was prosperous and quite wealthy. It's wealth came from the alliance its citizens had formed with the Giants of Giant's mountain.

The news of the Giants existence is nothing but a myth, that was what the common people said. The fact that Lia-Ki was destroyed, by goblins nonetheless, mostly solidified the belief of the alliance being nothing more than folklore.

How could a town be destroyed by goblins if Giants were the ones protecting it? Giants are known for their strength, stamina and stupidity. Even if the Giants did exist, they would never have the intelligence to cooperate with humans, much less defend them without destroying the town themselves.

You might be able to find some information about this weird myth and or some useful items along the way. You mostly don't wish to go to the Meddiki Forest. Even if the journey will take longer, it is worth it to avoid having to fear undead and monsters coming at you at all times.

You turn right at the end of Kristatanti and go along the road leading to the ruins of Lia-Ki. The road is long and you have to travel across a few small hills. "Medikki Forest is too cursed and dreadful to traverse. It is a lot safer to go this way, albeit a lot longer."

Medikki Forest is directly connected to the next town, the town Dhumpus. It will take around 4 hours to get there if you go through the forest. The Giant's mountain alone will take 12 hours, much less all the other stops you have to make. Still, getting to a town relatively safely is a lot better than putting your life at risk every second.

After walking 2 hours, you see a beggar sitting next to the road. The beggar has a brown cloak on him and his body is shaking. You stare at him in confusion. It is nowhere near winter or fall. Why would the man be shaking if it isn't cold outside?You approach the beggar and he looks at you.

The make beggar looks like he is in his early thirties, but his skin is slightly brown and his hands are covered in rough skin. He looks like one of those hardworking farmers you see around Analand occasionally. He has black eyes and is looking at you with hope. The beggar asks "Spare some change for this poor beggar, sir?"

You think for a minute and notice a certain inconsistency with his skin tone and decide to ask him about it. "Could you please take off your cloak?" The beggar quickly tries to hide his hands and face. He then quietly asks "Why would you like to see my face? I have never met or wronged you. We have no relationship with each other."

The thought in your head doesn't allow you to rest and you continue. You quickly charge at the man and forcefully pull back his cloak. The beggar is no match for your strength. You easily pull off his hood and look at his face. "Just as I suspected."

The man isn't naturally dark-skinned. He has a tan from being out in the sun for a long time. You look at his face and your suspicions were proven correct. He has the seal of the first noble of Khare, Sansas, on his cheek. The beggar quickly covers his face and jumps back "Y-you! W-what are you going to do to me?" The poor beggar stumbles back, frightened, and says while stuttering.

You sigh and tell him "I won't discriminate against a fellow man do to them being born unique, but your skin is not natural, but that is normal for a hardworking peasent. The main problem is the mark on your cheek. You're from Khare, aren't you?"

The black man slowly nods his head and asks, a little less frightened "What if I am? Is there something wrong with being a former slave?" You respond with "I am a part of the Royal court of Analand. I have a duty to report you for escaping."

The black man's eyes widen in fear. He jumps into your legs and cries "P-please! I beg of you! No one knows that I have escaped. I don't want to go back! I escaped a few month ago and barely dodged the guards chasing after me! Three of my comrades sacrificed themselves to trick the guards into thinking we all were dead and I escaped thanks to them. I can't go back! You can't do this to me!" The man continues crying.

You feel a little awkward. A man ten years older than you is crying at your feet. "This is quite the predicament, but I have a duty. I can't allow you to wander around like this. Do you prefer begging like you have been doing, or earning your keep the fair way?"

The man blinks his teary eyes and says in an angry voice. "Fair? Fair! FAIR! You dare talk about fair?! The slaves in Khare are treated like tools! They don't receive any money or food! We all are starved and barely given any provisions or care! We suffer under the horrendous laws Enforced by the bastard Sansas!

We have no rights and are traded like animals for coin! The minor and major nobles treat us like shit! That isn't even the worst part. The sorcerer Lorag experiments on us like rats! I managed to escape the fate of becoming his lab rat by running away! I can't go back there!"

You are stunned by what the black man is saying. In Analand both of your masters and the king have slaves. They are not paid and only receive the bare necessities to survive, but they have a house and only need to serve 5-20 years as a slave. The receive food and are under the protection of their master. Your master also used spells like ZIP to help the slaves transport resources and some other spells to lessen their burden.

"Why are the slaves treated so harshly in Khare?" You can't help but ask. This is a weird fact. You doubt even the king of Analand knows of this. The beggars face gets even more angry as he gnashes his teeth and spits out a name with nothing but hate and venom "Sansas! The bastard first noble! He is an incompetent and suspicious moron with nothing but himself and his own survival in mind! He is scared of being dethroned by his own followers and started a campaign a year ago. Khare is completely sealed off from the outside world! No one leaves and no one enters.

All slaves are treated like shit and even the third class citizens aren't better off. The reason Khare has been referred to as the city of thieves is because of this poverty. The nobles own all land and the taxes are heavier than the weight of the Giants that live in these mountains. No one can bare them, but the nobles love it. The bastard Sansas pitted all of Khare for a few favors with the nobles and now us slaves are paying the price!

I am not up to date with what's going on, but I can assure you it hasn't gotten any better. Last I heard, Sansas was going on a purge 6 months ago. If you are heading to Khare, I'd advise you to forget about it."

You think to yourself "What the hell has happened to Khare? I thought the city of thieves was a joke title. To think it was called this because of such an economic Crisis. I need to investigate and report back to my king after I get the staff back."

An idea suddenly comes to your mind. You look towards the beggar and tell him "Here are 3 gold coins, use them to buy some food for yourself and get a job. I will fix that slave seal."

You look towards the stars and see something different. The constellations are clouded and you can't see them. The only thing you can see is your stellar guardian constellation. You have already asked it for help, but you feel like the gentle rabbit will help you willingly.

You pray to your guardian constellation and see three stars above you. The eye stars and the heart star of the gentle rabbit glow and send their stellar energy towards you. The stellar energy flows through your body and you direct it towards your right hand.

You touch the slave seal with your right hand and transfer all the stellar energy to the black man. The burnt in slave seal slowly mends itself and the black man is back to how he originally was. His skin even becomes lighter and a little bit of the sunburn accumulated over the years even disappeared.

You look at the man and say "I will fix Khare. No matter what, Sansas is a dead man! You can go to Analand and tell them the Analander wishes to house you. My master is a Sightmaster. He can surely see what is going on if he checks and will do as I asked. If not, then you can show him your cheek. My master will instantly recognize the trace of my energy and believe you."

The black slave nods his head. He looks at you with thankfulness and reverence. He stands up and takes out a key "This is how I escaped. Make sure you free my brothers and don't leave a single soul behind! Tell them Kasta gave this to you.

Remember one thing, the sorcerer Lorag cannot be trusted. He is three-faced and always a step ahead of anyone he comes into contact with. I managed to steal this page from his spellbook. That distracted him long enough for me to escape. Take it, you might need it."

You take the bronze key and the spellbook page. You now have two unknown pages. "I need to find the constellation for CHK. I will be able to learn two new spells if I can find it. I should look for it more diligently." You wave the slave goodbye and head towards Lia-Ki once more.

You finally reach the ruins of Lia-Ki after a few more hours of walking. The town is worse than what you have heard. Bandits and travelers have looted all the houses, not leaving even bricks or Windows. All that remains of this town are some support beams, columns and some brick arches.

It is indeed a ghost town as rumored. You can either look around or continue towards the Giant's mountain. You decide to look around. What if you find something useful or interesting here?

Goblins aren't colonized well in Shamutanti and neither did this town have anything valuable to plunder. What reason would the goblins have had to attack Lia-KI? You might find out if you explore enough.

You begin by checking around the houses. The ruins are ghastly and completely destroyed. You search for a couple of minutes and find only a single gold coin. You wonder if the attack was just a random occurrence and wasn't for a specific reason or if it was actually the goblins and not some other human forces covering the information up.

You look up into the stars and check for any useful spells. You are instantly excited. You see 4 constellations have aligned and one of the spells is the one you desperately needed. The four constellations are the DOP, HOP, POP and CHK constellations. You take out the two spellbook pages and weave the stellar energy into the spell CHK. You have lost 2 stamina. You have 6/14 stamina left.

A sphere of magic comes off of you and you direct it at the two spells. The special hand movements and the name of the spell contain some stellar energy, so the stellar energy you sent bounced off of them and transported the names of the spells to you.

You quickly memorize them and try to repeat the hand movements and memorize their names. As the stars haven't aligned, the spell does nothing, but you feel that the spell has been registered. You take out your spellbook and open it.

Just as you expected, pages 26 and 27 were added to your spellbook. You look over the pages and can only figure out the names and the constellations of those spells. The first spell a spell called BIG and the second one is a spell called RAZ. You don't know what they will do, but you will surely cast them when the next opportunity arises.

You also felt a single small magical signal a couple of meters away from you. You quickly head towards that signal and find a green seed. You quickly pocket the magical seed and put it with the rest of your magical supplies. +1 magical seed.

Nothing else happens and you decide it is time to continue. You have acquired a few useful items and learned two new spells. It is quite a pleasant bonus, but you have to get to Dhumpus before sunset or you will be stuck to camp out here for the night.

After a couple more hours of walking, you are now crossing the small valley between the two side of the huge mountains. The valley might be called small, but it is wide enough for two carriages two stand side by side.

You see a giant cave up ahead and and another, albeit a little smaller, cave to your left. You can either explore the smaller cave to the left first, the bigger one to your right, or ignore both of them.

You decide to inspect the small one to your left. Who knows, something interesting might be there. After you get close to the cave, you see the cave has some furniture. A small chair is next to a table and there are iron plates everywhere. The plates are dirty and covered in grease stains. You wonder if someone actually lives here.

You walk in and see even more furniture. The cave is actually a human house. The bed in one corner looks like an actual comfortable bed. The pillow looks soft and you can tell it is stuffed with bird feathers. The bed's sheets are stuffed with wool, but they are stitched, so the wool doesn't shift around and cause discomfort while sleeping.

The mattress is made of extraordinarily durable springs and the bed does wonders for your back when you lay down. You feel quite exhausted from your travels. Maybe you should take a small break to rest and enjoy yourself?

You look around for some matchsticks to light up the cave and find some kindle along with some flint. You make do with the flint and light up the kindle. The fire burns slowly as you see an oil lamp and some torches around you. You quickly light up the oil lamp with the kindle and then you light up the torches.

The room you were in before looks even more beautiful now. The sofas look extremely comfortable and you even see a small kitchen. Maybe you can find something to eat. You haven't eaten today and the only food you have is the bomba fruit the old man gave you.

After rummaging through the pantry and the food storage, you find enough materials to make a macaroni and cheese serving and a couple slices of bread. You quickly begin cooking and ten minutes later your food has been prepared. You quickly eat it and lay down on the bed to rest your tired body. You quickly doze off and enjoy a small break. You have gained 3 stamina from eating and 2 from resting on the comfortable bed. Your body has gotten more used to the polluted air. You have 11/15 stamina now.

After resting for quite some time, you are awoken by a thunderous roar. You open your eyes and spring up to see a 10 meter tall one eyed green-skinned humanoid creature charging at you. You are shocked at seeing that creature and think to yourself "Why is there a cyclops in Shamutanti Hills? How did it get here?"

You quickly grab your sword and jump left. You managed to dodge the beasts attack, but now you have to fight it. Combat engaged. Cyclops has 15/15 stamina and 16/16 power. You have 11/15 stamina and 14/14 power.

The one eyed beast looks at you with its giant eye and smiles maniacally. The horrific smile and evil glare send shivers down your spine. You quickly look up into the stars and see you can cast the spell BIG. You quickly weave the stellar energy and cast the spell BIG.

You feel an enormous amount of stellar energy rush towards you. The spell combines your stamina with the enormous amount of stellar energy. The unimaginable disproportion of 1:4 dazzles you as your body begins to grow in size one limb at a time. First your hands begins to grow and quickly your arms, then torso, then head and lastly your legs follow.

Your body has increased by a huge margin. You are now a 10 meter tall version of yourself. The difference between your opponent and yourself has been fixed and combat mode has been recalculated. Your weapon is too small to use. Fist fight battle engaged. You have 10/15 stamina and 7/7 power. The cyclops has 15/15 stamina and 8/8 power.

The cyclops is stunned by your sudden transformation and stares at your gigantic body for a few seconds. The cyclops is off guard and you use a 0.1 power charge(jab). You ram your body into the cyclops and the cyclops barely defended. The cyclops falls over and lands on the tableware. He completely destroys the furniture and takes 1 damage. You have 10/15 stamina and 6.9/7 power left. Cyclops has 14/15 stamina and 8/8 power.

The cyclops is extremely angry. It looks at you menacingly and you observe him with extraordinary calm. You see his is going to use an all out attack. This type of guerrilla warfare is common amongst monsters. They go all out and attack you with full strength then defend and repeat. You will have trouble countering this strategy.

You look up into the stars and search for a way to stop this kind of situation from happening. You see you can cast WOK on yourself and rejoice. You quickly weave the stellar energy and take out a gold coin. The spell WOK requires gold. The only gold you have on you is the gold coins.

The gold coin becomes full of the stellar energy and starts melting. A thin layer of yellow coats you as you defend yourself and take no damage from the 8 power strong punch(attack). Cyclops has 14/15 stamina and 4/8 power. You have 10/15 stamina and 7/7 power.

The amount of gold you used is too little. The shield won't last long. You charge at the cyclops with a 4.1 power skillful punch(attack) and it seems your prediction was right. The cyclops used a 4 power skillful punch(attack). You dodge the incoming punch to your face by ducking and thrust your fist straight into the stomach of the cyclops.

The air escapes the cyclops's lungs as it steps back in pain. It can barely breathe and is quite injured. The cyclops took 2 damage. Cyclops has 12/15 stamina and 2/8 power. You have 10/15 stamina and 4.9/7 power left.

You use a 0.1 power charge(jab). The cyclops barely recovered from the intense pain. It had no other option but to defend. The cyclops crossed his arms in front of your punch. The moment your punch landed, a thunderous sound echoed in the room. The cyclops took 1 damage and was forced to step back by the impact. The cyclops has barely regained his breath, the power regeneration has been halted. Cyclops has 11/15 stamina and 5/8 power. You have 10/15 stamina and 6.8/7 power.

The cyclops becomes wary of you and assesses every single one of your actions carefully. It dares not use guerrilla warfare type of attack to whistle you down now. It will be the one most likely to die from that kind of confrontation.

The cyclops think it is crafty and tries to launch a sneak attack on you. It uses a 3 power charge(jab). You have already seen through its intentions and laugh. You use a 4 power skillful punch(attack). You sidestep the cyclops's charge and dodge its sharp and powerful shoulder. The cyclops crashes into the cave wall and the cave begins to shake.

You jump towards it and punch it on its back. The cyclops drops down and takes 2 damage. The cyclops has 8/15 stamina and 5.5/8 power. You have 4.8/8 power.

The cyclops looks frightened of you and rolls back, crushing the small kitchen completely in the process. You don't allow the cyclops to recover quickly and charge at it. The cyclops is to frightened and its stance is weak. It has no time or ability to react appropriately and counterattack. It barely manages to defend by curling up into a ball.

The cyclops took 1 damage and rolls a few meter away from you. It finally stands up and has finally regained some of its composure. Cyclops has 7/15 stamina and 8/8 power left. You have 10/15 stamina and 2.8/7 power left.

The golden glow on your body slowly disappears as WOK wears off. The cyclops smiles as it seems the golden glow disappear. Before you are able to recast it, the cyclops charges at you. You have no choice but to defend, as the cyclops has gotten smarter.

The 2.9 power charge(jab) hit you with full force. You managed to brace yourself and pushback the cyclops after the collision. The cyclops made you take a few steps back and take 1 damage, but you managed to shove it to the side and create some distance between the two of you. Cyclops has 7/15 stamina and 6.7/8 power. You have 9/15 stamina and 6.8/7 power left.

The cyclops rushes at you once more and uses its strongest attack, believing it still has more power than you. You laugh as you go all out as well. Your 6.8 power skillful punch(attack) collides with his 6.7 power skillful punch(attack). Your punch easily counters the cyclops and you follow up with a punch to its head.

You bash the cyclops's head with your strong fist and bat him away. The cyclops took 2 damage and is angered. Cyclops has 5/15 stamina and 3.8/8 power. You have 9/15 stamina and 3.9/7 power.

You suddenly feel strange. Your body has decreased in size. You are now 9 meters tall. The cyclops grins at your misfortune and decides to defend. You quickly charge at him before your spell wears off. Your 0.1 power charge hits the cyclops directly. The cyclops took that 1 damage with a malicious smile. Cyclops has 4/15 stamina and 7.8/8 power. You have 9/15 stamina and 5.8/7 power.

The spell BIG completely wears off and you revert to your original size of 1.92 meters. The palmettes of the battle have changed. The difference between you and your opponent have been fixed and combat mode has been recalculated. You have 9/15 stamina and 7/8 power. Cyclops has 4/15 stamina and 15.5/16 power.

You quickly pull out your sword and boost your maximum power by 6, but you still only have 13/14 power. That small amount compared to 15.5/16 is nothing. You feel a heavy weight push down on you as the fist the size of your arm punches towards you with a strong punch(attack).

You decisively defend yourself, but that barely makes a difference. You take 2 damage and are thrown backwards into the bed. Cyclops has 4/15 stamina and 8.5/16 power. You have 7/15 stamina and 14/14 power. The cyclops is extremely cocky and uses the guerrilla warfare strategy once again.

It defends as you send a 10 power strong attack at him. Your sword slices his arm, but how much damage did that do? The cyclops only took 1 damage and is still smiling. Cyclops has 3/15 stamina and 12.5/16 power. You have 7/15 stamina and 9/14 power. The cyclops once again punches at you with a 10 power strong punch(attack) and you are forced to defend.

You go flying across the cave and take 3 damage from slamming into the cave and the heavy impact. If this continues, your body might become severely injured and you will lose power. Cyclops has 3/15 stamina and 7.5/16 power. You have 4/15 stamina and 14/14 power.

The cyclops is still smiling and chuckling mockingly. It truly believes you stand no chance. You are enraged and rush at the bastard with a 7.6 power skillful attack. The cyclops allows you to hit its left arm and blocks your attack before it can do any damage. Cyclops has 2/15 stamina and 11.5/16 power. You have 4/15 stamina and 10.2/14 power.

The cyclops's chuckling turns into a maniacal laughing fit as it punches you with is full strength. An 11.5 power strong punch(attack) hits you square on your body. Your messily defense does nothing against such an attack as you go flying once again and take 3 more damage. Cyclops has 2/15 stamina and 5.7/16 power. You have 1/15 stamina and 14/14 power.

You quickly rush at the cyclops and a 4.1 power skillful attack at it. The cyclops cockily defends your attack. The cyclops got a small cut as it blocked your attack and soon realized it is doomed. Cyclops has 1/15 stamina and 9.7/16 power. You have 1/15 stamina and 11.9/14 power.

You smile as you realize your power is much greater than the cyclops's. The cyclops stands no chance. You rush towards it with an ll-out 11.9 power strong attack. The cyclops is enraged and punches at you with a 9.7 power strong attack. Your sword collides with the cyclops fist and you cut right through it. The arm splits in half and you jump at the cyclops.

Your sudden adrenaline rush grants you immeasurable strength as you jump 2 whole meters and stab your sword upwards. The sword goes right through the cyclops's diaphragm and into its heart. You swing your sword with all of your might and cut open its chest and cut its heart in half.

The cyclops wallows in pain and agony as its body gives out and it falls down dead. You have killed the cyclops. You have lost 9 stamina, shameful fight.

"Shameful your head!" You hear someone cursing from somewhere and quickly look around for any potential threats. After not seeing anyone around you, you divert your attention to leaving as fast as possible. You run out of the cave and see two more cyclops's are standing outside.

Your body quickly jumps into panic mode as you notice them. You barely survived a fight against 1 cyclops when you were in good shape. Fighting two now when you are at the literal second worst condition you have ever been is nothing but suicide. Some of your bones are cracked and you might even injure yourself even more. At this point, even the Medikki Forest is starting to sound like a good place.

You look up at the stars for guidance and your heart almost stops when you feel something gazing at you. The two Cyclopes have noticed you and are looking at you with a malicious gaze. You shudder at this realization and quickly look for some spell to save yourself.

It seems the stars have taken pity upon you. The stars for the NIP constellation have aligned and the stars for HOP have also aligned. You can only make two actions before combat mode is engaged. Make a wise choice.

With unprecedented speed, You take out the yellow sulfur powder and cast NIP. The yellow sulfur powder covers your body and the world around you seems to have slowed down greatly. You look at the Cyclopses and notice they look like they are moving in slow motion. NIP's speed has gained you an extra turn.

You take out a bottle of blimberry potion and gulp it down in less than a second. The warmth of the blimberry potion spreads through your body and your stamina instantly increases by 2. You have 3/15 stamina now. You have 1 turn left

With your newly acquired stamina you weave the stellar energy of HOP so fast even your sorcery master would be shocked. The distance between the direction you came from and your current location folds upon itself and you leap forward and appear 200 meters away from your original location.

Without a moment of hesitation or a single second to regain your bearings, you dart towards the road leading to Kristatanti and the Medikki Forest. You would much rather fight the undead and the beasts in the Meddiki Forest than the potential village of Cyclopses.

The two Cyclopes notice you, but give up chase as you are too fast with NIP active. You quickly cover over 100 more meters and keep running with all your strength. You sit down for a single minute to eat the bomba fruit quickly and then continue running.

You run for 10 minutes, covering over 240 meters per minute. Your body continues until your cracked bones and battered up body finally gives out after 10 minutes and you fall down. Sit with your back facing a house's support beam as you breath heavily. Your body is too injured to continue.

You fall unconscious from the huge physical and mental strain. Your body has suffered trauma. You have lost 3 stamina from running and 2 maximum stamina and 1 maximum power from the trauma. Bomba fruit has been digested. The effects of the fruit negate the trauma effect and grants you 2 stamina. You have 0/15 stamina left. Your body is in a vulnerable state.

A.T double checking takes too fricking long and has minimal effects. Basically, if you guys spot any mistakes in spelling, point them out and I will fix them. Thank you for the help in advance. Next chapters I will 100% tone it down from the now 5k+ word grind.