With the new addition to the team, our plans for expansion and discovery have been altered. Not to mention the massive stone corpse which now belongs to Snow's territory.
In short, the plan is as follows.
Snow is going to continue fortifying his main territory, Mount Horoki, and exploring the lands around it.
Since, Snow now has two separate territories which he could connect with divine totems, but it would take a really long time. Each totem usually takes months to form unless there is a powerful conduit nearby to draw power from. The [Corrupt Gargoyle Queen] just so happened to have two things that could be used as a viable source, which made the totems grow incredibly fast.
Furthermore, a straight line of totems connecting two territories is pretty susceptible to attack, especially given how long and indefensible that line is.
And what should Snow do as we find more of these portals?
I already now of a few others which exist in Auralia and have gate guardians protecting them. Snow could use those to set up more totems down the line but then what, should he connect every patch of territory in the same fashion. That would become a big waste of time and effort quickly.
So instead, Snow will return to Mount Horoki. He will also continue to produce totems around the Queen's corpse until the heart and the portal run out of power. That should help to contain the corrupting influence both of them can spread.
Lore will be exploring to expand the range of the map. I've given him a long series of complex commands which I think cover everything that he could encounter. Hopefully, he will develop a little during his journey. It would make things easier for me without a doubt.
As for me, I am going to investigate the Queen's goal. If she was truly hunting humans like I think she was then reconnecting with them would be a boon in the long run.
Particularly if we can introduce them as a part of Snow's territory. Apparently, citizenry increases the strength of the territory's master.
With the plan in place, and all recent boons accounted for, the three of us went our separate ways.
I was slightly concerned about Lore's safety for the first few days but he seemed to be managing just fine on his own.
As I travelled, I swept my path a bit wider than usual as I'm not sure where exactly I might find my goal. It also helps with filling in [Soul Archive] but it takes longer as a result.
As a result, it took nearly a week before I made any substantial progress. It happened just after dark as I was roasting some meat over my fire.
As I reached to the first piece of meat that was ready, I suddenly smelt something unfamiliar amongst the campfire smoke.
A moment later I heard a bang as I meal exploded, falling off the cooking rack in shredded lumps.
Practically flying from my seat, I flew into the tree line to hide, extinguishing the fire as I did.
Unable to tell where the attack came from, I moved silently but swiftly through the shrubs until I found a suitable hiding place some distance from my campsite.
*****
"What happened?", I whisper.
"He dashed from the camp the moment my shot landed. The fire also went out. He's fast."
"How fast?"
"Fastest I've ever seen something living move."
That fast? That's a bold statement coming from Vir. She's used to sniping monsters from far away that can travel kilometres in mere seconds.
"Is he human?"
"I'm not sure… he seems human. Except his right arm is made of fire. He looked like he's been living out here a long time. His clothes are worse than rags."
"How can he be living out here for so long but not know that eating monster meat will kill him?"
… Neither of us spoke as we don't know the answer. This is truly a bizarre circumstance to be in.
After learning of the Giant's approach, we packed up our things and left. We used a mission from the scout regiment to investigate the area as an excuse to hightail it.
And whilst we have no intentions of going near that thing, we can at least get confirmation of its existence for ourselves from a safe distance. For that reason, we have been travelling in the Giant's general direction for the last three weeks, but we still haven't found it.
Surely if its as big as the report said it would be visible by now?
However, what we did find was a person, dressed in rags, having a fucking merry campfire in the middle of monster territory whilst roasting monster meat.
What kind of psychotic person does that?
We remained silent for a long while as Vir observed the area the person ran off to. It's dark, so visibility is low, but, under the light of the moon Vir would still notice any movement from a distance.
After a while I say, "I don't like it. That person doesn't care that this is monster territory. And they were going to eat monster meat. What if he's a monster disguised as a human?"
Vir didn't say anything. She was thinking the same thing. This creature could be dangerous.
But before we could make a decision about what to do a voice came from behind us.
"Interesting hypothesis but, I am in fact human."
Vir and I both swung around the moment the voice started speaking. She aimed her rifle at it, and I drew my sword.
In front of us is the man in question. Every fibre of my being screams at me about how dangerous this man is. We knew he was fast. Very fast. But how the fuck did he get behind us without us noticing. And from this range as well?
How long has he been there?
Did he already know we were here?
Vir and I aren't fucking amateurs. We are scouts with long service records that have survived countless shitty hells, yet this man got behind us without us fucking noticing?
I couldn't see the man properly in the dark. Mainly just his silhouette. After a short stalemate he spoke again.
"Ummm… are the weapons necessary?", the man slowly rose his hands in surrender as he spoke. "It is quite dark; do you mind if I light a fire?"
That pissed me off some. Still holding my sword in front of me I whispered angrily, "Are you insane? A fire would attract who knows what!".
…
The man seemed baffled by my statement. I can't see his face but somehow, I can feel his mind considering my claim.
"Ah… right. I guess that is true. Sorry. It's been a while since something attacked me, so I forgot."
… What?
Stealing a glance at Vir I see her hard focused on the man, a bullet in the chamber ready to fire. I don't care how fast he is, I would like to see him dodge a point-blank sniper round.
Relaxing a little at the thought I speak again, "What do you mean? That doesn't make any sense. What are you?"
Letting out a sigh of disbelief the man returned, "Look, this is inconvenient, and simply not how imagined speaking with my own kind again. I'll tell you what, I'll light a fire, and we can talk, and I promise you that nothing will attack us. Cross my heart and hope to die", he performed the gesture as he spoke, showing that he is from the old days, or a memory stealing monster. One of the two.
"Why should I believe you?"
"Oh, for fucks sake we are getting nowhere." With that an open flame appeared beside him.
As it did Vir fired. The bang hurt my ears, but I agreed with Vir's decision. This man is too strange. And strange things kill you out here.
I expect to see the mans corpse fall, except, it didn't. Instead, the man had moved and was sitting next to his fire, poking it with a stick.
"Wow. You two are nasty. Just my fucking luck."
Dumbfounded I look to Vir, pleading with my eyes that I did not just see what I thought I saw. However, the shock on her face was enough to tell me what happened. She didn't miss. He dodged.
Me and my big mouth.
At this point it's clear that this man can do whatever he pleases, and we can't do a thing about it.
He can sneak up behind us and dodge Vir's shooting. You'd be hard pressed to find another human capable of both. Maybe one. But not both.
Sheathing my sword, I approach the campfire slowly.
He's much faster than us and likely stronger. His ability clearly has to do with fire. Maybe he isn't afraid of monsters at all. Maybe he can light a fire out here so brazenly because he has the strength to oppose the consequences.
Sitting down opposite the man, Vir hesitantly comes to join me. She sits beside me with her rifle on resting on her should. Undoubtably a new round is loaded in the chamber and she's ready to fire at the man again if need be.
The man himself, however, is completely carefree and staring into space with a small smile on his face.