110: Way Of The Giant

NOTE: No chapter on Monday in observance of Memorial Day. From now on, major holidays will be observed. See you all tuesday!
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When Haymi lost consciousness, her magic ceased powering Tia and Vasonā€™s armor and weapons. The superhuman toughness that had allowed Vason to survive his earlier blow was now gone; the party had reverted to mere mortal strength again.

That was as true for Haymi as it was for the rest of her party. No longer protected by her armor, Vir could hear her bones creak as the Narapazu increased its pressure.

In a few short seconds, she would be dead.

Vir was in motion the instant the Narapazu grabbed her. He ran through the beastā€™s legs, running his Prana Blade katar across the elephant-beastā€™s legs. The damage would be superficial, but he hoped itā€™d at least react to the pain.

React it did, but not in the way he expected. Realizing the noose it held in its hand was useless, the beast flung the weapon aside, then gripped its ax with two hands and swung in a blind rage, taking a chunk of the surrounding wall with it.

Debris rained down upon them, forcing everyone to flee for their lives.

All the while, Haymi was being slowly crushed to death.

Not gonna let that happen!

Vir micro Leaped through the raining debris, barely even slowing, despite the danger it posed. Shrapnel cut into his face, but he hardly noticed.

The moment he was in position, he High Jumped. Using his upward momentum, Vir sailed past Haymi, gouging his prana-augmented katar into the creatureā€™s wrist. The blade wasnā€™t nearly long enough to render its hand inoperationalā€”heā€™d need Blade Projection to do that kind of damageā€”but it was enough to get the beast to drop the mejai.

Haymi plummeted to the ground, but Vason was there to catch her. He whisked the unconscious mejai away while Tia and Vir distracted the enemy.

Unfortunately, distractions werenā€™t going to fell this beast, and with Haymi out of the picture, their chances of wresting a victory looked grim.

Once again, Vir looked up at the ceiling, but there were no shadows up there. Though he now had a weapon that could hurt the Narapazu, it did him little good if he couldnā€™t reach its weak spots. He briefly considered cladding his chakrams with prana, but he had no idea how to make that work. His prana refused to obey him the moment it left his bodyā€”getting the prana to wrap itself around the disk until it had struck its target seemed impossible at the moment.

No, heā€™d have to do this the hard way.

ā€œTia, go tend to Haymi.ā€

ā€œWhat about you?ā€

ā€œIā€™m gonna take down this grakking chal.ā€

Tia hesitated, glancing back at her injured friend. Then she bit her lip and nodded. ā€œAs soon as weā€™ve stabilized her, Vason and I will re-engage.ā€

ā€œIf you do, just distract it. You donā€™t have magic armor anymoreā€”you canā€™t take risks.ā€

ā€œNeither do you,ā€ Tia whispered under her breath, but Vir didnā€™t hear her.

Facing the beast, who was currently trying to yank Neel off its shoulders, Vir cracked his neck and took a deep breath.

ā€œLetā€™s do this,ā€ he whispered, Leaping straight at the giant. It tried to grab him as he approached, but Vir was far too quick for the ungainly beast. He darted right past its arms, sliced into its legs, and stopped only when heā€™d cleared its back.

Before it could turn, Vir High Jumpedā€”all the way up to the Narapazuā€™s waistā€”and drove his prana Prana Bladed katar into the beastā€™s back. Where before, its hide was far too durable to penetrate, his dagger now had no issue digging in. That said, there was still a need to baby the weaponā€”the basic iron couldnā€™t hold up to extreme stress, even when coated with prana. He only hoped it held up long enough to do the job.

Vir doubted the Narapazu even noticed, but his goal wasnā€™t to do damageā€”it was to create a handhold.

Kicking the toe blade out of his boot, he similarly wreathed it in prana, allowing him a foothold. Using his other hand to grab onto existing handholds on the beastā€™s back, he slowly made his way up. The katar anchored him in place, keeping him attached even when the Narapazu lurched and bucked, trying to throw him off.

Vir held firmly on, making his way up one step at a timeā€¦ until the elephant realized bashing Vir against the walls was more effective than flailing around madly. Without Haymiā€™s Lightning attacks to its head, it was thinking more clearly now, and that made it dangerous.

Vir braced, Toughening his back as the Narapazu slammed him against the wall. He held the first time. He held the second time, but when the third blow finally arrived, his world turned white.

He was no longer himself. He was, instead, a giant, in a world of red soil. A world of perpetual sunset.

Another memory fragment? Vir thought. But this was neither Shardul, nor was it Ekanai. It was someone else. Someone more ancient. Narak the Destroyer.

Unlike the other memories, this one had gaps in it. As if parts of the memory had been irrevocably lost to time, leaving the barest thread for Vir to follow.

In front of him was another giant. Both stood about fifteen paces highā€”far shorter than the Narapazu heā€™d just been fighting. Vir felt the giantā€™s rage. He felt his unbridled power. Prana shrugged through the giant in quantities Vir could only ever dream about.

But mostly, he felt Narakā€™s grief. Narak wept. In one of his four arms, he held a newborn child. And behind himā€¦ was a woman. His wife of several decades. Now dead.

Intuitively, Vir understood. The one Narak fought had killed his wife.

The symbol of the Akh Nara on Narakā€™s chest glowed, activating a beautiful blue tattoo that connected to one prong on Narakā€™s chest tattoo.

And suddenly the giant weighed as little as a feather. He roared and kicked his enemy. The kick came at superhuman speed, but at the last minute, Narakā€™s leg grew in weight tenfold, pummeling his foe. Except, his enemy didnā€™t go flyingā€”he remained in place, his weight having increased fivefold. The enemy giant took the brunt of the impact and Vir could see the force of the impact addle his brains.

He was dead before he even hit the ground.

Comprehension dawned upon Virā€”he possessed the same chest tattoo, and both Shardul and Ekanai had the same. Until now, heā€™d thought of it as a source of power, but now he realized that wasnā€™t quite true.

Vir fought through the grief that assaulted Narak. It was as if Narakā€™s thoughts bled into his own, confusing him. Were these his feelings from an era long passed? Or was Narak someone completely unrelated to him? Janak had clarified that Shardul and Ekanai were Virā€™s prior incarnations.

If that was true, then werenā€™t they all justā€¦ him? Werenā€™t they all the same being, merely separated by time?

The realization hit him with the impact of a falling Godhollow. If true, what did that mean? Had his struggles with Ekanai and Shardul simply been struggles with his own self? Who was he?

Vir shook off these thoughts and stared at the tattoo on Narakā€™s chest. The white tattoo was identical to his own, but the blue geometric tattoo that snaked from his shoulder into a prong of the chest tattoo was something Vir lacked.

Itā€™s a receptacle for other powers! With the memory came understanding; the blue tattoo powered Balancer of Scales, the Baira tribeā€™s bloodline art that manipulated weight.

Vir could scarcely believe such an obscenely powerful ability existed, but the proof was before his eyes. And he only had half of the puzzle. Without the intricate geometric tattoo to slot into his chest, Vir knew he had no hope of unlocking this great power.

ā€œReyi,ā€ Narak whispered, gazing at his wife.

Vir never knew a being could feel such grief in his life. Vir had felt much the same when Rudvik passed, and then again when heā€™d discovered Apramor and Aliscia had been executed. But the intensity of Narakā€™s emotions far outstripped anything heā€™d felt before.

Was it because giants felt emotions more strongly? Or was that simply the strength of his love for his dearly departed wife, Reyi?

The vision ended as abruptly as it had begun. Vir found himself in free fall, back in the underground tunnel, fighting the Narapazu. His body reacted before his mind did, instantly driving his katar into the Narapazuā€™s back, gouging a line into it as he fell.

Finally, he came to a stop, right at the Narapazuā€™s waist. His fall had undone all the progress heā€™d made.

But that wasnā€™t what bothered him the most. A torrent of thoughts flooded through his mindā€”the foremost of which being the realization that this memory fragment hadnā€™t imparted any special powers. With each prior memory, heā€™d gained something. First, Prana Vision, then the chakram arts from Ekanai, and finally Dance of the Shadow Demon from Shardul.

Though heā€™d worked to earn those abilities, Vir somehow sensed that this time was different. Without that blue tattoo, there was simply no way he could use Balancer of Scales. The knowledge buried in Narakā€™s memory had made that abundantly clear.

There must be something! Something he could use in this situation.

When Vir stared up at the massive beastā€™s back, he noticed something. It wasnā€™t anything he could put into wordsā€”more like a hunch. It bothered him that he couldnā€™t place it, like an itch he couldnā€™t scratch.

Then, when the Narapazu moved, it finally clicked. Narak had shown him how giants move.

Not through words, but by allowing Vir to live through his memory. Unlike Shardul and Ekanai, Narak hadnā€™t spoken to Vir in the memoryā€”hadnā€™t even acknowledged his existence. Perhaps it was due to the passage of time and the eroding of his memories. Perhaps it was all Narak could impart.

It was enough.

Suddenly, Vir understood. Large beasts like the Narapazu couldnā€™t move as quickly as smaller creatures. Doubly so for such a confined space. Their every move was telegraphedā€”they couldnā€™t move subtly or deftly, and the larger the beast, the more true that was.

To a giant, smaller creatures like humans appeared to move excessively fast. Vir realized the same was true when he gazed at small rodents.

But what was it like for the rodent? Humans must seem ungainly and slow. And so it was for the Narapazu.  Vir couldnā€™t believe he never noticed it before.

Itā€™s as if itā€™s announcing its every move!

And so, when the Narapazu arched its back and raised its arm to strike at Tia and her party, Vir was ready for it.

He High Jumped from his position at the Narapazuā€™s waist, landing steadily upon its shoulders, rejoining his furry friend.

Awoo!

ā€œNice work, boy! Now letā€™s end this!ā€

Woof woof!

Truthfully, Vir hadnā€™t known whether he could channel ground prana through another living being. Vir suspected it worked so well thanks to the Ash prana that flowed within the Narapazuā€™s veins. If it were any other affinity, Vir doubted heā€™d have been able to pull it off.

As an added benefit, pulling Ash prana through its body seemed to upset the balance of prana within the Narapazu, causing it to stumble.

Vir might have forced the beast to abort its attack, but he knew he didnā€™t have long; every second counted.

Leaping along its shoulder, he closed the distance to the elephant-beastā€™s neck. Its arteries glowed brightly to Prana Vision. Leaping again, Vir drew his prana-coated katar across its jugular, severing it.

Then he turned around and hit the other one.

In conjunction, Tia and Vason had grabbed the noose the Narapazu discarded earlier, and were currently running around, binding the beast with its own weapon.

Their efforts proved fruitfulā€”against the combined assault, the Narapazu fell to its knees. It was dead, it just didnā€™t know it yet.

But that wasnā€™t enough for a certain scorned mejai.

ā€œDie, you abomination!ā€ Haymi croaked as she lay on her back, weakly stretching out her arm. In her hand was a Lightning orb. That wasnā€™t what surprised Vir. What surprised him was the size.

Thatā€™s a B Grade spell!

Haymi couldnā€™t charge B grades in the field, which meant it was precharged. She must have been saving it for maximum impact, but sheā€™d been blindsided before she could use it.

And now, she had every reason to.

The thunderclap of the precharged B Grade Lightning Burst was so loud, it made Virā€™s ears ring. The blindingly bright light seared his eyes.

She must have paid a mejai to precharge that orb, Vir thought as he  looked away. With only a lesser Lightning affinity, Haymi ought to have been incapable of charging such an orb. Which meant she'd paid an enormous sum to have this ability.

Lightning attacks behaved differently from those of the Fire affinity. While Fireballs left scorch marks and soot, Lightning magic left comparatively little in the way of aftermath.

When his vision returned, the Narapazuā€™s eyes had simply rolled into the back of its head. It swayed heavily for a long moment before finally crashing to the ground.

Vir and Neel jumped onto the Narapazuā€™s enormous trunk as it fell, and rode it down like a slide, jumping off and front flipping midair before landing lightly before Tia and her party.

Tia could only stare at Vir, her mouth agape.

ā€œWho are you?ā€