There were many odds and ends Stella had stuffed in his Spatial Bracelet, and among them, the most numerous was rope. He had over ten different types, each one built for a specific purpose. For instance, there was rope that was resistant to the elements, as apparently he needed a rope he could use if he were ever in an active volcano. The one he took out this time was strong and thin, its specialty abrasion resistance.

Carefully making his way around the Stone Giant’s head, he secured the rope around its neck, fastening the other end around his waist to a climbing harness Stella was also thoughtful enough to buy for him. There was a fair amount of slack, and after testing the rope to ensure it would hold, Tormacc prepared himself for battle.

His plan was simple. Since he couldn’t simultaneously hold on to the giant and attack it with his two-handed hammer he had to find some other way to secure himself, which was where the rope and climbing harness came in. When he was shaken off of the giant’s shoulders or when he needed to dodge its attack he would leap away, the rope catching him and swinging him down to its back, from which he could either climb back up or push off, using the rope as a pendulum to swing back up to its head.

Readying his hammer, he started his attack, leading off with Double Strike and sending two blows crashing into the giant’s head, the rebounding vibrations reverberating up his arms. The reaction was immediate, and he was thrown from his perch as the giant spun, turning around to try and find the pest that just stung it.

The rope connected him to the back of the giant’s head, which was the place he thought would be the safest. The giant didn’t have eyes, but it was humanoid, so it was possible it relied on some sense similar to sight, in which case there was a good chance it was located in the front of its body. If that wasn’t the case, then it didn’t matter where he connected the rope. He did make sure the rope was secured to one location though, which seemed like a good idea at the time to make sure he would always fall down the giant’s back, but because of that, he now found himself quickly accelerating around the giant’s neck, all sense of balance lost.

His feet lost their purchase as the Stone Giant turned, a rumbling roar spreading out from its chest, the sound akin to the thunder of boulders as they bounced down a mountain cliff. The rope connecting him to its head soon snapped taut, and he abruptly accelerated, swinging out in a wide arc before closing back in on the giant’s head.

It was similar to wrapping a yo-yo around your finger. If you swung an object on a string around in circle before letting it wrap around your finger, once the string got smaller, the object would accelerate, the momentum building up and causing the object to hit your finger with more force than intended. That was the situation Tormacc found himself in as the rope started to wrap around the side of the giant’s neck, the momentum building at an insane pace, his stomach dropping out from under him as the air whistled past him, his clothes snapping in the wind.

The giant’s face was soon before him, appearing to approach him much too quickly, giving him little time to react. Thinking quickly, he activated Sudden Strike, letting the skill control his body and channeling the force from his acceleration into his blow.

He hit with a veritable explosion, stone chips flying from the giant’s skin and scraping against his face, leaving long red gashes in their wake. His arms were on fire, muscles burning from holding onto his hammer. But before he could even think about recovering the giant turned once more, spinning back around to swat at the new fly that attacked its face.

He cartwheeled through the air, his breakfast leaving him as the world around him spun, the rocky greys of the blasted plains blurring together in a kaleidoscope of muted color reminiscent of a futuristic art installation. Once more the rope snapped taut and he slammed into the giant’s head like a slab of meat on a chopping block, his whole body absorbing the blow. His head spun, hands clenching tightly onto his hammer as the only thing he could hold on to in his blurred world.

Eventually the Stone Giant slowed down enough for him to recover, which allowed the process to start up once more as he weaved in skills like Crush and Stunning Strike in a vain effort to end the giant’s life. Each time he would be swung around like a dog’s chew toy, his body a ragdoll only held together by his more-than-Humen constitution. But he persevered, holding strong and continuing to lay about with his hammer as he flew about like a broken kite.

Each minute was agony, and after a while he felt himself zone out, his body reacting on autopilot as he relentlessly swung his hammer in a race to take down the Stone Giant before his body gave way. Hours passed this way, his bones fracturing and muscles ripping as he strained his body to the limit. There were times he felt himself slip into unconsciousness, but always his skills would bring him back, abilities like Regeneration working overtime to keep him alive.

It was in that bloody haze when something changed, the world swaying around him as he was pulled downwards, some primal instinct screaming at him, yelling that he had to wake up and move. One last shot of adrenaline coursed through him and he realized what was going on: he won. Along with that realization came an understanding of his current situation. He was falling, and if he didn’t do something quickly, he would die.

He struggled to force his tired brain to action, trying to bring his vision back into focus and figure out how to avoid ending up like a dropped egg, brain splattered on the ground. Checking his Fate Wheel, he confirmed he was up eighteen Essence, meaning the Stone Giant was indeed dead, its body falling back to earth and bringing him along, its final revenge.

He pulled on the rope connecting him to the giant’s head, the crisis speeding up his actions. Once he was standing on its head he rushed to undo the double lock securing the rope to his harness, cursing his fastidiousness for not making an easy release that could quickly come undone. He then activated Double Jump, pushing of the corpse and up towards the sky.

The air blew by him as the Stone Giant hit the ground, a dust wave spreading over the craggy plain like ripples on a pond. Thankfully he had been on top of the giant as it was falling, as otherwise he might not have been able to get out from under it in time.

He wasn’t out of the woods yet though, and as he fell, he struggled to hold on to the second use of Double Jump, straining the skill to its limits. The second jump was meant to be used almost immediately, but he was able to save it, waiting until he was nearing the group before jumping again, the skill allowing his weight to push off the mass of the Stone Giant’s corpse just as his first jump did, the second jump slowing his fall just enough to allow him to land safely.

He barely caught himself once he reached the ground, legs buckling as he landed on top of the monster he had just slain. He stumbled once, twice, before falling, his body trashed from the recent battle. Taking stock of his condition, he was met with pain; no place on his body was free from injury: muscles torn and bones fractured or outright broken from the prolonged battle.

His body was in bad shape, nothing working how it should. Stella had made sure he had at least a few healing potions in his Spatial Bracelet for emergencies, and this qualified, so he took one out, his shaking arm barely having the strength to raise it to his lips.

After draining the bottle he felt the healing energy permeating his body, individual strands reaching out towards his most egregious wounds. He tried to stay awake, tried to direct the energy to get him back in fighting shape, but while the energy was healing him, it was also lulling him to sleep, the tiredness from the hours-long battle too much to fight off. As his eyelids finally closed shut he thought he saw the outline of a miniature Stone Giant standing over him, the delusions of his tired mind accompanying him into a dreamless oblivion.

Waking up, Tormacc was surprised to find himself covered by a blanket, the smell of cooked food wafting around, his stomach growling from the tantalizing aroma. Lifting his head up, he examined his surroundings. He appeared to be in the same spot as before, the view of the blasted plains slightly elevated from the Stone Giant’s back. But he was no longer alone.

Sitting around a magical campfire was a woman, and looking at her, he knew his previous vision of a miniature Stone Giant wasn’t a dream. Were it not for her actions of peacefully mixing a pot of stew he might have thought her a monster, as both here arms and legs were made of rock, the limbs bulking out toward the extremities, her hands and feet much too large for her frame. The rest of her skin was a dusty brown with cracks running through it. Her head was hairless and mostly blank, but despite that, she was rather beautiful, her rocky head streamlined with features reminiscent of a minimalist marble statue.

“Good, you’re awake,” the mystery woman said. “I hope you like stew. I can never tell with you Humen.”

“Stew is fine,” Tormacc said as he got up and made his way over to the campfire. His rumbling stomach would have invalidated any other answer.

The woman filled a bowl with stew before handing it to him, able to read the mood and hold her silence while he ate. He polished off three full bowls before he was finally full, setting the now empty bowl down with a contented sigh.

“Thank you for the food,” Tormacc said. “It is much appreciated.”

“I’ve been told food makes good peace offering for those who regularly eat,” the woman said. “I’m glad I made good first impression.”

“You definitely have. I would like to not only thank you for the food, but also for not robbing me blind while I was unconscious.”

“May your stone hold firm under outside pressure.”

That wasn’t quite the response Tormacc was expecting, but it didn’t take a huge leap in logic to figure out it was likely a saying among her people. The Tower had a wonderful translation system for those inside it, but not all the cultural subtleties always came through.

“My name is Tormacc by the way. May I have the pleasure of your name?”

“Athra.” The way she said the middle vowels sounded like two rocks grinding together. “You must wonder why I made you stew.”

She didn’t say it as a question, but she was right, he was curious, so Tormacc only nodded, urging her to continue.

“I saw your battle. It was glorious fight. I am looking for someone to partner with to fight Stone Giants. I would like to partner with you.”

Tormacc was a little taken aback by her request. It was impossible to judge someone’s combat experience just with their looks, but the feeling Athra gave him wasn’t of some fresh recruit. He would bet his best hat she was more powerful than him, so her request was a little puzzling.

“Why me?” he said bluntly. “If you saw my fight, you must have seen me struggle to deal with the Stone Giant. What could I offer that you can’t do yourself? And if you’re so weak that you can’t defeat a Stone Giant, why would I want help you in the first place? Not to be unappreciative of the food and assistance, but your actions don’t make sense.”

“Yes, I see. I will explain. It is not you, but me. I need someone to help me with the Stone Giants, but that person is replaceable. I only want someone with honor. You may not have honor, but you have tenacity. It is good start.”

There she paused, a deep rumble coming from within her chest as she took a moment to gather her thoughts.

“My people, we have elemental power. The power of rocks and stone. You can see by our arms and legs. We are in touch with Great Rock. Stone Giants, they too know of Great Rock. They can sense my presence, go berserk. It makes for difficult fight. I cannot do what you did. Stone Giants sense me.”

Athra’s speech was a bit broken, the sentences short and fragmented, but the message seemed to be fairly clear.

“Let me see if I understand,” Tormacc said. “Because you have earth elemental powers the Stone Giants can sense you, meaning it’s hard to fight them alone. You want someone to team up with who can either distract them or attack them while you distract them, and it’s not me specifically you want, but just someone who will be an honorable companion, and from my fight, you think I might be that type of person. Is that correct?”

Athra nodded, a sharp bob of her head that looked a bit jerky and unnatural. “Yes, you understand. I need partner. You can be partner.”

It was a sudden development, but Athra wasn’t alone in looking for a partner. Tormacc had ostensibly won his fight, but calling it a win was a bit generous. He could only do so many of those fights before he ended up dead, his stamina running out and the Stone Giant pounding him into paste. And seeing as Athra hadn’t murdered or robbed him when he was vulnerable, she was about as trustworthy as anyone could be considering the circumstances.

“I’m in,” he said. Maybe he would regret it in the future, but at the moment it was too sweet a deal to pass up.