As a boy, me father gave me a hammer bigger’n me. Couldn’t lift the damn thing. When I asked ‘im about it, he says a man should have a big hammer. It sounded profound, but I didn’t know what he meant—still don’t. I decided that my father gave shitty advice when he be drinking.

~Goibniu, The God of the Forge and Brew

A dagger slashed through the vine, and a long thin line appeared on Crow’s neck. A single bead of blood trickled out from the cut. It happened so fast that he felt and saw the knife fly by as if it was in slow motion. He could only watch as the weapon flew off the side of the cliff and into the darkness below.

Despite the weight dropping away, his momentum pushed him over the edge. Crow resigned himself to death when a massive fist grabbed him by his shoulder and pulled him back up.

“Otto? What the fuck!?” Crow blurted out. The big guy appeared next to him a flash of golden-purple light, which stunned Crow more than the vine pulling him over the edge. Even the pain of having his shoulder wrenched couldn’t shake him from his stunned state.

Mara and Song Xue were equally shocked, and their mouths hung open. Song Xue was still in her forward motion from throwing her dagger and noticed Otto ran nearly as fast.

Otto’s back was to the girls, so they didn’t see his eyes. Crow wasn’t sure what was happening, but without a doubt, he saw lightning sparking in the giant’s eyes. It was brighter than the spark he saw when Otto fought. Seeing all that, Crow’s curiosity only grew more intense. He wanted to know the big guy’s origins.

“Who are you?” Crow croaked through his bruised throat while still being squeezed to death in Otto’s tree-like arms. “Wh-what are you doing?” Crow asked, seeing Otto’s wide eyes and his shambling effort to move away from the cliff.

“Afraid of heights,” Otto responded, and Crow burst out laughing at the ridiculousness of the comment. But ended up coughing painfully and crying out in pain as the fire in his chest fully ignited. The spell he had just cast lacked efficiency and was very crude. However, since he’d been cursed, the black-fire spell was by far the strongest spell he’d cast. Not only did it ignite Soul Burn, but he felt as if his Druid bloodline were on fire.

“How did you do that?” Mara asked Otto in near reverence. Not only Crow, but the girls thought Crow was gone too. It should have been impossible for any of them to reach Crow with their level of power. She was standing beside Otto one moment, and then a gust of wind and flash of light later, Otto was yanking Crow from disappearing over the edge. Otto traveled at least thirty meters in the blink of an eye.

“Blood,” Otto said, but his eyes had dimmed down once more. Everyone looked at him as if waiting for more, but the big guy shook his head, trying to keep his thoughts clear. He tried to explain but frowned as he felt his usual awareness slipping away. His brain was becoming more and more muddled.

“Broth…er. Hel…p.” Otto slurred, and Crow felt as if his heart was torn out of his chest. Otto’s heartfelt and innocent plea for help caused Crow to nearly panic for the first time in his life. He pushed himself out of Otto’s arms and then grabbed the big guy’s face to pull him down so he could look him in the eyes.

Smack!

Crow’s palm slapped the side of Otto’s face, and that spark in his eyes flared up.

“Crow! Stop!” Song Xue called out.

“I got this, trust me,” Crow told her. “Otto, buddy. Remain calm. Big brother is here.”

Otto’s hulking muscles relaxed, and the veins that were popping out receded once more. It was trust. Otto trusted Crow with his life.

“When did your annoying ass…” Crow sighed, wanting to ask when Otto became so important to him. He still remembered when the bastard made all his effort training with his dad seem like a joke. “Buddy, you are fine. I think you drained your Source energy. Just relax.”

Crow’s soothing voice was practically hypnotizing the entire group.

*He has lightning energy that might be purer than mine.* Lily said.

*How is that possible?*

*I don’t know. He definitely isn’t human, but my knowledge is limited toward the Draoidh and Tuatha De Danann. Whatever he is, be glad he is on your side, and if you find a source of lightning, toss him in.*

Lily disappeared shortly after that, but it left Crow in a contemplative mood. “Lightning, huh?” He muttered to himself. The body worked using a type of lightning power from the brain. It sent pulses through nerves, telling the body how to move. Does that mean his retardation comes from his inability to produce more lightning energy? If so, what would happen if Otto was tossed into a pool of lightning?

“What is happening to him?” Song Xue asked with a worried look toward the bottom of the stairs.

Cough! Cough!

Crow spat out some burnt blood and felt some of the burning pressure inside of him recede. Wiping his mouth with the back of his hand, he saw the bright crimson smear and winced.

“I’m not sure. I’ve never seen him do that before. Pretty sure he depleted his Source, so his intelligence dropped to what it was like six months ago. He’ll be fine once his Source replenishes. For now, we’ll have to guide him—” Cough! “Okay, maybe you’ll need to protect both of us.” Crow knew the blood wasn’t entirely from his curse because the vine also damaged his throat. He could only use some of his breathing techniques and hope it healed his body faster.

“Men! Right, Pirate Sis?” Mara teased.

They continued to climb, but they used the torch-like item to incinerate any of the vines that approached. It was much more effective than Crow’s original approach. It also barely used any energy from their Source, so even Crow could use the fire item to assist and protect Otto.

Reaching another pylon, they all collapsed on the ground and rested. While it only took an hour to pass the Wood phase, it felt like hours. Mara stood at the edge of the stair, looking downward. The other contenders were attempting to climb, but they weren’t as lucky with the pylons. Not one of them appeared to press the right rune, and she could only shake her head at their methods. If it were her, she’d have everyone pick a rune and take turns until something good happened. Unfortunately, these guys were passing right by the runes without touching them or randomly hitting something.

“They’d be better off not touching the pylon at all,” Crow muttered, his thoughts mirroring Mara’s.

“How many do you think are ahead of us?” Mara asked.

“No idea. Those ahead of us are the geniuses of the clans, so I’m sure they’ll make it through.”

“What about those guys behind us?” Mara asked with a grin on her face.

“Those people are clowns.”

“Not all of them are.” Mara pointed at a few groups that weren’t struggling as much, and they were gaining on them. “Speaking of, we should get moving.”

“Agreed,” Crow said. Knowing full well that Mara and Song Xue had carried them through the last two hundred stairs.

Boom!

“Oh, wow…” Mara breathed out. Before they could even turn around to climb, a concussive blast nearly knocked them off their feet. Far out in the sea, a wall of water formed and rushed toward the six temples. Its power was so great that they could only stare in horror at the massive tsunami coming at them. It swallowed the islands as it moved forward, and there was no way any straggler would survive that.

“Can that reach us?” Song Xue asked.

“No, I don’t think so. If I didn’t judge incorrectly, it’d reach the two-hundredth step,” Crow guessed.

“Go,” Mara said. “It has to be the elimination method for this section.”

“You think that tsunami will get bigger?” Song Xue asked, looking at the wave destroying everything in its path.

“Yes, so let’s go.”

No longer hesitating, they ran toward the pylon and tapped the Stone Rune. The Torch-Sceptre turned into a maul. However, it was a different weapon for each of them. Otto had a maul with a massive stone head that glowed red like molten lava. The thick wooden shaft was the size of a small tree. Crow shuddered, thinking of the amount of damage the big guy could do.

Mara’s maul looked more like a war hammer, with one side of the head being a hammer and the other a spike. It too glowed like Otto’s. Song Xue’s maul looked a lot like Mara’s, only the hammer was smaller, and the shaft was thinner and longer. It was basically a two-handed war hammer.

Crow looked at flanged mace in his hand and frowned. He felt like he got ripped off compared to the others. The mace was aesthetically pleasing, but it didn’t have the savage feeling of their mauls and hammers.

“I’m not sure I like the theme happening here,” Crow muttered, looking ahead nervously.

“Otto, go first,” Mara ordered.

As soon as they walked across a third of the step toward the next one, a stone golem appeared. It wasn’t even two meters tall and lacked a head. Instead, a massive stone made up its chest, and then a series of smaller rocks made up its arms and legs. Even its hands and fingers were made from tiny pebbles, and it charged toward them with a fist made of dozens of stones. Its fist was larger than Otto’s head.

Crow turned to see Song Xue taking action first. Her two-handed hammer had some serious reach, and the molten hammerhead smashed into the golem’s chest. Crow and the other hear a ting that sounded like glass breaking. Immediately after, the golem collapsed into a pile of rocks.

Curious, he shifted the rocks aside until he found the source of the sound he heard. Mara walked up next to him to inspect it too.

“It’s a core,” Song Xue said, not bothering to look. “Golems all have a core which powers them. Break that, and they die instantly.”

Surprised, Crow looked over at Song Xue. It wasn’t often that someone knew something he didn’t. He’d heard of golems but never learned more about them besides the shallow information. So he hadn’t heard of them having cores.

On the next stair, two golems appeared, and each step after added an additional golem. By the hundredth step, they were surrounded by a hundred golems. Without Otto, this challenge might have been much more difficult, but that guy swung his maul around as if it was made of air. Whole swathes of golems turned into rubble.

By the time they reached the eight hundredth step, they once more collapsed to the ground. At this point, the pirate crew could only glare at the pylon, but the sun had already passed its zenith.

“Little bird?” Song Xue asked.

“Yes, Faelan?”

“Hmph, look.” She said and pointed behind them.

Crow turned his head and then hopped to his feet. “Gods’ be merciful,” Crow growled and climbed to his feet weakly. Mara guessed right, another tsunami showed up, and it was twice as large as the previous one.

“Guess we don’t have time to rest,” Mara sighed.