Some weeks would pass. Despite his acceptance of the turn of events, Kazius still felt not ready for his new position. He understood now that this was what he was likely meant to be, even if he did not like being the puppet of The Oracle… Still, he did the best he could.

With Leo and Alex running off, it was a matter of time before more of The Church showed up to the area. They did not know where the town was, which was a good thing… But between them and Luna, it was clear security of the town needed to take a priority… While Zelphar had done a lot of good for the infrastructure of the place, a lot of things were outdated.

Of course, Kazius had no experience in construction or anything of the like… And Caleb was of help, but he was a mage, not an architect. He lacked the centuries of knowledge of his father who founded a whole kingdom, so while he had ideas of ways to use magic to make life in town easier, the group was at a loss how to implement them.

While Kazius loved Vargstam and it had quickly already felt as more of a home than Ratier ever did, he also knew with his fate… He could not stay in one place forever. He needed people, strength, to understand the situation of Monster Kind. Staying in the town before they even had the power and structure to defend it, was also putting the place in danger.

That is why he decided that when his training finished, he would go with the original group and set off. Of course, he was yet to finish his training, so that time was still a bit away. Though when the time would come, Caleb would be left temporarily in charge of the town. The only rejection he got on the matter was Damon insisting to come along, something to which Kazius agreed to.

For now, though, Kazius wanted to focus on his training and management of the town. While they could not build a proper infrastructure or defense, illusion magic was a good idea for keeping the place safe for now. So, Caleb was tasked with creating totems to place around town imbued with magic. It wasn’t invisibility magic. Such a thing would require more materials than what they had or hope to get anytime soon. Rather, it would make the town hard to notice. If one looked at it, unless familiar with it, one wouldn’t give it more attention than a random pebble in the street. Yes, you could see it, but the magic on the totems would just suggest to passersby that they were not looking at anything noteworthy.

While Caleb tirelessly worked on the totems, the group would continue their training. Mount Klippa was next. As promised, there really were rock throwing Stone Giants. Rather than be hostile like the Frost Giants though, the mountain was inhabited by what seemed to be Stone Giants playfully throwing rocks at each other, not caring about the collateral damage in their dodgeball game. At times, the boulders would actually hit their target rather than burst or roll down the mountain. At such times the giants would have an arm or limb crumble, as they too were made of stone. That seemed to not bother them though, their limbs reforming into solid stone within seconds with a glowing green light.

“He…he…. He.” The Stone Giants could be heard laughing with each boulder thrown. Due to such a game, the mountain had no track, but instead was mountainous with debris and enormous boulders scattered around the place.

Kazius could not help but think the sight was an odd one.

‘Do they feel pain from this? Are they that bored? I suppose at least they are having fun…’

“They are always the happy bunch! I tried talking to them once, to figure out why they are playing this game… I almost got a boulder to a face! Buahaha! That was a very bad idea! I should have realized we wouldn’t speak the same language!” Damon boasted, being louder than normal considering every other word, a loud bang could be heard thanks to the flying boulders.

“Alright! I have confidence you two will be fine! Anyway, just remember to dodge. I will try and follow just in case.

“Yeah… Dodge…” Alice stated, clearly a bit worried, but she had a brave face on.

“Alice, if you don’t want to go…” Kazius attempted to tell her, worried about the woman. At his words though, Alice gave him a look. She looked determined.

“No way! I am going up this mountain too!” She exclaimed despite her nervous expression. Kazius of course believed she could do it, but he did worry about her since she looked so uneasy. Before another word could be uttered between the two, Alice would run up, doing quite the fast foot work and skipping, due to the nature of Mount Klippa.

At first the action seemed reckless, causing Kazius to run after her without thinking. The two thankfully managed to dodge each approaching boulder and splattering debris. At one point, a particularly large boulder could be seen rolling down the mountain that would suddenly be seen falling. It happened so fast. Alice had little time to react, so rather than move out of the way, she would do quite the surprising jump. She would jump over the boulder with a spin in the air, landing on her feet, surprising even herself with how nimble she was getting.

Kazius was quite in awe at the sight, not just at her ability, but her grace as well. The way her hair moved… Her beautiful cheeky smile… Kazius would shake away such thoughts. Alice would be looking at him, beaming at what she had just done. He was about to compliment the woman when another large boulder could be seen approaching. She was facing Kazius rather than the danger, so she wasn’t as fast to react.

Alice would turn, staring at the large boulder in horror. Kazius could almost feel his heart sink at the sight. Without thinking, he would rush, using his shadows to surround himself and her as well, sinking with her into the ground to avoid the projectile. This happened so fast that Damon had no time to react, having to quickly dodge himself.

The two would pop up behind the boulder, Kazius holding Alice close. “Are you alright?” He questioned. Alice at this would look quite flustered, “Y-Yes.” She stated, being surprisingly meek. Kazius didn’t understand why. Still, he didn’t dwell on it considering he couldn’t get distracted, it was clear being distracted in this mountain was a bad idea. He would gently put her down, “Come on, I bet we can make it to the top today.” He assured her.

“Yeah…” Alice trailed off with a sigh.

“Are you two okay!?” Damon exclaimed as he approached. “To be honest, I haven’t been to this mountain in a while! This is the first time I’ve seen boulders this big! I wonder what is going on up there?” Damon admitted in confusion.

“Only one way to find out.” Kazius stated in a determined manner. With that, the 3 would resume their climb, focusing on what they had to do. This mountain could likely be climbed fasted than Mount Cyklon, but it didn’t mean it was easier. This sort of mountain was like a battle, one misstep and you could end up dead.

This place would test their reflexes… It was crazy to think Damon climbed this place when he wasn’t even an adult, but then again, he admitted back then it was a lot less dangerous. Why were the giants growing more active? Perhaps he could talk to them at some point, but he wouldn’t try now, he didn’t have a death wish.

Thanks to their efforts, they were able to indeed make it to the top. Higher up, there were oddly bigger Stone Giants. It seems they were the culprits behind the bigger boulders… But did they suddenly appear? Where would bigger stronger Stone Giants come from? Regardless, once they passed them, there would be nothing other than the occasional debris flying up.

It was safe. As the 3 approached the very top, they could not help but notice there was a giant sculpture of a face on a massive stone. Upon the face there were all sorts of carvings in green paint.

“Is this some sort of enchantment?” Kazius asked, the words were readable to him, but something about them were odd. Magical runes and text never made sense to him, but these were different.

“I don’t know, I thought they were just words. It all looks like nonsense to me.” Damon pointed out considering he could not read.

“Those don’t look like runes to me… At least none I’ve ever seen… I’ve never been much for a mage, but I can at least recognize it.” Alice admitted in awe, touching the words. “I wonder how old these are.”

“Here lies…. the king… of stone….. May he…. rest until… if…. he is needed… Bring…. Enemies…Here…. Stands…. For I am… r? ” Kazius would read, much of the words blurred or missing. He would then repeat what he just said in the common tongue.

“Huh…” Alice stated curiously. “Needed? So, there is a king Stone Giant buried under this? Weirdest grave I’ve ever seen… I wonder who wrote this?”

“Likely whoever created these Stone Giants… They must be staying around their King’s grave… They aren’t acting like they are guarding the place though… I wonder… If they are having fun or if they’ve lost their minds and forgotten their tasks…. Though that doesn’t explain the bigger ones being around lately…” Kazius trailed off, sighing. After making it up here, he was too exhausted to be playing investigator.

“I suppose it doesn’t concern us… We might want to come back here later though…” He added.

“Sounds good to me!” Damon exclaimed, “Anyway, I am hungry. Let’s stop staring at these weird letters. I rather be eating food Buahaha!” He beamed. He always had so much energy.

“I am pretty tired too.” Alice admitted, stretching.

“Alright… Let’s head home.” Kazius agreed… This mountain was interesting… They all were… And soon enough… he intended to climb Mount Ulf… And investigate the secrets Vind told him of.