Chương 32: Chapter 29: The Mountain That Walked

James stood looking over everything he had prepared. The hammer was repaired, the armor reinforced, and every rune had been placed with a purpose. None of it made him stronger in the way a level or a new skill would, but that was never what he had been trying to accomplish. He had spent the last several hours turning weaknesses into points of resistance, studying the materials he had, and building something that could survive forces he had no business surviving.

Outside, the ground gave another distant tremor, followed by the low, grinding sound of stone shifting against stone. James slowly tightened the straps of his breastplate and picked up the Warpstone Warhammer. Somewhere beyond the trees, the Gravemantle Colossus was waiting. James had already entered its territory; now there was nothing left to prepare for except the moment when preparation would finally be tested. He looked toward the dark horizon, took a slow breath, and stepped forth.

The Gravemantle Colossus turned toward James with the certainty of something that had never needed to hurry. Layers of living stone shifted across its body, metallic channels flexed between joints, and violet crystal formations pulsed beneath the armor covering its shoulders. Hundreds of boulders floated around the creature at different heights, suspended inside overlapping fields of distorted gravity. James had been prepared for a large monster.

He had not been prepared for a walking mountain that could carry its own ammunition. [Regional Boss detected.] [Gravemantle Colossus — Level 15] [Guardian of the Western Seal.] [Regional Effect: Gravitic Instability.] The boulders stopped rotating.

"Move!" James shouted as Kevin fired silk toward the nearest stone formations. Julie flattened against the ground, Elizabeth and Isaiah broke toward a tilted ridge, and James threw himself sideways an instant before the first wave launched. A boulder large enough to crush a truck struck where James had been standing. The impact opened a crater and sprayed broken stone across his Runebark-repaired armor, while a second projectile curved in midair and followed his movement.

Kevin's strands caught James around the chest and waist, tightened against three separate anchors, and yanked him backward before the rock tore through the space in front of his boots. Elizabeth released a short, sharp note from behind the ridge. The air compressed around another incoming boulder, and a fracture crossed its middle before the whole thing burst into smaller pieces. She immediately caught her throat with one hand as Isaiah grabbed her elbow and pulled her farther behind cover.

"You barely recovered from the Hydra," Isaiah said while keeping his bow trained on the Colossus. His expression made it clear he expected an argument, and Elizabeth gave him one with the limited voice she had left.

"I know," she rasped as more stones began rising from the valley floor. She swallowed carefully and leaned around the ridge to study the boss.

"Tell the mountain to stop throwing shit at us." James reached their position while another barrage hammered the far side of the stone formation. Each impact sent new cracks through the ridge, and Kevin immediately began reinforcing the worst sections with narrow webs. Julie slid into the sheltered space last, her red-gold markings faintly illuminated by the gravitational energy moving through the area.

"We can't hide here for long," James said as he placed one hand against the stone. Workman's Appraisal spread beyond the ridge and caught pieces of the Colossus whenever his line of sight cleared.

"Every broken section of its armor is being replaced." They watched part of the boss's thigh confirm his assessment. A boulder rose from the valley floor, broke apart without physical contact, and flowed into a damaged section as dozens of smaller pieces. The fragments locked together, fused, and became another layer of living granite. Isaiah stared at the repair.

"So we have another boss that heals," he said as he adjusted the grip on his bow. He glanced toward James with a tired expression.

"Apparently the System has a favorite joke."

"The eastern boss needed roots, and the Hydra needed its crown," James replied as the Colossus took another step. The ground beneath their cover suddenly became lighter, forcing James to widen his stance before the effect shifted and his armor doubled in apparent weight.

"This one is using the entire damn mountain." Kevin tapped rapidly against James's shoulder. The spider's vibration sense had found something inside the boss. James waited for the next barrage to pass and looked directly at the Colossus while activating Workman's Appraisal. His perception moved through the exposed joints, following metallic channels deeper beneath the mantle until violet structures appeared inside protected cavities.

[Gravemantle Colossus] [External mantle continuously replenished through contact with regional stone.] [Gravitic channels converge within four secondary cores.] [Secondary core detected: Left ankle.] [Secondary core detected: Right knee.] [Secondary core detected: Lower spine.] [Secondary core detected: Left shoulder.] [Central core remains concealed.] Four violet points illuminated across the boss. James focused on the lowest one.

"Left ankle first," he said as he pointed through a gap in the ridge. The core sat behind several feet of shifting stone, though reaching it would cripple one of the supports carrying the boss's weight.

"Once that leg stops working, the others become easier to reach." Elizabeth examined the distance between their position and the ankle.

"Can you break through that much stone?" she asked, and her damaged voice forced her to keep the sentence quiet. She looked toward the warhammer afterward, clearly aware of its cracked spatial rune.

"If I reach the right place," James replied as Kevin began reinforcing the weapon's existing repairs. He loosened the temporary Channel Rune assembly secured to his belt and checked the Runebark plate holding the incomplete fragment.

"Getting there is the ugly part." The Colossus lifted its left foot. Gravity changed across the valley. James felt three different forces seize him at once. One dragged his torso toward the rising leg, another pressed his boots against the ground, and a third pulled the Warpstone Warhammer upward hard enough to strain his wrists. Kevin reacted immediately. Silver Thread crossed James's armor and connected the hammer shaft to his shoulders, distributing the weapon's movement through the entire reinforced structure.

Julie moved low across the broken terrain, using tilted slabs as cover while she approached the boss from the opposite side. James forced himself forward. Every step became a fight against shifting weight. His body alternated between heavy enough to crack loose stone beneath his boots and light enough that one careless push could send him twenty feet through the air. Strength helped him move, while Endurance kept the constant resistance from draining him immediately. Did you know this story is from Royal Road?

Read the official version for free and support the author. A boulder crossed his path. James twisted beneath it. The next one changed direction after he moved.

"Asshole learned from the first miss," James said as Kevin pulled his upper body sideways with an anchored strand. The rock passed close enough to scrape one Runebark plate from his shoulder before smashing into the ground.

"Kevin, keep doing that." Elizabeth and Isaiah began moving along the opposite ridge. Isaiah fired three arrows toward the Colossus's face, forcing small adjustments in the boss's head while Elizabeth conserved her throat. None of the arrows could meaningfully damage the massive creature, though distraction was enough when James needed seconds. He reached the edge of the Colossus's gravity field and nearly dropped. His body suddenly weighed several times more than normal.

James caught himself on one knee, planted the warhammer into the ground, and pushed upward until his legs straightened again.

"Elizabeth!" James shouted as he pointed toward a narrow line above the left ankle. His voice barely carried beneath the grinding stone.

"Crack that line. Just the section above the joint." Elizabeth saw where he indicated. She drew one careful breath and placed two fingers near the damaged area of her throat. The sound she released was thin enough that James barely heard it, yet the air distorted in a narrow path across the valley. The note struck the Colossus exactly where James had pointed. A crack appeared across the mantle. Elizabeth stumbled after the attack but remained standing.

Isaiah glanced toward her, received a sharp gesture toward the boss, and immediately understood that checking on her could wait. His first arrow curved away from the target. Isaiah watched the gravitational distortion, adjusted his stance, and fired again. The second arrow entered the fracture and wedged between two plates of living stone. A third arrow struck the back of the second. The first shaft drove deeper.

Isaiah repeated the process until the fracture widened enough for violet light to appear between the plates.

"That's as far as arrows are taking us," he called as the boss began turning toward him.

"It's enough," James said as he started running. The gravity field tried to pull him away from the ankle. Kevin fired three strands into the ground behind James, then released them one at a time as he advanced, turning each into a temporary safety line. Julie reached the opposite side of the foot and disappeared beneath a section of overhanging armor. James put one hand against the cracked mantle. Measured Strike activated. [Mana: 452/480.] Golden lines spread through the stone.

The pattern converged on a narrow path between Isaiah's embedded arrows and the secondary core buried inside the ankle. James gripped the Warpstone Warhammer with both hands. He swung. The hammer struck the marked fracture. Stone split. A slab weighing several hundred pounds tore from the Colossus's ankle and crashed beside James. Violet energy erupted through the opening with enough force to lift him from his feet and throw him backward. Kevin's silk remained attached.

James hit the ground, rolled across broken stone, and stopped against a low ridge with pain spreading through his back. Nothing felt broken, so he forced air into his lungs and looked toward the silver line still extending into the ankle.

"Kevin!" James shouted as he pushed himself upright. The Foundation Weaver had already begun moving. Kevin pulled himself along his own silk toward the exposed cavity. Gravity curved the strand away from its original path, but Living Reinforcement hardened each section as he crossed it, creating a temporary connection between James and the secondary core. The idea arrived through their bond before Kevin reached the opening. James stared at the Channel Rune assembly on his belt.

"That could work," he said as he tore it free. The Runebark plate had been built after the Hydra battle to hold the incomplete Channel Rune Fragment, and thin Structural Foundation lines kept the crude arrangement together.

"It could also turn the hammer into a very expensive grenade." Kevin sent confidence through the bond. Julie sent impatience from somewhere inside the ankle. James looked at the boss's descending leg and sighed.

"Fine. Democracy has spoken." He reached the fractured ankle again while Isaiah continued drawing the Colossus's attention. Elizabeth remained beside him, using only gestures now, and James was relieved to see that she had finally stopped trying to weaponize a throat that needed healing. Inside the opening, the violet core pulsed behind several layers of metallic stone. James pressed the Channel assembly against the Warpstone Warhammer.

Kevin connected one strand from the exposed core to the fragment, then ran a second line through the Structural Foundation pattern supporting the weapon's head. James carved a fresh Anchor Rune into the broken stone beneath his feet. [Anchor Inlay activated.] [Mana: 432/480.] Green light spread beneath his boots and fixed the prepared point to the surrounding rock. James added the final connection between the anchored point, the Channel Fragment, and the reinforced warhammer.

[Temporary runic connection established.] [Source: Gravitic secondary core.] [Destination: Anchored Warpstone Warhammer.] [Warning: Energy incompatibility detected.] James fed mana into the unstable structure. [Mana: 368/480.] Violet energy surged down Kevin's silk. The warhammer dropped. James's arms followed it. The hammerhead struck the ground hard enough to form a crater, and the sudden increase in weight nearly tore the shaft from his hands.

Kevin's Living Reinforcement flashed across every joining point while the pale-blue Structural Foundation Rune inside the weapon spread the strain through the Runebark plates and remaining metal bindings. The damaged spatial rune flickered beneath the incoming energy. James stared at the weapon. The Channel Rune had transferred something more useful than raw power. It had transferred the core's authority over weight.

"Oh, you beautiful bastard," James said as he wrapped both hands around the shaft. He planted his boots inside the anchored area and tried to lift.

"You're giving me the mountain's gravity." The hammer moved one inch. Muscles tightened through James's back and shoulders until pain sharpened along both arms. His Strength of thirty let him raise something that had become absurdly heavy, but the weapon resisted every inch like a machine bolted to the ground. The Colossus shifted above him. Its left foot began descending. James looked up. The bottom of the mountain filled his vision.

"James!" Isaiah shouted from across the valley. He fired another arrow toward the ankle, though the projectile curved harmlessly away before reaching the opening. James kept lifting. The hammer rose another inch. Kevin's blue markings became painfully bright as he reinforced the shaft. Several strands snapped along the head, and the spider replaced them before the damaged spatial pattern could split farther. Julie's presence moved inside the ankle. She had reached the secondary core.

James felt gravity wash across her through the bond. Her Rune-Touched Scales absorbed the edge of the field, filling the red-gold markings along her body with violet light until pain accompanied every pulse she sent him.

"Careful," James said through clenched teeth as he forced the hammer higher. He could barely hear himself beneath the descending Colossus.

"Take what you need and dump the rest." Julie struck. Her fangs sank into the secondary core. Violet energy stored inside her scales discharged directly through the bite. The core flickered. For half a second, the gravity around James disappeared. The warhammer became almost weightless. James moved. He drew the hammer back while the temporary Channel structure remained connected. Kevin's silk tightened between the weapon, the ankle core, and the anchored stone beneath James's feet.

The gravity returned at the instant James swung. Every trace of stolen force inside the hammerhead reversed direction. The blow hit the fractured ankle. The damaged spatial rune pulsed and drove the impact deeper through the outer mantle. The Channel Rune carried the transferred gravitic force along Kevin's connection and into the secondary core from inside its own structure. Violet crystal shattered. A grinding blast rolled through the mountain range. [Gravemantle Colossus secondary core destroyed.] [Gravitic control reduced.] [Outer mantle regeneration weakened.] The Colossus staggered. Its left leg folded beneath it. The knee struck the valley floor hard enough to throw James from his feet and launch thousands of smaller stones into the air. Julie remained somewhere inside the shattered ankle, while Kevin's silk still ran into the broken cavity. James pushed himself upright. The mountain kept coming down. Its enormous torso tilted toward the valley as the failed leg stopped supporting its weight.

Stone tore loose from the shoulders, crystal formations shattered against nearby ridges, and the descending body covered more of the sky with every second. James looked toward Elizabeth and Isaiah.

"We made it kneel," he said as he tightened both hands around the warhammer. Kevin's alarm surged through their bond while Julie remained trapped inside the failing ankle.

"Now we have to survive being underneath it."