Chương 51: On the Shoulders of Giants 1

On the whole, Orrin's situation could have been worse. Yes, he was stuck on the bloody moon with a couple of weirdos, but aside from that, it really wasn't that bad. At least his companions were well-mannered and there was air to breathe. Furthermore the gravity up here was noticeably lower, so walking around took a lot less effort on his part. Temperature was a bit of an issue, though.

When they arrived it was still daylight and it was sweltering hot on the surface, yet now that the sun had set it was bone-chillingly cold. Perhaps this climate wasn't that strange considering it was similar to that of the pearly desert far to the south of the Horkensaft Kingdom. Speaking of which, Orrin was pretty sure he could see it up there. What else could that white splotch in the corner of the central continent be?

He could also clearly make out the immense landmass of Velos, the southern continent vibrant with greenery even from this unimaginable distance. And, of course, the haunting reminder of his people's Blight-addled homeland to the northeast, gray and lifeless. That last bit aside, this breathtaking view was one of the few upsides to Orrin's predicament. There was something hauntingly beautiful about watching Terrania drift peacefully through the cosmos.

Orrin was never much of a stargazer, but the sight of it was infinitely more appealing than the seemingly endless wastes around him. Then again, almost anything would be at this point. With the sun on the other side of Tascuna, everything beyond the range of Orrin's conjured orb of light was a sea of blackness. Which was the whole point of him being up here. The giant was to serve as a beacon to help Tony find his way back in this flat, featureless landscape.

The Shaman was currently exploring the moon's surface in search of… anything, really. Meanwhile Fizzy was 'downstairs' trying to figure out a way back. Her best bet was to try and restore that Astral Nail to working order. Unlike the relic back in the Vault, the one up here was an Artificer device, which meant she could potentially fix or maybe even recreate it.

In order to do that, however, she'd need the right schematics, materials, and equipment, so the golem was currently rummaging through those old sheds at the bottom of the crater. All in all, Orrin shouldn't be complaining about getting the easiest job, but that also meant there was no meaningful way to contribute towards a solution. He hated how useless he felt, but the gloomy, empty loneliness of his duty was worse. The solitary vigil reminded him too much of his childhood.

He was therefore relieved to spot what was probably Tony on his way back. At least, he assumed it was the hobgoblin. The Priest's eyesight wasn't great, especially in the dark, but he could not imagine what else would be shuffling around out there, making those grunting noises. Sure enough, the greenskin Shaman entered the range of Orrin's light before long, though he seemed to have something with him. Something big, dead, and alien.

"By the gods… What manner of creature is that?" It was unlike any beast or monster the Priest had seen or heard of. It seemed to be a four-legged insectoid that was almost as large as a horse, though its overall shape was closer to a wolf. Its open maw sported a set of short, triangular teeth that looked unusually thick, and were flanked by a pair of mandibles. It had dark brown carapace covering most of its body aside from the two spiked tendrils growing from its back and its dark red underbelly.

Bright green blood could be seen oozing through cracks and cuts in this natural armor, presumably inflicted by the hobgoblin dragging the carcass forward.

"You gonna just stare, or you gonna be useful and help me carry dis thing?"

"Oh! Of course. My apologies, friend, I was just taken aback by its bizarre appearance." Terrania had its share of giant, monstrous bugs, but they were limited primarily to things like spiders, scorpions, and wasps. Nothing like this… freaky moon-roach. In any event, Orrin went over and picked the thing up without any effort or care for the filth sticking to his priestly garments.

He also noticed Tony seemed to be exhausted and a bit wobbly on his feet, though he didn't say anything out of consideration for that whole tough guy persona he had going. He hadn't known the guy long, but the Priest liked to think he was smart enough to ask for aid if he really needed it. The hob's catch was thus silently hauled down into the underground caverns and towards the 'Landing Site,' as Fizzy had started calling it.

Upon entering the space, both Orrin and Tony were a bit confused as to whether they'd found the right place. It would appear that, over the past eight hours, the golem had gone through, cleaned up, and organized the field of junk that used to be here into nice little stacks of salvage and piles of parts. She had also been quite liberal with her metal-healing magic, given the lack of rust on any of these pieces.

Fizzy's current whereabouts were not immediately apparent, but a second look around the scene revealed one of the ramshackle buildings was wide open and a soft blue glow was emanating from the inside. Given her occupation, Orrin took that to mean that she was preoccupied with Artificer things like welding or something. As a resident of Dragunov, he knew just how rude and disastrous it could be to interrupt a tinkerer in the middle of a project.

He also hazarded a guess that his primitive companion lacked this insight, so he tried to warn him.

"Seems she is busy. Best we-""Hey! Boss! I found a thing!"

'Tried' being the operative word.

"What kind of thing?!" she shouted from inside.

"Big, mean, and ugly!"

"So, a mirror?!" Tony snorted a quick chuckle before continuing.

"Close, but no! Really, you need to see dis one!"

"Can it wait, like, thirteen minutes?!" Tony looked at the carcass for the moment. It didn't seem like it'd be getting up to leave anytime soon.

"For sure!"

"Great!"

"… So should I just leave it somewhere?!" Orrin called out.

"It's not exactly sanitary!"

"Will you shut up!? I'm trying to concentrate!" The giant rolled his eyes and shook his head. He found a vacant spot to dump Tony's catch in, then went to have a peek and a gander at what the golem had been stockpiling. Orrin understood very little of Artificers and their ways, but he'd always been fascinated by their handiwork. He'd barely started looking when some wet squelches drew his attention back to the moon-roach's corpse. It was the hobgoblin.

He was using those axes of his to carve into the body, prying apart its carapace and getting elbow-deep into its gooey guts. The giant questioned what the greenskin could be doing for all of three seconds before he got his answer. He watched with mounting disgust as Tony took a lump of something solid out of the alien bug, gave it a few sniffs, then bit into it. The hob noticed the giant staring at him and glared right back. He maintained eye contact as he chewed his mouthful, then swallowed.

"I'm not sharing."

"I didn't ask."

"Good." The Shaman resumed his meal unperturbed. Though he didn't say anything else, watching Tony eat that disgusting creature made Orrin realize he might not have a choice. He had no idea how long he'd be stuck on Tascuna, but it could very well be for months or even years. He'd need to eat something eventually, and given their barren surroundings these moon-roaches were likely the only source of nutrition they had access to. They'd also need water, though the bug might satisfy that need as well given how…

juicy its insides were. Provided it wasn't poisonous, of course, but he trusted Tony's wild side to not ingest anything dangerous. For now Orrin decided to abstain from subjecting his tongue to whatever horrid flavor that thing had and waited patiently for Fizzy to finish so they could discuss the hob's findings. The golem left the shack precisely thirteen minutes after she last spoke. Much as Orrin expected, she was carrying some strange device with wires and coils sticking out of it.

What he hadn't counted on was that the source of that blue glow wasn't the Artificer's equipment, but a blobby, slime-like substance that was splattered all over her hands and front.

"Right, then! Tony, what did- Oh. Ew." A look at the green-stained Shaman and the mangled corpse next to him gave her several answers, though she immediately wanted to forget a few of them.

"Hey, boss," he gave her a wave.

"You won't believe what I found out dere."

"No, I'm pretty sure I will," she nodded at the corpse.

"Not dat. Dis." The greenskin pulled a tuft of grass and a fistful of leaves from under his cloak. Both were pale green much like the surrounding rock, but other than that they looked… normal. At least to Fizzy. She was no expert on the wilderness so it took her a few moments to grasp what he was telling her.

"Wait, there are plants up here?"

"Oh, yeah. Found an entire field of grass about three hours away, and a small forest not much farther." It was good news for the meatbags. If Tascuna's surface had vegetation, then it was safe to assume there'd be a lot of water, too. And food that wasn't bugs, Orrin hoped.

"Was gonna check it out when two of de things popped out of de ground," the hob continued.

"Barely killed dis one, de other ran off to get friends, so I ran."

"Really?" Fizzy raised an eyebrow.

"A bug gave you trouble?" The hob just shrugged and didn't elaborate further. He didn't care enough to explain himself, and the golem wasn't all that interested in hearing him out either. At least, not right now.

"What about you, Miss Fizzy?" Orrin spoke up.

"Any useful discoveries?"

"A few. This stuff is the big one." She pointed at the glowing blue gunk on her. She didn't mean to cover herself in it, but she had a bit of an unfortunate spill after she underestimated the strength of the small foot ladder she was using to reach a high shelf. Her foothold buckled under her weight, causing her to fall and knock over an entire drum of this thick fluid. Most of it went down the drain in the floor, but not before it splashed onto her. Thankfully there was a lot more where that came from.

"There's like fifty barrels of it in there," she continued.

"No idea what it is, but I ran some tests and I'm pretty sure I can use it as a power source for anything I throw together. Also it's probably toxic so, try not to touch it."

"Hold on. What do you mean by 'probably' toxic?"

"Well, I can't tell for sure since I'm a golem. Poisons and such don't work on me. But, all the barrels are marked with this round yellow-and-black symbol. Never seen it before but those colors usually mean it's a hazard, and since its not acidic, flammable, or giving off any gas, I can only assume it's toxic to the touch." The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

"I see. In that case you might want to clean yourself off." If looks could kill, the one Fizzy threw Orrin would leave the giant splattered against the wall.

"I am aware," she said coldly." Unfortunately, unless you happen to have a power-washing station in your pocket, that's not happening. So for now just keep your distance. Actually, make that in general."

"If you insist, I shall oblige." It was clear the golem didn't like the giant very much, but he didn't take it personally.

"So, about this forest. Tony, think it's worth investigating?" The greenskin looked a bit taken aback. This was perhaps the first time his shiny boss had asked his opinion in such a direct and serious manner. He was equally baffled that she'd ask such a stupid question.

"Only if you don't want us meatbags to starve to death." Right. Food, the golem remembered.

"That is a thing, isn't it?" Plus echoed.

"De bugs not gon' make it easy, though."

"What can you tell me about them?"

"Dey territorial, and work well in groups. Like wolves, but way smarter, with bigger claws, and acid spit. Think dey can also mind-talk to each other. Eyes aren't worth shit, but dey got sharp noses and can sense tremors through de ground. Seems dey also thrivin' here. You don't get dis plump 'n' juicy unless you eatin' really good." It was now Fizzy's turn to be surprised.

"You… sure know a lot about these things even though you just found them."

"Is a Skill," he shrugged. More specifically Mosnterologist, acquired at Level 10 Ranger. It afforded Tony deep insight into any magical creature he encountered, more so if he fought, killed, and ate one. Most adventurers were advised to avoid this ability since its primary effect was the knowledge it offered, and that could be easily acquired via books or lectures. The hob got it because he didn't have access to those things in his youth. He still didn't.

And even if he did, he somehow doubted there'd be a volume on moon-roaches at the local library. Or that there was a library up here to begin with. The fact that he was there to shed some light on this hitherto unknown species of monster was incredibly lucky for the group. Though, perhaps 'well orchestrated' was a more accurate way of saying it, if one assumed Timothy the God of Dice Rolls was guiding events.

"Well, we'd best go get a move on while you two are still in fighting condition," Fizzy decided. The others agreed. It had been about nine hours since they arrived on Tascuna, and the guys were starting to feel quite thirsty and hungry by now. Tired, too, but that was a lesser concern than the lack of sustenance. The group thus set out for that lunar forest in search of supplies and perhaps clues as to the Original Artificer's trail.

Fizzy needed Dragunova's designs and materials to fix that Astral Nail, and her best bet of acquiring those was to find the otherworlder's moonbase. Of course, the golem had no guarantee that such a place existed, but the Original Artificer clearly had a penchant for building hideouts and outposts. It was safe to assume she had set one up in the closest habitable environment, which was this forest. And even if that didn't pan out, the golem had all the time in the world to figure out how to get back to Terrania…

unlike Tony and Orrin. She didn't really need either of them, but she figured things would be easier if they were around to assist, so she wasted no time in setting out. A tense yet uneventful three hour trek across Tascuna's dark surface brought the group within sight of the hobgoblin's discovery. What stuck out as odd was that the terrain transitioned from barren wasteland to grassy meadow in less than a minute of walking. It was an almost literal line in the sand that, by all accounts, didn't seem natural.

The forest the hob spoke of was easily visible up ahead since it was lit up by… something. It was impossible to tell exactly what that was from this distance, but there were hundreds of little lights nestled in the branches of the pine-like trees. However, the trio would have to put off investigating that curious luminescence until after they'd dealt with the rowdy locals.

"Dey come. Six from below." Tony drew his axes as he gave that warning, prompting Fizzy and Orrin to likewise ready for battle. The golem flicked her back-mounted Charge Pack on while the Priest immediately started working his bolstering Spells. Unfortunately, he struggled with the incantations somewhat. The exhaustion was getting to him and the thin air wasn't helping, so he was only able to get two of them out before the bugs arrived.

Much as the hob said, three pairs of them erupted from the soil, surrounding the trio with an array of clicks and screeches. Fizzy immediately sprang forward with Armored Charge, crashing into one and stunning it with a two-handed swing to its head. The force of the blow sent the moon-roach stumbling to the side. Tony's axe cleaved through the air above the golem in the next instant, sinking deep into the massive bug's neck.

It was the same sudden strike combo the pair had used dozens of times during their mercenary expeditions, and it proved just as lethal on this enemy. The creature's companion let out a high-pitched gurgle as it lunged and clawed at the golem's back. It hit her Charge Pack, tearing right through its steel shell and rupturing its alchemical battery. The device discharged all the power it had left in a single, blinding burst that tossed the bug off and left it writhing around madly on its back.

It had soaked up almost all of the damage, leaving Fizzy mostly unharmed and entirely enraged. Furious that this stupid bug actually broke her creation, the golem crushed the life out of it with a leaping two-handed wrench strike to its exposed abdomen. Still out for bug-blood, the construct set her sights on the other four, and she immediately realized why Tony struggled with them. These moon-roaches knew how to fight in pairs. Despite not being all that resilient, they were quick and covered each other in battle.

It wasn't just strength in numbers, but seamless cooperation that was literally like watching one mind control two bodies. The hob had decided the best way to handle them was the same as Fizzy's first instinct - to recklessly charge in and slay one to ruin their teamwork. He wasn't as durable as the golem, however. In the short time after he assisted her with the first kill, he was already covered in cuts, bites, and acid burns, but he had succeeded in crippling one of the two bugs that had come after him.

Meanwhile Orrin had taken a safer approach and was using his staff to fend off the last pair. Even without any Skills or Attributes to back up his martial abilities, the giant's natural size and strength allowed him to easily swat away the bugs if they tried to get close. The moon-roaches quickly switched tactics and resorted to spitting acid at the large target from a distance, but the magical barrier created by the Aegis Spell was able to absorb those attacks without issue.

Having taken in the state of the ongoing battle, Fizzy decided to assist the Priest first. Tony was a tough bastard and he still had that Undying Frenzy if he needed it, but Orrin's share needed to be taken care of before they could retreat and fetch reinforcements. With the giant serving as a distraction, she attempted to flank the closer bug. Unfortunately, the moon-roach sensed her approach and hopped out of the way, as did its partner.

Both of them looked towards Fizzy and screeched madly while steadily backing away. Now that he had the time to cast a Spell, Orrin sent a Quick Heal to the heavily injured hobgoblin. It was the most basic of healing magics in a Priest's repertoire, but it served to stitch the Shaman's bleeding wounds closed while he finished off the second bug on his side. For better or for worse, the other two decided to flee entirely. They ran off towards the forest, screeching and clicking as they went.

Fizzy and Tony were keen to give chase, but there was a new development that made them reconsider that choice of action. The air rapidly filled with buzzing, like an avalanche drawing near. The trio looked up, but couldn't see anything in the dark. They had the floating orb of light conjured by Orrin's staff, but its range was quite limited. Wary of what might be hiding in the shadows around them, the Priest channeled more of his MP into his magic item.

This caused the illusory mini-sun to flare up, increasing its brightness several times over. Sure enough, the extra luminescence revealed an entire swarm of winged insects hovering in the air. These ones were much smaller at around the size of hawks, but they were definitely related to the flightless variety. More importantly, there were hundreds or maybe even thousands of them up there. So much so that they blotted out the stars, and the cloud was only growing.

The trio on the ground huddled together, none of them wishing to get swarmed. Things got worse as another pack of about ten of the big ones approached from the forest, forming a half-circle perimeter around the invaders to their territory. And yet, despite this overwhelming numerical advantage, the moon-roaches kept their distance while making a whole lot of noise. It wasn't just a chaotic mess of clicking, buzzing, and screeching.

Those sounds were definitely present, but they were organized and had a rhythm to them. It was almost like an orchestra.

"What are they doing?"

"I don't know. Tony?" Orrin was the first to raise the obvious question while Fizzy deflected it to their resident monsterologist.

"Think it's a warning," the hob said.

"Dey don't want us here, but dey don't wanna fight us neither."

"They don't? Why not?"

"Let us not question it, Fizzy. I say we take their offer and retreat while we have the chance." What Orrin said was the safest option. With numbers like this and without any large-scale destructive magic to counter them, a fight was almost assuredly going to end in the locals' favor. However, backing off would also turn this expedition into a massive waste of time. That didn't sit right with Fizzy. This battle was a lost cause, but at the very least she wanted some more information on these moon-roaches.

Something that would help her claim victory in future confrontations. Like, for instance, what it was that had them so spooked. It wasn't the trio's strength in combat. If that was the case, they'd just avoid them altogether. No, this was something else. A danger that could not be overcome just by throwing numbers at it. As Fizzy's eyes scanned the line of bugs on the ground, she noticed something. The moon-roaches seemed to be focused on her.

It wasn't just her ego talking, but their faces seemed fixated on her small frame far more than her much taller companions. Come to think of it, those two from earlier scurried away after getting a good look at her. And was it just her imagination, or did that very first bug flinch when she charged at it? She tried to confirm her suspicions by taking a firm step forward. A few bugs in the line ahead flinched and pulled back while the others grew more agitated, their chorus growing slightly disjointed.

That was as much confirmation as she was going to get, but what was it about her that these things found so terrifying? It had to be glaringly obvious if their eyesight really was as poor as her shield-serf claimed. Also how come that second bug didn't hesitate to strike her in the back? And then, after rapidly processing these errant strands of fact, something clicked in the Artificer's mind, and she began hastily constructing a plan of action.

"Tony, you have a bunch of earth and wind magic, right?"

"Yeah?"

"Think you can cover our retreat with it?"

"I think so, if de big guy carries me while I work de mojo."

"Orrin, can you do that?"

"Yes? I have performed similar exercises with the dwarves, but why? What are you planning?"

"A little experiment that's going to turn violent. Get ready." Fizzy retrieved something from the enchanted satchel at her hip. It was a metal jar containing a sample of the glowing blue gunk that she was partially covered in.

"Parallel One."

"Oh, man. This is gonna get spicy, huh?" Plus commented aloud.

"You know it."

"Alright! What do I need to do?"

"I need you to prepare a Judgement and pop this thing the instant I toss it."

"Gotcha!" Orrin's concern only grew as the strange construct started talking to herself. Still, she had a plan of some kind, which was more than he did, so he chose to have faith in her ingenuity. As for Tony, he'd seen this display already, so he wasn't all that bothered. His attention was focused on formulating the array of Spells and Skills he'd need to do as was asked of him.

Wind Walls and Bend Wind to throw off the flyers and a mix of Quakes, Burial Mounds, and Mold Earth to confuse the soldier drones would probably do it. No sooner had he reached that conclusion than Fizzy and Plus made their play. The primary personality threw the lead container as hard as she could while the secondary one invoked her prepared Spell.

"Judgement!" A pitchfork of golden-green light materialized out of nothing and pulverized the object, sending its 'probably toxic' spraying out towards the line of moon-roaches. The bugs instantly hopped back en masse, screeching and clicking in disarray. Fizzy did her patron proud as chaos ensued immediately after. The golem and the giant hoofed it as hard as they could while the hobgoblin threw out as many incantations as he could.

It was quite a lot since Orrin kept his massive palm surprisingly steady as he ran, allowing the hob upon it to continue chanting non-stop. The soil sundered and the winds whipped, though not as much as the Shaman would have liked. This alien environment refused to cooperate fully with him. Because of that a few of the bugs managed to close and snapped at the group's heels despite the mess Tony left behind, but Plus and Fizzy was on hand to smite them away with a mix of swings and Spells.

Not enough to kill anything, but plenty to fend them off and slow them down. The bugs gave up the chase entirely as the group left the grassy meadow and returned to the barren wastes.

"Hah-ha! Stupid bugs! You wanna mess with Tohnee?! Tohnee mess with you! Dewani-wanga!" The Shaman couldn't stop cheering, arms and voice raised in triumph. This sort of thing was exactly what he wanted when he decided to follow Fizzy back in Steelhead. Going to strange lands and tangling with forces far greater than himself - it was the greatest thrill he knew. Sure, living in that old dwarven castle with his tribe was comfortable and safe, but this? This made him feel alive.

Fizzy was quite happy with this result as well, given the infuriatingly smug grin plastered on her face. Orrin was not as thrilled. In fact, he looked positively terrible. He had collapsed to one knee and was leaning heavily on his golden staff, his breath a wheezing, ragged mess. He suspected it wasn't mere exhaustion that was causing this, but he kept that to himself lest he spoil the moment.

"Well, gentlemen!" the golem turned to the others.

"I do believe I have a plan to deal with those bugs!" If those things were so afraid of the blue sludge, then all she had to do was weaponize it.