Giants! Due North!

Job Info:

It was a difficult task alone to simply find the village among the glaciers in this frozen wasteland. The storm was currently blinding and only escalating in intensity. He was glad he wasn’t the one trying to navigate them through this mess. The two Lamia Scale mages were riding in a wagon being led by some snow golem the man piloting had created. This man came from the village in turmoil, the only person whom actually knew any magic for a great distance, but according to what he said his abilities he speculated that he alone wouldn’t be enough to solve the problem, not this time. It was very humble of this man to accept the help and he appreciated that. It’s a good quality to have knowing when to back down, it saves a lot of grief in the end.

Laying down next to his friend and now guildmaster Kihia, Xavier felt a little bit soloed out, the only one here with a magic that wasn’t… cold so to speak. But just maybe that would work in their favor? And also Kihia now running the guild was hard to swallow. Not because he didn’t like him or anything, but would things be the same between them? He knows he can put his faith in him, but will he see him often? Should he address him by name, or call him master? He sighed, looking at his hands as the memories of that day crept up on him. He had never seen so many of his friends- he shoved the thought out of his mind. “Look” he thought to himself, “Kihia is the new guild master, and although it may look like he has everything under control, you’ve got to be there for him. And maybe you can make up for your mistakes along the way. No time like the present, right?” Xavier sat up and tightened his winter gear on him, namely his gloves, and coat. He left behind his glasses this time, not wanting them to get lost in the snow, bringing goggles instead.

Kihia sat there with his eyes closed, the wagon was moving at a rhythmic pace and he managed to put him to sleep. Very much exhausted from the recent events times like this were truly a blissful moment, aside from the rhythmic moving of the cart, one other thing contributed to the Young Guild Master’s peaceful rest, the shear cold that covered the wastes of the Silent Glaciers, where the cold pierced most peoples being, Kihia welcomed it and embraced it, not just because of the fact he wielded ice magic, but due to his very bloodline he felt right at home at the artic environment. His trench coat was hanging on Icarus which was leaning right next to Kihia, the Geruks laid inside in their sheathes, however the entirety of it seemed completely motionless and peaceful.

Kihia was dreaming a bit, of what he wasn’t sure, but it wasn’t so bad it disturbed his sleep, however with his higher degree of hearing he then heard a loud rumbling noise that echoed through the storm and the wastes. He opened his eyes and sat there listening to the storm and what was going on outside. His attention was then drawn to one of his best friends in the Guild, Xavier, he was laying down relaxing or trying to relax in this intense cold as they headed towards the village, Kihia then let out a sigh and reached to his side and picked up a fur blanket that the driver had given Xavier and Kihia for warmth, “Here Xavier… take mine as well to keep you warm in this weather…” Kihia then waited for a long moment, still unsure on many things, he was now the Guild Master of Lamia Scale, one of the ten Wizard Saints… all of it happened so fast he was still partially in shock from the course of events, but knew he had to try and remain strong for his friends and family within the halls of Lamia Scale.

For a while Xavier was monitoring Kihia resting, he felt like it was necessary, because he imagined his friend would do the same. And at the moment Kihia stirred, he caught a distant sound of something as well, he couldn’t quite make it out but he was certain that it woke Kihia in some fashion. He took the second blanket from him rather reluctantly, he wasn’t one to always accept help, but he made an exception. Xavier pulled his goggles over his eyes before he stared out of the front of the wagon looking out into the distance of this blinding curtain of white, after peeling open one of the flaps to the opening. The sound made it hard to focus as the wind whipped with the storm. Their driver turned to him as he emerged as if he could sense the boy’s curiosity. “Hell of a storm ain’t it?!” he shouted over the noise. Xavier tried offer some sentimental response for the man’s willingness to do all of this for the travelers, but his words seemed lost to the storm. “Don’t you worry, kid! We’ll be at the village within a minute! We’ve got secrets to keeping the weather from being so harsh and bitter there!” he pointed to his temples as he spoke, “Give you some time to think!” He continued to speak, but he looked forwards, and his words too were lost in the storm.

Xavier waited a moment before pulling himself back in and securing the opening flap. He sighed, and leaned back with the blankets over him, listening carefully for whatever that sound was to perhaps repeat itself. He glanced at Kihia as he waited. He seemed to be right at home here, although this wasn’t his home… he had shown him his home once. But perhaps it’s just the weather he needs? Xavier questioned himself, to the whereabouts of his home, and he wanted to say Lamia Scale… but things are changing, and he might need a little more time before that becomes clear. Enough soul searching… there’s a job to be done.

Kihia sat there listening intently to the dying of the sound, he then saw Xavier stand up and then went to the front of the wagon and opened up the front hatch and peered out into the storm, the driver talked with Xavier a bit before they both returned into the wagon, Kihia saw Xavier wrap himself up in the blankets and gently smiled, his expression then went back to be quiet and solemn and looked towards the front of the wagon as he sat there, “That was the sound… of a large piece of ice breaking off of its original piece and crashing to the ground… A sound I am not too familiar with…” Kihia then went quiet once more, as much as one might think Kihia felt at home… he didn’t… he didn’t grow up in an area with this much ice… he just never felt the cold… thanks in part to his bloodline and the other part to him being the Glacier Demon Slayer.

Kihia then turned to the driver and asked, “What is the geographical layout of the area we will be in charge of the defense of…?” The driver nodded and spoke up, “The northern entrance to our Village, it is a ramp leading up to a canyon between two great Glaciers that leads to our Village, we call that area the Frozen Stepps because of the layered glaciers that looks like a staircase when you see it from the sky,” Kihia then placed his right hand against his chin, a natural choke off point eh?... however I don’t think it will do much good with Giants as our adversaries I am afraid… Kihia then stopped when something came to mind, he looked at Xavier and studied him for a long moment, he looked strained, and Kihia had a feeling as to why, “Xavier… are you feeling alright… considering your magic… I recall Dragon Slayers usually suffering from horrible cases of motion sickness whenever they ride in transportation…”

Xavier’s stomach had been churning for what felt like the past 20 miles, and he was managing it quite well thus far. The only thing keeping him together was his ability to distract himself with other thoughts. As long as he could keep that up, he probably wouldn’t blow chunks. That was until now of course, where there force that told him otherwise went rampant, trying to break free like a bunch of men with a battering ram taking to a lonely door. Xavier clamped a hand over his mouth as he suddenly felt the pressure of the sickness, becoming bloated and nauseous.

“Breathe, breathe-“ he repeated himself in his mind trying to calm himself so he wouldn’t exacerbate the problem.
“Think of something, anything!” His mind raced to find something, and oddly enough the first thing that came to his mind was kittens. He imagined one just hovering above him.
“Kittens? Really? I’m tempted to left myself throw up… Whatever it’ll do for now.” And for an extended amount of time, Xavier sat in front of Kihia, staring at him with his hand over his mouth and his cheeks puffed up, as they slowly began to lose the pressure.
“Okay… okay almost there.”
Suddenly the wagon hit a little bump, and he felt the rise of the acidic fluid fill his throat as he regretfully forced himself to swallow, his throat burning uncomfortably. He had avoided it for now, but it surely wasn’t over.

“Meow- I mean, please don’t do that again… That was close.” He finally said aloud, falling back with a hand on his stomach just breathing slowly and resentfully.

The wagon finally lurched to a stop, and as it did Xavier finally realized the sound of the blizzard had become much more distant like their driver had promised. They were far with in the village’s barrier and had already passed through the valley at it’s entrance.
“We’re here boys!” He called back to them. “Come out here, I think you’ll enjoy the view!” Just outside of the village, the storm encompassed them, as a dome of some sort caused snow from the storm stay outside unable to penetrate the barrier. It was kinda cool, infact. “These guys keep us safe from the storm,” he pointed to a stone totem with glowing eyes protruding from the snow. “there’s only five of them in the village so we have to protect them.” He turned to them finally, hoping they had stepped out by now. Xavier had taken his time so he wouldn’t explode. “By the way, my name is Uma. Sorry for the poor introduction earlier.”

Kihia sat there and studied Xavier as he was quiet up till the end which he said something Kihia didn’t completely understand, the driver then spoke up that they had arrived, at this Kihia put on his trench coat and grabbed Icarus and stepped out of the wagon. He paused for a moment to let his eyes adjust to the light reflecting off of the ice and snow, after a moment he nodded and stepped onto the artic surface. He then looked towards the end of the canyon and studied area, It is just as the driver said… very unique geological formations of this ice…. Kihia then turned to the driver and did a slight bow, “Nice to meet you Uma… I am Kihia Avoa… thank you for your services in getting here… it was a rather peaceful trip…” Kihia then walked over to the edge of the barrier and looked out into the storm. He quietly listened to the harsh winds as they blew outside the barrier.

The very environment seems to be in chaos from this disturbance… it is crying out… as if it is protesting the giant’s presence… He then turned to Uma, “Please fetch a few extra coats… light and flexible please… as well as a set of gloves…” Kihia then turned back as Uma ran into the town, he waited for a long moment in silence, “This storm is not going to let up… not until the disturbance has been settled…” Kihia then placed his left hand to his forehead and said “Ice Angel’s Visor…” The visor out of holy ice formed on his head and started to show details of what was out there, No sign of the Giants… but I am picking up odd irregularities for some reason… Kihia then sighed and turned and looked at Xavier, “Xavier… are you doing any better? If you need anything… let me know…” Kihia then waited for a response, still unsure of his own duties of Guild Master he sought to always treat everyone as an equal.

Xavier was lying in the snow, as the golem bound wagon was listlessly carried into town following Uma whom was much faster. It was very cold, but the further he reached down he found an odd warmth. He laid there for a while waiting for his head to stop spinning, he didn’t want to stand up too quickly and color the snow. He got to his knees and a breeze swept by him. It was chilling to the bone, but it was a very refreshing change from the humidity of Hargeon he was so accustomed to. He hugged himself closing his coat tight on him. It providing enough heat to keep him focused on the task at hand, he just had to try no to move too hastily.

Getting to his feet, he carefully pulled the goggles over his eyes, just to keep that portion of his face warm and holding tightly o his coat. He looked to Kihia who was inspecting the barrier, and then back towards where Uma and his golem trotted off to. The place where all these people lived seemed fairly quiet. Supposedly they are taking shelter in their homes on the off chance they fall under the wrath of these giants. He hated to be the pessimist, but that wouldn’t spare them a moment. Scanning the rest of the area, he noticed two pine trees that stood defiantly against the shrill winds, and they did break the flow and would provide a decent amount of cover if need be. He approached one, and leaned up against it with his back to the wind, and it helped considerably. The winds could get to him and it was a decent place to relax. He did relax, for a short while anyway, until he felt the prickly bonds of the tree limbs wrapping around him. Before he knew it he was bound to this pine, helpless against the tensile strength of these very odd living branches. “Kihia! I could use some help! Ack-” The branches tightened around him, as if the tree were trying to crush him against itself.

Status:

The member 'Linxwire' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Kihia stood there for a second and watched as Xavier stepped outside the barrier and into the storm, Kihia sighed, Hopefully he won’t catch a cold…. He waited for a moment when Uma came back and handed Kihia the coats he asked for, “Where did your friend go?” Kihia grabbed the coats and looked out at the storm, “He went ah-“ Kihia was interrupted by the calls of Xavier and dashed off into the storm with surreal speed, within a second he arrived where Xavier was keeping a low stance, he then threw the coats into the air he quickly grabbed the Geruks and put them together in their handbo state, “Ice Angel’s Holy Swords!” The two holy ice swordbreakers formed on the Geruks and then in one swift motion reached out with his left hand and grabbed Xavier’s shirt and with one swift motion and a brief moment with a splendid amount of bark flying, he destroyed each branch and pulled Xavier out of their without harming him further.

He then planted his dual bladed Handbo into the ground and point at the two trees, he then summoned his powers of Cryokinesis and pointed upward with his fingers as two giant spikes of ice erupted from the ground and ripped the two trees completely apart. Kihia then gently placed down Xavier and picked up his weapon and making sure to catch the coats as they came falling back down. He then stood there for a long moment and then looked at Xavier, “Are you ok Xavier…? I am sorry for not coming with you as soon as you had headed out that was… idiotic of me…” Kihia then offered the coats to Xavier when he heard something creaking and groaning getting closer to their position, he then looked deeper into the storm and saw the outline of walking trees, “We need to keep moving forward to the entrance of the Canyon, These creatures are disturbed spirits of nature… running for their lives…”

Xavier was all well and good once rescued from that thing, it didn’t live up to simply the name of a tree, but it was certainly something. He didn’t say much but didn’t come back it was rather stupid of him to wander out anyway. “Thanks for that Kihia.” But inside he wanted to say something else. The way he spoke to Xavier was kind and all but not fitting. That’s a conversation for another time perhaps. Clutching the thicker coats, it felt like somewhat of a godsend, and he put them on carefully welcoming the warmth. Looking out into the storm he could make out the same shapes shearing the ground as they slowly progressed. They were odd and misshapen, but from the look of them their very movement shattered parts of them, as if they had to break and re-meld their roots magically in a vicious cycle to make some sort of movement, and it was a little sickening to hear. Xavier imagined what that would feel like with his bones, and shuddered trying to break himself of his own imagination.

“Let’s dispatch of them quickly gents, they look rather unsettled right now and I don’t anticipate they like to talk a lot.” He said already marching towards the canyon entrance “They may not be an immediate threat, but it would get ugly if the innocents got entangled with one of them in their current state.” Even alone Xavier would have eventually manage dot beat that tree thing, but he could only think of those people over there who couldn’t even defend themselves, and the others already lost to this phenomena. It certainly wasn’t a hard choice for him, but Uma found it a little harder to follow.

“Surely, we can leave them be right? They are only fearing for their lives just like us. What’s another being spared to you, don’t you see how useless an effort it is.” Xavier turned to him with probably the coldest look he’s ever given a man, but is eyes didn’t even seem direct as if he were looking through Uma. “When you’ve been through the things I have, you learn to weed things out before they become a problem.” He sighed, as his breath crystallized in front of him and he looked to the ground reflecting on that statement, as they drew slowly closer.

Kihia looked out into the storm with sadness in his eyes, he heard what Xavier said and sighed, “There is some truth to your words but there is something else we can do…” Kihia then turned to Uma, “Return to your Village… we will seal it off temporarily and make sure nothing can get passed this canyon…” Uma then nodded and ran back towards the village, Kihia then pulled the Geruks apart and dispelling his swords he slammed the flat ends of the two weapons together,”Crystallux Rampart!” He then pulled the two weapons apart revealing a beam of magical energy between them, he then twisted the weapons so the beam into a flat plane and then with one last degree of separation added he slammed the weapons together creating a giant wall of crystal and ice that blocked off the route to the Village.

Kihia then nodded and sheathed the Geruks, “There is one last thing to worry about... now then Xavier shall we go ahead to meet these giants…?” Kihia then started to walk forward and was met with four trees that loamed ominously in-front of him as they slowly walked…forward his right foot starting to glow, he then stomped on the ground, “The holy cage of ice combined with the everlasting columns of defense… Frozen Angel’s Spire Cage!” Then three tall pillars of ice shot out of the ground followed by numerous thinner poles creating a giant cage of ice the trapped the trees. “As long as you don’t try to arm anyone I promise not to hurt you… We are here to save your land… not hunt you…” Kihia then bowed to the tree spirits and then waited on Xavier to catch up, he was going to let his friend out of his sights, Not with the inhabitants of this land on the move… along with something much bigger.. he then heard the sound of many things coming their way… “What in the world…?”

The member 'Kihia' has done the following action : Dice Rolls

'Monster Dice' :

Xavier heart rose to the occasion when Kihia suggested they go to meet these so called Giants. He has been waiting for them ever since they arrived, and as far as he was concerned this was the most important thing. Everything else, although he might have been caught off guard by a tree and you know, tiny little nuances, things were still decent, and seemingly going his way for the time being. But what he really wanted was a challenge. He has been pushing things aside with Kihia like brushing of fflies since they day they met, and it was becoming a little stale. He gave his signature wide canine toothed grin and popped his knuckles before moving the goggles to his forehead. “The bigger they are-“

His moment to describe ironic justice was suddenly interrupted by the ground shaking accompanied by the roar of thing smoving quickly across the landscape, lots of things. “Brace! We have quite a force heading our way!” A dreadful scraping noise could be heard as something on the other side of Kihia’s rampart seemed to be scaling the icy wall. About three wolves peered over the edge with onyx black claws that could ruin steel clicking against the frost, they prowled menacingly at the top of the wall before bellowing a chilling howl that called for the rendezvous of the entire pack as five more wolves scamper to climb up themselves. “This is going to be fun…” Xavier grumbled under his breath. “Lightning Dragon: Comet Combo!” he shout as the wolves moved in for the attack. The first three to arrive pounced at them one going for Kihia and the other two trying to dog pile on Xavier who was much too prepared for such an obvious attack.

Kneeling down, Xavier’s spell crated a giant lightning fist in front of him as he stood back up into an uppercut. “Heavenward Strike!” The wolf went flying but he could marvel at his work yet. He spun on his heel, and delivered a round house kick to the second landing an electric foot in its face as it was tossed into the wall. He lowered his stance, bending his knees slightly, and went for an open palm strike at the wolf closing in on Kihia. They were merely hurt, and slowed on the advance as the other five surrounded them.

Kihia listened as Xavier engaged a pack of wolves that had managed to get on top of the Crystallux rampart, hearing that he was doing fine on his own he turned to face a grove of walking trees moving their direction. “I guess I have no other choice but to force you all to stop… of which I apologize Ancient trees of the land…” Kihia then started walking forward as his right hand balled up into a fist and started to glow, “I didn’t want to do this to you all but you leave me no choice…” Kihia then dashed forward with blinding speeds up to the tree at the front of the groove, “Supreme Fist of the Frozen Angel….” As his fist hit the tree a giant flash of light erupted from his hand enveloping the entire grove of walking trees. After a moment the light faded revealing the trees to be completely covered in a thin layer of holy ice.

Kihia nodded, he then called out “Lets keep on moving forward… I am feeling the faint tremors of something big… coming this direction…” Kihia then dashed forward desperate to reach the entrance of the canyon

---

After a few minutes Kihia arrived at the entrance, the snowstorm blowing fiercer than ever, making it hard for Kihia to keep his focus. “The weather is getting worse for some reason…” Kihia then knelt down and place his left hand on the snow, He then sent some of his magical power into the ice  to figure out is structure. This ice has been here for centuries… never melted… never tampered with… By now this ice is hard as rock… and yet these multiple ledges seem to be too smooth… to be natural, its if some force cut these ledges… At that Kihia stood up as a giant tremor echoed throughout the area, “These aren’t normal ledges…. These are steps… an ancient stairway for them…” At those words the storm cleared as three frost giants appeared a few hundred meters from the first ledge.

(OOC: Given permission by Aedre to auto roll the boss)

Xavier pulled out the ancient wooden staff that he used in times of some desperation. It was surprisingly hard and resilient for a gem of its age, and although it could take a beating Xavier was always cautious, utilizing it for more of its magical abilities that an actual fight, but he would have to make an exception today, as it was the first thing he grabbed and he didn’t really have a lot of time to carefully enact a strategy. As he twirled it about striking each incoming feral like wolf it almost looked as if he were putting on a martial arts show for some invisible audience, his movement was graceful and practiced.

He spun it around his waist, and it cracked a few of them on the nose which only served to anger them. As the pounced on him he leapt over them, spinning parallel to the ground as he did so, and bringing the staff down on the ground kicking up a bit of snow to make the scene a little more dramatic. He turned on his heels to face them again as he spun it front of him now, the staff alternating between his left and right side. He walked into them and let the motions do all the work instead of making a large effort.

By the end of the little scuffle, the eight wolves were twitching on the ground, injured and demoralized from the bludgeoning force of the staff, and Xavier sheathed it once again proudly. He looked around only to notice that Kihia had long since left the fight, and he had taken care of the brutes all by himself. In the still and silence that ensued in the moment just after whimpering of the hounds, Xavier could hear a feel a distant rumble. “Oh… that can’t be good. I better find Kihia. If anything, he probably already has this situation closely monitored.” He sprinted off in the direction of the canyon’s mouth recalling he had mentioned it before.

These frost Giants most certainly lived up to their names, each one was atleast sixty meters tall, pale blue skin and wearing ancient leather clothing, made up of countless animal skins. Each one carried gigantic clubs of ice and stone, “This is going to be one hec of a fight… why Didn’t I make Ukan come…” Kihia then examined the area behind him… I can’t fortify this area until Xavier arrives… I guess its best to take to the offensive… Kihia then started to charge his magical power as he primed himself to use one of his more unique spells, “Crystallized Wings of the Earthen Guardian…” Sudden two large wings of Crystal formed on Kihia’s back as four shards also formed from separate feathers and hung behind him. “I finally have perfected this spell… Now it is time to make use of my promise to that bird that helped me out so long ago…”

Kihia then took off flying at incredibly speeds as he rapidly approached the giants that just reached the first step. Kihia whipped out Icarus and channeled his magical power into it, “Ice Make Glaive…” The Glaive blade quickly formed on his weapon, and as he drew in, the first giant easily took notice but simply tried to swat him away with his massive hand. To which Kihia responded by slashing the giants hand which made it howl and rear back its hand. It then looked at Kihia as shards of ice suddenly started raining from the sky trying to impale Kihia, however the Frozen Knight quickly responded by doing defensive aerial maneuvers, at which Kihia grimaced, He had drawn the attention of one giant but the other two ignored their friends plight and continued on up the steps, “These things certainly live up to their name sake… I may have to stop pulling my punches… I only hope Xavier gets here safely…” Kihia then flew around to the front of the Giant he had been fighting with and started to inhale, “Of the Sacred voices of Ice and Crystal… Fuse yourselves together and become my call, Cease your Advance! Call of Crystallux!” Kihia then let loose a mighty breath attack of ice and crystal that impacted the giants chest making it start to fall back, “That will stun that one for a bit… but he won’t be out of the fight yet I believe…” Kihia then nodded and then started to fly towards the other two giants approaching the canyon.

In lieu to meeting with Kihia he was faced with what he had hoped wouldn’t have come so close to the village. The frost guants had already began their march, and had no intention of stopping. Like a mosquito Kihia went after one of them in particular and darted around it avoiding its lackadaisical telegraphed attacks and a shower of icy projectiles as he did quite a number on the first one, as it fell in seemingly slow motion to the ground causing a massive tremor sure to wake everyone nearby as it’s companions walked away without him.

“This is going to be quite a challenge…” He muttered under his breath staring off into the distance. Then he heard a familiar voice, a very annoying voice at that. Ironic to say considering it was his own within his head. “What are you doing, lummox? You’re wasting time!” Xavier glanced to his left, and there was a mirror image of him wearing his clothes in purple standing there with its arms crossed. “You again. I thought you didn’t care about people.”
“You’re right. You always are. But are you just going to let the eskimo show you up?” Suffice to say by now that all of this was only in Xavier’s head. The mirror image grinned cruelly. “Or perhaps… aww, isn’t that cute. Mean ol’ lightning dragon slayer still afraid of heights?”

Xavier put his full weight behind a punch that sent him barreling into nothing but air, as the image of him was behind him now, and he wouldn’t show it but he was blushing from embarrassment. “Don’t you worry your little childish head. I’ll take over for this one…” he finished taking a step inside of Xavier as he rejoined him. Xavier stood up from his crouched position, with that same canine toothed grin, and tossed aside the goggles on his head bolting at high speeds towards one of the giants. He closed the gap in literally seconds and unloaded several punches at him one after another. They didn’t hurt the giant at first, but they progressively hurt more and more. It reached out its hand, conjuring a snow gauntlet to crush him, and Xavier met it with his fist shoving it inside of its snowy mass. “Lightning Dragon: Lightning Bomb!” Xavier flew back in the explosion as the entire gauntlet seemed to evaporate.

Kihia noticed Xavier arriving on the ground and went to engage one of the Giants, at this Kihia nodded and went to engage the other one still walking towards the canyon. Kihia flew down in a dive and angled upward slightly so he was flying right at the Giants ankle level at high speeds, he then sent a large amount of his magical power to the glaive blade making it grow five times larger, directed the blade so it would cut across the Giants ankle leaving a giant gash. The Giant roared out in pain as it dropped down to one knee with a resounding crack as its knee it the ice. Kihia then flew upward regaining his high altitude as he began to survey the battle, Two of the giants were now on the ground for one reason or another, and the third giant was busy trying to fend off a feisty lightning dragon Slayer by the name of Xavier.

Kihia then nodded the fight was going well so far, however he then noticed the giant he initially assaulted was getting up and giving him a glare that spoke only of pure rage, he then noticed the ball of energy that had formed above the giant, “Perish you Insect! We are Gods of this Land!” Kihia frowned, suddenly understanding why they were probably frozen in ice in the first place, annoying beings who got it in their head they were superior. The giant then unleashed the beam of energy that flew right towards Kihia, “I guess its time to up the ante a bit…” Kihia then sent a mental command out to Icarus releasing all twelve shards, he then pointed Icarus at the incoming blast as the shards took on a cone shaped formation around the end. When the blast should of hit Kihia it was instead absorbed into Icarus, leaving the giant completely aghast, “I am sorry ancient one… you should have stayed in your prison…” The shards then took on a different formation. Then suddenly a sphere of magical energy appeared within the shards, it consisted not only of the absorbed spell but the blue energy of Kihia’s own magical power, “Find Peace where you go…” He then unleashed a powerful beam of magical energy that hurled back at the giant and then impacted its chest after traveling twenty meters, then it a detonated in a 100 meter wide explosion the encompassed Kihia yet didn’t reach either of the two giants or Xavier. After a second the light faded revealing the giant gone and Kihia flying high in the air with a shield of ice infront of him protecting him and his flying spell.

Xavier had to make a recovery after that counter-attack or else he end up splattering all of the ice beneath him. Ripping out his staff once more, he channeled his power through it to charge it up with great haste for one of its abilities. He spun it around him in a great show of skill, then poked the giant in his gut as he fell down. His whole body and equipment temporarily transformed into electricity and moved to the top of this giant’s head, panting due to his luck. The giant however didn’t seem to know that he was on top of him, so he had the element of surprise. Even then however, it was still rapidly approaching the village. He jumped from the giant’s head making sure to pass in front of its eyes, he casted a spell. “Lightning Dragon: Wing Attack!” Lightning formed like large whips from his arms, and whirled them around before bringing them down on the jerk’s face. He cringed, but endured the blow as Xavier landed on its chest, managing to grip on of its chest hairs before he went sliding off of him.

The giant, needless to say wasn’t impressed in the slightest. It rubbed the scorch marks off of its faces and didn’t even bother to regard Xavier. Reaching its hand up into the clouds, he began to shout. “By the winds and blizzards that rule dominant in these lands, I beseech you, give me aid. I call upon Vodrir! Cold steel bearer of frost, bane of the living filth. Hear my cry, your assistance is needed!” The clouds, as if under his control spiraled down from the sky swirling in a pillar. The giant flung Xavier down from his chest almost effortlessly, and clamped the pillar as it solidified as a mass of cold steel, with a glacier the size of the giant’s head flattened on one side used as the hammer’s head.Xavier landed on a tall cliffside of Ice that acted sort of like a plinth on out int middle of this terrain, and the giant aimed to bring his hammer down on the child, and crush him.

Kihia then turned his attention back to the giant Xavier was fighting and saw things had taken a turn for the worst, The Giant was summoning a weapon and Kihia had little time. He Flapped his wings as hard as he could flying and the same intense speed he did when he first took off. He spied the cliff Xavier landed on as the Giant started the motion to bring down the hammer, at that point Kihia dived with no regard for his own safety, he spread his focus to the ice Xavier was on and expanded it making a small plateau through his Cryokinesis. Kihia then landed right above Xavier and started to spin as Crystals started go out of his body, and ina instant a dome of Holy Crystal had formed around them both as the Giants hammer reached them…

There was a booming crash as the giant hammer impacted the dome and the ice underneath it cracked from the strain, Kihia however stood over Xavier panting heavily as well… as crying… “Forgive me Xavier…” His crystal wings were spread wide as he had been prepare to try and take the hit himself, the giant outside obvious dissatisfied with his initial hit began to rear his hammer back for another blow…. “I am sorry… for failing you…. The Guild…. I failed to protect you all… I failed to protect the master…” At this point Kihia was looking at the ground his head bowed in shame… “I understand… if your confidence in me has been shattered…. I apologize for any rifts or pain I caused for my failures…” He then went quiet as another blow was dealt to the dome making it start to crack, “If you will… and the others… allow me to restate my Vow on life… and live it… to protect you all… but in turn… I know I cannot do that by myself…. I just ask… Would you help me uphold my vow for the future and keep fighting by myside as well as the Guilds…” As he said this the Giant started to rear back the hammer once more for the finishing blow… or so he thought.

Getting to his feet. Xavier stayed quiet only shaking his head as Kihia spoke to him what sounded like a bunch of nonsense, looking dejected and upset about how he could do all this on his own and yadda yadda yadda. He slugged Kihia in the shoulder. “Damnit Kihia!” he almost choked on his words as if swearing actually hurt him inside. “Your one of the wisest guys I know, people, me among them come to you in our time of need. But I never heard you say anything so… inconceivable!” He stamped his foot and the sound echoed in this cramped space. “You’ve never been alone, Kihia! We’ve been by your side the entire way, fighting beside you! How can you be so blind!?” The ice giant finally raised the hammer all the way back up, even further this time thinking it would be the end. “We’ve never left your side! And you…” Xavier looked away from him in the moment to hide his face “…you’ve never left my side Kihia. You were always there for me. And I want to be there for you…” Tears were streaming down his face, and wiped his eyes. He didn’t like to get all emotional on people but speaking from his heart doesn’t really work akin to that motive. He tried his damnest to be some sort of cool guy someone that people could look up, get away from this childish image of his, so to speak but nobody could ever really see passed it. Nobody except for Kihia. “You’ve always been like a father to me…” That sentence hung the air for a while in silence, as the blizzard raged outside. The giant smiled at his quarry, as they sat still and appeared to await their fates in this little bubble shield. “You’ve been a nuisance to me and my fellow giants. But you both brave enough to take us on, these great beings and for that, I’ll make your death swift!” he called to them.

Kihia closed his eyes as Xavier spoke up, berating him for being blind… something Iarok used to do often when Kihia entered into a depression. He remembered back to one of the old mans lectures, and then moved on to every moment with Lamia Scale, Clustering Wishes, and all of his new family, I was an idiot wasn’t I… always heading into battle first… to make sure I provided cover… That’s one lesson the old man couldn’t have taught me… for that I thank you Xavier and the rest of Lamia Scale…. I thank you from the bottem of my heart… Kihia then looked up tears still rolling down his face, his eyes hidden by his hair… “Thank you Xavier… now… let us fight…”

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At that moment the hammer hit the dome shattering it and creating a giant snowcloud in its wake… The giant held its massive hammer there in satisfaction thinking he removed the nuisances, however he noticed something was off, his hammer hadn’t hit the ice, and was being held back by something.

---

Kihia stood there a gigantic magical pressure was being emitted from his body that had undergone a drastic transformation, strands of his hair had turned into either holy ice or crystal, and veins of both elements could be seen on his face and neck as a layer of ice and crystal started to cover his entire body…

“As ONE!” Kihia then reared back his right fist his arm of ice acting more responsive than normal being completely fused to his body, he then thrusted his fist forward as he struck the hammer a truly gigantic blast of magical energy enveloped and then destroyed the entire hammer head, he then spread his wings out wide, “Xavier I have an idea for a combination attack… get on my back and use one of the spells you would use to charge at an opponent…” Kihia then adapted a low stance as he sent a gigantic amount of magical power to his arms, “Glacier Demon Secret Art!” He would the wait for a moment for Xavier to possibly jump on his back before lifting off as snow started to envelope him and his potential passenger, “Heavens Piercing Whiteout!” His forearms turned into gigantic glaive blades that he then pointed infront of him and made himself into one gigantic spearhead that was headed straight for the giants chest.

Xavier without hesitation clambers onto Kihia’s back, the wind rubbing the tears out of his eyes and he proudly observes as they ascend quickly towards the giant’s level. Then as the snow starts to get a little annoying, Xavier sets himself free from the back of his friend, and calls upon his own spell. “Lightning Dragon: Static Comet!” he shouted, almost directed at this giant. Xavier himself in enveloped in electricity too, as he gained speed himself, catching up to Kihia and basically orbiting around him as the approached the giant. In response the giant angrily swung his hammer around, trying to hit them, but Xavier separated from Kihia and swarmed the guy to distract him while Kihia set up the strike, buzzing around his head as the giant swatted him like a fly.
“If you think you’ve already won this fight, we’re going to show you just how wrong you are!” He rejoined with Kihia once the big idiot was sufficiently dazed. “We fight as one. The spearhead lance of the knight, and the dragon’s ballistic comet!” The two torpedo like attacks swirled into a massive attack that look oddly reminiscent to a falling star streaking through a night sky. Crashing into the giant, who tried to withstand the force, slipped on all of the ice and was carried through the air by the attack, crushing mounds of ice and snow in their wake and many more. When he finally fell to the ground the vibrations shook all the way back to the village, and Xavier felt elated, almost like he could feel the smiles of those people so far away. The giant reached out a hand to them as they were just on his stomach, but lacking the strength he passed out, and his fist once again crashed to the ground. “We can’t settle down just yet, there’s still one more to deal with.” Xavier’s smile faded however when he looked to the very last, and injured giant.

Kihia hovered high in the air after their initial attack hit home leaving the giant that tried to squash them both had left it on its back on the ground unconscious, He then unhooked the two blades and held them at his sides, and stared at the last giant. Kihia unaware of the drastic changes of his own body due to the surge of magical power that came from being a Hybrid slayer took a step forward as he bent down and got ready to take off once again, his wings grew wide as he prepared, “Xavier… if you want to do that again… this time don’t separate from me… I have an idea…” Kihia would wait to see if Xavier would jump on his back.

If he did Kihia would yet again fuse the two giant glaive blades together and take off with a resounding whoosh from the flap of his crystalline wings. Onward they would fly as the snow quickly built up around Kihia and Xavier he would then command the shards from his wings to cover his front, “Now hang on tight!” Kihia would then flap his wings harder and harder picking up speed but then started to spin his body in a lateral motion.

In turn the snow around Kihia responded as it swirled fiercer and fiercer around him making him and Xavier look like a giant drill made out of snow. The Giant in turn responded with the same beam attack his predecessor had attempted. However Kihia made no attempt to dodge it as it first hit the crystal shards and shattered them and then went on to Kihia and Xavier, however…

The spinning motion they were in was creating such a force that they were literally drilling through the beam straight for the giants chest area, Kihia then started to push hard with his wings making them go faster and faster until they looked nothing more than a spinning blur heading straight for the giant.

Xavier like before obliged, and climbed onto Kihia’s back. It worked so well the last time there’s no reason not to continue. Spinning like a drill and piercing the laser-like beam with basically nothing barred, despite the opposing forces they sailed like a dream toward the giant. Eventually it gave up on the beam and went to swat at them as they came into contact, a little slow on his part as Kihia and Xavier pounded directly into his chest. The two bore a hole straight through to the back of the giant’s chest, needless to say landing behind it like bad asses. Xavier got off of Kihia, and looked back at the giant as it shivered in its last moments, feeling the cold of death’s embrace. It was made rather quick when a gory explosion went off inside of the hole, and Xavier had to guess it was probably his heart that was just removed. Showering blood about the snow, and Xavier turned away. He couldn’t bare to watch this sight. The loud rumbling thud soon followed as the giant’s body fell to the snow, and a shroud of dirty snow poured over them momentarily.

In the confusion of it all, that same mirror image was back staring at Xavier when he had finished panicking. “I thought I told you I wasn’t going to kill anymore!”

He only grinned at Xavier. “Maybe you did. I probably wasn’t listening.”

“You’re ruining this mission, it could have been resolved without them dying out in such a brutal way!” Xavier’s hand motions spoke more of his emotional state that his mirror image, who’s hands didn’t move at all.

“Oh come on, don’t be so prissy all the time Xavier, you know damn well this is how things work around here. There’s a problem, you eliminate it. You can’t hope the world will just get better if you but the villains in time out.”

“THAT’S NOT HOW IT WORKS!!!” The volume of his voice probably started an avalanche somewhere.

“Don’t you understand Xavier? Deep down you know it’s true… we wouldn’t be having this conversation if you didn’t feel that way,” He slowly walked towards Xavier as the snows started to dissipate. “After all… I’m technically you…” he finished as he melded back inside of Xavier. Kihia would only find him still with tears on his face standing absently in the snow.