Growth Hero

by Brent Tyman

  “We have more space, thanks to you,” Juliana smiled.

  She was about to say more when the distinct sound of an Ogre screaming at the top of its lungs caused us to pause as we turned to survey the battlefield. That definitely sounded more like something in their strange language than some primordial expression of rage, but then something else caught my eye.

  Fear shone in the eyes of our foe.

  The Ogres, instead of fighting, tried to smash through our line with their muscular bodies. That worked against some of our men, but was less effective against the Beastkin, who simply struck back with merciless intent.

  The reason for this change in strategy became apparent when a figure blocked the small amount of light at the end of the Ogre’s side of the tunnel.

  Juliana and I had to fight off several Ogres who tried to push past us before I managed to see what was going on. As soon as I saw the cold, triangular yellow eye staring back at me, the blood in my veins chilled.

  “Oh jeez,” I hissed.

  What looked like a giant Golem bellowed out a deafening roar as the Ogres tried in vain to push beyond our line. Its head was nearly as big as the tunnel entrance and it thrust out a giant hand to crush an Ogre that dared attack it, leaving only a pile of grey sludge in its wake.

  Its eye returned to the tunnel that housed so many of us and it let out one last roar before charging forward, head down, blasting through the tunnel towards us.

  “We have to go!” I shouted, pulling Juliana with me. “Retreat!”

  “The mages aren’t ready with their collapsing magic,” Clarissa said. “Surely…”

  I grabbed Clarissa and threw caution to the wind, scooping her up onto my right shoulder, before doing the same to Juliana on my left.

  “Hey! What the…” Clarissa squawked, before she saw the Golem barreling up the tunnel.

  “Don’t think we need to worry about collapsing the damn tunnel!” I yelled as I sprinted back to the west gate.

  “Alex, you don’t need to carry me!” Juliana protested. “And that Titan can’t be real. It must be an illusion spell.”

  I wasn’t having any of that and just kept running.

  I saw Anny in front of us and shouted at her to retreat as well. Her speed helped her to blur away to safety, which was a comfort to me at least.

  The soldiers retreated with me, finally catching sight of the Golem. I wasn’t able to look back, but there were Ogres running along with us, no doubt wishing to survive this, as well. They didn’t bother attacking as I sprinted as fast as my legs would take me.

  As soon as the light from the furnaces lit my face, I dashed off at a right angle, trying to get away from the tunnel as fast as I could.

  I only stopped when I got behind a building on a side street, where I finally set the two women down.

  “You know that my speed is faster than yours,” Juliana said, crossing her arms. “I should have been the one carrying you.”

  “I liked it,” Clarissa murmured. “Alex’s strong arms around me…”

  There were still Beastkin, Humans and Ogres retreating from the tunnel. The Ogres were cut down by the archers, at least the ones who veered off from the tunnel entrance.

  “Did you see that thing!” I exclaimed. “This whole situation just got a lot more complicated.”

  “As I said before Alex,” Juliana said. “That was the image of a Titan, and it simply cannot be here. They live far deeper than even the Demons in terms of Dungeon floors. That was an illusion, there is not a doubt in my mind.”

  “I agree, handsome,” Clarissa said, and I wanted to slap my forehead right there. “It looked like an illusion. Ogres can sometimes be tricksy.”

  “We’ve lost our advantage in the tunnel, and will have to defend the barricades…” Juliana trailed off as her so called illusionary Titan barreled out from the west gate tunnel, crushing any soldier and Ogre who happened to be in its path.

  The sturdy walls that the Beastkin had erected around the gate exploded as the Titan’s massive form smashed through them. It roared as it crashed through the barricades we had helped build earlier and charged straight into the town, unchallenged.

  Both women froze as they watched the Titan swing its arms, knocking over buildings with archers on their roofs, causing many a Beastkin to fall to their deaths.

  “That still look like an illusion to you?” I asked.

  “It can’t be…” Juliana mumbled. “This can’t be happening.”

  “What a downer,” Clarissa muttered. “I didn’t think this little underground adventure would spell my end.”

  25

  The entire town was in chaos, as soldiers simultaneously tried to flee from the Titan, while fighting off Ogres who were doing the same. Whatever semblance of order we’d had before, was long gone.

  Anny blurred into view. She was visibly shaking in her boots.

  “Alex, Clarissa, what do we do?!” she asked, frightened. “I thought the dark aura was just the Ogres getting more angry. I’m so sorry I didn’t see it sooner!”

  “What else is there to do?” Clarissa asked. “This fight is lost and so is the town. The only thing we can do is help the Beastkin escape this mess.”

  “We still don’t have a way to get back to the surface,” Juliana reasoned. “Where would we take them?”

  “Preferably anywhere but here. Isn’t that right, handsome?”

  I was too preoccupied observing the Titan to answer.

  From behind this building, I moved around to continue watching the Titan as it wreaked havoc on anything and anyone in its way and noticed something. To me, it looked like a giant Golem made from a gray material, with vein-like cracks along its exterior that shone with yellow light.

  Arrows failed to penetrate its skin, and swords were useless for the poor souls that were brave enough to attack it. It looked to be indestructible from any normal person’s point of view.

  There were however some quirks I had picked up on already. The Titan had only one eye, with the other one seemingly closed shut from damage.

  There were multiple openings on its back and shoulders that exposed the yellow material that made up its insides. From the distinct pattern of injuries, it seemed like something bigger than it had tried to bite down on its body.

  The thought that there was something else, something even deadlier that had tried to eat this Titan and was now off somewhere, chilling on its own, send a chill down my spine.

  The Titan was humanoid in shape and its head was rounded. There were distinct cuts around its forehead, which also suggested damage from an earlier encounter. Its face was as still as a statue, with the exception of its mouth, which it used to roar constantly, despite it appearing like its mouth was fused together when it was closed.

  Maybe…

  “I have a plan,” I said, turning back to the two women. “We can take down the Titan.”

  “That’s impossible, Alex,” Juliana reasoned. “Ogres and Demons were pushing our limits, but Titans are in a league of their own.”

  “Yeah, handsome, this might not be a fight you can punch your way through.”

  “I’m sure this Titan is already injured, and with a little luck, we can put an end to it and save the town.”

  “How?” both women asked as one.

  “There are openings in its back to that yellow material, which we normally can’t reach,” I said. “But if we use the furnaces…”

  Juliana’s eyes widened while Clarissa smirked in understanding.

  “Oooh, that’s devious, handsome,” Clarissa said.

  “We would not be able to get up to those furnaces on our own,” Juliana said. “How would we pour the contents?”

  “Don’t you get it, Juliana?” Clarissa said, her smirk turning into a grin. “How good is your aim these days?”

  Juliana tilted her head in thought before instantly shaking her head. “That’s madness!” she squeaked. “We… I could end up dropping the entire ceiling on us.”

&nb
sp; “That would be preferable to being eaten by a Titan,” Clarissa quipped.

  “I’m sure a big enough fireball on the pipes would be enough for the furnaces to drop off,” I said. “If we line it up just right, the Notranal liquid should cause some serious damage, if not end the Titan outright. Trust me, Juliana, this can work.”

  Juliana thought it over for a moment and eventually nodded.

  “Very well. I’ll do my best. Where should we lead the Titan?”

  “It looks like the middle of the town has the most furnaces above it. It’s also heading that way, so I think we are good to just follow it, for now,” I said.

  “What about me, Alex?” Anny asked. “Anything I can do to help, I will. Even if I really don’t want to be anywhere near that Titan.”

  She was still shaking, but I knew Anny wouldn’t run off, in spite of her fear.

  “That Pathfinding skill of yours will be perfect to find a route through all this,” I said, indicating the rapidly deteriorating town. “There’s rubble flying everywhere.”

  “Exactly why no one wants a Titan anywhere near them,” Clarissa added. “They always cause a mess.”

  Anny agreed to lead the way, and we all headed through the narrow streets and maneuvered over fresh piles of rubble towards the center of town.

  I had expected to have to face off against more Ogres on the way, but despite the hundreds of Ogres in the tunnel, the Titan had apparently crushed most of them in its rapid charge into the town.

  Most of the fighting was very spread out and other than Juliana casting a quick fireball on an Ogre who was fleeing from the Titan, I didn’t have to lift a finger. We did, however, help whoever we came across who was in dire straits.

  There were multiple Beastkin we had to drag out of their ruined homes to the comparative safety of any buildings that were still standing, all the while directing them to flee to the edge of town.

  “So much devastation,” Juliana lamented.

  “Ahh, it’s horrible,” Anny agreed. “I always thought Titans were a myth.”

  “To think there is a Titan so close to the surface,” Clarissa murmured. “The rest of my retinue might not believe it.”

  Clarissa turned to me and gripped my arm. “Remember to lay claim to its drops, handsome,” she said. “That yellow stuff will go for hundreds of gold coins.”

  I could almost see Clarissa’s eyes gleam at the thought of all that coin, and I raised an eyebrow. Wasn’t she already wealthy, being an heir to a nation? I doubted that hot spring in her bedroom came cheap.

  “Finally!” Juliana shouted, drawing our attention and that of a few Beastkin who were fleeing. “Vencia finally replied to me.”

  “How are they?” I asked, and Juliana paused as she read through her Clan Messages.

  “They had been fighting Ogres all this time and only now have had a respite and a chance to respond. She wants to know where we are, as it is difficult to navigate the tunnels using the Clan location finder itself.”

  “Surely it would be trivial for your retainers to follow the rubble generated by that Titan,” Clarissa remarked. “Its size is quite impressive, like Alex’s equipment.”

  “Ahh, you mean Alex’s armor?” Anny asked and Clarissa grinned at her, a twinkle in her eye.

  “You know Anny, his other piece of equipment. We talked about this.”

  Anny’s eyes went wide and she turned bright red, the flush extending up her neck all the way to the tips of her ears.

  Juliana rolled her eyes at the display.

  I just shook my head and chalked it up to Clarissa being Clarissa. Even a Titan couldn’t repress her seemingly endless remarks.

  “Anny, please see if you can see them with your skill. I’ll see if I can relay them general directions to the town,” Juliana requested, and Anny nodded.

  While both women talked quietly amongst themselves, I observed the Titan once more as we approached the freshest scenes of destruction. The rubble from the destroyed buildings gave us plenty of cover, though it did slow us down.

  The Titan had settled into the center of town, idly laying waste to anything it spotted that so much as twitched in its line of sight. It roared as it swiped its arm, smashing through a stone house with reckless abandon.

  We were getting close. I helped the women as we navigated the last street filled with rubble. The Titan would surely see us if it turned around. We had to be quick.

  “You have everything sorted on your end, Juliana?” I asked as I peeked around a corner of the debris. The Titan was in plain sight, about two hundred feet further and facing away from me.

  “Yes, Vencia and the others are on their way. Perhaps it would be best to wait for them?” Juliana asked, and I shook my head.

  “The longer we wait, the more damage it will do. There are still Beastkin all over the town and they won’t last much longer if we do nothing.”

  “What now, handsome?” Clarissa asked.

  I looked at the ceiling for the most optimal spacing of furnaces. I was seeking a cluster of them that would spill the maximum amount of molten Notranal out in the vicinity of the Titan —preferably onto the creature itself. I settled on a row of furnaces stacked quite close together a few feet past where the Titan now stood.

  “Right there!” I pointed. “That’s where we need it.”

  I turned back to the ladies after they’d each had a look.

  “Alright, here’s the plan. I’ll approach the Titan and aggro it so that it focuses on me. Clarissa, do you have any attack spells at all?”

  “Of course,” she said, “You know, you can just look at the Clan management page to see my spells.”

  I could?

  “I don’t really have anything worth much, though, other than my heals,” Clarissa admitted with a frown. “I do have a silly spell my tutor taught me. It’s a weak shock spell that I can only use at close range. I’ve never needed to use it before.”

  “How close?” I asked, and Clarissa stepped up to me, standing only a whisper away.

  “Very, very close,” she breathed huskily in my ear before stepping back. “Again, useless for the most part. I doubt it would even tickle that Titan.”

  “We can try it out,” I said. “Any sort of distraction is welcome. Anny can kite the Titan to take a bit of pressure off me, if necessary, while Juliana gets into position to bring the furnaces down on top of it.”

  “When should I act? Once the Titan is there?” Juliana asked, pointing in the direction of the furnaces I’d indicated before. “It will take me a few moments to charge up enough of a fireball to destroy the furnaces. What if it moves away?”

  “That’s the thing, once we get it into position, the rest of us have to do all we can to keep it in place,” I said.

  “I see.”

  “Any other questions?” I asked, but no one had anything else to say.

  “Alright, time to slay a Titan,” I growled.

  I gripped my sword tighter as I peered around the corner again, where the Titan sat munching on the body of an Ogre that had somehow reached all this way into town. The sight looked incredibly weird—I wondered how the Titan could even digest an Ogre.

  “Well, here goes nothing,” I muttered to myself as I advanced. It felt strange walking up to where the Titan crouched, slowly munching.

  I only had a few moments before it would most likely run off, destroying more of the town in the process. With this in mind, I raised my sword and sprinted forward, jumping over the debris in my way.

  The Titan must have heard me as it turned its head so that its one eye could get a better look at me. My immediate thought was to go for that eye, and I yelled as I swung as soon as I got close.

  Unfortunately, the Titan raised its head just in time, leaving me to strike at its idle leg instead. I had expected for my sword to do nothing at all, but its limb cracked audibly under my Strength empowered strike.

  I don’t think I caused the Titan much pain, if any, but it reacted as if I had wounded i
t fatally. It reared back in shock before raising its arm to swipe at me. I managed to duck just in time, its arm crashing into a building near me, causing more rubble to fly all over the place.

  The Titan roared its terrible rage, the sound almost deafening me as it raised up to its full height, lifting its hand in a fist to crush me.

  It was fast, but a quick roll to the side caused the Titan to miss me entirely, its fist smashing into the ground and making an impressive crater.

  It roared again, even louder this time, and my eardrums felt like they were on the verge of bursting. I gritted my teeth as I quickly circled around the Titan, trying to avoid its feet in the process.

  The Titan turned around to follow me, each step it made a booming thump that shook the ground. As loud as its footsteps were, they sounded hollow in comparison to my thundering heart. The amount of adrenaline in my system felt almost tangible, as I ran.

  I stopped at the point I had decided upon earlier and waited for the Titan to come to me. I hoped it would stop to swipe at me again, but it sped up its pace and I hissed when I realized it was going to try and crush me underfoot.

  I barreled out of the way as the Titan howled in its effort to stomp me with its giant feet. Despite my miserable Speed stat, I was fast enough to dodge its attempts to flatten me, but only just.

  The Titan spun around. It was clearly growing increasingly more frustrated at its failure to end me—even though its expression never changed. I realized that it was slightly beyond the point I needed it to be, thanks to its reckless charge.

  I needed to come up with a way to keep it stationary and occupied.

  Thankfully, a blur morphed into Anny’s form as she appeared in front of the Titan. I could see she was terrified but also determined.

  “Take this!” she shouted as she whacked the Titan with a thin dagger. It didn’t come close to penetrating its stone skin, but enraged the Titan just the same. Anny’s form disappeared as the Titan dropped a fist down on where she had stood.

  It looked confused, not comprehending where she had gone. It stared in puzzlement at the empty crater its fist had made.