Hill Giant

"I'm gonna eat you!" An excited roar echoed down from the hillside. Over five meters tall with coarse brown skin, it wielded a freshly uprooted tree still caked with mud as a crude weapon. It was clad in untanned animal pelts roughly bound together with fur and leather thongs. Sweat dripped onto the rancid hides, giving off an overwhelming stench—it was a hill giant. Hill giants were selfish, dim-witted brutes who dwelt in hills and valleys, often congregating in wooden steads or slat huts throughout the mountains. They hunted, scavenged, and pillaged everywhere solely to sate their gluttony. Prowling across hills and forests, they threw themselves into hunting prey and bullying the weak. If not for their massive stature and bottomless brute strength, these lazy, sluggish creatures would have gone extinct long ago. And now, food had apparently delivered itself right to its doorstep. The hill giant licked its lips, foul-smelling drool dribbling from the corners of its mouth. Ever since that freakishly enormous ogre led a horde of monsters to drive the hill giants out of their valley, they had been roaming the fringes of the Storm Heights day after day, scavenging rotten scraps or devouring passing humans. This greedy hill giant had not eaten a hearty meal in ages, and now presented a prime opportunity. [Based on your personal strength, you can observe the following information:] Greedy Hill Giant Huge giant, chaotic evil AC: 13 (natural armor) HP: 105 Strength: 21 Dexterity: 8 Constitution: 19 Intelligence: 5 Wisdom: 9 Charisma: 6 Senses: passive Perception 12 Actions: Multiattack, Greatclub, Rock, Bite Challenge Rating: 5 (1,800 XP) Mantou remarked in awe, "This mob is pretty tough. Can we actually take it?" Singo sneered, "What are you scared of? With our setup, we can steamroll it with basic attacks alone. We came here just to power-level you. Believe me, if you weren't under level four, it'd already be dead." "Fine, fine. Just make sure we don't end up wiping and eating our words." At the foot of the slope was the "Dragon Bloodline Quartet." Having seen their party's strength skyrocket, they had taken on the highest-difficulty quest available—defeating the hill giant terrorizing the farms. The official system recommended a Challenge Rating of five for this quest. Even a pro player like Singo had only barely scraped together enough experience to hit level four through endless, round-the-clock grinding, while the vast majority of players still lingered at level one or two. Watching the hill giant charge down the slope brandishing the massive tree, Singo did not panic in the slightest. "Brother Zhankuang, you and Qiuyu keep it pinned down. Mantou and I will hit it from the air." Tiansheng Zhankuang nodded crisply. "Got it." With that, Singo and Mantou leaped onto their mounts, urging their wyverns into the sky. Tiansheng Zhankuang strode forward to meet the enemy without a moment's hesitation. Faced with a foe towering far above him, he showed no fear whatsoever. Back in his day, he had sliced through interstellar beasts; in his eyes, a giant like this was nothing. He had chosen the Path of the Berserker for his barbarian. To a barbarian, raging was a means of reaching the absolute limit—the pinnacle of violence. The Berserker path pursued bloodshed and untamed fury. When entering a berserker rage, players thrilled in the chaotic ecstasy of battle, abandoning all regard for their own safety. "Aaaarrrgh—!" Tiansheng Zhankuang threw back his head and roared, flying into a rage. Instantly, his eyes turned blood-red. His muscles bulged dramatically with pulsing veins, and an aura of bloody mist radiated from his entire body. In his frenzy, Tiansheng Zhankuang charged feverishly up to the hill giant, leaped high into the air, and raised his greataxe. "Frenzied Strike!" The greataxe cleaved through the air, driven by tremendous force. Yet because the giant was so massive, the descending blow could only manage to strike its chest. Even the hill giant was momentarily startled by this aggressive "little person." But as soon as it realized it had been spooked by such a tiny creature—and that the thing did not even fear it—a hideously ferocious rage twisted its ugly face. "I—I'm gonna smash you into paste!" The hill giant swung the massive tree horizontally to parry the axe, then shoved forward with all its might. The colossal impact sent Tiansheng Zhankuang and his axe flying backward through the air. He crashed heavily to the ground while his greataxe buried itself into the soil nearby. Despite being knocked away, he showed no sign of backing down. Instead, a spark of manic joy and zeal flared in his blood-red eyes at meeting a worthy foe. "Aaaarrrgh—!" Tiansheng Zhankuang wrenched the greataxe from the earth and charged forward once more, eyes blazing red. "Wait up for a second—!" A crisp female voice called out from behind, but Tiansheng Zhankuang charged on as if deaf to the world. Behind him, Xiaye Qiuyu buried her face in her hand and sighed. Berserkers were great at everything—hitting hard and taking hits—except that once they raged, they stopped listening and only knew how to charge like reckless maniacs. Fortunately, she kept pace behind him and cast a spell. *Enlarge.* Tiansheng Zhankuang's body swelled abruptly, shooting up from nearly two meters tall to almost four. His weapon and the animal furs he wore expanded along with him. Though still slightly smaller than the hill giant, he was now practically in the same weight class. Feeling his perspective rise, Tiansheng Zhankuang let out a booming laugh and leaped high once more. Only this time, his downward chop was aimed not at the chest, but straight at the head. The dim-witted hill giant knew nothing of magic, but it recognized that the "little person" had grown and posed a serious threat. With a furious roar, the giant brought both arms down, smashing the tree forward. *Clang!* The blunt edge of the axe collided with the tree trunk, vibrating violently as Tiansheng Zhankuang hit the ground. Still, the hill giant held the absolute upper hand in brute force, steadily pressing the axe and Tiansheng Zhankuang downward. "Aganazzar's Scorcher!" Xiaye Qiuyu parted her lips, unleashing a surging line of roaring flames that struck the giant's massive frame square-on while it was locked in place. The hill giant's right shoulder was scorched pitch-black. Howling in agony, it gaped its rancid maw, its grip on the tree slackening for a brief instant. That momentary lapse was all the opening Tiansheng Zhankuang needed. He knocked the giant's tree aside with a sweep of his arm and swung his three-meter-long greataxe savagely into its shoulder. *Slash!* The greataxe cleaved right through the charred shoulder, severing the entire right arm in one clean blow. The massive, thick arm thumped onto the ground and rolled into the dirt. Warm, viscous blood splattered across Tiansheng Zhankuang's face. Far from being disgusted, his expression grew even more manic. "Aaaargh—I'm gonna kill you!" The giant threw its head back in an agonized bellow, driven completely berserk and senseless by the loss of its limb. It grabbed the axe lodged in its flesh, flung it a dozen meters away, and lunged forward to lock Tiansheng Zhankuang in the most primitive, brutal brawl imaginable. The two "giants" grappled together, trading knees, fists, headbutts, and even teeth—using every dirty trick available. In the sky above, Singo looked down at the battle and said to Mantou, "See, what did I tell you? If you don't make a move soon, Brother Zhankuang's gonna beat this hill giant to death with his bare hands. Once he rages, he never listens to reason—he only cares about having a blast." Mantou stared down at Tiansheng Zhankuang, who was drenched in blood and looked ready to devour the giant whole. He clicked his tongue in amazement. "Holy crap... Brother Zhankuang is an absolute beast..." Singo cut him off crisply. "Cut the crap and prep your charge." "On it," Mantou said. He skillfully guided his wyvern, setting it into a diving posture. *Screeech—* The screech of a wyvern cut through the sky. The hill giant, currently pinning Tiansheng Zhankuang beneath its bulk and raining down frenzied blows, paid no heed to the strange sound, venting all its rage over its severed arm. Even enlarged, Tiansheng Zhankuang's strength fell far short of the hill giant's. Furthermore, his rage had run its course, plunging him into exhaustion. Soloing a higher-CR monster was an ordeal even for a top-tier pro like him. Besides, he had backup waiting. And his goal was never to take the kill for himself. Bruised and battered, Tiansheng Zhankuang looked up from the dirt. When he spotted the wyverns descending from above, a savage grin spread across his face. As the wyverns dove, Singo drew his bow and nocked an arrow. A complex purple glyph manifested on the hill giant's arm—Hunter's Mark. *Twang—* A razor-sharp arrow flashed through the air, piercing straight through the glowing glyph on the giant's left arm and bursting through the other side with a spray of blood. Under the influence of the purple glyph, blood gushed from the wound in torrential spurts. "Who's there!" Struck from behind, the maddened giant threw back its head and roared, twisting around to glare at the airborne wyvern rider with bloodshot eyes. "Die!" The hill giant snatched up a boulder from the ground and hurled it at Singo. Its immense strength sent the stone—far too heavy for ordinary men to even budge—flying toward the airborne enemy with ease. Yet Singo nimbly barrel-rolled his mount through the air, dodging the hair-raising projectile. The boulder traced a graceful arc through the sky, plunging toward the ground below. Singo shouted, "Mantou!" Singo's strike had merely been a feint! The true lethal blow was coming from behind! Still locked in the throwing posture from putting all its strength into the toss, the hill giant suddenly heard a resounding roar from behind. *Roar—!* Mantou dove at breakneck speed from the giant's blind spot, his wyvern tucking its wings tight. Crouching low, Mantou clamped the six-meter-long lance firmly under his arm. He could feel the wind roaring past his ears. At such blistering speed, his heart pounded violently, flooded with unbridled adrenaline. "Give me your life!" Mantou bellowed. Dragon Roar Charge activated. The lance aimed straight for the back of the giant's massive skull. Under the sheer kinetic force of the diving wyvern knight, immense power surged to the tip of the lance, enveloped in a glowing crimson draconic aura. In an instant, gore erupted. The lance ripped through the hill giant's tough hide, punched clean through its dense skull and filthy brain matter, and burst out through its gaping, hideous mouth. The hill giant's roar was choked off mid-bellow, and its massive carcass crashed to the ground. *Thud!* Mantou flourished his lance with flair. Beneath him, his wyvern, Noodles, snapped its wings wide to brake, catching an updraft to soar swiftly back into the sky. Notifications flashed across his interface: [You have slain a Greedy Hill Giant, gaining 1,800 XP.] [Your class level has increased to Level 4.] His heart was still racing with adrenaline. Posing dramatically with his chin held high, Mantou declared, "The wine is still warm, and the enemy general's head has been taken!" He circled the air a few times before finally touching down. Mantou immediately began to gloat smugly, "Sing-dog, tell me that wasn't badass!" Singo threw cold water on him. "If a scrub like you hadn't been lagging behind on hitting level four, my arrow would've gone through its head, and Brother Zhankuang's axe would've taken its neck." Mantou instantly drooped his head in defeat. Tiansheng Zhankuang picked himself up from the ground, rubbing his bald head. "Damn, that thing was strong. Felt like I couldn't have beaten it one-on-one." Xiaye Qiuyu surveyed the devastated ground, nodding with lingering dread. Her Constitution wasn't high; a single solid hit from that hill giant would have turned her into paste. Before long, she looked over with a bewildered expression. "Singo, what... what are you doing?" She saw him clutching the giant's rank severed arm like a prized treasure. He even sniffed it, looking as though he wanted to take a bite. Singo replied matter-of-factly, "This is top-tier loot. Hill giant fingers can be brewed into a Potion of Hill Giant Strength to boost your Strength to twenty-one." "Twenty-one? That good?!" Tiansheng Zhankuang's interest was piqued instantly. He hurried over to join Singo, showing not the slightest disgust as he inspected the foul-smelling giant remains. Even the wyvern circling overhead touched down nearby out of curiosity—though it wasn't there for research. "Hey, hey! Wyvern, get your snout away! It's a complete waste feeding this to you!" Xiaye Qiuyu: "..." By the time they finished harvesting the materials, the ground was a complete mess. Singo's backpack was bulging at the seams, and a delighted grin stretched across his face—a truly bountiful harvest. However, the rank stench clinging to him smelled like someone who hadn't bathed in years, forcing Xiaye Qiuyu to quietly take several steps back. Suddenly, Singo adopted a mysterious tone. "Do you know what the next main quest is going to be?" Mantou snapped, "Sing-dog, cut the suspense and spit it out." Singo slowly uttered a single word: "War." Xiaye Qiuyu asked curiously, "How do you know?" Singo explained, "I spent three days in Dragon Valley at Cinder Nest's headquarters. Unlike a certain scrub who just blindly grinds quests, I kept an eye on what was happening in the valley." He paused for a beat, then continued, "Almost every single day, the hobgoblins and lizardfolk are running military drills. In a setting with a tech level close to the Middle Ages, drilling an army every day is exceedingly abnormal." Mantou chimed in hurriedly, "I heard those sounds too!" Tiansheng Zhankuang said, "So what you're saying is our next main storyline is going to be an all-out war?" Singo nodded. "Exactly, and it won't be on a small scale. As Redscale Conquerors—our faction subclass—Mantou and I should have a massive role to play."