Spending My Retirement In A Game

Eisen frowned. A real man? There's a cult that believes that the statue wasn't created by someone, but was instead a giant that simply turned to stone on their own? He couldn't come to a conclusion just based off this, obviously, so he had to learn more.

"What happened that day? When that gang or cult, whichever you want to call it, showed that 'illusion' to the people of this city?" The old man asked. One of the two giants scoffed, "They tried to convince us 'twas bleedin', they did!"

Bleeding. That definitely wasn't a lot to go off of. Not only was something like that easy to fake, with something like paint or even rather basic illusion magic, as one of the giants had suggested, but there were also other, more natural reasons for something similar to blood to be coming out from the statue.

It was massive enough for there to be giant pockets of water scattered around in there, and if some of those were adjacent to rich veins of iron ore, then with just some small, pre-existing cracks, enough air could have come in to oxidize that iron ore and make the rust bleed into the water.

Or maybe there was some monster burrowing through the enhanced stone that was simply wounded or killed when that chunk of stone fell off. Though, that would be its own issue altogether. Monsters burrowing through the statue holding up the roof above the city was more than just dangerous, so if that were the truth behind the matter, then the monsters should have been taken care of already.

"But why are you saying this gang caused that? Did they actively attack the statue?"

"Well, there's some maniacs that try to every once in a while. 'twas the first time they actually managed to do it in a couple hundred years. Hasn't happened since then either."

Eisen thought, running his hand through his beard. In that case, the attackers must have been more than just a simple gang. Highly organized and skilled individuals would be needed for something like that, since the statue was covered in multiple layers of protective magic and barriers. When Eisen used his Truth-Seeing eye, the statue was basically lit up like Times Square in New York.

And he couldn't imagine that this was just added after the attack either. Nobody would be stupid enough to leave something like that completely unprotected, just waiting for the worst case scenario. After all, someone at Eisen's level of power should be able to find a way to destroy that statue as long as there wasn't any direct protection cast on it like there was now.

At this point, Eisen doubted anyone would be able to get through there. It would be tough even if him and the other Originals worked together on it, though they should manage with time. That showed that 'gang' was probably anything but the correct thing to use for the people that damaged the statue.

And obviously, it wasn't like it was impossible for it to be the truth. Eisen knew that the curse that was placed on the Giants was one that wholly changed their bodies if they broke through a certain barrier. There was a reason why so many people though Askr was a real giant. The only issue there was that the statue's scale was simply far, far too massive.

While a giant could still grow to a certain extent beyond their natural-born size using their racial skills, just as they could shrink to the size of a human, that was vastly limited. The amount of energy that it took to do so would grow immeasurably at an exponential rate.

That was why Eisen was able to raise this ability to a point where he could grow to half the size of a regular giant incredibly quickly, but reaching this the point he was at now took basically twice as long as that. A giant that was able to reach that height would have to be extremely unique.

If they possessed a special sort of magic that assisted their growth or some hidden ability, of which there were so incredibly many in this world, it would certainly be possible. And if that person then broke through the 'barrier', they might end up turning into such a statue before they knew it. Though even then, this degree would be ridiculous.

Even the arrow shot at the giant, which was now in the center of the Giant's Blood Plaza, was not only massive at a surreal scale, but completely petrified as well. He didn't know how to explain this either. Truthfully, there was one thing that Eisen could imagine.

One thing that could make this all actually possible, as there was a single type of being that could practically bend the laws of the world to their will, reaching a point that not even the ascended gods had gotten to before they became the world's rulers.

Those that reached the peak of existence. For people, it was just five. Eisen, Brody, Jyuuk, Xenia, and Evalia. Them, as well as monsters that reached the same spot, of which many more came to be over time. And since Giants were technically monsters according to the system, they would be classified as such upon reaching this point.

What this 'gang' was describing was possible if the statue was a Transcendent Giant.

It wasn't impossible, not even close. Rather, since Giants were at a relatively high rank from birth, a fact combined with their horrendously long lifespan, it just made sense for there to be at least one that made it to that point.

And Eisen also knew that the curse Samuel cast on the giants as a punishment when Eisen refused to do his bidding was something that affected the Giants retroactively as well. Every Giant beyond Rank 7 was going to be affected. And if that curse affected a Transcendent Giant, then the curse itself might also bend the rules it was created by, potentially petrifying the things around it.

However, in Eisen's opinion... that was much more unlikely than the idea that someone, or potentially a group of people, created a statue within this mountain. After all, it would be a much more logical answer. If you considered the idea that the statue was a Transcendent Giant retroactively affected by the curse, then a ton of other questions came up. What about the arrow?

Why was that giant holding up the roof of a card-up mountain, and more importantly, who would be able to carve a giant chunk out of a mountain without it collapsing if it wasn't carved around the idea of a giant pillar holding it up?

While it was ridiculous in and of itself to be able to create a statue like that, Eisen did plenty of ridiculous things himself. Such as, apparently, figuring out how to create true, practically immortal life. The fact that this world existed in and of itself was beyond insane.

Over the course of a hundred thousand years, some people appearing that could create something like this, considering all that the world offered? That was the most normal thing Eisen could imagine in comparison.

So why? Why was it that Eisen, despite knowing that it would be so much more impossible, so much more ridiculous, believe that the statue truly was a man killed by the curse, bound to carry the weight of a mountain forevermore?

"Thank you for the stories, you two. Your drinks tonight are on me, alright?" the old man said, nodding at the bartender as he got up. Before either of the giants could thank Eisen, he had already made his way over to one of the platforms where one could reach the non-giant area, and held onto the edge as he shrunk himself down.

He quickly looked around and spotted Kiron and the kids, sitting around and having a meal, like Eisen had suggested.

He rushed over there, sitting down beside them quietly. They were surprised to already have Eisen be here so soon, and Kiron quickly spoke, swallowing the food in his mouth, "G-Grandfather, already? Have you had any luck?"

"...I'm not sure. Have you kids heard anything?" The old man asked, and as Kiron hesitated to talk, Sal quickly did it for him, speaking up with some of the information that they got, which happened to coincide with what Eisen wanted to do now, "Yup. We heard about this cult thing. Apparently they've built a camp on top of the mountain."

"Alright," Eisen smiled lightly, happy that he knew where he had to go next, "Thanks for that. I think I'll pay them a visit soon,"