Fuck! Fuck! Fuck! Fuck!

Luriel was walking from side to side on her shelf. She breathed heavily, her whole face red. She was grinding her teeth and gritting her fists.

That’s bullshit! He can’t be awake. He just can’t be awake!

She punched one of the jars, but immediately embraced her hand. The pain brought tears to her eyes.

Fuck.

The plot changed. Originally, Ziri with his group should clear one more room before Grym points them toward a sleeping cyclops. He was too overconfident. They would fail to do any meaningful damage. Everything looked doomed until Ziri steps in. He uses his Talent to hold the giant back long enough for his team to get to the exit of the stage. It was so meaningful. It completely changed their relationship. He became their hero. Except Thoth. That guy became envious and started to truly hate Ziri.

But now what? Grym isn’t an idiot to attack the cyclops when he is awake. They all will just… run away. There was no reason for them to stay with such danger roaming around.

Luriel held her head in her hands.

Everything is ruined. Their relationship should improve. They should become friends. Ziri should learn a lot more from Grym, who should value him and trust him when things start to go downhill with Saviors and… and…

She has to do something. If they won’t come to cyclops, then he needs to come to them. That was the only solution. Or at least the only idea that came to her mind of how to save the plot and the arcs. Luriel rushed to the tunnels. She had no idea how long they will stay in the room or which way the cyclops will go. She could only hope.

Luriel crawled as fast as she could, even painfully sliding down the stairs on her chest. Finding the right way was easy thanks to the water. It was already cold. It drenched her robe but also cleaned some blood it from. Not that she cared.

After some time that felt like an eternity, Luriel finally got to the exit, only to see Ziri, Grym and others hurtle back from the entrance. She could feel the ground trembling at regular intervals. The giant. He was coming their way!

Luriel stayed in the tunnel. She was tensed from all the expectations. Trembling grew in strength and soon they all could hear the rumble of his footsteps. Her characters took cover under the table behind all the wooden legs. With their thickness, they could easily hide from a single giant’s eye.

The steps became so loud that Luriel was sure he was on the other side of the animal skin. But he didn’t stop or even slow down. The trembling started to grow weaker.

Why?! You stupid idiot!

She quickly crawled out and, without thinking, rushed to the entrance. After she pushed through the old skin, she finally spotted the cyclops. He was way bigger than she imagined. She remembered writing his height to be 13 meters, but didn’t think the difference would be so large. The cyclops was wearing only loincloth. With the big brown sack and red skin, he kind of resembled the twisted version of Santa Claus.

Luriel stared at his receding back. Her hands were incredibly cold and she couldn’t stop trembling. Her stomach was doing somersaults, and she felt like vomiting the whole organ out. The blood was painfully pulsing in her ears, deafening her.

This wasn’t a rat with a slightly better stats she could outrun if she had a head-start. This was a giant. It could get her with just two steps. She tightly gripped her wand. He was too far for her shot to reach him. And with every second she wasted, her chances of escaping him plummeted. She had to move. Now! Luriel managed to force her leg to make a step. However, that one action tired her immensely. She panted as if she had run a marathon. Her lungs just couldn’t get enough oxygen. Luriel gritted her teeth.

I have to do it! For Ziri.

She remembered all the amazing stories that awaited him. Each helped him grow and slightly pushed him in the right direction. She loved him so much.

Her tense body relaxed. Her racing heart slowed down. Luriel run. She didn’t let herself be distracted by useless thoughts and worries. She completely focused on her task, measuring the distance. Cyclops luckily walked as if on the stroll. When she pushed herself to the limit, she yet managed to come closer. Her legs were tired and her lungs hurt, but she did it. She pointed her wand at him and started casting. Mana swirled in her veins, following her wishes. After eight seconds, Luriel fired Manashot. The giant’s back was large enough even with the part hidden behind the sack. She didn’t need to worry about her aim.

Luriel didn’t wait for a reaction or even for her shot to hit. She turned on her heel and started running back. Her body was weak. She had terrible stats not fit for any physical activity. Not even talking about escaping a giant.

She heard as the rumble stopped. Then a few seconds later came deep “Oooo” as if a child found something interesting. The cyclops laughed.

Luriel was running as fast as she could. Her lungs were burning and her heart threatened to jump from her chest. The rumble became louder and the constant tremors were slowing her down. She could feel the giant closing the distance. Fast.

But she didn’t try to run even faster. She knew she couldn’t and might just fall. Instead, she focused her mind like never before. She almost stopped perceiving her surroundings. Her body run on autopilot. And when the massive fingers fell in front of her, she quickly raised her hand with the wand and turned toward the cyclops. He was grinning like a child who got his Christmas presents early.

Luriel knew she couldn’t escape him. The head start she got wasn’t enough. That was why she tried something she had never tried before. She cast while running. It was hard. Her mana felt slick, not listening as normally. But with the focus where her life depended on it, she pushed it into the wand. The ability fully charged and Luriel didn’t delay.

The blue ball of mana fired from her wand just before the fingers grabbed her. She felt them pulling her up, but that immediately ceased. She dropped back down as cyclops roared and covered his enormous eye with hands. The sound hurt her ears, but she didn’t have time to care about it. She barely escaped the stomping feet.

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Luriel once again rushed away. The few moments of brake restored a bit of her strength she now used to get to the room. She stopped before the animal skin and turned around. The cyclops finally stopped making a fuss and glared at her. The anger and malice brought goosebumps to her back. Luriel didn’t need more assurance and quickly pushed herself to the other side. The rumbling grew in intensity and speed. But Luriel knew she had won. The hole was close enough that before the giant teared down the skin for the door, she was safely tucked inside.

She turned on her back. The soaked clothes were pleasantly cool. Every part of her body hurt from exertion and her head was spinning. Despite that, she felt like laughing. She victoriously raised a fist.

Fucking did it!

She grinned. Now everything else rested on her characters.

You can do it guys! I trust you!

But that didn’t mean she wasn’t curious about how they will act. She forced her tired body up and slightly poked out her head.

The cyclops stood in the entrance, surprise drawn on his face. He was looking at the tipped cauldron. Slowly, a new wave of rage twisted his face. He threw the sack to the wall and went to the cauldron. The thing was a third of his size. He picked it up, but instead of tying the rope, he slammed it on to the still burning wood. Unfortunately, its bottom was round, so no matter how much he tried, it never stood straight.

After a minute, the cyclops finally lost it. He took the cauldron and threw it with such force that the impact knocked the table to the side with one chair still stack in it. Immediately sorrow and regret run across his face.

Luriel watched the scene with a held breath. She didn’t give the cyclops any backstory or special signs, but now she could discern a few things. Based on his height where his shoulders were on the level of the table, she assumed he was a child. There were two chairs, so he probably lived with someone else in the past. But now he was alone. How sad. Tho not enough to earn her pity. After all, if he could, he would eat her alive. And every other small person.

Regardless, her primary concern before was how could cyclops discover her protagonist and his group. First, she thought he will immediately start looking around the table. However, when he went to the cauldron, and the group was preparing to rush to the entrance, or maybe her hiding spot, the icy hand gripped her innards. Will they actually just run away? Have she failed after all that effort she put in?

Then he threw the cauldron at the table and its top blocked her view. As he walked closer to undoubtedly right his wrong, Luriel prayed to whoever could listen to her for help. Suddenly, the cyclops stopped. He crouched down, squinting his single eye. Then a huge malicious grin spread across his face.

Luriel watched as he stretched a hand. He must have grabbed someone because she heard a lot of shouting and cursing. It turned out he took Grym. The ideal situation! Now Ziri could save him.

Luriel crawled out of the tunnel and run around the table to have a better view. The cyclops held Grym as if he was a doll. He took one of his hands and started pulling. The screams at his feet grew more desperate. All the melee fighters slashed their weapons, but none could get through his thick skin. Luriel saw Xapi firing arrow after arrow, but it was useless even if it hit the eye. It just didn’t have enough force. And Thoth just stood there, frozen in fear. The situation was desperate, but Luriel knew as well as Ziri that it wasn’t time to use his Talent. It wouldn’t save Grym.

Honestly, she was a little afraid that he wouldn’t want to save Grym at all. With his attitude, Grym greatly disappointed Ziri. He started to doubt whether he put him in a wrong category. At this point, Ziri was just a child who knew nothing about people. He had minimal experiences from the place he had run away from. He generally split them into three categories. Enemies, allies and undecided. Basically bad and good people. And that situation was a first small hint that people were more complicated creatures.

Originally, this problem should be resolved in another room. They should have a talk where Grym would explain a bit about being a leader and why Thoth was important. It wouldn’t completely mend their relationship, but would give Ziri some food for thought. He would also discuss it with Rizi. Actually, she could very well be the reason he helped against cyclops. She was his little guiding light.

The giant slowly pulled Grym’s hand. Satyr didn’t scream yet, so there was still time. Zirilion suddenly ripped the sword out of someone’s hands and charged against one of the giant toes. He welded the weapon as if it was a lance, disregarding his other palm got injured. Luriel immediately realized what he was aiming for and smiled.

In a few moments, Ziri stabbed the tip of the sword into the space between meat and the nail. It pierced inside until the middle of the blade. For the third time that day, cyclops roared. Luriel already covered her ears as a precaution. The giant dropped Grym and fell back on his massive ass. The metal toothpick stabbed in his toe had precedence over everything else.

Few strong team members caught their falling leader. He looked exhausted and his hand was just hanging on his shoulder. Severe injury, but not incurable by potion. However, they didn’t have time. Cyclops just pulled out the sword and threw it away. Rage and hatred ravaged his face. He didn’t want to play anymore. Giant raised his fists to smash them into bloody puddles when suddenly a dark cloud obscured his vision. He panicked and tried to clear his eye, but no matter how much he rubbed it, the darkness didn’t disappear. It seemed to stack to his pupil.

Talent was a special power people acquired around level 100. At least regarding First Layer. It originated from the soul and people could use it thanks to the core, the middle point of special connection between the soul and the body. Creating the core required an immense amount of work and yet some people were born with it. Just like Zirilion.

“Go!” she heard him shout.

“I have to stay close to him!”

It was a cue for her as well, even if not intended. Luriel swiftly return to the rat hole. There was one more thing she needed to do. She crawled through the tunnels, her proficiency increased after all that practicing. Because the cyclops was awake, they will soon become overcrowded, as all the rats will hide inside. Tho they would still attack if someone entered their aggro range and cyclops wasn’t anywhere near.

Luriel had to kill a lot of hungry rodents on her way back. Fortunately, they were spread in tiny groups or alone and moved mostly in line. Ideal for her Manashot. In the end, she somehow managed to safely get out, but her mana reserves hit rock bottom once again. She had to fight with the thirst until she got to a safe place. It wasn’t far.

She returned to the cyclops bedroom. Who in his right mind would do that? Well, no one. But originally Ziri should use his Talent in that room. He would keep cyclops blind for quite some time, while not getting squished by his rampaging body. After he got close to his limits, he discovered a rat hole. There were no rats in that room. It was a secret place that appeared only after cyclops had awoken. He would hide there and rest and, after that, discover an item at the end of the tunnel.

So, because they encountered cyclops in another room, there was no way he would find it. And so, Luriel ventured into the special tunnel instead. She first meditated until her pool was full again before going deeper. After overcoming a trap containing three wooden spears that would easily kill a careless person, she opened the treasure chest. Inside, she found a neatly folded leather shirt.

Traveler’s leather shirt (uncommon)

Type: Armor

Description: The simple leather shirt is a lightweight and flexible garment crafted from durable leather, offering modest protection while allowing for ease of movements.

Properties:

Armor +7

Agility +1

Endurance +1

Requirements: Level 4

In the end, everything went well. Actually, so well that she didn’t encounter the cyclops on her way to the exit. It took her more than half an hour to find it. It looked like a giant stone slab with ancient writings in the middle. There was no special meaning to it. Just a nice visual to attract people’s attention.

Luriel didn’t worry about Ziri. He should already run away from cyclops into the tunnel she used. Because she already cleared many of the rats, she has chosen to not leave him her path. He was strong and resourceful. He will find his own way.