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The Matriarch protected Gwenvair, Kilniara, and the other apprentices of the eccentric as they stood privately at the edge of the wall watching the eccentric fight. The Matriarch retrieved a privacy artifact and activated it, a hazy wall of light surrounding them all as well as a barrier against sound. When the barriers rose, the Matriarch retreated and Gwenvair’s mother wrapped an arm around her. Gwenvair snuggled into her mother’s side. The hug was brief for although the barrier offered some modicum of privacy, their basic positions could still be seen through the barrier and while Gwenvair was sure her mother was much more comfortable with the eccentric and his apprentices, she was still a bit stiff. However, with the barrier, their stoic forms were able to quickly relax to watch with some trepidation, although Kilniara hadn’t yet learned the necessity of poise and hiding her nervous fear.
Gwenvair tried to maintain faith in Joe, but to take on a city killer was folly. She could only hope that he would drive it away and remain safe. Her fear wasn’t soothed by her mother’s kind hug for she could tell that her mother was quite afraid as well. The moment she realized that, her own comfort proved sorely insufficient. Kilniara had come to cling to her side, and the two hugged each other as they watched Joe attack the city killer giant.
When the giant began its famous wall destroying charge, she had to fight to stay, guardians already arriving to take her away to safety. The fight to stay had proved short lived, however, as Joe proved his strength; he disrupted the charge. That had caused no small stir amongst the people on the wall, and her mother, at that moment, chose to invite her and the apprentices closer to the walls edge to watch as Joe fought. As Joe slid over the wall with Allanar the mage of Water, Kilniara had grasped her hand and the two were soon nervously holding their breath.
“He’ll be safe, right?”
Gwenvair smiled, looking to Kiliniara, “Of course!”
She then looked away to her mother, her smile eroding to brittle fear. Her mother sighed to see her fear, but nodded, attempting to offer her own comfort.
“I’ve never seen a thirteen digit eccentric.”
Gwenvair shook her head and mouthed silently to her mother, “And never has one killed a city killer!”
Her mother’s smile faded, and she nodded, her own face grimacing a bit. Kilniara, however, proved quite a bit more perceptive and turned to Gwenvair.
“No one has killed one?”
Gwenvair’s breath caught, surprised that Kilniara was able to hear that, but replied quickly, “Oh, I was just saying…”
Gwenvair trailed off as Kilniara shook her head, her face angrily brooking no argument, “Please. Don’t hide it from me… not me!”
Gwenvair sighed and looked back, “City killers are famous for their indefatigable vitality and strength. They are not killed, they are simply driven away, lured away, or endured until they leave on their own.”
Kilniara stiffened at that, fear quickly rising, “Then, we will lose him today?!”
Gwenvair struggled to maintain her composure, her own fears running rampant, unable to offer any comfort to Kiliniara. But her mother stepped in and slipped in between them, offering an arm around both.
“If you are to be his, you must learn to trust him in his efforts, and free him to do the work. He will do his all so do your all to give him strength. In any case, you have no need to fear. He would not have said so if he had no certainty. At the very least, he would have asked for help.”
Gwenvair felt her heart calm and she smiled up at her mother in gratefulness, offering a small nod. Kilniara seemed to immediately take heart to her mother’s comfort. Gwenvair turned her face back to Joe, watching him carefully. It was her single most important duty for the moment. Possible benefits far exceeded any other benefits she would gain from any other possible action. It was easy to justify the necessity to take this moment. The crowds rousing murmurs drew her from her thoughts and she looked out to see the … Joe charging directly towards the giant without concern.
He did stop to call out to Allanar who responded, sending out two of the strange tools he had the blacksmith make. Joe continued on his way to the city killer and didn’t stop. He kept moving closer and closer, never truly stopping or slowing. Gwenvair felt her own tension rise higher and higher while Kilniara’s grip tightened more and more. He didn’t stop until he was a tiny figure barely as tall as the foot of the giant.
He then froze, seeming to reconsider before putting his sword into the ground along with the two odd iron weapons he’d asked to be made. He then took the time to take his sword out, cleaned it carefully, and sheathed it. She felt her eyebrows climb at that. He feels… comfortable enough to clean his weapon… he’s… brazen. Her concern quickly dropped at that, although her heart still hammered fearfully, although with some amount of pride as well.
He pulled out his bow and one of his arrows. Such a… strange yet powerful weapon! It’s… Her mind trailed off when she felt the twinge of mana infuse the arrow, something she’d normally have never noticed except for the simple fact that she was so focused on him, desperate to watch him and desperate in her concern as well.
The giant reacted immediately, roaring wildly even as his head whipped around to stare back over its shoulder and its leg erupted out towards Joe. Everything happened so quickly she almost didn’t understand what did happen. Joe was suddenly in the air, a ball with his arm around his knees and his shield between him and the giant even as his bow tumbled slowly in the air back towards the walls, slightly in Allanar’s direction.
Just as suddenly, a tiny pillar of water appeared to form in front of Joe’s shield, then he was tumbling out from the giant like a pinwheel as a massive thin fog appeared around the giant. Joe was sent flying, his body twisting and spinning in the air until a massive column of water appeared behind him and he slapped into the rather flat surface with a loud crack that echoed off the city walls. Gwenvair winced and quickly grew worried. No… please… no… please…
He ripped through the water for a time until he sunk in it and then fell to the ground poorly, hitting the ground with his right leg and arm before tumbling through the dirt for a turn until he rested on the ground flat on his back. He didn’t move, and her fear suddenly spiked before Joe seemed to rise to his feet slowly, then froze, looking at the giant. He didn’t move for a time until the giant returned to its mewling cries over its groin, a move that still caused Gwenvair to blush when she thought of it.
Joe immediately stood when the giant turned away, then seemed to dance and stretch for a bit where he stood before jogging back towards the giant. He moved as if nothing had happened, returning to the fight without any meaningful concern. He stopped by to pick up his bow then returned to where he’d been before, but this time without his bow. He’d resheathed it and pulled out his sword instead as he jogged towards the giant, grabbing the odd new tools on the way to the giant. He spent some time in preparation, then began.
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He ran quickly to one of the giants feet. Wielding a short sword, he sliced the heel of the giant then inserted the strange tool he’d gotten from the blacksmith into the heel. The giant scuttled forward like a bug, and Gwenvair boggled to see it. The giant then collapsed again and Joe immediately sprinted across to the other giant’s foot, repeating the exact same thing, inserting the large iron tool into the giant’s heel. The city killer wailed, crawling away like a child once again even as Joe ran after it. Huh… some formation tool? Preparation for some great strike? Where will he put the other tools for his forma… Kilniara interjected, cutting of her thoughts.
“Why is he running so slow?” Kilniara asked.
Gwenvair also agreed, finding his speed to be surprisingly slow for someone with so many digits. Zilnek scoffed but Garnedell snapped at him.
“He must have a reason.”
Gwenvair’s mother, however, interjected, soft overtones of awe in her voice that shocked Gwenvair, “He’s … not using any of his digits!”
Gwenvair blinked, then gasped. She looked at her mother quickly.
“Truly?!”
Her mother nodded, “He is using no mana… of any kind. The giant cannot sense him! He used them… for a time in defense against the giant’s first strike, but… now… nothing!”
“So he is moving that fast without his digits?” Kilniara gloated, grinning excitedly.
Gwenvair couldn’t help but be amazed herself, whispering softly, “Amazing!”
Her mother whispered under her breath, “He is truly… courageous! Without any defense…”
They watched as Joe arrived at the giant’s foot once again, but this time ignored the heels. Joe ran up to the giant’s knee and proceeded to slice off almost the entire calf of the giant. The giant reacted as any injured normally did, leaping away and fleeing. The calf of the giant fell to the ground, removed from the monster. Gwenvair watched with excitement, curious to see what would happen, but when the giant simply scrambled away once again, its entire leg reforming completely, she felt a small bit of disappointment.
Joe, however, seemed unperturbed, simply running after it and repeating the exact same thing, removing the giant’s left calf. The giant scrambled away once again and Joe, once again, removed its left calf. Joe kept doing so again and again, alternating between the two legs, removing the calves, then chasing after it to do it again. He must have done it a good six or seven times, then patiently running after the monster, never using his digits. He moved silently, invisibly, manaless. Almost nothing could sense him on the field. The giant began running … crawling… further and further, but Joe always followed it and somehow skillfully kept it running in circles.
After the seventh, Joe fired another arrow, without his ranged infusion, into the poor giant's nether regions before Joe once again closed with the giant and began again to attack's its calf, removing it in his practiced move. The giant, however, panicked and began tumbling on the ground, its entire body twisting manically as it blindly swung its arms and legs around. Gwenvair gasped, her heart leaping immediately into her throat as she found her breath lost. The giant’s wild movements brought one of the legs around in a sweep that came directly for Joe. Joe brought his shield up, planning to block the hit. As the leg came towards him, Joe began to fall backwards, leaping away from the beast but keeping his shield up. It was too late, the leg came forward and slammed into the shield, a massive wall of water, more than before, suddenly exploding outward from where the leg and shield connected.
Exploding from the mist, Joe flew from the attack through the air.
“No!” Kilniara cried out, even as Gwenvair reached towards him, “Joe!” Again! Can he... twice?!
His previous survival no promise for survival in the current one and so she was still worried in her terror.
Garnedell proved to be of sterner stuff, only gasping and stepping forward. Her mother, however, seemed the most surprised, shocked.
“How?!”
Joe flew through the air like a stone, then blasted into a column of water laid on its side, perfectly aligned to Joe’s direction of travel. He sped through the waters before slowing and falling through the bottom of the water towards the ground. Another pool of water appeared beneath him, catching him as he fell to the ground, then washing away, loosing coherence into the muddy ground around it. Joe shook his head, standing. Joe was dazed. It was obvious, as he shook his head and stumbled a bit, but he stood!
“How?” Gwenvair asked, looking at her mother.
Her mother simply shook her head, ignoring her but repeating the exact same question, “How?!”
The eccentric stood for another few moments, taking inventory of his belongings and settling his weaponry again. Then he began jogging across the field once again, running as fast as he had before, without using any of his mana to fuel his digits. The giant continued to thunder, pounding into the ground around it, its powerful strikes sending shockwaves through the earth. The eccentric ran forward, coming much too close to the giant, but seeming unaffected, riding the waves of earth as if they were simply solid ground. The giant continued to pound the ground around it, its powerful strikes making it much too dangerous for any to approach.
“He didn't use his digits that time... or... somehow, I could not sense it... somehow... something!” her mother replied softly, a belated reply to Gwenvair's question.
Her mother left Kilniara and her behind, now focusing so completely on the fight, concern for her child lost in her curiosity. Her mother continued to maintain her presence as a shield against any attacks from the beasts below, but she was now only concerned with the eccentric’s battle. The clan’s monster hunters and Allanar stayed quite far from the giant, flinging mana strikes and attacks at range while the giant’s strikes still flew without rhyme or reason. The monsters, however, driven by the tide master were pulverized or dazed when they arrived too close, becoming easy targets for the defenders on the wall. Those that came too close simply became red mist.
Joe, however, stood only just out of range of its strikes, water dripping from him everywhere, but otherwise heroic, alone against a monster not one in the clan could fight, let alone the whole clan. The giant finally calmed after another dozen strikes and that is when Joe struck. He sprinted in and shaved off another piece of skin, this time along the side of the shin as the giant had rolled onto its back. The piece was significantly smaller and shallower than the calf pieces Joe was able to normally take, but the giant still went berserk.
Joe seemed to have anticipated this, however, as he took only a single strike before immediately turning and sprinting away before diving into a roll. The move actually proved prescient, as the wild kick of the giant passed just over Joe’s head. Joe stood from the roll gracefully, almost as well as a circus artisan or an agility combatant, running another few steps before turning around.
The giant stormed, thunderous strikes rippling the ground as it began to crater more and more of the ground around it. Joe remained, just out of range of the giant’s fists and feet, but well in range of the massive explosive damage. When its strikes stopped, Joe ran in again, sliced off a portion of the giant, and fled. This repeated another half a dozen times before Joe suddenly seemed to stop. He wasn’t concerned, but seemed quite pensive. He then did one last attack with a rapid retreat before turning to Allanar.
Joe remained silent, simply nodding, waving his arms, and holding up one finger. Whatever it was, Allanar seemed to understand as he sent another of the strange tools. Gwenvair sat forward with excitement. Another formation tool! I wonder where it…
Joe slammed the formation rod into the ground and slipped within range of the giant before repeating what he’d done before and retreating just as quickly. The giant, again, raged, its fists and legs slamming the ground while it lay on its back. About half way through, the giant rolled to its stomach to better slam the ground with its fists.
The giant continued its rampage for a while before slowing once again, and Joe, again, sprinted towards the side of the giant. Gwenvair gasped. He’s going for the calf again! Joe arrived at his normal place, aiming for the calf. Joe’s strike was immediate and without pause, the sword slicing into the calf even as he used his left arm to lift and press the cut calf meat away from the giant. The giant erupted, its leg pulling forward and away, immediately shucking its entire calf as its reactionary leg pulled and sent the eccentric’s sword slicing through the calf in an eye blink. The action seemed to catch Joe by surprise as he staggered a bit, and twisted. This time, the giant did not flee, panic having robbed it of reason. The giant leapt away and to the side. This proved a disaster. The giant saw the eccentric.
In a roar of rage, the giant immediately swung a fist at Joe. Gwenvair felt her heart rate spike and spike once again when her mother gasped in obvious fear. Gwenvair stared in horror. Please… please… dodge… jump… move! Get away! His fist! Not the fist! Gwenvair’s breathing turned to rapid panting and Joe … no!!!