"I'm glad we did it," I muttered. After collecting myself, I grinned at the giant. "I didn't know my flames could turn green like that,"

"You created green flames? Oh, that is why I felt a connection. Interesting, Little Wolf," Rock-splitter whispered.

"Do you know what's up with that? I think I uh, absorbed some of your flames."

He paused and then scratched his chin. "Perhaps. Tell me your name? It'd be a stain on my honor to not learn the name of the one who helped free me."

I blinked a few times and tried to recall our entire encounter from the beginning.

Huh, I never gave my name.

"Cain. Cain Veldman. It was an honor to help, Rock-splitter." From my shadow, Freki stuck out his snout and barked. I chuckled and pointed down to the half-formed wolf head. "And Freki, too."

Rock-splitter's eye was large enough that he didn't need to look down to see Freki, but he politely nodded. "Thank you as well, Freki. You and your master's aid were appreciated."

"So what now? Are you strong enough to make another portal out of here?"

"I am, but first, I must ask you a question, Cain Veldman."

The seriousness in his voice made me narrow my eyes. The smile dropped from his face, and I felt a wave of apprehension crawl up my spine. "Yes?"

He blinked. "What a strange saying. But nonetheless, you have connected to my flames; how did it feel?"

"Like lightning entering my veins. It felt electrifying, more than the fire that my mana normally is," I answered.

"I am a Keeper, a giant. What you connected to were the flames of life. It is my vitality given form, to flow with enough intensity and heat to become a verdant fire to light up the world. You connected to those flames and kept yourself sane. It's an impressive feat to survive. But more than that, you assimilated the power and joined your mana with my essence. That's… Unheard of."

"Okay?"

He shifted his arm and moved me closer to his eye. The massive thing felt like a god was staring me down, scrutinizing me. I had to resist the urge to cross my arms. "I want to reward the one who helped remove my chains. Do you accept, Cain Veldman?"

"I," I started, then closed my mouth. The intensity of the situation made me uncomfortable, but I didn't think he was being malicious or hostile. "I accept."

His smile returned, and I smelled the sweet draw of his blood once more. My hunger clawed at my gut, but I reined it in and ignored it.

"I do not know what will happen exactly, but I do know it will be beneficial. So please listen carefully," Rock-splitter whispered. Unsure of what to do, I nodded, and he continued. "You have shown remarkable compatibility. Unlike the parasite who could only steal from me against my will, I give unto to you, freely, that which I own. Drink deep, Little Wolf. Drink all that you can endure."

What?

Rock-splitter's fingers tightened around my body, encasing me in a tomb as hard as stone. I had an urge to fight and let my mana run wild, but I kept my cool and clutched at my cloak. The fabric bunched underneath my hand, and pushed against my arms

"I don't know what you're doing, but a little warning would have been nice," I yelled.

I heard the rumbling of laughter vibrate through his hand. Suddenly, his fingers came loose, and I stared up at Rock-splitter's face, distinctly much further away than before. Looking around, I noticed that I was only just barely above the lake's surface.

Rock-splitter waved and then closed his fingers, trapping me inside.

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Oh crap.

I finally understood what he meant by "drink deep,"

Just as I imagined, my legs came out from underneath me, and my back smacked into the pad of his pinky. It was airtight for only a second before his thumb came up and exposed a deluge of the swirling green-gold liquid.

There wasn't enough time to deeply inhale and as the rush of Rock-splitter's blood crashed into my body, it knocked the air out of my lungs, forcing me down. I fought it and tried to cover myself with my cloak, but it didn't matter.

I couldn't escape.

The scent dug deep into my nose, and the sweet blood dripped into my mouth. It was like a switch had flipped, and my core forced my jaw wide open. It filled my throat and coated my tongue, slipping its way down into my stomach.

NEED! CONSUME!

I couldn't fight it with the blood filling me, and I shut my eyes as I drowned. My nostrils filled up, but the discomfort didn't matter. The hunger called, and my core came to life, blazing with enough intensity that my insides became a volcano.

"Open your eyes, Little Wolf! Accept it, and let yourself absorb its power!" Rock-splitter thundered from above, his voice distorted but clear.

I-

Roaring in my head, I forced my eyes open and was blinded by the flash of light that shined like the sun. I chugged deep and swallowed. The flames sprouted from my fingertips and expanded until they reached my chest. It swirled like a whirlpool as I kept chugging. And the electricity returned as a thunderbolt into my veins.

It was too much, more than my body should have been physically capable of.

CONSUME!

I tried to shut my jaw, but it wouldn't budge. The anger I got from within my core sent my thoughts spiraling.

Con-No!

This hunger was a part of me, but it wasn't all of me. It wouldn't get to control me! I was the owner of my body, and I wasn't going to die from its gluttony!

I swallowed another mouthful and felt like bursting. My core sent most of the mana into my gut, where it felt like a war was taking place, using my insides as its battlefield.

Enough! Contain yourself!

Using both hands, I pushed against my jaw and slammed my mouth shut. The voice, rebelled in my head and was joined by the raw desire from my core. I crushed it and threw it back into its cage. The flames continued to curve toward me even without me drinking deeply from the lake.

They shifted and moved towards the center of my chest, where they tore a hole through my hoodie and sank into my flesh.

A rainbow dot appeared in the corner of my vision, drawing my focus away from the vortex of emerald flames. It swirled, and I willed it to stretch and appear, but it wouldn't comply.

The dot continued to spin and then winked out.

I didn't understand what was happening, but a lightning explosion rushed through my veins, and my heart jolted. For a brief moment, the world froze—but then my heart restarted, and I shut my eyes.

Thump!

Gravity forced me against Rock-splitter's palm, and the water pulled me downward as he raised his hand closer to the surface. As I breached, I rolled onto my side and tried to cough up some of the blood, but none came out. I still glowed with the flames adorning my body, yet it didn't hurt; it just felt like someone shot an energy drink straight into my veins.

"You… T-that… Awful," I hacked.

Rock-splitter chuckled, a loud thing that knocked me onto my back. "You regained control in the end. Take pride in yourself!"

"What" I swallowed and swiped my bangs out of my eyes. "Was the point of all that?"

"Your system should inform you. Did your Lore not change?"

I stared at the dot and tried to get it to stretch, but again it wouldn't budge. "It's being stubborn. I think it's loading or processing."

"Then you shall see once it is done. I suspect you need a long rest," he said. I looked up and felt myself move. After I got up and crawled onto the shore, he retracted his arm. "There isn't as much left as I would have liked, but I will make do, for it was a worthy sacrifice."

It took a second to process what he said, but then I noticed the lake around his body had lowered. Before, it covered his hips, but now it dipped low enough to expose other gigantic parts.

Oh…

I shook my head. "I really drank that much? That's impossible; I should be an exploded balloon."

Rock-splitter grinned. "You were thirsty; I do not blame you. And your Lore-Matrix converted more than you think. Now move back."

With more energy than I should have, I rushed away from the shore before the shaking began. The lake engulfed Rock-splitter as it rose into the air and rushed across his shoulders into his body. His skin shifted three shades darker while he flexed and began to physically shrink.

A piece of rock fell down, and I rolled out of the way, tearing my eyes off the titan. After scanning the ceiling for more hailstones, I glanced down and found Rock-splitter gone. The lake continued to pool downward, but before my eyes, it shrank and shrank until it formed a sphere twice the size of Devon's height.

The shaking stopped, and the sphere cracked. A dark green fist as large as my head punched through the sphere and tore off pieces from the opening. Another arm smashed through a different hole, and the structure began to crumble around the still large but massively reduced man.

He stood on dry soil. The empty lake formed a deep ravine that sloped downward until it leveled out.

I slowly walked over to the shore's edge and stared down. "Rock-splitter?"

Rock-splitter dusted off flecks off his bare body and placed his hands on his hips. "It will take a while for me to regenerate my essence, so this size will have to do for now!"

His voice was still deep, just not booming. I couldn't help but glance all the way down to his feet and put on a strained smile.

Yeah, I don't think anything I'm wearing will fit him.