“Never been so cold,” Leofric growled.
His assistant, Garrick, brought him a hot cup of tea. Leofric chugged the whole tea in one go.
“Isn’t that hot?” Garrick asked.
Leofric burped and stood up. “I’m fine. Tell the others to get ready.”
His assistant nodded.
Leofric stepped out of his tent. His boots sank into the deep snow. But since the boots were well insulated, he didn’t feel any cold.
The group had set up camp near the southern coastline of the island. They’ve yet to encounter any Frost Giants.
Leofric waited for everyone to gather around his tent. It took about ten minutes for his announcement to spread in the camp.
When they all made it to his tent, Leofric gave a speech.
“Failure is not an option here. If you die, your body will be thrown in the sea and you won’t be given a proper funeral. I personally picked each of you. I’ll be damned if I returned to Lord Zodark with a casualty. Do I make myself clear?”
They all nodded.
“Good. Check your weapons. We’re going to hunt some giants.”
…
…
The group got divided into three squads consisting of 4 guards and one mage.
Leofric preferred doing things on his own. He walked by himself through the dense forest of this island.
He scratched the bark of several trees he passed and sniffed them. It was good quality wood. Lord Zodark would be pleased, he thought.
Leofric saw a bush that looked like someone squashed it. He knelt down and gave the area a good sniff.
The scent of a large monster. Probably a Frost Giant.
He stood up and followed the scent.
Leofric walked carefully, making sure to not step on a twig or a dried leaf. The last thing he wanted was to lose the element of surprise.
A bush suddenly shook.
He froze.
Then a bunny with a horn hopped out.
Leofric stared at the fur of this creature. It looked like it would make a good pelt. Maybe good gloves could be crafted from it.
Leofric shook his head. He was getting distracted. He had a mission to complete.
He couldn’t hear a distress signal from any one of the three squads. They surely were handling things.
So he continued on his path of following the scent.
Soon the thick forest gave way to a flat area covered by snow. In the middle of this place was a pretty large cave. Maybe large enough to fit a giant.
Leofric pulled out his giant mace from his [Inventory]. He’s been itching for a good fight since they’ve arrived in this New World. He hoped that these monsters would be interesting to fight.
Leofric looked around for any traps. His [Beastly Senses], a passive ability, heightened his senses. He could spot the tiniest thing in a scene and notice whether it was suspicious or not.
For now, nothing seemed off. So he walked inside the cave.
It was dark inside but his eyes were excellent in low visibility situations. He could see that the cave was connected to a tunnel that led deeper down.
Leofric walked closer to the tunnel, trying to hear if there were any monsters nearby.
A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.
A message screen appeared.
[Do you wish to enter this Dungeon?]
Of course not. His mission was to take out the Frost Giants and not to play around in a dungeon.
Leofric stepped away and out of the cave.
He honestly thought it would be easy finding these giants.
Leofric pulled out a notebook. He drew a map of the area he had explored so far. Once he was done, he went exploring even more.
Leofric heard a high pitched whistle. Then another and then a third. It wasn’t a distress signal.
He took out his whistle and blew on it. It rang across the forest.
They agreed to blow these whistles every hour to show they were safe.
Time to continue to walk. Carrying his heavy mace, Leofric continued his exploration through the forest.
WHOOOOOSH!
A spear made of ice missed his face and struck the tree next to him.
He turned to see who threw it.
A tall creature with grey skin and blue eyes glared at him.
“Jihush vo lernama du!” it spoke
[Unknown Language Detected]
“I don’t care what you say,” Leofric smirked. “But I’ll make you regret missing that shot.”
Leofric pounced. He rushed at the giant, closing the ten metre distance between them in an instant.
The monster didn’t get any time to react. Leofric smashed his mace into the knee of the giant, shattering its kneecap.
It screamed and knelt in pain.
“Jima! Jima! Jima!” it cried with tears in its eyes.
[Unknown Language Detected]
The notification was getting annoying. This Frost Giant was speaking too much.
“[Skull Smasher]!” Leofric screamed. His mace glowed with a golden hue.
He struck the giant squarely in its forehead.
The sound of a skull cracking was heard, the giant dropped dead on the snow.
[Congratulations! You’ve defeated a Youngling Frost Giant]!
[200 XP]
What a joke, Leofric scoffed. That little XP wasn’t worth the sweat.
He then checked if the frost giant had any loot.
Nothing.
Leofric sighed. Well that was one dead Frost Giant. One less to worry about.
…
…
When nighttime arrived, Leofric had eliminated three more Frost Giants. He returned to camp with four pairs of ears he cut off as trophies.
The other squads also arrived to camp safely. The first squad had no kills The second one had two kills. And the last one had only one.
They all complained about how difficult it was to fight the Frost Giants.
“They’ve got too much HP!”
“And some of them even had healing potions. It made the fight more difficult.”
“Fire magic seems to deal more damage to them. I imbued my sword with a fire crystal. I suggest you too try that in your fights.”
Everyone was giving advice and told how their fights went. Leofric didn’t want to brag too much. He had brought in the most kills. He didn’t need to say he was the best, the results of today showed it.
One of the mages spoke to Leofric, loud enough for the others in the camp to hear. “General Leofric, I have a concern.”
“Concern? Worried you won’t be able to beat my score tomorrow?” Leofric chuckled.
“No, General. Did you also get the notification about an unknown language being detected?”
“Yes. And what’s of it”
“Since these Frost Giants have a language, we can learn it. We can tell them to not attack us whilst we collect resources,” the mage suggested.
“And where’s the fun in that?” Leofric laughed.
The mage was shocked, “But General, you heard that these giants can make potions. I found glass beads on one of them. I think if we inform Lord Zodark about this new information, then maybe we’ll find a way to negotiate.”
Leofric burst into laughter. “You feel sorry for these giants?”
The mage kept quiet while everyone else in the camp stared at him.
“You can leave, Mage Ralf. It’s clear that you care more about the Frost Giants than your own kin.”
“I never sa–”
“Quiet. I’ll tell you this once. Pick a side, Mage. I know that I’m a loyal soldier to my liege. And I know everyone else here is loyal to our Lord.”
They all nodded.
“But since you read books and scrolls, maybe you think you know better than everyone here. So leave. You love these giants so much, maybe you’ll fight for them. Something about you smells of treachery.”
“I’m loyal to our cause!” Ralf shouted. “I was giving a suggestion. But I realise now it was a foolish idea. Forgive me, General.”
“You’re young. Still wet behind your ears. And naive about how the world works. I’ll let this go for now,” Leofric returned to his tent after this squabble.
The camp went quiet. Soon, everyone went to bed.
The next day, Leofric felt like he needed to give another speech.
“Our mission is clear. We must get rid of every monster on this island. Anyone who objects can find their way home. Understood, soldiers!?”
“Understood, General!”