Luce could only describe the sensation of seeing a Titan akin to an orgasm. A sense of wonder that overwhelms you. Your body numbs over and freeze as the sight of monstrously towering creatures that should not possibly exists lumbering across the landscape. Despite having faced numerous Titans in her short life, Luce continued to admire the creatures for their sheer sheerness even as the two siege golems started their slow approach from the mountains. From her distance, even from the dark of night, the moving Titans were clearer than a ship on empty ocean waves.

“Hulvarks,” Joashden Stalewaver said, walking up and taking a stand beside her at the edge of the town of Valent. “That's the official name for them back on Katoki.”

They watched the Titans descent the mountainside, two sore thumbs that poked out of the background. At their foreground, across the field of South Valent, Misti and her group of three other terramancers continued to pull up a long and tall wall of earth with their magic. Stretching half the length of the town, they needed the dirt wall to encompass even the last building. The non-terramancer Titan Rangers and the town's militia reinforced the slanted blockade with gathered spare wood and copper beams, all working feverishly under glowing flickers of lamps.

He said, “I don't think we'll be able to redirect them with just a dirt wall. If only Miguel could help out, I'd guarantee it would work. That guy is ridiculously powerful.”

“I told you,” Luce repeated, turning to look back at the Tower of Everwind. “We can't let Light find out we're with Miguel and the others. We have to keep neutral for this bluff to work.”

“I know. Still don't think the wall will work though,” he admitted grimly. “But... I think there's another way.”

“What's the plan?” Luce asked. “Do they have any weaknesses we can use?”

“They're like the Rankors. Quadrupedal. But theirs is to make sure if they ever lose a set of legs, they'd still be able to move.” Josh was an encyclopedia of knowledge on golems and mechs. After his arrival on Eltar, he had also brushed up his extensive information to include sentient Titans. He continued, “Their shells are the toughest of all the basic golems. Lined with onyx, which is why they have that dark glow to them. The general thinner sizes of their bodies makes them more compact, harder to break. ”

“Weaknesses?” Luce repeated.

Josh continued, “Their forearms are heat treated with mineral veins as reinforcements. Their command sigil is fused within, so we'll have to drill through the wrecking balls to start the conversion.”

“Josh?”

“Yeah, Luce?”

“Weaknesses.”

He sighed. “If you take out two of its legs, the Hulvarks just continue walking on its forearms. They are golems made for siege. They are made to take hits and anything short of an Agarez's cannon would probably graze them.”

“We're not killing them, old man.”

“I'm not saying that,” Josh quickly corrected. He knew how much the talk of killing Titans angered her, and she knew he'd never jeopardize their relationship that way. “I'm just pointing out that these are brute force Titans, made to punch an entire building into the ground while on the front lines of war. Redirecting them to Everwind alone would take considerable amount of power. But good news is, they are slow, so that gives us some time to recover.”

Luce noted, “You still haven't told me their weaknesses yet, old man.”

“Sure I did,” Josh replied with a grin. “Think it through. They are tough. They are slow. They are near unstoppable Titans of brute force.”

She blinked, and her mind clicked. She ran down the dirt road out of town, leaving Josh behind. Dashing across the field, she approached the workers building the walls. Misti saw her running towards them and stepped away from her work.

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The younger girl greeted enthusiastically, “What's turning, boss?”

“Change of plans. We're going to force the golems out of their path. Brute force it.”

Misti's eyes widened in surprise. “Wait? We're going to hurt them?”

“Josh says these golems are some of the most sturdy of their kinds, so it's okay for us to be a little rough. If it fails, we can at least slow them down until the wall is finished.”

The girl nodded back, a glint of seriousness in her eyes. “Okay,” she replied with unflinching trust.

Luce asked, “What's our strength?”

“There's only sixty of us,” Misti recounted the number of rangers with them. “Two water, one wind, two fires, four earths, one lightning, one dark, one light, two nature. Ten impact weapons. The rest are disablers. We've got about eighty strong from the town's militia.”

Luce hastily spewed, “I need you and one other earth mage to come with me, as well as the two pyromancers and all rangers with high impact weapons.” She quickly ran through the impromptu plan in her head. She added to the list. “Hydromancers with ice spells and aeromancers.”

Misti nodded. The girl ran back to the working group, clapping her hands together as she made her call to arms.

“Look at you.” Luce turned to the voice too see that Josh had slowly followed her down. “All grown up and leading an army.”

“An army's no joke,” she told him.

“I know,” he replied with a gentle smile. “This? I think they're more like a rescue team. They're not cut out for fighting.”

Luce nodded in agreement. No one joined the Titan Rangers to fight. In fact, many of the inhabitants of the two strongholds were deserters of The Forum's army. Men and women too peace loving or scared of death for bloodshed.

Josh added, “They just returned, by the way. That Watcher fellow and the elves.”

“Why didn't you say so earlier?” she puffed childishly.

“You ran off before I could tell you!” he exclaimed.

Letting out a derisive sigh, Luce asked, “So, where are they?”

“In town. Once they've rested up and restocked, they'll head to Consortia's side of the forest to wait for the signal. They told me to wish you luck.” He paused with a cheeky grin. “The elf girl, what do you think of her?”

Luce exclaimed in surprise, “Adelaide?” Josh nodded in confirmation. “She's hot headed. Vulgar. Completely lacks discipline.”

“But she's cute, right?”

“Are you trying to blind date me again?”

“Come on! It definitely won't go like last time. What about the dark elf?”

Perplexed and feeling her cheeks heating up, Luce tried to divert the subject back. “We're in the middle of a mission! This is not the time to talk about my dating life.”

“Fine,” Josh pouted like a big old bear. “But we're not done with this.”

Misti ran back up to them and gave an enthusiastic if not overly dramatic and sarcastic slap-to-the-face salute. She reported, “Ready to go when you are!”

Luce nodded and said, “Right. I'll be with you shortly. Also, can you get someone trusted to head to my cabin and retrieve the spear?”

Before Misti could even nod, Josh piped, “I'll go.” The two girls turned to him, confused. He gently explained, “I'm not much use here now. After The Walking Path, my back's not what it used to be.” He jokingly patted his spine, much to the worried frowns of the girls. He added with a chuckle, “I'm kidding. I'm fine. I'll go get the spear and be right back.”

Luce sighed before giving a nod of understanding and a small smile back. She hugged the man and he rubbed her back gently. Though she would never admit it and though he annoyed her greatly some times, Josh was like a father to him ever since crossing into Eltar. He had taken care of her in the worst days of her life and everyday after.

They parted and Misti stepped up to the plate. The younger girl said, “See you in a bit, pops.”

Josh smiled. “See you in a bit.”

Father and daughter hugged, and Luce had never seen Josh smile more than when he was with Misti. The man looked to Luce, and his smile widened. Finally, they left the embrace and Josh turned to make his way back into the town and towards the stable. The two girls watched his large back disappear between buildings.

“Fifty-four,” Misti said.

“What?” Luce asked.

“That's how old Josh is this year. After everything he has been through, he really should take it easy.”

“What's stopping him?”

“Us,” Misti replied nonchalantly. “The way we live at least. Every time he hears us in trouble, he comes running.”

“That's why I retired early.”

Misti chuckled toothily. “Well, you're not retired right now.” She gave patted Luce's back. “Come on, sis. Let's go.” She led the way to the waiting team of Titan Rangers.