Chapter 76

Jade unleashed three more waves of golden light into the jungle before her, continuing to clear out a larger and larger expanse. All the while, the Hunters, and the other Climbers of the group other than me and my fellow new Climbers, cheered her on. The mood had turned completely relaxed, as if now that she was here, there was nothing to be worried about. And while her attacks were devastating the trees, and were without a doubt impressive, I was still having a hard time processing how she, by herself, would handle the Jungle Titan.

“Here comes the show,” Quill was at my side now, Nyle, Lyn, and Alax having all huddled around together as we watched Jade’s performance. Finally, the dark, monstrous form of the Jungle Titan had appeared, from within the depths of the jungle, on the outskirts of the open, freshly cut landscape. “I’ve heard stories of Jade’s strength,” his tone was excited, “but I’ve never gotten to see her in person. I guess at the very least, this makes up for me not reaching my quota today.”

“Is this really that commonplace?” I whispered, watching the scene before me. The Jungle Titan had paused on the outskirts of the destruction and was looking down at Jade. The Climber was tall, and with her weapons, and the golden glow around her, she was even larger. And yet, compared to the Jungle Titan, her height and size seemed laughable.

“Usually only shortly after the Reaping.” Quill replied, “it’s always a gamble to go on hunts the first week when new Coals are joining the quests. For the most part, the Guild ensures only Journeyman and above go on the riskier hunts, and we keep the others on easier hunts, when possible, to ensure they don’t risk Tower Sickness.”

“It doesn’t make sense,” I shook my head. The Jungle Titan was currently pounding its chest, the space between it, and Jade, turning quickly to the vibrating mush pit of mud and foliage, the severed trees sinking slowly into the ground. “If this is a known threat, an obvious danger to non-climbers, why aren’t there any warnings.”

“You’re guess is as good as mine.” Quill said simply. “It’s not our position to question the rules set forth. Just to follow them and live our lives. We are taught of the dangers of the Titans, and we learn through time what can prompt their appearances. But even still, we cannot actively work to prevent such occurrences.” He shrugged, “at the very least, the Guild is going to be extremely happy today.”

“Why’s that?” I pressed, “the hunt got cut short. Surely the amount of gorilla’s slain is nowhere near what it should have been. Won’t that cause issues?”

“The Jungle Titan,” he pointed at the massive creature, “drops more materials than we would have been able to gather all day. It also provides higher qualities of those materials, as well as rare and unique drops.”

“If that’s the case,” Nyle, who’d been listening intently, began, “why aren’t Titans summoned more often?”

“Because summoning them requires you to anger the Tower?” Alax offered up. “And I’d assume purposefully doing that is no wise.”

“Exactly that,” Quill said with a nod, “and, of course, the fact that apparently the Titans don’t grant any of the Tower Essence that Climber’s need to level. It’s an extremely powerful and dangerous monster, that puts an entire floor at risk, and offers little reward.”

“Why was it only a Rank D job?” I asked, thinking it strange. Jade was Rank-A. Was that overkill?

“No idea,” Quill answered, “how you guys handle and classify job requests isn’t something we’re taught. All I know is protection jobs for the first two floors are Rank – F, while the third through fifth floor are Rank D. As are Titan requests, no matter the floor.” He shrugged, “you’ll have to ask your Overseer for more details on that.”

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I looked back at the Jungle Titan. It was no longer beating its chest. It had grabbed a tree trunk in both hands, almost mimicking Jade’s dual halberds, and was moving cautiously towards her. Its red eyes watched her, but its movements, were… hesitant. Jade, meanwhile, stood casually before it, her back to us, her halberds resting once again across her shoulders.

The closer the Jungle Titan got to Jade, the more its demeanor seemed to change. It’s movement slowed as it closed the distance, and its face began to go through a range of various shapes and almost humanlike emotions. It barred its fangs and roared, then it tilted its head to the side. Then it paused altogether, and looked back towards the jungle, as if questioning if it really wanted to even face down Jade. Then its eyes shifted from her, towards the portal where we all stood, and the Hunters and Climber’s who were all chatting lazily amongst themselves, discussing the creature and its impending downfall.

“Come now,” Jade’s voice called out then, as she noticed the evident shift in the Jungle Titan’s demeanor. “I’ll give you the first blow. And then I’ll give you a swift death.” Her voice wasn’t boastful. It was purely confident, the words coming out like a simple statement.

The Jungle Titan bellowed at that and lifted its right arm high in the sky. The tree in its hand was a good thirty feet in length, and it swung the massive object like a club, in a downward motion toward Jade. The outstretched branches of it, heavy with leaves, caused a mass of air to part as it moved downwards. I could practically see the expanse beneath the club, the dust, the wind, pushing outwards with extreme force as the club continued its approach. Jade stood there, the whole time, without even looking upwards.

At the last second, as the tree turned club reached her, she swung her left halberd upwards. Golden light flared, shot from the weapon, and impacted the descending weapon with immense force. A literal wave of force and power shot outwards as the two collided, strong enough to force me backwards a few feet, drawing cheers and yelps from the Hunters and Climbers. The tree-club shattered apart, sending shrapnel and debris outwards, causing the cheers to turn to surprised cries as splinters and logs rained down around us, though laughter was quick to return.

“My turn,” Jade’s voice was filled with amusement as she bent down, crouching low for a single moment, before she jumped towards the Jungle Titan. She closed the twenty or so feet between them, her leap pushing her at least fifty feet into the air. She brought both halberds down before her in a massive chopping motion, light encompassing the heads, glowing around the weapons, creating larger versions of the weapon made purely from Holy magic. The Jungle Titan raised the tree in its left hand to block her, but it was futile. She cut through it as cleanly as a knife through butter. Then the golden blades were against the Jungle Titan’s flesh and fur, its right arm trying to stop her. Again, she cut through it, passing downwards, her weapons easily slicing through the creature, as if it weren’t even there.

When she landed on the ground, her weapons smashed into the soft jungle floor, which exploded all around her in a muddy spray. A veritable crater erupted outwards from the weight of her impact, the Jungle Titan’s body shifting, its arm lowering, as its head turned downwards to look at her. It opened its mouth, before it split apart, bisected into a total of three pieces from Jade’s attack. The left half, cut down at the shoulder, and similarly, the right half severed at the shoulder, both fell uselessly to the ground. It left just the middle portion of the creature, its wounds burned closed, as it stood blinking down at her.

A collum of golden light erupted upwards in that moment, from beneath the creature. Its eyes closed, and it collapsed backwards, unmoving, onto the ground. As it did, the golden light that had been surrounding Jade disappeared, and her weapons were once again returned to her own personal inventory. She looked back towards us, standing in a crater of her own making, at the feet of the Jungle Titan, and offered a smile, and a wave.

“Anyone else,” Lyn whispered at my side, just loud enough for our group to hear, “having a hard time believing what they just witnessed?”

I chuckled nervously, still trying to process what I’d just seen.

“If that was all holy magic,” Nyle said, “I’m really glad about my leveling choices so far.”

“If that was all holy magic,” Alax added, “then I really think I need to level it as well.”

After what we’d just witnessed, their statements were hard to discount. I’d been quite confident about racing forward with my dexterity, but now, having seen what Jade had just done, I had to be honest. Holy magic seemed a lot more tempting than it had before.