For over five days, the fire spirits and the humans kept their distance from the stone giant, who was lost in his own world, constantly changing the terrain around him while transforming into many different shapes and things that neither the spirits nor the humans could identify. This ignorance might be due to the fact that the underground lava cave was the only thing they had ever known since their birth.
Intellectually, they knew that there was a whole world outside of this chasm, but their minds were simply incapable of even imagining what the world outside would be like, except for some of the old men and women who were the last batch of humans to have been sacrificed to the serpent when they were children.
After the stone giant had brought the humans and the spirits out of the cave, it did not take long for the fire spirits to scout out all the cave systems in the chasm and find their missing brethren who were guiding and protecting the human children.
If it were up to the spirits and the older humans, they would have taken the first chance to flee into one of the isolated caves big enough to house them, even temporarily, away from the stone giant that had killed the tyrant. But, they knew they had no chance of escaping if the stone giant became enraged with their actions, especially after they saw the giant change its limbs into a strange shape that allowed it to effortlessly drill into the chasm's walls.
Putting aside this fact, they knew that they stood no chance of surviving by themselves within this hostile environment without adequate protection. And if it meant trading one tyrant for another, they were willing to do so for the sake of their children. At the very least, this stone giant seemed to have some level of compassion for them if the way it brought them out of the cave was anything to go by.
It was this reasoning that forced the fire spirits to urge the humans to move into the body of the giant when it had transformed into a strange tube with wheels back in the cave. Honestly, the spirits were taking a huge gamble with their actions back then. Since neither the spirits nor the humans were able to communicate with the giant, they did not understand its actions. Thus, the spirits took a gamble and forced the humans into the giant, hoping that it did not crush them for misinterpreting its intentions. Thankfully, it seemed they had taken the right action back then.
As the humans huddled around the fire spirits for warmth within the makeshift house made by occupying a massive cave in the wall, they discussed their situation in low voices, hoping that the stone giant would not hear them over the noises of whatever it was doing to the walls.
“For now, we are able to sustain ourselves by traveling back to the cave and absorbing the fire Qi. But, the situation is not looking good for you children. Even with the hidden stockpile of food in the cave, you will only last a few more days at most.”
An old man, who was the acting leader of his people, nodded towards the fire spirit that spoke to them telepathically.
“I know, Lie Yan. But what are we supposed to do? The creatures that exist here seem to be much stronger than those within the cave, making it extremely difficult for us to hunt for food. Qiang, Lei, and Yang nearly died yesterday to those accursed Undead Bats when they were hunting a Spirit Tiger.”
“We have to do something, Wei. You are our leader, can’t you think of anything that would solve our food problem?”
The old man named Wei turned a serious look towards his wife.
“If you have any idea, you are free to speak, Jing.”
The old woman thought for some time before speaking.
“We could ask the spirits to go for the Stone Eaters.”
Instantly, the humans started a commotion as the spirits contemplated the woman’s idea.
“Are you out of your mind, woman?”
“You want to send the spirits to their deaths that much?”
“If you don’t have a good idea, you should shut up instead of spouting insane words!”
Wei raised a hand, silencing the young men and women who were incensed by the old woman’s words. It was only once the younger people calmed down that they noticed the distinct lack of protest from the older people in the group.
The youngsters stared at their respective parents in disbelief as things started to click in their minds.
“…you are kidding me, right? You people are not actually considering this idea, right?”
“Absolutely not! The spirits will die!”
“I will not let you old bastards send our friends to their deaths.”
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“Then what the hell are we supposed to do? Starve to death?”
The sudden shout from Jing forced the youngsters to fall silent again.
The Stone Eaters are a type of beast that lives within the lava cave, deep under the lava. They regularly feed on the stone and mineral-rich walls of the cave, which are usually infused with the fire Qi of the Magma Serpent. While they are not much in front of either the Magma Serpent or the Stone Giant, they are still a species of terrifying beast to the humans and the Fire Spirits.
These worm-like creatures were as big as the Stone Giant’s palm and were capable of swallowing a human whole. Thankfully, they usually kept to themselves and rarely attacked the humans since they would not gain anything by eating them.
The Fire Spirits, on the other hand, were a delicacy for the Stone Eaters. Their cores, which are made of pure fire Qi, were highly sought after by the Stone Eaters, so much so that the fire spirits made sure to stay well above in the air and never dip into the lava as long as there was even a single Stone Eater in the area.
The only reason they were not spotted by the Stone Giant and the Magma Serpent during their clash was that the Stone Eaters retreated deep under the lava, knowing that they stood no chance of surviving should they be caught in the vicinity of the fight.
Given their size and abundance, Jing’s suggestion had merit since only a dozen of those creatures would be enough to feed the humans for at least a month. But, due to how powerful they are, the humans have no chance of fighting them, so they have no choice but to rely on the Fire Spirits, which would undoubtedly lead to the death of at least a few Fire Spirits in the process.
As the humans struggled between their survival and their morals, they failed to notice that the constant noise of the Giant’s activities had stopped and that a small group of their children, along with most of the fire spirits, were missing from their vicinity.
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A large group of children stared in awe and wonder as the Stone Giant’s red eyes gazed at them. The giant slowly sat down, causing a minor tremor in the surroundings that made the children tense before relaxing and slowly approaching the giant. But as they reached within arm's reach of the giant, they suddenly huddled together and started to whisper, while the fire spirits floated around the giant curiously yet cautiously, keeping the children in their range so they could take them and flee should the giant make any aggressive movement.
Wang Kai, the grandson of the leader, Wang Wei, looked towards his sister, Wang Ting.
“So? What was your plan to have the giant help Grandmother with the hunt for the Stone Eaters?”
“I wanted to ask him for his help.”
Only children could come up with such a straightforward and simple plan and believe in it wholeheartedly. With a nod, the children turned towards the giant, who looked at them with a curious gaze. The ten-year-old girl took a deep breath and shouted towards the giant, assuming it wouldn't hear her due to his height.
“Please help us catch the Stone Eaters!”
Seconds turned into minutes as the girl grew more and more embarrassed, while the giant simply stared at her with confusion. Finally, the girl could not take the silence anymore and screamed in frustration before kicking the giant with her feet, injuring her toes and alarming the fire spirits with her actions.
“Ow!! Stupid giant! Stupid serpent! Why must you creatures bully us!”
“Stupid child! What did you do?”
The children immediately put on guilty faces while the girl looked at the fire spirits that surrounded them protectively, ready to shield them from any retaliation from the giant for the girl’s actions.
“I thought it would help us, just like it did with getting us out of that cave.”
“Foolish child. We still have no way to understand its intentions and neither do we know how to communicate with it. You put yourself and your friends in great danger with your actions!”
“I know. But—”
“Stone Eater.”
The sudden, rumbling voice that sent tremors throughout the children’s bodies caused the Fire Spirits to instinctively turn towards the source along with the kids. The Stone Giant gazed at the children and slowly opened its mouth, as if unsure if its words were being understood.
“Stone Eater.”
Immediately, the gloomy mood of Wang Ting vanished and she nearly jumped in joy, only for her older brother to restrain her.
“Yes! Will you help us catch some?”
Once again, the Stone Giant adopted a confused expression while looking at the children. But this time, instead of staying silent, the giant slowly lowered its finger to the ground and started to draw shapes on the ground. Before the children or the spirits could question the strange script that was being written on the ground, they were distracted by the massive group of humans running towards them in agitation.
“Children! What did you do!”
“Spirits! What was that rumbling sound from before?”
“Wait! Is the giant trying to communicate?”
“What the hell is that jumble of lines and curves? Is that its language?”
The parents immediately pulled their children behind them, as some of the men and women of the group spotted the giant’s attempt at writing something and tried to see if they could identify anything that was being written. Once the giant was done writing, it looked expectantly at the humans and fire spirits. But as time passed and it received no response, its excitement faded and it simply sat in its place, not knowing how to proceed.
Suddenly, it looked at the humans and brought its palm towards its chest.
“Steven.”
“What is it saying?”
“I don’t know.”
The giant then motioned towards the human that was at the front of the group, who happened to be none other than Wang Wei, who stared at the giant, just as confused as his companions. The giant once again motioned towards itself and repeated.
“Steven.”
“What is that word? And why is it so hard to speak?”
“Shishen. It's saying its name! Its name is Shishen!”
The exclamation of Wang Kai, the grandson of Wang Wei, caught the attention of the people around him, who contemplated his words and nodded to themselves.
“Stone God, huh? What a domineering name. Actually, it fits perfectly.”
“Steven.”
“Shishen, got it. Wang Wei.”
Wang Wei motioned towards himself and repeated his name. It took him a few tries, but he got the stone giant, or rather, Shishen, to understand that his name was Wang Wei, followed by introducing the rest of his family and the people around him. The trace of joy that Wang Wei saw in the giant’s eyes when they finally broke the communication barrier and introduced themselves caused the human to subconsciously relax.
'Were we really afraid of such a kind creature?'