The stone giant stomped around the clearing, frustrated that it couldn't reach us. Every step that the massive monster took sent a tremor through the ground. The clearing was big enough that it didn't knock into the tower immediately, but if it wasn't for the mist encasing it, the structure would be in shambles by now. The stone giant grabbed the cliff beside it. With a grunt, it rippled a boulder off like it was a bread crumb, then chucked the boulder right at us.

Instinctively, I thrust my hand out, ready to cast water to attempt to direct the attack. What was I thinking? That monster was so much stronger, I'd never be able to stop it.

Karmin reacted way faster than I did. She swung out her hand. With the movement, a wall of ice appeared in front of us. I could feel the chill from it ten feet away. The boulder hit the ice with a boom. The ice and rock shattered at the same time. The pieces rained down on Terre's mist shield and slid to the ground.

I gaped at the ice fragments. I didn't know Karmin was an ice mage! She was dressed like a light melee Hunter.

"Change of plans," Terre said after calmly watching the interaction. "Take care of the monster, then we deal with the communication tower."

Terre looked at Karmin. "I'm going to deal with the stone giant. You need to keep the tower from falling over."

Karmin tsked. "I should be helping you with the stone giant. It's your opposing element, Terre."

“It’s not your best, either,” he came back evenly. "The mission to make sure the tower is standing," he stressed the word, "And safe. I'll take care of the safe, you take care of the standing. If you can manage both, you can help, but if that tower falls over, it's on your head."

She looked disgruntled and nodded.

"What about me?" I asked. "I can help." The stone giant was over three times my level, but I didn't want to do nothing.

"You can help by staying safe," Terre looked at me. "The last time you tried to help, you almost died. We're not going to make a habit of that. If I had time, I'd stuff you in the camper like we originally planned."

Karmin spoke so fast, I didn't have time to interject. "We can just put her behind my barrier by the tower."

Terre shook his head, the two conversing like they were in a world of their own. "Ria doesn't like —" He paused for a second then switched what he was saying. "Her constitution can's take the chill of your mist. She'd get sick or frost bitten. And the stone giant might attack the tower if I go down and set up the camper down there."

My eyes widened. Karmin had mist too? Hang on, she just totally used ice to deflect a boulder! How can she have both? Did she find an Ability Stone somewhere? That didn't seem possible. Mist wasn't a common ability. In fact, the only person I knew had that power was Terre. Now Karmin had it too?

Karmin accepted his words with a shrug. "You're probably right."

The stone giant threw another boulder, bigger and faster than the last. Karmin created another ice shield just in time. The rock and ice shattered together and rained down, close enough that some of the shrapnel landed on the mist road under the mounts’ feet.

She grunted. "Damn, that packs a punch. Take care, Terre."

"Hang on," I tried to talk over them. "I'm not that weak! No, I am. I mean, you don't have to hide me–"

"Just stay on Ghost," Terre ordered me. He reached down and patted the flying tiger's shoulder. "Make sure she doesn't get hurt."

Why wouldn't they listen to me? They were so considerate before, but when hard things come by, they steamroll right over me. Obviously, they had an established order of operation, but that didn't mean they had to treat me like a glass ball they had to protect.

"I really can help. Stone giants don’t like —"

Terre cut me off when he ordered Karmin, "Get the tower." His mist around the tower started to roll across the land until it engulfed the raging stone giant.

The giant paused and looked around, confused at the vapor that completely engulfed it. It was so thick I could barely see the monster.

"On it!" Karmin waved her hand towards the tower.

A new mist cloud appeared. It seemed the same, but there was something different about it. Terre’s mist was a solid matt white-gray. Karmin's mist sparkled, but not because it was magic. In fact, power wise, it was definitely weaker than Terre's. For whatever reason, flickers of light glittered in the cloud's depths as the mist rolled around the ground.

A chilly air caught in the updraft that raced over the mountain, spreading goosebumps up my skin through my under armor. Hang on. Karmin had ice power and her mist was really cold. So, her mist was actually an ice cloud? That's why it sparkled. It's the sunlight flashing off snowflakes. Whoa.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

In the middle of the glittering mist, ice started at the base of the tower, slowly inching up and freezing the steel beams in place.

My brows pinched together when I noticed. Karmin thought I'd be fine in there? Thank god Terre shot her down. I'd freeze in moments. Levi watched the ice grow too and curled up, as if he got shivers just by looking at it.

Karmin took ChoCho's rein's and tapped its sides. The clucktrice turned and jumped, vaulting through the air towards the sparkling mist. It landed on the cloud, standing on the top as if it was solid ground. Just like the mist road Ghost stood on.

Terre moved to jump off Ghost.

I grabbed his arm. "Listen to me!"

He glanced at me, looked at my gear then at the title bar I knew he could see above my head. Since he was stronger than me, he could see my rank – which was stuck at a permanent E rank. I had a feeling he knew I was stronger than that since he knew the System’s leveling ability, but he already knew I wasn’t that high leveled yet.

Terre didn't say anything, but I knew the verdict of his judgment by the clear expression in his two-toned eyes. He didn't have faith in either my gear or my strength.

A pit grew in my stomach. God, I hated that feeling. Knowing that I wasn't enough. Especially because it was true. I didn't have any business in a battle with a stone giant, yet I didn't want to just sit there and do nothing. Earth elements were weak to water, and that's my element. Even if it's not much, I can still do something.

He pulled my hand off his arm, his touch softer than it looked. Like he didn't want to break me. "Stay here."

He jumped off Ghost, not caring that we were sixty feet in the air. The mist below reached up, welcoming him like a hug. As soon as it touched him, he vanished and reappeared next to the stone giant. The giant roared and swung at Terre, who vanished and appeared on the other side of the monster. His bastard sword swung out, moving so fast, I could only keep up with the slight that glinted on the blade as it moved. The steel crashed into the stone and lit up the mist with bright sparks. A chunk of stone broke off.

The monster growled in fury. A stone spike shot up out of the ground, right under Terre. He dodged back, but the stone still scraped up his side. He stumbled back, thrown off balance. The stone giant took advantage and backhanded him. Terre jumped back, his movements light as air.

In the meantime, the chunk of stone that Terre broke off floated back up and reattached itself. Unlike the zombies yesterday, there was nothing unnatural about it. As long as a stone giant touched earth, it would regenerate. Anyone who'd read the Monster Manual knew that. However, this particular monster seemed to have an overactive regeneration ability. Terre might be stronger, but even he could get tired. But the stone giant couldn't, as long as it was touching earth.

My teeth gritted together. "Idiot wouldn't even listen to me."

Ghost unfurled his wings without warning and flapped them. At the same time, the mist road disappeared under him. I yelped and grabbed his sides as we suddenly started rocking with the rise and fall of his wings. We didn't go anywhere, just hovering in one place.

The stone giant grabbed a boulder right out of the ground and chucked it at Terre. An ice shield appeared right in front of him. The boulder and ice shattered, the residual inertia carrying the debris at Terre. The force might have lessened, but now a hundred of tiny bullets were aiming right at him. He waved his hand and the bits stopped right in front of him, caught in a mist shield.

"Karmin!" he yelled out. "Make an ice sheet."

I glanced at Karmin. She wasn't on the clucktrice anymore. Instead, she stood at the threshold of her mist, watching the fight while maintaining the pool of magic behind her. She stomped on the ground. Ice spread from her foot and raced across the ground, covering the entire area in ice all the way to the cliff.

The stone giant howled, furious to be cut off from its element. It stomped on the ground, cracking the ice and kicking away the chunks

Karmin groaned and moved to fix the broken ice, but the element wasn't very fluid. No matter how she tried, the cracks didn't stop. And every time the giant touched the ground underneath, even just for a second, it healed.

Terre attacked while the monster was distracted. He hacked and slashed at the monster, but a sword wasn't a great weapon against solid stone.

"No wonder the government had trouble," I muttered. "Guns would be even more useless against this monster. You'd need a hammer, axe — or better yet, a pickaxe."

If I could flood the area, no matter where the stone giant stepped, a thin layer of water would cling to the bottom of its foot and prevent it from fully touching the ground. After the battle yesterday, I didn't have enough water to cover the whole area. I still needed to cultivate and replenish my inner source. But there was a pond of water not far away.

I tapped on Ghost's side. "Take me over there, please." I pointed towards the pond.

The flying tiger didn't even acknowledge that I existed. His gaze was stuck on the destruction happening below.

"Take me over there!" I thumped his shoulder. He didn't have reins, so it's not like I could force his head around. Yeah right, even if there were reins, I didn’t have the strength to turn his head. Everything I did was barely a tickle for this A ranked monster.

Ghost's ear twitched. That was it.

I had half a mind to twist that fluffy, black tipped ear, but knew better. After all, the only reason Ghost let me on his back at all was because Terre told him to. If not, the flying tiger would have already dumped me — no matter how high up. Another thing that was obvious — he wasn't going to listen to me. No surprise. I'm not his owner or strong enough to get his attention.

So how was I going to get the water now?

Levi shifted around my neck, looking at the pond and wondering why I was interested in it. Then he looked at the edge of the clearing, showing a memory of the yeti falling to its death.

"No, we're not going to throw the giant off the mountain," I said.

The slope was curved enough, I'm sure the fall wouldn't kill it. Besides, as long as it touches rock, it will regenerate. What a pain in that ass — just like how Terre wouldn't listen to me. He kinda had the same idea as me — cover the battlefield in a different element — but ice didn't cut it. And from Karmin's expression, she was having a hard time fixing all the cracks the ten ton monster made every time it stepped.

My lips pressed in a determined line. Like hell I was going to sit here. I had a feeling that Ghost wasn't going to let me off his back, but Levi was different. "Alright Levi, let's go get the water."

*****