179 Rivaria (2/2)

Kessiah scoffed, ”Unless you think she's the best liar on the planet, you should probably just calm down. Besides, you're stealing my thunder. I had a victory over her.”

Torix shook his head, ”If anything, she might have had a victory over us.”

Kessiah rolled her eyes, ”You're an old, grumpy conspiracy theorist now.”

Caprika glanced between us, ”It does seem strange. She's cold and calculating as they come, rivaling even albony royalty. That's a difficult feat, I promise you. Even a master of manipulation like Thisbey shouldn't overwhelm her in the slightest.”

I frowned, ”Really? Damn...Maybe I should keep focusing on perception. That slipped past my notice.”

Caprika crossed her arms, ”She might open up more around you for some reason. That could be throwing you off.”

Althea frowned, ”Oh, I have an idea why...”

Kessiah nudged Althea with her elbow, ”Hah, told you she wanted the D.”

I rolled my eyes, ”Alright, enough wild speculation. I'll look into it once we get to Rivaria. Until then, we have things to do and places to be. Let's go.”

Everybody packed supplies back into storage, some dimensional some not. With everything ready, I pulled us back up, our group soaring through the skies. Conversation lulled as everyone busied themselves with reading, status work, or playing with their obelisk.

Off in the distance, a storm loomed. As we neared it, Kessiah shouted,

”Yo tough guy, I don't want to get rain all over me.”

I rolled my eyes, ”We'll be fine.

As we neared the gray clouds, I enveloped us in a hollow, spherical well of antigravity. It pushed us inwards and everything around us outwards. When we crashed into the rain, the water flowed around us. As if in a submarine, our party dashed through the tempest unscathed.

Lightning beamed around us. Before it struck someone, I raised my arm. Acting as a lightning rod, a flash of lightning cracked into my hand. It left my palm white hot, but my health didn't even dip. Over the next two hours, I took the brunt of a dozen lightning strikes.

By the time we escaped the storm, my armor hummed with electrical energy. I reached out to it, pulling the electricity. Using a bit of mana, I grasped the sparks.

Skill gained! Electrical Clasping(lvl 1) - Others cower before electricity. You wield it. +1% to using outside sources of electricity.

I raised my eyebrows, stunned by the ease that I gained the skill.

I moved on, attempting to get rid of the electricity. To do so, I reversed the grabbing process, converting the stored voltage into mana. I imagined Yawm's own conversions mimicked this process, except with nuclear fission.

Skill gained! Lightning Eater(lvl 1) - Braving the terrors of tempests, you've earned an appetite for galvanism. +1% to the conversion rate of electricity to mana.

At this point, I thanked the Originator tree. Gaining skills this easy never happened before unlocking that bonus. After dampening the electrical charge of my armor, I sped up our travel. I wanted to reach Rivaria in a day at most. With my mana stores, I had the tools to do so.

Ramping up our speed, we accelerated. Within hours the climate chilled, and the air thinned. We reached far North, mountains dominating the horizon in every direction. We spotted gialgathens just flying around, enjoying themselves. Some of the peaks were active, pits of magma glowing with snow around them.

The gialgathens built cities around these warm spots. Their architecture carved into the mountains. Gialgathens practiced with their tail whips by beating into the stony cliffsides with them. The old beasts even created sculptures with well-timed attacks.

The pinnacle of these carvings stood as monuments in the cities. Models of Lehesion littered the landscape, his image everywhere. In smaller towns, Emagrotha statues stood on mountaintops as well. Other historical figures dotted these towns as well. I even spotted a large figurine of Delilath, Lady of Yellow.

Not long after entering gialgathen country, we reached the tallest mountain on Giess - Aether's Kiss. It rose above the clouds, the incline gradual. I parted the clouds, the air vapor freezing near the mountain-top. We shot up over the fog, finding the vibrant city of Rivaria.

All along the sides of the mountain, many pools exposed magma. Buildings centered around these pits, built to take advantage of the heat source. At the center of the city, a massive pit of bubbling lava smoked. Many gialgathens played or flew over the smoke, their hides resistant to the scorching air.

Around the volcano's edge, buildings of marble and granite stood tall against the cold wind. They reflected an orange sheen, the sun setting in the distance. Cloud tops rolled beneath the city line, gialgathens darting in and out of the clouds.

Gemstones lit their way, crystals shining over doorways, magma pits, and landing zones. They brimmed with mana, collected from Giess's depths.

Gialgathens flew over the streets, using the crystalline lights for guidance.

They kept just above the buildings, flying over the streets.

Their doorways and exits suited their size, everything mammoth in proportion. Espens walked along the streets, bundled up in fur. The looked like ants compared to the colossal monoliths and monuments. These memorials lined around every building, the gialgathens wealth obvious.

As we neared the entrance, I adjusted the size of my gray armor. With the doorways so big, I didn't need to walk around at nine feet. I could stretch out my legs so to speak and enjoy my full size. As I did, Torix pointed towards a behemothic feasting hall. It rose taller than skyscrapers.

”So there is the location we'll be staying at. It's some kind of a warrior hall. All the other combatants will be there as well.”

Caprika looked in a mirror, adjusting her outfit and appearance, ”How much time do we have before we reach there?”

I frowned, ”Seconds.”

Caprika shook her hands, ”I need more time. My brother's down there. It's of the utmost importance that I make myself presentable.”

”Aaaaaand we're landing.”

On one of the landing pads, I set us down. As I rested my feet on cold marble, two gialgathen guards stared down at me. The tallest of the two grunted,

”Who are you, dirtwalker?”

I grunted back, ”Daniel.”

The guards stared at each other, their necks stretching up to twice my height. I matched the stature of their main bodies, however. They looked at the others. The short one grunted,

”They are small. You aren't as small. Are you the one that killed Delilath?”

I winced, ”Yes.”

The tall one growled, ”The other contestants will wrench your guts out you filthy dirtwalker.”

I shrugged, ”We'll see. Will you let me through or not?”

The tall one glared down at me, ”Only as we are compelled by tradition and honor. Two qualities you know nothing about.”

I ignored them, walking past. Torix scoffed, ”They must believe defeating the Lady of Yellow isn't a feat worthy of admiration. If what they say about Daniel is true, then even a simpleton could do it.”

Kessiah smirked, ”Yeah, really shits on her memory, doesn't it?”

Torix nodded, ”Quite.”

The guards sunk their gazes, both of them blushing with shame. As we walked past them, Torix and Kessiah high fived. Torix murmured, ”Only this once.”

Kessiah nodded, ”Duh.”

We entered a massive hallway. Our footsteps echoed as the steepled walls stretched up to absurd heights. Marble alcoves lined the walls, doorways leading to rooms along the sides.

Statues of various gialgathens decorated these alcoves and entrances. Pillars supported many of them as well, keeping the building upright. Floating lights hovered throughout the entire expanse, keeping everything lit with white light. It was beautiful in a natural kind of way.

At the center of the hall, an apparent life-sized replica of Lehesion stood. It was over two hundred feet tall, dwarfing most gialgathens by tenfold. I figured it was exaggeration, but it was hard to say. If Lehesion was really that big, then he was going to be a tough fucker to put down.

As we walked deeper into this hallway, a gruff, old gialgathen landed in front of us. A scar ran down the side of his neck, and he walked on a metal bracer for one his front feet. His faded, blue skin blended in with the white spots along his side. He growled, more because of his grizzled voice than out of anger,

”Hello there, little ones. I'm Malakai. Who and what are you doing in the Hall of Heroes?”

I reached out a palm, ”I'm Daniel Hillside. I'm here for the Honoring of Lehesion.”

Malakai's eyes widened, ”Ah, you know of its true name. Good. Your room is this way, fair warrior. You'll find it's more than large enough for you and your comrades.”

He turned and hobbled on one foot, metal clanking against the marble. He kept his head held high, even as other gialgathens looked down on him from the alcoves. I glared around,

”What happened to your foot?”

He grumbled, ”I lost it in the finals for the Honoring of Lehesion many years ago. The scars still burn this time of year.”

Torix said, ”You wear those scars well.”

Malakai nodded, ”Thank you. Though they limit me, they always serve as reminders of my fighting days. Even the memories are dwindling now that I age. This bastard clanking always remind me before the memory fully fades, however.”

He turned to one of the doorways along the walls of the hallway. It was the only small, wooden doorway here. All the others were massive in size. Malakai gestured a wing to the door,

”Here you will find our small rooms and areas. We lack much in the way of espen-sized rooms here.”

Kessiah scoffed, ”Because espens don't make it this far that often, right?”

Malakai nodded, ”Blunt but yes. I pray thee well in your upcoming battles. You will need them.”

Malakai turned to fly off. Before he did, he turned his face to us,

”Oh, a fiery fellow is waiting for you all inside the main room there. He snapped both the wings of an arrogant youngling earlier. Be careful with that one.”

Caprika stiffened, her hair rising along her back. As Malakai flew off, Caprika swallowed and stared at us, ”Oh by Schema or Baldowah or whatever god there is, please, please don't befoul our first impression. Helios doesn't take kindly to weakness, rudeness, arrogance, pride, fear-”

I waved my hand, ”Or any negative quality. Yeah, yeah, we get it.”

I pushed open the wooden entrance. We found a hallway with ten doors. The high ceilings let me walk in undeterred. A set of stone coaches lined the doors, a lit fireplace keeping them warm. A giant sat down on the nearest couch, sprawled out like a king on his throne.

White fur brimmed from neck and face, his black mask absorbed light him. Palpable, black mana ebbed from him, tangible in form. He wore a fur cape from some giant animal, the brown clashing with his own white hair. He tapped his ivory claws against stone, a pair of gauntlets leaving his fingers exposed.

He turned to us, his mask hiding his face. He pushed himself up, standing two feet taller than me. He was wide as a wall. Caprika paced up to him, ”Helios, it's so good to see you again.”

He lifted his hands, staring at his nails,

”Is this your champion Caprika?”

She nodded. Helios gave me the time of day by looking down on me,

”Rather underwhelming, isn't he?”