Chapter 17: Gargantuar
“Huh, it really is called a Gargantuar,” Lilith said, flipping the little notebook, its pages whispering like dry leaves in moonlight.
The Little White Dragon had thought she’d been snarking; now the truth landed like a stone dropped in a still pond.
“Giants and zombies—makes sense,” Lilith mused, the thought settling like snow on a tiled roof.
She sat beside the Gargantuar’s vast corpse, a mountain toppled, and used her tendrils to sweep the head Nidhogg had crushed back to the body, like pushing a broken lantern to its stand.
Three thick tendrils sank in like nutrient tubes, roots tapping a buried spring, and she drew the Moonswallow Mist with a steady pull.
She tucked her spare tendrils under her tail like coiled cushions and hugged a pocket bestiary, eyes bright as fireflies as she read.
“Gargantuar: a special zombie-type Undead,” the entry began, its words neat as ink on rice paper.
“It’s the hardest foe on the first floor, a hulk among the Undead, with a frame like a fortress and a temper like storm-surf.”
“It can forge weapons and gear using Moonswallow Mist, and its hunger for battle burns like a brazier in the wind.”
“In life, it served as a guard in Undead towns, one posted to each street like a stone lion at a gate.”
“They’re keepers of order, dealing with unruly Undead, so they blend crushing strength with a measure of spellcraft, a blade with a hidden edge.”
“So it had magic too? I didn’t even get to see it,” Lilith muttered, pain blooming in her ribs like a bruise-colored flower.
She’d watched Judeng Cat throw a seamless combo, smooth as running water, and then the Gargantuar clubbed her away with a utility pole like a felled tree.
By the time she sprinted back, Nidhogg had finished the thing in a handful of heartbeats, cutting the storm like a clean stroke.
All Lilith had seen was Moonswallow Mist condense into gear, a silver breath turning to steel in the cold.
She shook her head and read on, calm settling like tea leaves, because the giant was down and its tricks wouldn’t come back to bite her.
It’s not like she’d fight another Gargantuar right away; that chance felt as distant as starlight.
“Off-duty, Gargantuars haul heavy loads, oxen in iron skins, helping where azure ghosts can’t touch solid weight,” the entry continued, clear as a temple bell.
“Undead research needs real materials, and that’s when Gargantuars step in, shoulders broad as bridges.”
“Like most adventurers guess, a Gargantuar is a boss of the first floor, the gate-stone before the stairs,” the script went on, firm as carved seal.
“Beat it, and you earn your way deeper; search the fallen giant like sifting gravel in a stream, and you’ll find the road down.”
“Nidhogg, check the body. See if it’s carrying what we need,” Lilith said, a spark of hope flickering like a lamp in fog.
“Found one,” Nidhogg replied after a quick search, her hands moving like black wind; in the giant’s pocket lay a thin sheet, a map folded like a sleeping kite.
The Little White Dragon snatched the map in a playful gust, then sat by the corpse, reading with interest bright as sunrise.
She pointed with a small hand, a sprout branching, and traced their path like a thread across a loom. “We’re here, the mark’s here. To get there, we just cross a small street.”
“So close,” she breathed, delight ringing like a tiny bell; she’d thought the next step would hide like a fox in thicket.
“Then we head for the marked spot,” Lilith said, resolve settling like a blade in its scabbard.
But her tail kept pulsing, a siphon in the tide, drinking the giant’s store of Moonswallow Mist like a well in drought.
“Let me finish drawing the Moonswallow Mist first,” she said, lifting her delicate face, voice soft as warm rice soup.
“Just a little while. It won’t slow us much,” she coaxed, sweetness hanging like dew on bamboo.
“No problem. Drink up; I’ve got a few things to discuss,” Nidhogg said, brushing dust from a rock with a flick of magic like rain, then setting it as a stool.
She conjured another just the same, twin stones like two moons, and tucked them under Abaddon and Litt.
“What did you want to talk about?” Lilith asked, heart pricking like a thorn; Nidhogg rarely fussed over her, so she gripped the chance like a net.
“Your strength’s solid,” Nidhogg said, gaze steady as obsidian, “but you’re not bringing out everything you’ve got.”
“One reason: too many abilities, and you never sort them; your moves don’t harmonize, strings loose on a guqin.”
“Besides that, here’s the big one,” Nidhogg paused, a heartbeat held like a drawn bow. “It’s your mindset.”
“My mindset?” Lilith blinked, eyes wide as lakes under stars.
