A Real Giant

A giant. A real, actual giant.

Fifteen percent. Success or failure, decided by pure chance. The Transcendent-grade Light of Heritage succeeded unconditionally, but this semi-Legendary reproduction came with odds attached. Even worse, the most crucial element of all — 'Heritage' — was missing entirely. It seemed that being crafted a second time had downgraded not just its performance but its reliability as well.

"Fifteen percent shouldn't be too hard."

After all, I was someone who had already beaten the odds of getting struck by lightning. Kiki's performance had proven itself beyond doubt — first in crafting the additional Light of Heritage, and before that, pulling the Heavenly Skewer out of a random box. I'd written that pull off as a dud at the time, but since it ended up getting me the Multicolored Successor from Minoa, I supposed it counted as good fortune after all. Fifteen percent? I might as well call it a sure thing.

"I wouldn't say that."

"Sorry?"

Drak's thinking, however, was different. The moment I tilted my head, he brought over a material similar to the Light of Heritage, laid it on the anvil, and began hammering away.

CLANG! CLANG! CLANG!

It didn't change. No matter how he hammered it, the material refused to shift, holding its shape exactly as it was.

"The Light of Heritage is the power of a great existence. A power that has existed since the Mythic Era — which is why it carries a truly formidable immutability."

"...Immutability?"

"Absolute immutability."

─Kiki?

"That strange machine of yours simply won't work on it."

I immediately summoned Kiki and had it try its luck on the semi-Legendary Light of Heritage anyway.

Ding-ding-diiing~♪

The slot machine spun furiously, then began to slow with an unpleasant grinding... grinding... as it gradually ground to a halt.

♡7♠

No triple sevens.

─Kiki? Kiki!

Kiki kept spinning the reels as if it couldn't believe what had happened. But no matter how many times it pulled, the odds remained unchanged.

Absolute nature. A law that accepted no interference whatsoever and moved only as decreed. Of course, nothing in this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠world is truly 'absolute,' so even absolute nature couldn't be called perfect — a powerful suppression can always be pierced by an even more powerful one. The reason for this failure was simply that Kiki's power was vastly weaker than that of the existence who had first granted the Light of Heritage.

It's not that Kiki's luck doesn't apply at all. Judging by how close it had come and the timing of the reels, I'd estimate the actual odds sat around twenty percent. Kiki's fortune, which usually ran close to a hundred percent, was only faintly taking effect — but it was taking effect nonetheless.

"Twenty percent at most, then. This won't be easy."

Could I really punch through a one-in-five chance and succeed? Without Kiki, I wasn't particularly lucky.

"Let's start with a guaranteed success first. I need to know exactly what this thing does before I pick what to enhance next."

Only after understanding precisely what changes the Light of Heritage could bring about would I be able to choose the second Masterpiece to enhance. I suspected the second one would be the White Savior with high probability, but depending on how the enhancement turned out, I might choose something else entirely.

Which meant the first Masterpiece I would use it on was...

"You mean to use it on that?"

"Yes."

The Multicolored Successor. There were several reasons, but the most important one lay in the word 'Heritage' itself.

A Masterpiece with the power to draw upon the strength of the Mythic Era. If it were upgraded through the Light of Heritage, the Successor's trials would most likely originate from that 'someone' who had given Drak his mission — the one who had set something special in motion. Whoever issued that mandate was a being from the Mythic Era, and they had surely arranged something extraordinary.

One worry nagged at me: the Kraken's trial hadn't ended yet. But I judged it wouldn't be a major problem. The Light of Heritage was for enhancement — it strengthened the rewards gained, not the trials themselves.

"A fine choice. The Multicolored Successor is worth exactly that much."

"What do you think about the White Savior?"

"Good, but not worth being your first. As long as time remains, the Multicolored Successor can grow stronger without limit."

"Hmm... understood."

The light soaked in. Unlike the radiant blaze when the Light of Heritage had first been forged, a quiet, still glow enveloped the Multicolored Successor — and the transformation began.

DING!

"Oh."

Swish.

"250?"

I gripped the necklace tightly. It was a staggering amount of mana — enough that even I, standing here now, could genuinely feel it. If it had landed in the hands of Redberry or any other mage, the number would have been high enough to make a serious run at a top-five ranking.

"Pretty good. I'd say this qualifies."

In my base state, the extra mana would have meant little. But in my fourth stage, I converted all of my stats into the Divinity of Healing — and the newly gained 250 mana was no exception. The moment I activated the fourth stage, I felt a far greater well of divinity flowing through me. I still couldn't use it offensively, but it looked like I'd be able to put it to meaningful use.

That said...

"What are you doing?"

"......"

Drak had backed away a few steps from me and was quietly observing me, as one studies a work of art.

"...Was that always your appearance?"

"It's only been a little while. Does it seem strange?"

"No, no. It's not that it's strange, it's..."

Drak hesitated. His reaction was one of deep surprise — yet part of it read almost like he'd been spooked. After all, this was the first time he'd seen me since the Sgaredo affair, so the transformation was more than enough to startle him.

"You look far stronger than I expected, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that's all."

"I can't attack in this form, you know."

Strikes dealt no damage, and neither did magic or special techniques. The only ways I had to harm anything were overloading a target with divinity until it burst, or summoning someone else to attack in my stead. That was more than serviceable in itself, but if I was going to do that anyway, it made more sense to simply pummel things in my third stage.

"......"

"If there's nothing else, I'll be going."

"You're not continuing here?"

"The enhancement works best on Kiki Island. That way, Kiki's 'luck' can be brought to its fullest."

Since I was enhancing anyway, doing it on Kiki Island would let Kiki's fortune operate at maximum power. I couldn't be sure it would function properly now that the dungeon was gone, but the altar and the domain itself still remained.

Creeeak...

As the forge's doors opened, a cool breeze swept in. With my waypoint marked in mana, I turned my head without ceremony.

"Then I'm off."

"Wait, hold on! Let me send you—"

WHOOSH!

Ignoring Drak's outstretched hand, I shot straight out of the forge and plummeted vertically below the sky island. Gravity seized me and my body sank rapidly, plummeting toward the ground far beneath.

"I skipped it on purpose."

The sky island where Drak's forge stood floated apart from the other continents. Which meant the land below was still an uncharted realm that no player had ever set foot upon. Naturally, something mysterious and special had to be waiting down there. Of course, the altitude was high enough that any ordinary player would have simply fallen to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠their death —

Flap.

Wings spread from my back, and my speed bled away. The clothes that had whipped around me like mad settled, and the scenery below came into focus through the camera's lens.

A colossal mountain rose from the earth — veins of gray ore and hazy stone filling its mass. Brilliant white trees grew across its slopes; those were almost certainly the trees that yielded Mystery Timber. The mountain towered to an immense height and breadth, and from a distance, its silhouette looked remarkably like a person sitting down to rest.

"...Or not."

RRRRMMMBLE...!

KUUUUM... KRRNG!

"So it really is a giant?"

A living creature — a genuine one. Though asleep, it was a living, breathing being made of stone.

"...!"

In an instant, an immense crushing weight enveloped me and bore down. I spread my divinity to shake it off, but the effort strained me. Feeling something deeply wrong, I activated my fourth stage and broke free of the pressure.

As if it had been waiting for exactly that moment, a cascade of information windows flooded ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠my vision.

"A Colossus?"

Was this thing the master of the continent? Or the ruler of this mountain range alone? A monster stronger than anything I'd imagined — and one I'd never known of. Feeling a fair measure of wonder at the appearance of such an unfamiliar beast, I descended slowly toward the ground and touched down with a soft crunch of earth.

"Huh?"

I was back on the original continent.