[Gained soul of Outland Troll Gragh.]

[Gained Outland Troll Bone (Uncommon) {Grade 4}]

[Gained Outland Troll Skull (Rare) {Grade 5}]

[Gained Outland Troll Flesh (Uncommon) {Grade 5}]

[Gained Blood of the Mountain King (Legendary) {Grade 5}]

Nova stared at the notifications, panting heavily after the fight. The appearance of a legendary drop seemed very lucky, but he wouldn't complain.

'Blood of the Mountain King? Reminds me of an old song…'

"That was quite a display!" Tuck cheered, appearing out of nowhere. "The way you targeted each vulnerability so accurately, it was like a master butcher taking apart a cadaver." His eyes seemed to carry a respect Nova hadn't seen earlier.

Nova wiped sweat from his forehead. "Thanks," he managed between breaths. "I've missed... the thrill of... fighting like this..."

"And that spell you started," Tuck continued. "It looked truly powerful. A shame it was interrupted."

Nova nodded absently, now busy watching the soul stats of the troll. He was eager to see if the fight had been worth it.

[Soul Sheet - Outland Troll Gragh]

[Core Stats]

[Soul Power: 3874]

[Soul Purity: Bright]

[Compatibility: 67%]

[Time Limit: 1 min 20 sec]

[Essence]

[17050/17050]

[Aspects]

[Physical Force: 2711]

[Physical Control: 2440]

[Physical Resilience: 3254]

[Mental Force: 1084]

[Mental Control: 1386]

[Essence Generation: 1654]

[Essence Capacity: 2196]

[Soul Traits]

[Son of the Mountain King] [LEGENDARY]

[Troll Pride] [RARE]

[Agile] [COMMON]

'Oh, yes! Nearly four thousand Soul Power in one go! Not sure why there's only a one-minute time limit… Is the fragment given longer due to being part of me? And what's that legendary trait? The Mountain King again…'

He pulled up the info on the trait, reading each line with less understanding.

[Son of The Mountain King (Legendary)]

[You are the son of The Mountain King, granting immense bonuses to physical aspects and removing growth limits.

"Go out and grow like me, dear son. I will watch over you."]

'... That's ominous. Removing growth limits, that's probably why he was so much taller than average.'

"Hey, Tuck? What's The Mountain King?"

"The Mountain King?" Tuck asked back, suddenly furrowing his brows. "Why do you ask?"

"Well, this troll seems to have been his son." Nova kept his voice steady despite the growing unease in his gut. "He has a trait that says so, and I also got Blood of the Mountain King as a dropped loot."

The color drained from Tuck's face. "... We might need to leave. Immediately."

"Is it a strong monster?" Nova glanced at the distant peaks. "Someone ruling these mountains would have to be, but..."

"We need to leave. Now." Tuck's voice cracked with raw fear. "He's not called the Mountain King because he's king of the mountains; He IS the mountain!"

A deep rumble rolled through the ground, as if the earth itself was awakening. Nova watched in stunned silence as the tallest mountain began to move. Avalanches of dirt and stone crashed down its sides as something ancient stirred to life.

"... But we can escape it, right?"

"It's too late!" Tuck's usual composure was stripped away by the panic. "That is an Ancient Beast, Nova! It only needs to think you to death! And we are already in its radius of influence!"

"What?! What about teleportation?" Nova's mind raced for solutions.

"What 'teleportation'? I can't teleport at will! Can you?"

"Not now! I'm not strong enough! But you are, surely?!"

"I don't know how!"

The mountain could no longer be recognized. A titan, incomprehensibly giant in size, now stood on one knee, slowly rising into the air. Nova's breath caught in his throat as the being slowly pushed itself up from the ground.

His heart was pounding. He wasn't scared of death, having faced it eight times before. But Millie's smile flashed through his mind, followed by the faces of every child in the Garden.

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'I am their only hope. I can't die here. I swore I would never fail again!'

"I'll teach you, and then you can take us both away!"

"Sure, but how the hell are you going to teach me in seconds?!"

"Like this!" Nova yelled, moving his essence to sear runes into the ground around them. "Just fill these with your essence, and we can move! I don't have enough Mental Force or Control, but you do!"

"Okay, okay! Let me focus!" Tuck closed his eyes, kneeling on the ground to pour his essence into the formation.

Nova looked up at the Mountain King. The titan now stood at full height, its head piercing the clouds. Divine strength radiated from its form, ancient and absolute. And it looked straight in their direction.

Suddenly, Nova was hit by a deep and terrifying roar, shaking his entire body. It was like a volcano blasting magma into the air, shaking every boulder and hill nearby. And, as he watched in terror, hundreds of mountain tops rose from their resting place, lifting into the air and creating a majestic scene. The floating masses resembled an asteroid belt around the king.

"There's no hurry," Nova mumbled, trying his best to remain calm.

"Can you— how does the central circle relate to the others?" Tuck's fingers traced the glowing runes.

"It's the trigger and control center." Nova pointed to the central formation, spewing words faster as the Mountain King's massive hands rose toward the sky. "It sends signals to the other parts, starting the entire process in multiple stages. I've set a target, so don't worry about that part!"

"Okay, that makes sense… I think I've got it!"

The runes around them flared to life, lifting from the stone in ribbons of light that spun faster and faster around them.

"Activate it!" Nova's shout barely carried over the growing rumble. Above them, the Mountain King's hands descended. Hundreds of mountain peaks hurtled toward their position like divine arrows.

"Activating!" Tuck yelled back, and then a flash of light blinded the both of them completely.

"Ahh, what was that? There isn't supposed to be a flash!"

"I might have mes—" Tuck's voice cut off as Nova felt the ground disappear from under his feet. Wind whipped past them as they plummeted through the open sky.

Still disoriented by the flash, Nova blinked rapidly to try and look below him. He had aimed the teleportation close to the city but didn't want to risk appearing deep in the ground, so he put the destination high up in the air.

"Sorry about that!" The wind tore at his words. "We're both too strong to die from a fall, right?"

"Yeah!" Tuck replied, tumbling downward without control. "You dashed faster than terminal velocity during the fight, so your body can handle it! But I'm a bit worried about the barrier surrounding the city!"

"Oh! Shit!"

Nova recalled hearing about the protective barrier, now regretting his decision to appear over the city. Hitting a barrier meant to keep monsters at bay at terminal velocity might be an unpleasant experience.

"You can't fly?" Nova asked, starting to worry.

"Of course I can! But what about you?"

"Now you're hesitant to save me?!" Nova couldn't help but smile at the business acumen of the small man. "Fine, more runes?"

Tuck smiled, and suddenly, two giant wings emerged from his back. They looked drake-like and were way too large for such a small body. "I guess if you're offering such excellent trades, I have no choice. Don't move!"

Tuck floated over to Nova and grabbed him by the neck of his new jacket. They slowed down as he spread his wings, and soon, they were cruising at a comfortable pace over to the entrance of the city they both left from.

"... Long day, huh?" Nova asked in jest.

Tuck laughed loudly, shaking Nova accidentally. "One of the more eventful ones, certainly! I hope I don't need to tell you, but you can never go back to the outlands."

"Yeah, I figured…" Nova stared in the direction of the outland mountains, vaguely seeing the silhouette of a man piercing the clouds. "That Mountain King, I'm surprised he only has a million Soul Power."

"No, one million is just the requirement to be called an ancient beast. But the Mountain King has existed ever since history was first recorded, even older than the system itself. Your kings and heroes can't begin to compare to beings that old."

"... Then how the hell did I manage to encounter its son? That seems like extraordinarily bad luck."

"Well, it is believed that all trolls are descended from the Mountain King. He has had a lot of children. But that one might have been among the younger ones."

A loud crash suddenly passed their ears, coming from the direction of the outlands. "... I guess that was the attack meant for us. Did you see it?"

"No, my eyes were closed. What did he do?"

"He did his best to look intimidating, that's for sure. We would be dead if he didn't have a sense of grandeur."

"That's… good to know."

They drifted in silence for a while, both having much on their minds. Nova was eager to return to the Garden, but he felt it would be too late at this hour. Besides, his fragment was all but spent.

'I'm sure Quinn will be happy to see me, even if I only journeyed for a day… I wonder if I can trade this soul for top gold… A legendary trait, would anyone say no to that?'

He was wary about potential scammers, though. His last visit turned sour, and even if it didn't, this could be on a completely different level in terms of value.

"... I'll be leaving Colport once we land," Tuck said as they neared the gate. "I would love to stay and pick your brain, but I no longer have anything to trade. Your knowledge is too valuable."

"Really? You're reaching the limits of what knowledge you can share?"

"Yes. We have mountains of knowledge available to us, but only a fraction can be shared at our convenience. I will leave you with one particular piece of information to even out the score. And as thanks."

"... Okay? Is it something I'll find helpful?"

"I hope so. It's related to your goal."

Tuck turned silent as they neared the ground, flapping his wings for the final approach. He let go of Nova a bit above the ground before landing a few meters away.

Nova landed on light feet, finally feeling safe enough to unequip his fragment. "So, do you still want the runes?"

"No, please, the teleportation formation was more than enough to pay for the entire trip. As for the final piece, I can't tell you much… Your king selects talented people to be his potential successors instead of the normal method."

"Ahh, and you think I can take his place? Won't that take a long time?"

"Well, yes. But… not as long as you might think."

"Why?"

Tuck's face was as firm as rock, not letting anything slip through his expression. "That's all I can say. It's been a pleasure, Nova." Tuck reached his right hand out, holding his palm facing up for some reason.

"... Is this a handshake?"

"... Do you enjoy tickling my curiosity like this? How can you not know what a handshake is? You do the same, I'll show you."

Nova did as he asked, holding his hand forward, palm facing up. Tuck put his palm over it, bending all of his fingers into a claw. "Now you do the same."

Nova did, and soon their hands were locked together, pinky against index and ring against middle. "And now we turn our hands so that our positions switch."

Nova again did as he was asked, and turned his hand around at the same pace as Tuck.

"And now we release."

Nova relaxed his hand and let Tuck's fingers slip from his own, feeling a certain sense of alienation from the unusual gesture. He had lived in many different cultures, but a handshake had somehow seemed universal.

"Right, it's been a pleasure. I guess I'll see more of your kind around at some point."

"Probably! And if you're lucky, it might even be me! Bye!"

Before Nova could even register it, Tuck was gone from sight, just as quickly as he had appeared in the same spot earlier that day.

'He could probably escape that situation at any time… I might owe him more than he wants to admit.'

Nova turned back to the gate, suddenly realizing that his brand new backpack remained in the outlands.

'... You owe me two gold coins, Mountain King.'

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