Chereads / The Enigma of the V / Chapter 26 - Kohrr, the gentle Giant

Chapter 26 - Kohrr, the gentle Giant

~About a year ago~

Rachel: NIMMROOOOODD!!!

She waited a moment after shouting several times, but Nimrod was nowhere to be found.

Rachel: {Why wouldn't he come? Could it be that something happened to him? Or... is it that I'm somewhere else entirely?... How did I get here? And where is here?}

Every time she had called Nimrod's name before, he showed up. No matter where she was. This made her believe that she wasn't in the Arkana anymore.

Rachel assumed that the giant (that was a baby, then grew but now is just the size of a really tall human) had somehow opened a portal to another dimension when he pounded the ground to attack the djinn.

Rachel: So, big guy... Do you have a name?

The normal-sized giant man uttered words she couldn't quite understand. He spoke in the giant's tongue, a language believed to have been forgotten long ago. Perhaps she could have figured it out if she had seen it in a textbook. But it was unlikely that she would have been able to speak or even understand their language orally.

Rachel: Well, that kind of sounds like Kohrr, if you ask me. So that's what I'll call you. I think it suits you. Is that ok? – He smiled and nodded.

Rachel: Ok... so how about we find you some clothes... It's not good to have you running around the place butt naked, now, is it? Even though for some reason you don't seem to... uhh... have a... well... you know... yeah... - Rachel's face was red with embarrassment. How Kohrr looked at her suggested that he wasn't catching her drift at all.

Kohrr was learning more and more about the human language. And still, many things about him remained a mystery. Why was he a baby when Rachel found him? How did he alter his size? How did they get to the Giant world? Why did she have constant dreams about the moment he transformed from a baby to a massively-sized giant right out of her arms? Despite his appearing to understand everything she said, he wasn't exactly giving her much information.

Rachel: Tell me, Kohrr... How old are you? Because the first moment I saw you, you were only a baby... Does that mean that I'm older than you? If that's the case, you know you must listen to me, right? Because I'm your elder... Besides... don't tell anyone, but... I'm actually a princess! I don't really care much for that lifestyle, though... If I could live inside a book, I would have said goodbye to the real world long ago...

Kohrr just looked at her with curiosity. Rachel wasn't sure if he understood anything at all of what she had just said. But then there were other times that he would talk to her. Given these were rare occasions, they made her happy to know that he was learning to speak better and better every time.

During her exile in what she presumed was the Giant world, she also trained her mind in order to do a better job concentrating her mana. She would regularly engage in training exercises to help herself improve. And she did manage to improve quite a lot. 

Rachel was already a very skilled White wizard. Had she been more permanently at the Dalmacian capital, her father, King Uther, would have allowed her to join the kingdom's Elite defense force, which was comprised only of the best knights and mages. But Rachel preferred life away from the castle... away from the pre-established duties of royalty. 

Rachel and Kohrr survived and protected each other in the Giant world for about a year. During that time, Kohrr showed Rachel where he had hidden the legendary weapon, Titan. There was one little problem, though... The weapon was quite literally a giant-sized weapon.

Rachel: This is the weapon from the arsenal of light?! – she asked while being completely flabbergasted.

Kohrr: Yes. Titan - Rachel continued to gaze upon the giant-sized weapon, wondering if there was a way to take it back to the Arkana...

Rachel: There's no way I can carry it! Let alone hold it! It's literally a giant's weapon!

Kohrr would, most of the time, remain with a neutral expression on his face. After turning to face the weapon, he walked up to it, put his hand on it, and proceeded to close his eyes for a few moments. The weapon glowed briefly and then started shaking, making the entire place where they were rumble. Rachel then saw how the weapon morphed into a dagger that easily fit in Kohrr's hand.

Rachel was astounded as she continued to look at the weapon. She had the sense not to touch the weapon, though. Especially after what Kohrr had to say:

Kohrr: Giant weapon. Humans no.

Rachel: I understand... I was not expecting that, to be honest. I never expected any of this... I need to find a way back to the Arkana... I'm not even sure how much time has passed!

While Rachel tried to figure out a way back to the Arkana, she looked worried. As Kohrr saw her like that, he seemed to have what kind of looked like a slight frown on his face.

Rachel: Aww... are you feeling bad for me, Kohrr? Please, don't... I didn't mean to get all gloomy... I'm sure everything will work out just fine in the end! My brother and I went on a quest to find the weapons of the Arsenal of Light. Who would have thought that we would actually find them so quickly? Well... one of them, at least... And besides, I have dreamed about you so many times... to actually meet you is definitely no coincidence. I believe The One has guided us to each other. If everything has led us here until now, things will surely turn out fine, don't you think?

After hearing that, Kohrr went back to his default neutral stoic expression. 

Rachel: Kohrr... Will you come with me back to the Arkana if I find a way to get back?

Kohrr just took his time before he answered. If Rachel hadn't spent this much time with him, she would have thought that he was ignoring her. But she realized that this was just his way of being. He was actually the strong, silent type.

Kohrr nodded in reply to Rachel's question. Rachel was surprised to see that, and she was delighted as well.

In the Giant World, many things were actually normal-sized. Trees… plants… a wide variety of birds… but there were also giant-sized trees, plants, and even fruit. During all this time, they hadn't encountered any giant up close, only from afar. That had probably been a good thing.

One day Rachel was out foraging. She found several giant-sized fruits, and they were all delicious looking. While she was busy filling her bag with all that fruit, she heard and felt giant footsteps, indicating that a giant was walking past her. A giant was indeed passing by, and just in case it wasn't friendly, she hid amongst the tree branches and leaves. But as the steps grew closer and closer, the ground shook even more violently. The fruit she had collected fell from her bag to the ground, drawing the giant's attention. Soon after, she was spotted. Sadly, it wasn't a friendly giant at all… unless trying to squish Rachel was just his way of saying hi. If that were the case, then Rachel would have preferred some friendly indifference…

Rachel cast Protect on herself and ran like crazy, but there was no way she could outrun the giant at such close range. Fortunately, Kohrr was nearby. He ran and stood between Rachel and the giant (who was reaching to grab her). Kohrr caught the giant's fingers with his hands and crushed them with a powerful kick. The giant was pissed. With its other hand, it picked up a giant boulder and threw it at Kohrr with such force that it shattered, with debris splattering in all directions after hitting him. Some of the debris hit Rachel, knocking her down. She wasn't severely injured, though, but she was bleeding from a cut on her forehead. Kohrr, on the other hand, wasn't looking in that good a shape. He was bleeding all over. The boulder that was thrown at him would have killed any average human. But he was just hurt pretty badly.

Rachel used Cure to take some of the massive damage away from Kohrr. The giant was winding up to throw an all-out punch that would likely crush them both. Before he finished winding up, though, Kohrr used something that seemed like a magical ability. He shouted:

Kohrr: Magnitude 5!

He had put both hands on the ground. Violent tremors started rearranging the ground where the giant was standing, making it lose balance. But this didn't last very long. The giant regained balance as the ground stopped shaking and resumed winding up for that punch that would end everything. Kohrr quickly held Rachel with one arm, and with the other, he seemingly punched the air in front of them.

Kohrr: Barrier BRAKE! – As he did this, the giant threw its punch. It crumbled the entire ground in front of it. The giant's punch left an abysmal crater in the ground. It looked like a massive bomb had gone off there. But Kohrr was able to escape with Rachel. They were now back in The Arkana.

Rachel: Are you ok?

Kohrr: I am strong – he said with a pretty straight face, which made Rachel giggle.

Rachel: That you are, indeed. Thank you for saving me... Again.

Kohrr smiled and suddenly fainted. Perhaps breaking the dimensional barrier was exhausting? Rachel used a Cure spell on both herself and Kohrr. She realized that they were just outside the town she had gone to with Nimrod. The town's name was Balboa.