"Boom!!!" the sound of something heavy falling to the ground sounded through the plain fields. Then, "whoosh!!!" a demonic looking head of a demon came flying through the air, hitting an innocent deer, obliterating it instantly. The source of the head came from a nearby field that is currently filled with blood and corpses from demons, at the center of the field stood a gigantic statue and a demon with bull horns, hoofs, a snout full of razor-sharp teeth, and it was covered in black fur.
The demon barely looked humanoid and had the intelligence of a bull, as well as its aggressiveness. The demon looked like it was on the brink of death, it was missing one of its arms and its body was full of bleeding gashes and scars. With one swift strike, the halberd in the hands of the statue struck it down, the demon's head flew off at great speeds, only stopping when hitting a tree in its way, and by stopping, the head actually just exploded.
Elden sighed, 'when will this end?' and the answer to that question came quickly, the pieces of the demon all reassembled itself before Elden's eyes, and once again the demon stood in front of it once more, good as new. Elden had been fighting this demon for what seemed like years, and it always got back up no matter what Elden did to it.
The demon jumped towards Elden, swinging its claws, but once the demon's claws collided with Elden's armor, they crumbled into dust. Screaming in pain, the demon didn't notice until it was too late that it was currently being held by Elden.
1 minute later Elden left the battlefield with no demon in sight. Once it got back to the camp it found Arcena and Megan training. Elden had left early to clear the path, so that there would be no interruptions during the ride to the tunnels through the mountain range. So, Elden decided not to intrude, and instead pack up their items still laying around.
Arcena was focusing so hard her brain started to hurt, she could barely track Megan's movements, straining her eyes, Arcena shot out a lightning bolt to where she though Megan was going to be, and not a second later, she felt the cold edge of a blade held across her neck.
"You're getting better, but you have yet to hit me once. You can do better than that," Evaluated Megan.
"I know, it is just that your too fast for my brain to keep up. Can you please slow down a bit," Complained Arcena.
"Maybe it's your brain and reflexes that need to get faster, as I have yet to go full speed yet, and your enemies will not hold back on you. So, you must learn how to quickly react to your opponent's moves without being told what they are beforehand." Megan shot back.
Arcena sighed and sat on the ground to rest. She had been training for 5 hours straight, and she is currently beaten-up thanks to Megan. "There is no time to rest, we are leaving for the tunnels now," Stated Megan.
Arcena enjoyed the scent of the surrounding flowers they were passing, that sweet scent quickly became bloody and disgusting, why is it whenever she is enjoying something there is always blood nearby. Looking around, she saw no corpses, just blood and an arm with sharp claws sticking out of the dirt. Arcena noticed the hand seemed to move, but that was probably just her imagination, and strangely she sensed joy coming from Elden's direction, but that cannot be correct, it didn't have feelings.
The group stopped in front of a large demon-made cave mouth; it was one of the many tunnels that ran through the mountain range. Stepping inside they were first greeted by the clanging of metal hitting stone, they must have found a mining tunnel instead of a transportation one, which is lucky as there is less of a chance to run into a full-on army, instead, they will at most run into 10 guards in one patrol group.
Walking through the tunnel, they watched as giants with large pickaxes hacked away at the stone around them, they all had lifeless eyes, and a chain around their neck, but most grewsome was the gargantuan spike driven through their chests and connected to a long chain, holding them from running away but long enough for them to mine in a certain radius.
Walking further down the tunnel, they found many patrols, but they were easily taken care of by just Arcena. They eventually reached the end of the tunnel, where they found a camp, and after killing all the inhabitants of the camp, they decided to take a rest before heading into the Woods of Astoricia.
Arcena couldn't sleep that night, whenever she tried to doze off, she dreamt of the giants, betrayed by the humans, and used to work as slave mules for labor. She was just 15 years old, and though she had a rough life, it only helped her understand the pain the giants were in more. So, at the dead of night Arcena sneaked out of the camp, and she intended to free the giants, but before she could, she was stopped by Megan.
"What are you doing out so late. Actually, I already have a feeling of what you're about to do, you are going to try to free the giants. Am I right?" asked Megan.
"Yes, and I wish for your help too, it will go must faster if you help me." stated Arcena hopefully.
"No." said Megan simply.
"Why? Do you not see the torture they have been through; they have spikes in their chests for crying out loud! Or do you not understand the pain they are in! No, you don't!" Not giving Megan a chance to speak, Arcena turned around and angrily stomped her way back to the camp.
In her anger, Arcena couldn't see the pain on Megans face, in her mind, thinking about the past, about all she had lost, Megan spoke out loud quietly, "I understand that pain, that loss, more than you think I do, more than you or the giants will ever know or feel. I just hide it."