The trio had decided to help a few adventures fighting, rather struggling against a Gogliath — a literal five meter monster that wielded a massive stone club.

  There was not much strategy involved, or more precisely, there was no time to make one. The rescuees were on the verge of death with many of their companions already turned into corpses.

  Stein was the first one to strike, he lunged at the leg of the giant, trying to chew right through. He himself was a monster which meant he could match the ferocity and ruthlessness of the enemy. Of course, a being like Gogliath had tough skin. Stein was only able take a single bite before the giant flung him right to the nearby crimson field.

  Fortunately, the hound was able to get a hold of himself and swiftly made an exit from the garden of death. Harwin and his party members could not have stayed silent, either. Well, party members as in, only Winston as Eiza was just a priestess. She still remained vigilant, acting as a scout as well as healing anyone she could.

  The young mage did not use magika for now, neither did he use any eco-shards, as he had a limited number of them in possession. He instead charged right at this giant, which was similar to a cyclops, with his stygian blade. He tried to cut through the leg of the enemy but had to retreat once he saw its club heading straight towards him.

  Harwin was able to dodge, but just in the nick of time. The area where the huge monster had brought down his weapon was left with a crater. The former had only witnessed such feats of strength by Farelen and Swven, but even they could never have reached such brute force.

  The other adventurers were able to catch a breath for now. Eiza signalled them to get near her. She quickly casted a healing spell on all of them whilst Winston and Harwin kept the giant at bay.

  There were a total of three rescuees. One was a bulky fellow with a massive warhammer, he appeared to be a tank. The other was a lady, she was holding a bow. The last one was a mage, although, he looked almost out of magika.

  The burly fellow quickly engaged once again. The archer also began to shoot arrows at the monster, although, they could never penetrate. The mage stood in support which was usually the role of one in any battle, but Harwin was just versatile enough to do almost any role.

  With four strikers and three in support, the adventures felt a bit confident against their enemy. However, this was a mistake on their part. A Gogliath was not only huge, but it also possessed great endurance and battle prowess. The strikers continued to attack from all angles but only managed to scrape the thing.

  The most important part for any venturing party in the the shadow ruins was survival. This was the priority of even the most experienced fellows, so Harwin had already signalled the rest to try and retreat. Alas, the cyclops was hardly ever going to let them succeed. It, specifically, made sure to leave no escape routes.

  It was then that the tank decided to act as the decoy. He shouted:

  "All of you run! I will act as the distraction!"

  Although, Harwin was a bit unsure, Winston grabbed him by the arm and began to run away. The others also followed this action, even Stein understood the situation. Yet, the sacrifice of the burly man was worthless. In just a single strike, the giant squashed him to the ground and blood spewed everywhere. The monstrous being wasted no time and began charging to the others as well who were not fast enough to escape its clutches.

  The strikers once again engaged, having left with no other choice that is. Now, Harwin had already read about the weakness of the enemy they were facing — its singular eye. However, it was not easy to strike that zone either, as the giant made sure to protect its most vital part thoroughly.

  There was something that every single one of them understood: if they could manage to imbalance it, then their victory would be guaranteed.

  The stygian blade was as sharp as ever, if Harwin could have connected a single strike, then it was highly probable that he could cut through the appendage of such a mighty foe. So, he shouted:

  "Winston, cover me! Mage, cast something toward its eye!"

  The mage began to chant an earth spell, it was the only type he could use as well. Winston provided support to Harwin who had began to charge right at the bottom of the enemy.

  Just as the giant was about to deal with Harwin, the mage shot dozens of stone projectiles at it. These were basic earth spells which meant that the projectiles themselves were more like pebbles than anything else, but they were still shot at an incredible speed.

  The Gogliath understood the meaning of strike to the eye, so it focused all its attention in dealing with the stone pebbles. This left an opening for Harwin and Winston to strike. The former swiftly slashed with his enchanted sword, trying to cut right through. With a miracle, the strike connected as well. All conditions were in his favour.

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  Just when Harwin was sure of victory, he stared in horror as his blade was stuck in the dense bone of the giant, unable to move past. He was not even able to pull his sword away. The fault lied not with the blade, but the lack of strength of the user.

  Obviously, the cyclops screamed in agony, but due to its tough endurance, it managed to get a hold almost immediately.

  Harwin was still contemplating of what his next action should be when he recieved a kick from the enemy. It was not an intended one, the giant had simply began to flung its legs, maniacally, due to the severe pain.

  Well, even this fit of agitation and agony was enough to launch Harwin away. He was thrown right passed Eiza, flying several yards away without his weapon in hand, either. The latter rushed towards him to cast healing spells without any delay. The poor lad felt as if his soul had left his body. The pain was sharp and he failed to breath for a few moments due to the intensity of the attack.

  Fortunately, he was still alive and with a priestess like Eiza, he was up in matter of seconds without any major wound or injury.

  Stein and Winston were the only ones left in the direct combat team, this meant that they were struggling a lot. Although, the giant's movements had dulled down after the strike from Harwin. It was also unable to pull out the blade due to having multiple opponents at bay.

  The other mage was almost useless now. He had used up his last bit of reserve in distracting the giant. The man still tried to charge forward with a dagger but was stopped by Eiza, for the latter knew it was plain suicide.

  "Harwin! What do we do now!? That thing will crush Winston and Stein if we do not do something!" Eiza yelled, her voice filled with desperation and powerlessness.

  The young mage understood the feeling. He knew that their odds were not good at the moments, but he had a card up his sleeve — a last resort. He gave the archer a few of the eco-shards and the slingshot while instructing her to use it when he signals.

  He then shouted:

  "Winston! Run towards me when I tell you to! Do not look back no matter what when the time comes!"

  Winston understood. He had already trusted Harwin with his life once, and he was willing to take the risk again.

  This was when the young mage began to chant a spell. It was not like any other, it was something he had only learned to do in the past week under the mentorship of Lyam — a fellow mage he had met at library. Spark began to fly in front of his prosthetic arm, but he used his other hand to further channel all his magika to a single point.

  Intense heat began to follow the sparks, even the caster himself was having difficulty standing in front of it due to the severity of it all. Soon enough, a blazing orb conjured in front of Harwin, but it was totally different from the rest — its color was crimson with a tinge of blue right at the center of it all.

  However, that was not the end of it all. The ball of inferno was expanding rapidly and with each second passing, Harwin's body was giving in as well. He did not falter, though. Instead, he planted his feet firmly, almost becoming one with the accursed land.

  Meanwhile, The strikers were struggling quite a bit in buying time for their mage, but they did not let the giant anywhere near him, either. Stein and Winston would have perished before failing to protect their master and companion respectively. Their resolves were strong, but their bodies were mortal.

  'I should have become a merchant after all,' Winston thought, but then the face of Eiza flashed in his mind, 'No no, I need to man up. I will never run away from my problems, ever again. I will protect her even if it costs me my life.'

  He lost focus for the slightest of moments when the great club of the giant headed straight towards him. The lad was about to meet a fate similar to the burly man when Stein pushed him right out of the face of impending death. The hound took a hit, basically a graze of the weapon, so he was thrown away by it instead of being squashed.

  "NOW!" Harwin shouted.

  Without even the slighest of delay, Winston ran with all his might. He even managed to grab Stein who laid nearby with a broken leg and other injuries. Although, the beast was large and heavy, the adrenaline boost enabled Winston to basically drag the hound with him. It was a feat only possible due to the circumstances surrounding Winston.

  What he saw in front of him was something spectacular. A great sword in the air, but it was not something made up of metal or even stone for that matter, it was purely conjured of fire. As he was running, he felt the quivering. The striker knew that the giant was limping behind, but he did not look back.

  Just like planned, the eco-shards were launched right at the Gogliath. There was a small explosion and the smoke basically blinded the monster. When its vision cleared, it saw an inferno blade right before its eye.

  In a split second, the five meter giant, whose body had even managed to endure the sharp teeth of Stein and the slash from the stygian blade, fell down. Its heads was obliterated — bits flew off everywhere — and the rest of the body was set ablaze.

  Harwin had managed to take down a giant of the shadow ruins. Winston quickly glanced back, towards body of the Gogliath. After that, he looked towards the young mage with great joy and respect.

  Much to everyone's surprise, Harwin was still standing. He had casted an advanced level fire spell called "The Blade Of Tiroth", it was a spell specific to these lands. The creator of it was "Tiroth The Inferno" a powerful fire mage who later became part of the legendary great five saints.

  Harwin was standing, yes, but he was barely holding himself up. His magika was absolutely depleted, but he still was not sure if the danger was over yet, so he tried to keep himself awake. The young mage was also worried abour Stein, but Eiza had rushed to help him. It was clear that the hound would survive by the grace of her great mastery over healing spells.

  Winston, after taking out the sword of Harwin and making sure the giant was indeed dead, rushed to hug his companion who had saved them from certain death, once again. The archer and mage also made their way near their saviours.

  Every single one of them sighed with relief. Well, everyone except for Harwin. He saw something horrifying, horrendous approaching them from the crimson field. None of the other had noticed first, but soon the rumbling made them concious of the situation as well — a group of Gogliath were heading their way......