Ridley sat at the library computer. After typing in the weird numbers listed on Alexander's notes, google suggested them as GPS coordinates. Seriously, if Alexander was trying to use the numbers as a code to hide his precious treasure maps, GPS was not the most complex option. She spent a minute writing down directions to the locations marked on the back of Alexander's paper. Now most of these were too far away for Ridley to get to in an afternoon, but one of them was literally a rock's throw from Ridley’s house. Close to the park she had just visited a few days prior. So, that was obviously her first target. The path she took back from the library was one she frequented, the little run down strip malls had an eclectic collection of foreign food grocery stores, bail bond businesses, a bingo parlor, and of course a pawn shop. They were constantly swapping out so construction noise was a near constant.
Ridley passed the shops and strolled into the corner of the park she was all too familiar with. She jumped the fence near the swing sets. It was a bit late in the evening for kids to be playing, but too early for the drug dealers and teen make-out sessions.
Looking at the description Alexander jotted down on the paper she noticed her hand glowing again.
She raised her hand up to see her tattoo had turned a bright orange.
"Go-go gadget magic compass!" She said waving her hand back and forth. As she walked through the rusty jungle gym, her hand pointed out a small boulder. As she walked up to it she touched it with her hand and realized there was nothing magical about the stone. It was something inside the boulder that was setting off her tattoo.
She heard the sound of shifting rubble as pain bloomed in her head. She found herself thrown sideways, tumbling end over end, skipping on the ground before she slammed into the park fence.
She groaned as she stumbled upright dizzily and caught herself on the fence as her legs shook beneath her.
“What the actual hell!?” She shouted as she stood groggily. As she looked around she was shocked to see the statue of the buried giant swing its arm downward to crush her. She managed to roll out of the way, but only because the arm moved relatively slow.
"Should I be excited to be seeing this or terrified?" she chuckled
She stared at the face of the giant. Its face was twisted up in rage.
"You seem pissed off at me for some reas... ohhhh!"
Ridley saw the snapped off finger of the giants other hand and recalled her little experiment the other day.
“Wait… is this supposed to be a monster fight?”
As she said it she got a quest prompt.
^
New Quest!
Large Problems
The buried giant has a grudge against you and wants revenge.
Objective: Defeat the giant
Quest rewards:
-1000 xp
-7 silver
-Juggernauts Gloves
“Money! Magic items! I'm an anime protagonist!”
She jumped up and down a few time syching herself up before charging the giant's long arm. It was near fifteen feet tall. As the other hand was buried to the wrist, and the giants head was buried to the face, the arm was the only real means of attack. She was able to dodge a downward strike fairly easily and went up to the arm and punched it.
As she did she heard loud crack from her hand.
“OWWWW!” Ridley shouted as she shook out the pain. "Still cement. That's on me." She said jumping backwards.
Those gloves better be something good.
Dodging a sideways swing she ran out of the giants range. Taking a beat to think, she looked at the giant while it stared daggers back at her. It began mouthing words and moaning creepily. She looked around for something that could shatter the cement, but her search was interrupted by the sound of crackling energy. Ridley eyes darted to the other, partially buried hand and saw lightning dancing between it's fingers. Well the ones still attached at least.
“That seems unfair.”
The tale has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
The hand began to point at her, which was always a bad sign when fighting giants that wielded lightning. Throwing herself behind a tree the lighting crackled forward clipping one of her legs. Her whole body went numb and shook for what felt like a lifetime but was only a few second. The pain multiplied after the numbness wore off. The scent of burning flesh made it to her nose causing her to gag.
She finally managed to pull her legs fully behind the tree and looked at the damage. Her pants had a massive hole in them now and the large black spot on calf looked like a seared steak. The flesh was lightly cracked and oozing.
“Gross!” Ridley laughed in shock.
Using the tree to push herself up, Ridley tested her leg by putting a bit of weight on it. She felt she could push through the pain for at least a little while. She sneaked a peek at the giant and saw it was no longer moving around. She quickly hobbled off to pick up something she knew would be useful.
Returning 15 minutes later she carried with her not one, but two sledgehammers. She had gotten lucky as the shop she busted into was still doing demolition work. With a wicked smile on her face, she swung the hammers around as easily as if she were swinging a jump rope. Using her video game theory she hovered close to a large oak tree within range of the lightning attack thrown at her previously.
Impatient for some revenge she taunted the creature.
“Wast thy moth'r so embarrased by thy visage yond the lady buried thee?”
The best insults are the ones that hit close to home she decided.
She couldn’t be sure if it was because of her taunt but the giant roared to life again and charged up another handful of lightning. Ridley counted in her head, then as it pointed she jumped behind the large oak as it splintered. Pieces of mulch flew as burning wood seasoned the air. After the ear splitting crack resolved she swung around the tree and charged the broken hand, realizing that the arm was to0 slow to catch her, even with an injured leg.
Even still she ran to the opposite from the swinging arm so she could keep it in the corner of her vision. Pausing to set her footing she jumped sledge hamers in the air, and swung downard on the pinky finger. Shards of sharp cement shot every direction, some cutting Ridleys face without her noticing. A crack down the finger now, and the one finger stopped moving.
Good, this will work.
She quickly started into the ring finger and managed to mangle it, before another charge of electricity started sparking in her face.
Five seconds.
She thought as she had counted out the timing in her head. Not thinking too hard, she decided to go for it. She swung out attacking the wrist with the hammers. Making small cracks in the thick base.
Three…
Not feeling too confident in her decision she dropped one of the sledge hammers and started doing two-handed overhead swings.
Two…
A massive crack formed right where those palm readers say your longevity appears.
One…
Ridley screamed as she took a final swing, the impact of which shattered the handle of the sledge hammer. She covered her face and tensed as she felt a flash of light, an image was seared into her vision through her closed eyelids. Waiting for her doom she sat there for a few heart beats. Cracking open an eye she saw the giants hand cracked up the middle. The head of the sledge hammer embedded in the wrist. As she came out of her desperate rampage she heard the growls of the giant.
She scurried out of reach of the other arm but before she could start attacking a image impressed upon her mind. A symbol she could almost make out. She stared at the broken hand and caught something ethereal dissipating in the air. She took a breath and pulled a sharpie pen out of her backpack. Looking the giant in the eye she popped the Sharpie's cap in the air.
Before she could lose the image, she started to draw on her right hand, but of course the pen was dry…
“You're making me look bad!” She chastised the pen. Throwing it back in the bag she grabbed a second pen. As she started to draw she felt her hand move instinctually, as if someone else was drawing for her. The image of a fancy triangle took form. A quick line created the look of an arrow with flashy embellishment. As she finished the drawing she felt a slow pull from the air. It was growing or collecting something, energy.
Cracking her neck she picked up the undamaged sledge hammer. Then looked at the giant and spit on the ground. Lifting her hand with the new tattoo she open her hand.
“Super special attack!” She shouted.
Nothing happened.
“Well crap, that just felt like it was something important.” She said. Distracted she almost got hit by a piece of fence the giant had ripped up to throw at her.
The rest of Ridley’s epic first battle was immensely satisfying—as every time she hit—the explosiveness of the strikes sent giant chunks of concrete flying all over the place. After she finished cracking open the base of the second arm it fell with a crash, shaking the ground. The mewling giant was now just pathetic. It could just barely move its head. Its mouth grimacing and sneering at her.
“Go beest free somewh're. This lodging hast very much sucketh f'r thee.”
She made sure not to leave any large pieces of the giant intact.
^
Quest Complete!
Large Problems
An angry giant has a grudge against you and wants revenge.
Objective: Defeat the giant
Quest rewards:
-1000 xp
-7 silver
-Juggernauts Gloves
Ridley wiped the sweat off her face, then seeing the crimson color realized it was blood.
As she looked at her feet she saw droplets of blood falling from her face and arms onto the concrete before it dripped onto something shiny. There was some kind of crystal that glowed yellow and the inside sparked a bit.
"Well, it’s no fairy ring." she said picking it up and shoving it in her pocket. "Now, for the grand prize!”
She moved over to the boulder that she suspected to be hollowed out. Taking her hammer she cracked open the top in a single swing. She started hitting pieces off sideways until she could get a hand in and pull chunks of rock away. She held her breath as she looked inside to find… more crystals.
She looked at the sky and shouted. “I am not Gwyneth Paltrow! Crystals ain’t cuttin’ it for me!”
After pulling out all the crystal, she realized she had no way to carry them all.
She sighed and opened up her most recent quest screen.
"No crystal gloves please!" She shouted at the sky.
She claimed her reward and a pair of fingerless fighting gloves appeared in a translucent blue bubble hovering before her. She swiped them out of the air and was pleased to see pieces of rounded metal over each knuckle. After putting them on she walked over to a larger piece of leftover giant and punched a decent sized chunk out of it pain free.
Satisfied, she pulled out the piece of paper she had jotted directions on and decided sticking close to Alexander would be a profitable endeavor. She then looked at the hoard of crystals.
“Im gunna need a bag of holding…”
What do we think about Ridley?
