Chapter 69: Grim

Karl kept the Death Stick in his hand while the injured Titan sat surrounded by Big Rod and the remaining undead.

"Let’s start from the beginning, what exactly is a Grim, what happened to Reaper’s Sanctuary and what are you?"

The man rubbed the side of his head for a moment before answering.

"Well let’s start with your first question, Grims are creatures born from death and the things that remain with it."

"Hatred, fear, anger, despair... when enough of that gathers around Death Energy, sometimes something new is born."

He gestured toward the surrounding wilderness.

"This place you people call a dungeon is filled with Death Energy with no place of escape."

"Sonit is far more dense than most places, when something dies here, there is always a chance that a Grim will eventually be born from what it leaves behind."

Karl narrowed his eyes slightly.

"So they are like undead?"

The Titan shook his head in denial and continued

"Undead are still tied to what died but frims aren’t like that. They’re born from death, but they’re something else."

"Filthy things too, probably some of the worst creatures connected to death."

Leon raised an eyebrow.

"That’s coming from the naked giant who was pissing into a lake."

The Titan looked at him and said"Mind you that’s not lack that just my piss."

The titan ignored the gagging reaction of Leon and kept up with the answer.

"For creatures with no connection to death, even seeing certain Grims can bring misfortune. Sometimes enough to kill them."

Karl looked at him and nodded "Well cool info I guess but what does it have to do with this dungeon!?"

The Titan leaned back slightly and said "Well everything, When I was first born, the Reapers and grims here existed in an symbiotic relationship."

Leon frowned. "So they were friendly?"

"Not exactly."

The Titan thought for a moment.

"More like... they needed each other and it seemed to be so for a long time.."

"Until one Grim appeared."

Karl’s eyes narrowed. "One?"

"A Grim born from one of your kind."

The Titan pointed toward Karl.

"A human."

Leon looked at him strangely.

"One human Grim ruined the entire place?"

"We can say so but I don’t exactly know what happened I was to busy saving my own ass."

"Anyways yah and then all the reapers disappeared."

"They disappeared."

"Yah eaxh and everyone of themand after that, Grim corruption spread farther and farther away from the city.."

He pointed vaguely toward the forest behind them.

"Creatures started mutating and stuff and lot of them died out.."

Karl thought of what the old chief has told and it lines up with it.

"Well we learned it was you and a bird that killed most of them?"

The Titan scoffed and said "I am not saying I don’t kill them for food but I see nothing wrong in it but I was nowhere near the main reason."

Karl listened for another minute, but the answers only became less precise.

"Enough."

The Titan stopped as Karl rested the scythe against his shoulder.

"Half of everything else sounds like old Fairy tales and the rest is too vague to actually help us."

The Titan opened his mouth, but Karl continued.

"And why should I trust you?"

The titan looked at him and then laughed.

"Because I don’t want to die too."

The Titan pointed toward himself.

"I’ve been Level 130 for seven centuries."

Leon blinked.

"Seven hundred years?"

"Yes."

The Titan clenched his fist.

"I’ve killed beasts, I’ve fought monsters stronger than me and won but I never once levelled up.."

The Titan clenched his fist.

"I’ve killed beasts, I’ve fought monsters stronger than me and won, but I never once levelled up."

Karl looked at him. "Still, why would you want to help us?"

The Titan’s expression became much more serious. "Because the thing inside the Sanctuary isn’t like me."

"It has grown over the time killing the repears, killing the tribes of beasts and then eating it’s own kind itself."

His voice lowered.

"For the last few years, that thing has become much calmer."

He looked back toward Karl.

"I don’t know what it’s doing, but something like that suddenly becoming quiet isn’t a good sign."

The Titan clenched his teeth.

"So yes, I’m happy someone finally came here who might actually be able to kill it."

"I can help you, and there’s no point killing me when I know more about this place than those Pyrtherapontes do."

Karl nodded slowly.

"Well, well that’s useful."

Then he tilted his head.

"But how exactly has any of this helped us?"

The Titan’s eyes immediately became bloodshot.

"I’ve been talking for this long!"

He pointed toward the Sanctuary in frustration.

"Without me, you would’ve walked straight in there without even knowing what a Grim was or what you are going to face!"

The Titan clenched his teeth and for a while he seemed to search through his memories, until his eyes suddenly widened.

"Ah."

Karl looked at him. "There’s something else!?"

The Titan nodded and hurriedly stood up but due to the sudden motion, Leon immediately raised the huge battle axe while Mira brought both daggers into her hands.

The Titan froze halfway up. "I’m not running."

"Good," Leon said. "Because that would’ve been stupid."

The Titan slowly raised both hands. "There’s something inside the cave."

Karl glanced toward the enormous entrance above the lake.

"What?"

"Something that might help you understand more about this place."

Karl did not let him move alone. "Then take us there."

The Titan nodded and they headed toward the cave with Big Rod staying close beside him while the remaining undead followed around them.

The cave looked even larger from inside and at last they reached to a secluded corner.

Old belongings were scattered throughout the place some clothes old armour and some items they couldn’t identify.

The titan moved to a corner and then he crouched and began digging through one particular heap.

Old clothes were thrown aside first, followed by a broken weapon, several bags and a cracked piece of armor.

Leon waited for a while before asking,

"You actually know what you’re looking for, right?"

"Yes."

The Titan kept searching and then his hand stopped.

"Found it."

He pulled out an old diary.ℯℯ𝘭.