The Innkeeper

Chapter 2273: Giants

"Why do you have a weasel with you?" asked a fairy as the group waited on the border of the frozen river.

River, who was staring oddly at Cliff who had once again materialised atop the head of the vampire, looked at the fairy, and then at the white weasel hanging off his shoulder.

"This pesky guy has become attached to me. No matter where I go, he follows. Since I can’t really stop him, and he’s not really harming anyone, I just ignore him," River answered, before looking at a large bird perched atop one of the carriages. Much like the weasel, the bird from back then always followed River around. Or maybe it was following the weasel - who could tell?

After entering the territory of the giants, the group paused and waited for an escort. Much like how there was a human Foundation realm cultivator to guide the group as they traveled through the lands, each race would send a representative.

The reasons were manifold. Firstly, it would avoid the awkwardness of the group getting lost while traveling - though that still ended up happening to the group due to the winter storm. Secondly, since this was an official group following the orders of Mount Decius, they required a certain level of protocol, though this was not simply for the sake of formality and grandiosity. The protocol ensured that everyone knew this was a real representative group, avoiding chances of someone pretending to be the, or of the local leaders accidentally acting out against them. Such things had happened in the past, and had caused a lot of unnecessary trouble.

Lastly, by having an official guide it reduced the chances for private corruption. Previous incidents of the group forming private deals had occurred, disrupting plans and causing losses.

In short, there were many vested interests, and every action performed by the group was done so under great scrutiny. That was the very reason why a pretense was required for River to follow the group, and why the transaction between him and the elves had not happened yet, and why the vampires were restrained from acting out!

All of this had been explained to him by Pearl, broadening his horizons and at the same time causing him to finally understand how truly complex the world really was. He really had a habit of looking at things too straightforwardly, and was not fond of over-thinking things. While he might have the capacity for it if he tried, he wanted to stay true to his personality.

Being conniving and scheming was not in his nature.

He pushed all thoughts of these complicated matters out of mind, and instead looked towards Cliff, who seemed to be in a daze.

"What’s wrong with you?" River asked in his mind, noticing that even Pearl had noticed his oddity. Something unexpected that had happened since they started this journey, which was that whenever he thought in his mind, both Pearl and Cliff could hear it. They could all converse with each other through their minds.

"Nothing, just observing," responded Cliff absentmindedly. "The Giants have done a good job with the terrain here. It’s... truly beautiful."

What Lex was referring to was not the landscape itself, though that was most certainly beautiful as well. He, instead, was looking at how the Giants had arranged their territory to create a natural flow of spiritual energy. There was a gradual but persistent flow of spiritual energy flowing throughout the land, nourishing it evenly, connected to thousands of Spiritual Nodes.

Lex had seen a lot of amazing things, especially since his own Inn was home to more than just a few rare and valuable wonders. Nourished by the light of a Sun Crow, affected by the vibrant energy of a new realm, governed by the guiding hand of the Galactic Sovereign turtle, the Inn had developed wonderfully.

But precisely because there was so much going on, the energy within the Inn was full of excitement. That was not necessarily a bad thing. It was just that, observing the serene, clean and simple flow of energy here, the contrast was so great that it partially stunned Lex.

Whether in scale, purity or concentration, the energy in the Land of a Hundred Rivers could not compare to the Midnight Inn. But whether it was art, or beauty, neither needed to be functional, they needed only to be worthy of admiration - not to mention that within this land itself, this level of energy was still useful.

The energy within this region was flowing against gravity, slowly climbing up the steps that the Giants had created. Lex suspected that besides nourishing the land itself, the Giants had done this because they needed to gather the energy from across the terrain altogether for some purpose.

He did not look into why they were doing it, or trace back the history of how it had been done. He simply admired the work.

Up until now, Lex had very limited exposure to the culture of Giants, and had assumed that they were simple minded and focused more on brute strength. This scene, however, let him realize just how mistaken he was. They had brought the art of landscaping to a whole new level, revealing that they were fit to be called artisans.

In the grand scheme of things, it hardly mattered, unless even higher leveled Giants retained a proportional level of talent at Spiritual Landscaping, in which case he might hire a few at the Inn.

Considering that River and Pearl were confused, and kept looking at him for guidance, Lex thought he’d give them a few hints at how remarkable this achievement was.

"The way the Giants have built a seemingly natural path for the flow of Spiritual energy to travel up the steps is remarkable. I don’t think any of the other races can even understand the extent of what they’ve achieved, let alone copy it. If you have the opportunity, you should learn a bit about their heritage."

After all, for something to impress even Lex, it had to be far beyond normal.

Cliff disappeared, leaving River and Pearl to exchange glances. This was the first time Cliff had complimented anyone else since they’d known him.

Over the past months, whenever they admired someone or praised some ability, Cliff would always scoff and look down on it, as if it was completely insignificant. They could not tell if he was just being petty, or if his perspective was truly beyond their comprehension.

River personally thought that he was just bluffing, but Pearl thought it was most likely he was a Golden Core cultivator who had suffered some harm and had descended from the lands above.

The group waited for several hours before they spotted their escort on the horizon, though none bothered to complain. One reason why Lex’s opinion of Giants was that they were simple minded was because, generally speaking, that was their reputation - absurdly strong and straightforward.

When the escort arrived, he stood at slightly above 14 feet (4.3 meters) and was dressed like a simple shepherd. He carried a long staff with him which he seemed to be using as a walking stick.

The giant laughed and apologised for being late, claiming that he had gone to sleep in a nearby pasture and forgot that they were supposed to arrive today. None complained, and neither the elves nor the vampires bothered to converse with them.

While all three were considered noble races, these three races weren’t particularly close. In fact, there was not a single giant among the vampires - if only because it was nearly impossible to pierce their skin with their teeth even for the strongest vampires!

The elves, similarly, could not befriend the giants who disregarded their reverence for the older trees of their forest.

Unexpectedly, though, the giant was very friendly and among the entire group, River hit it off with him! River first complimented the terrain, claiming that it was the first time he’d come there and he was impressed by the land, and especially the steady flow of spiritual energy.

While no one else could understand that comment, the giant seemed especially pleased to find someone who appreciated their work, and began to share stories about how he’d worked on the land from a young age - as was tradition among their race.

Their travel among the lands of the giants took six weeks, during which time they visited only a single city - one that made River and Pearl feel truly insignificant. The tallest giant they encountered was well over 100 feet (30 meters) tall, with a physique and bearing that made him appear like a moving hill.

He promised to send giants to aid the cause of Abyssals - especially since not a single Abyssal had been born in the land of giants. None knew if this was a coincidence, or a result of the giant’s efforts. Regardless, investigating that was someone else’s job. They only needed to concern themselves with conscription.

After the land of giants, they visited the land of the Oolin.