344 Encounter

Bethel and her pet Terry had long since passed through the mighty legs of Goddess Roha. Heading deeper into unknown territory, until they came across what appeared to be a tribal flock of people.

As the two groups became aware of one and another's presence. The tribesman were quick to wield their mighty weapons. Iron battle axes, Polearms and Axe-swords. Seeing the little girl carry a similarly large weapon upon her back, they almost believed her of simply being a midget. However, the lycan she rode upon was classified as food. And therefore, they kept their guards as she casually approached them.

Approaching closer, Bethel examined their appearances closely. 30 or so men and women who were all taller and larger than 200cm and up to 250cm were now curiously gazing upon her. The armour they wore covered only their chests, forearms, legs and feet. Showing their powerful biceps and boulder shoulders, whilst a few of the men and women also exposed their mid-sections, to show their abs.

"A warrior tribe perhaps?"

For their weapons, although they appeared powerful, deadly and menacing. They were also crudely made, seemingly prioritizing mass and weight over sharpness.

Inspecting their faces closely, piercings typical of tribes were scattered across their ears, some even had snake-bite piercings with bone.

"Hi, I'm an adventurer, my name's Bethel. Who are you people and do you have a quest for me?"

A single man emerged out of the group. After scratching his chin in thought for a minute, he decided upon a course of action.

"Bethel. The beast you ride upon, either you give it to us as food, are you send it away."

"I guess, no pets or mounts allowed?" "Terry, thank you for your service. I wish you good luck." Bethel gave the beast a kiss upon the nose before scuffling his fur. The lycan not exactly enjoying the gaze of so many foes larger than him, turned tail and ran off. Whatever his role or purpose was, it appeared to have ended right there, as all thought of the girl left his mind.

"Now what?"

The large man scratched his ear, not expecting the girl to be so complaint. 

Reaching his large hand out, offering a handshake in form of a greeting.

"I am Marcus, from the tribes of giants. You are, human yes?"

Bethel accepted his handshake, whilst nodding in confirmation. A little test of strength begun between the two as Marcus immediately tried to crash her hand with his superior grip. However, after seconds of using his utmost, Bethel simply continued to smile unaffected.

A cold sweat dripping down his back, he relinquished her hand to find only his hand to be red and swollen.

"A mighty warrior indeed. You are worthy of dining with us. Will you accept?"

"Sure."

Quick to accept his invitation, Bethel entered their travelling camp. Entering a little opening within the middle that had multiple meats hovering over a great pit of fire. The aroma of such delicacy filled her nose as she took a seat upon one of many logs.

The giants were at a loss. This was the first time someone outside of their kind had approached them so willy-nilly and made themselves comfortable. Marcus, finding her personality to be refreshing joyfully laughed as he pounded upon the backside of his tribe-brothers.

The women of the tribe quickly surrounded the new arrival. Showering her with questions such as:

Who are you, why are you here, what are you looking for, are you strong? Are you married? How many children have you birthed so far?

The human girl who was much smaller than them was instantly welcomed, especially after receiving the approval of their leader. As Bethel enjoyed the attention and festivities, she noticed another human who was working alongside the giants. Metal bracelets and anklets indicated her slave status. Something she hadn't seen at all within the southern kingdoms.

She wasn't too surprised though, these tribal giants were basically living text book barbarians.

As the slave girl approached to refill her mug of whatever the liquid was. Bethel decided to speak to her on a whim.

"Hi, I'm Bethel. who are you and why are you here?"

The woman had soft hazy brown hair that gently swayed as she moved. The scent of oranges, abundant. The colour within her eyes were dulled, as if she had given up hope. Filled with only regret, her eyes widened as she realised she was serving another human. Her mouth agape, she wasn't sure of what to say.

"Move it slave!"

The giants urged her as there were a dozen more mugs to refill. Losing her chance to answer, she clumsily carried the jug that was much too large for her off towards the other groups.

Turning to Artemis, the giant women who stood out the most with her chiselled abs, massive biceps and blazing red hair and eyes that were wildly long and unkempt.

"Who's that human and what's her story?"

"That human girl? Clearly she's a slave. She was an adventurer just like you. The sellers who sold her to us said she was a thief back home or something. And well, she got caught. Rather than sentence her to death, her friend sold her off. And now she belongs to us. What of it? You want her?"

"I am the [Hero] right? So, naturally I should save her right?"  "Well. What do I have to do to purchase her freedom?"

"Easy, come back with us to the kingdom of giants. To the capital Etton, located in the lands of Draft. There, you may enter our annual battle. Prove yourself worthy to our creator and goddess Roha, by defeating her warriors. And upon winning, you may claim her as your prize." Artemis inspected the human girl from head to toe.

"Although, you will need more clothing if you want to travel to our kingdom. As it is eternally snowing there."

Seeing Bethel's eyes open wide in confusion.

"Yes, I know. We're dressed like this, but we're different. Our people, the giants are immune to cold temperatures. Consider it a blessing our creator gave us."

Bethel nodded in understanding.

"I see, so humans are bountiful and plenty. Elves have long lives, giants are immune to cold weather... That sounds kind of lame now that I think about it."

"Oh, what's her name by the way?" "I'd rather have a name, than regard her as slave."

After chugging the contents of her mug down, and wiping her lips across her leather guard. She answered.

"The human's name? If I remember correctly, they called her Mel."