The appearance of the statue did not go unnoticed by Lann. An ice giant capable of using druidic magic was something unheard of, both in the games of his past life and in the history of this world. Therefore, he already had certain suspicions about what was happening.
However, it was upon seeing the oak statue of Svalblod that his doubts were completely dispelled.
Still, Lann wasn't worried. The moment he managed to link up with the ice giant, the sound of multiple system notifications echoed in his mind.
[Mission - Glacial Fury - Completed]
[Mission - Silent Rage - Completed]
[Level Increased +1]
Two quests had been completed at the same time, and since they were mainline quests, the amount of experience gained suddenly filled Lann's empty bar, making him level up.
The happiness he felt was indescribable. But what really excited him was what he saw on the ice giant's system interface.
[Follower: Myrhyff
Gender: Male
Race: Ice Giant
Level: 1
Talent: Ice, Magic Source
Experience: 0/1000
HP: 32000/32000
Mana: 4400/4400
Item Bar: None
Skill Bar: Ice Blood, Alpine Bloodline, Fast Metabolism, Overlord Command, Low-level Druid System Spells
Task: None]
[Shared Follower Talent: Magic Source]
[Magic Source: Total Mana Increased by 100%]
Just seeing these attributes was enough to make Lann feel elated.
Something else caught his attention: the ice giant's name and race did not have any suffixes in parentheses, as was the case with Bill when he transformed into [Skellige Giant Bear (Human)]. He also did not have the [Berserker Transformation] skill in his skill list.
That could only mean that Artis was dead. Lann could already piece together what had happened: all the previous disturbances were probably part of a mass sacrifice to the dark god Svalblod, whose purpose was to transform Artis into an unprecedented berserker warrior, fused with an ice giant.
It was impossible not to recognize the audacity of such a plan and the horror it would have unleashed had it succeeded. Just imagining it was enough to chill his blood.
However, something in the process had gone wrong. According to Eist's description, the frost giant had grown even larger, as it was not previously at its current height of ten meters, a clear sign of the effect of Artis' reinforcements. He had used the powers of the dark god and his own magic to try to create a body unmatched in the entire world.
But not only did his soul fail to take over that body, it ended up serving as an unwilling offering. Worse still, the resulting creature had not even inherited his intelligence or spell-casting ability.
That much was evident from the interface: although the giant had a huge mana reserve thanks to the [Magic Source] skill, his level of druidic magic was only basic, which meant he couldn't take full advantage of his immense power.
Outside of his innate ability to summon snowstorms, the only thing he probably knew how to do with magic was transform an oak trunk into a club.
"I wonder if this guy will be able to learn magic in the future…" Lann muttered to himself. "If not, maybe I could just throw him into Mousesack…"
…
Kolgrim approached cautiously, hesitated for a moment, and finally could not contain his curiosity. With a tap, he touched the ice giant's leg.
The touch was like that of an ancient rock covered in dragon skin: hard but flexible, radiating an icy cold. Kolgrim, who had been fighting the giant and had dealt him several cuts with his sword, had no doubts about the incredible resistance of those muscles.
That gesture seemed to activate an invisible spring. In an instant, everyone approached the ice giant, some driven by curiosity, others by the desire to study. They all wanted to examine the colossal creature from different angles.
All except one: Gerd.
The witcher glanced at the giant with surprised eyes, but did not join the others. Instead, he took two steps back.
"We have rescued Jarl Harald and subdued the ice giant. Does this mean we can return?" he asked Lann.
There was a hint of impatience in his tone.
"I was already thinking of retiring as a witcher," Gerd continued. "But look at you, I ended up participating in a legendary battle. Ha! A frost giant!"
With that, he burst out laughing.
But Lann slowly frowned.
It wasn't that Gerd's words bothered him. He had known for some time that the witcher intended to retire, and although he felt a certain sadness, he had no intention of keeping him. He could only wish him the best on his new path.
However, he suddenly remembered how close he had come to failing in establishing the follower link with the ice giant. When he had exhausted his entire experience bar, the giant's consciousness was still struggling fiercely. If he hadn't unexpectedly gained a small experience boost at the last moment, all his effort would have been in vain.
That sudden gain in experience could only be due to his followers. At first, Lann thought that Ace had done some mischief or that Kiyan had completed some task. But at a quick glance, he noticed that the level of Svanrige, who guarded An Skellig, had suddenly leveled up.
Noticing that, Lann opened Svanrige's status panel. Seeing his attributes and the description of his quests, his expression changed drastically.
[Follower: Svanrige Tuirseach]
[...]
[Health: 187/230]
[...]
[Quest: Defense of Tuirseach Castle.]
...
Eist and Lann had led a portion of the Tuirseach clan's soldiers to support the Tordarroch clan, while Bran would gather the rest of the Tuirseach clan's soldiers along with those of the other clans to eradicate the ice giant that had plagued Skellige for centuries. The whole process would take at least a month.
Before Bran left, he had asked Torgeir to look after Svanrige. It happened that Svanrige's mother was on the island of Urialla Harbor, and he wished to avoid her at that moment. So, without hesitation, he decided to move to Castle Tuirseach with Torgeir.
Torgeir had left politics many years ago, but Eist and Bran had been guided by him in their youth. So during this time when a problem arose in An Skellig that required the intervention of a leader, Svanrige always consulted Torgeir's opinion and followed his advice.
Over time, Torgeir and Svanrige's relationship grew closer, and the old warrior began sending his personal troops to assist him in the administration of the island.
But that day, while returning from patrolling a drowner-infested area, Svanrige and his soldiers heard war cries before approaching the castle.
Rushing forward, they saw a black flag waving with a golden sun in the center: the insignia of the Nilfgaard Empire. In front of them, a contingent of over a hundred soldiers in dark armor was deployed arrogantly.
Nilfgaardians! Why now? Almost all of Skellige's troops were concentrated on Undvik Island, when the defense was the emptiest!
Torgeir was a retired jarl, although he still had a group of soldiers loyal to him, there were barely a hundred. On the open sea, the Skelligers could face armies ten times their size, but on land their advantage disappeared.
"It's Svanrige, the prince of Skellige!" a Nilfgaardian soldier shouted upon seeing him.
The invaders still didn't know what had happened in Skellige and were unaware that Eist had already been crowned the new king.
"He's the son of a pirate! Let him pay his father's debts first!" Part of the Nilfgaardian army split off to attack him. Fortunately, the guard Torgeir sent to Svanrige was elite and managed to protect him.
"Svanrige, flee!" Torgeir shouted urgently from a distance. "These are only the lambs of the City of Golden Towers! I have plundered its shores so many times that I can no longer remember. It is nothing serious."
The old jarls' words ignited the fury of the Nilfgaardians. Their blows grew fiercer, and some of those surrounding Svanrige turned to attack Torgeir again.
"Go back to the castle, don't face them directly! I'll find a druid to summon reinforcements. Nilfgaard is not what it used to be! They have conquered a large part of the north and are Lann's greatest enemy." Svanrige did not share Torgeir's confidence.
Birna had always followed closely the movements of the continental nobility, and thanks to this, he knew that the Nilfgaardian Empire was now more powerful than ever.
At the same time, the guards protecting Svanrige fell one after another. As if awakening from a dream, Torgeir looked in horror at his enemies: they were better armed, knew no fear, and fought with terrifying determination.
"Really? Nilfgaard... has become a giant?" Torgeir realized at this time that these were no longer the lambs crying under their looting.
"But even against a giant... I can still cut something!" He let out a defiant laugh.
A deep, long sound filled the air. Svanrige felt a chill run down his spine.
Then he saw it. Giant stones, larger than a man, streaked through the sky like arrows and fell on the castle. With each impact, huge portions of the wall crumbled.
The shells crashed into the fortress like a wave on a sand castle. Svanrige watched helplessly as half the structure collapsed.
But what really made him cry out in anguish was seeing Torgeir still struggling at the foot of the castle. The cloud of dust and debris engulfed him completely.
Meanwhile, the Nilfgaardian soldiers and the Skellige warriors continued to engage in a fierce battle. Several Black Sun soldiers were hit by the projectiles and others were buried by the collapse of the castle, but instead of being intimidated, their fervour intensified.
From the Nilfgaardian ranks, excited cries could be heard: "Another round! Reduce that castle to rubble, raze it to the ground! Let these pirates taste the loss of their home!"
Svanrige's eyes turned bloodshot. At that moment, the thought of retreating vanished completely from his mind. It didn't matter whether Torgeir was alive or dead; the islanders' honour and his attachment to Torgeir prevented him from taking a single step back.
He let out a roar, and in an instant, all the swordplay moves and techniques he had learned over the years flooded into his mind and were etched into his muscles. Without hesitation, he forced his way from the rear, where his team had been protecting him, and charged straight into the thick of battle. Surprisingly, his timing with his guards was impeccable. Within seconds, they had cut down several Nilfgaardian soldiers.
But the numerical difference was overwhelming, and the trebuchet ambush had already decimated their ranks. Little by little, their formation began to rock like a ship in the middle of a storm.
"Torgeir is dead!" someone shouted from the enemy ranks. "Catch the pirate's son! Let's make the pirate king feel the pain of losing his son!"
The Nilfgaardians roared with enthusiasm and charged like an unstoppable tide.
But at that moment, Svanrige's body began to glow with an emerald green light.
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