Chapter 218 - Last Goliath

'What the hell is that guy doing here?'

As Rynold finally reached the last Goliath, another guy had already been fighting the creature. It was nice, really, as Rynold thought that somebody other than him was willing to fight for the city.

But, that changed once Rynold caught sight of who it was fighting the Goliath on his own. And, by the looks of it, the guy wasn't doing anything to the Goliath either.

"Hey! David! What the hell are you trying to do?!" Rynold called out, trying to figure out why he was here.

Unfortunately, the guy was too busy fighting the Goliath to answer. He was throwing punches in a maddened fury like he was desperate or something. It wasn't as easy for David as it was for Rynold, after all. But, as much as David tried, though, no matter what he did, nothing affected the Goliath.

"Okay," Rynold sighed and shook his head, "Guess I'll have to get his attention."

Throughout Rynold's fights against the Goliaths, the creatures didn't do anything to defend themselves. All they did was march forward, much to Rynold's suspicions. It was only with Wren's mention of calling the Goliaths 'stupid' that Rynold realized; they were simple, brain-dead creatures.

Rynold rushed forward, close to the Goliath's leg, and met up with David, who was desperately trying to injure the creature. By the looks of it, David was basically poking the colossal-sized ghoul with a stick — and losing.

"Hey, hey," Rynold approached and placed a hand on the guy's shoulder. "Let's relax here."

David turned to Rynold as soon as he realized that Rynold had appeared and shoved him to the side, creating distance between the two of them. The attempt was hostile, but Rynold didn't really mind it. The guy was frustrated; no use in trying to fight the guy about it.

"You alright?" Rynold spoke in a calm tone, hoping that David would calm down. While doing this, Rynold made sure that the Goliath wasn't moving the foot next to them. Otherwise, this would be a lot more problematic.

"Yeah," David answered after realizing what he had just done to Rynold. "Sorry about that. I had no idea what came over me."

"It's fine," Rynold calmly said as he casually approached David. It was a bit of weird behavior, considering there was a massive foot next to them. "You might want to get out of the way. The leg's going to move sometime soon."

"Right," David nodded as he caught up with Rynold, who had just walked past him.

"So," Rynold continued as he watched the Goliath walk over them, "Um... Where do I start? Let's see here. How about what the hell just happened there?"

"I was out here when that thing appeared out of nowhere."

"Alone?"

"I was with my team who, well, ditched me when things got bad. They didn't back me up when that thing appeared. And, I had no choice but to stop it, of course, seeing as how it's heading towards the city."

"Ah, typical," Rynold answered as if expecting something like this to happen.

"Next thing I know is I'm throwing everything I got on this thing. But, no matter what I did, nothing changed. That huge monster is still moving forward, even now."

"Then, why didn't you leave?" Rynold asked an obvious question. "It became abundantly clear to you that nothing you did against that thing mattered. So, why not just leave? It's the most understandable and logical solution to save yourself and wait for the artillery to take care of the rest."

"Do you honestly think I'd abandon people in need? Who do you think I am?"

"You're playing the sacrificial lamb. Trust me, I'd know. The world doesn't need another hero, man. Besides, doing this is out of your job description. Aren't you soldiers out here in the first place to clean up the government's mess? It hardly seems like it's your job to stop a Goliath."

Rynold was acting a bit of an asshole deliberately. He wanted to make David angsty without undermining his intentions. Rynold only told him what a soldier like him meant to do and questioned his being here as an act of service or personal glory.

"You're right," David frustratedly shook his head and sighed. It was at this moment that Rynold realized David didn't carry any firearms with him. It appeared that he had abandoned them or something. "But, that doesn't mean I'll sit back and watch as that thing marches into the city."

"Oh? Then what else are you going to do, my guy?"

"Fuck 'em," David answered, much to Rynold's surprise. "You were right. I can't believe it took me so long to figure out that they've been going at it wrong the whole time. It's really up to people like us to do what's best for them, whether they'd like them or not."

"That's...," Rynold paused as he turned to the direction the Goliath was heading, "A good answer. I don't really care for being lumped together with goody-two-shoes ideals. But, vigilantism is something I can get behind and pissing off people in the process is a plus too."

"Good, let's go," David said as he excitedly took the first step forward, only to get stopped by Rynold not soon after.

"You're joking, right?" Rynold sarcastically asked as he held his arm out to stop David. "You can't fight without a weapon. Now that you know how useless guns are on those things. How about you choose something better?"

"What do you have in mind?" David asked earnestly, "You think you can spare me one of your magic gloves?"

"They're gauntlets, and, no, I can't do that," Rynold shook his head as he rifled through his inventory. "You soldiers trained to use knives, right? How long are they usually?"

"The blade's a bit over three inches. Why do you ask?"

"Here," Rynold handed him a small dagger, "It's a bit longer than you're used to, but it's better than that twig you're holding. I modified it to handle Mana Infusion a bit better. It lost a lot of base damage, but it'll hurt a lot more when you put your Mana into it."

The dagger wasn't anything special. Rynold had almost forgotten about it, too, as every weapon he ever made from scratch was better than the dagger.

As for its origins, though, Rynold modified the dagger from the armory back in the Tree of In-Between. Rynold did so because he wanted to understand the structure of the weapon. And, by doing so, Rynold would then create a better weapon overall for Oliver.

All in all, Rynold actually forgot it was still in his inventory and never took it out. Fitting, really, as Rynold wasn't one to abandon his creations so casually, even those he had forgotten. So, it all worked out since Rynold could pass the weapon on to someone who would put it to good use.

But, things don't always go his way, now, does it?

"How exactly do I go about doing something like that?"

Rynold turned to David excessively slowly, emphasizing his sincere doubt on the question David had just asked. Amidst all the chaos, Rynold had forgotten that David was still a novice in all of this.

"Okay," Rynold sighed as he turned back to the Goliath, "I'll explain as we catch up with that thing. It'll be extremely general, so you'll have to figure out the rest."

"Right."

With that, Rynold and David ran towards the Goliath, with the former leading the way. Along the way, Rynold explained the abilities of an Augmenter and their capabilities of Infusing their Mana into things. He didn't bother explaining the other types, even when David pointed them out since there wasn't much time.

"So, you're telling me that I can do all of those things?" David asked as they were on the last leg of their short journey. Rynold gave him a lot of information, leaving David little time to absorb all of it.

"With enough practice, yeah," Rynold cracked his knuckles as they soon came up to the Goliath. "Remember, we Augmenters don't have much in terms of long-range combat. Nor do we have enough potential to combat the other types of Magic Users. So, I'd advise you to focus your efforts on understanding Mana. That way, your Mana Infusion would only get stronger as time goes on."

"Wha-"

"We're here," Rynold interrupted as he stopped in his tracks, causing David to do the same. "Right, remember what we've discussed. If you want to take that thing down, focus on damaging its joints and topple it down. From there, attack its weak spots like you would do for any other person. Heart, brain, it doesn't really matter. Just take that thing down."

David wanted to ask what Rynold had meant by 'understanding Mana.' As far as vague things went, that was as vague as it gets. Rynold could've elaborated more on it, but they had arrived at their destination.

"Let's go."

Having more experience dealing with these things, Rynold was the first to sprint into action. He moved up the treetops and grappled his way up to the belly-level of the Goliath. From there, he unleashed his attacks one after the other.

The other guy was still on the ground, unsure as to what to do next. He raised his dagger into his field of view and tried to do the thing Rynold had explained — infusing his Mana onto the small blade. It shouldn't be difficult in practice, considering how he already knew how to use Mana Defense.

Hiss.

Taking in a deep breath, David concentrated on activating Mana Infusion. Circulating, coalescing, David focused as he poured his Mana into his blade.

===

[Secret Conditions Completed!]

[New Skill Unlocked!]

[Mana Infusion Lvl 1]

===

A series of windows appeared as David became successful in his first attempt. It wasn't anything surprising, really, but he was glad that he didn't have to do start all over again.

That said, David soon joined the battle and lashed out, dealing damage to the back of the Goliath's knee. The slash cut through the Goliath's flesh like it was nothing, leaving a clean cut in its wake, and a gush of blood soon rushed out.

"Woah..."

Amazed, David found himself motivated to continue his attacks. He continued to slash his dagger one swipe after another, leaving consistently clean and straight cuts with each strike. David kept going as he moved from one leg to another, then to the other joints that Rynold had instructed.

The coordination between the two wasn't spectacular in the slightest; they just made sure that they weren't in each other's way. While Rynold struck the Goliath's abdomen, David focused on severing its limbs. That is to say, Rynold was also making sure that David wasn't doing anything detrimental in taking the Goliath down.

'What's that guy doing?'

Rynold noticed something David hadn't. His attacks were over-excessive; it wouldn't be long until the Goliath topples down, crushing David in the process. Rynold acknowledged that David was excited, but there was still something considered to be too much.

Disengaging from his attacks, Rynold swooped in to save David from getting crushed by the Goliath. Using his grapple to the best of his abilities, Rynold rushed to David's side.

He would've been successful, easily, but something unexpected stood in his way.

Without rhyme or reason, a beam of light struck down from the sky, encompassing Rynold, who was mid-air and on his way to save David. The sudden light caught Rynold off-guard and made him lose his focus completely.

"What the hell?!"

Rynold screamed, catching the attention of David as a result. Not a second later, Rynold felt the beam of light pulling him upwards as if he was being teleported elsewhere.

This did not make the tiniest amount of sense. So much so, David's mouth fell open as he watched Rynold being dragged away against his will.

"Take care of thi-"

And, just like that, Rynold was gone.