From Player To Npc

Valyra stood up as she was sitting all this time. Then, she reached for the cord of the bell and started using it to ring the bell. After that, she picked her bone instrument and used her Air Mana to make some air pass through its holes to make a sound.

"By the power given to me by mistress Sisver, I grant you entrance. May your deaths be swift." [Valyra]

What she just said surprised Shingi. Not about granting them entrance and their death, but the one that gave her that power was a mistress and not a master. There were female Giants, but Shingi never had ever heard of one becoming their leader. But it was a possibility that would happen at some point.

Without Valyra even touching them or using any mana or secret switch, the doors opened on their own.

They could see the room behind those immense doors, which was a vast throne room. There were gigantic pillars of at least 5 meters in diameter that kept the ceiling, as next to each pillar there were some armored Sky Giants. On the other side of the room from the entrance, there were some steps, and over them, there was a huge throne and a female Sky Giant sitting on it.

She was actually smaller than most of the giants they had met, and her muscles seemed smaller. But Shingi could tell that her power wasn't on her muscles but her magic as he could tell that she had the Storm Mana and probably had perfected it; that's why she is the Boss.

There were some statues in the room at the sidewalls, most of them being of other giants, with their names written at the statue's base, but in the language of Giants. But there was one statue that wasn't of a giant, and it was actually in the middle of the room and was currently surrounded by a few, not armored giants, who were kneeled in front of it.

The statue was of Aella's, as Sky Giants worshiped her, especially those who had unlocked the Storm Mana. Some said that Aella was actually the mother of the Sky Giants, but if asked, she denied being the mother of anyone saying she was too young to be a mother, even if she was tens of thousands of years old.

Though stories were saying that Aella actually had discovered the first Sky Giants or even helped in their creations somehow, and together with them, she created her Storm Mana.

When the door opened, the guards turned towards Shingi and the rest and drew their spears but didn't move from their spot. As for the giants who seemed to be praying on the statue showed no sign of noticing Shingi and the rest.

Finally, the Boss seemed bored as she rested her face on her right hand, which had its elbow resting on the throne's armchair. She had clearly noticed them but didn't think they were worthy of her attention.

Shingi didn't expect the room to look like that. The size and the pillars were the same as he remembered, but it never had statues of other Giants or Aella, and it was the first time this floor had armored Giants. They had met none like that outside the throne room.

There were armored Giants like that in the Tower, but at higher floors normally. It seemed like they had developed more than expected.

As they fully entered the room, the door behind them disappeared, leaving just a wall in its place. There was no escape unless they defeated the boss or the boss allowed them to leave.

The guards seemed to wait for a command from their leader, and their leader seemed to be too bored to give any orders, so there was silence in the room, except for the prayers of the Giants to Aella.

Shingi and the rest walked slowly but soon stopped as the Boss shot a lightning bolt right in front of them, using just a finger.

Her power wasn't even close to Aella's, but it was stronger than any Sky Giant that Shingi had ever encountered. Yet, she continued speaking in an unknown language or unknown to everyone but Shingi.

***Intruders aren't welcome here. Drop your weapon, and will give you a painless death.*** [Sisver]

Shingi could understand her since he knew Giant, but he ignored her. Instead, he signaled the others to stay behind as he continued walking forward.

Another lightning headed towards him, and this time it was aimed at him and not at the place in front of him. Shingi summoned his staff and used the bottom part of it to split the lightning in half.

He had made a Light Blade, which would be way weaker since he didn't do it in an actual blade, but with the benefits of his staff, it was close in power to what would be with his sword. So he used the Light Blade to start the split of the lightning, but at the same time, he used his MANA MANIPULATION to get a hold of those split parts and keep them in place and pull to split them even more and break the lightning.

He had enabled his Blessing's effect to boost his INT the moment they entered the room; otherwise, he wouldn't be able to do something like that without the lightning reaching him.

***I had heard of the Sky Giants, not like guests, but maybe ask a name first before trying to fry someone.*** [Shingi]

A smile appeared on the face of the female Giant, as Shingi had intrigued her. Guards were ready to charge at him, but they stopped when they saw a ball of lightning appearing a few meters from Shingi.

The sphere expanded as it formed Sisver, but not a lightning version of herself but the actual Sisver. She had developed her Arcane Arts to the degree that she could cast a similar spell to Shingi's LIGHT FORM, but turned her body into lightning, instead of just light.

She released a wave of lightning when her form finished, which took just a few seconds. After that, Shingi dealt with the wave heading towards him the same way as with the previous attacks.

"Little fork interesting. Name?" [Sisver]

It surprised Shingi that she spoke the universal language, but it wasn't unheard of since Sky Giants were very intelligent. Still, it was clear that she hadn't used this language a lot in the past, it could even be her first time using it.

"Name is Shingi, mistress Sisver." [Shingi]

He gave a little bow. Even if he wasn't one of her followers, she was the leader around here, and he had to show her at least some respect.

"Little folk have manners. Very good. Why are you here, one called Shingi?" [Sisver]

"We are here looking for the mistress. We would like your help." [Shingi]

Before entering the room, Shingi's plan for the boss was to kill it to get the exps for him and Dark Shadow, but after seeing the changes, a new plan got formed in his brain.

It was clear that Sisver had outside help as Sky Guards couldn't have made the equipment that the guard ones wore. The existence of the Earth Giants on the floor could mean that there were a few Earth Giant artisans. Earth Giants weren't supposed to be on this floor, so Shingi was certain that something brought them here. Or someone.

Mikhail or one of his men could be behind it, but Shingi didn't know or could understand why.

"Help? Why Sisver help little folk?" [Sisver]

"To get yourself free from Mikhail." [Shingi]

Sisver's eyes widened at the mention of that name as his right hand went over her right side of their neck, where she had a familiar burnmark. Mikhail had left his mark on her. Shingi wanted to bet that she didn't like to work for Mikhail. Sky Giants were all about freedom and were never enslaved like that without trying to get themselves free.

"You know of the old man? You can deal with him?" [Sisver]

"It is on my plans to deal with him, but for now, I can weaken his mark. If you allow me." [Shingi]

Shingi used most of the power of his eyes to persuade her, as allying with her would be a gigantic step.

Sisver wouldn't join him on his trip towards Mikhail's place, but she could know a few things. Even if she knew nothing, freeing her would mess with the plans of Mikhail.

He and Syra had spent some time studying the burnmark rune, and even if they hadn't fully understood it, they had some theories on how to block it. It was similar and also different from what they tried last time.

Instead of just making a field around the burnmark, they would also try to mess with the element of the rune itself. It seemed to be Spirit Based and actually was feeding by the Tower's Spirit Energy, meaning that while in the Tower, this Rune worked all the time.

He had gotten that idea from Dark Shadow after understanding what it was doing in the Mana Gems it fed itself with.

Sisver trusted them and picked up Shingi and put him on her shoulder so that he could see and be closer to the burnmark. Syra hovered the way there, and Shingi had to tell Sisver that she was a helpful Spirit.

He needed the expertise of Syra, as this would be the first time he would try to mess with that Rune.

His Blessing to boost his INT was already active, so he closed his eyes and started focusing.