Spending My Retirement In A Game

Askr came to a halt at the beach, his feet sinking into the sand below. Slowly, Askr descended, dropping to his knees as a long set of stairs descended down from the dungeon's entrance placed into the wooden giant's chest.

The first to leave the dungeon was Eisen; he quickly looked around to make sure that nothing was wrong, and even if that old, makeshift harbor was a little worn down, the ship seemed to still be in good condition. Eisen had placed some protective measures around it to ensure this, after all, so that was to be expected.

However, once Eisen fully stepped off the stairs and took another closer look around, Eisen saw something else.

The half-dragon knights had followed Eisen down the stairs, and many of the workers and particularly the ones that were goign to be in charge of the ship during the way back came down as well, beginning to check on the ship's current health, and if anything had fallen into disrepair over the past few months. But Eisen quickly did something else.

He approached the man that was seated on a large rock at the edge of the beach. He had practically blended into the environment, as though he had become part of nature. However, as soon as Eisen really looked toward him, he realized that he was there, and didn't hesitate to walk over toward him.

Eisen had been wondering where he suddenly went, after all, "Khan," Eisen spoke up, looking at the elderly giant whose limbs were becoming overgrown and rigid due to the giants' curse he was afflicted by. It had been nearly two months since he had seen him, "You suddenly disappeared when we reached the Fire Giant clan's capital. What are you doing here now?"

Khan laughed slightly, closing his eyes as he tried to stand up with the help of the walking cane in his hand, "I had some matters to take care of. And frankly, why else would I be here but to hitch a ride?"

Eisen looked at the elderly giant. To be honest, he really didn't mind if Khan joined. After all, Eisen did feel a sense of trust toward him, even if it was due to the emotions of the former Eisen who seemed to have done so as well.

Not to mention, Khan was a swordsmaster; or rather, if his race was to be believed, he had become a 'Swordgod', though Eisen couldn't sense any sort of actual divinity from Khan. It was merely a title. However, Eisen still felt hesitant to simply allow Khan to come along.

After all, he didn't even fully trust his past self, so how was he supposed to 'actually' trust the ones that the former Eisen supported and befriended? While Eisen couldn't sense any sort of mischief or lies from Khan when he spoke, Eisen didn't know what he should expect from Khan.

Just because someone was honest didn't mean they couldn't be a villain. There were dozens, or even hundreds of ways to interpret even simple sentences, and with how eloquently and intentionally Khan carried himself and spoke, it was easy to both tell the complete truth at any point in time and still trick Eisen.

And if he suddenly brought a dangerous man to either Asgard or the central continent, and Khan ended up doing something that Eisen couldn't support, then he wasn't sure what he was supposed to do. After all, even a kind man can become a killer in times of war. And frankly, even if Eisen remembered some parts about Khan, he barely remembered a few parts about his swordsmanship.

But in the end, he owed a lot to Khan and his mountain-splitting blade. Without it, it would have been impossible for Brody to kill the mountain-gobbler, considering the scale of his skills and abilities until that point.

"...Well, alright. Feel free to join us. You can come into the dungeon as well. You'll have to shrink down a bit to enter, but once inside, I can bring you somewhere where you can return to this size," Eisen explained, but without hesitation, Khan shook his head, "I'm sorry, but that won't really be possible."

"...how so?"

"Well, I lost the ability to change my size," Khan pointed out as if it were an obvious matter, "The curse made it impossible. Technically I still hold the ability, of course, but these parts of myself do not change alongside the rest of my body."

Eisen glanced at Khan's arm. The stone that had been created from his flesh was old and worn-down by time. It was a bit surprising to Eisen that it wouldn't change size alongside Khan, but then again, he truthfully didn't understand the inticracies of the giants' curse just yet. Eisen was sure that he would at some point, but currently, that was not one of the memories he had recovered.

If what Khan was saying was true, changing his size would simply result in a painful, bloody death. Even just changing his size fractionally would bring more than just mere discomfort with it. That definitely would make the situation a lot harder. The ship was barely large enough to hold Askr's body on its main deck.

The only way for Khan to even have space there was if him and Askr laid on top of each other for the whole duration of the trip back.

And that was only in regard to the space they would take up; Askr's body was relatively light in comparison to his size, in part due to the numerous enchantments that made him up, but Khan was a true giant, and not only that, but one whose body had been turned to stone in large parts. His weight might be too much for the ship to support, possible even without Askr there as well.

"...I'll figure something out," Eisen let out a deep sigh, rubbing the bridge of his nose. At the end of the day, it was possible to fix any of these issues, even if just temporarily. He could create a way for Khan's body to become light enough to be supported by the ship.

Or, and this was something that Eisen was rather leaning toward, he could figure out a way to let Khan shrink down to a human's size after all. If it was possible to change the size of equipment, it had to be possible to change the size of the stone all over Khan's body alongside him.

Looking out into the ocean, the old man let out a deep sigh, "You're lucky we can't leave tonight anyway. The weather is too bad out on the ocean to assure a safe departure."

"Well, I figured you would find a way," Khan replied with a soft smile. He looked down at the ground next to Eisen, spotting the figure of the half-dragon knights. But not only that, there was a face there that Khan both did and didn't recognize.

Of course, the news of what happened at the capital reached every part of this country, and certainly deep into the central continent as well, so there was no way Khan hadn't heard about what happened.

And being as long-lived as he was, ten-thousand years old due to the longevity that the 'cursed' prefix of his race gave to him, he definitely had been to the capital and had seen the face of the 'God of the Mountain', and managed to connect the dots quite easily. Not to mention, if Eisen had told Khan even about earth, then there was no way he hadn't been told about Silber.

"Is that him?" Khan wondered curiously, leaning forward. Seeing that Khan was looking at him, Silber increased his size, matching it with Khan's, "I'm not sure what you're asking, but I'm Silber de Grandour, Eisen's brother. And you are..?"

"I'm Khan. An old friend of Eisen's," the elderly giant explained, shaking the hand that Silber had extended out toward him. Silber could feel a tight grip from Khan's hand, "And you were... cursed as well, were you not?"

Silber slowly nodded, pulling his hand away at the first opportunity, "Yes, I was... unfortunately, my curse was released."

With a slight furrow of his brow, Khan replied, "Unfortunately? Is it not an honor to be released from that wicked force?"

"Of course, to an extent... but because I woke up like that... a lot of people died. I can't exactly celebrate that, right?" Silber pointed out, trying not to let his emotions about the situation show too strongly on his face. And the same could be said about Khan, though both Eisen and Silber could tell what he was feeling.

Eisen had peaked, and even on earth was a vastly skilled craftsman renown for his ability, while Silber was a transcendant giant. They were both beings that had reached the greatest heights the system would acknowledge; being met with jealousy was as natural as meeting new people.

And that was what they were seeing on Khan's face; a deep jealousy toward the man who had escaped the curse, no matter the price.