"Killing Giants and slaying Dragons, that is the sort of thing that artificials put as their goals?!" The Bralfam's mountainous voice poured out of his throat, in disbelief and anger. Eisen slowly nodded in response, "Of course. As they live here, Artificials tend to have grandiose goals. Mostly related to fame, fortune and power; basically, the flas.h.i.+er, the better. And there's little that can be called as grand as Dragons and Giants."
"All... all Artificials live like that..?"
"Nearly all. There's some exceptions, of course. The kind that simply want to travel the world and see new sights. Meet new people, eat good food. But I'm sad to say that those seem to be pretty rare. But that's not even the worst part... you know it as well, but most people dream the same things as Artificials do. Even you must have at one point dreamt to surpa.s.s the rank limit placed on giants by the G.o.ds," the old man crossed his legs. It was his own fault that giants couldn't surpa.s.s those limits; he had done something that Samuel didn't like, and then all Giants were punished for it. And especially after seeing the Bralfam's expression right now, Eisen couldn't help but feel incomparable regret for an action he didn't even remember.
The chieftain closed his eyes, "Of course. It is something all giants that reach this rank dream of. But such is the limit bestowed upon us. Ours may be stricter, but all beings have limits, there is a reason why the man you claim to be is such a special individual."
"...That's exactly it. Artificials don't have those limits."
The Bralfam's reaction came slow this time. Sure, he had heard Eisen's words, but they didn't fully register. It was such a ridiculous idea that he second-guessed if he heard right, even once he figured out what exactly was said. The implications of such a fact paralyzed the Bralfam's body, and his already gray face went pale out of shock. The goal of the artificials was to kill the giants... and if they had no limit to their growth, then this was only a matter of time, "But... how... how could..?"
"...This... thing we know as 'Experience' is a force that can affect the laws of reality. It can give you unimaginable power, and abilities that should be impossible to possess. That kind of force is not something the physical world can accept easily, so there are natural limits to how much 'Experience' can be accepted, usually that is. But what if we're talking about beings created through this 'Experience'? Born from the acc.u.mulation of this force of beings with such a ridiculous amount of it that it's laughable? Beings who... parallel the G.o.ds?" Eisen asked. He knew that it was the truth, but comparing himself to the G.o.ds was always a weird feeling. Though technically, he was comparing his past self to the G.o.ds, not his current self.
If the Bralfam's face was merely pale before, now he could probably hide in snow without being found so easily.
"You are saying... that artificials not only lack a limit, but they can grow more than others...?"
"...I have only started this new journey less than half a year ago, starting anew at level 1 as an old man. My current level is 323."
The Bralfam held his hand in front of his mouth, as if he was trying to hide his shock, or maybe even his fear and confusion, as he stood up from his seat and turned away, "I... I would like to ask for you to leave... do not worry, I will stand by your side when the time comes. I simply need to... I need to spend some time thinking."
Eisen stood up as well, "I'm sorry for burdening you with all this."
"No. No, it is... it is appreciated. It is simply a hard thing to be told and not be shaken even a little."
"I see. Then I will meet you again at the council meeting."
---
Quietly, Eisen sat in the corner of the Dungeon's bar area, drinking some of the wine that he had made during his stay with the Stone Giant Clan. He knew for a fact that he had done nothing wrong, and everyone had praised the wine the moment it touched their lips, but Eisen could taste nothing but bitterness right now. Sal, Caria and Melissa were asleep inside of Eisen's private room, and even Kirisho chose to give him some s.p.a.ce to think for himself, taking her pendant with her as she spent the evening with the kids. Eisen was pretty sure he was the only one that was still awake, except for Sigurd, of course, but Sigurd was preoccupied with other matters, so he wasn't paying much attention to what was going on right here, by Eisen's request.
The old man heard some steps approaching, and he looked across the room, seeing Kiron's scales glimmer in the light of the dimly glowing candles, "You should try to get some sleep."
"...I require little sleep, generally," the half-dragon replied, standing there for a few more moments in an awkward silence, before finally beginning to turn away, "I shall leave you be, Grandfather..."
"No... Come, it's fine," Eisen said as a slight smile formed on his lips. He grabbed the bottle and gla.s.s stood in front of him, and placed them away into his storage s.p.a.ce, grabbing a different bottle with two crystal clear gla.s.ses.
As Kiron sat down, Eisen poured some whiskey into the gla.s.ses, slowly placing one in front of the dragon, "I... have not engaged in..."
"I won't force you if you don't want to. Just hold onto the gla.s.s if you want to, it's not about the act of drinking itself anyway," the old man pointed out with a slight chuckle, and Kiron quietly nodded as he wrapped his hands around the gla.s.s. The two of them sat there for a while in silence, Eisen sipping on his alcohol while Kiron tried to find a chance to say what he wanted to. But before he could bring himself to do so, Eisen did instead, "Do you know why we are here?"
"Huh...? To gather the Giant Chieftains in one place, to protect them against the central continent?" Kiron asked, confused over what Eisen was asking, but the old man simply shook his head.
"No. Narcissism. Some years ago, in the other world, not this one, I received a call from an old friend. He, and some others in our former circle, had been called to ask some questions about different disciplines of craftsmans.h.i.+p. They all referred me to their caller, and soon I spoke to him as well. He had a silver tongue, really. I invited him into my home, spent weeks over weeks, months even, teaching him and other employees he would bring along every once in a while all that he needed to know to develop that game of his. All because he kept telling me how impressed he was; how great he found my work. He reminded me of my sons when they were a little younger. None of my children showed any interest in my work, and I was fine with that, but it still felt nice to have someone praise me. It was a wonderful feeling, though I had already spent decades basking in the praises of the world of craftsmans.h.i.+p. A few years later, I fell sick, and chose to escape into a world I hadn't yet known, a world I was trapped in for millennia because I fell for those silver words. And now, we are on a grand journey to save both of these worlds. I don't even recognize my own speech anymore, it's become so... uselessly eloquent," Eisen chuckled slightly.
With a concerned tone underlying his voice, Kiron looked at his grandfather, "Do you regret your choice to come here?"
Eisen immediately knew what it was what Kiron was truly asking, and he hesitated for not even a moment, "...No. I do not regret doing what I have done. Without my actions, you would not be here, nor would many of my friends and ones I would consider family. I love you dearly, Kiron, and nothing will ever change that. Nonetheless... my actions have also led to so much suffering. You must have seen the Bralfam's face, just at the thought of beings like the artificials existing, he nearly pa.s.sed out. I was the one that was tasked with creating new life, I was the one that created them. I may as well have killed those living in this world with my own two hands at this rate."
The half-dragon looked down at the gla.s.s in his hands, and slowly led the gla.s.s to his lips. He took a large sip of the whiskey, not even flinching in the slightest. Eisen frowned concerned, "You don't have to do that, you know?"
"Yes... but I wish to," Kiron replied, "Grandfather, I do not quite understand how these matters work in the other world, but it sounds as though you were not the only choice they could have made."
"...What do you mean?"
"You said they called for your friends first, other craftsmen. You must have been their favorite candidate, but if you had declined to help them, then someone... less competent than you would have taken your place. Are you not glad that it was you, and not some mere fool?"
Eisen looked at the half-dragon in front of him and thought for just a moment, a light smile forming on his lips, "As I said, I don't regret the choices I have made, simply that there was not as much at stake. I would much rather share a drink with my grandchildren without having to worry for their lives."