Brutus was the lumbering giant's name, or at least, that was the name he gave to Karastak and Azazel. However, the name of “Karastak” was too much for the simple mind of their new friend. So instead, he would be called as Kar.

For now, though, Karastak sat next to Brutus as he was writing upon the other's right arm with his own blood. Of which caused some confusion in his blue eyes as he asked, “Whas that?”

“This, Brutus,” he replied slowly, “is my Magick. My Class is Enchanter, you understand, and for it to work it needs to be written out. However,” he tapped the letters which spelled out CURE DISEASE with a few drips here and there, “as I do not have a pencil or charcoal stick, I have to rely on my blood for ink.”

Brutus's eyes widened at the words of Magick, the blues of his irises sparkling as his lips parted a few millimetres, “Majeek?” came his voice which was full of wonder, “You do majeek?”

“Yes, Brutus,” chuckled the pale man, “I am quite profici- ahem... I know my Magick, and will now show you. Just hold still and we'll see if we can get rid of your diseased icon, okay?”

“Okay,” bobbed the simple man, who then watched as the other lightly gripped his wrist, holding it aloft as he hovered his free hand over the word. Of which soon glowed a brilliant green, startling him to the point of jerking the limb, but instead of letting go, he was held fast as the magicks within took effect.

Karastak, on the other hand, in turn looked inward to watch what actually happens when he imbue a word with his energy, and the processes therein. What he found was... baffling. For the energies within him swirled a brightened yellow-gold in colour near his core. Once he summoned it to energise the the words he wrote in his blood, however, he noted that the swirling mass extended a few tendrils into his shoulders. Where they flowed down the length of his arms until pooling it all inside the palms of his hands. Here, the energies pushed themselves into the channels where his claws resided, and slowly dripped down upon the words he had written moments ago.

Of course, this all took place within a few seconds, but it was entertaining to say the least.

Their new friend, on the other hand, had the look of child-like wonder about his features as the green light flared once before fading to a dim. Afterwards, the letters which made up the pair of words slowly sank themselves into his skin, and he felt a rush of energy fill his body for a few moments. This feeling came and went within a span of a few heartbeats, but was enough to enthrall his mind completely over the magicks he just witnessed.

“Wow,” came the only sound Brutus was able to make, him jaw slack from the experience. His eyes, though, continued to stare at his arm as though trying to relive the moment once again.

Whereas Karastak simply smiled and stood up. Unfortunately, it was too quick a motion, and his body wobbled until he staggered over to a nearby tree. Here, he muttered to himself, “Why did that take so much out of me, Azazel?” His eyes, however, glowed a soft crimson and violet as they wandered up and down the body of the tree he clutched. Whereupon he felt four of his teeth slowly stretch themselves in preparation of biting and draining the flora of its energy.

“[Well, it's because you tend to use too much when you imbibe your words with energy],” she spoke in a matter of fact tone, “[but all low leveled Magick Users do that, so it's no use crying over it. Not to mention, at Level 10 you gain a passive which decreases your mana consumption by ten percent, and every five levels after that it increases by two point five.]”

“Oh yeah?” his body perked up at this, but quickly sobered as he bit down upon the flesh of the tree before him, but not before asking, “And what level am I right now?”

“[Nine, but you're almost at the next level.]”

He hummed in response, unaware of the audience he now had. At least, not until he was through draining the tree of its energy and push it over, did he notice Brutus's wide eyed gaze upon himself. Here, he was about to explain how he needed to “eat” trees to replenish his mana, but never got that far as the simple giant rushed to his side. Whereupon he did ask, no, beg, “How y' do that? I want do that!”

“Uh,” came the reply from Kar, his eyes drifting towards another tree where his mind saw Azazel doubled over and laughing. Where their gazes locked, she only laughed harder, leaving him to his own devices. “Well,” he scratched the back of his neck, unsure as to how to proceed. Whereas Brutus continued to stare up at his new found friend with sparkling eyes; the same as a child's, if he were to guess.

“Here,” his eyes scanned the area, where he actually noted the ground was upturn from the signs of an ambush against a large creature. Such as Goblins fighting against Brutus would would have been their next meal if he didn't have the thought of them still being like that of children. Of course, the ground around them was disturbed, but not too much like an actual ambush should be. Save for the ruffled grass and earth where the muscular giant had fallen, the rest was surprisingly spared being a few instances of footprints left by the green-skin's retreat.

It was a clearing of some sort, within the eyes of Kar, and it even had a ring of trees which acted as either silent protectors, or rather, silent watchers. There probable was a lot of activity within this area, but due to the appearance of the Goblins and their prey, as well as the scream and presence emitted by the pale man, it was eerily quiet. It was as though the forest held a collective breath, awaiting their next move before acting themselves.

“Let's find us a spot to sit down before I start explaining a few things, okay?” The simple man nodded quickly, willingly being led towards a different tree. Here, the pair sat down as Kar listened and repeated some of what Azazel whispered into his ear. Before this, however, he had the man pull up his Status screen, and asked, “Do you know how mana is calculated?”

“Wha?” came Brutus's reply, unsure of what was spoken.

Whereupon Kar shook his head and reiterated his question, “Do you know how much mana you have right now, and how you raise it?”

“Oh... umm,” the simple man lifted his right index finger, and slowly maneuvered it towards the top right of the screen which only he could see. Here, his eyes brightened as he proudly exclaimed, “I have this many,” and pulled up two digits from his left hand, with all five from his right.

“Wow, Brutus,” Kar widened his eyes with surprise, though on the inside he was more concerned, “That's a lot.” Which was received with a large and toothy grin by the other, but quickly frowned as he continued with, “Did you know you're supposed to have a lot more than twenty-five?”

“Uh?” Brutus paused, pulling down his hands and staring at them whilst Azazel explained as Kar repeated her words.

“[Everyone on Terra starts off with one hundred health and mana, and ten to the other stats, when they're born, unless their parents had an odd number at the time of them pooling together their energies upon the altar. Or, if they were brother and sister, in which case it would explain quite a few things in his case.]” Kar omitted the last sentence to Brutus, not wanting to spark any anger of defiance to himself towards the other's parents. Whereas the simple man's eyes drifted between the pale man and his eyes as he listened to the rest.

“[At every level, they gain a point in their racial attributes. Such as the Human race gaining one point in everything, the Elves gaining two in Dexterity and one in either Wisdom, Intelligence, or Charisma, or the Dwarves who gain two in Strength and to Constitution.]

“[Afterwards, comes the extra attributes, which equates between four and ten. It really just depends upon how the person gained their levels. As for how mana is calculated, it's usually one INT equals two mana, on top of the one hundred they started out with],” she finished with a shrug as he related this to their new friend, but in simpler terms. He did not want Brutus to become angered over his frustration at the large words spoken.

However, Brutus just continued to frown, seemingly ignoring all of this. Of which allowed Kar to mutter a question towards the girl in his head, “If he's a part of the Human race, then why isn't his stats more equal to one another than they are right now?”

“[Well,]” she replied, allowing his mind to see her scratching the back of her head, “[it's because they're not. Not really, anyways.]”

“What do you mean?”

“[Um. Well, they're actually half-Giants. I think the term the Humans gave them was Goliath, when describing their race. As such, they get three to their Strength and their Constitution at every level.]”

Kar sat there, unsure of how to react. That is, until he heard the snapping of fingers coming from within his head, but turned towards the middle of the clearing where he visualised her small form placing a closed fist atop her palm as her eyes sparkled with some realisation, “[It is possible he is the son of a Golliath and a Giant. It explains why his stats are so low, but he's also small...]” She took up a ponderer's facial features as she began pacing back and forth whilst contemplating this new mystery.

In the meantime, however, Brutus had stood up and was searching around for something. Upon being called out by Kar, he turned to him too quickly, and almost toppled over because of it. After righting himself, said, “I need go home,” with a frown.

“Okay, Brutus,” the pale man nodded slowly, “Where do you live?”

“On farm,” came an absentminded reply as he scratched his head with some confusion. It appeared to them that he didn't know the way out, and therefore, decided to offer their assistance. Or, Kar offered it, but as he did not know the way towards the farms themselves, asked Azazel to point the way. For which she did so, but also with an absentminded reply.

The trek itself was short lived, as their long strides took them quickly to the border of the forest where Kar and Azazel were able to spy many rows of stone and wood based houses with many elderly and infirm milled about. Here, Brutus bade his new friend a goodbye, promising to return when he wasn't working. To which the other replied with, “I'll be around, Brutus, and I'll show you more of my magicks if you do come by.”

This statement was not only received warmly, but he was also given a great hug from the simple man. Of whom then retreated into the houses beyond their line of sight, thus leaving the pair alone once more.

“[Well],” mumbled Azazel, “[What else do you want to do, 'Kar'?]” The new name caused the girl to smirk up at the other, but it quickly turned into a frown as she noted his scowl of absolute hatred.

“What else, my dear Azazel?” both of his eyes flared with a baleful crimson, “We're going Goblin hunting. I do not want those insignificant pests disturbing Brutus ever again. Especially not when I have chosen him to be my first minion.” In so saying, he turned around and reentered the forest, unconcerned about anyone witnessing his person doing so. Of which led to him reaching down to allow the girl inside his head to scamper up his back and perch atop his right shoulder.

“[My, my, Karastak,]” she giggled softly, patting his head a few times, “[aren't you being protective of someone you don't know much about. Maybe he doesn't want to be your minion, ever thought of that?]”

“Of course I have,” came his tart reply as his body maneuvered around the dead tree he had sapped earlier. For his body moved swiftly through the trees, but not too swift as he did not have full control over it, nor did he wish to fall upon his face again.

“[Then why bother with that one, if you've already thought it through?]”

Here, his body stopped, leaning up against another tree he cared little for to support himself. Whereupon the eyes within his head became that of crimson and violet as he scanned the area in search of minour disturbances within the air and ground, but only found trails of fauna. For he had found out a week ago that he could track something down by their energy alone. Unfortunately for himself, he did not have the energy signature of a Goblin, and therefore had to wait for one to surface. Therefore, his body moved from tree to tree within ten metres of one another, in order to find some semblance of a trail used by the pest of a race.

“Why?” grunted Karastak, as though the answer should already have been made clear, “Because Brutus reminded me of Robert, and most of those memories are ones of joy and peace. Maybe I wish to relive them, Azazel, or perhaps I would like to give him a better life than what he has now. Regardless,” he took in a deep breath, and let it flow swiftly from his nostrils, “I desire him to be the first of many to follow my lead as I forge... I don't know just yet.”

In so saying, he turned towards the next tree in order to begin searching for the Goblins once more, unaware of Azazel who pursed her lips in contemplation about something upon her mind.