As Rocky sank in the turbid waters, it felt panicked. It wanted to flail it's arms, but there were no arms. It was an extremely surreal and horrifying experience for the golem who had experienced the comfort of limbs it's entire life. Colours flashed across it's core as Rocky tried to call for help.

"Trrrrrrrrrrreeeeep!"

Attracted by the strange colours, multiple fishes swam towards it. Two of the fishes even bit down on the core without thinking, but fortunately for the golem, it's core was very tough. If Alan were to see this, he would recognise the biting fishes as the type that he had eaten.

A gigantic form could be sensed by the core as it nearly hit the lakebed, a gigantic fish the size of a killer whale. Sensing the mouth opened wide to swallow it, Rocky tried harness anything in it's panic, pulling all compatible elements towards it as hard as it could.

The ground started to morph, a spire shooting out of the riverbed with surprising ease. The core was completely swallowed by the tip, and the spire pulled it down into the ground. The aquatic monster could only snap at the the ground, no longer able to swallow Rocky.

Rocky felt relieved, but didn't feel like it was safe to surface with the fishes around. It tried to shape the ground into the largest body it could, summoning all it's power.

To the golem's surprise, the ground was as malleable as dough to it. Rocky didn't feel safe with the presence of the fishes, so it shaped the rock to make a body as large as it could. A gigantic form started to rise from the water, making a loud rumbling sound in the water.

The fishy spectators all fled.

--------

"Hah! Kerbbal is stupid, lose to Arbolk!"

Arbolk stood in triumph over the collapsed form of Kerbbal. Kerbbal only nudged weakly on the ground in response.

"Human food!"

Arbolk looked around, scanning the area for the old man.

Gone.

"AHHHHHH! Stupid Kerbbal fault!"

Arbolk screamed in anger and hit Kerbbal more. Kerbbal had been pretending to be unconscious the whole time, hoping Arbolk would let off the attacks. Unfortunately for it, Arbolk was still angry, attacking it more and more.

Then a loud rumbling sound rang out. Kerbbal instintively rose up to look, causing Arbolk to jump in surprise.

A huge fist rose out of the water, sending waves splashing over the duo. Kerbbal and Arbolk watched in terror as a huge golem rose out of the water, towering high above them.

"Ahhhhhh! Big monster!"

The duo took off and ran as fast as they could, ignoring their personal grudges.

-------

Alan POV...

"Ah!"

The girl stared in wonder at the majesty of the mighty pillar. The only thing on my mind was relief that I had lead her the right way. Then I saw her walk towards the pillar.

"Stop! There are monsters there!"

"That's what I came for!"

She ignored my concern and marched forward. Somehow, I had forgotten that the only reason she was here was to find the Treknukens. In a moment of panic, I thought of leaving her be and running away, but the pitiful me couldn't muster up the courage to leave the poor girl alone. Ironic how I had deemed running away to be a valiant act.

Then we heard the shout of a Treknuken as it charged towards us.

"Eckkk!"

Seeing the terrifying appearance of the monster, she hid behind me in fear.

Why?

Why did everyone have to hide behind me like a human shield? I was a pitiful low ranking mage for goodness's sake! Instincts screamed at me to dodge, but I stood there stunned, unwilling to leave her be. To dodge or not to dodge?

A bright flash of light shone from behind me as I struggled to make my decision.

Before my eyes, the Treknuken flew off, screaming, bouncing off the ground with a loud sound.

"Bang!"

I could vaguely see the monster smash into a few other of it's kind as it spun in mid air, reminding me of a ball striking bowling pins. I was stunned, she was that powerful? I turned around, about to compliment her power, but realised she was already running away, screaming.

"Ahhhhhh!"

"Why are you running!"

I tried to attract her attention, but she was as fast as the winds.

...

I felt speechless. Why did are all the strong folks so cowardly?

"MAAADOP!"

Dozens of Treknukens yelled, raising their fists and charging.

That damned girl! She was so gutless despite her power! Now that she was gone, not distracting me with her appearance, my dissatisfaction towards her was all let out in a short burst of anger. Why had I allowed myself to get lead around by her looks alone? I cussed all the words I could think of as I ran.

I could still hear their stomps and yells as I pushed my speed to it's limits.

Despite my efforts, it became apparent that I couldn't outrun them. I felt more and more upset about the situation. Why did everything have to go wrong in my life? Kicked out of the farm, attacked by bandits, almost got scammed and many more things just simply had to go awry! I felt wronged, what did I do to deserve this?

Then something happened with perfect timing.

"BAAMM! BAAMM! BAAMM!"

Loud rumbling sounds rang out in the air as the ground shook, making me and the Treknukens freeze in fright. It was very bizarre, the rumbles seeming to follow a pattern, as if it were footsteps of a gigantic monster...

I looked in the direction of the rumbling, seeing a familiar light flash out in the distance from a golden core.

"ALUUUUR SHHHHIRRRRRK. REEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!"

The crystal on my lantern conveniently ran out of mana and exploded, letting out a flash of light ten times brighter than usual for seconds, as if it were a death cry. The light allowed me to see a huge misshapen rock towering high above me in it's entirety, about ten metres tall perhaps. It pulled at the shattered ground with it's arms at rapid speed, making it propel itself towards my direction at alarming speed. It's appearance reminded me of...

Rocky?