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With Odin and Uller gone, the immediate urgency had passed. Given that they were already aware of the trolls' current situation, Luo Wei and Hela saw no reason to rush back to the rendezvous point to report in. Instead, they agreed to rest where they were and resume the hunt once dawn broke.
The pair shared a simple meal in relative silence, the ambiance broken only by the occasional rustling of nocturnal creatures.
Midway through chewing on a piece of jerky, Hela suddenly paused and tilted her head, her emerald eyes narrowing in thought. "Luo Wei," she began, "back when we fought that earth and stone giant... how did you manage to incapacitate it so completely?"
Rowe reached to his side and drew out his staff, lifting it slightly for her to see. "It's the enchantment on this staff. I call it the Rock Mark."
He tapped it lightly against the ground, golden runes flickering faintly along its length. "I believe the reason the earth-rock giant was immobilized is because the Rock Mark interrupted control over its knee joints—disrupting the structure, so to speak. That said, it's the first time I've pulled that off, so the specifics are... vague, even to me."
He offered a shrug, but deep in his mind, another theory began to take root.
The Kronans... they're stone-based beings too. Would the Rock Mark affect them in a similar way?
I'll need to test it—eventually.
Hela frowned. "Rock Mark?" she echoed, clearly curious.
Rowe smiled slightly, tapping his staff again against a large stone nearby. "It's an enchantment meant to animate stone. Like this…"
The stone before them pulsed with energy as the staff emitted a faint golden light. The rock shifted, groaned, and then slowly "crawled" up, forming a small humanoid figure composed entirely of stone. A soft holy radiance glowed from within its frame.
Hela's eyes lit with recognition. "That's it! Back in Jotunheim—you summoned a creature just like that, didn't you?"
"Exactly," Rowe nodded.
"Is it... alive?"
"No, not really," he explained. "It's just a puppet. No awareness, no soul. It lasts about one night and serves mainly as a sentinel when I'm camping alone. It'll alert me if anything approaches."
He leaned back, folding his arms. "Though, I've read that there's a very slim chance these summoned constructs can gain sentience—truly becoming rock lifeforms. But today's luck has been rotten, so there's no way that's happening." He let out a casual yawn.
"Go get some sleep," Hela said, her voice calm but firm. "I'll take this shift."
Luo Wei blinked. "No way. You're Her Royal Highness. It's not right to make you—"
"Today was Heimdall's turn for watch duty," she cut in coolly. "He's not with us anymore. As the captain, I'm responsible."
Luo Wei hesitated.
"I order you to rest," Hela said sharply, her tone shifting to queenly command. Her expression brooked no argument.
"...Yes, Your Highness," Luo Wei relented, almost involuntarily straightening his posture like a scolded cadet.
Damn... am I into this kind of thing? No way. I'm a paladin—justice, discipline, valor!
Still muttering to himself, he leaned against a nearby tree, cradled the Fist of Verigan, and slowly drifted into sleep, thoughts trailing off into questions of the Holy Light and philosophical musings.
Hela glanced at him once, then turned her attention to the darkened woods, standing sentinel under the starlit canopy.
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Luo Wei didn't know how long he'd been asleep when he stirred. The Protoss physiology made sleep patterns highly adaptable—capable of enduring without rest for days or sleeping continuously for just as long.
When he opened his eyes, sunlight streamed down from the mid-sky. It was already late morning.
Sitting up with a stretch, he blinked at Hela. "Your Highness... how long was I out?"
"Not very long," Hela replied, though her attention remained fixed on the stone man standing vigil a few paces ahead.
Something about it looked... different.
The small construct still stood in its original posture, eyes glowing faintly, but its frame had noticeably shrunk. It now stood barely half a meter tall, about the size of a toddler.
At its feet lay a dense scattering of pebbles and rock fragments, as if layers had flaked off its body like molting skin.
"Rowe…" Hela said, gesturing slightly. "Is this... normal?"
He moved beside her, brows furrowed. "No. This shouldn't be happening."
The rock puppet was designed to degrade and dissipate with time—disassembling itself into lifeless rubble by dawn. But this… this was different. It hadn't collapsed. It had evolved.
Rowe raised his staff and channeled dismissal energy, attempting to undo the summon.
The stone man didn't react.
He sent a mental command to deactivate it.
Still nothing.
Then, as if responding to a different prompt, the little stone man turned around—yes, turned—and ran toward him obediently.
Turned? Rowe's breath caught.
Rock puppets had no front or back—no orientation. If it were just a spell, it would move directly toward its caster. Turning implied awareness. Intention.
When it arrived in front of him, its large, crystalline eyes locked onto his face. They shimmered with clarity, curiosity, and something unmistakably alive.
Luo Wei's heart skipped.
It had happened.
He had created life.
The little stone man tilted its head, mimicking Luo Wei's earlier gestures, then raised one small hand and waved.
Rowe blinked. He waved back.
The stone man let out a small sound—"Hey"—soft and indistinct, like the voice of a newly born child imitating speech.
Behind him, Hela chuckled. "Looks like you've become a father."
Rowe could only gape at her, then at the stone creature.
How did this happen? I'm not even past my first millennia!
He crouched, gently patting the creature on the head. It leaned into the touch and made another joyful noise.
His mind raced. After years of casting Rock Mark, this was the first time something like this had occurred. What had changed?
Then he saw it.
A large crater several meters away—the former location of the boulder he had enchanted. Something about it triggered a memory.
Last night, after Hela struck down the golden-armored old man, her dagger had flown—lodging into that very rock.
Could it be…?
That old man—he had carried himself like one of the Elders of the Universe. If even a drop of his blood had soaked into the stone, it might've left a trace of cosmic power.
A trace potent enough to trigger true life through Rock Mark.
So, this wasn't mere luck.
The fusion of enchantment and Elder blood—it had catalyzed a miracle.
Before he could speak further, Hela stood beside him again. "You should give it a name," she said softly, almost warmly.
Rowe looked down at the small creature gazing back at him with its glowing eyes and felt a sudden, surreal weight in his chest.
A name.
Something to define the first of its kind. Something worthy.
He took a breath. "Yeah... I think I should."
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