[Northwood City]
Jaylen led the way through the gateway without a glance back. Nylah followed from behind and Amara too, her eyes wide with a bit of fear.
Together, they emerged into a primeval forest. With giant trees with trunks wider than houses pierced a heavy, green canopy that filtered the sunlight.
And the thing that immediatly dominated their reality stood twenty paces away, their Golem. It was a monolith of sculpted granite, easily fifteen meters high and its stone muscles frozen in a vaguely humanoid pose. Vines grew across its shoulders and a small waterfall trickled down its leg, suggesting it had been waiting here for centuries.
"So, that's it." Jaylen muttered. He lifted his manalink brace. "We're supposed to move this… this big lump of history?"
Nylah barely spared the Golem a glance. She was already scanning the treeline. "No. We don't have to move it. That manalink brace is a drainer, remember?"
She finally turned, meeting his eyes which already held a familiar spark of annoyance. "One of us just has to stay behind and guard it. And it absolutely can't be Amara, because I need her help."
Jaylen threw his hands up in mock surrender. "Why don't you just tell me straight that I'm assigned to babysitting duty for the giant rock baby?"
Nylah almost smirked. "If I did then I was gonna sound like I'm bossy."
"You already are." he mumbled under his breath.
Amara, stepped forward. "Why not me, Nylah? My ability is not really good for direct combat. Wouldn't I be the most logical one to stay and feed the mana, since Jaylen is S-rank and better suited for offense?"
Nylah took a step closer to Amara. "Your ability may not be that good alone but paired with mine, it can turn the tide of a direct fight. I just need you to help me to get close enough to whisper to one of them and we will have a fourth fighter on our team."
Jaylen snapped his fingers impatiently. "You guys are wasting time and we're sitting here in an open field."
Nylah, already walking past him and into the gloom of the forest, dismissed his concern over her shoulder. "There is no time limit, Jaylen."
"Yeah." he called after her. "But the enemy might be closing in. I heard they have a laser gun user, so I'd rather not have a fifteen-meter-tall target sitting in the firing line."
Nylah and Amara, were already dissolving into the forest.
Jaylen stood alone before the silent Golem. He scowled, kicking a stray stone. "Gosh, why did I agree to babysit this giant?" He looked up at the towering figure, then around the clearing. "And how the hell do I even get this thing to move? I most definitely cannot let it stay here in the opening."
He paced a frantic half-circle, looking for anything that suggested an interface but there was nothing.
"Right, the manalink brace." he whispered, realizing the answer had been on him. "It says it allows the Thrine to move the Titan, as if puppeteering it."
He stopped pacing, letting out a heavy breath. And he closed his eyes, focusing every ounce of his mana, pouring it into the bracelet.
And a visualization of the giant's stony body snapped into existence behind his eyelids. He could feel it's weight and with a mental push, he commanded the right leg to lift.
The stone groaned, a sound that shook the roots of the forest. The Golem took one agonizingly slow step.
Jaylen's eyes snapped open in surprise and immediate elation. "Yes!" he yelled, jumping high on the spot.
His focus wavered for a split second. And that was all it took. The Golem, immediately lost balance and it pitched forward, hitting the earth with a seismic impact that sent the nearby trees shuddering and rained down leaves.
Coughing and sputtering, Jaylen wiped dirt from his face.
"Okay, okay. Take it easy man." he grumbled, calming himself down."You gotta concentrate."
He closed his eyes again, finding the visualization instantly. And he commanded the Golem to slowly push itself to its knees, then its feet.
Once upright, Jaylen poured his mana into a steady pace and guiding the Golem. He directed it away from the vulnerability of the clearing and deeper into the dense forest's eastside.