Titan King: Ascension of the Giant

Early the next morning, Orion rose before dawn. Accompanied by his guards, he headed to a spot halfway up Moonshadow Valley.

Legend had it that in Orion's early days, he once trained in the Abyss there and grew rapidly in power; after returning from the Abyss, he soon became a bloodline warrior.

Several days earlier, Orion had decided to reopen this Abyss entrance so that any motivated young warriors in the Horde could venture inside. Yet various complications had caused delays—only now was he finally able to carry out that plan.

At the midpoint of the mountainside, a large group of tribespeople had already gathered outside the cave entrance by the time Orion arrived. The crowd wasn't just giants; some succubi, buffalofolk, and obsidian golems were mingled in as well.

Clearly, these youngsters hoped to follow in Orion's footsteps by exploring the Abyss—maybe they'd even bond with a powerful Abyss beast.

"Someone's coming!"

"That's our lord!"

"…!"

Orion's arrival stirred a mild commotion, which quieted as he entered the cave and started the ritual to unlock the Abyss gate. Tension hung in the air.

Moments later, the Abyss entrance opened successfully, and Orion left that area.

Two figures slipped in next to him and his four guards. Orion spotted them and brightened, hurrying over at once.

"Fergus, Tarn—you're here too!"

He clapped a hand on both their shoulders.

"The Abyss can be real dangerous," he said. "Have you two really thought this through?"

Fergus and Tarn exchanged determined looks and nodded.

"Uncle," Tarn said. "I want to sign a contract with an Abyssal dragon, just like you!"

Orion laughed. "Looking forward to it, kid. Maybe you'll even bring back a rare beast egg that'll blow everyone's mind!"

He didn't try to discourage Tarn. Some things can't be learned secondhand—no matter how many warnings a young person hears, they need to experience it for themselves.

"How about you, Fergus? What's your plan? I hear there's a Shadow Spider on the first level—it's no joke, trust me."

Fergus had grown a lot over the past year. He'd survived dark beast invasions, fought back during raids, even hunted with the Horde, and he now bore several scars.

In both composure and grit, he was far beyond the timid youth he'd once been.

"Shadow Spider is powerful," Fergus said, "but it can't leave the Abyss. I'm thinking a Bone Python suits me better."

Orion nodded. Fergus's idea seemed more practical and likely to succeed. Perhaps it was Lysinthia's influence—everyone had seen how she and Twilight Viper fought side by side in battle, piling up quite a string of achievements.

With the Abyss gate wide open again, many of the Horde's younger generation had set their sights on contracting a Bone Python.

Of course, Orion knew that even a Bone Python would be extremely deadly for youngsters. But over the last couple of years, the Horde had grown stronger; many families had managed to accumulate some dark source crystals.

Parents and elders usually gave a few crystals to their kids before letting them enter the Abyss. As a result, the new crop of young fighters was a lot tougher than those who came before. Fergus and Tarn were no exception, having received much support from Rendall and Lilith.

"Listen," Orion cautioned them both just before they departed, "once you're inside, stay sharp at all times. And if you find a beast you want to bond with, you've gotta prove your strength and your smarts!"

Fergus and Tarn nodded vigorously, then joined the others diving into the Abyss.

"Let's head back."

Orion beckoned to the guards, then walked toward a towering tree not far away. Beneath it lay a massive boulder, half-hidden in shade.

"Arch Elder!"

He called to Rendall, who stood on the boulder watching the young people file into the Abyss. Unsurprisingly, the elder's face showed quiet worry.

Orion said, "are you worried about Fergus and Tarn?"

Rendall gave a nod, then shook his head, as if weighing his words.

"This was their own choice," Orion continued. "No one can really talk them out of it. Besides, the Stoneheart Horde is home to more than just giants now. If our younger giants never produce real talent, they'll never hold their own against the other races' rising stars."

As lord, Orion was naturally eager for more gifted youth to emerge in the Horde—the more geniuses, the brighter the future. After Dirtclaw, Earthshaker, and Desdemona failed their attempts at becoming Alpha-level, Orion sensed that his current generation was nearly tapped out. The next likely wave of Alpha-level talents might well come from an even younger cohort.

"Lord," Rendall murmured, "we truly are so much stronger now than we used to be."

The elder's concerns extended beyond just Fergus and Tarn—he worried for every young fighter from all the different tribes. They were the brave ones, the Horde's tomorrow.

Orion glanced over at the Abyss gate, where a young giant and a young succubus were entering side by side.

"Arch Elder, times are different. Our people going in there now aren't going in blind. They can team up with others—and they've got dark source crystals and all kinds of supplies from their families. Their odds of taking that place by storm are definitely better."

Something lit behind Rendall's aging gaze, sparking newfound confidence. After a bit more conversation, Orion took his leave.

The reconstruction of Blackstone City had already begun, and he needed to confirm exact sites for all those special buildings. Plus, the Horde Hall was about to break ground, and he had to be there in person.

…

At the old stone wall in Moonshadow Valley, crowds of people set to work. Compared to the fairly new city walls in Blackstone City, this wall was badly scarred and ragged—an ancient barricade built by the giants' ancestors, once used to seal off Moonshadow Valley in hopes of withstanding beasts and dark creatures.

Boom!

When Orion arrived, Onyx and his team of obsidian golems knocked the wall down for good.

"My lord," Onyx said, frowning as he studied a map, "this area around the wall is still pretty cramped. Should we dig back further on both sides, or shift the building outward somehow?"

"Dig around a bit," Orion replied. "Let's build the Horde Hall in the center, leaving corridors on the left and right. One corridor can serve as the main exit for regular troops, while the other—make it wider—will be for cavalry."

He pointed to the sections of rock on either side, sharing his plan. At present, their main task was the Horde Hall, which was critical as it would house the Lord's Stone.

Orion wanted it finely built, sturdy, and impressive. And given how tall most races were—particularly the giants—it also needed lofty ceilings so no one would feel cramped.

In Orion's vision, the Horde Hall would resemble a castle, divided into an inner keep and an outer keep.

It was a massive undertaking, but luckily the Stoneheart Horde had no shortage of labor—from small cave spiders to Bearman laborers who otherwise sat idle day after day.

"My lord," Onyx pressed on, "what about the basement level? How deep should we dig? Or should we stick to the blueprint?"

Rather than respond out loud, Orion bent his head and quietly conferred with Onyx.

Unlike mere tents for giants, the Horde Hall would require not just a central palace but also walls, arrow towers, battlements, the outer keep, gatehouses, underground vaults, even hidden passages.

Once completed, it'd be a kind of combat fortress within Blackstone City—when the city itself was in peril, the Horde Hall would form the last line of defense. Orion cared deeply about every detail, which was exactly why he and Onyx were on-site.

…

Meanwhile, far to the north—while Orion busied himself revamping Blackstone City—a great roar echoed across a glacier. Dragon bellowed nonstop.

Roar!

The repeated thunder of the dragon cries betrayed the upheaval in Lord Glacial Dragon Jorik's mood.

"Curse that Gareth—what sort of fool just lets someone under her supervision ascend to Legendary level right under her nose?"

He spat each word in mounting rage. "Could something have happened in the south? Damn it… ROAR!"

Lord Jorik was furious—absolutely livid. When Orion traveled his territory in lightning form, he made no attempt to hide his power; Jorik sensed it even from afar.

In Jorik's view, everything that had just unfolded was meant to thwart him. He believed Gareth, after being injured multiple times , allowed one of her subordinates to become Legendary level and carve up more territory—thus blocking his path.

To invade from the north, Jorik would have to move through the Abyssal Chasm and Poison Dragon Swamp. Now both places were guarded by Legendary-level fighters, effectively shutting the door on his southern ambitions. That prospect—losing out on the limitless resources and near-endless worshippers to the south—filled Jorik with rage and resentment.

…

Down in the south, in Thunderwood Forest, Lord Gareth had also sensed Orion's presence when he streaked across Half-Moon Lake in a flash of lightning. No one was more shocked than she was.

Before this, Gareth had guessed Orion would need at least two more years to even approach the threshold of Legendary level. She never imagined he'd get there so soon, so decisively.

The moment she heard that peal of thunder—and felt that colossal pressure—she nearly thought Ariel had faked her death just to ambush her.

Only when she sensed that energy move off through the Black Forest did Gareth realize the truth. But that moment of clarity brought a wave of dread. Had she herself tried to kill Orion back then, she could only imagine what her own fate might have been.

"It defies all logic," Gareth muttered. "He achieved Legendary level right under my nose."

Honestly, Gareth still couldn't wrap her head around it. The pace of Orion's rise was insane—no one saw it coming. By the time she wanted to deal with Orion, she'd ended up helping him ascend by giving him the opportunity to seize a Lord's Stone.

On one point, though, Lord Jorik was mistaken. Gareth had never intended to create a new lord in her own domain, much less allow part of her territory to be split off. Now, the entire Four Domains and Thunderwood Forest situation was equally hard for her to stomach.

There was no denying that Orion had wrested control of the Black Forest and Poison Dragon Swamp from Gareth—an undeniable fact she simply had to face.

Granted, she had gained some new territory elsewhere in Thunderwood Forest, but Orion's brazen takeover continued to gnaw at her. More frustrating, Gareth could do nothing about it. That was the part she found most maddening.

Wanting to maintain her newly expanded land, Gareth suffered the humiliation of letting the very man who'd destroyed her Will Projection waltz out of her domain. She'd even given up Poison Dragon Swamp and Half-Moon Lake to keep the peace. And now that Orion had broken through, Gareth might be bound by a non-aggression pact with him, but it hardly put her mind at ease.

North of the Abyssal Chasm, Gareth still had to brace for Jorik's moves from the ice fields. South of Thunderwood Forest, she was pressing into the Green Insects of Lokiviria.

And right in the middle of everything, Orion had become a formidable presence. In essence, Gareth now stood surrounded by trouble on every front.

"Damn that giant… that insufferable jerk! If only he'd never—"

She cut herself off abruptly. In truth, it was precisely because of Orion that she'd gained more territory overall—even if she'd also acquired all these new headaches.