The Human Giant



Unfurling the crystal sword from its mortal constraints allowed it to sparkle with a beautiful rainbow color that could only belong in fairy tales. The mere sight of the crystal sword made Tiki's, Dreyer's, and Jewel's eyes snap wide open as their pupils dilated to get as much detail as they possibly could.

In short, the crystal sword was a beauty and would be a dancer's best friend. 

"Very nice, right? It's strong enough to take one of my strikes without taking damage and sharp enough to cut through demons like butter. This is simply a sword fit for slaying demons and immortals." Yoze smiled as he raised the sword to his eyes.

"That sword is a beauty," Jewel said.

After giving Tiki, Dreyer, and Jewel a good look at his crystal sword, Yoze wrapped the crystal sword back up in the leather strap, concealing its beauty again. However, even after wrapping the crystal sword up, Tiki and Dreyer couldn't keep their eyes off it. 

For them seeing such an immortal sword that came from an immortal was something they would never have seen in their whole life. Now they have been presented with the information that right before them was a sword from an immortal. Tiki and Dreyer wanted to ask for more details about Yoze's battle.

Unfortunately, before they could ask him more questions, Yoze said, "Since Dad is sleeping, I am going to go and train. After that fight, I realize that I'm not nearly strong enough yet." 

"Can we come with you? I haven't done any training since we arrived at New Swamp Town. However, I feel that I am at the edge of becoming a first-rate martial artist." Jewel said as she stretched her arm.

"Sure, anyone can come along but be prepared that I'm not going to focus much on helping you train." Yoze shrugged his shoulders.

Understanding that Yoze wasn't someone who changed his mind when it came to training himself, Tiki and Dreyer made a note to themselves to ask for the details later. But, for now, they decided it would be better to follow Yoze and do some training themselves.

After spending so much time training in their respective body cultivation methods, they felt they could beat their previous selves without even breaking a sweat. This was especially true for Dreyer, as he had been spending more of his time on training than Tiki.

If Tiki spent an hour training in the Boneless body cultivation method, then Dreyer would spend two hours training in the Sinking Swamp body cultivation method. Dreyer spent more than double the amount of time training in martial arts compared with his sister for two reasons.

The first reason was that he didn't have to spend as much time absorbing crystals as Tiki. Unlike Tiki, who could keep absorbing crystals like there was no tomorrow and, once her crystal nerves were fully saturated, could transform it into pure crystal energy to either cast spells or use for another set of crystal nerves. 

Dreyer couldn't absorb crystal dust into his dead crystal nerves, which couldn't store any crystal energy either. Once his dead crystal nerves reached the limit of crystal dust they could attract, there was no longer any way for him to continue to absorb crystal.

To continue, he would need to transform his crystal dust into crystal energy and use it immediately by using it for spells or creating artifacts. However, after meeting Yoze, Dreyer no longer needed to keep a high reserve of crystal dust inside his body to turn into crystal energy for his spells.

Instead, Dreyer had been spending his energy on creating artifacts and treasures that would be useful for his survival and could protect his family. He used his crystal energy to make his plant soldiers, Plant spies, Blood Sucking Totems, and Presence Hiding Wood.

Yet the creation of all these artifacts and treasures required not only a lot of crystal energy to create but also many scarce resources that are difficult to acquire by normal means. His progress in forming a war chest of treasures and artifacts took time to fill up.

The second reason Dreyer was spending more time was that he was weaker than he would like to be. He was falling behind Tiki, whose growth had increased due to having almost unlimited access to crystals and money. Compared to Yoze, a demon in human skin, Dreyer knew he was on the same level as an ant.

With his progress in increasing his familiarity with his War Plant Witchcraft steadily increasing and his war chest of treasures and artifacts being filled, Dreyer knew the only way he could improve further was by focusing his effort on martial arts.

Only by strengthening his physical body could he increase his battle prowess and his ability to survive sneak attacks from his enemies. In addition, Dreyer's desire to not become a burden to his family continuously strengthened his resolve to train his martial arts.

What made Dreyer the most pleased was that his prediction that training in the Sinking Swamp body cultivation method was excellent for him proved more accurate than he initially thought. Not only did it allow him to hold more of his treasures and artifacts on his body while hiding their existence, but the increased control over his body allowed him to create treasures faster.

With the combination of these two reasons, Dreyer felt the need to put more than double the effort into training his martial arts compared to Tiki. So when Yoze mentioned that he wanted to train and offered to take him along, Dreyer instantly decided to go along.

Just as Dreyer was about to ask Yoze if he could come along, he suddenly smelled the faint scent of sugary nectar mixed with other complex aromas coming from the right side of his ribs. Instantly knowing that the smell was caused by his plant spies sending him a message, Dreyer placed his finger over his mouth and told everyone to be quiet.

"Wait, stop talking for a minute. I just got a message." 

After drawing Yoze's, Tiki's, and Jewel's attention Dreyer closed his eyes as he rapidly decoded the message hidden behind the aromas. Then, after a minute, Dreyer's eyes snapped open with shock as he blurted out.

"The immortals have arrived!"