The giant footstep lay smack in the middle of the valley, crushing the trees and rocks in its path to mush.
Even from this far away it was so clearly pronounced that it could only testify to the sheer size of the giant.
Moving in to take a closer look I notice how there are no corrupt creatures in the area. They must have fled when the giant came through here and haven't returned yet.
Reaching the footprint I literally have to drop five metres to reach the bottom of the indentation.
The size of this thing is phenomenal. How far would each footstep be apart from each other?
Inspecting the area, it is plain to see the giant passed through here some time ago. The ground is muddy as water has collected in the lower ground and weed have started sprouting amongst the flattened trees and rocks.
If I had to guess, it was here a few days to a week ago.
Given its size it could be on the other side of the continent by now. Or it could be travelling to a different continent entirely, walking through the ocean.
I kind of want to see it.
I wonder if the giant is corrupted or another deity.
If it's corrupted, then I'll have to find a way to kill it. Although that may be a future goal. Can I kill it? I might be able to melt it.
The direction the giant was going is pretty obvious; however, I have no idea if I would be able to catch it. It was headed east which is unexplored territory for me.
Following it would hit two birds with one stone. I could investigate the nature of the giant whilst also discovering new land. With Snow located in the northwestern region I can leave a lot of this area to him once he figures out how to use [Soul Archive].
And that is how I ended up tailing a literal giant. My journey was uneventful apart from the occasional giant footprints that I came across.
Each one is a few kilometres apart which testifies to the sheer size of the thing.
Imagine taking one step and travelling ten kilometres. That's insane.
Even with all my speed and the constant use of [Accel] I can't tell if I'm catching up to it.
Not all the footprints are as easy to time stamp as the first one. Some of them are located on rivers or streams which flood with water, destroying any evidence.
Others crushed or destroyed large hills which leave too much debris around to accurately determine when it happened.
If the landscape is changed too drastically it is near impossible to tell when it happened.
It wasn't until two weeks later that I finally caught up with the beast. I could see it on the horizon.
It was towering over the world and the only reason I could see it despite how far away it was from me was because its body was blocking the morning sun.
The shadow it caused all encompassing, dulling my world into a soft grey dystopia.
The creature is as tall as the clouds, preventing me from seeing its head and upper chest.
It's back so broad that it covered the sky.
From behind it looked like a warrior off to battle, walking into the sunrise.
Although, whether this warrior is on our side or not is yet to be determined.
That night whilst making camp and roasting my dinner I got the first lick of news from Snow since I left Mount Hiroki. A single mana pulse buzzed in my mind.
Thinking about what Snow might have achieved I investigated the map in [Soul Archive] and noticed an area on the map that I don't remember exploring. It was further north than where I had been before and it shows that Snow is exploring the area.
It is convenient that Snow can access [Soul Archive] now.
Whilst looking at the map I follow the path the Giant has been taking. Each footstep is imprinted on the landscape so Snow should be able to see what I have been doing.
Since he hasn't sent a double beep he probably agrees with my decision to follow the giant.
The path the giant has taken seems rather deliberate. It has been travelling east steadily but also slightly north.
It could be random but my instincts, which are enhance by [Beast Cadence], tell me otherwise.
I'm certain it has a goal. I just have no idea what it is.
Frankly the only way I'll be able to find out is by following it, so I turn in early that night to get a head start with the mornings first light.
As I travelled, I steadily made ground on the giant. It is extremely and its stride long, but it is also rather slow moving. My guess is that it takes a step roughly every hour, only covering ten or so kilometres at a time.
The thing is it is so massive that although I am covering hundreds of kilometres in a day, the size of it is disorientating my sense of distance.
It also doesn't seem to rest as it keeps walking day and night, whereas I can't follow it once it is dark and I need rest.
The giant becomes ever larger in my vision as I get closer. The sheer size of it is ridiculous.
At this stage I think it'll take another week before I catch up to it but it was now that I came across something I didn't expect.
Its footsteps were closer together here, only a few kilometres apart and it seemed to circle a crushed city.
The giant clearly had intended to destroy the city thoroughly as every bit of it had been pulverised and traces of the city being set on fire were evident.
Large scorch marks and craters were littered throughout, and the giant clearly took its time ensuring every building was destroyed.
Rubble was spread across the city and beyond as the giant had kicked or stomped the structures and scorched roads were all that remained partially intact in the city itself.
The smell of the fire was stale in the air and dust forced me to cough as I walked along the destroyed cities streets.
I wonder why the giant was so intent of destroying this city. It isn't the first one it passed over the last few weeks and it isn't even the first it's stepped on. But it is the first it destroyed so thoroughly.
Investigating the city's rubble, I search for some signs of motive for the giant's hatred.
If it is a divine being, then maybe the city was concentrated with corruption. Or the giant may have simply gotten bored? I wonder if its even sentient. It doesn't do much other than walk and apparently destroy cities on occasion.
Moving large pieces of rubble, I search for something that had yet to be destroyed. The fire devastated the city and left little to nothing left to find.
I expect that if I were to find anything still intact it would be under large piles of rubble which protected it from the flames. Assuming it wasn't crushed by the weight of the rubble.
Anything that could give me a clue as to why the giant did this would help.
A corpse of a corrupt creature perhaps.
Or another orb.
Maybe even something the giant left here before leaving. If it's a divine being, then it could have its own [Divine Totem] and this could be its way of expanding its territory.
But alas, nothing of the sort was popping out.
The giant seemingly had no purpose behind destroying the city, or whatever purpose it did have was destroyed with it.
After a few hours of investigation, I leave the city and continue tailing the giant.
It wasn't until that night that I noticed a change in the giant's route. Whilst going over mine and Snow's progress with the map in [Soul Archive] I noticed that the footsteps I'd found after leaving the destroyed city had started turning south whilst continuing east.
The next day this was reconfirmed as the giant was definitely bound for further south than previously.
This supported the idea that the giant had a purpose. It was either following something that it knew the location of or looking for something.
If it had successfully gotten whatever it was after in the destroyed city, then perhaps it was on its way to another city with the same motive.
Whatever its goal is, it seems to have a destination in mind.
If I want to find out what that is I will have to overtake the giant and find something that could be the reason for its actions before it got to it and destroyed it.
Hopefully, I can get there before it does.
It should take another three or four days before I catch up to it.