Targon's steps were heavy and steady, his granite body crushing through the bushes as he strode forward at a gallop, no vegetation able to obstruct his path at high speed.
But this also left a clear trail behind him in the wilderness.
Under the cover of night, Garros quietly followed the Stone Giant, his scales appearing dull grey in the moonlight, blending with the clouds; even the sound of his flapping wings was deliberately suppressed, making him silent.
Flight gave the Dragonkin a unique advantage over the giants.
The Stone Giant's perception was not sharp, and Garros masked himself well, keeping a steady pace and never being discovered by the Stone Giant.
Just like that.
The giant and the dragon moved separately, one walking the earth and the other soaring through the sky.
Time passed gradually.
About five hours later, the sky took on the hazy grey-blue light of early dawn.
The terrain ahead began to change, the jagged rocky hills gradually replaced by flat boulders, and the air was filled with a strange smell of mixed minerals and sulfur.
The full view of the Stone Giant camp gradually unfolded before Garros' eyes.
It was a semi-open-air camp built against a mountain, with the outer perimeter enclosed by high circular walls made of coarse basalt blocks. Inside were primitive stone houses built with layers of rock in a simple style; both the high walls and the stone houses were exceptionally majestic and huge, clearly the architecture of giant beings.
His gaze quietly swept over those Stone Giants.
Garros' attention was drawn to the structure in the very center of the camp.
It was a circular pit about twenty meters in diameter, filled with a grey substance that looked like stone at first glance, but the occasional ripples proved it was liquid.
"This thing is... a Leyline Symbiosis Pool?!"
Garros pondered silently.
The reproduction of Stone Giants was not normal biological breeding.
They would first select a suitable leyline node to create a Leyline Symbiosis Pool, then use a special method to select'spiritual' Ores, carving them into humanoid rough casts before placing them into the Leyline Symbiosis Pool.
After the rough casts were immersed in the pool, the liquid mineral essence and energy would gradually permeate them, with a chance of Awakening their consciousness.
If they failed, they would become part of the mineral essence.
Individuals who awakened their consciousness would climb out of the pool and consume part of an Elder Stone Giant's body, thereby gaining a preliminary understanding of the world and the concept of their race, becoming newborn Stone Giants.
Due to differences in the rough casts and the carvings...
Each Stone Giant's appearance and physique were slightly different, as was the texture of their bodies, and individual differences were immense.
The weak ones, formed from ordinary stone, were not even as strong as white dragons.
However, Stone Giants formed from special Ore rough casts that then awakened could possess startling talent, though the more special and outstanding the Ore rough cast, the lower the probability of Awakening consciousness.
Garros noticed.
Several young Stone Giants were carving rocks.
They were not carving small, growing humanoid rough casts, but rather lofty forms no smaller than themselves, and there were already some such stone carvings in the Leyline Symbiosis Pool.
These were Colossal Stone Guards.
Stone Giants were a race where every individual believed in deities. They could create Colossal Stone Guards, which sacrificed their sapience and long lives to grow rapidly and become weapons to protect the clan.
It wasn't just Stone Giants and Colossal Stone Guards.
On the outskirts of the camp, there were also groups of Rock Lizards, Mountain-Piercing Beasts, and other monstrous thralls.
"The scale isn't small, but it's not large either."
So far, Garros hadn't seen any more adult Stone Giants.
Meanwhile.
As Targon reached the edge of the camp...
An exceptionally burly Stone Giant emerged from the largest stone house.
Standing fifteen meters tall like a small mountain, he had a crystalline body with a texture and grain completely different from Targon's, as if constructed from diamond, exuding a sense of indestructible power.
This Stone Giant immediately caught Garros' eye, making his heart tighten.
"A Stone Giant Elder, and a Diamond Giant at that; this is a bit tricky."
There was an Elder Diamond in the vanguard; Garros found it hard to imagine how strong the subsequent main force would be or how massive its scale.
This made him feel a deeper sense of danger.
But looking down at the giant camp, Garros vaguely felt something was off, though he couldn't figure it out in the short term.
He held his breath, suppressed all movement, and continued to observe and scout the situation of the Stone Giant camp.
On the ground, the Stone Giant Targon knelt on one knee.
He used a Spell, his eyes flickering slightly to project a memory image.
Karu's stubborn face, the burly Ogre Warriors, and more than one Warlock were all shown in vivid detail.
Cracks appeared on Targon's rocky face.
This was the Stone Giant's way of expressing anger.
He said in a deep voice, "Those filthy, lowly Ogres want you to go there in person."
The Elder Diamond was not angry.
His heavy body remained motionless, his eyes carrying a wise, contemplative look.
"That Gluttonous Ogre is very clever. That's good; it means it has more value in being subdued," the Elder Diamond said slowly.
(No translation needed for this tag as it is part of the previous dialogue structure)
His voice sounded like two diamonds rubbing together, producing a dull hum that even made the air vibrate slightly.
Gesturing for the Granite Stone Giant to stand up, the Elder Diamond led him toward the camp and into the largest stone house to discuss the matter of the Bone-Chewing Clan in detail.
In the sky.
Garros could no longer see the two strongest Stone Giants.
He narrowed his eyes, counted the number of stone houses in the camp, and then turned to leave.
Soon after, a Level 9 Mammoth Vicious Beast charged toward the Stone Giant camp from afar with wild steps, its eyes still filled with a trace of fear and panic.
The monstrous thralls kept on the outskirts went to resist first.
But because of the huge gap between them, they couldn't stop the Mammoth Vicious Beast, causing a massive commotion.
More Stone Giants emerged from their houses.
The Elder Diamond crushed the ground as his heavy and burly body leaped up, crossing hundreds of meters. His diamond body was like a cannonball or a meteorite, slamming directly onto the Mammoth Vicious Beast, shattering its bones and leaving it heavily injured on the spot. He followed up with a punch, killing it cleanly.
After that minor disturbance.
The Elder Diamond returned to the stone house, and his monstrous thralls divided and ate the Mammoth Vicious Beast.
From the high clouds, Garros watched this scene unfold.
He had driven the Mammoth Vicious Beast toward the Stone Giant camp to see how they would respond.
Garros took a small sip of fairy scale powder. The whole world seemed to turn into warm tones, his mind immediately became active, and his thoughts began to race.
He re-examined the details that had felt off before but which he hadn't immediately understood.
"The Leyline Symbiosis Pool is the core of a Stone Giant clan, usually existing in the rear headquarters; it's impossible for a vanguard to construct one."
"When harassed by a Level 9 Vicious Beast, the Elder intervened directly instead of other guards."
"Among the Stone Giants here, I've only seen one adult granite, one prime Diamond Giant, then three young ones, and a few negligible infant and juvenile Stone Giants."
"A vanguard force meant for territorial expansion wouldn't bring along such burdens."
Garros narrowed his eyes, realizing this Stone Giant unit was somewhat strange.
Expanding the clan's territory?
No, the age distribution of their tribesmen was uneven; they looked more like refugees trying to gain a foothold and settle here. The talk of territorial expansion was just a bluff to deceive the Ogres.
Give up his territory and hand it over to them?
That wouldn't do.
A single Elder Diamond wasn't enough to scare Garros into abandoning the territory he had built up and fleeing.
If he were to face the Elder Diamond...
There were risks, and they weren't small.
This was a powerful Stone Giant that could not be underestimated.
But compared to the subsequent impact of giving up his territory, Garros weighed it carefully and felt he could bear the risk.
In a fight with the Diamond Giant, he might get injured, but with his speed and explosiveness, if he were outmatched, he could ensure he wasn't killed.
"Three days from now, if he goes to the Bone-Chewing Clan alone, that will be my best opportunity to strike."
Garros spiraled upward and silently left the Stone Giant camp.