Due to its enormous size, it requires a lot of aura for daily activities, so it usually remains dormant most of the time. However, if any creature comes close, it immediately wakes up and goes on the hunt.
This particular stone giant is the lowest rank within its species, equipped only with the most basic racial abilities. Stone giants are sub-human mineral monsters found on the edge of the Dark Continent.
They're omnivores, primarily feeding on various ores, and have the unique ability to consume different types of ore to gain corresponding powers. By eating higher-quality ores, they continuously evolve, and some that consume special ores even mutate, gaining extraordinary abilities.
The stone giant hierarchy goes from stone giants at the lowest level, to silver giants, and then gold giants at the top. As they rise in rank, their racial abilities become more powerful, and their wisdom grows accordingly.
Occasionally, a higher-level giant will she'd a piece of rock from its body, creating a lower-level giant. This process is like removing impurities, allowing the stone giant to evolve further.
Their stomachs are filled with gravel and mud that are highly corrosive, enabling them to digest even the hardest ores with ease. Larry was stunned.
Could that giant rock really be a stone giant? From any angle, it looked like nothing more than a massive boulder, there was no visible sign of life.
But Larry trusted his illustration ability, which never failed. Besides, creatures like tree people existed, so stone giants weren't far-fetched.
He hadn't expected that casually using the illustration ability would lead to such a surprising discovery. What shocked him even more was that this stone giant was an S-level stone giant, yet only the weakest among them.
That made him wonder about the power of the higher-level silver giants, gold giants, or even mutated stone giants. While Larry pondered this, Miru, the guard, suddenly changed her expression.
Her perception of the world shifted from that of the others. She sensed that the giant rocks surrounding them were actually living beasts with terrifying auras, and those auras were rising.
What had been a peaceful scene now felt charged with life, as if these giant rocks were awakening from a deep slumber.
"These giant rocks aren't right!"
Miru shouted urgently, catching everyone off guard and freezing them in place for a moment. Just as his words hung in the air, the three massive rocks surrounding them suddenly rumbled loudly and began to shake violently.
In the next instant, a huge rock hand swung out, sending a sharp gust of wind that slapped against their faces with a whistling sound, like trying to swat a mosquito, but with the intent to crush Ging and Beyond in a single blow. Both men held their breath and stomped hard on the ground, causing cracks resembling spider webs to spider across the solid black stone beneath them.
The recoil from the Black Shock Rock sent them flying backward, landing safely back with the group and narrowly avoiding the crushing palm. The rock hand was heavy and powerful, yet it moved surprisingly fast.
Unable to stop its momentum, it slammed directly into the ground with a thunderous bang. The impact caused two stones of similar texture to collide, creating a deafening crash.
As the giant hand lifted, black dust rose from the spot, leaving a faint imprint of a massive palm on the ground, clear proof that the stone giant's palm was incredibly hard.
"Is that thing alive?!"
Ging's eyes widened in disbelief as he stared at the enormous rock hand, swallowing hard. He had thought the tree-like creatures he'd seen on the grasslands were strange enough, but a living rock giant was something else entirely.
Meanwhile, Beyond, who had been through the Dark Continent, remained much calmer. Though initially surprised, he quickly regained his composure.
Their top priority now was figuring out how to deal with these creatures. Judging by the aura they gave off, only a handful of people here could stand up to them directly.
Naturally, those three were the team's giants: Larry, Beyond, and Ging. Conveniently, there were exactly three of these stone giants.
"Wait, wait, wait, is this for real?
Rocks that are alive?" Bushidora blurted out, his jaw practically dropping to the floor.
He felt a sudden surge of aura ripple through him. When facing unknown threats, aura was the common lifeline for all users of nen abilites, a crucial source of security in dangerous moments.
As long as they had enough aura, everyone felt at least somewhat confident facing the danger ahead. Still, instinctively, they all took a step back, trying to keep their distance from the three massive creatures before them.
Slowly, the three huge rock formations began to rise, almost like Transformers coming to life, revealing heads, hands, and feet. Once fully upright, each giant towered over ten meters tall, far taller than when they were curled up on the ground.
Their bodies had a neat, geometric shape, with hands, feet, and heads fitting together perfectly, so tightly, in fact, that there were no visible gaps from the outside. Their height gave off a powerful sense of intimidation, not quite as tall as the tree man, but still formidable.
Their limbs looked incredibly strong and sturdy, radiating raw power beneath their rocky exteriors. Strange lines ran across their torsos, and unlike their blocky bodies, their heads were semicircular with faint, humanoid facial features, though these were subtle, likely due to the black stone they were made from.
Larry observed these unusual creatures carefully. Their bodies were composed of black shock rock, and according to what he had read, these stone giants could gain the ability to consume rocks.
They hadn't always looked like this; originally, they were just ordinary stone giants. Their current form was the result of consuming black shock rocks over time.
This made Larry wonder, if they ate Flame Stone, could there be a stone giant that harnessed fire or extreme heat? The thought made his mouth twitch slightly; these creatures' potential seemed far beyond what he initially assumed.
The Dark Continent was rich with all kinds of minerals, and if a being could absorb their powers, who knew what abilities might emerge? Standing tall and proud on the dark earth, the three stone giants dominated the landscape, their presence overwhelming.
While none were as massive individually as the tree man, having three of them side by side made their combined pressure impossible to ignore. Each of them possessed S-level strength.
In fact, the one leading the trio was roughly equivalent to the three Chimera Ant guards combined. Their sheer size and power gave them an intimidating aura that few could match.
Facing
the three giants, most people could barely even breathe, slowly backing away in fear. Only a handful on the team were brave enough to stand their ground against these S-level threats without showing signs of distress.
"Three heads, so should we each take one?"
Ging suggested, his eyes shining with determination as he sized up the giants.
"It's going to be tough," he admitted, then turned to ask Beyond and Larry for their thoughts.