Arwin didn’t give the Rot Giantling time to finish its roar of defiance before he charged again. Reconstructing its leg was great and all that, but it was still the exact same target he’d struck before. And, if it was the same target, then so long as the next thing Arwin hit was that very spot, the giantling was going to have a very bad time. The monster seemed to realize that, because it kicked at Arwin with its good leg as he sprinted for it. Bounding into the air with aid from [Scourge], Arwin cleared the monster’s leg. He dropped to the ground, slipping past the giantling’s free hand, and landed on the ground behind it. He spun and swung his hammer with a roar. Strands of shadow wrapped around the giantling’s body and pierced through the holes in its armor to stab at the flesh beneath. Verdant Blaze struck the giant’s leg. Metal warped and caved beneath the blow and the hammer carried straight through it. A spider leapt from the giantling’s body as it pitched back, its legs going wide as it attempted to latch onto Arwin’s face. He grabbed it out of the air and pelted it into the ground. The impact did little to hurt it, but Verdant Blaze crashing down transformed the Corpse Burrower into a pile of ill-mannered paste on the ground. [Shieldbreakers] effects ended with the change of targets, but Arwin wasn’t aiming for that leg anymore. He opened his mouth to call to Lillia, but she was already ahead of him. A shadow shot out and wrapped around the leg, launching it into the pool of water. It hit the surface with a splash and vanished into the murky depths. Watching its disappearance nearly cost Arwin his head. Reya called out a warning and he jerked back. The giantling’s sword ripped past his face, passing so close that its tip scraped against his helm, traces of blue magic flying off it. If it hadn’t been for the brief instant that Reya had bought him, the strike might have done serious damage. “Thanks!” Arwin called, approaching the downed giantling. It didn’t have nearly as much reach now that it was on the floor, but it was also harder to get closer to it without getting in the reach of its large hands. Lillia burst into laughter and nudged Reya with her shoulder. “That’s nothing to complain about. An Achievement is still an Achievement. Trust me, there are much worse things you can get given. The Mesh isn’t always nice.” “What did the Achievement give you?” Arwin asked. “A skill upgrade. I went with [Imprison] to give it a guaranteed half a second against anyone that’s no more than a two whole Tiers above me, as long as they don’t have any form of special resistances to magical control,” Reya said. “Pretty solid. Guaranteed control is always useful,” Arwin said. “Do you think I can cook this?” Lillia asked, walking up beside Arwin and looking down at the corpse of the giant. Arwin raised an eyebrow. “Did your nose fall off at some point in the fight?” “It might taste better than it smells.” “And I might grow wings and fly away.” Lillia scrunched her nose. She thought for a second, then knelt and ripped a small strip of flesh away. Arwin resisted the urge to gag as Lillia stood back up beside him and studied it through squinted eyes. “It could make a decent steak.” “That’s cannibalism at best. It was humanoid.” “It wasn’t human, though,” Lillia pointed out. “Look at all this flesh. Think of how much food this would be if it doesn’t literally taste like death.” “Do you have any idea how much weight that ‘if’ is lifting?” Arwin asked. “Because I think it might be stronger than the rest of us combined. “Oh, come on. It could be edible. You don’t know unless you try. Will you try some if I do?” Lillia asked. “We don’t want to waste resources.” Her eyes enlarged as she stared into Arwin’s. He gritted his teeth and averted his gaze. He’d dealt with far greater threats than a pair of puppy-dog eyes. He definitely wasn’t going to– “If you can take a bite and avoid turning your stomach inside-out, then I’ll consider it.” “The hardest part is getting over the mental block,” Lillia said sagely. She lifted the piece of meat – if it could even be called that – to her mouth and took a small bite. They all stared at her expectantly. Lillia chewed once. Then she chewed again. Doubling over, Lillia spat the chunk onto the ground. She retched and coughed, clawing at her tongue as she tried to get the taste off. Still hacking, Lillia straightened up and wiped her mouth with the back of her hand. “I was very wrong,” Lillia said, still scraping at her tongue. “Don’t eat that.” “Are you really surprised?” Anna asked. “And do you need healing? I feel like that might have poisoned you. Just so you know, I can’t heal the shits. It’s not a wound.” “Understood,” Lillia grumbled miserably. Her eyes glazed over for a second and her cheeks went bright red. “You just got an Achievement, didn’t you?” Arwin asked. “Well, I guess I did just tell Reya that there could always be worse things than a slightly snippy Achievement.” “What did you get?” Reya asked. “A Title called Hungry Idiot,” Lillia said sheepishly. “It lets me taste the best flavors in anything edible so I can figure out if it’ll taste good. The Mesh really ripped into me for eating that. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a Title that’s just a straight up insult.” “That’s actually pretty impressive,” Arwin said. “Well? Does the flesh have anything redeemable about it?” Lilli a sent a critical gaze at the strip of meat on the ground, next to where she’d spat up the first bite she’d taken. “I don’t think I want to find out. I’ll try it on something the Mesh won’t smite me on the spot for tasting.”