Volume I: Chapter V: The Sole Survivor:
"W h-where am I?" I ask myself as I open my eyes to what looks like some sort of dark, decrepit plaza. I was just in the woods last night and next thing you know, I'm here. I don't even know where "here" is. I wish I could at least see.
Just a moment later, a faint, bright glow began to emerge in front of me and I soon realized that it was a growing fire. The light the fire gave off allowed me to get a better look at my surroundings. It looks like I'm inside… a destroyed village? Wait a minute! This area looks familiar… like some kind of marketplace.
"Am I back in Dorado!?" I thought to myself. "It can't be! There's no way! Dorado was destroyed three weeks ago. There's no way I could be back here."
My feet then started to feel cold and wet like they were being splashed by something as I soon realized I was standing in what feels like a small pool of water. I turn around and see that I am standing in the fountain of La Estrella Marketplace, but the star statue is still destroyed.
"I AM in Dorado! But how?" I continue in my head as I am overcome with confusion.I decide to call out into the darkness around me, hoping I would get some answers as to what's going on.
"Hello? Is anyone there? Hello?!" I call out, only to be greeted by the sound of crackling wood as the fire burns the place down. It's dead silent.
No more than a few seconds later, I hear what sounds like something collapsing to the ground, which was then followed by the bone-chilling screams of terrified people along with the sounds of grimm slaughtering them echoing throughout the barren remains of my home. I didn't know whether to be overwhelmed by confusion or to be completely unsettled. I could hear the sounds, but there was nothing accompanying them. As I looked around for what could be the source of those horrific noises, I couldn't see anything as I was only greeted by the disembodied sounds of chaos unfolding around me as the fire kept growing and growing to the point the brightness made it difficult for me to keep my eyes open. This entire situation feels so surreal.
The screams eventually ceased, and everything went silent again. I was so disoriented by everything around me, I could only just stand there, dumbfounded. Then, suddenly, the blaze instantly went out, sending me back into darkness as if someone had just flipped a switch. But I could tell I was still in Dorado because I could feel the water inside the fountain that I was still standing in.
"What the…" I thought to myself in confusion.
Not long after, one by one, a pair of red eyes began to shine through the dark void accompanied by a low growl. That pair of eyes was then followed by another pair, and another, and another, and another, and another, until the entire wall of darkness surrounding me turned into a wall of glowing red eyes piercing through me. With every pair of eyes that began to shine through the pitch-black environment, a wave of dread and terror surged through me as the noises of grimm got louder and louder and louder while the eyes began to close in on me. Soon, the noises got so loud that it felt like my eardrums were going to explode. I eventually became overwhelmed and just clutched my head and fell to my knees.
"LEAVE ME ALONE! GET AWAY FROM ME! STAY AWAY!" I kept screaming at the top of my lungs, foolishly thinking that I could reason with these monsters.
The wall of red eyes ignored my pleas and crept closer and closer. Now they were so close that the few feet of room left around me were dimly lit in a deep shade of red that reflected off the water in the fountain. As I knelt in the fountain, the water started to feel thick and warm and started to give off a rather pungent, metallic scent. Even the solid stone ground started to feel softer beneath my feet.
"What am I standing on?" I thought to myself with a confused expression while trying not to let my heart jump out of my chest.
I feel with my hands through the water to try and see what I was on top of. I eventually felt something that was solid and round and as I pull it up to see what it was, I was staring face to face with my deceased father. In response, I jolt up to my feet in shock. I look back down in the dim red light of the fountain in what I now realize has become a pool of blood. The blood around me begins to lower in level and clear around me and I see that I am standing on my mother's mutilated body and my father's corpse. The dread (as well as my heart rate) that was forming in me just sky-rocketed at that point and I couldn't hold it in anymore.
"AUGGGHHHHH!" I just let out a blood-curdling scream as I fell back to my knees, now with my hands covering my ears praying for it to end.
. . .
"AH!" I yelp as I am jolted awake by my nightmare, out of breath and in a cold sweat.
I rubbed my temples as my head was now pounding. I also desperately tried to catch my breath and regain my composure, only this time, there is no dad to come to my aid and comfort me and no Bruno to rush up the stairs to assault my face with a series of licks. It still feels like yesterday when it happened even though three weeks have passed since the destruction of my home. I even get night terrors from time to time, sometimes once a night (or even multiple times in one night on rarer occasions), costing me sleep and leading me to either wake up late in the day or being exhausted in the mornings if I can't go back to sleep. The things I dream about are usually of me in Dorado when it was being sacked by grimm, but in place of that woman who got swallowed by that nevermore or that man who was mutilated by that beowolf, lying there and screaming in agony in a pool of my own blood. However, this one was unlike any of the others. This was definitely the worst one so far.
With everyone gone, I am the only one I can depend on now. Crazy isn't it? Me, a now nine-year-old kid, out here in the wilderness, forced to fend for himself or die trying. That's just how the world is I guess. Cruel and merciless. And as for the grimm, they took everything from me. I now have nothing left except for what is on my person and my life. And because of that, I've developed both a hatred of them and an extreme fear of them as well.
If I am to survive and get to my destination, I have to grow up and fast (which I believe I have done much of for the past three weeks). Now is as good of a time as any to take dad's final lesson to heart because strength is what's going to keep me alive as of now. If I want to live the life that I want (which at this moment, is just being alive), I am going to have to be strong enough to defend it.
Speaking of staying alive, to survive, I've mainly been walking up this stream that I came across not long after I climbed out of that crevice. I mainly use it to catch fish, get fresh water to drink, and to bathe. However, on days when fish seem to be scarce, I have no choice but to find and eat whatever small animals come by. When it comes to hunting, I mainly use my father's modified sais. I use the spiked ends if they're close and if they are too far away, I just flip them over and use the firearm ends (while also being careful not to let the recoil of the weapon drive the spike into my shoulder). In all honesty, I really hate killing animals, even if it means for survival. But at the same time, I also don't want to die, so I have to put those feelings aside for now until I get where I need to go. However, I still feel bad for having to do it and I even tend to apologize to the animal before ending its life.
Hopefully, it won't be this way for the rest of my life. Hopefully, I can get my old life back in some form once I reach my destination, Oniyuri. It is a village not too far from Dorado (about a month on foot from where Dorado used to be). I always heard about how it wanted to be separate from the four kingdoms and maybe, one day, even become its own kingdom. It sounded promising to me and I thought this would be the next best place for me to be that was close enough for me to reach. My hope is that once I get there, I can maybe try and get back the life I lost in some way, shape, or form. Though I'm not sure exactly how I will be able to get my normal life back once I get there, I'll figure something out. I need to at least try. I don't want my current situation to become the rest of my life. So I need to just bear with it and be strong for now until I reach Oniyuri. Which reminds me, last I heard regarding Oniyuri was that it was still under development and was almost complete. I wonder how close it will be to finished once I get there.
After managing to scrounge up my composure from my nightmare, I get up and take a quick bath in the stream to try and help get my mind off things for a bit. The stream for some reason always helps keep me calm and level-headed. I can't explain why, but it's probably because I find the sound of moving water to be very soothing. Besides, I woke up late today anyway due to that nightmare I just had, so it's better late than never. I strip and step into the stream that was slightly warmed by the sun's rays. It felt very nice and relaxing. The muddy floor of the stream also felt very strange beneath my feet when it was squishing in between my toes. It's a funny feeling I never quite got used to whenever I would bathe in here.
I take scoops of water in my hand and proceed to pour it on my body so I can wash the dirt off my skin and out of my hair. In time, I am eventually cleaned off and step out of the stream to let myself dry for a bit before I put my clothes back on and get a bit of food in me as a small breakfast (or late lunch considering the time of day).
I decide to take out my mother's knife and inspect it. It's now clean of my father's blood since I washed it when I first came upon this place. It's been very useful to me—the knife I mean. I mainly use it for gutting and descaling fish or cutting off chunks of whatever animal I'm about to eat. As for the stream itself, aside from being a source of water, food, and hygiene, it even sort of serves as a compass or "road" for me. Oniyuri is said to be north of Dorado so all I have to do is just follow the stream until I get there.
I then pick up the sais and open the cartridges on the gun ends to examine them and count the amount of bullets I have left.
"One, two, three, four." I count to myself.
Damn! I could've sworn I had more shots than that. I'm going to have to be stingy with my ammo now. From now on, if the prey is too far, I'll just have to place my faith in my aim and throw.
I then put my weapons away and continue my journey up the bank of the stream. After turning my head to look at the water, I notice that it is very clear- almost as if there is no water at all. But still no fish yet, unfortunately. Good thing I'm not hungry right now I guess. I still find it weird though that there is a stream flowing north. I think it's probably because the area I am in seems to be a "transitional" area if that makes sense. In other words, from what I can tell when looking at the other side of the stream, it is somewhat rocky, and the ground seems to be slightly inclining. It looks like I am near the border line of the forest and what looks like the signs of the start of a rocky, mountainous area. On one side, you just have rocks and soil and a few trees that seem to be forming a steady incline. But on my side, trees and foliage everywhere.
As I walk the stream, I begin to hear a loud, white noise that sounded like rushing water. I get closer to see what's up ahead and I notice in the distance a massive rock formation with an overpass over the stream that resembles a bridge a giant would use.
"What the?" I quietly say to myself.
Normally, I would just walk around it, but I'm not exaggerating when I say this thing is gigantic—I can't even see the end of it from where I am. Plus, I want to make up for lost time. It would be nightfall by the time I got around (although that mainly has to do with the fact that I woke up so late). I walk a bit more to take in the full scale of this thing and I notice something a bit off about the stream as I approached. It looks like it cuts off at a certain point. I get a bit closer to look and see that it actually leads to a pretty big waterfall that leads to a deep ravine where the flowing water continues. I take a closer look and stare down the ravine and it seems to be about a 40-50 foot (12.1- 15.2 meter) drop. I better be extra careful because a fall like that would most likely kill or mangle me. I squint my eyes as I look over to the other side of the drop and I see that the land eventually evens out over there. I also see that there is enough room on the edge of the drop for me to shimmy my way over since it is the quickest way for me to get over. Is it unsafe? Yes, but as I said, I need to make up for lost time.
I get closer and make sure the ledge and my feet are dry, so I don't slip off. I slowly but surely make my way completely onto the ledge and keep my back against the wall of the rock formation.
"Don't look down. Don't look down." I repeated to myself over and over again in my head.
I keep my eyes glued to the other side where the land evens out, which is about 100 yards (91.4 meters) in front of me. I very gingerly make my way over as I shift my feet, one after the other, while trying to resist the urge to look down and fighting back the thoughts buzzing in my head of what would happen if I were to fall. After a few minutes of dancing with fate by going this route, at this point, I see that I am about halfway through the area and am now under the giant shadow of the overpass.
It's a bit harder for me to see due to how dim it is now, but I just keep doing what I'm doing (but more slowly) and not let it affect my concentration. As I gain a bit of my rhythm through the dark area, I feel something, a sharp rock jutting out, snag onto my left pocket. I get my pants slightly caught up in it and, in the heat of the moment, I panicked and instead of calmly unhooking the rock from my pocket, I slightly yanked my hip to the side, which was followed by a tearing sound. About a couple seconds later, I then hear the sound of something small and metallic clanging below me as if it were bouncing off of something.
"Please don't tell me that was I think it was?" I think to myself as I slowly reach for my pocket and feel around while the feeling of distress was quickly coming up on me.
"I don't feel it! That can only mean…"
I slowly look down and am hit with a sinking feeling as I see my mother's knife fall down into the ravine, hitting and bouncing off the rocks as it lands near the waterfall.
. . .
"NO!" I shouted as the knife hit the ground with a quiet clang. I almost ended up freaking out and narrowly avoided slipping and recovering and preventing my fall, my panic would eventually turn into frustration.
"Dammit! You've got to be kidding me!" I quietly shout myself, leaving a faint echo. "I'm getting it back! I'm not leaving it behind!"
After getting that mini outburst out of my system, I then take the time to try and gather my bearings so I can begin my descent.
"Calm down, Simin. Calm down." I say as I prepare myself. "Remember, you're still on a ledge 50 feet from your potential death if you're not careful." I remind myself of the position I am in before I decide on how I will go about this. Now that I've calmed down a bit, I take a moment to examine and reassess the situation.
Hmm. From the looks of it, the sun will be setting soon. I don't have time to get to the other side and walk back into the ravine. So if I'm going for quickness and efficiency, my best bet is to descend from where I am. But how am I going to do that?
I look down the face of the ravine and notice a few spaced out branches jutting out from the rocky wall below me, one of which is just a few feet directly below where I'm standing. I think I have an idea. I take out my sais and step off the ledge. As I start falling, I swiftly turn my body around and hook the sais onto the branch and use this process to gradually descend to the bottom.
As I reach the rocky floor, it suddenly gets very cold and slightly darker due to the combination of the shadow of the overpass and the daylight starting to gradually go away. The white noise of the waterfall sounds even louder too. This is probably because of the openness of the ravine making sounds amplified and a bit echoey down here. I also see the stream formed by the waterfall is continuing to flow through down here as well… but something seems a bit off. Judging by the size of the waterfall, there should be more water flowing here, but it seems to be much less than what there should be. Strange, but not that big of a deal to me. I turn and begin walking toward the waterfall to get the knife back and I am briefly stopped dead in my tracks out of confusion and curiosity of what is before me.
"Is that what I think it is?" I say to myself, still trying to grasp what it is I'm looking at.
I take a few steps closer and I now have a clearer visual.
"I guess that's why the water isn't flowing as much down here." I think to myself.
Inside the waterfall, blocking and getting pelted by most of the falling water, there stood a humanoid, stone, statue. It didn't even have a face on it (except for two black holes where the eyes should be and one slit on each side of its face running from the bottom of its eyes to its chin). It also had big, wide cracks so large and deep you could see the shadows from the cracks within them from here. It's kinda creepy. Next to the statue, there is also a few tall, dead trees with no leaves and broken branches sitting near the bank of the stream, adding a bit to the ominous atmosphere.
After looking at the statue for some time, I get closer and I notice it is standing with its legs open, one foot standing on one side of the stream and the other foot standing on my side. Weird. I wonder who made this and why it was put there? What is it for? Worship? Warning? Sentry? A marker perhaps? I don't know but it makes me feel uneasy. I just want to get my mother's knife and go now.
I manage to pry my gaze away from the statue and go over to retrieve my mother's knife, which was lying just a few yards next to it. The spray from the waterfall bouncing off it lightly beats my face, which has a very cooling sensation to it. It feels almost refreshing. I'd stay to soak it in more, but I need to get going. As soon as I pick up the knife, I take one more look at the statue and realize how big it is up close. It looks to be about 15 feet (4.5 meters) tall. It's honestly impressive. It's even more impressive that it's still able to hold together and stand with those cracks. Speaking of which, how big and deep are those cracks anyway?
I then take a couple steps closer to the stone figure to inspect the damage on it. But as I got closer, I noticed there is something very off about the still figure. When I took a look at the statue's deep, dark cracks, I realized… those black areas aren't cracks!
. . .
No more than a second later, the "statue" seemingly sprang to life and brought its other foot onto this side of the stream and attempted to stomp me into the ground (which I jumped backward to avoid) followed by a pound with its left fist. My heart is now racing due to the initial sudden shock of what's happening. Luckily though, it doesn't seem to be very fast, which allowed me to dodge both blows easily. I was hoping I wouldn't encounter any grimm on this journey, but clearly that is not the case now. Despite being initially surprised by what just happened as well as my extreme fear toward grimm, I'm having a somewhat easier time remaining calm when being faced by this 15-foot colossal behemoth. Maybe it's because of its very humanoid appearance that I subconsciously disassociate it from other grimm I've seen and that helps me keep a leveled head in the process. Anyway, that still doesn't change the fact that it's a grimm, which means the danger is still there. I should get some distance between me and it so I can assess the situation.
I then quickly move backwards to give myself some breathing room.
This type of grimm is called a colossus I believe. I never thought these types of grimm actually existed. My father always told me about humanoid type grimm such as the colossus, the slit-mouth, and the apathy but I thought he was just pulling my leg. I guess he wasn't after all.
The colossus seems to be covered from head to toe with armor, so there's no way I can fight it head on. I will have to try a different approach. As I've noted a couple seconds ago, it doesn't seem to be very fast, so I might be able to bait it into going for another strike and take advantage of the opening. It also looks like its only weak or uncovered spots seem to be the eyes, parts of its neck, and the two slits that run from its eyes down to its chin. I will have to find a way to get up there to land a strike. Hmm... what if I try this?
After taking a couple seconds to analyze my situation, the colossus then rushes me again and goes for a kick with its right leg followed by another stomp with that same leg. Though somewhat intelligent enough to hide in plain sight and attack those who get near, it seems that is the limit of its intelligence. Another advantage perhaps? Let's find out.
I jump backwards again, almost being backed into the ravine wall behind me. With nowhere else to go, I immediately run forward toward the grimm's leg. I jump and land on its right knee and it immediately attempts to try and grab me with its left hand. I bounce off the knee knowing it would do this and grab onto its left forearm. It then tries another attempt to grab me with its other hand and I use my momentum to swing off its left arm and land on its right. I now have a clear shot for its head.
I pull out the sais and run up its right arm toward the open area and go right for its right eye and neck. I drive the sais into its vital areas and made sure to dig deep… but it's not going down like I thought it would. Instead, seemingly unfazed by my attack, it just grabs me with its massive hand and throws me off effortlessly as if it were just swatting a fly away and I land about halfway down the stream in this ravine.I hit the ground with a bit of a hard thud and slide down the stream a bit, causing a sharp pain to make its presence known in my side. My side hurts like crazy now but, thankfully, the water sort of slowed down my fall and partially "cushioned" me, saving me from further damage. I slowly get up and see the colossus is walking toward me with a purpose.
What I did should have at least badly wounded it, if not kill it. That was a vital area I struck. But instead, it just tossed me aside as if I were nothing. It didn't even flinch! At that point, the true nature of my situation became evidently clear: It's not that I can't fight this thing head on, I can't fight it at all. I can't just get up and run from it either- not with my side hurting this bad since it will most likely catch up to me. And even if I do manage to get away, there is a chance it will try to follow me, and it will only be a matter of time until I encounter it again. I need to figure out how to beat it right here and now.
I got it! If I can't fight this thing myself, then I'll just let the environment do the fighting for me.
I glance behind me really quick and see that I am just a few yards from the shadow of the overpass. I think I have another idea on how to beat it- a crazy one, but also the only one. But before I put it into motion, I need to try and gauge it to see what it can do. The colossus eventually quickens its pace to try and attack me again. I count out loud to myself.
"One, two, three, four, five-"
By the time I reach 5, it reaches me and tries to pound me into the ground again. I move out of the way (and out of the stream) and water goes splashing everywhere. Five seconds. That's how long it took for it to reach me from a distance of about 25 yards (22.8 meters) away from where I am. That means it can probably go about 5 yards (4.5 meters) per second at what looks to be about its top speed. I guess this type of grimm wasn't really built to run (considering the fact that if it did, it would've caught up to me much sooner). I will use that as part of my plan.
After missing its attempted strike from when it caught up to me, it then immediately tries to kick me into the ravine wall again with its right leg and I move to the outside and count again.
"One, tw-". It swings the back of its right hand at me and I lean backward, staring at the giant fist as it just glosses over my face. That was close. But now I know it takes about 2 seconds for follow-up strikes. It's movements in general aren't very fast and it seems to attack without thinking. The colossus then just turns its head and looks at me with its expressionless face as it turns to face me again. It's so creepy how silent this thing is. It hasn't even made a single sound since this encounter started. I wonder if it even can make any noise at all. As it gets up and turns toward me, I begin making my way back toward the waterfall so I can test its strength.
"Come on, big guy! I'm going to test you out a bit." I say asI run (or hobble at a very fast pace is more like it) back toward the waterfall with it not very far behind to get more room.
In order for my plan to beat it to even be able work, I need to see how hard it can hit. As it starts to close the distance between us, I scale a dead tree sitting on the bank near the waterfall, trying to ignore the pain in my side. Luckily, I got up high enough that it couldn't reach me by the time it caught up. Now, let's see what it can do.
It originally tried to reach up for me like a child desperately reaching for their balloon as it floats into the air, but when it realized I was out of its reach, it kicked the base to get me back down. The base of the tree easily broke like it was made of paper mâché, and it also managed to uproot it as well. The tree was now falling toward the colossus and I was at the middle section of it when it got struck, which means that if I don't do something soon, I'm going to land directly into its follow-up attack. To get out of the way, I moved a bit further up the falling tree, barely dodging a direct punch to the center that shattered it into splinters and causing the upper part of the tree to weightlessly fly over its head by a few feet. It is insanely strong! This thing breaks trees like I snap twigs! If I had stayed where I was, I would have been turned into paste.
Since I was on the upper section of the tree, due to the force of its punch, that part essentially flipped over its head and went behind it and I had to jump off before it hit the ground. I ended up landing behind the colossus after that split second of being airborne and I noticed something strange about its legs. The sections behind its knees weren't covered either, exposing the unprotected darkness underneath. I attacked the open area by stabbing my sais into it to see how it would react and it was brought to a knee by my attack. To my surprise, it actually looked affected from that one and I even managed to temporarily immobilize it. The colossus stayed down for about 3 seconds before striking the ground (presumably out of frustration, which felt like a mini earthquake beneath my feet) before it recovered and got back up to face me again. I wasn't expecting this, but I will definitely make that a factor in my plan. After gathering my information on its speed, intelligence, strength, etc., I think I can now fully execute my plan.
The colossus begins moving toward me with its purpose-like walk again only now, it seems it only tries to rush me when I am a certain distance away due to me pissing it off. Because of this, I always keep myself just out of reach of it as an attempt to control the pace it approaches me with. I begin leading the herculean titan into the shadow of the overpass while dodging whatever strikes and kicks it tries to throw at me (as well as anything it literally tries to throw at me such as any nearby large rocks or the remains of the fallen tree). At a certain point, I decided to speed up my pace a bit to increase my distance, knowing it would try and rush me the second I got far enough. I take advantage of this and position myself so that I am cornered between one of the ravine walls and the colossus every time while keeping myself within the shadow of the giant overpass. Each time it rushes me to strike me, I dodge and it ends up hitting the wall, which causes some rubble from the overpass to fall and lightly hit my shoulder or head. I think my plan is working. At this point, I've led it into hitting the wall so many times, that one more solid strike should be enough.
As I back myself into the wall for the last time, it throws a haymaker at my head with its right hand and I move out of the way as it makes a solid hit on the face of the wall dead on, which caused a rumble to emanate from the overpass above us. Alright that should do it! Time to act. I should have about 5 seconds, so this has to be perfect. To make sure how much time I have, I'll count the seconds in my head.
Taking advantage of the adrenaline now coursing through me, I quickly hop onto its arm and run up and flip over its head before it has the chance to shake me off or grab me with its other hand. As I flip over, I throw both of the sais into the back of its knees stunning the colossus again and temporarily immobilizing it. I land on my feet and quickly retrieve my sais.
I need to hurry. My 5 seconds start now before a large chunk of the overpass comes crashing down our heads. Just like last time I struck it in the knees, the colossus will take about 3 seconds to recover. Those 3 seconds are meant for me to build some distance between us so the colossus doesn't slow me down. If I'm correct (and I hope I am because math isn't my forte), I should get out with about a second to spare and the colossus will be killed at the last second. As soon as I pulled out my sais from its knees, I turn and begin running out from the shadow of the overpass.
5!
Before I get far enough from it, the colossus, probably aware that it wouldn't be able to get up in time to catch up to me, quickly looks over and desperately reaches for me and just manages to wrap its left hand around my body to pull me back. Damn it!
Not now! I need to hurry! What am I going to do?! How am I going to escape its grip?
4!
Wait! "Grip!" That reminded me of something: I remember reading somewhere that the pinky finger contains a large portion of the human hand's grip strength. Judging from its human-like appearance, ff the way this thing is built applies by human anatomy, it should lose just enough of its grip for me to slip out.
I slip out one of the sais and am forced to use one of my bullets. I aim and pull the trigger!
BANG!
Shooting out its pinky finger leaves me with 3 bullets left.
I feel the grip loosen a bit and I manage to slip out and continue running.
3!
I am about a few yards in front of the colossus, just out of its reach. Damn! The grimm grabbing me cost me a bit of time. This might be closer than I originally planned. I am just feet away from escaping the (soon-to-be) collapsing overpass so I can't slow down now. Every second counts.
I then glance behind me and I see the colossus make a small lunge or pounce toward me as it reaches out again and wraps its right hand on my leg and takes me down. Only this time, I can't shoot its pinky finger again because of how it's holding me. Because of how it has me, the only real "clear" shot for me would be to shoot through my ankle and cripple myself. The grimm then begins to drag me back toward it as it stares at me with its hollow eyes.
It's trying to pull me back in! I think it plans to take me down with it!
I desperately try to dig my sais into the ground to pull myself out, but it was a futile attempt.
2!
I don't know what to do now! I can't get away! I think I'm going to die!
1!
Just then, almost as if the gods themselves were watching over me, a large, sharp piece of rock falls and lands on an open section of the grimm's elbow, severing the colossus' forearm. Now's my chance to get away!
0!
Next thing you know, a loud rumbling comes from above and I see a large section of the stone overpass about to crumble on top of us. I quickly sprint out of the way and keep going to as safe of a distance as possible as it comes crashing down. The last image I see of the colossus is it staring at me, then slowly drifting its head upward before it immediately becomes completely overtaken by the rocks coming down on it and crushing it (or at least I hope). Dust and water are sent flying everywhere as a result of the impact. I was completely engulfed, and I needed to move even further back so I could avoid inhaling it. Just as I predicted, the grimm was just a hair late. But still, that was way too close for comfort. I got lucky when that sharp rock severed its arm. Thank the gods for that one.
Just as the dust was settling, I could see some kind of black mist or smoke, begin to seep out and emanate from the rubble as it floated up into the air. I remember hearing from my father that when a grimm dies, its body evaporates into a black smoke and disappears. That must mean one thing:
The colossus is dead.
I survived, but barely.
I breathe a sigh of relief as I now realize the danger is over… at least for now.
Some of the dust and splashing water from the collapse ended up getting on me and coating my entire body, making me look like a wet ghost. I need a bath now.
I look over in the horizon as the setting sun was starting to now quickly transition to night.
(Sigh).
Looks like I'll be resting here for the night after all.
*CHAPTER END*
GRIMM PROFILES: #1: The Colossus:
(Inspiration: ancient wonder of the world, The Colossus of Rhodes)
Resembling a large humanoid statue, this type of grimm likes to hold still in order to lure curious unsuspecting travelers nearby so it can get the jump on its prey (however, that seems to be the height of its intelligence). The colossus is also the second largest of the humanoid type grimm with its height being as small as 4.5 meters (14.7 feet) to as big as 6.5 meters (21.3 feet). These type of grimm also prefer to work alone rather than in groups, which makes it incredibly rare to see more than one in the same general vicinity.
Physically, they are one of the most powerful type of grimm out there. One solid hit could knock out any huntsman's aura completely or level an entire cliff side in a few blows. Covered from head to toe with armor, their durability is also unmatched by most grimm. They are so durable that a huntsman once shattered his weapon on its armor before getting caught in its grasp and squeezed to death. The highest fall a colossus has ever survived is from 100 feet (30.4 meters).They are also known for having incredible pain tolerance as well. You could drive a pair of sais into its eyes and neck or cut off its arm and it will carry on like nothing happened. Because of its high pain tolerance, injuries almost never phase it (unless you know exactly where to hit them such as a weak spot behind their knees). However, despite its immense strength, the colossus is more brawn than brains and is one of the least intelligent grimm on the face of Remnant, which makes it very easy to outwit.
Believe it or not, the colossus has one of the lowest human/faunus mortalities compared to most grimm on Remnant. Aside from their minimal intelligence, they are also one of the slowest grimm and are very easy to escape and outmaneuver. The colossi try to compensate for this by spending most of their time in rocky or mountainous areas such as ravines or canyons since there are multiple ways to corner their prey and prevent it from escaping.
In combat, the colossus, is one of the most difficult type of grimm to defeat head on. When fighting one, it is not recommended to try and slowly and methodically dismantle it since that will be a much more difficult and much more dangerous task. Because of this, the most effective way to combat this type of grimm is to outsmart and outmaneuver it by using your environment to your advantage, which can very easily be done due to its slow movements and lack of intelligence. If you do try to engage the colossus head on, then you are going to need to a lot of stamina and a lot of strength, because you will essentially be engaging in a major war of attrition.
Overall, although this grimm's strengths lie in physical power and durability, speed and brains are its kryptonite. So long as you are faster and smarter (which isn't a high bar to reach anyway), you should be fine. The colossus is only as dangerous as you allow it to be. So long as you don't try to fight it head on, chances are you will survive.
Danger Level: C.
/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\
Yo! I'm back! (For now that is). I have another busy couple of weeks ahead of me for school, but I luckily managed to find some free time to work on and post chapter 5. I was originally going to post chapter 5 this Friday, but I wanted to close out April with one more chapter.
Anyway, with this chapter, we officially kick off the second act of Volume I. Which reminds me, (I forgot to mention this last time), Volume I will be divided into 5 acts. Act 1 was chapters I-IV (1-4), Act 2 will be chapters V-VIII (5-8), Act 3 will be chapters IX-XII (9-12), Act 4 will be chapters XIII-XV (13-15), and Act 5 will be chapters XVI-XX (16-20).
Also you might be wondering about that new "grimm profiles" thing I put in. Whenever I introduce a new grimm, I will essentially put their profile that I created at the end of the chapter they were introduced in and basically give a run down of their strengths, weaknesses, abilities (if any), etc. Like for example, when we get introduced the next new grimm this volume, the slit-mouth, there will be a profile at the end of the chapter that will be very similar to the one at the end of this chapter.
Anyway, I think that is all I have for today so I will leave you with fun fact #5:
Fun Fact #5: This chapter originally was not supposed to exist. It's not even in the outline I wrote for this volume. The reason why I created and inserted this chapter at the last minute was because there was something that happens in the next chapter (which would have been the original chapter 5) that I thought would have been a bit too soon, so I added this chapter to put some space in between chapter 4 and the original chapter, which is now chapter 6. Now that I think about it, I guess that technically makes chapter 5 a bit of a filler chapter doesn't it?