A Brand-New Day

Orr's first sensation upon waking was pain. His head was throbbing, the gaps in his broken teeth were throbbing, and his skin felt as if it had been cut with a red-hot knife. Something hot was flowing through his flesh, causing a burning pain. The dozens of broken bones inside his body felt like sharp-mouthed insects were sucking at his bone marrow, causing both pain and itching.

"Have some water..."

Mill's voice sounded beside him, and his lips immediately touched the wet, cool liquid. Orr subconsciously opened his mouth and gulped down a whole jar of cold water. His headache immediately subsided, and even the pain in his body gradually subsided.

Opening his eyes, he glimpsed a human standing not far to his right, a faint smile on his face, looking at him with a strange gaze, as if he were looking at some masterpiece.

Orr was startled and instinctively sat up, supporting himself with his hands on the ground. A surge of heat flowed to his hands, but instead of the thick, hard stone slab he had expected, he touched something like old, rotten, dead wood. When he pressed it down, it crumbled into stone chips that slipped through his fingers.

Orr paused for a moment. Ever since he regained consciousness, he had sensed something flowing within his body, and now he felt it even more clearly. He raised his palm and examined the faint lines that were occasionally emitting a faint light, like magma flowing through the earth's veins, bursting with heat and power.

He seemed to understand something, and turned to look at the wizard. "I... you..."

"Hello, Orr, you can call me Morgan..."

Loren observed the giant, and also his first bio-altered creation, nodding in satisfaction. "When you were severely injured and on the verge of death by Gurg, your younger siblings made a deal with us, and this body of Alchemy Array is part of that deal..."

Seeing the slight panic in his eyes, Loren guessed what he was thinking and gently reassured him, "Please don't worry, we are different from the Death Eater. We won't ask you to go to the battlefield as cannon fodder. As long as you can keep the other giants from siding with the Death Eater, I won't disturb your happy life for a long time..."

"For a very long time..."

The three giant siblings repeated it to themselves, each with a different expression.

"Get used to your power, tomorrow is your time for revenge."

late at night.

Due to its high altitude and snow accumulation, the Ben Nevis Mountain experience howling winds at night, with the chill of ice and snow spreading along the slopes and the soil seeping moisture, making it cold and damp.

Not far from the Depression where the Giant tribe were located, Loren and Hermione found a flat spot sheltered from the wind and set up camp to rest. This location offered a commanding view of the Depression, allowing them to spot and respond immediately to any Golgomath from McNair and Crouch from which direction...

With a wave of the magic wand, the tent was set up in just half a minute. It was sturdy and windproof, and the camouflage color made it very well concealed.

The tent prepared by Old Dodd was well-sealed, and the campsite chosen by Loren was sheltered from the wind on all sides, preventing moisture and cold air from getting in. Stepping into the tent, they released a few soft, silky blue flames, warm and gentle. After laying down a blanket made by the legendary Alchemy Nicolas Flamel, their body heat hardly diminished, and the entire bed was warm and cozy, not cold at all, even a little stuffy, so they didn't need sleeping bags.

"After sunset tomorrow, the Mill siblings will attack the Cave where Golgomath is. If all goes well, Orr will replace Golgomath as the new Gurg..."

"But we also have to be wary of those two Death Eater. McNair is a seasoned executioner; I wonder how good he is at dueling. And Crouch, he's Outstanding Graduate; I heard he graduated with 12 certificates..."

Hermione, dressed in fluffy winter pajamas, sat half-sitting in the tent, muttering to herself as she carefully planned for tomorrow. She discussed how many loyal henchmen Golgomath had and how long it would take for the Death Eater to arrive and provide support, looking like she didn't want to sleep tonight.

Loren didn't listen at all. He lay on the blanket for a few moments, then rolled over and wrapped his arms around her waist. She was soft, slender, and warm. He pressed her down onto the blanket, rolled over a few times, pressed his body close to hers, buried his head in the girl's neck, and took a deep breath.

With a soft hum, the chattering stopped abruptly.

"Stop nagging Professor Granger, go to sleep early so you'll be in better shape to deal with the Death Eater tomorrow."

Loren let out a satisfied breath, placed one leg on her lap, and closed his eyes, enjoying the soft, sweet fragrance.

"I... I understand."

Hermione responded softly, her voice trembling slightly. She waited for the person beside her to gradually quiet down and for his breathing to become even before she carefully pressed his arm with her hand, trying to push him to the side.

This action seemed to startle him; the man's breathing suddenly became heavy, and his warm breath brushed against her neck, burning her so much that Hermione quickly let go and dared not move.

She held her breath and remained on guard for a while, but thankfully the man didn't wake up. Hermione couldn't do anything about it, so she could only slowly relax and close her eyes.

Just as she was drifting off to sleep, the man suddenly moved—probably feeling that the tent was a bit stuffy and uncomfortable with the two of them pressed together, he pulled his legs back and even turned his back to her, his posture revealing his disgust.

"..."

Hermione took a deep breath and slowly loosened her clenched fist.

The sun circled the sky once before disappearing behind the twilight clouds.

The world dimmed, and Ben Nevis Mountain, far removed from the human world, gradually fell into the silence of night. The biting wind howled down from the snow-covered peaks, just as it had for the past decade or so.

The wrinkles on their skin indicated that the air was getting colder, and the giants sped up their eating, stuffing the pungent, undercooked pork into their mouths. Their teeth, harder than solidified lava, clashed together, cutting and rubbing against each other, producing a clanging sound that made your teeth ache. The tough pigskin and shredded meat were thus ground into powder and swallowed by their tongues.

Orr's dinner consisted of frozen, rock-hard bread rolls that he didn't need to chew; he would just stuff them down his throat, gurgle down his stomach with the snow water, and taste nothing. Only the increasingly clear feeling of fullness proved that he was eating.

The giants couldn't grow Winky or bake bread; these things were left behind by the two wizards last night. Actually, they also left some meat and some pies. Orr tasted them and found them to be the most delicious things he had ever eaten.

He decided to keep the delicious food as a celebration of his victory.

The shorter male and female giants stood silently by his side, offering him water and bread. The Mountainous Area cave was the same as always tonight, but they both knew that something had changed, and would change forever.