Not long after sunrise, Hagrid and Madame Maxime had to be "forced" to wake up.
The reason is very simple, and it also makes people laugh or cry a little bit, because the sound of the giants snoring finally caused a small avalanche on the mountain.
Fortunately, at least Maka discovered some signs in advance, allowing them to avoid the impact of the falling snow.
"I counted just before dawn, and there were a total of eighty-two giants that could be seen below... The one lying by the lake at the bottom of the valley should be the 'Gu Ge' among them." When the rushing snow flow gradually stopped, Maka said to the other two.
In a community of giants, the leader is generally called "Gu Ge". Since ancient times, warlike giants have chosen Gu Ge's method, which is naturally fighting.
Giants are creatures with fighting spirit flowing in their blood, and they will show no mercy even in battles between their own kind.
Although this kind of internal fighting will always be regarded as barbaric and rough by wizards, in any case, the giants' strong fighting power and vitality must have a lot to do with their habits.
It's just that in ancient times, when giants were still active and free, Guge changed unusually frequently. At that time, Guge always represented the highest level of combat power among the major giant groups.
But now, the largest community of giants in the world is only in the valley. Even if they are still aggressive, they have inevitably lost many potential fighting partners.
Maka had just seen the Gu Ge by the lake at the bottom of the valley, but no matter how you looked at him, he was a lazy guy.
Perhaps when he first ascended to the position of Gu Ge, his combat power was more powerful than other giants - this can be seen from his obviously taller body shape - but that may not be the case now.
"Eighty-two... there are only a few left! There used to be so many..." Hagrid looked at the valley below from a distance and couldn't help but sigh, "At the beginning, it was said that there were a hundred in the whole world. Above the tribe, look at now..."
Hagrid and Mrs. Maxim are both people who have a deep connection with giants. Even Mrs. Maxim, who refuses to admit it verbally, has a complicated look on her face at the moment.
To put it bluntly, this is the result of the increasing number of wizards and Muggles.
Although wizards have rarely waged large-scale wars against giants, as wizards' areas of activity continue to expand, and wizards always ensure the isolation of Muggles from the magical world, there are fewer and fewer places for magical creatures to live. .
However, creatures of the size of giants have always had a great need for living space. They not only need a place for daily survival, but also a relatively free individual space.
Giants not only hunt other creatures for survival, but also often lead to fights because of their natural fighting spirit. When they live together as they do now, infighting occurs very frequently.
"Before setting off, Dumbledore and I chatted for a while..." Hagrid stared at the sleeping giants below and said softly, "Dumbledore said it was our fault and the wizard drove them together. , they have no choice but to live like this... "
"If you ask me, I can't say clearly who is right or wrong," Maka shook her head and said, "Many magical creatures have become extinct in history. Since they will become extinct, it means that they have not been able to act like wizards. Becoming stronger all the same—"
"In ancient times, we wizards seemed to have experienced struggles. Our current life is also the result of the efforts of our ancestors."
He thought for a while and then turned his attention to Hagrid and Mrs. Maxim.
"Just like you two, you have the same blood of wizards and giants..."
"I just-"
Mrs. Maxim seemed to want to use her old "big frame" theory to deny it, but Maca waved her hand at her.
"In fact, I occasionally wonder how we wizards were born? How did we evolve into what we are now..." Maka said solemnly, "Maybe the blood in us is simply mixed, isn't it? ?"
Just as "disguise magus" like Tonks are occasionally awakened among wizards, the bloodline of wizards has always been mysterious. In other words, it has always been "suspicious".
"Let's not talk about this anymore." For a moment when the three of them were in a state of reverie, Maka took the initiative to put aside the topic. "Hagrid, I remember that before you set off, Dumbledore should have asked you to bring some gifts. Their Gugo, right? What did they bring?"
Speaking of this topic, Hagrid obviously became more energetic.
As mentioned before, giants hate wizards, and they hate wizards' magic even more. But in fact, what they hate is that wizards use magic to harass or deal with them.
But their favorite gift is actually magic.
"This is Gubler's Fairy Fire, made by Dumbledore himself."
Hagrid pulled out a rather thick torch from the package placed aside. When he took off the metal cover on top of the torch, a rather beautiful blue-white flame immediately burst out.
The brightness of this flame is not very high, it has no temperature itself, and it has no practical value. But since ancient times, it has had another name - eternal fire.
This is a magical flame made from an ancient magic cracked by scholars. That magic adheres to the traditional impression that ancient magic gives people "complex and difficult", and requires a very advanced level of magic to complete.
The reason why this kind of magic is not included in the Hogwarts curriculum is roughly based on the above two points.
The reason why it is called "Eternal Fire" is precisely because this flame can burn forever. Even if the caster dies, its magical effect will not be affected.
But Maka knew that in essence, this thing was not actually a "magic flame" that burned magic power, nor was it even a "flame".
Because the "burning" of Gublai's fairy fire does not require any fuel, but is a magic related only to light.
"Is there anything else?"
This first gift immediately dispelled most of Maka's interest, but to be honest, the giant really liked this kind of "flashy" magic item because it looked very "beautiful".
"And this -" Hagrid said, taking out another large package, "a helmet made by goblins, it is said to be indestructible!"
Like Gubler's Fairy Fire, this helmet is also one of those "visually awesome" things.
But at least this is much better than that useless flame. Anyone with the words "produced by fairies" is generally not a popular product.
Of course, if this thing falls into the hands of giants, it is actually just a decoration - there is no way they can wear it anyway!
After that, Hagrid took out several more gifts one after another, but those things were obviously more common than the first two, so there was nothing much to say about them.
They waited on the ridge until almost noon, and finally found a good time.
To put it bluntly, that Gu Ge finally got up!
Negotiations with giants need to be done step by step. Those big guys are naturally impatient, so the three of them agreed to send a piece of Gubulai fairy fire first. After agreeing to deliver the next gift the next day, he would leave the giant tribe immediately.
Then, Hagrid, who seemed to be the tallest, took the lead, holding the Gubrai Immortal Fire high above his head, and walked towards the valley depression below.
When a few giants first noticed these "malnourished little guys", with a roar, the atmosphere of the giant tribe became depressed.
"Hold the gift high and stare at Gu Ge's position. Other giants don't need to look."
This is the custom for foreigners to express their wish to meet Gu Ge when they enter the giant's territory, just like what Maka and the other three are doing.
When they truly stood on the same plane, they finally felt the pressure most intuitively due to their body shape.
Maka is certainly the shortest here, his height is less than 6 feet.
When he walked among the giants who were always facing up twenty feet, even though there was no need to be afraid due to his strength, he couldn't help but feel a little solemn.
Because they didn't come here to fight. It's easy to fight creatures like giants, but if you want to get along with them, you have to pay more attention.
Fortunately, giants still understand the rules passed down from ancient times.
As the three of them headed toward the lake at the bottom of the valley, even though the giants on both sides were frequently restless, the traditional customs deeply imprinted in their bones still allowed these "violent maniacs" to suppress the flames of war in their hearts.
"Roar-"
A giant who was closer roared towards them, causing Madame Maxime to tremble all over.
Finally, they approached the lake at a steady pace, and were only a short distance away from the Gu Ge. At the same time, the originally restless giants gradually became quiet.
When they got closer, Maka discovered that thick ice had actually formed on the surface of this lake, but it was broken by the giants with great force.
Gu Ge from the giant tribe was lying on the edge of the lake. When Maka and others arrived, he was roaring and asking his tribesmen to feed him food.
Unlike other giants who only used large rough animal skins to cover their private parts, this Gu Ge was obviously wearing a set of old leather armor passed down from his ancestors.
Giants have lived in poverty since ancient times, but in ancient times, when wizard wars were frequent, giants also participated as mercenary forces.
Maka knew that this set of equipment should have survived from those chaotic periods.
"A gift from Albus Dumbledore to the giant Gogo to express his respect."
Hagrid stuck the Gubrai fairy fire at the feet of the giant Gugo and said dryly in the simplest terms possible.