“We’re here already,” a guard called out as he re-entered the room. Lucas turned to find a group of guards with the giant monster in tow. “And we don’t have much time. I can hear the mob pounding on the gate. They’ll get through it soon.”

So, we’re out of time. That’s fine, Lucas thought, looking at the 20 guards and the monster. Every guard was a standard halberd user, which Lucas considered unfortunate. He had hoped that at least one of them would be holding up a spear, but he knew that beggars couldn’t be choosers.

The monster was akin to a troll in size and had green skin that was riddled with large rocks protruding from it. The Grobendiss, as the guard had called the thing earlier, had so many of these scale-like rocks growing that Lucas could see immediately how tough it would be to land a single physical attack on it without hitting one of the stones. Only a few places looked vulnerable, and even then, there was only enough open skin to land a straight-on piercing blow.

On top of having a craggy rock exterior, the ogre-sized beast had large arms and a fat round belly, and it was carrying a massive log for a weapon that was so large it was a wonder that it even managed to make it through the doorway.

Its face was flat as a table except for his protruding jaws, which had two sets of tusks jutting from the top of his mouth out past razor-thin lips. The creature’s nose was almost non-existent, nothing more than two tiny holes, and its eyes were small, thin, and narrow compared to the rest of his watermelon-sized bald head.

“What you lookin’ at?” the Grobendiss asked.

“You,” Lucas said. “You look like you might be able to help everyone out a lot here.” He pointed to the log that the Grobendiss was carrying. “What’s your name?”

“Name?” the Grobendiss asked. “Ah, my name is Smash. Smash the Seventh, son of Smash the Sixth and Pound.”

“That’s . . .” Lucas had to stop himself from chuckling at the names as the Grobendiss proudly declared his heritage. “That’s a good name. I take it that you’re capable of living up to it?” As mockable as the names might have been, just looking at the massive monster told Lucas that “Smash” was a perfect fit for the Grobendiss.

“Live up to it?” The Grobendiss looked confused. “How you mean? What the smash you mean?”

“Never mind.” Lucas quickly wanted to change the subject when he realized the wordplay trap that he had fallen into. “Don’t worry about that just yet. I’m going to need you to do something very important for me.”

“Smash?” Smash asked.