Just as Tyr was entertaining himself, a terrifying roar suddenly interrupted his thoughts.
It was a thunderous bellow that sent cold sweat down Tyr's back, making all his pores contract. He quickly found a clump of bushes, burrowed in, and peeked out with only his eyes to observe the situation outside.
Thump, thump.
The ground trembled with rhythmic thuds. Tyr looked up and saw a colossal creature, about thirty meters tall, walking past him step by step.
Because of its immense size, the beast's breathing sounded like a howling gale, and its throat rumbled with a deep, resonant sound that made Tyr not dare to even breathe. If such a creature were to roar in front of him, Tyr wasn't confident he would remain conscious.
Roar~ The giant beast, roaring every ten steps, gradually moved away. In its wake, all the trees were toppled and scattered, creating a chaotic mess, and it had literally trampled a path.
"Phew…." Seeing the giant beast depart, Tyr slowly stood up from the bushes, wiped the sweat from his forehead, and let out a huge sigh of relief.
Though he had no memories, he knew that such a massive creature was not something his small body could provoke. Even that imposing Blond Bastard from before would probably only be able to flee from such an extraordinary being.
Just as Tyr was considering whether to follow behind the giant beast, using its might to his advantage, a gentle voice came.
"Young man."
?
A human voice. Tyr immediately became alert, looking around.
"I said, this courageous young man."
From the tone, the other party seemed to have no ill will, which made Tyr secretly relieved. After searching and seeing no one, Tyr could only say,
"Sir, if you wish to speak with me, how about at least showing yourself?"
This was the best answer Tyr could think of. If the other party didn't appear, he didn't intend to bother with them.
"Uh." The owner of the voice seemed to fall into thought, then broke the silence to reply,
"If you, young man, could turn your head and look at that valiant figure on the path previously trampled by that Beishan Hound, I believe we could then have a pleasant conversation."
The strange reply made Tyr look in that direction, but what appeared before his eyes was a huge crab, half-buried in the mud. Its size was no less than half of Tyr's, and its color was a toxic green, making it look unapproachable.
Where was the valiant figure? Tyr looked again carefully, and after finding that it was indeed only this crab, he couldn't help but say with some dissatisfaction,
"Sir, if you don't wish to meet me, just say so. Joking with a dead, smelly soft-shelled crab won't earn you any goodwill."
"What! You actually called me, who is so handsome, wise, majestic, and indestructible, a dead, smelly soft-shelled crab! Don't you think this is a blatant blasphemy against a deity?!"
The owner of the voice seemed quite angry, but Tyr thought the other party was still joking and had no desire to humor them further. He turned to leave.
"Hey! Young man, don't go."
Tyr still ignored him, having originally thought he might find a fellow unfortunate in the aimless forest, but unexpectedly found someone not quite normal.
"Alright, alright, I admit I'm a soft-shelled crab, just come back."
But Tyr seemed determined to leave, walking further and further away.
The owner of the voice sighed, then suddenly changed his tone from the previous friendliness, speaking in a serious voice,
"Kid, do you think you can walk out of this forest alive without me?!"
Tyr's steps faltered, and he couldn't help but feel a little panicked, as he was too unfamiliar with this world. Out of necessity, Tyr had no choice but to turn back and look at the Big Crab, which grandiosely called itself wise and majestic.
"What do you mean?"
"Don't you understand? You saw the monster just now, didn't you? In this forest, there are creatures even more terrifying than that big guy everywhere. And if I hadn't noticed you earlier, you would have been a dead man when that knight tried to kill you."
The owner of the voice revealed a hint of a sneer, which made Tyr shiver. He looked back at the path he had traveled earlier, which was nearly two hours long. How did the other party know about it from so far away?
"Furthermore, whether it's a beast or a monster, if it lives long enough, it will naturally develop intelligence. If you don't believe a crab can talk, you can just think of me as a Spirit Monster that has lived for tens of thousands of years."
Tyr's eyes widened, and he walked step by step to the side of the green crab, muttering to himself,
"Such things exist."
"I was also wondering how a little guy like you would appear alone in this forest. Oh, I remember there seemed to be a little girl with you at the time, right?" The Big Crab's voice paused, then he let out a lewd chuckle,
"But that girl trusted you so much, and you actually did that kind of thing to her."
What kind of thing? Tyr blinked, looking innocent. The Big Crab also seemed not to want to dwell on the topic, clearing his throat and saying,
"Kid, how about we make a deal… wait, why are you so far from me?"
"No… um, it's because you look very poisonous, so I still…."
"Hmph, foolish boy, you can't even discern my super-divine armor, which has been steeped in Dragon King's blood for nearly a thousand years. This color merely indicates that its resistance to magic and power has reached its peak."
"Oh, I see." Tyr's calm response formed a stark contrast to the crab's boastful self-praise. If it were in the past, he would have made this boy sit down and listen carefully to how he had become a great crab over the past ten thousand years. However, given the current circumstances, which could be considered an extraordinary period, he figured the other party wouldn't have the patience to listen to his lengthy discourse. The green crab was self-aware enough on this point.
"No use in superfluous talk, young man, what is your name?"
"Tyr." It came out without hesitation. He hadn't even used this name before, so there was no need to use an alias. Out of politeness, Tyr waved his hand and said,
"And you?"
"You can call me Mr. Kaming."
"Then, Mr. Kaming, what you said earlier makes a lot of sense. How can I Breakthrough this forest? I imagine you, who observed me from such a distance, aren't just looking for someone to chat with." Ignoring the 'Mr.' part, Tyr voiced the question he most wanted to know.
"And what's strange is that I walked in the forest for nearly four hours before, but I didn't encounter any danger. How do you explain that? I think Mr. Kaming must have only started observing me about two hours ago. Even if you truly have the ability to ensure I don't encounter a single monster during my subsequent escape, how do you explain the previous four hours?"