Chapter 23 – Beasts Are Not Gentle
"I know you are here.. don't hide, come out!"
"Hide? From you, you little egg? Hahaha, don't make me laugh."
Well.. the provocation finally worked.
"Fine.. I knew that provoking you was the best way to make you appear.. let's talk for a bit.. you must be feeling lonely."
"How did you know I would be here?"
"And where else could you be other than the cave where you started your game? A vast, empty cave.. a fitting place for a beast like you."
"Oh, you are actually thinking, little egg.. what is it you want then?.."
"I have a question.. what do you know about Spiritual Power?"
"Doesn't the name seem obvious, you fool? Hahaha!"
"Could you answer me, if your esteemed position allows it?"
"Hahaha, and why should I answer you, if I may ask, My Gifted Lord?"
"Because I am the only one chatting with you here.."
"I thought you had become more discerning, but you are still a fool. Do you think being alone is a bad thing for me? Hahaha, learn more, little egg.. go away, no free information for you."
"Alright, Mr. Wise Guy.. tell me what you want."
"After 30 days.. come and I will tell you my demands then."
"30 days.. there is no time for that.. tell me now."
"Hahaha. I see. Tell me, how long is left until your next disaster?"
"How did you know??"
"You just told me! Hahaha, did you forget? The phrase 'there is no time for that, tell me now' can only mean one thing.. an impending disaster.."
"Fine.. will you tell me or what?"
"No. Hahaha, go away."
"Damn you then!"
This bastard.. he wants to play the game of obtaining the maximum gains.. I won't allow that.
Perhaps it is time to head towards the Fourth Space and discover it..
The next morning.. Suman and I decided to go, along with Lois. Jo was busy training the fighters.. and Monali.. said she had another matter to attend to.
It was the first time I went exploring with these two.. and yes, the road was filled with Suman's beautiful silence.. and Lois's erratic chatter.
At times she talked about the farm's problems and how everything became fine with her presence.. and at other times she steered toward our need for another farm..
Well, it cannot be said that she didn't make the journey enjoyable.. the new space was directly behind the third one.. although we had combed the entire third space and made sure it was a completely flat grassy area.. the fog that formed a barrier for the fourth space had prevented its discovery...
"We've finally arrived," Lois sighed.
And before us emerged the new land.. barren and parched. Ten meters behind us, the path was green, pulsing with beautiful nature..
Ten meters ahead.. the dry clay land stretched as far as the eye could see.
"No doubt about it.. it's larger than all the previous spaces.." I spoke quickly to the others.
"Shall we enter, My Lord?" Suman asked.
"Of course, Suman, hahaha. The land is ours and we must discover it..."
10 steps.. then 20.. then a full hour's walk.. 5 different types of new limestone entered the discovery range of the Unique Seer.. and their accumulation was harvested..
But unfortunately.. that was all that was before us.. even desert grasses.. there was no sign of their existence.. in fact, not even sand was present in the area.. as if the entire fourth region..
Was like a large pool of water that had dried up long ago.
"We have checked a lot of it.. unfortunately, there is no good place here.. it's just barren, unsuitable land," Lois spoke.
Unsuitable? Where have I heard this before...
Yes.. at that time.. inside the game.. several types of trees, small plants.. and even animals.. enjoyed the characteristics of living in..
Lands unsuitable for agriculture..
Perhaps I can turn this land into a dwelling for them?
Well.. but first..
"Let's advance further.. I want to reach almost past the middle of this space."
After another hour of walking.. suddenly.. the System flashed a quick warning.
{ Unique Seer }
{ Inner Land.. Suitable for the Rock Clan }
It is the right place for the Rock Family?.. but.. there is no water or food.. how will they live??
Well.. no other solution.
{ Rock Family }
{ Summon }
There was no summoning mark or anything.. just a dust whirlwind.. then a Rock Man and a Rock Woman kneeling at the same time..
Near them, a small child knelt in a strange way.. like any other child..
"At your command, My Lord."
The adults spoke together in a solid voice.. and did not raise their heads at all.
Their bodies resembled human bodies.. but they were skinless. Instead of skin.. there were square and rectangular layers of rock covering their bodies..
Despite that.. their movement was very fluid compared to possessing a rocky body.
"You may stand.." I said with calm and poise..
"Your command, My Lord."
The two stood.. near them was the child.. in fact, I was surprised upon seeing them.. why?
Their bodies seemed taller than they were at the time of the game.. the child looked larger too..
Maybe I am imagining it? Perhaps..
"This place will be your new home.. is it suitable?"
The two looked at each other.. before returning their heads downward out of respect..
"My Lord.. will you allow me to inspect?" the Rock Man asked. I tilted my head in approval.. while the man continued bowing until..
He extended his body and spread out on the ground.. he placed his ear on the soil and closed his eyes.. then..
He stretched his hands to the sides.. and from above his hands.. simple dust drops began to fall over the ground.. then scattered and disappeared.
It didn't take long. A minute or slightly more.. until the signs of the inspection began to manifest on his rocky features.
A wide smile filled the face of the prone Rock Man.. then he returned to stand again.. his smile quickly vanished and he stood with dignity.. he bowed his head and said..
"It is a land we could not ask for better, My Sovereign.. it is truly a gift from heaven."
This... is wonderful.. it seems the Seer works in my favor unlike the System.. I want to jump for joy, haha, but I must hold myself back.. and pretend more that I am a true King..
"That is good.. then let me be proud of you and revive this land.. do you need anything to begin settling?"
"No, My Lord, thank you.. we will build the house under and above the ground.. give us a few days and we will be a large family."
"A large family?"
"Do you mind, My Lord? I apologize, we will keep our members limited in number.. I apologize to you."
They misunderstood.. damn.. what I meant to say is that I truly don't understand. What they mean by their words.. but..
Would the question put me in the position of a Lord who doesn't know? Of course I would be.. so what is the solution to knowing information?
"No.. that's not what I mean.. I mean how many individuals can you create in limited days?"
"That depends on the food we find and the animals that reside in the region."
"I see.."
But.. what is the food of the Rock Family? Again, I must try to learn this information from them in a way that doesn't make me look ignorant..
Yes, it's not as if I must know everything before them. But.. of course, this is considered general knowledge I should already be aware of..
"Tell me.. what is your favorite food?"
"We can feed on most of the earth's minerals, My Lord.. if they aren't available, we can feed on soil.. but it will significantly slow down growth and reproduction.. it might even prevent it."
"Then why do you need animals? You said you needed them in the area?"
"Yes, My Lord.. the upper space is the most important for us, My Lord.. all the accumulations on the surface.. directly affect the inner land and its production."
So.. the matter is like fertilizer.. when you put fertilizer in the soil, it produces good vegetables.. here you must put living creatures, and when the wheel of the food chain turns.. they benefit underground from what happens..
"Fine.. leave it to me.. I will make the region alive.. I will visit you after ten days."
After we left them.. the family actually began searching and inspecting the region.. after watching them for a while.. they had already started digging..
Then.. we decided to leave them and complete the combing of the space entirely..
"Why didn't any of you speak?"
"My Lord.. your posture was one of leadership," Suman answered.
"Posture of what, haha?"
"He means that you didn't seem to want anyone else to speak. That's how it appeared to us," Lois said.
"Oh.. well."
This is good.. it seems the acting went well even before Suman and Lois..
"So.. we have finished the entire region.. as I expected.. the region is entirely clay-like, just as the previous region was entirely flat and green.. "
"Shall we return, My Lord?" Suman asked..
"Of course not.. we promised the Rock Family that we would prepare the space for them."
Suman looked at Lois.. and now it seemed the two didn't understand how that would happen.. Lois was about to ask when I said..
"It's okay, I'll tell you.. hahaha.. you remember my battle against the Deception Beast.. it resulted in several gains and harvests. I will show you something from them now."
{ System }
{ Inventory }
{ Brown Deer }
{ Brown deer weighing up to 25 kg. Reproduces at a medium rate. Can live naturally up to 30 years.. characterized by its resistance to harsh climatic conditions and feeds on Shiba flowers, desert daisies, and earth clay. Clay regions are considered its suitable habitat.. }
{ Summon }
Suddenly, a whirlwind started again, and from within it.. a group of deer began running here and there.. upon noticing us.. they quickly moved away toward the open land.
I whispered to myself calculatedly:
"Inside the game dimension, those groups numbered over a hundred.. it seems their number upon summoning is the same."
"What a prize, My Lord.. they are brown deer.. they are wonderful," Suman shouted.
"My Lord, why didn't you tell me about them before.. their meat.. is of the finest quality that can be provided to make nutritional treatments."
Haha.. as if I even knew these deer were that great, you fool..
"No, it is not the time to use them as tools and kill them.. their number now seems large, but.. we don't know if it will continue like this or not.. we don't know what epidemics and natural diseases they will face.. before confirming their total adaptation to this land and their reproduction.. we will not perform any act that involves killing one of them.."
"You are right, My Lord.. I apologize, I didn't think at all from that perspective.. "
"Is there anything else, My Lord?" Suman asked..
"Haha, something? Haha, say things!"
{ 4:00 PM }
We are about to finish.. we have planted the land with animals and plants together, haha.
After the brown deer, I summoned Brown Rabbits.
There were only 20 of them. They are characterized by fast reproduction, and their waste is considered a treasure for the inner land. As soon as I summoned them, they quickly built burrows to hide..
I made sure the rabbits' location was far from the deer, because they are both considered a food source for what I will summon later. For this, I distanced the two places as much as possible from each other..
After the rabbits.. it was time for a quadruple act..
{ Shade Trees }
{ Birds with Long Red Beaks }
{ Apple Grasses }
{ Small Red Monkeys }
Why did I choose four things in one place? Well.. the beaked birds were perfectly suited for the clay land.. but they feed on apple grass..
Apple grass.. is suitable for clay land but.. shaded clay land.. this means it must always be under shade.
From here.. came the shade trees that built a home for the birds and also a protection spot for the grasses..
What about the red monkeys??
Well.. because in a place not very far away.. I placed Heavenly Sundus Trees.. trees that contain no leaves, are distinguished by their height, and are characterized as suitable homes for Stone Owls.
Stone owls feed on birds and rabbits.. but..
The birds' reproduction was slow, and their benefit was great.. therefore they had to be protected..
Here comes the role of the red monkeys.. with their very great characteristics. They eat grass and tree leaves.. are friends to the beaked birds.. and a natural enemy to the owls.
For this, the owl will have to bet its life before getting involved with them, hahaha..
After that, I planted other plants and placed several various rocks suitable for the space..
After several hours.. I can say that the space has become a natural pasture pulsing with life.. but one thing remained..
A large natural predator.. to impose a power balance in the region..
{ Rattletail Wolf }
{ Lives in groups led by one male. Possesses a steel tail with which it attacks alongside its large fangs }
Well, it looks terrifying. In fact, I harvested it because the animals in the game never attacked.. well, I hope it's the same here, haha.
Regardless.. there are Lois and Suman.. they will protect me of course..
{ Summon }
Again, a whirlwind. From behind it emerged a number of wolves.. the male was twice as large.. in our earthly world, the size of a wolf was much smaller.. it can be said its size is close to that of a cow now.
The male's eyes were yellow and narrowed quickly when he spotted us.. he stopped 10 meters away.. his eyes encircling us all..
From behind him.. several females began to appear at half his size.. 5 females specifically..
Then 3 small wolves.. I don't know if they were truly small.. because their size was comparable to Earth wolves.. but here they were the smallest.
The females and the young.. they all stood behind the male..
"My Lord.." Lois whispered..
"I know.. those eyes.. do not bode well."
Suddenly..
The atmosphere became charged.. I could almost hear the heartbeats of all of us..
Ancient weapons.. training.. but
The truth is...
The three of us.. had never fought a real battle before...
The danger.. looks very real..
inside those yellow eyes..
And in a moment..
The male wolf's steps launched with immense speed..
Then...
He changed his direction..
Toward Lois..
"Come on, you bastard!"
Lois shouted.. then she drew her Ancient weapon..
{ The Counter }
In Lois's right hand.. there was a large glove, yellow in color..
In the left hand, there was a small glove in black..
At 4 meters away.. the Rattletail Wolf leapt high..
From behind him.. like a whip, his steel tail extended violently toward Lois..
In an instant... Lois pressed her yellow glove to her chest..
And a loud sound of impact boomed..
Lois was pushed back several meters..
At that same moment..
all the females attacked at once...
Toward.. Suman..
He was surrounded from all sides..
Then.. a synchronized attack from the five together..
In a roaring moment.. the females' fangs were above Suman's head..
Then...
He disappeared..
And appeared from the back...
"That was close," Suman wiped the sweat from his forehead...
"But," he laughed and added:
"My speed with water.. a pile of miserable wolves like you can't reach it!"