NOVPUBCain remained still...
The entire Stone Forest was strange.
In the first place, it wasn't something natural.
In that sense, it was not a part of 'this world'.
And yet, it still had the power to suppress the crimson moonlight in some areas. Clearly, something fishy was going on.
His fingertips twitched and his muscles tensed up. He was ready to sping into action at any moment.
Suddenly, something unexpected happened.
Much to his surprise and amazement, Cain watched at the thing hiding within the darkness of the shadows cast by the stone pillars slowly trudged out.
Since the stone pillars were huge, then Cain had assumed that whatever had created them was bound to be enormous as well.
He was not wrong.
An enormous creature with grey flesh and an enormous shell on its back that resembled a boulder.
A {Turtle Golem}.
Although the aether creature had the word 'Golem' in its name, Cain could very clearly sense that this thing was a creature of flesh and blood.
Besides its massive stone shell, it was definitely a living, breathing animal, not some sculpture that possessed the breath of life.
It had four stumpy legs and the face of a turtle with two dark eyes that seemed filled with a biting cold intelligence.
Its body was covered with cracks that formed strange but beautiful patterns across its grey skin.
Cain immediately felt uneasy.
He summoned his weapon and armor instantly.
Despite his reaction, the {Turtle Golem} didn't move an inch after stepping out from the shadows.
Instead, it continued to stare at Cain.
Under its gaze, Cain didn't know what to do at all.
Although he felt uneasy, he couldn't sense a single ounce of malicious or killing intent from this beast.
Normally, he wouldn't have hesitated to swing his blade and take its head off its long neck.
But for some reason, this beast made his stop in his tracks.
It almost seemed to radiate an aura of tranquility that purged him of his murderous desires.
It was odd indeed.
He frowned, prepared to shake out off it and end the beast's life when the {Turtle Golem} suddenly began walking forward.
Cain tensed up again. But much to his surprise, the beast moved quickly for something so large. In a split second, it was already before him.
Their eyes met.
Then...
The beast spoke.
"A Human... Are you a servant of that god? No. It doesn't seem like it."
Cain smiled. However, his smile was anything but humorous.
'It can talk. How wonderful.'
For the most part, he was yet to come into contact with an Aether Beast that could speak.
'No... There was that guy back then.' He thought to himself, remembering the {Chaos Orc}.
Not only the chieftain, but also the less intelligent {Chaos Goblins} and {Chaos Trolls}. Although they couldn't be described as the brightest creatures ever, they did show incredible intelligence for creatures that were classified as beasts.
He suddenly remembered the conversation he had had with Susan back in that strange world.
The Aether Creatures were descendants of creatures born from the mixture of Devil blood and the blood of other creatures to produce abnormal offspring.
Their very existence was tied into only to the devils, but also the celestials as well.
And now, he was staring at an Aether Beast that just spoke to him.
Granted, speaking to him was definitely a stretch.
For one, the beast couldn't speak the human tongue. The only way he could understand if was through the system's translation feature.
Cain suddenly realized just how useful the system truly was.
'In any case, this thing just spoke. What do I do now? Do I say hi? It doesn't look particularly aggressive. Should I just stay silent and pretend to be part of the terrain? That probably won't work...'
While Cain mused internally, the {Turtle Golem}} also observed him.
Suddenly, it spoke again,
"No, not a human. Smells a bit... off."
Cain frowned.
He felt offended for some reason.
"Smells off, you say? And what could you possibly mean by that?"
The {Turtle Golem} was silent for a moment. Then it leaned in closer. Cain was able to see the even finer details on the body of the beast.
Unless most things crawling on the surface of Urbus in the present day and age, it didn't look terrifying or intimidating.
Instead, it looked like a turtle.
An enormous overbearing turtle with runic markings all over.
"I can smell Demon. But then again, I cannot be quite certain." The Turtle said in a deep, booming voice.
It leaned in a bit,
"Human that smells of Demon, what are you doing in here?"
Cain frowned.
'Why am I talking with a turtle? Is this a hallucination?'
He sighed,
"I am hiding in here from the Devils pursuing me and my friends."
The {Turtle Golem} seemed surprised,
"Hm? And you chose to come hide in here? I don't believe that was particularly wise. But then again, you are a human..."
Cain grimaced,
"What is that supposed to mean?"
The {Turtle Golem} chuckled as it turned around slowly,
"You are quite lucky, to have encountered curious old me first. Come with me. It isn't safe for you out here."
Cain watched in awe as the enormous turtle suddenly shrank down until it was only about a quarter of its original size.
Still, it remained huge, standing a head taller than he was despite being on all fours.
Cain frowned. Now, he truly had no idea what was happening.
"Follow you? Where, and why..."
The turtle slowly turned around,
"Where? To my burrow, of course. Why? Because I am curious..."
***
Talking to an enormous turtle had certainly been a first for Cain.
Riding on an enormous turtle's back was certainly a first for Cain.
Riding on an enormous turtle aether beast taking them into its lair was not only stupid, but it was also a first for him as well.
So there were a lot of firsts happening today.
He wasn't happy about any one.
He had gone back to retrieve Julio and the Steel Herald while the {Turtle Golem} had waited for him.
Once he met up with Julio, he had bombarded him with questions about the {Turtle Golems}.
Cain frowned,
'If Julio isn't lying, which I doubt he is, then the {Turtle Golems} cannot, or do not communicate with humans. And while they are vicious creatures and taking just a single one down can cost multiple human lives, they certainly all cannot be as intelligent as this one is, right?' Cain thought to himself.
Currently, they were all riding on the turtle's back.
Cain threw Julio a glance. The poor guy's face was so pale, Cain feared he would turn into a corpse.
Although Julio was severely against his decision to follow this thing to its 'burrow', it was better than being left alone, especially after what they had learned so far.
Cain sighed, 'Could it be a recent evolution? I doubt it.'
He frowned, 'Thinking logically, there is no reason why an Aether Beasts should be unable to speak. Ruby can speak. Kind of... And she is just a young mutant creature. It seems more reasonable that Aether Creatures with who knows how long years worth of growth and evolution could develop the ability to speak, much like humans and other entities in the wide universe.'
At least, that was his guess.
As they continued on in silence, Cain noticed a huge hole at the base of an enormous stone pillar.
Cain frowned, "Is that the entrance to your burrow?"
"It is indeed, young Human Demon.
Cain sighed. Soon, they reached the dark mouth of the entrance.
Julio glanced at him and mouthed,
'Don't do this! We have to run, now!'
Ignoring him, Cain steeled his heart.
Although he felt he was being incredibly reckless here, he couldn't help but be curious as well.
Sometimes, his curiosity landed him in rather difficult situations.
However, he felt like this time would be different.
It was not that he had suddenly begun to trust a strange turtle he had just happened to come across.
In fact, the circumstances of their meeting were definitely suspicious now that he thought about it.
This made him curious all the more.
Why the hell was there a talking turtle Aether Creature in this forest of stone?
Why did it seem interested in him?
Cain knew he wouldn't be able to satiate his curiosity unless these questions were answered.
So he quickly made up his mind to kill two birds with one stone.
'If I can convince it to give us a safe path out of this place, we might be able to reach the Dome of Fire in record time.'
The {Turtle Golem} slowly stepped through the entrance.
Cain noticed the terrain steep downwards.
They were descending.
'Its burrow is located underground, huh...'
After some time passed, Cain saw a faint light at the end of the burrow.
With narrowed eyes, he watched as his surroundings slowly changed.
The walls surrounding him were covered in glowing rocks and colorful algae.
'This is getting stranger by the second.'
Up above, there was not even the slightest but of moisture and as a lot, there was absolutely no vegetation. However, down here all sorts of fauna grew.
What was going on?!
"Demon Human and his friends... Welcome to my burrow. Please, make yourself at home."
