Chapter 305 Regroup (1/2)

We ran as if the devil himself we behind us liberally applying a pitchfork to our most tender commercial interests. Tiny was significantly slowed by having to carry his Bioma.s.s burden but I didn't consider leaving him behind for long. We eventually made it back to the small Dungeon entrance we had used previously and dove inside, slaughtering the small number of sp.a.w.ned monsters before standing still, earls peeled for any sound of encroaching doom.

[You hear anything Crinis?]

[Master, I don't have any ears.]

[You know what I mean! Do you detect anything?]

[… No. I wasn't able to detect anything on the surface either. Whatever was making that noise was far outside my range.]

[Fair enough. How about you, Tiny?]

[Whurfft?]

[Get that Bioma.s.s out of your face dammit! And why would having food in your mouth make your mental voice sound different? Do you hear anything?]

[No…]

[Good!]

Somewhat of a surprise, Morrelia had chosen to join us in the Dungeon. Perhaps she wanted the shelter of being concealed below ground level. She seemed to be fairly shaken after that fight. I don't know why she was so rattled, but I can only imagine she has good reason. I haven't seen her do anything she wasn't absolutely sure of.

[You feeling a little better?] I asked her.

At the moment she had her ear c.o.c.ked into the air, her face was intent as she listened for any hint of pursuit. She didn't respond for a full minute until she seemed to feel confident there wasn't anything coming after us.

[I think so] so sent, [I just couldn't believe that a creature like Garralosh could actually be on the surface.]

[Yeah, shouldn't that be impossible?!] I protested, [its painful enough for me to be on the surface, some gigantic monster, that is hundreds of years old should have evolved ten times more than I have, should be drained of mana after a few minutes on the surface, surely?!]

Morrelia looked at me carefully for a moment before she continued to speak.

[How much… do you know, about Garralosh?] she asked with some reluctance.

[Pretty much nothing. From the system messages I get when I eat monsters I know a little. That the various Garralosh monsters are her offspring, that she's a giant Croc and that she raised her children for some sort of purpose. That's about it.]

Morrelia appeared to think hard before she continued speaking.

[I can give you a little more than that, though speaking too much would break faith with people I care about, so I won't tell you everything.]

I sense secret knowledge!

[Whatever you're happy to share, I'll be more than grateful for!] I tried to appear harmless and cooperative.

Morrelia snorted, seeing through my guise in an instant.

[You've been willing to help my people so far, Anthony. It's only fair that we help a little back. Now. Firstly, I'll say that Garralosh is probably not as highly evolved as you might think.]

[but how could that be?] I wondered, [she's hundreds of years old, isn't she?]

Morrelia nodded. [She's around two hundred and fifty years old. n.o.body can know with precision unless they were there to see her sp.a.w.n but that's the best guess.]

[So how could she not have evolved much? I've evolved three times already and I'm not even a year old!]

[You're not one year old?] Morrelia's eyes suddenly narrowed as her voice became sharper.

[Ah.. Yes? Friendly person who is an ally? That shouldn't be that surprising should it?] I shrank back a little from her cutting aura.

Seeing my att.i.tude Morrelia's expression softened. [It's a little unusual that would be this strong, this young, according to what I know of Monsters. I was honestly shocked when you unleashed that… ball of death. What was that?]

Aha! The excellence of my magic has made an impression after all! I swelled up with pride.

[That! That was my Gravity Bomb! Fearsome destructive power, no?] I boasted.