Return of the Fallen Volume 13 Chapter 14
“I think I understand it now, Monsuta.”
Monsuta was worried Kazuki would mention destroying the special homemade door once more and stood guard in front of it but Kazuki just laughed.
*Heh*
“I’m not talking about your problem nor your door. Remember my strength stalled as well.”
Monsuta sighed in relief and chuckled.
“Oh, hehehe. Good. Wait, weren’t our problems the exact same? I don’t have enough aura since most of it is in my door, you as well don’t have enough aura right?”
Kazuki shook his head.
“Not quite or rather partially. Yes I don’t have enough aura but unlike you who can just retrieve more aura from your door, I have to personally grow my soul.”
Monsuta seemed confused.
“But doesn’t your soul grow whenever you eat one of the creatures of this world? Your soul should grow right along with the primordial flame.”
“For you, that may be so but for me it’s different. Maybe because I’m from a different world and am not originally from here or something else I can’t say for sure, but a difference there is. When the energy enters my soul world it first settles in my core. Afterward, it divides into three separate entities. The first is the primordial flame, the next is a condensed purified energy from the fire element of whatever creature I ate. As for the last part, the vast majority of energy remains inside my core and becomes a part of my magic.”
Monsuta looked down at his stomach as he envisioned the way these energies moved. Kazuki found this slightly funny that Monsuta looked at his stomach as if that was where his soul world lie. It made sense though. Monsuta knows that whenever he eats he feels power inside of him. The food ends up in his stomach and that’s where he feels the initial boon of power.
“I won’t ask you to show me your soul world because that would be crossing a line but I suspect that when you consume a creature from this world, the energy coming from it moves similarly to mine but the difference is that while you can continuously gain that pure energy from what you eat, I can only receive this pure growth type energy a few times from the same species. Again, I believe this is a direct result of my coming from a different world. I am not a native here and nearly died the first time I consumed some of this energy. Only after you saved me, and helped fuse the primordial flame to my soul could I actually begin to adapt to this harsh environment. By the way, thanks again for saving me. Even if it was just because you were lonely, for me it was another chance at life.”
Monsuta smiled and nodded before he paused for a moment.
“Actually, there was another reason I didn’t eat you.”
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Monsuta led Kauzki deeper into the cave. At first, the cave seemed to end only a few dozen feet inward but after coming to a wall, it turned out there was a small crevice behind it. With a thought, Monsuta’s eyes began to glow and with his aura activated, the crevice was separated from the actual cave wall and was pushed in. As it sank into the wall a huge space opened up revealing an enormous space inside.
This cave was dug out into the side of the mountain and the insides showed that. It looked as if nearly the entire inside of the mountain had been hollowed out. This wasn’t much of a surprise but rather what lie inside of this mountain.
“Monsuta…these are?”
Monsuta nodded and smiled proudly.
“Yep, the other reason I did not eat you Kazuki was because of these. What do you think?”
From one end of the inside of the mountain to the other. Filling nearly every inch of space there were statues and carvings. Small vents scattered here and there allowed dull orange light up and into this space as lava containing rich fire element flowed beneath the ground. The heat of this place was like the inside of a powerful star.
From the top of the cave, there were many different crystals embedded in the ceiling and stalagmites hanging above. These crystals also let off a light glow of blue giving the cave a distinct feel to it.
Kazuki did not care about the light though. Instead, he was dumbfounded by the number of statues and other carvings inside this place. Wall to wall of things Monsuta carved and made.
“Monsuta you did all of this?”
Monsuta rubbed the top of his head with his tail in a shy manner.
“Hehe, I told you I was lonely. After hunting and the like, there’s not really all that much to do around these parts in ways of entertainment. I thought, since I don’t have any friends, I’ll just make a few here and there. In the end, though, a handful here and there very soon became dozens and then hundreds and now as you see, several hundred million. I have a lot of time on my claws you could say.”
“I’ll say. Damn!”
Kazuki admired the number and was surprised that many of these statues were made of that same special rock Monsuta made his door out of. Besides these two things though, Kazuki had to admit.
(These are absolutely horrendous.)
Kazuki did not see himself as some critic prick and art was the epitome of subjective but everywhere he looked he could only see these pieces as utter garbage. Even a 5-year-old could do better with a stick in the mud or so he thought.
Shaped were nondefined and lines were broken and scattered. Most just seemed to be lumps of mass while others were like someone had literally vomited into a large pile.
Kazuki’s silence was quite telling and Monsuta immediately became heartbroken.
“I knew it…My stuff sucks.”
Very quickly large tears formed in the corner of Monsuta’s eyes and he began to cry. Before these tears could reach the halfway point down his face, they evaporated due to the heat. This though did not stop Monsuta from bawling his eyes out. He stomped hard a few times before turning around to face a corner where he sat down and hid his face in shame.
Kazuki felt his balance and footing become unstable from the cave shaking and was in disbelief. Monsuta was truly not something he could have ever predicted would act in this way. At least that was the impression Kauzki got when he first saw Monsuta.
A mighty monster, stronger than many gods. Ferocious and dangerous with teeth that could chew through nearly any material and magic that could take down any prey. Monsuta was those things, yes but he was also so much more. He was someone that admitted when he got scared and was joylike and childish. Had gone through much but still carried on and now this powerful creature was crying its eyes out due to judgment of its art.
Kazuki did not know whether to laugh or cry at this point.
Shakily he stumbled toward Monsuta before he grabbed at the ground beneath his feet. Exerting a good deal of strength, he ripped off a small strip of stone around a foot in diameter.
“Monsuta, watch me and follow along!”
Monsuta turned around and saw Kazuki with the rock and knew what he was getting at.
“It’s useless Kazuki. I’ve tried for millions of years, I just can’t do anything intricate at all, not with these.”
Monsuta held up its claws, a short set of arms, and small claws. Not something that could ever reach and scratch his own back let alone carve things with delicate accuracy.
Kazuki shook his head.
“Who said you’ll use your hands?”
The small rock floated silently in the air as Kazuki held it up with his aura. it took nearly all of his aura just to lift it and keep it in the air because of this world’s suppression but with the little he had to spare, it worked out.
“Just follow along, nice and slow, ok?”
“But.”
“No buts, just do it.”
Kazuki held a commanding tone as he ordered Monsuta. Monsuta looked at Kazuki’s determined expression and decided to try. he also found it a little funny hearing a tiny creature like Kazuki boss him around.
Monsuta used his aura to rip up a strip of the ground but instead of tearing up a tiny piece like Kazuki, he ended up lifting something the size of a boulder.
“Stop! Look what I have and look what you picked up. Pick up something the exact same size or as close as possible. Start over.”
Monsuta put the big ass boulder down and tried again. Half a second later, though, he picked up another almost boulder-sized piece of rock.
Kazuki wondered why he wasn’t listening when he noticed the frustration in Monsuta’s soul.
“Could it be. Your control over your aura is lacking?”
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