Genad and the duo behind him were put to a sudden stop on approaching the bold door with strange scribbling all over it. There was no other way forward as around them was nothing but the stony vicinity of the cave.
Dina however wasn’t distrusted as she knew Genad had a plan. The door was the passage to the land of the gnomes and unless you were allowed in by the gnomes there was no way to cross into it even with force.
Few years after the gnomes disappeared all races had tried all they could to break open the door and scavenge the land of the gnomes to no avail. It was sealed shut and no amount of power, no matter how destructive could break through.
However, there was a tricky way to go into the land of the gnomes which no one knew about and that was with the ancient beast!
Apart from being allowed in by the gnomes, one could also be let in externally by the gnomes or specifically—their blood.
The scribbling when looked very closely at was an artistic carving of an ancient gnome who had on him a tear-shaped pearl necklace and when a gnome’s blood was dropped into the pearl, it would open up the door when recognized.
‘It’s said in the plot that the guardian beast opens the door due to its possession of all bloodlines but how would it go about it in its beast form?’
As a beast, its bloodline would only be recognized as one and not a gnome’s so what would it do?
“Step forward guardian,” Genad suddenly called out snapping Feral out of his trance.
Feral watched curiously as the grumpy guardian which was on his shoulder in the form of a cat leaped forward and in the next minute, his (F) jaws dropped to the floor.
“Holy!” he yelped.
On leaping down the cute golden kitty on his shoulder suddenly morphed into a male.
He had medium-length golden hair that covered his ears, only, his ears were so long that they easily flicked out ignoring the minor obstruction. His eyes were a blazing red, a deep crimson like freshly spilled blood, and his cheeks were plump and fair with a light pinkish tint.
He was about 3 feet tall and had a glaring blood-red rose tattoo that ran from his upper to lower abdomen, just below his sex and even more blinding—he was naked.
“Here, let's cover you up shall we?” Feral stated with a smile as he pulled off his upper garment covering up the naked little gnome.
The cute thing probably not used to a more humane form or still thinking of itself as a cat leaned in and gave Feral a full-on slurp on his cheeks to his surprise. Feral’s eyes widened as he glanced at the little gnome beaming its large red eyes at him and couldn’t help bursting into shrieks of adoration as he tortured the little creature's cheeks.
Whilst playing, his eyes finally caught on the sickening tattoo on its tummy and he couldn’t help but frown. The elves really were cruel, just how much pain did this poor thing pass through? It was no surprise it’d leap up at any offer to escape with how cruel they were!
“Ehem!” the deserted Genad who simply stared at the duo finally made his presence known snapping them from their sugary daze.
Feral released the guardian and on being released the little creature walked towards Genad solemnly whilst clutching Feral’s garments tightly like a treasure.
Biting into his finger fiercely, a drop of red liquid rolled down his right cheek as his finger bled slightly. Stretching out his bleeding finger, he pressed it unto the pearl and Feral watched in awe as the blood circulated from the pearl throughout the carved art until it was completely filled up.
And then it happened.
A heavy tremor shook through the cave sending a jittering through Feral’s bones, his eyes spun as he stumbled along with the tremor like a drunkard and in the process crossed his legs together throwing himself to the ground.
“Ugh!” Feral groaned in pain as he weakly opened his shut eyes which he had closed on instinct when falling over.
He looked over to see Genad looking over at him with disdain while the guardian now-turned gnome hovered over him worriedly as he licked him all over.
Feral’s eyes quivered with rage and he felt like flicking a stone at the bastard’s face. How cruel could a person be?!
‘Now my like meter has dropped to 2%.’
“Why not 0%?”
“He’s hot okay?!”
Zero: (-_-)
‘Honestly, that pretty face and body of his are all that he has going for him, every other thing from his attitude to others is just shitty!’
“What about his bed skills?”
‘Are you trying to be sarcastic right now?’
“….”
“I’m fine Paws! Just a little fall… and maybe an incoming nasty migraine but I’m fine!” Feral stated muttering the second to the last sentence.
“If you’re fine then get up, our journey awaits us,” Genad said heartlessly as the poor brunette male stood up with a wobble while secretly stabbing daggers at him.
And at long last the trio despite their minor internal ‘dispute’ walked into the opened door leading to the land of the gnomes!
***
“Impressive!” Feral exclaimed for the nth time staring at the little metal robot staring right at him with huge hollow eyes.
“It’s a translator! Incredible! How developed were the gnomes?! They actually built a translator… although it’s pretty useless since all races automatically use magic to translate which makes it possible that even with different languages they can still communicate,” Dina thought.
But how advanced were the gnomes?!
Walking down the deserted, lonely streets was like going through the 21st-century earth, there were roads, tiny vehicles, and robots all over! Heck, it might even be more advanced than the 21st century itself!
It was a bit creepy however, there were tiny houses, tiny gardens, and tiny everything, all over them were traces of lively activities which meant that the gnomes were actually doing their normal daily activities when they all mysteriously varnished!
Now everywhere was replaced with robots, ones running around doing chores like cleaning the empty houses, empty mail (yes, they have mail), dry cleaning clothes, and the rest. It seemed like the gnomes had been replaced with robots.
Apart from the ones doing various works, some robots had run out of energy and simply lay on the street turning into a pile of rusty metal and bolts and looking at the 10th robot dropping ‘dead’ before them Dina could guarantee that this place would be done for in less than five years.
The robots needed owners to maintain and take care of them, energy to keep them running and lots more, and with no one to take care of all this they were definitely a few years away from complete breakdown.
‘Just how did they disappear? It’s even recorded that the angels knew nothing. However, my guess is that they messed with what they were not supposed to mess with, after all looking at the gnomes they’re like human scientists gaining access to magic—simply horrendous.’
!!!
“Paws? What sup?” Feral called out to the rapidly disappearing beast who was leaping to an unknown destination.
Genad merely arched his eyes before looking away facing the little robot he had been studying once more.
‘I guess that’s my permission!’
Running after the quick cat Feral soon found himself out of breath and before they could reach their destination he slumped to the neatly trimmed grass floor gasping as he tried to catch his breath.
“A minute arghhh,” he groaned huskily as he patted the agitated cat who simply wouldn’t stop pulling at him.
“Okay, okay, let’s go.”
Eventually, he was led into a tiny house with a plaque of a gnome holding a hammer raised upwards.
‘Even I can guess that it’s a blacksmith’s house! Oh!! Gnomes were known to be one of the best weapon crafters, I could get a crazy overpowered weapon! But how do I get in??’
Before Feral could contemplate more, Paws pulled at him once more and he somehow managed to stumble into the house. On looking at himself again he soon found out why! He turned small?!
“What the heck?! Hey, Pa-you’re small too!” Feral exclaimed with shock.
Another thrilling magical experience to mark! Too bad no selfie could be taken.
'No wait, Zero-'
"Not allowed."
Damn!
“How are you so energetic even though you should be tired? Don’t overexert yourself,” Feral lightly cautioned Paws as he cupped the now tiny cat into his now tiny hands.
Paws lightly whined when Feral’s hands mistakenly brushed through his tattooed belly. Apparently, Paw's transformation to any race was a draining act that took him days to recover which was why his mark had appeared.
Before he had successfully copied Genad’s power amidst a little which was why it could hide its tattoo but now that he was drained he couldn’t use his magic to even as much change form which meant he was stuck in his furry form for a while.
‘Not that I mind.’
Paws once more clenched Feral’s pants by his teeth and once more pulled at the brunette. Finally giving up on cautioning the naughty cat, Feral simply followed it until they reached their destination- a small wooden door.
‘For an advanced race, I kinda expected more but I guess I might be asking for too much. Even the humans on earth with their numbers haven’t yet made a flying car talk more of the gnomes with their minority.’
Opening the wooden door, Feral’s eyes bulged open from his eyes!
“T-this was... t-this… how coul-!?”
How could this be?!