The debris had collapsed the entrance where both animals had entered, with no chance to see what had become of George or Beth.
Tenma would stay somewhat still, pondering whether both under the rubble were alright, but a tug on his tail snapped him out of his mental bubble. The squirrel was calling him to follow the path.
Both walked without saying a single word. The squirrel led the way, pushing the golden box however it could, while the puppy looked down somewhat dejected.
He felt trapped and now more worried than before, the only escape route now would be through where the enemy rats had come from. He didn't know what they might find on the other side, but the squirrel did.
Dave, who remembered those fierce beasts he had seen in the next cavern they were heading to, had planned an escape plan if they had to flee as they had in those previous moments.
He didn't trust the cave to remain stable until a certain point, seeing once how rocks fell when the sea monster appeared from time to time, so he devised that plan through which the puppy and he could escape.
While they had their current strength, there was a high probability that more beasts would return to the rat's cavern and end up completely invading the place; but it was the only place they could escape to.
Now, with the book and the golden box, he thought they might have at least a chance to defend themselves. If he could learn what was written in that book, or if he could use it in some way, it could be useful not only to protect the cavern and temporarily take refuge there, but also to face the monsters farther away.
Dave planned to help the puppy escape no matter what.
Finally, both animals ended up reaching the cavern where the rat battle had unfolded. Tenma sniffed how the smell of these rodents was diminishing, but now there were many insects going for the rat corpses.
Dave and Tenma sat in the center of the cavern, and while Tenma looked where to step to avoid touching any insect, the squirrel approached the other escape route where they had encountered the monsters he remembered seeing.
The insects were everywhere, and the puppy still found them somewhat disgusting, although he reminded himself that he had already eaten other animals at this point.
Upon turning to see what the squirrel was doing, he saw how it used the golden box as a barrier against the other route; Tenma would be confused, approaching the squirrel.
"Angel, could you go see what's beyond this cavern through this route?" barked the puppy, looking at the angel floating behind him. It nodded, passing through the gap that the squirrel hadn't covered.
While the angel wasn't there, Tenma wanted to take the magic book, but the squirrel pushed it away with a hit on his paw.
"Hey... maybe there's some spell that can get us out of here," the canine commented, trying to take it out of the box, but the squirrel kept refusing.
"Mik, mik mik mik, mik mik,"
"God... I don't understand you, seriously. I wish I had an ability to understand other animals' language at once."
[Number of points required: 5 points]
[Stored experience points: 20 points]
The canine would open his eyes in surprise, seeing the pop-up windows that had appeared all over his face. The squirrel looked at him with strangeness, but the puppy remained amazed at the second pop-up window.
"20 points... Could it have been because of killing the rats earlier?" Curious, he pressed the first window.
And suddenly, he felt a tingling sensation all over his body, his fur standing on end. He began to wobble, feeling different words and languages coming to his mind.
Finally, he stopped. And a new window had opened in front of him.
[Skill obtained: Language lv. 1]
[Do you want to upgrade it to level 2? Experience points required: 10 points.]
Tenma looked at the squirrel after moving the windows aside, seeing if the level 1 skill would be useful to him.
"Can you... understand me now?" he asked Dave, who would perk up his ears, nodding.
"I can understand you," the surprised squirrel replied, approaching the canine, amazed by the sudden change.
The puppy would place his paw on the window notifying him of his obtained skill, an icon appearing.
It was the icon of a squirrel.
[Unlocked languages by level]
A window appeared above the squirrel icon, so he pressed it.
[Level 1: Squirrel, rat, fish]
[Level 2: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 3: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 4: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 5: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 6: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 7: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 8: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 9: ???, ???, ???]
[Level 10: ???, ???, ???]
Before the canine, a long list opened up, where the only understandable things were the unlocked languages at his current level. If he leveled up his skill, he could communicate with other animals. But he might need them later, so he closed all the windows and chose to save his points.
Now that he could understand the squirrel, he knew something he could do.
"Can you lend me the magic book now?"
"Again, no. You're too small," the squirrel replied, although he heard several steps starting to come from within the route it had blocked.
Tenma stepped aside, preparing to fight; the squirrel did the same, but keeping the golden box as a barrier.
Before them, a shadow approached, and the weight of large paws as well.
It was an adult wolf, one of the ones the squirrel had seen spitting fire. The squirrel's first instinct was to go for the puppy, but Tenma would stare into the beast's eyes.
"Angel...?"
The puppy recognized the angelic gaze in the animal, but it simply growled at both of them.
"Angel, it's me! Did you possess that wolf?!"
But before the puppy could approach the wolf, it knocked him down with its paw. And the squirrel would end up the same, and despite its strength, it felt like the wolf had even more.
Why wasn't the angel responding?