Its eyes peered towards the purple Haze kilometer away from it and snorted. The few beasts under its protection scattered and hid under the river bed as they felt their ruler's displeasure.
The turtle instinctively licked its eyes as he felt the scar that was there which was dealt by a strong one appearing five cycles ago. Others might not notice but he did, every five cycles the type of bugs repeat.
From Small greed nasty tasting things (Goblins), then a two legged dogs that were fragile(Koblods), another is the smaller in number but annoying forest people(Dark Elves), then there was the familiar smelling lizard folk(Lizardmen) that are quite close to Kin for it and the last warmongering walking green skins(Orcs).
Mostly it was these five, but sometimes they only sent monsters out the haze, but there was one time only a few dozen came out but they were all strong(A-ranked at the least) and it faced them all with his brethren. A few of his brothers died that time and he was wounded by a strong one which was killed by his mother in the end.
It looked down on the ground and clawed it softly, its kind were very long lived. But they also do not like going out for too long as food is scarce in this land.
There are many beasts here but food that could give them energy and grow are few in between. Only the strong beasts could give nourishment to their lives, as well as few select foods.
So every century, only two of his kind are allowed to be in the surface at a time. But right now it was only him as his tribe hid under the ground caring for his wounded mother.
Though it had felt a few years ago she had stabilized but from what he could tell from his brethren was that she is undergoing some great changes.
And that he should keep guard of all times so no one would find out about their hidden tribe that was only about few dozen in number. And only five of those are almost as strong as him.
Only his mother is stronger but she was wounded enough to force her to hibernate and heal. The other members told him that one of his younger siblings should go up to him but he refused.
He knew how many stronger beast have been watching over to see if another of his kind would be there but since he was only one they left him alone as he handled his small area.
The half of his tribe is younger than him and the rest older but he is the second strongest of all. So there was no problem with him periodically sending food down there using his few followers.
Now he looked up the Haze seeing if fluctuate but this time a large bang was heard as Marc arrived from the South in his full battle armor then stood there proudly.
It looked at Marc as he too looked at him, they stared at each other but somehow they understood what the other meant with their eyes.
Marc was stunned seeing the thankful gaze of the Hill Turtle thinking it might have been offended with his challenge but somehow he could see a very intelligent soul and wisdom in that gaze.
"So you understand what this means huh?" Marc stood there and roared again to announce his arrival.
*ROAR!* First to arrive was a Tyrant Bear with its Earth Plated armor and looked at Marc with fury in its eyes. Marc could see the palpable anger in it making Marc look at his shoulders where the Bear was looking.
"Ohh, was this guy a relative of yours?" Marc said as he looked at the Bear.
"Grr…he was my brother…" the Bear answered but Marc was surprised the bear talked in the common tongue but he held it in as he looked at the larger bear.
"I see, do you hate me then?" Marc was intrigued as he looked at the talking Bear.
"It is his fault in being weak, I only hate myself for not insisting he stay and not wander around…grrr…" the bear somewhat looked old as he growled at Marc but its eyes looked at the Turtle Hill.
"Elder…" the bear gave a greetings to the Turtle that answered with a grunt then gave a few groaning and grunts to the bear.
"You issued a challenge to gathered us here on the Haze? How dare you use a king's call for such a shallow excuse! GRR… Do not get cocky when only the ape and the stubborn ox acknowledged you, you are but human!" the bear snarled and wanted to attack but the turtle snorted and stood up his position making the bear pause but this time the heavy footsteps were heard.
"How can you speak the common tongue?" Marc asked the bear as he looked to one side and the Behemoth arrived lumbering and this time the Turtle greeted it as well and conversed with the large muscle head.
*Snort!*
The Behemoth only snorted and glared at Marc for a few seconds. This made him raise his brows seeing that somehow that beast inside this place seem to be quite intelligent.
"I ate a weird tasting fruit, then I can speak." The bear answered making Marc look at it in surprise.
"Do you still have this fruit?" Marc asked but before the bear could answer the ground shook as the Octorilla appeared landing on the ground from a jump very far away.
"WAA!! HOOHOO HAHAA!!! WROAH!!" the Octorilla pounded its chest as he looked at the beast in the surroundings of the Haze. This time the Turtle conversed again and made the Gorilla calm down but it still paced itself in circles looking at Marc menacingly.
*Clang! Clang*
This time the sounds of metallic pincers hitting each other was heard as the Emperor Lobster appeared. The Bear was the weakest here but he did not back down as he looked excitedly around the other beast.
"If you beat me then I will show you where the nasty tasting fruit is!" the bear growled as he felt a sudden rush of adrenaline run on his veins as he looked at the strong fighters around.
"I see, but it seems we will have to settle that for later." Marc said as the purple Haze surged and then a large Gate appeared. It looked like one of those Japanese shrine Gates surprising Marc but then the gates opened and sounds of drums were heard.
[Inside the Purple Haze]
"Today, we will escape this hellish lands! But we will face danger as we go outside so we should brace ourselves, many will die and we will not be able to return. But we have no choice, as our home is slowly getting smaller and smaller…" in a ramshackle like stage stood a green skinned warrior with fangs in her mouth.
This was a female Orc looking over thousands of her kind formed in this barren land to go outside their collapsing world. She and the other species inside were trapped in this place for so long that they do not even know how and when they came to be in this dying land.
"…our holy oracle has given us a prophecy, that the one that would save this land is there in the outside world. And that he/she shall be chosen by the Holy Oracle to help this dying land of ours rejuvenate, but all I can say to that is nonsense!!" the female orc's words stirred the crowd.
"For how long have we been living in his dying land and how many centuries are we going to keep sending out people to die needlessly never to be heard of again!?" the female Orc's expression was full of anger in discontent as she knew how the fate of her tribe would be once they were all sent out.
"Everybody know there are monsters out there that rival even our greatest warriors in many numbers. So why must we-"
"GLASHA WHAT ARE YOU DOING!!?" a thunderous roar reverberated as a large Orc dressed in thick monster leather and bones arrived to see this spectacle.
"F-father…" the young female orc was silent as she saw her father walk towards her in anger.
"You know that we are about to go and find ways to leave so why are you letting the troops morale down?!" Urul Bladewind growled as he saw his daughter making the troops lose heart.
"Do not be harsh on him Urul. We too have done such foolish thing when we were young, but young Glasha please understand that this is the only way we can find hope of ever leaving this place. We were all judged by the Holy Oracle to be unfit to wield it's weight thus we need someone that the oracle wishes to bond with." An old tall bulky lizardman said towards the father and daughter.
"Bu-but chief Untlac, w-why must we shed our people's blood every time and could not tell anyone about it? Even when we are in need to ask for help?" the young orc princess clenched her fist in anger as she felt the unfairness of the world.
"*Sigh* My child it is something we must do, the gate will only open for a short while even with all the sacrifice we give it and only then we can go through. But we will face the dangerous monsters outside that has brought terror to many for generations." A tall motherly dark skinned elf said to Glasha as she went to hug the young orc princess.
"Matriarch Imlis… t-then why must the Oracle demand a level 1 impure body? Why can it not be us?"