"Hey, old man, what nonsense are you talking about?" asked Leviathan as he bent down until his face was at the same level as the old man's.
At that moment, his face was right in front of him.
"Uh, too close," feeling his breath, Leviathan hurriedly backed away.
"smells like spoiled fish."
"Aaa!" With a scream, the old man fell to the ground.
Lifting his head, he looked toward the giant figure in front of him.
"Are you not some kind of beast that evolves to gain intelligence and rule over a territory?" he asked.
[That's a lot of news, so that kind of beast exists in here, huh?]
"No, old man, I'm just someone who's really big for my own size," said Leviathan, extending his massive hand to help the man stand up.
"Are you telling the truth?" the old man asked, his voice hesitant, as Leviathan's giant figure stood in front of him.
"What good would lying to you do for me?"
"Well, that's true " with his hands still trembling, the old man grabbed Leviathan's finger with both of his hands and stood up.
After he stood up, Leviathan took back his hand.
"Ugh!" the old man tried to say something, but...
"Here, take this too." Picking up his fallen staff from the ground, Leviathan offered it to him.
"T...Thank you," with a stuttering tone and having focused on his staff already, the old man took it from Leviathan's hand with a slight smile presenting to him.
"No problem,I'm the one who scared you in the first place," said Leviathan with a slight smile returning to him.
[Well, he himself is the one who got scared first.]
"Why is an old man like you out here in the middle of the forest like this?" asked Leviathan.
"Are you new here? It seems like you don't know much about this area," said the old man as he moved under a tree to seek shelter from the sun's rays.
"I recently came here."
"Is that so? From where?" sitting in the tree's shadow, the old man asked, with the previous fear in his face already vanished.
"Ugh," Leviathan struggled to answer his question as he looked toward the sky.
Looking at the sun,
"From the east." he answered,
"East," uttered the old man.
"Yeah, but enough about me. Can you tell me about the beast that you were talking about now?" Leviathan asked curiously.
"Are you asking about domain beasts?"
"Um-hm," Leviathan nodded.
"Domain beasts are the ones who evolve from the mid-level beasts. If you're curious about mid-level beasts, you could think of an ogre-like creature. Even though creatures like those possess a certain amount of strength and power, they lack the brains to think about how to use it and, more importantly, to communicate."
In Leviathan's mind, the vision of the ogre who fought with Ronald and others appeared.
"Are you sure those mid-level beasts lack the knowledge to use their powers?" he asked, remembering how that ogre used the dusty cloud to his advantage.
"Well, in some special cases, some mid-level beasts do possess a certain amount of intelligence, but it's an extremely rare case," replied the old man.
"And when those mid-level beasts manage to evolve to the next level, gaining enough intelligence and strength to rule over a certain area in the forest, they take it as their domain," he continued.
"So, is there a creature like that in this forest?"
"Yes, there is. In fact, there are a few of them living here, and I know exactly where one of them lives." said old man while leaning on the tree, his face had a little slef esteem.
"old man, can you guide me there?"
Leviathan's next request left the old man choked in his own words.
"What, didn't you hear what I said? Those beasts possess intelligence similar to a regular human, some even surpass it, and their strength is also not to be underestimated,
they usually don't like to intaract with anyone, specially people that tresspass there domain without they're agreement" he looked at Leviathan, thinking that he had changed his mind.
"I know all of that already, which is why I want to see it and test if it's actually that powerful. And don't worry about me; I'm much stronger than those wild beasts."
[And this will be a good opportunity to try using my sin on something.]
Looking at him for a moment, the old man pondered.
"If you're that persistent, so be it, but I'm not sure if this old body of mine is capable of going through this dense forest, and it's been several days since I saw some good food in my eyes," he said while rubbing his small beard.
Hearing these complaints, Leviathan understood what he meant.
[Do they become more cunning when they get older?]
Putting his hand into his storage space, he took out a little red pouch with a golden border.
Cling!
When it moved, the sound of coins colliding was heard from it.
Looking at it, Leviathan thought for a bit.
[I'm not sure if the coins we use in Avlora can be used here, though.]
Leviathan extended the pouch and passed it to the old man.
"What's this?"
Looking at the pouch, the old man said as he grabbed it. And As he did , hearing the sound of coins from it, he hastily opened it and put his hand inside, taking out some coins and looking at them.
"These are not the coins we used. Are these from where you used to live?"
"indeed, and those are the last of what I have," replied Leviathan, and it's not a lie. The coin pouch he gave the old man is the only one he had from Avlora.
Putting the coin pouch into his pocket, the old man grabbed his staff and stood up.
"If you're that desperate to see the beast, I will guide you to where it lives, but I will only show you the directions. Don't ask me to guide you inside its territory."
With that, he began to walk toward the forest.
Seeing this, Leviathan followed behind him.