He added the hydra to his storage and continued on. He met quite a few of them the deeper he went, clearly this was their breeding ground. Levi didn't think anything of it, he was just happy to have discovered a lair that will make him filthy rich.
Though he didn't need his blade, he felt safer with it out in the open. Levi knew he couldn't damage the corpses too much, so he used his fists and feet to defeat the sins.
The blade was also very helpful knocking them out. The feeling he experienced fighting was none he had ever experienced before, it was a different kind of freedom.
Levi bounced from land hydra to land hydra, ripping the family apart. At least they'd be together in his Hub or wherever dead sins went. He was never a fan of lizards to begin with and these seemed like overgrown ones.
It shouldn't have been possible but it looked the sins had gained a little bit of sanity and their flight instinct kicked in. It was him now who hunted them down. It was exhilarating.
This also gave him the chance to test out his strength. Lilith told him that his bloodline made him slightly stronger than his peers, that made him the more excited to meet Ancieru. But he wasn't naive, he'd read stories like these before, there was always a bigger fish.
The last hydra was about a hundred meters away but he appeared right in front of it and the blade sliced through its neck detaching its head completely from its head.
"Oops, seems like I ruined that one," he got down on one knee and started drinking its blood. "Blegh! What the hell is that!?"
[Oh didn't I mention? There are only certain beings whose blood you'll consider a delicacy. The further away they are from sentience, the bitter their blood will taste like.]
"Dammit Lilith! Can't you tell me anything not after the fact? That tasted like acid on my tongue!"
[...]
He spent the next minutes wiping his tongue that didn't help remove the taste but it made him feel like he was doing something about it.
Holding up his weapon with the other free hand, he couldn't believe how sharp it was. Took him one strike to completely sever something with scales. It was impressive.
"This is a pretty useful weapon, my father did one thing right for once. Giving me a consolation prize for surviving his attempted murder, what a twisted family. I love it!"
[It indeed is ma—sir...It's a shape-shifting weapon, I bet you can bring forth anything that could be used as a weapon.]
'Anything huh?' He thought about it as he entered a beautiful mesmerising garden.
The garden had every colour, every flower known and unknown to man. He wasn't a flower guy not really but he didn't mind them either.
[These...they're medicinal. Master, I think you should get out of here. This is definitely someone's garden, someone stronger. Possibly even a clan.]
Levi promised himself that he wouldn't act like those naive and stupid main characters who caused trouble wherever they went. But at first chance of being given the chance to flee, he held his weapon tighter and a shovel sprung up from the hilt.
"At least I need to take some, for my troubles."
No matter what Lilith thought he wasn't doing this out in a whim. He'd thought about it, if the cave was under an illusion to keep people out and it had been eleven years since anyone came here, he reckoned the person either died or they couldn't come get their stuff.
Which left them free to loot.
He started digging around the plants, careful not to remove them from their soil. Since his Hub was just volcano he didn't have any other choice but to take them with the soil, so he could plant them elsewhere.
Though he didn't know the first thing about herbs, he figured he'd learn as he went.
"That didn't take long at all!" He proclaimed excitedly wiping his forehead of the sweat. "Farming really is my therapy, I didn't get the urge once since coming inside here."
[Can you leave? The atmosphere is thick and uneasy, I have no idea how you're not feeling that. Seems like this farming obsession dulls your senses too...master...sir]
"Fo fucks sake. You can call me master. You're always glitching when you're processing on how to address me. Levi would've sufficed but I don't want you to short-circuit."
He walked out of the former garden that now looked like an ordinary cave hole.
Running through the cave, he knew it like the back of his hand now. He was one with the wind, carrying him closer to his goal—the mouth of the cave.
The cold fresh night air welcomed him and he embraced it. Breathed in, taking in every molecule, every atom. He was outside, outside at last.
The vastness of trees in front of him were endless, yet he could hear the occasional creaks the trees made from afar.
The smell though, it was causing his insides to churn inside out. He was hungry, very hungry and the aroma was inviting.
[Master, welcome to your new home, Ancieru. A world of wonder with a great darkness. I am certain I need not remind you of the reason you're here. I'm not the one who decides whether a murder is justifiable so be careful.]
Maybe if his stomach was full, he'd have caught everything Lilith was telling him about. He jumped up to the tree and followed the aroma using the trees to travel around.
It was convenient and harder to catch someone with an aerial view off-guard. His bloodline hadn't awakened but he was jumping from tree to tree like a veteran. His stealth was also nothing to scoff at.
He moved with the wind to cover his own noise and tracks. Landed on trees as they creaked too. Levi didn't learn this anywhere it was just basic instinct.
Arriving at a large camp, there was roast in the fire. It quickly dawned on him that, it wasn't the roast that brought him here. People sat around the campfire.
"Why do they smell so good?" He murmured to himself.