Chapter 137: [137] Communing With Beasts

At first, Ark was confused. Was the voice really coming from the salamander?

He could hear it growling softly, but those growls were being transcribed into his head in real time. It was only then that he remembered the skill he had extracted from one of the basilisks...

Beast Tongue...

But even if he could understand the language of beasts... Most of the time, monsters were not really saying anything. Their growls was just utter nonsense, only a few times did monsters communicate.

Being able to understand the salamander meant that to some degree, it had formed some sort of language, and it was trying to actually communicate with him.

Ark did not know how to feel or react to the request of the monster, but there was one thing he could not ignore...

"Olivia, wait!" Ark suddenly called out to her, causing her to freeze mid swing. Olivia frowned as she glared at him from the distance.

"Huh?! What do you mean wait?"

Ark ran a hand through his skull. The salamander was a monster, and he was a player. They were naturally enemies, and his job was to kill them... but, Ark was sentimental because of the monster’s will to save its sister.

Ark had sisters... He could only imagine how it would feel to watch his sister killed right in front of his eyes, while being helpless to do anything to stop it.

He frowned internally. ’Should we spare them? But if we spare them I won’t get any skills!’ He was also sure to have gotten some sweet agility stats from the monsters as well.

The monster’s eyes were watery as it glanced up at Ark, repeating those same words that rang in his head.

"Sis...ter... spa—"

"Shut up. Why should i spare you when you tried to kill us in our sleep? You were the one that attacked, not the other way around."

"Why are you trying to run away from your responsibilities now that you have been caught, mm?"

The salamander’s pointy ears flattened on its skull as Ark rebuked it, and then it opened its mouth again.

"Ki..ll me... spare... sister. My... plan."

"Now you are trying to be self righteous? I was already going to kill you, what makes you think you can offer up your own life?"

Ark smacked its scaly head and it whined softly, not even making any attempt to fight back.

Meanwhile, Olivia, Thalia and the black salamander were watching him with wide eyes, unable to believe what they were seeing.

Olivia’s face twisted with concern. "I... I think he has finally lost it... is he really talking with a monster?"

Thalia sighed and tiredly shook her head. "This is... Uhum... very strange."

Because while Ark thought he had been speaking English all this time, he had actually been hissing and growling like a salamander.

"Olivia, let the monster go." Ark finally said after a long scolding session with the monster.

"Huh? This monster almost melted off my face, and you are asking me to let it go scott free?"

He waved his hands dismissively in the air. "I’ll make it up to you when we leave this place. Just let it go..."

"Tsk. Don’t forget your promise!" Olivia removed her axe from the monster’s neck, and it immediately sprinted toward its ailing brother.

Ark watched as she visibly panicked, trying to stop the bleeding.

The injury was not fatal enough to kill it on the spot, but the monster would not live past the next two hours...

And yet, while the black salamander was panicking, swooping up lava to try to burn the hole closed... The crimson salamander looked peaceful. Its sister was alive, and that was all that mattered.

Its eyes met Ark’s once again, and it nodded in appreciation. Ark did not know monsters could look so sincere...

"Th..ank..."

"You idiot!" Ark grabbed its ear and pulled it so hard that he elevated the monster from the floor.

The black salamander’s eyes widened, worried that Ark had changed his mind on a whim.

"If you were going to kill it, then you should have just let me do it." Olivia rolled her eyes as she and Thalia walked up to him.

"Also, when did you start speaking monster?" Her eyes narrowed.

"I’m not going to kill it..."

Ark shook his head, turning his attention back to the monster.

"You idiot."

"Do you think it is alright to die just because you have saved your sister? You should stay alive and protect her, that is your duty as her brother."

"And yet, here you are, peacefully accepting death." A memory flashed in Ark’s mind and he pulled the ear harder.

Olivia gave him a strange look. ’Isn’t he the one that stabbed it? Why is he acting like the monster can do anything about the stab wound?’

"Um... Guildmaster, I think you’re really going to kill it if you keep it in that position..." Thalia hurriedly said, causing Ark to drop the monster.

The moment it was placed on the floor, its body was suddenly engulfed in fire. It was not as violent as the one he had summoned earlier...

Instead it was calm and mostly focused on the wound, its eyes sharp with determination.

Ark folded his hands across his chest. "I like you. You’re a quick learner... but that fire isn’t going to heal you."

His voice darkened as he stared at the monster.

"You will die before tomorrow. Or you will get picked out by monsters in your weakened state."

Once again, Olivia gave him a strange look, completely confused by what was going on.

’If he knew there is nothing the monster can do, then why did he hype it up and make it waste its energy?!’

It was only when she heard his next words that Olivia realised why...

Ark had made the monster desperate to live, he had told it of the dangers of dying, allowed it to dream... only to dash its hopes and dreams to pieces...

"Join me... that is the only way you can survive."

And now, he would be the monster’s salvation.

The salamander gave him a blank stare, just before cocking its head to the side.

"Oh... you don’t understand English..." he thought out loud, before repeating everything he had said once again.

The two salamanders stared at each other, just before they bowed low at his feet.

Ding!

[Red Salamander wishes to bond with you]

[Black Salamander wishes to bond with you]

[Do you accept?]

"Hehehehehe... Uhum—" Ark cleared his throat.

’Yes.’

Olivia blinked. "Ark..." She said in a humourless tone. "Are you secretly evil?"