Sensing danger!

That was the first message I got.

I informed Gustaf of the same. I had a feeling he knew something about this.

He drew out his daggers; armed for combat.

I got Maylon to move the Abbe to a safer area…or at least further away from us.

We can’t run away since the Abbe is so sick; he can barely move.

We waited for ten minutes…but nothing….were my monster senses off?

Nope…it began with a slight trembling.

Unable to ascertain number of targets.

This could be bad; was it a cavalry or something big?

Gustaf was too high strung to be questioned; he might just attack me if I break his concentration with my talk.

Scent picked up.

Scent not recognized: ???

The trembling became more violent. This was the same as a mini earthquake.

I am not sure what is headed our way but it’s time to get ready.

I don’t have any weapon other than my body and Gustaf has his daggers.

I have been keeping my own blood lust hidden through stealth but I guess now would be a good time to expose it. Blood thirst intimidates only weaker creatures than me.

I am not sure if it will work but I want every advantage I can get.

I can see something moving in the distance now; through the Cyclops eye.

A mini radar like map opened up in front of my eyes. I could estimate the target was about 30 seconds away from us.

It might seem like a lot of time but it wasn’t. Whatever it was….it was covering cast expanses of the desert in mere seconds; something which took us hours was being covered minutes.

This “thing” is huge.

As it came closer, my vision became sharper…however other than the sand moving strangely…I didn’t notice anything…. Crap it’s under the sand…at this point I was able to put the two facts together: huge round meat piece and under the sand monster – totally a giant worm.

…

And I was correct.

It erupted from the ground right before our feet….much before my estimated time….ah the sand movements I saw were probably the end of its body….just how long is this monster?

Gustaf was blinded with all the sand that it threw on us.

My Cyclops eye burning like crazy as well. However, I have other eyes as well. I could see perfectly fine still.

I quickly imagine my slime hand (not the dwarf one) into the shape of a lance and rush to save Gustav.

He is stunned cause of the surprise attack.

I expected more from this kid….just how did he keep getting those big chunk of meats?

The monstrous worm dives towards Gustav….I think it is ignoring me….is it because I am a fellow monster? Or because Gustav did the hunting? I will not know the answer to this question now.

I push Gustav aside and stab the worm with the lance. My lance was frail and did no damage.

My actions are quick thanks to my battle experience in Royal Road but I am ill equipped here. I must have been silly to think I can do damage with a jelly lance.

The worm was back in the sand and we didn’t know where it would come out from next.

Gustav came back to his senses.

I think he will be fine.

So what’s a desert worm? Imagine an earth worm, now enlarge it by about 1500 times and there you go! You got yourself a desert worm. Right, I forgot….add to it acid vomit and some tungsten grade spikes around its body…

What we had been eating was its female counter part….those are harmless. It turns out Gustav had been kind enough to injure the female. He didn’t kill it just injure it…something like farming since they can regrow their body parts….anyways we didn’t find out about all this till afterwards….

Back to the present; we looked around for the desert worm…we didn’t know where it would come out from next …it was the eerie silent calm before the storm. My monster senses were no good for something I can’t see or smell…this is bothering me…I am sure the desert worm isn’t the strongest monster in this game….I too am not the strongest player in this game….but I hoped to hold some kind of advantage with this body…this is bothering me….it’s way too early to say anything right now but it is bothering me….

Gustav is sniffing the air….I don’t think it will help him since I am certain my sense of smell is better…

*Focus*

I may not look it but prior to signing up for this crazy game I took a few martial arts classes…again very average at it….

*Focus*

No good, my other super sensory organs are interfering with my ability to focus on a single sensory organ. It was easier while being a human; close your eyes and your ears become sharper…as a slime chimera…not so easy. Even if I close my eyes, a visual map opens up in front of me …. something like bat echo location…followed by a mix of odour and heat imaging. Basically, my senses are interfering with each other…. Something else I need to work…

I feel tremors beneath my feet…*crap* it’s rising under us….

I open my eyes and dash.

Gustav also dashed alongside me.

The earthworm…it seems to be chasing Gustav.

I kick Gustav to the side to confirm my theory.

*Partially Confirmed*

It didn’t chase me just Gustav.

Gustav gave me a glaring look; to him it must have looked like I kicked him for no reason …worse still he might be imagining me giving into my monster tendencies. Either ways he was okay from my kick, rather than resisting the blow he jumped along with it, reducing the damage (he might not have even taken any damage…I didn’t feel any recoil….damn brat is good)…he simply rolled down the dune and back up on his feet running to where Maylon and Abbe was hiding.

Yes, the direction was intentional. Don’t get me wrong here, I don’t want to kill my Guardians however, if they can’t survive something like this maybe we all are doomed. Other than that I needed to also confirm my hypothesis…I needed to know whether it (worm) was monster biased or blinded by revenge.

The dune against which Gustav had rolled down from soon burst into nothingness as the worm lunged forward. Gustav ran past Maylon and the Abbe…then turned around and stood in front of them…

He intends to protect them…

Gustav is covered in the shadow of the worm. Its night here…two full moons (did I mention that before?)…fairly bright…for my eyes…not sure about humans…

The worm notices the other humans but ….

But…

It lunges towards Gustav.

Yes! It is not a stupid monster!

Theory one confirmed!

Yes! I am not all that weak.

By logical implication intelligent monsters are stronger…Theory two and three check!

The Abbe who was running a high fever (covered in cold sweat) launched a fireball at the worm…after which he fainted.

It was a hit and left a scorch mark….but the worm ignored him…

Voila! Blinded by revenge!

Theory four correcto!

It rarely happens that I am so correct. Being so correct borders almost disturbing…

The worm lunges forward again but Gustav narrowly dodges as he rushes past me.

I got a good view… the worm has a single mouth….the inner of which are covered in hundreds of teeth….poor Gustav he might be shredded into mincemeat if the monster swallows him whole…

The worm took a second to collect itself it seems that it literally bit the sand with the last attack…so I took the opportunity to try jelly lance (should I call it whip?) again…but it was pointless….to the extent I did no damage….

On the other hand I managed to stick my jelly lance in what appears to be its nose….

Hmmmm…I think it would be appropriate to say I am digging a giant worm’s nose…a monsters nose…. *yew* *gross*

*Retract arm immediately*

The worm sneezed…right on me….I think it sneezed…since I don’t seem to be covered in acidic vomit…but what resembles more like mucus.

If there was a stat for disgust tolerance, that may have levelled ten times by now…

Now the following really did flash through my mind in the order I say it did and all in pretty much in a second:

1. Worm has nose but no eyes

2. Worm has mouth

3. Worm wants to swallow Gustav

4. I absorb desert rats not chew them

5. Worm is blinded by revenge…funny when read together with statement 1

I chase after Gustav and call out to him…

No good, I think my kick broke the frail trust we had going between us…damn annoying brat…just when I figured out how to save you…

I look behind and see no trace of the worm…

It’s gone under… I am not sure if we have had any close calls…but my instincts were telling me if I didn’t save him now, I might as well have a fertilizer for a Guardian…

“STOP” I screamed out with all my might.

This is the Alpha male theory in play.

Gustav froze in his spot.

Alpha male theory check.

I catch up to Gustav…I can feel the tremor beneath my feet…

I dive forth…hugging Gustav while narrowing dodging the worm which burst forth from the sand like a natural geyser.

Gustav and I summersaulted into the sand and rolled down a dune….thus making us one…

Not the Dragon Ball Z fusion…I took the opportunity to absorb Gustav….

Ah! Don’t worry…I didn’t eat him just hiding him in my body.

He’s got an air bubble around his head too and a look of disgust.