Chapter 11 The Stalker And The Mother

[Sand golems are creations, no matter how human they may behave. But some didn't see it that way. Radical groups demanded more rights for them, and declare sand golems as their own race. After many debates and voting, sand golems are still seen as just golems, but are revered as much as royal weapons.] -excerpt from "History of Sakata's mightiest warriours" by Lugar Kith.

...

20 Days went by.

[Time till core corruption: 13d 10h 6m 59s]

At that time he scouted the area but with the landscape changing every 6 hours it was almost impossible to get a grasp of the surrounding. But having spent so many days here he found out that the terrain changes weren't all random. There are 15 terrains that cycle between each other. And some are more likely to appear than others. He found a few ruins and structures that weren't changing and used them as landmarks. Such as the remains of a giant serpentine creature or the ruins of a metal tower that was somehow still standing.

He noticed that the creatures are adapting very quickly to the changes and new ones pop out every few seconds. It was like an artificial monster spawn-ground used in the war but on drugs.

Oberon found a temporary hideout underground, what was once a bunker. He cleared the bunker of its previous residents. There he rested when the terrain wasn't very optimal to go out and search. Some terrain was just more suitable to venture out than others.

The animal that followed him never strayed too far away from him. He got a few couple good looks at it. Stealth cearly wasn't its strong suit. It was a small young drakeling.

Normally they are brownish green in color, but this one is pitch black and when aggravated or hunting its small feathered wings and eyes lit up a bright yellow before spewing out a burning hot liquid that ate away at its prey. Those creatures are known as thayras.

Their ability to spew out the burning hot terazin was the reason why they were hunted and harvested for. They were believed to have gone almost completely extinct after the war efforts ramped up and mercilessly hunted for.

But now seeing one in the "wild" Oberon couldn't help but wonder why it was so far from its normal habitat. Thayras were native in the east of the Parata kingdom, in the dense forest of Otaka Islands. Quite far away from its native environment.

It was quite smart and clearly mutated from all the dense polluted mana or inherited from its parents. But it wasn't quite a mana beast. It hasn't formed a core yet and was clearly too young to have the time to form it.

...

So after waiting another 6 hours the surroundings finally changed. The open cold blizzard changed into a lush green meadow. An open field full of green grass and colorful flowers. Of course, the animals used the open field to hunt each other. It was far more suitable to search for the staff now.

The tall grass gave enough cover to hide from predators but not tall enough to hinder his view.

The thayra was hiding just a few steps next to the hatch. Oberon still didn't know why it was so adamant about staying in his vicinity.

Going to the surface, he quickly scanned his surroundings. Except for a few grassing animals that were partially peaceful he ventured out. Walking through the 3-meter tall grass field he noticed that a lot of the bigger pseudo mana beasts weren't present. On such open terrain, not many of the bigger ones wanted to roam around as fighting between two could easily result in getting killed by a third party. So the stronger ones just stayed in their respectable territories.

So it was a perfect opportunity to search the area. Walking in a straight line north he found large grassing beasts. Nothing interesting.

Only a few weaker ones attacked him one the way, but nothing he couldn't deal with.

The search of the Staff of Zalka turned out to be much more difficult than it seems. He already searched a large area of the dome, but the east side was still unexplored as it was far more dangerous than in the other places because the environment seemed to be a lot more stable and the mana was purer. Oberon tried to venture there on day 10, but got nearly bisected by a stray claw that flew out of nowhere.

The danger seemed to be too high, so he would first search the other places.

But it wasn't such a big deal. He wasn't rushing it. If time ran out he could just go out and recuperate and try another time. Having already waited centuries a few more years or so doesn't matter. Now with no real energy issues, he could probably go for a few other artifacts that he stored in his memories.

Like the shield of Avarez, Gornuntums Spiral, or even the Chalice of God Humaroth. But all of them were outside of the Sakata Empire's territories.

Walking for a few hours and finding absolutely nothing. He returned. The terrain began to change again as the ground shook and large black trees sprouted out of the ground. the Black Forest terrain is the most dangerous place out of all the others as the apex predators loved the dense vegetation and dark ambiance.

Hastening his pace he broke out in a light jog. The thayra followed closely behind in the tall grass. The trees emitted a black fog that blocked the sun above.

Reaching his hideout he went underground and wanted to close the hatch with his sand but just before he could the small drakeling slipped in.

It hid in the furthest corner and huddled up in a small ball staring at Oberon. It was only as big as a young canis.

Oberon closed the door and turned around. Sensing the energy activity of the creature in the room he turned towards it.

Slowly he walked towards it with a sand core dagger in hand.

The thayra hissed at him and hugged the wall.

Oberon stopped for a second.

Seeing it calm down and not hostile, he put the dagger away and slowly kneeled in front of the small drakeling.

Stretching his hand out the drakeling gave the sandy hand a few curious sniffs before opening its mouth. Its eyes and wings glowed bright yellow as a small drop of sizzling liquid dripped on his hand. It is a sign of trust, a human's hand would have been burned away by it but on Oberon's hand, it only left a sort of molten metal-like slag behind. The fire wasn't hot enough to melt the vital sand.

[Compadibal energy source found!]

[Recomend extracting energy source!]

Oberon looked at the slightly smiling creature curiously taping his outstretched hand with its foreleg. His emotions were in disarray. A new energy source meant potentially gaining new abilities or a core rank-up.

But before he could decide a loud banging noise could be heard coming from the surface.

"G-GiVe hEEERR BaCkK yOu ThIef! sHHe Isssss MiiIInneee!"

The crocked voice of a beast could be heard. It could only be from a mutated animal as some could develop the ability to speak, but how it knew the Sakata language was quite a mystery. A few animals could mimic languages, but to fluently speak them required a certain degree of intelligence.

"G-GIIIVVEEEE hhHeRRR BacKK I SayeED! I KKnOOW sSsHeEe is iN heRE!!!! Noow CCcome Oout oOrr I WillL HaVVe toO tAArRe dOwn THis enTirE plaCE."

Oberon looked at the little creature staring at him shyly.

Reaching out his hand he grabbed the drakeling by the scruff and walked towards the door. The little thayra protested and squirmed around but he just ignored it, no her. He doesn't want any more complications than he already has, hoping that giving the furious creature's daughter back would calm it down.

Opening the hatch he raised his arm out with the small animal in hand.

A large black claw ripped his arm off and held the thayra carefully in her grasp.

"OhhH, WhAt hAs thE mOnSter DoNe to yOU? You arE aLL dIrTy! I Told You tO staY aWay fRom StrAngers!"

'Calling me a monster while she just ripped my hand clean off... quite funny.' Oberon just stayed in his "base" and looked at the stump of his arm slowly reforming itself. Humor was a new thing that developed in the short time he had full consciousness.

Oberon couldn't hear the young thayra but the booming voice of her mother echoed through the walls. "WhAt dO yOu MeaN hE didN'T kIdnaP yOu? So YoU raN aWay agaIn, hah?!" Taking a deep breath the mother calmed down.

The broken voice was now calm and spoke in perfect Sakatarian. "No, we can't take it home! What is it even that got you so interested to be away for so long? Do you even know how worried I was?"

"What a Sand golem!? Ugh, child! I have told you time and time again to clearly stay away from them. You know the history of our kind. If your father comes home and sees it, he won't be happy about it, to say the least."

"No, he is not different they are all the same. Slaves of the empire following orders down to the last word."

"No, stop looking at me like that. That is cheating!"

"..."

"Argh, fine I will hear it out at least. But no promises I won't rip his head off immediately."

"I assume you heard our little conversation, sand devil! Now come out or I will rip you out of your little hiding hole"

"No, I am not mean to it!"

"Stop being so sassy and stop pestering me, I have enough to deal with already to endure your cheeky behavior."

"Ugh, that teenage faze of yours is killing me! Now stop pouting and get the pile of sand out here!"

"Gruuuu~" the smaller thayra, let out a delighted grumble before appearing in the opening. She stared at the sand golem for a bit and bat her wings to follow her.

Oberon really wished he could sigh like the humans, as the whole situation was just too absurd for his core to handle.

Walking out in the opening he could see the mother thayra's imposing stature. Large sturdy scales yellow glowing eyes and two large feathered wings. The claws looked like they could rip through his core sand like paper.

"Tss, to think I would ever see one of you here in this place. And get off it Cara"

The small thayra who climbed up Oberon and sat on his shoulder humped and turned her head away.

The mother sighed and waved a wing. Turning back she began to walk, "Let's get this over with. The sooner you are gone the better."