Chapter 56: Chapter 55 – Unexpected Conversation

All of my previous frustration vanished instantly the moment I saw that pose he made.

The breadth of expressions this guy was able to make amazed me.

Previously, he was imposing even with his small size, there was something about him that went beyond the size of his body. He gave off the impression of someone who knew what they were doing, even more so with his fierce and gorgeous appearance.

Who would have thought that shrewd-looking guy would be able to appear so goofy and harmless?

Realizing how easily I let down my guard I was shocked, even though I was aware of his power and the advantages it brought, I still fell for it.

I landed with a couple of meters between us then formed a mind link to connect us.

"What do you want?", I hurriedly asked in a brisk voice while studying his every movement trying to get a read on him.

I could tell that he was still afraid and was just squirming in his place so I impatiently replied, "Say what you came here to say. I will not harm you no matter what, as long as you don't try anything funny you will be free to leave whenever you want. "

He looked as if he finally made some sort of hard decision.

"In my whole life the only interaction I had with other monsters involved tearing each other apart, so what you did by helping me was a strange and new thing for me. I would not have done it.", he said with a still hesitating voice.

I looked at him for a while trying to find any sort of hidden agenda or something, but there was nothing.

Seeing that he wanted to talk and I had some free time before the women woke up I thought why not.

"Follow me." I beckoned him with my wing and flew towards the tallest nearby tree and climbed to its highest branches, and he followed.

The branches were no longer thick and interconnected this high, giving you a glimpse of a cloud-filled darkened sky.

However, you could make up the shape of the thick clouds as they moved very slowly.

"You said you would not have saved me because there was no certain reward in that endeavor for you, it'll be just a risk without any benefit. Would you have saved me if you knew I was going to give you something that would make you more powerful for example?", My eyes did not glance away from the moving clouds as I spoke.

As I was conversing with him I was also doing my best to heal my eye, there was this foreign mana that was very hard to kill trying to consume me. I did succeed in removing some of it, but it took a very long while.

"No, I would not. from the things you showed me that were very dangerous I would not have survived much less saved.", He replied with a confused voice not understanding what I meant by asking such a stupid question.

Jeez, this guy.

I puffed up my feathers to relax, I gave him a side glance and spoke, "No, I meant if it was safe and you would not be in danger."

"Then, yes I would have saved you to get that thing to give me strength.", Assured of his decision he stated confidently.

"Which means that to you the value you put on life and your life is only at that level which is materialistic and tangible. I am not a saint either, but when I saved you there was also a reward just not material but emotional, something more elusive and intangible but important nonetheless, very important." There was also a material reward which was the quest but it did not change what I wanted to say, and I made sure to emphasize the last sentence.

He had what seemed to be a difficult expression on his face, of someone doing their best to understand something puzzling.

I was studying his facial expressions without alerting him, this much was easy for me.

"I see what you mean but it doesn't make sense to risk your life even though you did not know it was that dangerous.", he said but before I could answer he continued, "but I suppose I could see how that does indeed make sense, in a different way. I was living according to some rules I had set that assured me the highest chance of survival, I had everything I needed and did not risk anything but at the same time I had nothing."

Hearing his answer I was so shocked and fascinated!

I thought I already had a rough estimate as to how intelligent monsters were but they keep surprising me, were all of them like that or just some? I did not think it was every monster. Ashe for example seemed more concerned about power and survival, she was indeed emotional but only to her kids.

Maybe I was looking down at their intelligence too much, I wanted to know more so I asked, "what did you mean by you had nothing?"

"It was fine in the beginning when I was young because I was not able to think about it, I was satisfied by just survival but as time went by and I grew older I started feeling like I was wasting away even though clearly it was the best and safest thing to do" He added puzzled of the nature of that logical fallacy.

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"I suppose it is indeed the best decision if you were simply a mindless beast without any sort of intelligence or self-awareness. You had taken perfect care of your body and life cultivated, eaten well, and hid from danger. However, there is something more to you than meets the eye something that was neglected all of that time. Something related to what I mentioned earlier and why I saved you.", I turned around to look at him and said with full certainty, "That is exactly why you are here otherwise you'd have just run away and continued living by the same old rules because a monster running to another who can kill him at any time is nothing short of stupid."

"Yes, as you called it emotional, this was something that I had found to be very intriguing and unique. For me it's just about doing something new and not like you which involved saving someone.", He uttered with a voice that carried with it a hint of a smile, but also confusion at the difference.

"It is indeed for something new but there is also something else involved which is your emotional reactions to those new things. Just like how it made you feel different being saved by a monster instead of killed. Isn't that right?", this gecko was indeed pretty interesting. "That is exactly the intangible reward I told you about, your existence. I had to put myself in your shoes and then imagine how it'd feel like to be in your situation, when I saw you you were buried alive suffering, and on your way to death. From my previous experiences, I understood how dreadful all of that was and I wanted to help you end it so that your pain could stop and you could continue living just like how I'd have wanted. It was not new for me, but it'd be new for every single monster I'd save." I said with a faint smile.

"Put myself in their shoes huh....", he seemed to be really having a hard time grasping that."I am glad that I am alive and I don't feel any pain and can continue living and explore more new things, I like it, and I am glad I did not die. So as much as I like it, others must also like it so is that the reward you talked about in helping others feel like this as well?", with an awestruck voice and bright eyes he replied as if he found the secret to the universe.

I did not know why, but I found it funny just sitting on a branch discussing empathy and morals with a reptile, "It is more complicated than that but just like how previously you were not even able to think of this, even right now there is stuff that would require experience for you to truly understand them, the only way you understood your emotional needs of something new and your desire for emotional growth was through the tediousness and predictability of the life you once had.", I knew that the type of help I told him about was only the selfish one, in which you needed some sort of emotional incentive to do something but he was just figuring this stuff out and he needed experience.

"Come with me", I wanted to carry him with my claws but he was so terrified and shivering in his place. "Don't worry, I'm not going to eat you." Just as he relaxed and I added, "Or Am I?" Only for him to struggle out of my claws once again.

"Stop stop I was just teasing you, relax." I hurriedly bellowed for him to stop.

I carried him with claws as we flew for a while until I found what I was looking for.

We found four dark grey wolves surrounding two deers.

"How cliche" I muttered.

They were only Body Refinement so we landed on the branch of a nearby tree looking at them without them noticing us.

"You see those deers right?", I asked after I put him down on a branch a bit high but still on my eye level.

"Yes, what about them?", He glanced at them for a short while before looking at me.

"The wolves are stronger and more than them in numbers, so it's only a matter of time before they die." The deers at that moment were facing the four wolves while protecting each other's backs. One wolf jumped at one deer only to be repelled by one of the deer's antlers, then a wolf took that chance to leave a big gash on its right thigh that instantly started dripping with blood soiling the ground beneath them.

"You are stronger than them so you don't feel much but think of the worst moments of your life, the times when you almost died and survived just by sheer luck. Right now, luck is not on their side and they'd die without a doubt. If you were there wouldn't you have liked for someone to appear and save you from the clutches of death? How exhilarating it'd feel to be given a new lease on life?", I asked with a huge smile, because I knew I meant every word I said, "Even though, no one was there for you, well I was but who's counting right? In your other experiences, no one was there for you to lessen that pain and take a bit of your burden and hardship of living every day at death's door. However, you can be that person. Your actions can change the course of those deers' lives once and for all." I finished and looked at him waiting to see his reaction.

At that point, he was no longer looking at me but was staring intently at the deer that had its thigh wounded with a difficult-to-read expression. After a while of back and forth, a wolf suddenly jumped on it gripping its antlers and bringing its head to the ground only for the other wolf to jump at its unprotected throat for the kill.

Just as the wolf was about to bite its neck, a dark shadow passed at a fast speed that seemed like an arrow piercing its head leaving a super clean hole in the middle of its skull.

*Thudd*

The wolf fell and the gecko stopped his charge, the black smoke that was covering him started dissipating.

He landed barely making any noise however his imposing aura and the pressure he emitted as he looked at the wolves were nothing short of astounding.

Seeing him emitting that vast pressure the wolves ran north whilst the deers darted south. Just as he was about to chase after the wolves I flew towards him and stopped him.

I hurriedly formed another mind link and connected us.

"Why did you stop me, If I killed them it'd have been just like saving all the monsters they'd kill", he said puzzled.

"That is true, however, haven't you noticed something? We are also like them, and just like every other monster in this forest how much do you have to kill and should you kill them at all in the first place?", I wanted to see how deep he could go into this topic of morality.

"That is true... It seems like we would be fighting against the whole forest because it's in our nature to survive, then we would have to kill ourselves afterward.", He had a conflicted expression on his face as if a revelation that he just gained was abruptly squashed.

"Exactly, nature! We look for food to eat, as do the wolves and the deer. There is nothing wrong with that desire to survive it is perfectly normal because it is inevitable and unchangeable.", I let what I said sink in before I added, "But! Imagine a monster that is hunting not for his need for food and survival but something more twisted and sinister."

What I said seemed to catch him by surprise, "Why would someone hunt for any other reason?"

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