Epic of Caterpillar

.

.

.

Ding!

[The [Appraisal: Lv10] Skill Effect has been Activated.]

[Several eyes are glaring at you suspiciously.]

I guess they're already here. I looked around, finding several red and yellow eyes glaring at us. I quickly made our group stop; they were a bit nervous.

"We know you're watching us, so just stop. Who's your leader? We've not come here to invade your space or kill you. We just want to go beat the Genie that has stolen your land." I said with a smile.

Suddenly, they finally revealed themselves, as from amidst the bushes and trees, several dozens of demons appeared. Their skin was purple with several red tattoos. They had long silver hair and black horns growing over their heads of all sorts of shapes, no one had a similar horn shape.

They had from red to yellow eyes, and their appearance was mostly humanoid, without any added animal-like part aside from horns or very sharp black claws. They wore clothes made out of the purple, black, and red plants of these jungles, mostly, and their weapons were made of bones, and the exoskeleton of the B Rank monsters roaming here.

Just by looking at their stats, I quickly realized they were similar to the Giants, a naturally gifted tribe of very strong people that has survived and adapted to extreme conditions, surrounded by dangerous monsters. None of these warriors was weaker than a B Rank monster.

And the one that greeted us, their leader, could be said to be at least within the A++ Rank of strength if compared to monsters. She was a gorgeous, tall, and muscular lady with a single sharp horn growing from her forehead, long ears, and a red and golden eye.

She was wearing armor made of bones and insect exoskeleton, and her spear looked the strongest, overflowing with the power of Miasma. This Demon Tribe seemed naturally adept at controlling Miasma, and thrived in this place most likely due to its high quantities of Miasma produced by the rotting Old God corpses.

"Defeat the Genie, you say?" She asked with a sharp glare. "My name is Tahat-litu. I am the chief of our tribe, or well, I was. Since the Jungle Kings appeared that we've forced to divide ourselves to survive. The rest of my tribe is scattered around the jungles, no longer safe. Who are you all, who claim you can defeat the usurper of our lands?"

"Well… I am Kireina, a monster." I smiled back at them. "And also, the Familiar of her. Elfina, the Princess of the Elven Kingdom."

"N-Nice to meet you." Elfina was a bit nervous.

"And I am the God of Light." Luminous said. "Or well, you could say I am a Dragon."

"A Princess from a faraway Kingdom of… elves?!" Wondered the chief. "I have never seen nor heard of such pale-skinned people before. And you claim to be a god? What kind of joke is this? I am not laughing…"

The other tribe members angrily pointed their spears at us.

"Do you have to be so aggressive? We just want to talk." Frank said. "I am a traveler, my name's Frank."

"We've come here not to harm you." Elfina bowed her head. "We've come here to help you. Is there a way for you all to earn our trust?"

"Our primary goal is to defeat the Jungle Kings and destroy the barrier to kill the Genie, after that, we'll be gone from here." I said.

"You, who claims to be a monster…" Said the woman. "We saw you demonstrate powers we've not seen before. And you were even able to tame the unruly bugs. I suppose… I can at least trust someone with such strength. However, everyone else is suspicious. I feel like the Genie might be trying to play with us…"

They were very doubtful, I guess not every single person we meet will be friendly to us. However, I quickly came with a solution to this, bringing out a lot of meat and wine.

"Here, this is my offering. It is meat and wine. Have it all for yourselves. Seeing where you live, it is impossible for you to get food poisoning, so attempting to poison you would be futile." I sighed. "I can tell you're all hungry. Your bodies seem tired and pale, your muscles are slowly becoming smaller. Do you have children? Bring them this food. I've also got fruits, and vegetables."

"Oooh…"

"What is this bright colored food?!"

"This meat smells so good!"

"Chief… they're gifting us so much food!"

"If we spice it a bit more it could be tastier…"

The chief was surprised over such an act of kindness.

"…Fine, but I will be watching, I am the strongest of this jungle. Now come, carefully. Everyone, make sure to not let them do anything funny." Tahat-litu sighed.

"Alright! It worked." I celebrated.

"I-I can't believe food would do the trick so quickly…" Fiere was shocked.

"W-Well, that's for the better!" Elfina celebrated.

The chief guided us across the beautiful yet eerie-looking jungles. We went through a few monster nests but without alerting them and had to jump over some trees to get through a long river filled with purple-colored water.

Until we finally arrived, right below a waterfall there was the sanctuary of these people, protected by plants and stones, several camps made out of plants, wood and animal leather were there. Meeting new cultures is always fun.

"Welcome to our small village, outsiders who claim to be able to fight the usurper of our lands." The chief said.

"Chief's back!"

"Hellooo!"

"Oh! Who are these people?"

"Mommy I'm hungyy…"

A bunch of children rushed towards us, greeting us. Some were afraid, others didn't even minded us, and some were asking for food. A bunch of these children called the chief their "mommy".

"Forgive my children's disrespect. They have yet to be well educated. I've mostly picked them up. They're all orphans from parents that died when that monster arrived." She sighed, caressing the children, and sharing the fruits I gave to her with everyone.

Seeing their smiles as they finally had something tasty and juicy to eat made me slightly happy.

"Now, follow me to my tent. I have something I want to show you, perhaps it could help you defeat the powerful Jungle Kings, whose bodies are protected by a special Blessing of the Demon King we couldn't pierce through." The chief said.

.

.

.