The Innkeeper

In English, the term 'beast' carried with it a negative or derogatory connotation. It was often used to describe another as lower or less intellectual than oneself. But in the context of actual beasts, as in a group of living beings, that was far from the truth.

First of all, it was important to understand what a beast was in the context of the cultivation world. A common misconception, at least amongst humans, was that beasts were animals that began cultivating. They could not be judged for having this view, for this often was the case for many species of beasts who had an animalistic nature and lacked intelligence whilst in the mortal realm. But strictly speaking, that was not what defined a creature as a beast.

In the cultivation world, a beast was a creature whose cultivation depended upon heritage and would, while growing in cultivation, slowly undergo evolution until it achieved the species that stood at the apex of its heritage.

This was exactly why so many beasts paid so much attention to rare or powerful bloodlines, as they provided a much higher end point than weaker ones. This is also what contributed to Fenrir's high evaluation - not only its heritage, but the purity of that heritage.

This should not be confused with other species that rely on bloodline abilities. For example, even though there were many subspecies of humans, and many humans that carried foreign bloodline, as a human grew in cultivation, his or her species would ultimately change from what it was. Yes, the bloodline ability may become more pronounced, but at the end of the day, it would only be limited to the ability.

Of course, Marlo who was undergoing the path of a prime was different, as his cultivation also depended on evolution, but any kids he had would not be primes but regular humans. Thus, regardless of whatever height he achieved, he could not leave behind a heritage, only a strong bloodline.

What was the point in bringing all this up right now? It was the simple fact that, should anyone be naïve enough to imagine it would be easy to fool a beast, they would be gravely mistaken.

The massive apes that surrounded Lex and Barry were not one of the main 7 races only because they lacked the population for such a claim. As limited as they were, each one of them boasted ridiculous physical strength and an inherent affinity for wielding the spear. If anyone ever thought that an affinity for a weapon would make them weaker than someone with an affinity for an element, such as fire or lightning, for example, was more than welcome to try.

But besides their combat prowess, they had a very intricate tribal system that gave equal value to intelligence and strength. So when they were marching together, off to war, there most certainly was some sort of leader within their ranks who had the ability to distinguish a fallacy.

This leader would also know that, while the current war did not seem to target humans, Goli was infamously racist towards humans and would never work with them. So, regardless of what kind of important or vital information a human brought, they would never escape suspicion.

Which is why it was incredibly fortunate that neither Lex nor Barry seemed like they had anything to do with humans. Lex may have been bipedal, but then so were the apes, so that was not enough to arouse doubt.

Instead of the soft and fragile skin that humans were most commonly identified by, these two creatures were covered in char and soot. They wore dirt and small rocks on their bodies the way humans wore clothes, and the muscles on their limbs were tough and wore signs of being tempered in fire. Furthermore, they did not smell of humans either, but of fire and smoke. The ape identified them as some variant of moles with a strong fire affinity - perfect subordinates for the Druks that would temper their bodies in molten metal.

"I will pass on your message," the leader of this troop said, giving an acknowledging nod to these two valiant beasts. They had suffered great harm to bring them this important news, when they could have easily hidden instead.

Taking that as his sign to leave, Lex identified the direction the apes were heading in, and decided to run in the opposite direction, completely unhindered by the beasts who saw them interact with the apes.

His face only showed his determined expression, but internally Lex was flooded with relief. He had taken a big gamble back there, because honestly, he saw no way of surviving should they get into a fight.

His mind worked at incredible speeds to determine the best way he could resolve the situation. Since they had already suffered many attacks from various beasts, and he could determine that the beasts had attacked under the instruction of Goli, he estimated that Goli was the leader of all the beasts.

That guess was not accurate, but functionally, such a guess worked well enough. Second, because of his contact with Karom, he knew the two Trelops were not on the best of terms and even harbored subtle hostilities towards one another. Third, he knew that the spirit well would be an important asset regardless of the situation.

Keeping in mind these points, he instantly fabricated a story that put him in the right. It was not some intricate plan he concocted, but something he did so instinctively he was speaking before he even realized. A number of other factors played into his ruse working, including the ongoing war and his current appearance, but Lex would never know how lucky he had just been. However, even though he was lucky, it was because of his believable story that they got away, so he still deserved some credit.

Lex did not know about the ongoing war but he suspected that his remarks may spark some tension, but he couldn't be bothered about that right now. His attention lay elsewhere.

The tunnel they exited from was not the one they went in from, and so he had no idea which direction their camp was in. The lack of any celestial bodies in the sky made it impossible for him to determine the location he was heading in.

The best he could do, currently, was climb a tree to determine the direction of the cliff and head that way.

The task was harder than he expected, even when leaving Barry on the ground, not only because of his exhaustion, but because he had not given his body any rest after being wounded. Such strenuous exertion in such a wounded state only served to exacerbate the seriousness of his injuries.

Lex was just thinking of how he would finally rest when he breached the forest canopy and froze. The cliff, as massive as it was, was easy to find. The searing class between two forests, one aflame while the other fiercely resisting, was not a sight easily overlooked.

If he ignored the trees that had uprooted themselves and seemed to be climbing the cliffs, and the hordes of birds that clashed in the skies, and even the countless beasts that seemed to be using the cliff as a battlefield, the boulders being flung towards Goli forest were not so easy to escape because one could fall on him at any time.

'Safety consultant my arse, I'm going to be a painter when I return.'

While scouting the forest, Lex suddenly noticed another area in the forest that seemed unusually devoid of trees. After focusing for a bit, he realized it wasn't that there were no trees there, but that they had all been burnt down. He found the camp! For the first time ever, Lex praised Ptolemy and his green flames as he climbed back down the tree. He wasn't too far, and should be able to reach it fairly quickly if he ran.