Raising A Few Wives in a Beast Apocalypse-Chapter 220: Ghost Forest?

The dragon immediately turned into a white light and returned into his body.

"Umm... What was that?" Muku asked in a bewildered voice.

{What do you mean by that?! I should be asking you! You said you couldn’t feel any pull from gravity! Then what was that?! I almost got smashed to death! Are you secretly plotting against me?? You want me dead, don’t you?!} The dragon spat out words rapidly.

While it didn’t curse. Muku was clear that the intent was there. It probably was just too proud to actually voice it.

In one small incident, the dragon’s reliable air instantly disappeared. Maybe it had been pretending to be calm before. It was probably just as uneasy about their current situation as he was. No wonder it immediately chose to hide as the priority.

"Calm down... Firstly, your dying would halve my power for who knows how long. And look at my current state. Wouldn’t I straight up die if I lost any more power? Secondly, I really don’t feel any gravitational pull. There’s no reason to lie about that. Unfortunately, we don’t have Iris-pedia here. She’d probably know what’s going on" Muku spoke calmly. He was trying to calm the dragon down. It was his only source of information after all.

{Oh... I guess that makes sense. Sorry for overreacting. There should be some reasonable explanation for what’s going on} The dragon apologised after realising that it had been too rushed.

"Nuh, it’s cool. I’m sure you’re just spooked by the situation. Anyway, what’s your name? I can’t keep calling you "you" or dragon right?" Muku asked for something that would help the dragon calm down a bit more.

It was also something he wanted to know. They hadn’t had a chance to talk outside of a troublesome situation. So, he never got the chance to ask.

Well, their current situation was definitely troublesome as well. However, they had the time to speak idly, so it was okay to ask.

{My name?... I don’t have one} The dragon replied while trying to think of what could be the problem with the gravity. It also couldn’t figure out how deep in the forest they were with its weakened body.

"Really? Do beasts not have names? I guess that makes sense," Muku replied while thinking about how the savage creatures bite first, then ask questions later. So, it was reasonable that they wouldn’t need names.

{What? No. We do have names. Just that only those from top lineages have names from the start. The rest of us must wait until we’re at least R5 before naming ourselves. It’s only after reaching R5 that you’re slightly acknowledged in the forest. Before that, you’re just food} The dragon spoke nonchalantly. As if it didn’t just expose how bleak the lives of weaker beasts are.

"Oh... But wait, aren’t you also from a top lineage?. Isn’t that what being a Monarch’s descendant means?" Muku asked curiously.

He has pretty much put aside any thoughts on their current situation. He’d let the dragon figure things out. Having someone else to lead you was always a treat... When the leader isn’t a politician, that is.

{I am a Monarch’s descendant. However, I’m a fallen Monarch’s descendant. So, my lineage doesn’t matter anymore. If anything, it has always made me a target. Oh, that reminds me. Never say a Monarch’s name while in this world. It will immediately know where the person who said it is. If the Monarch isn’t in a good mood, or you’re too weak like we are. We’ll most likely get killed off} The dragon replied nonchalantly again. It seemed like it had long gotten used to its bleak existence.

It took the chance to warn Muku about one of the top taboos in the Beast World. Which he appreciated a lot. Who knows if he was going to randomly mention Ares’ name at some point.

Which would have definitely been a death sentence for him. Or maybe a date worse than death with how much Ares’ hated him.

As for the dragon being from a broken lineage. He didn’t ask for the time being. That sounded like something that required Monarch-level strength before sticking your nose into it.

"Noted... However, that couldn’t possibly stop you from giving yourself a name right? Why don’t we put it this way? What’s the name you want to use when the time comes? I’m a human, so it would be weird for me to talk to someone without a name. But, if you really don’t want to say, I won’t force you." Muku asked.

{You’re right. If I wanted to give myself a name. I could still do it anytime I wanted. However, I never had a reason to give myself one. So, I haven’t really thought about it. Plus the local names here suck. They are usually just random sounds turned into names like Roh, Splat, Ban and such. And I’d rather not have a name if it’s going to be something like that} The dragon replied.

"Hhm... Makes sense. Do you want me to help you with it? I’m sure you’ll like my world’s names a lot more" Muku offered to help the dragon choose a name.

{Do whatever you want. Just do it after we find a safe to hide. While I can’t figure out where we are through the gravity. I think it’s safe to say we’re in quite deep. And if we judge based on the mana density. We should be in the midlands} The dragon dismissed Muku’s idle talk for the moment. What it cared about was "not dying".

"Oh... That doesn’t sound too bad" Muku optimistically spoke. He was still a newbie to terms like outermost/outskirts, Midlands and such. From the knowledge, he heard from his world. The Midlands should be slightly difficult but manageable, right?

{Hehe. How naive of you. If we make it out of here I’ll take time to educate you} the dragon replied scornfully. It didn’t bother to explain to him how wrong he was.

"Okay, so what’s our next move?" Muku asked. He had rested for long enough. He felt okay enough to fly by that point. Though, it won’t be anywhere as good as his usual flying.

His mental energy was still low. He even had a vague headache which signified the fact. However, he was willing to push through.

{Well, for now, pick a direction where the mana is spreading to. Then slowly and quietly make your way toward that way. Remember, where it’s spreading to... Not spreading from. In normal cases, mana moves from the deeper parts to the outskirts} The dragon gave him directions on what to do.

Muku stood up painfully from where he was. Then he followed the mana current like he was instructed to.

That’s when he began looking around. He noticed how the world was a lot different from his own. No matter where he looked... He could only see stupidly big tree trunks. All the trees went up into the clouds.

The only "trees" he could see all of were shoots. And even they were as big as the biggest trees in his world. And he was certain that he wasn’t walking on actual ground. It was too smooth and polished. It was probably a huge leaf he had been walking on top of for close to ten minutes.

Walking in the forest made him feel like an ant. Will his world look like that one day?! Will humans still have a place in the world at that point?! Should he consider looking for a way to increase his size???

He chose walking because flying would possibly expose him to danger. He was also saving the little mental energy he had for emergencies. On the bright side, he could feel his mana recovering faster than it would have back home.

Unfortunately, his body’s condition didn’t seem to be improving at all. He still felt like he had been run through by a train.

Even if all his mana recovered. He’d probably not even stand a chance against creatures like the boar he easily defeated before...

"Hey, is your whole world like this? Are all the trees here unreasonably huge? And why is it so silent?" Muku asked the dragon while continuing the journey.

The surroundings were so silent it was unnerving. So, he felt like he had to try and make conversation. Not to mention that he pretty much always had someone to talk to before. Hope would never miss a chance to talk to him. Which he had gotten used to. He was already missing her and the others.

{No, not really. Areas like this are usually where you’d find the rulers of the area. There are areas with smaller trees for the rest of us. As for the silence, I’m also having trouble figuring out why that is. The forest is never silent. Not to mention that you’ve been walking for quite a while but you still haven’t been attacked. To be honest, this place creeps me out. I’m not even sure if we’re even in the forest despite it looking like it} The dragon replied.

The more Muku walked. The more confused it got. It almost felt like they were the only two beings in the place. Which made no sense. After all, the forest, like it said is always noisy from beasts killing each other. Whether day or night. There’d always be chaos everywhere.

Maybe they weren’t in the Beast Forest after all. This raised the question... Where tf were they then?!...