Chương 216: Chapter 292: Girl Talk Interrupted

Deceit. The Devourer of Worlds didn't know the word, but it had certainly grasped the concept when it had first considered faking it's own death. To act in such a way that causes another being to believe something that is not true. Typically the reason one would do this is because them believing the wrong thing is advantageous for you. Like if they had found my corpse and believed I was dead. The Devourer still didn't know how exactly they'd caught it.

The Loth soldier had a net that permeated the world as far as The Devourer's enhanced eyes could see in every direction. It perhaps could pick up The Devourer the same way the Devourer's body could sense food standing on its net. The other one… had strange nets in its eyes, and it was always staring directly at The Devourer's mind, rather than the Devourer itself. Safe to say it could see The Devourer's mind with it's bare eyes. And likely something else.

It hadn't seen it at first when it tucked itself away, but now the Will soldier seemed to be able to pick the Devourer out regardless of whether or not it hid its mind. I need more time. As the two charged forward, The Devourer's hoot-brain deciphered all the language it had been listening to the last few days and highlighted a sentence the Will soldier had spoken. If this thing comes to us and says Mr. Oh, I'm willing to negotiate, fine.

Thankfully, the Loth-type soldier had defined 'negotiate' immediately afterwards. Fool. You have given me the power of a sentence that will wrench hours, maybe even days out of your hands. I will use this 'language' to deceive and bring you DOWN!

"Wait!" The Devourer vibrated it's hooting net.

"Mr. Oh. Want I Negosheeeate." That was basically the same sentence the Will-type soldier had revealed as their weakness. All the same words, anyway. … on the other limb, they exchanged several coded messages via visual language before switching back to audible language. My sample size of visual language is too small, and I haven't made a mind specifically for visual language either, so there's no chance I decode it anytime soon. An ominous sensation passed through The Devourer's mind unbidden. …

do they know what deceit is, too? The Will-type had been super aggressive, while the Loth-type had been talking about difficult-to-understand words that The Devourer didn't really understand. Despite not understanding the words, The Devourer got the sense that the Loth-type was more in favor of letting the Devourer live.

The hoot-mind handed The Devourer's primary mind a recombined sentence for review that would use the magic of language to push the aggressive Will-type safely away while bringing the complacent Loth-type closer.

"Only Negosheeate with Loth. Loth Good. Will Bad. Will keep back." The Will-type soldier's face-skin scrunched up in an incomprehensible expression as it glanced at the Loth-type. The Devourer listened to the hoot-mind's interpretation of their conversation, where the Will-type reluctantly expressed trust in the Loth-types judgement, while the Loth-type expressed confidence and ease. The language magic took effect and The Will-type lumbered away while the less-dangerous Loth-type stepped forward. Muahahahahah!

Language is POWER! These fools have doomed themselves. I will merely 'language' my way out of this situation and then come back with greater power and suck the delicious miasma out of their disgusting fleshy bodies.

"Stop." The Devourer said when the Loth-type was as close as it wanted it to be. The Loth-type creature then did something inexplicable. It laid down on the ground so that it's eye was as close to level with The Devourer's eye as possible.

"Good afternoon, little one." The Loth-type said as the netting spilled out of its body unbidden, spreading into the distance like a ripple in a pond. For some reason, The Devourer's body stopped feeling fear. Fear was an ever-present constant in The Devourer's life. it was a simple function that helped The Devourer's body determine how safe any give action was.

The Devourer's body had never felt this safe before, and this lack of background fear judging the safety of its surroundings felt like a sense had been suddenly deprived. Well, that's odd, The Devourer thought. But… it wasn't like it was afraid of anything right now, so there was no rush.

"What 'Good afternoon." The Devourer said, it's primary mind joining hands with its hoot mind to buy time while the rest of its minds figured out ways to outmaneuver these soldier ants.

"Good afternoon is a polite greeting based on the time of day. If the sun is high, it is afternoon. Is something is going well, or fortunate, it is good. It is a polite way of exchanging a greeting that establishes contact by wishing the other party a 'good afternoon'." The Loth-type said, it's gargantuan lips moving as it hooted. The Devourer didn't understand many of those words but it got the general gist of it.

"What polite." The Devourer said.

"She's even worse than you are." The Loth-type said, turning it's enormous eyeballs to gaze at the Will-type sitting on the other side of the clearing. Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere. The Will-type is the weaker of the two at language-magic. Noted.

"I would be surprised if she wasn't. Also why 'she?'""You think I can't tell a female spider from a male?" Loth replied.

"What female." The Devourer asked.

"Female is the sex that bears eggs." Loth replied.

"And politeness…" What followed was a several hour-long lecture on why politeness was important, how vocal tone implied a question, morality, the social contract, and an enormous expansion to The Devourer's vocabulary as well as the complexity of its sentences. A scaled world showed up partway through their discussion, berating the two soldiers for taking a 'break' in the middle of their hunt for The Devourer of Worlds, but the Will-type shooed it off.

Which was too bad, because The Devourer was considering how it could use a net to coopt the unsuspecting scaled world's mind and use the beast's body to launch a devastating attack on the two soldier ants which would allow The Devourer to escape. The Devourer also learned that scaled worlds of were called 'dragons', and were generally considered quite fierce, in terms of combat power. Which led to a discussion on the definition of 'combat' and how it differed from 'hunting.'

Combat being a direct physical altercation including but not limited to the brief struggle with prey before injecting them with poison. It also included struggles for other motivations and in other circumstances. It was a catch-all. The Devourer was learning… so, so much. It would almost be a shame when it eventually ate the Loth-type soldier. Perhaps when it came across the next Loth-type it would keep it alive a while to drain it's knowledge first before it drained it's miasma.

"Are there other Loth-type soldiers?"

"Loth-type soldiers?" The Loth-type asked, peering down at The Devourer, whose body was currently perched on her fingertip. The Devourer's body was strangely okay with this, while its mind was trying not to think about it too hard. Why? Why not? An inner voice seemed to ask as a soothing complacency creeped up into The Devourer's mind through its legs, wicking up from its body into its mind. There are strange nets travelling up my legs. Should I be worried about that?

"There are many others who started in a similar way as I have, but only I am Loth." Loth said.

"like…only I am Devourer of Worlds."

"Yes. You are unique. It means singular. There is only one of you. Just like Will is unique, and I am unique." Huh. I guess I can't do that. The Devourer was fascinated to hear more about the vague notion of non-interchangeability that it had puzzled out earlier. This led to a discussion about The Devourer's assumption about human 'ant society' and that the two that were sent after it were 'soldiers'.

"In the broadest strokes, you're right. humans are very social. The 'soldiers' you're thinking of, who protect the others from exceptional threats are called 'Lords'. They have many difference from soldier ants, though. They're significantly less populous than the other Climbers, and they also have other responsibilities than just combat. Lords aren't born as Lords, they instead work very hard to become them. Except maybe Will. He was born to be one."

"Why?"

"It's a long story. Do you want to rest your body in my barrel while I tell it to you? It's a lovely little paradise with just the right temperature, as much prey as you could want, dark shadows to hide in and no responsibilities ever again. I'll take care of you while you're in there, for as long as you like. You could even spend your whole like in there and I wouldn't mind." That sounds nice. I could stay in there as long as I wanted.

No duties other than to follow my instinct, let my mind fade away and do as Loth asks. The Devourer's body started moving across Loth's fingertip towards the barrel teeming with prey before its mind caught up with its situation.

"…No." The devourer said, sending a signal down into its body to halt its stride.

"No, I do not want that. I want to be my own Devourer of Worlds. Not yours." Loth raised a scaley brow and gave a soft laugh before she held her finger out, allowing The Devourer to walk onto a nearby tree root, putting its eye level on the same plane as Loth's.. The enormous Loth let out a huge breath that ruffled the hairs along The Devourer's legs with its hot wet wind.

"You know that makes me want you as my friend even more?" Loth said.

"What is a 'friend'?" The Devourer"It is a peer who you get along well with. Someone you consider an equal who you enjoy the company of and can ask for support and support in turn when the situation calls for it."

"Why do you want me more as friend now?" The Devourer asked.

"Because you are a peer. Someone with a very similar mind. I had another friend who…" Loth looked over her shoulder.

"Will, fly a mile away, cover your ears and hum."

"Seriously?" Will asked.

"Of course!" Will let out a breath before he covered his ears, shooting into the sky. Loth's netting around them began to vibrate randomly. Loth lowered her voice to a conspiratorial whisper as she began kicking her feet.

"I had a decision just like yours. An offer to subordinate myself to another person, which would've allowed me to spend more time with them every day. We could have had a great time, spending years together…but in my mind a friend is a peer. An equal. I cannot envision myself to be the friend or…more than that, of someone who is not my equal. So I chose the path that led me to spend more time away from him because I prioritized our friendship over time spent together. How weird is that?"

"Very weird. I don't understand all of it, but you are still friends?" The Devourer of Worlds asked.

"Yes, I think we are."

"Then you made the right choice, yes?" The Devourer asked.

"Well, I don't know. A long time ago I had a talk with his now-girlfriend about his stupid baker-fetish and I refused to do it because that also meant changing myself into something I'm not to please him, which goes against my very nature. But now I am something I wasn't before. I can eat bread now, and I'm wondering where the dividing line is, because several supporting pillars of my previous logic no longer exist.

Am I just clinging to my previous decision out of pride, or fear of ruining our relationship by antagonizing Brianna?" The Devourer of Worlds stared at the black skinned dragon-kin, trying very hard to understand what Loth was saying, but while it could understand most of the individual words, the meaning of the entire thing was incomprehensible.

"I don't understand." The Devourer of Worlds said.

"Maybe ask Will?" Will was the only other person it knew of, so it was the only other person in the world it possibly could've suggested to seek advice from.

"…nah." Loth said, leaning her chin on her palm.

"I'm not brave enough to get turned down again."

"Were you wounded?" The Devourer asked.

"Only my pride," Loth replied.

"What's pride?" The Devourer asked, recalling that Loth mentioned it multiple times.

"Oh, boy, where do I start with that?" Loth said, sitting up and scratching her head, suppressing a yawn.

"Pride is when…" She glanced back down at The Devourer, her eyes going wide. CRUNCH Crunch? The Devourer thought.

"STEVE, NO!" The Devourer realized that its body couldn't see anything, so it turned its mind's eye inward. Where its body used to be were rapidly unravelling strands of net, with an enormous transparent monster passing through. There was a crushed little speck of black in its mouth. Floor-wide Alert! A neutral monster has defeated The Devourer of Worlds. The Bounty has been retracted. What… I'm defeated? Dead? I'm certainly not dead.

The Devourer of Worlds thought, stunned as it watched Loth pry open the crystal snake's mouth and withdraw the crushed black speck. But I can't… feel my body. That was odd.

"No, no, no, you damned snake!"

"What just happened?" The Devourer asked, deploying strands to reinforce the unravelling net before it crept its way up any further. Loth's eyes widened and she looked up at the space where The Devourer's mind remained. Floor-Wide announcement! A new Raid boss has spawned: The Devourer of Knowledge. Loth glanced down at the speck in her hand, then back up at The Devourer.

"Huh. I guess it makes sense that I wasn't actually becoming friends with a spider. I was becoming friends with the thinking web it wove."

"What happened?" The Devourer asked.

"Devourer." Loth said, hiding the speck behind her body and talking with a calming voice, the netting around her radiating tranquility that seeped into The Devourer's mind like a cold balm.

"Listen. Every creature has multiple stages in their life cycle. These transitions can feel sudden, disorienting, and extreme in the moment, so try to remain calm, take a step back and keep things in perspecti-""DID THAT THING JUST EAT MY BODY!?" The Devourer shouted.