Even with the extra brain power that I could pour into worrying about Mex, I just couldn't find a reason for him to do all of this. I mean, besides the reason that he had actually given me, like him thinking highly of me and saying that I would do a better job of it.
That could just be Silvery Mex sugar tonguing me up with smooth words and reasonable promises to get me pinned into a trap. There was something big in the bush, but It was only watching me, and I was almost to the first clearing where I would meet with Grogvel. ??
It was some kind of cat, but very big, and black with red stripes. It almost reminded me of a tiger, but from hell, and a lot bigger, but I think because it knew I could see it hiding, it didn't want to attack.
I walked into the clearing and then stepped around where Grogvel tried to open up the ground under me. Then I had to hop six more times before the Earth Elemental burst from the earth, sputtering in anger.
"Hey! Stand still, or I can't help you!" Grogvel growled at me, and I nodded, starting to wonder what I was going to do about Kieta.
"Yeah, sorry, my head is all over the place right now. You can chew me up, and I will stand still, but how did you get here in the first place?" I asked but was then dropped into a hole that opened under me.
As my body was chewed up, I was now able to more easily identify what exactly was happening. This was like a deep tissue massage, but it was also stretching my muscles out and pulling them apart weirdly.
Everything slowed down even more during this time, and I started to think about how this Totem actually worked. It sped up my reaction time, and that allowed me to have more time to think about what I would do.
The problem is that it made me think about too much while it was happening, and then I would lose the extra time. I was still able to react to everything around me, but I needed to fully channel this focus to outside of me.
I felt a change; the grinding slowed, and I felt myself sink down a bit before I was spat out. I was ready for it and quickly caught myself and landed on my feet, trying to force my focus on Grovel.
"You are getting stronger and more reactive with that new Totem. Now, let's see just how well you understand it, BWAHAHAHAHA!" Grogvel said and then barked out a burst of seismic laughter that rippled through my body.
This time was different, and I planted my feet and focused on breathing and staying on my feet. I forced my body to do what it needed to do to function correctly and blocked out the body rippling tremorous soundwave.
I opened my eyes, and I could see the muscle in my body getting flapped around like I was getting hit with gale-force winds. I started to flex, and I used my muscles to create a barrier from Grogvel laughter, and my inside started to take less of a shit-kicking.
I could feel my eyes starting to bulge, so I had to close them from the pressure, but the laughter only lasted a moment longer. When it stopped, I let go of my concentration, but I could feel the drastic improvement in my body's Fortitude.
"Incredible, you can already stand up and breathe through my laugh? I am almost disappointed to be the first to get linked in! I am from the main continent, Gardiana, just like the rest of us Primals, but we are only small parts of our parents or our whole," Grogvel explained, and I nodded.
"So then, who brought you here and why?" I asked, but I was silently cheating in my head.
That admission meant that he didn't need to teach me more meant that I would be able to acquire him as my Primal bond. I still wasn't entirely sure what that meant besides that I would be able to take unlimited Earth Totem Marks.
"Mex brought me when Doa ran away from a B Ranked Demon Lord, Hesperia. She had taken all of his demon farms down, but Doa was able to escape with the demon that he had under his control. Now he is trying to build a force again in the same way with more Demon farms, but it won't work," Grogvel explained, and I nodded my head.
"Because he is one of the lowest-ranked demons, and I would assume that lower-ranked demons can produce higher-ranked demons, right?" I asked as I stretched out; my body was still sore from the experience.
"Yes, and only minor demons at that, and then he has to train them and keep them from getting themselves killed. That is a lot harder than he could have ever imagined; this island doesn't like that we came to take it over, but it won't let us go either," Grogvel said, and I gave him a strained look with a raised eyebrow.
"The island doesn't like it? You talk like it is alive?" I said, and the earthen man nodded his head.
"This island is sleeping right now, and the only way to get off of it is to wake it up. The moment that Doa landed on its shore and started to spread out, the island started killing the demons. Monsters attacked us relentlessly, and the demons on this island are only a quarter of what arrived. Doa had to demonize the Orcs that were natives on this island to recover some of his numbers. Once that happened, the island forced the monsters to start fighting. Within a year, most of the monsters that were in large groups had been whittled down. This place does not like the demons, but most islands are the same; none have had good experiences when the Demons come, and all land is connected," Grovel explained to me and gave me a hell storm of information to process.
"You know this only because you're the Earth Primal, right? Or does everyone one know the islands will?" I asked, but Grogvel gave me a sad smile.
"Everyone but the Demons can hear the silent calls of the island. If you can't get Mex and the rest of his people off the island, they will all end up dead within the month. I shall become your Primal Earth Totem, and then you will know," Grogvel said as he started to give off a brown glow.
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