12 Exploration.
While Scrat was worrying about Talos dying, the monster in question was just snoozing away. All the energy that had flooded his body had overwhelmed him so his Adaptive Evolution skill had knocked him out.
Currently, it was running through his body making use of energy that was not being used properly and repairing any internal damage. When Talos wakes up, he will be a very different creature from the one he passed out as.
---
As that went on, Serafall was currently dressed in pajamas in her palace. She was in her room looking at a giant map of the explored Underworld. All over the map were icicles stabbed into places where Talos had been seen.
She was dead serious about wanting him for her peerage as she only had one member. As she looked at the map, she noticed a weird pattern. The icicles went exclusively north from the deep south which was where one region of the so-called 'Lost' regions began.
"So he came from the deep south and then traveled North until the Hel Stepe where he was encountered by Baleth Devils. The Hel Stepe is still far from any known civilization and those Devils found him by chance.
If he keeps going north he will eventually enter the Fallen and Devil neutral ground. However, if he went east or west after this capture attempt, he would be nearly impossible to track. To the east is that giant mountain range named for the wyverns who live there."
It was a place to be avoided as some of those Wyverns had quite pure bloodlines so they could still enter a mock Outrage mode. However, Serafall tilted her head as she created an icicle and stabbed it into the mountain.
"A maybe on him crossing those mountains. Past that is almost unexplored territory. And if he went west, he would still be hundreds of miles from the nearest Devil settlement. So, where could he have gone?"
She pondered this a bit more before putting this on the back burner.
"Oh well, he will show up eventually."
---
While Talos slept, Scrat sat down not far from him as he waited. It was strange to see as Talos was getting larger in his sleep, but instead of getting longer, he was becoming denser. It was easy to see as his muscles bulged all over his body before they slightly caved back in.
The density of his muscle along with the mana and life force flowing through his Biometal armor was also elevated. The one change that even Talos had not felt was how small shards of his father's Divine Ki were entering his Beast Core.
That in itself was reacting with the vast Life Force of the World Tree Amber causing great improvement to Talos' body. When Talos finally opened his eyes he saw how Scrat was standing right in front of his face.
"So, how long was I out?"
"8 hours."
Talos stayed down for a few more moments before Talos began to pick himself up. He used his front legs which were much more muscular than they used to be. When he got back to his back legs he shook his head to get the dizzying effects he did not realize had been caused.
The seal put in place on his Demigod soul was still there and nearly at full power, but more of his divine heritage was free for his use. Talos scanned his full body with several pulses of Mana quite shocked at what he was seeing.
For starters, his muscles had become at least 2.5 times denser than they had before. His living metal armor was so saturated with mana that it was a constant stream flowing through them. Interestingly enough at the base of his spikes, he felt new lightning-controlling organs meaning his control over his lightning magic had gone up a level.
As for his Fire magic, he could feel his spikes themselves were those organs. He still had to test more on his mutated Lightning and Fire magic as they had suddenly swapped colors. It could not be a mundane thing and he was interested in knowing.
For the moment he kept analyzing his body as he needed to know more about it. The sub-brain at the base of his tail was still there and seemed to be even faster at quick control. With his denser muscle fibers, his nerves, tendons, veins, and arteries had been reworked to match the new demands of his muscles.
Not just that, his refined bloodline had the power needed for his new body which demanded more power. That blood flowed into his heart where his Beast Core which now contained small quantities of Divine Ki along with pure mana.
This had a reactive effect on his Demigod beast blood which entered every inch of his body even his brain. This had a positive effect on his brain which under the effect of Lightning mana increased the speed of information traveling through his nervous system.
When Talos finally did open his eyes, they were still golden as they had always been, but his sclera had become half purple and red. He exhaled as he got an understanding of what had changed in his body.
"The size increase alone is shocking Scrat, but the internal changes were even greater. I have to get more World Tree Sap."
For one, he was 45 meters long from nose to tail. A true creature with the power to match it. Talos did not know if he would get bigger than this, but it was a chance.
"As do I. That shard was one of the last ones I collected as I have not been to the World Tree in decades. The Norse gods know that I know how to collect the sap so they have placed detection spells all over the tree for my presence."
Talos thought about it as he walked away from the giant hole in the ground that was created by the explosion. Scrat scurried up his leg before taking his place on his head where Talos' horns had gotten bigger as well.
"Alright, the size increase you went through was a big one. Usually, creatures don't grow that much this quick so make sure you take your time getting used to the changes."
Scrat did not know, but because of his Adaptive Evolution he did not need to get used to it However, it was good advice so he listened.
"Alright then, now tell me, where do we find one of those Spirit Amplifiers?"
Scrat thought about it.
"Deep in the Storm Belt. The deeper we go, the stronger the tornadoes and lightning storms and so are the monsters. Monsters the strength of that Tempest Vulture will be common and ones comparable to gods will rule. So be ready for those risks."
Talos liked the sound of that.
"Alright then."
He began to climb his way out of the hole they were in slowly at first before he began to run up the wall. Rock fell as he did so, but he was faster than before even with all his bulk. A regular creature at this size would weigh around 100 tons, but he was not a regular creature.
Before he finished his mutations, he was already many times denser than any living creature had the right to be. Mana was a miraculous thing as despite his smaller size, he weighed a staggering 500 tons before his mutation.
That was combining the weight of his ultra-dense muscles, metal-infused bones, his outer metal armor, and his tail blade. All of which were ungodly dense containing more material per square inch than should be possible.
After his size increased, his weight would have doubled, but the increased density meant he must weigh at least. 2,500 tons. All that weight for a creature of flesh and blood would have made it collapse on itself.
However, his Adaptive Evolution and his magical nature meant that the rules of nature meant jack for him. Must be why the ground was not collapsing on him.
'By my tail blade am I heavy.'
When he finally got out of the crator that used to be a canyon, he turned to look at Scrat.
"Alright, let's get moving. Where to?"
Scrat crossed his arms and closed his eyes as he felt out his treasure-seeking abilities. Talos kept quiet as he allowed the squirrel to do his job. Eventually, he opened his eyes as he felt a lead.
"Head, Northeast. I feel a twitch of interest in that direction. That will also lead us deeper into the Forbidden Regions. In those places, rare magical herbs, metals, and treasures become more common. So does the danger so be ready?
Even Odin in his youth when he was thirsty for knowledge instead of breasts sometimes had to run instead of fight. Let me tell you one of those stories so you know the danger you can find yourself in.
Long ago after Odin and his brothers killed Ymir the first giant. His blood led to the sprouting of the World Tree and the 9 realms. From there, after Bor died and Odin was crowned King of the Aseir, he began to thirst for knowledge.
First, he explored the 9 realms plundering them of their secrets until that was not enough. Then he traveled the world of man seeing other pantheons, starting his fair share of wars especially with the young Greek pantheon when Zeus first came to rule.
Eventually, I joined him on his exploration when he wanted to explore the Underworld. Back then, the Biblical Factions were still just God and his Angels before the creation of the Devils or Fallen. So, Odin was free to explore the Forbidden Region where he plundered treasure after treasure.
But when his greed for more got the better of him and he dived even deeper into the Forbidden Region he encountered something even he had to fear. He named them Heavenly Devil Insects, a contradicting name yes?"
(Got these guys from the Cultivation Novel The Charm of Soul Pets.)
Talos nodded.
"Yes, how is something Heavenly and a Devil at the same time and insects?"
Scrat remembered those creatures.
"Trust me, he thought the same when he encountered them. Their level of strength was measured in their wings, from 2, 4, 6, 8, 10, 12, 14 and finally 16. The more wings they have the stronger they get and when we encounter their swarm he does not think they are in any trouble.
However, the more he killed, the stronger the insects became with more wings. Even Odin, one of the mightiest Norse gods almost lost his life when 2 of the 14 Winged ones attacked him.
He managed to severely wound one while the other almost killed him. He escaped after that and swore to never again go after those. But, for you who seek fights, I suggest we find one of their nests once you get stronger.
Good thing they won't be in the Storm Belt and they are actually very, very, very deep into the Forbidden Regions."
"I am excited already Scrat. Unnaturally excited."
"Of course you are. Odin was a warmonger, but he did not like the act of war. He enjoyed what war did for him rather than it itself."
"Weird. I just like the fight, anyway, mind telling me more stories of you and Odin?"
"I would be happy to. There were so many times he almost got killed by the creatures who call this terrible place home."
So, while Talos traveled through the Forbidden Reagion, Scrat retold stories from his time exploring here. He even spoke of unique creatures that they had faced that would become existential threats if they ever decided to leave the Forbidden Region.
The Heavenly Devil Insects were just one such creature, but they were higher on the list for their sheer numbers. The more that Talos heard, the more the grin on his face grew. Seeing that just made him shake his head.
Odin and Talos were very different for one, one was a god and the other a monster. The difference in mentality and what they wanted was totally different, but he did not dislike that.
"Alright Scrat, hold on tight. I am going to be really picking up speed."
With that said, Talos burst off pushing his new upgraded body to the extreme.
