8 Scrat The Spirit Squirrel.

Talos entirely consumed his Bison prey after 5 days, and he returned to his journey once he did. The further he traveled the more the cold seemed to suddenly warm. At first, it was only a few degrees after miles, but eventually, after most of the snow melted, and left an open grassland. 

While the temperature was still chilly, it was warm enough for no snow to remain. When he looked out at the tall grass of the savannah he thought it was quite a view. 

'Amazing view, and so many prey items.' 

As he looked out, for many miles, different herds of herbivores traveled through the open savannah. The herds were absolutely massive and so were the animals they made up. 

This was honestly a great environment for him who required nearly daily prey. The energy requirements his Adaptive Evolution required to fuel his growth meant he constantly had to eat to support his accelerated growth. 

Yet he was not content to stay in one place for too long because he had come to love the journey he was on. For the moment he did not require much food so he walked toward one of the few trees growing in the savannah and sat down under it.

His tail blade curled around and rested at his size he rested on his belly. He could not exactly go on his back as his back spikes made that impossible. However, sleeping on his side was quite fine, but he preferred to sleep on his stomach.

For now, he merely enjoyed the view of the many creatures living their lives. He often thought of how he had made himself part of that ecosystem in his 6 years of living as a monster. His power from his past life had grown in this one many times over and he was yet done. 

Just as his thoughts went here, something fell on him. When it bounded off him he noticed it was a fruit which he sniffed. It smelled slightly sweet so he licked it up and ate it. When the flavor fell on his tongue he licked his lips. 

When he looked up, he noticed a creature holding one of the fruits. It looked like a squirrel only the size of a small child. The squirrel raised the fruit in its hands and dropped it down for him. He opened his mouth and caught the fruit before eating it. 

When the squirrel saw that, it climbed down the tree and got in front of his face. Talos tilted his head as the squirrel seemed brave. What did it want?

"Excuse me, spikey fellow, I was wondering if you would be interested in a trade." 

Talos was surprised for a moment but not really. In his past world, sentient beasts were common among the stronger ones. This world so far seemed to follow the same rules so was this squirrel strong?

"You talk squirrel?" 

The squirrel stood on its back legs with a nod. 

"Yes. I am a Spirit Squirrel, we are rather famous you know." 

"Why?" 

The squirrel raised its head high and spoke. 

"Because we are known as treasure-finding squirrels. We help our partners find treasure in exchange for their protection. We are not very good at fighting so we get caught by those ugly Devils and perverted Fallen Angels. 

Sometimes even the other factions try to catch us as we are an endangered species even in the Underworld.' 

'A source of Information.' 

Talos leaned in to look at the squirrel at eye level. 

"I take the Devils are the humanoid creatures with the two black bat wings yes. And cat ears?" 

The squirrel thought about it for a moment before realizing what he meant. 

"Ah, you mean the Baleth clan of Devils. Their founding ancestor was a catman who controlled sound and music. Before he died in the Great War." 

"How would you know squirrel?" 

The squirrel pointed at itself. 

"I have a name spikey fellow. I am Scrat." 

"And I also have a name Scrat. It is Talos, and my species is not 'Spikey Fellow', I am a Glavenus. A Hellblade subspecies to be exact." 

Scrat ran around Talos to observe his tailblade. Talos allowed him and watched as he carefully observed the massive blade. He ran one of his fingers along the edge with a shine to his eyes.

"Talos was it, I said I am good at looking for treasure yes. Now this blade is a treasure even Clan Lords would lust for. How did you fuse it to yourself?" 

Talos shook his head finding joy in learning more of this world through a fellow beast. 

"Every Glavenus from birth travels far and wide to test their sword skills and add more precious metals and minerals to their tail blade. This is my tail blade which I have crafted in my 6 years of life." 

Scrat with still shinning eyes looks at Talos.

"Do you mind if I analyze it a bit?" 

Talos shook his head. If Scrat praised his tail blade it would make his pride in it rise. Scrat leaned over and knocked on it with his claw. He then licked it before licking his lips as if tasting a fine wine. 

"Ah, a base of Fire Essence Ore, Light Rhinocesours steel, earthen mithril, a hint of blaze steel and to finish it off spirit silver. A mixture like that at first glance would not work as the opposing elements would be unstable, but that is not the case in this. 

It's as if all these metals are flowing with your life force causing them to enter a perfect balance."

Talos was now curious. 

"How do you know so much?" 

Scrat puffed his chest out and crossed his arms. 

"Long ago, I used to be the companion of Odin in his youth. I learned a lot from that old god." 

Talos had not heard of that god before. 

"Never heard of him." 

Scrat did not judge him for it. 

"I don't blame you. You and your kind are more than likely from the Lost Regions. Most creatures from there almost never leave as they have all they need there. However, if you have this tail I belive your species has a warrior culture yes? A desire to test yourself against worthy battles." 

"Correct." 

"Then I will explain shortly. Odin is the King of the Norse Pantheon one of the big factions of gods. I was his personal treasure finder for a very long time. As for why I am here, and not with him, well I got greedy and stole some treasures I should not have." 

Talos was curious. 

"What did you steal?" 

Scrat smiled as he reached into his mouth and pulled out a ring and a necklace. 

"I stole Draupnir and Brísingamen hehehehe." 

Talos sniffed both curiously and found they were full of magic.

"What do they do?" 

Scrat held them out with pride. 

"Draupnir makes 8 copies of itself every 9 days and Brísingamen makes the user irresistible." 

Talos lost interest in them after that. 

"Good prizes for you." 

Scrat nodded before putting them back in his mouth. 

"Anyhow, what do you say Talos? Will you allow me to accompany you on your journey?" 

Talos nodded. 

"Of course. In exchange for me protecting you, I would like to hear more of this world and the factions. As you say, I know nothing of this world." 

Scrat smiled and climbed onto Talos' back before getting on his head. With that, Talos ended his break and rose to his feet before continuing on. 

"So Talos, what do you wish to know?" 

"Speak of the Devils more. What are they?" 

Scrat made himself conformable and began to explain to Talos all about the Devils, how they came to be, how they operate, and how they were run now. Meanwhile, Talos listened attentively while he traveled. 

Having Scrat along was actually as good as he could have a conversation with the knowledgeable squirrel. After an hour, Talos understood the general idea of the Devils. 

"I see. So Devils are pretty much a science experiment made by this Lucifer using his wife?" 

Scrat nodded. 

"Right. Devils struggle to breed as they are artificial beings with weak reproduction abilities. It is why even centuries after the Great War they still suffer from minuscule populations. It's why they made the Evil Piece system." 

"What is that?" 

"It was made by Ajuka Beelzebub, one of the kings of the Devils. His Pieces have the power to turn almost any race save for gods into Devils. The way they do this, Odin discovered is that they contain mutating arrays and Demonic Power that warps the soul and body of the creatures they are used on." 

Talos squinted his eyes. 

"So that is why those Baleth clan Devils wanted to catch me? They wanted to turn me into a Devil?" 

Scrat nodded. 

"Most likely Talos. So whatever you do, never allow yourself to be captured by them. Once that Evil Piece goes in, there is little that can be done to get it out and it will warp your mind. At first, it seems insignificant, but you will feel a natural urge to serve your 'Master'. 

Also, the turned Devil will have a bit of their talent taken away to fuel their transformation. But there are no absolutes and there are Strays that have the willpower to kill or revolt against their masters. When this happens, if they are weak they will be mutated by their Demonic Power and the Evil Piece. 

The strong though will resist the negative effects and use the surge of power from their dead master to become even stronger. As such-" 

"Don't become a Devil." 

"Right. At that point, you are no better than a slave. For a prideful species like yours, it would be a shame yes?" 

"Right, you are Scrat." 

"Of course. Now, let's talk about the rival of the Devils. Grigori. The Fallen Angels, can't turn others into Fallen Angels, but they are the most open to outsiders joining. If you have to join any of the biblical factions they are the best option. 

The best option, still a bad one." 

"I won't. I feel better about sticking to myself. Anyway, Scrat, where is this." 

"We are currently in the Ryland Savannah. We are currently in neither Devil nor Grigori Territory. The main Grigori lands are southeast of here and by hundreds of miles. 

This is near the border of the Forbidden Regions. Not to be confused with the Lost Regions you came from. The Forbidden Regions are regions with mana so wild that even the weather is magical. Not to mention the life forms that exist there are savage powerful creatures." 

Talos licked his lips. 

"Is their treasure and metals there?"

Scrat nodded. 

"Lots. And the metals found there are honestly so saturated with mana that they are much stronger. I even know a few metals that would go great with your tail blade. Even several herbs that will help you and me." 

Talos made his mind up. 

"Alright, point me in the direction of the Forbidden Regions." 

Scrat pointed south. As Talos was currently moving east, south meant he had to turn right. When he did so, Scrat nodded. 

"Keep going straight. You will know when you reach the border as the first region is called the Storm Belt. Constant wind and lightning storms rage there forever. Most of the creatures, metals, and herbs found there are of those two elements."

"Right." 

While they walked Scrat laid down and spoke up. 

"Until we arrive, I will be filling in the blanks of your knowledge. For starters, this is the Underworld. A subrealm of earth that is home to humans and other mortal races. These are quite vast so I will explain in time. I already explained the overview of the Devils, so let's talk more about their leaders, the Satans. Ready for a big lecture." 

"Sure." 

"To start off, Sirzechs Lucifer-" 

And so began Talos' lessons under Scrat the Spirit Squirrel. His first ally in this world which he did not think he needed, but understood he did. It also helped that Scrat was a fellow monster.