Mixed Blessing System

A few hours later, Lothur and the demon had gone a few miles further and reached the halfway point to the first lake in their path.

They were once again standing in a common area of this forest, not belonging to the territory of any beast.

He was already in an area filled with more powerful beings. So the frequency of organisms coming and going there was much less than in other parts he had passed.

Lothur and the demon had encountered several 2nd stage and even some 1st stage beasts in this region they were passing through. Beings like that existed in this area. After all, those 3rd stage beasts had subordinates and families.

These weaker beings usually lived within the territories of their respective leaders, which was one of the reasons why these beasts were so protective of their areas.

Because of this, Lothur and the demon also had not faced any problems after following the advice of the two previous beasts.

They had traveled up to this point without entering any beast's territory, which had avoided a problem for them with both the stronger and weaker beasts.

Because of their experience there, they had noticed beasts of the most diverse types on their way up to this point. But not only that, but they also saw the density of beasts per square meter of this forest decrease with every kilometer they approached that first lake.

So, by now, the two were much more alert than before!

The demon itself was afraid, as it did not want to run into any being capable of eliminating it.

...

"Hey, give me something to eat!" The creature that looked like a strange child said this to Lothur as it saw this young man eating a fruit that looked like a mango.

"Do you need to eat, demon?" Lothur looked at it in curiosity as he sat in front of this creature on top of a fallen wood log.

"Of course!" That blue-skinned creature said while grimacing. "I am a living being like you, you bastard."

"I'm not so sure about that..." Lothur muttered since he did not know many things about how demons lived. "What happens if I leave you without food?"

'I won't die, but I will get weaker, and my regeneration will take longer to happen!' The creature thought quietly, not wanting to tell Lothur this, and ended up spurring this human to torture it even more.

"The bad smell you sense will intensify if I don't eat at least twice daily." It said, which was indeed true.

Lothur did not like this and asked. "What do you eat, demon?"

"Anything that humans and beasts eat." It said as it smiled, hoping it could taste something after hours without making a meal.

"Is that so?" Lothur looked at the peel of the mango he was finishing eating. "Eat that."

"Tsk!"

The creature did not like it but did as Lothur ordered since it needed to eat something to suffer less at the hands of this person.

While the demon was doing this, suddenly, Lothur heard the trees in the surrounding area moving differently than when the wind blew them.

But before he could even look in the direction of the newcomer, such a creature looked at him and the demon and said. "How unusual. It's not often you see such a striking pair around these areas."

Lothur looked in the direction of a giant toad and saw this creature's status, opening his mouth in shock.

[Stone Lake Transparent Toad]

[Cultivation: level 17]

[STR: ???] [CON: ???] [DEX: ???] [AGI: ???]

"Nascent Soul Transcendent?" The demon let a few mango peels fall from its mouth and exclaimed in surprise while seeing this creature.

Lothur continued with his mouth open, seeing this being that looked like a rounded house, full of black stripes across its dark green body.

"That... Senior... Gulp!"

"To what do we owe the honor?" Lothur discovered a way to express himself while keeping his guard up, afraid of this opponent.

The toad then opened its big mouth and let a tree branch fall from its lips while its long, pink tongue quickly ran into the vicinity of these two.

'Is it going to eat us?' The silver-haired young man worried, but that was only for a short while.

Just as it was about to touch him and the demon, that tongue stopped, and the two beings felt the stench of it.

Meanwhile, the toad's eyes narrowed as it looked at the two. "Monarch demon and a human with no spiritual cultivation... That's not right. You probably captured it, or its hatred for you wouldn't be so intense."

"No, come to think of it, you caused its condition. Then you must be hiding your strength." It said in its spiritual voice as it sensed the characteristics of those two bodies.

'He has awakened bloodline and Physique...' After another second, the creature thought about it, noting that Lothur was quite impressive for someone without cultivation.

"Human, what are you doing here? Why do you have a demon with you?" It asked out of curiosity.

This creature had a territory in the surrounding area. But when it returned from its mating time, it saw these two beings in this common forest area and decided to approach.

Seeing such a highly-ranked demon walking practically unescorted in such a place was unusual. So it could not help but covet Lothur's possession!

Lothur swallowed his saliva again and said. "Senior, we are just passing through. We ended up in this place accidentally, so we are looking for a way out."

"As for this creature, I captured it some time ago and am in search of someone capable of killing it and delivering its Soul Bone to me."

"Of course, I will find a way to compensate this benevolent being who agrees to help me."

"Oh? You want someone to kill this creature for you?" The toad found it curious since, even for beasts, this creature had its value. "What do you have to offer?"

"I have plenty of resources where I come from. So I will buy anything that this being who helps me this way desires!" Lothur said this without thinking it through, afraid of this creature.

"Really? Are you going to do that?" This creature did not know how Lothur would do this, but it felt it was true. "Why don't you change your mind? If you give me this demon, I will give you safe passage to your goal."

Lothur frowned, while that demon did not like this 'suggestion' either since the chance of it dying at this toad's 'hands' was higher than that of the young human.

"Lothur, don't accept that!" It said in nervousness. "That creature won't help you. There's no sense in trusting anyone!"

"Hmmm?" The creature released its aura over that little demon's body. "Quiet, abominable creature!"

The creature's breath hit Lothur's nostrils, but he remained still where he was, not knowing what to do in this situation.

He could not run from a creature as powerful as that!

'Damn it!'

'I can only risk it!' He clenched his fists and said. "Senior, it's not impossible. But since the cost will not be small, I have one more request to make."

...