Chapter 9: Maximus

Mun and Aura find themselves in front of a cave. Aura, although she knows the way, has been backtracking through all the places she has been taken.

“Ah this is the last place, the town should be close”(Aura) Aura tells Mun. as Mun tells her this he starts to contemplate on how he will enter the town without causing to much of a commotion.

Hmm, I can’t just waltz right into the place, it might put both Aura and me in danger.

Just as he was thinking on his next move a enormous 8 foot tall minotaur walks out of the cave, startling Aura.

“Minotaur!!”(Aura) The child screams, managing to get Muns attention. The minotaur is huge, yet despite its monstrous appearance appears graceful, not only that but Mun quickly takes notice that the creatures fur is clean., almost as it has been washed very recently.

“a mimic and a demon child. How odd.”(Minotaur) Aura jumps back in surprise that the Monster spoke.

“forgive me child but I don’t speak demon.”(Minotaur) Worried, Mun quickly hides Aura behind him.

“Who are you?” Mun asks the large minotaur dressed in leather armor and equipped with a strangely adorned sword.

“Hmm? A mimic that can speak, that is a first”(Minotaur) The minotaur praises Mun for his ability to speak fluently.

“I have my ways.” He says to the monster. Mun normally wouldn’t bother talking to this monster but there is one problem that makes Mun hesitate to make a move.

Name: Maximus Race: Minotaur Level: 112

This monster is strong, far to strong for mun to take on alone.

“If you have killed a human, that may cause problems for me.”(Maximus) Maximus began to rub his chin with his humanlike hands.

“Do you care of what happens to humans?” Mun asked, a bit curious about this strange monster that can speak, after all Mun knows why he can speak but why does this minotaur know how to?

“Not particularly, you know humans, selfish and greedy. But some are good people. Even so I can’t allow the intelligent monsters in this area attacking humans, it will ruin my reputation.”(Maximus) Maximus says as he begins to unsheathe his sword, sensing danger mun quickly tells him how he got his voice.

“wait!! This voice is from a creature called a Dolum bird. The only humans I have killed have attacked me first.” He says trying to prevent his death, not that Mun particularly cares about his own life but he needs to fulfill his promise to Aura before he dies.

“If you still wish to kill me, at least allow me to bring this girl to her home” Mun points to Aura with a tendril, Aura can be seen hiding behind a couple of Muns branches only allowing a bit of herself to show so that she can see the monster in front of them.

“It seems you speak the truth.”(Maximus) The great monster speaks, sheathing his sword.

“Hello my name is Maximus the king of the first monster kingdom.”(Maximus) He spoke with dignity and integrity, if an intelligent monsters heard this they would surly believe his words, after all Maximus gives of clean and regal appearance. Most other species would not believe him though, how could they believe that monsters had the intelligence to form a kingdom after all.

“I don’t care who you are, if you are going to leave us be than leave.” Mun speaks bluntly and without respect, to the king of monsters.

“HAHA!! Strange little mimic. Very well I’ll leave you be, but if you ever drop by our kingdom, be sure you will be welcome. We have only just formed but I hope it will one day be a place that even other species will desire to live.” Maximus tells Mun of his desire for the future of his young kingdom.

“No!! mun Hero, Not stay one place!!”(Aura) Aura starts to speak in Human language, her ability is weak yet still amazing for a child her age.

“OH? You can understand human language girl?”(Maximus) he asks, Aura gives her famous head splitting nod.

Maximus can’t help but be surprised with the young girl. She can not only speak the human language at such a young age but Maximus can also feel quite a bit of mana from the girl.

“Interesting girl you have there. At the very least she has befriended one monster, hopefully she will not hate us when she grows older.”(Maximus) he says with a bit of sadness in his eyes.

“Well, if you want to help the girl you will need to find a human village and you can’t go out looking like that. Here.”(Maximus) Maximus takes out the strange cloth on his back and takes out a large Black Cloak out of it, tossing it to Mun.

“This should give you a bit of cover, with your ability to speak, no one will suspect a thing. Though I recommend you eat more wood, that will help you grow larger.”

Hmm I’ll think about it, That could be useful actually.

“Thanks.” Mun tells Maximus. Maximus begins to head off of and just as he crosses Muns path, Maximus whispers in a low voice.

“Don’t let that hatred consume you, boy.”(Maximus) Mun doesn’t understand what a complete stranger he just met could possibly know about him, but it irritated Mun. How dare he speak to me like that as if he knows me as if he is my parental figure or something, those were the thoughts running through his head.

The world has never been kind to Mun, and it sure as hell has not been kind to Aura, so Mun will hate, he will let that hatred fuel what he needs to do. If Mun didn’t hate who could he kill those in his way? If he doesn’t kill those in his way how can he protect Aura until she gets home. That is Muns routine, when he has something he wants to protect he allows hatred to cloud his vision to fulfill his ends. If Aura sees that side of Mun she will surely run away, that is why he is trying to hide it in front of her. Mun is not idiot, he knows how scary an angry person can be, He will only show it if Aura is put in danger, even if she hates him after that, at least he will be able to protect her from harm.

Then another question popped up in Muns head, how could a stranger now about the anger he is feeling. He is no longer human so it is not possible that his facial expression showed what he is feeling. Mun is new to this world but at this moment he understands that, that Minotaur isn’t normal.

The best thing I can do now is heed his advice and start eating a whole bunch of wood.

Mun, along with Aura, starts to chop down trees with his inhuman strength for a couple of hours, at one point Aura falls to sleep, but Mun continues to chop and eat the wood from the trees he cuts down. At first it is difficult after he gets the beat of it he manages to down 5 trees in only 6 hours.

Once Mun Consumes enough trees and his mass has increased significantly, he is no longer a small little mimic but rather an enormous monster with tendrils that extend several feet across. His tendrils cover the area like tree roots, ordinarily a Mimic wouldn’t do such a thing as consume such a vast amount of wood, they first and for most want to consume metal so that they may evolve, increasing your body mass doesn’t make you stronger it only makes you a bigger target, the mimics instinctually know that it is not a good idea to grow so massive; but Mun is different, he is, one was a human. Because he was once human he understands that he can compact the wood to make it denser and thicker than before. That is exactly what he does he compacts all the wood he has collected creating a human like appearance. He starts with his feet than his legs, his torso, arms, shoulders, and finally creates a wooden human like head with just enough space for his eyeballs to fit through. Of course, even an ordinary person with a Mimics body could not achieve this, but Mun studied Anatomy in his few years in college so he has a higher understanding of it than then the average person coupled with his Incredible Mimic memory, he is able to create a body that can even trick humans if he is far away enough. At the end of it all he releases wood that he put in his body, the excess.

With his human form complete, he quickly grabs the cloak that the self-proclaimed monster king gave him and puts it on covering his wooden body. But there is still one last thing he must do, Mun thinks himself.

I still need to hide my face. I take from the excess wood that I dropped a bit earlier and begin to transform it into a wooden mask. The mask Mun makes is poor an really only a piece of wood that can fit around someone’s face, with two eyeholes where eyes would be; but to Mun, this is enough.

“Okay, I’m ready” He says to himself, aloud, as he goes to wake up the, still, sleeping Aura.