Walking through the tunnel, it grows wilder, expanding into a larger opening. A new scenery reaches his gaze—a mushroom forest. The towering fungi, with purplish caps, stretch high like ancient trees, their sheer size casting deep shadows over the ground. Just like the red-spotted bio, the mushrooms here are massive, their thick stalks rooted deep into the earth. Beneath them, strange flowers resembling glowing light bulbs flicker faintly.
Ben studies his surroundings, taking in the alien landscape. A thought crosses his mind 'are these mushrooms poisonous?' He smirks, shaking his head. 'Krell should have strong resistance against it anyway.' His gaze sweeps across the forest floor, but so far, he sees no sign of animals or creature in the view.
Not taking any chances, he pulls up the creature creation screen and summons two Krell scouts. "Go explore."
The kneeling Krell give a nod before making their move. One heads northwest, the other northeast, vanishing into the towering mushrooms. Ben then creates another Krell soldier, its form solidifying before him. "Stay on guard," he mutters, sparing it a glance before shifting his focus back to the massive mushroom.
"Ti to chop this." He pulls out an axe, gripping it firmly before swinging down with force.
BAM! BAM!
The impact sends vibrations through the thick stalk. He braces himself, expecting a red liquid to burst out—just like with the red-spotted mushrooms from before. But this ti, nothing. No oozing sap, no sudden reaction.
With a final strike, the massive mushroom topples, crashing to the ground in a cloud of dust. Where the stalk split, white fibrous strands stretch between the broken parts, looking almost like muscle sinew. Ben narrows his eyes, crouching to inspect the exposed fibers. 'Interesting… this looks just like mushrooms back on Earth.' He runs a hand along the strange, sinewy strands, feeling their elasticity. 'I rember seeing a docuntary—people used this kind of material to make rope, even clothes…'
A grin spreads across his face. The potential here is huge. While he doesn't know the exact process, with Elvira's knowledge and his own mories, he's sure he could figure it out. This is one of those monts where the Creation System isn't all that useful.
The system allows him to mold materials into any form—godlike, almost cheating—but that also ans the properties of the material remain the sa. He can't use it to purify bronze ore, nor condense raw material into sothing denser. If he makes sothing smaller, it's just like cutting it. The sa applies to this fiber—before it can be used properly, it needs processing. His thoughts are interrupted by a faint rustling in the distance. His grip on the axe tightens. 'That's not the Krell scouts.' He would've felt them through the hive mind.
Slowly, he turns toward the source of the sound. From between the towering mushrooms, a creature erges—a hulking, chitin-armored beast, moving with barely any sound. It resembles a tiger, but its body is covered in thick, black plating, segnted like an insect's exoskeleton. Three pairs of yellow eyes gleam from its skull, their eerie glow locking onto him like a predator analyzing its prey.
Its quite large, nearly as big as a gorilla, its four muscular legs move slightly as it prowls forward. Its claws, curved like sickles, gleam under the dim light.
But there's sothing else—sothing that makes Ben uneasy. It doesn't snarl. It doesn't growl. Its gaze is sharp, calculating. It's watching him. Studying him. This thing isn't just so mindless beast. There's intelligence behind those six yellow eyes.
Ben locks eyes with the creature, his grip tightening on the axe. Then, after a brief pause, he speaks. "What are you?"
So might think talking to a beast like this is pointless, but Ben doesn't hold onto outdated ideas from his old world. Just because it walks on four legs, just because it isn't humanoid, doesn't an it can't understand. The creature doesn't react imdiately. Instead, it moves—slowly, deliberately—circling him. Its gaze flickers between him, the axe in his hand, and the fallen mushroom.
Ben narrows his eyes. 'Since when was this thing here? Did it see cutting the purple mushroom tree?' Then he notices—its steps make no sound. Not a single crunch or rustle. That ans... it made the noise on purpose. Like a person clearing their throat before speaking, just so they don't startle soone.
'I didn't sense it at all before..' Ben beco more alert. That alone makes the creature dangerous. Even the Krell soldiers standing guard hadn't noticed it.
Then, without warning, the creature stops. Its head tilts slightly, then its jaws part—revealing not just rows of jagged teeth, but sothing else. A sound. A clicking noise.
Ben's eyes widen. 'Is it a way it communicate?' His mind races. 'A territorial warning? A challenge? Or… a greeting?'
Ben exhales slowly, keeping his eyes locked on the creature. The rhythmic clicking continues, its tone shifting—soti shorter, soti longer. 'Wait… isn't this kinda like Morse code? ' His mind jumps to translate, instincts kicking in. 'Dot, dot, dash…' His coworkers used to do this all the ti—clanking tools together, sending secret ssages just to ss with their boss. The mory nearly makes him smirk. But then, halfway through, he freezes. 'What the hell am I doing? There's no way a creature in another world is using Earth Morse code.'
Shoving the thought aside, he tries a different approach. Slowly, he crouches, pressing his palm against the fallen mushroom's exposed fibers. His axe stays low—within reach, but not threatening. A subtle move. One that says, 'I'm not here to fight. Just looking around.'
The clicking stops. The creature's six eyes blink—one pair at a ti. Then, cautiously, it steps closer.
Ben stays still, watching. Up close, he can see the faint glow of bioluminescent veins running beneath its exoskeleton, pulsing gently like sothing alive under the shell. Then, to his surprise, it does sothing completely unexpected. It mimics him. One of its front legs lifts, tapping the fallen mushroom lightly—mirroring his exact gesture. Then, it stares at him again, waiting.
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