Salvos (A Monster Evolution LitRPG)

729. Barred

“Yep— that’s exactly how Salvos and I met! Because I was about to be sacrificed by some scary [Cultists] to summon a Demon!”

Rachel beamed as she clapped her hands together. In response, she was met with a handful of blank stares. Or rather, she stared back at dozens of pairs of empty, hollow eyes.

Black pupils devoid of anything but the desire to kill.

The young girl scratched the back of her head as she swept her gaze over the audience before her. It was not an audience of Humans like her. In fact, it was not even an audience of monsters.

It was an audience of Centinels.

There were all kinds of these so-called mindless swarm monsters standing there— on the other side of the barrier. Whether they were [Junior Centinels], [Young Centinels], or even an [Ancient Centinel]. It didn’t matter. They were all the same.

They were terrifying creatures which only knew to destroy.

So that was why they wouldn’t possibly understand her, right?

Rachel smiled as she tapped a finger on her chin.

“Hm, what other story can I tell you guys?”

She wondered aloud, and the Centinels moved. But they didn’t charged at her or try to attack her. Instead, they almost seemed to exchange curious glances. Their mandibles clicked in arhythmic succession, like they were conversing.

And that was why Rachel knew that they understood her. Because even if they remained entirely silent when she was telling a story, they reacted to her when she asked questions— when she stopped her storytelling.

So while it might have looked like they didn’t understand a thing she said, it was the fact they were silent that proved they understood her. Because if they didn’t, they’d just be crashing mindlessly into the barrier like the other Centinels that saw her through the transparent dome.

Rachel snapped her fingers as the group of Centinels huddled before her immediately hushed up.

“Oh, I know! Let me tell you all about the time I snuck out of Viechester to do a Gold Ranked job on my own because William wouldn’t—”

“Hey, Rachel.”

A voice called out from behind the young girl, interrupting her. Blinking, she glanced back to see Oriur and Kron approaching her from behind. The two of them were wearing their Human form disguises, as per usual.

The [Krokodis] definitely didn’t like being here, and she made her feelings clear on her face— even through her illusion. Meanwhile, Oriur was smiling as he waved at her.

“Hey, Oriur— are Novis and Bellum not coming today?”

Rachel asked the question as she turned away from the Centinels.

“Oh, they—”

But before Oriur could reply, the Centinels began to click their mandibles and moved about erratically, evidently upset that her story was cut off.

The [Ancient Centinel] even let out a soft shriek as it rose up and loomed over the barrier.

Kron immediately scrambled back to the nearby thicket of trees. Meanwhile, Oriur backed up nervously. However, Rachel just chuckled.

“Calm down, guys.”

She glanced at them as she raised her hands placatingly.

“I’ll get back to my story soon. Don’t worry, alright?”

Immediately, the Centinels seemed to settle down. Oriur hesitated as he stared at the supposedly mindless monsters. Rachel smiled, before pausing as a voice echoed in her mind.

General Skill [Passive - Advanced Language Comprehension] Level Up!

[Passive - Advanced Language Comprehension - Lvl. 5] -> [Identification - Lvl. 6]!

Experience is awarded for the leveling of a General Skill!

Class [Mystical Assassin] Level Up!

[Mystical Assassin – Lvl. 75] -> [Mystical Assassin – Lvl. 76]

Gained 5 Stat Points and 3 Skill Points

Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.

“Huh. I just leveled up my [Advanced Language Comprehension] from that.”

Rachel looked down at herself, and Oriur frowned at that.

“That’s the Skill that lets you communicate with the Centinels, right?”

Oriur peered at Rachel. She nodded in response as she eyed the Centinels from the side.

“It does— but it only lets me communicate with them. I tried to speak to a bird the other day, but it didn’t understand me.”

The young girl’s shoulder sagged. Oriur chuckled as he sat down next to her.

“That’s because you spend all your time talking to just the Centinels. That’s probably why it’s specialized only for them.”

Rachel sighed, before looking up at the group of Centinels waiting expectantly for her to continue her story. But she didn’t resume her story just yet.

“I do wonder why I was able to learn that General Skill so easily. There must be a reason for it, right? I mean, I can’t have been the first person to try talking to a Centinel for a few weeks…”

There were a few theories floating in Rachel’s mind. Particularly, that having interacted with Salvos, Oriur, and Centina acclimated her to communicating with plenty of different Species’, which was what enabled her to convey her thoughts to the Centinels even when they hadn’t understood her yet.

Or maybe she really was just the first person who tried talking to Centinels to the extent she did.

After all, [Beast Tamers] and [Monster Masters] often gained some kind of Skill that allowed them to communicate with their pets. Or at the very least— to command their pets in one way or another.

And while Rachel’s Class did not relate to taming monsters at all, she still somehow learned this General Skill.

She could hypothesize as to the reasons why all she wanted, but that didn’t change the fact that what she was doing was working. And even Oriur, who had been apprehensive about the idea at first, was starting to come around to it.

“Rachel…”

Oriur whispered as he eyed the Centinels— specifically, the [Ancient Centinel] that was waiting patiently by the barrier.

“I know you want to prove that we can befriend the Centinels. But do you really think this will work?”

The Wyvern asked, glancing back at the young girl. She tilted her head back and shrugged.

“I mean, why would I be doing this if I didn’t think that was the case?”

It was a causal response. A straightforward one at that. Oriur chewed his lower lip— something he probably couldn’t actually do without great difficulty due to his physiology, but his Human illusion did it just fine.

“I don’t know? But don’t you think this is a longshot? How exactly are you going to convince the Matriarch Centinel not to kill us all and spare Centina?”

“I’ll figure it out as I go.”

Rachel said as she waved a hand dismissively. Oriur opened his mouth to protest.

“But—”

“Just trust me.”

The young girl interrupted him, giving him a thumbs-up.

“It’ll be fine— probably!”

“Right…”

Oriur drew his lips into a thin line as he stared at her. He remained silent for a moment as Rachel quickly changed the topics.

“Anyway, what were you saying about Novis and Bellum again?”

“Oh, Novis and Bellum won’t be joining us today.”

Oriur replied as he watched Rachel rise to her feet. She tilted her head back at him.

“Why not?”

“Because—”

And right as Oriur started, he was cut off by a voice echoing in the distance.

“Rachel! Oriur!”

“We’re here!”

Rachel blinked, recognizing those voices immediately. She looked up excitedly and called out.

“Novis, Bellum? You guys are—”

And she froze at what she saw approaching from above. Oriur raised his head, and Kron stuck her head out from behind a tree. The two of them stared at the descending cloud.

“Uh-oh.”

Rachel whispered as she stared at the three figures standing atop the cloud. The first two were Novis and Bellum in their Wyvern forms— of course, without Kron there, they couldn’t disguise themselves as Humans.

But the third figure was… well, it was Clayton Skyshredder.

Headmaster of Mavos Academy.

And the cloud landed right before Rachel and Oriur. Immediately, Novis and Bellum hopped off the cloud and dashed forward excitedly.

“We here!”

“Clayton help us!”

Novis and Bellum spoke the best they could with their basic understanding of language. But as they looked between Rachel and Oriur, they paused, realizing that neither of the other two seemed as excited as they did.

Slowly, they turned around. And they saw the look on Clayton’s face.

He wore a disapproving look. His brows furrowed and scrunched together as he glanced between Rachel and the Centinels.

The young girl flinched as he asked a simple question.

“What is going on here?”

He demanded, and she scratched the back of her head.

“I’m… um, trying to make some friends?”

That was the best explanation she could give. And she hoped it would be enough to convince Clayton to leave her alone. But unfortunately for her…

—--

That was not the case.

“You’re not allowed to leave this room until the Centinel siege has been lifted.”

Clayton said simply as he slammed the door before Rachel. She ran up to the door and caught it with her foot right before it could close. Protesting weakly, she met the Headmaster of Mavos Academy’s gaze.

“What? But I was making progress— I was actually befriending the Centinels!”

Clayton shook his head as he turned away from her.

“You do not know what you are doing. Right now, the only thing keeping the barrier up is the fact that the Centinels are not continuously assailing us. If you draw their ire with your words, it could reignite the fury of their siege, and our barrier could fall within the span of a few days.”

“But—”

Rachel started, and Clayton brought a hand up. A spell circle flashed before him, knocking the young girl back to the middle of the bedroom.

“For the safety of Mavos Academy, you will not be allowed to step foot outside of this room for now.”

The Headmaster of Mavos Academy spoke with finality in his voice, then he closed the door shut as Rachel looked up. A moment later, a crimson light shimmered across the room, before a spell circle formed at the door, clearly trapping her in.

And Rachel could only stare at the shut door as she tried to work her jaw.

“I… was actually befriending them, though.”