Two human-like beasts with ugly canines poking out of their mouths stood close together; they had snake-like tongues as they hissed in greeting between themselves. Their hardened skin made them look like twins, but the color of their skin, blue and black, created a difference between them, but their ugly skin remained the same.
"Any results?" The blue-colored beast, Atlas asked his brother, Joel, who shook his head in return.
Both beasts were evolved beasts who had moved from A-rank to S-rank, where they grew out of their animalistic form and gained intelligence and speech. Both beasts in their former state were Achiloq, and they were related to the same Achiloq Lucian had murdered in the dungeon he escaped from.
"Before I could feel some of his magic inside the dungeon, but all of a sudden it is gone. Occasionally, it would appear again from time to time, but not as strong as before; it is like a spark before it goes off again." The black-colored beast said. He had been close to the dungeon where his little brother had run off to.
"Do you think that demon ate him?" Atlas asked in spite. Both brothers hated the dungeon king.
Like some monster in Hlasked, they were trapped in an A-rank dungeon, but after evolving and gaining a stronger mana core, both became S-rank beasts, well, except for their little brother, who was still trapped as a mindless beast. The brothers had tricked their way out of their A-rank dungeon before the dungeon king transferred them over to an S-rank dungeon. The three brothers wanted to be free and grow in strength together. As evolved beasts, Atlas's poison skin was stronger than before, while Joel's strength had increased; their little brother, whose talent lies in hardening his skin, his harden skin was stronger than his evolved brothers even in his mindless state. Both brothers got tired of waiting for their brother to get to their level and decided to kill him and eat him; that way they would have his ability to strengthen their own and, at the same time, carry a piece of their brother with them forever.
However, the beast Achiloq was not to be underestimated even in its mindless state; its sense for danger was very much still alive. After sensing that its life was at risk, the beast ran away and hid itself in a C-rank dungeon, where it was then killed by Lucian and Luna later on.
"If the dungeon king wanted to eat him, he would have done that the first day he entered into the dungeon." Joel had been watching the dungeon from a distance since that day. There was no way for him or his brother to negotiate with the dungeon king, not when they broke the rules and ran away from the dungeon they were supposed to be in. If the dungeon king gets their hands on them, they will be dead. He was very sure of that, and yet for some weird reason their brother wasn't kicked out of the dungeon he had run into. Jeol wanted to go into the dungeon, but he didn't want to risk his life. The dungeon king must have left his brother there as bait to drag him in. "I think he isn't at the dungeon anymore. Maybe he's dead. For some months now I haven't felt his magic energy."
"No. Our brother is alive." Atlas said with certainty. And now that he had listened to his brother's suggestion, he was even more sure about what he had been feeling.
The three beasts were relatives with a special bond of magic that tied them to each other. And lately Atlas has been feeling his little brother's magic deep in the forest; at first he thought it was impossible because he knew the dungeon king wouldn't allow his brother to escape again.
"Our brother is no longer in that dungeon." Atlas tries to pinpoint the location; he could feel his brother's magic. It was faint with no exact location, but he could feel it.
Joel had a grim look of disbelief on his face. "Then he is dead outside the dungeon?" Like Atlas, he didn't care much about if their dumb little brother was dead; he only cared about the magic lost due to his brother's death.
"Focus, brother." Atlas took in a deep breath; it took him and his brother thousands of years to have a breakthrough from their mindless beast state. "Focus, and you will be able to sense his magic too. He's out there, alive. I don't know how he managed to escape the dungeon in his mindless state, but I guess we will have to find him to know.
A tree branch broke. It creates a silence between both brothers before Atlas then asks, "Who is there?"
A weak little wolf beast with sharp canines shows itself; it lowers its head in respect and bows to both brothers. Although other creatures were mindless beasts, the brothers could communicate with them as evolved beasts. To the brothers, other beasts were like pets they needed to train.
"I thought you warned every beast around not to near this particular spot?" Joel asks in a dangerous tone as he growls.
The little wolf beast begins to visibly shake in fear. "Well, it doesn't matter if one missed the memo. This only means that we can take a lunch break."
"Lunch, you say, brother." Atlas advanced towards the wolf beast, who was now frozen in fear. "This is obviously too small for us to share." He widened his mouth and bit half of the wolf's head off. The rest of the dead body drops down, but it's quickly attacked by Joel, who rushes over to finish eating the dead wolf without letting his brother take another bite.
"You are right, brother." Joel licks the blood on his sharp claws. "This isn't enough for us to share, and it can't fill me. I need more." His bloodlust gaze imagined that it was his little brother he had eaten.