the next after a very relaxing camping trip, Aero spent the following day reading and carving while helping his mother as she asked. but for the most part, he was left alone, nothing exciting happen right up till before he went to bed, where he formed more restraint for the beast.

he knew it had been getting more annoyed with him, but he wasn't going to stop. instead, he started putting spikes on the restraints, from what the helper reported the beast roared for days about that one, and of course, it retaliated.

"wh-at?!" aero choked as he tried to make more room. a somewhat slimy and sharp tentacle had launched out of the gate, aero had only managed to bring an arm up. preventing it from wrapping completely around his next and probably crushing his neck. he could feel his carapace and bones starting to give as the tentacle tightened.

it was too strong to push off, 'well plan b then!' reaching around on the ground he grabbed the blade he set by his bed. and drove it straight into the tentacle before dragging the blade down the length. opening the large gash rancid blood started spurting forth.

mentally he noted that was a pain he was going to have to clean up, even more so when he noticed it started to burn through his floor and the blade he used. 'well at least it's not on my bed,' that thing had too many memories attached and sew on to it.

the cut made the tentacle loosen up for just a moment, but that was enough for Aero to slip through and plant his feet don't he ground. the tentacle tried to grab him again, and it was fast, almost too much for the teen to follow with his eyes. he didn't need that. he was instead, focusing on the portal that it came through.

now at some point in his future aero was aware as a cosmic lord he would learn a bunch of skills, maybe closing portals. but that time wasn't now. he didn't consider that it would be a possibility.

he did know the portal was small so that left a limited amount of space it could move in that area. which meant it was early to stab his melting blade into it, so deep the handle sunk it before reaching down with every bit of force he could muster.

it almost cut the tentacle in half, blood spurted out but expecting that Aero jerked back. avoiding any on his face, bits landed a bit on his hand. but mostly over his floor and wall. which was melting to his annoyance. it was going to be a pain to repair.

he pushed his future problems aside and instead threw away his mostly melted blade so he could wrap his arms around the damaged tentacle and pull. it instinctively pulled back from him, but that only widened the bleeding cut by half. aero grinned as he braced his feet and pulled harder.

the tentacle changed tactics and tried to throw him off. but the teen only dug his feet in harder shifting his upper body when necessary and never stopped pulling. until the flesh gave up. with a wet noise that would upset the squeamish.

the sudden lack of opposing force would have put Aero on his back if he hadn't moved his leg fast enough. he managed to see the rest of the tentacle retreat into the portal. for a few petals, he remained tense in case another attack came. but nothing happened so he relaxed a bit. "alright what was that?!"

'A semi-direct attack from the beast of pride, a rather clever way of going about it.' the helper's voice deviated from its usual completely neutral to something upset. which kind of freaked Aero out, but he forced himself to calm down." how did it attack and what the chances of it happening again?"

'it infused a bit of its power with a rather arrogant,' the next few words weren't in a langue that he understood,' a species that is currently untranslatable to your tongue. but on the basis, they were a member of a race known for their ability to cross great lengths of space through portal creation. they also aren't the smartest bring-in creation. nor the most dangerous. something that wouldn't set off an alarm slipping past the planetary barrier.'

"noted," Aero rubbed at his arms trying to ignore the stinging sensation." will it happen again?" the helper was quiet for a moment as they ran the numbers.' will the beast of pride try again, without a doubt, will it be a member of that race unknown. too many unknown variables.'

aero grumbled before opening the door to the hallway he needed to wash up, "Alright then what should I do?" it didn't matter that the beast changed tactics, he wasn't giving in nor giving up his vacation time.

'one use pure water and a base to clean the acid off before it does real damage.' aero got right on that. the base had to come from some herbs, he ground up before throwing into some warm water, which was followed by his whipping down and then bandaging his skin before cleaning up his room.

'now my lord, eat the tentacle!'

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"What?" aero blinked after a moment. wondering if he misses heard. 'you heard me, my lord,' he was stunned again they wanted him to eat." what?... Why?" wasn't this another intelligent creature?

'if you are worried about eating it because it is part of another intelligent creature. then won't worry they don't mind being eaten.' aero was lost once more.' universal law on the matter, is mostly consent. As for why one would eat this, their flesh possed a certain type of nutrition that good for the body and mind. enough that they sell it.'

"okay," that was interesting. "is it safe for them to sell their flesh like that?" the helper then informed him of how powerful their regeneration was. By the end of a flower, the limb would be good as new. because of that, they have little problem selling body parts for profit.'

"I can't believe they're selling their own body parts for profit." the helper stated that wasn't the strangest thing they had on record of people doing for profit. aero decided he didn't want to know more about that, no right now he was going to figure out how he felt about eating another being flesh. his people as a whole didn't eat a lot of meat, mostly for digestive reasons. but that didn't mean they were incapable.

just prepare for a bad stomach, which aero might get in short order.

"Will this be worth it?" the helper took that as an actual question telling him how it would feed into his body. effecting even his nervous system and bones. so yea it sounded like it would be very worth it. which was followed by the question of how would he eat it.

"it would be best that you grilled it, I hear the test and texture is the best. plus that heat will deal with the acid." that last part seemed the most important, "Well where do I find a grill." he knew people used them in a vague sense. but didn't know anyone that owned one.

aero ended up searching his family's kitchen finding out. that his mother at some point brought a grill for their stove." why has she never used this?" he asked himself as he set up the grill.

which took much longer than it should have before he got it right and lit the fires. waiting a bit for the metal to heat up before he dropped the dripping tentacle onto the grate. " it was interesting to watch how it cooked. watching as it grilled, the blood quickly boiling off. losing its melting qualities as the skin caramelized looking very crunchy.

by the time the helper told Aero it was done the tentacle had lost half its size, "well I guess this is it," moving it onto a plate. he uses a knife to cut it into small pieces on the helper's advice. looking at it, he wondered if this was really worth it." he knew this would do things to his digestive tract.

"let's hope this doesn't cause too much regret." he brought the first to his mouth. his first thought when he bit in, was it was surprisingly juicy, the skin was crunchy while the inside melted over his tongue. a thick meaty taste, aero hadn't had much in his mouth other than gels. but this wasn't bad.

'chewing is a painful thought,' he thought as he worked his jaw and then moved on to the next piece working his way through them in the middle of the night. it gave him some time to think. his thoughts drifting the beast and its attack. it's going to try again, I need to figure out something to protect myself.'

he wondered if it was too much to hope that the attacks would only come after him, he asked the helper who knew more about the beast's behavior. 'my apologizes my lord I don't know, it's never made a move like this. a new number of possibilities have to be observed. I can't say your mother your team or Adir is safe.'

aero bit rather hard into another piece of meat. 'okay, plan to defend possible victims of the beast.' that was going to be a real problem. aero was confident in his ability to defend himself, but defending someone from across the country was a different problem. he continued to think about it as he finished up the meal and rented to his room.

"I'll patch that up in the morning," he was too tired to care about the holes in his floor for the moment. hopefully, that didn't become a problem between now and then. he went down to bed as best as he could. unable to put his guard down enough to fully fall asleep. but he got to rest so he could deal with that.

he couldn't deal with the insectoid creature that he work up to. having crawled in through the small hole in his wall. he would figure that out in a few moments after he rapidly grabbed it and threw it outside. before whipping his face, and checking his room for more." alright first thing after breakfast get my room pathed up!"

aero had it through his doorway, pushing the curtain aside, right before his digestion system made noises he's never heard before." and there is the regret." growing he changed course to the washroom.

after dealing with that, aero actually made it to the kitchen where he saw his mother cooking. with more pep in her step than usual. why didn't get a chance to think about it when his nose was hit with the smell of the first meal and his stomach immensity made unhappy and distressing noise?

he returned to the kitten a dozen petals later. his stomach calmer as he entered the kitchen," are you okay?" his mother asked having seen the speed he used." no," Aero stated as he took a seat at the table. "but I'll be better soon." maybe by the zalts he hoped so it has only been a flower and he already had many regrets.

"but I need to go buy some wood for my room," she asked why and Aero softly explained that he had been attacked last night." okay maybe I should have used that melody to soundproof my room," she mumbled to herself before asking if he was in danger of getting again.

"I have no idea when or how, but it going to happen." his mother nodded silently shutting worry aside. aero has taken care of himself, he would be fine." honesty I'm more worried about the chances of you being attacked?" now Neora was worried about that.

look she could defend herself, "do you have an idea of how they might attack us?" there was a slight trembled as she stirred the pot over the fire. aero was silent for a moment," they won't land on the planet, or even enter the atmosphere. so the attacks with all be some kind of long-range." he frowned as he tried to figure out a way that his mother didn't have to change her lifestyle.

honestly, the best idea he had was some kind of melody amplified by dance, but who knows how long that would last if it was even possible. maybe some kind of item, no his planet didn't have anything for that effect, also he would like to save up for the books for his team.

"well this is a big problem," he groaned as he rested his head on the table he spent there's of the morning thinking. even going to the library to speak with Tova. who wasn't thrilled to hear the beast of pride had found a way around its imprisonment. She was definitely making a call about this. but today she thought aero about heaven and earth energy.

her lesson gave him a better idea of its potential, like how it would benefit his mother to learn it as well. but cbeause heaven and earth energy wasn't just for combat, no you could use it in cooking, setting, or any kind of craft. hell, there were methods for people who used it for nothing more than everyday civic life.

"Why did you say anything?" he pointed the question at the helper as he walked home. 'I'm sorry my lord, the possibility slipped my mind. I was looking for too big of a solution. leaving an energy method like this will solve not only the potential attacks but deal with many future possibilities.' aero nodded and started asking what kind of methods for H&E energy.

the helper had vague information about his mother, which they told their lord. most of it was from their lord's memory and causal observations. ' I would need to perform a deep scan on your mother to get a better idea.'

'I'll talk to her but why haven't you done a scan?" he stepped through a small crowd waving at the guy who he convinced to start writing more seriously. who was trying to get his child to walk more? it was peaceful in town despite what happened last night. aero liked that!