I watched as the pile of dirt and rocks slowly rose up from the ground and in the shape of an overweight man that was almost three meters tall. Not a titan, but then, he was still a lot bigger than me.

“Grogvel! You still look as fat and out of shape as ever! You know, for a creature that doesn’t eat, you sure do put on a lot of weight!” Mex joked as he walked forward towards the rock man. ​​

“And you’re still hiding from your grandmother! Who is the skin bag you have with you? Not like you to bring people around,” Grogvel said as he was looking me over.

“You would hide from her as well if you have to live with her! You are lucky that she can’t reach you right now! This is Kazz, and I think that he might be able to help me with my problems, but he came to the world with a support system, not a fighting one,” Mex explained, and that made Grogvel walked over to me.

I had to put my arms out as he walked; the ground shook that bad. Even as big as he was, there is no way that he should have made the ground shake as much as it was.

“Hehehe! Sorry, the earth wants to move with me, so it shakes and groans. I don’t move like this often, but your new, so I won’t pull any trick yet, hahaha!” Grogvel said with a laugh that vibrated my insides, giving me a bit of a sick feeling in my stomach.

“Woah, that is a laugh; I think I just got a full-body workout from that!” I said, and I had to roll my shoulders and do a bit of stretching; my body felt stiff.

“That is one of his specialties, but we need to get going. I will be sending him and some misbegot monster girls with him tomorrow, and I would like you to help train them. I will also be sending Nushi, so be sure to take it easy on the girls,” Mex said pointedly at the Grovel, who nodded to him and then melted into the ground.

I looked around for him, but he was gone, and not even a pebble from him was left.

“Come, let’s go; there are still three more to see. Next up is Wataluga, up at the waterfall, but we will have to walk to groom the path,” Mex said, waving me forward.

“What is this Wataluga like?” I asked as I caught up.

“You will see, I am going to point in the direction of some things you might want to check out, but I ask that you do so alone and not with my daughter. Can you see over to the right? There is smoke coming from the volcano,” Mex pointed and told me as we walked.

“I see the smoke, but I don’t see any volcanoes. Am I missing something here?” I asked as we continued on.

“Sorry, these are like craters, but we call them volcanos. Some interesting species live near and in the lava lake that is at the bottom, but they have been having some issues with a gluttonous female Magma Spider that is making it hard for the other monsters to live, and I think they are about to get rid of her. Maybe you could go and see if there is anything you can do about her?” Mex asked curiously.

“I don’t really like the heat, but I can take a look when I have some free time, and I can survive on my own,” I said to him as I watched my surroundings change around me.

The forest seemed to be slowly turning into a jungle as the tree became more twisted and the leaves larger. The trees were now blocking out the sun, but the humidity slowly rose the further we walked, but soon Mex pointed to the left.

“You can see them, but there is a huge pair of caves not too far apart. There are two creatures that, umm, well, they don’t cause trouble. It’s just that… Well, they aren’t very good at being monsters, and I have had them under protection for some time. One is scared of almost everything, and I had to put her in a maze to keep her safe,” Mex explained but didn’t say anything about the second one.

“What should I be looking for in this maze? And what’s the deal with the second one?” I asked, figuring there was going to be one or two massive butts to enter the next thing Mex said.

“Jessabell is a Minostien, not common around here, but there are some tribes on the mainland. Umm, the other girl is a Manticore, but she has a sad story, and I don’t want to get into it right now; you can ask Nushi about it here. Tiga was abandoned by one parent and is still haunted by the other, and she is a mixed breed Manticore,” Mex told me as we started to get closer to some water; I could hear the dull roar of a waterfall in the distance.

“What’s the other half?” I asked with suspicion.

“A Kraken, but it was her mother that abandoned her. The Manticore father wanted to devour her because she is a disgrace to his kind or something like that. The point is that she needs help, and her father is slowly getting stronger. Soon, I won’t be able to prevent him from getting to her,” Mex said seriously.

“Sure, add it to the list of monstrous women that I need to save,” I said, rolling my eyes.

This guy was just playing me like a fiddle to take care of all of his problems, but I could hardly fault him.

“You don’t have to save them. I am just informing you about the locals,” Mex said with a knowing smile.

“I don’t have to, but you know that I will,” I said with a sigh.

“See? That’s the spirit, my boy! Now let’s go see Wataluga! He will cheer you up or drown you, depending on his mood,” Mex said with a smile.

I sighed and shook my head, but I followed.