Seed of Titan-Chapter 119: Having One’s Fill

Drai thought about it briefly before deciding to transform.

’I think four times my size would be more than enough. Even if they run, I should be able to subdue one or two of them easily.’

Having made his decision, Drai immediately launched himself from the trees while shifting his size.

Unlike what Drai had feared, this small herd of deer didn’t even have time to react. In a flash, his large hands grabbed two of them before the others finally darted away in panic.

Holding a deer in each hand, Drai made sure to keep their hind legs away from him to prevent the hoof explosion.

"Well, that was almost too easy," he remarked with a satisfied expression as he looked at his prey that were squealing loudly.

Gazing at the deer’s glossy black eyes, Drai couldn’t help pitying them a bit.

"Sorry, guys, but I’m starving," Drai murmured before swiftly snapping their necks, silencing their cries. He then laid their limp bodies down near the thicket that they had been grazing on before shrinking back to normal.

Staring at his catch, Drai muttered, "Now what?"

Only now did Drai realize that a succesfull hunt wouldn’t automatically provide him with a warm meal. He scratched his head, feeling a bit silly for overlooking the next steps.

Drai tried to recall his lessons during the Wilderness Survival class. "Uhm... I should skin them first, right? Then I can remove the meaty parts and discard the rest. If I remember correctly, the internal organs shouldn’t be eaten, but the bones can be used to make soup.

"...Okay, let’s do this."

Drai crouched beside one of the deer, ready to skin it. But then, realization hit him.

"Shit... I don’t have a knife."

Drai tried checking his dimensional storage, but there was nothing in it. All his stuff had been burned to ashes by Nero, although the man wasn’t to blame, as Drai was the one who voluntarily flung his belongings at the fire mage.

Drai smiled wryly, thinking that he was really underprepared to live in the wilds. He did not bring any survival gear, and his only clothes were the scorched rags that were barely covering his body.

"What to do... Should I try ripping the skin off with my teeth?"

Drai grimaced at the thought. He was only a bit wilder than his contemporaries, so gnawing into a fresh kill was still a revolting task for him.

Then, something came to his mind.

"Oh, right! The berries!"

Drai swiped his hand, storing the two carcasses before walking to the nearby thicket. He was happy to see there were still plenty of small white berries hanging throughout the thicket.

"I guess I’ll eat these for now and save the meat for later once I have a sharp tool. These berries shouldn’t be poisonous if the deer were eating them," Drai reasoned as he reached for the nearest berry.

However, the moment his fingers brushed against it, the berry burst apart with a tiny pop.

"What the hell?!" Drai exclaimed perplexedly before grabbing another berry.

Pop.

Drai was speechless. He had all these mouthwatering berries in front of them, yet they refused to be eaten, preferring to pop into a mush.

"Are they sensitive to humans? Or is it because I’m not a native? Damn, this doesn’t make any sense."

After popping another two berries, Drai was about to give up, but he suddenly had an idea.

Like a grazing animal, Drai leaned forward and opened his mouth, aiming to gobble a berry while it’s still hanging on the bush.

’With this, it doesn’t matter if the berry pops. It’ll even save me time from having to chew...’

As the berry entered his mouth, Drai closed his jaw, expecting a pop as his tongue touched the berry. But contrary to his expectation, the berry didn’t pop and was sitting still on his tongue.

’Oh, so now you don’t want to pop? This damn berry,’ Drai thought annoyedly as he pulled the berry off its stem before chewing it.

The berry tasted like any other berry—sweet and tart. But there was a peculiar pungency that was unlike anything Drai had ever eaten, which wasn’t quite to his liking. If Drai weren’t starving, he’d probably choose not to eat this.

After swallowing the berry, Drai waited for a few seconds in case it did something strange to him. But seeing that he felt normal—quite refreshed, even—he proceeded to devour most of the rest, leaving just a few of them behind.

After he had his fill, Drai walked to the river and scooped some water to drink, not even too thirsty to bother boiling it first.

While he was drinking, from the corner of his eyes, Drai noticed a movement at the other side of the river.

’There’s someone else here?!’ Drai gasped. He squinted his eyes, only to find that his guess was wrong.

’That’s a huge ape... I think it’s more than twice my height. But why is it standing upright like that? I thought it was a person.’

Having thought that the large black ape was coming to drink too, Drai was surprised when it stopped before the river bank and just stood there, staring at him.

’Does it want to fight or what?’ Drai thought as he stood up and prepared to transform in case the ape attacked.

However, instead of jumping across the river, the ape leaped into the air and climbed high up a tree. A few seconds later, a blaring howl rang across the area.

Hearing the call, Drai had a bad feeling. But before he could respond, rustling noises sounded from the surrounding jungle. One by one, various figures appeared out of trees.

Drai stood still at his spot, watching his surroundings in astonishment. And soon, the commotion began to subside.

Glancing around him, Drai let out a dry chuckle.

Circling him were countless animals of all kinds. Drai could see that there were felines, canines, apes, strange mammals, massive reptiles, large avian, and even giant insects.