Seed of Titan-Chapter 130: Confidence, Not Cockiness

"Looking for this?"

Max opened his hand, revealing a black pendant that depicted a lion’s head with a red scar.

"Oh! Yeah!"

Drai sighed in relief and quickly grabbed the pendant. He inspected it briefly before securing it around his neck.

"I took it off when I changed your clothes earlier," Max explained. "It must’ve been crafted with top-quality materials since it doesn’t have a single scratch."

"Yeah, must be," Drai agreed. He didn’t notice any damage either when he inspected the pendant.

Seeing that Drai had calmed down, Max asked, "So, which family are you from?"

"Me? I’m from the Varz Family. Why?"

Max rubbed his chin, looking puzzled. "Sorry, but I don’t think I’ve ever heard of the Varz Family. Where’s your estate? What sectors are your family mostly involved in?"

Drai let out a wry chuckle. "We don’t have an estate. I’m just from a normal family, not like you."

"Ah..."

Max scratched his head awkwardly, realizing that his questions might have sounded arrogant or condescending.

"Don’t get me wrong, Drai," he said. "I’m not some stuck-up aristocrat. I just assumed you came from a prestigious family because of that emblem." He gestured at Drai’s chest.

"Oh, it’s fine. But this pendant isn’t mine. A close friend lent it to me," Drai replied.

"Oh? So they’re the one from a distinguished family."

Drai nodded. Based on Christo’s vague explanation of his family, Drai felt that this was indeed the case.

"You should be really grateful to your friend. Their token must be the reason you survived the Lightning King’s attack," Max surmised.

"Yeah, maybe," Drai muttered.

Max raised an eyebrow and questioned, "Why the doubt? Don’t tell me you actually have other lifesaving items."

"Uh, no. I actually think I might’ve survived just with my own abilities."

Max was dumbfounded. So far, Drai had seemed polite and quite level-headed, but his words just now sounded a bit too cocky—delusional, even.

"Listen, Drai," Max said sternly. "I know I’m just an ignorant old guy living in the wilds, but you’re getting ahead of yourself if you think I’d believe the outside world had developed so much that first-stagers could withstand an attack from the Lightning King. Even most fourth-stagers would struggle to do so."

Drai was quite taken aback by Max’s response. A gear clicked in his head—his statement indeed sounded boastful for those who didn’t know much about him.

"I’m sorry if I offended you, Max," Drai quickly apologized, "but I was just being honest with my thoughts. You’re right, the power levels in the outside world are still the same. First-stagers wouldn’t last five seconds against the Lightning King."

"Then why did you say that?" Max questioned, confused by the conflicting statements.

"You see... I’m not a normal first-stager."

Max squinted his eyes, gauging the youngster.

"So you’re saying you’re way stronger than your contemporaries?"

Drai simply nodded.

Max stared at Drai briefly before standing up.

"Very well. Let’s take a look at your powers then. Follow me," he instructed as he walked toward the crevice.

Drai complied and followed Max into the crevice. The two of them walked down the narrow path for half a minute before coming out.

Having gotten accustomed to the dimly lit cave, Drai was forced to shield his eyes from the blinding sunlight until his sight could adapt to the brightness.

Shortly after, Drai could finally see his surroundings clearly.

In front of him was a vast land that was sparsely vegetated. The yellowish ground and rocks gave it an arid look, while pitiful-looking plants struggled to grow. Small critters darted around, occasionally disappearing into burrows, and herds of larger beasts roamed in the distance.

A faint cliff could also be seen in the horizon, too small for Drai to make out any details. And behind their back was a huge rock formation in which Max’s cave was located.

"Welcome to Funky Valley," Max said.

Having taken in the sight, Drai couldn’t help but ask, "Why are you living here, Max? The jungle seems way better."

"It was—before the apes began patrolling the area daily, hoping to catch me off-guard. But I’ve always moved around the biomes throughout the years. The scenery and routines get boring after a while, you know? Anyway, let’s go."

Max led Drai through the land, attracting the gaze of its many inhabitants. Most of them didn’t seem to care much, while some of the smallest ones quickly hid upon spotting the two humans.

Max finally stopped after arriving near a smaller rock formation, which kind of reminded Drai of the trablite formation that was often used in his Body Transformation class.

"Are we doing a strength test with these rocks?" Drai asked, guessing that it would be similar to the test that Darius had given to them during their first meeting.

"We’re doing a test alright, but not with the rocks," Max replied before picking up a pebble. He then instructed, "I’ll go hide. You handle the thing that comes out. And don’t worry, I’ll interfere if you seem to be in danger."

Drai nodded.

With a flick, Max sent the pebble flying into the rock formation, striking a protruding section.

Following this, Max immediately blurred and disappeared from Drai’s side, leaving him standing there alone.

Drai wasn’t sure what he was supposed to fight, but he decided to use all his strength to convince Max that he wasn’t a liar. After all, he didn’t want his only companion to despise him, especially since the person was someone he admired greatly. 𝕗𝚛𝚎𝚎𝐰𝗲𝗯𝗻𝚘𝚟𝚎𝗹.𝕔𝐨𝕞

The section that was hit by the pebble suddenly opened up, revealing a dark hole.

Then, a massive spider crawled out.

It quickly spotted Drai and rushed toward him, its hairy legs clacking on the rock’s surface.

Meanwhile, Max was observing from a distance, standing behind a tree.

’The spider’s power is probably around late first-stage. The fight should end within five minutes if the lad really is as strong as he proclaimed.’

As the spider pounced on Drai, Max tensed, ready to rush in if things went awry. However, his eyes suddenly widened and his jaw hit the ground.