Seed of Titan-Chapter 161: If Not Friend, Why Friend-Shaped?

The carp-eel lowered its head toward the shore, and Drai instinctively leaped back, but the gigantic fish didn’t seem to notice him—it went for the trees and chomped down, decimating a large portion of them, before pulling back and retreating underwater.

This created a mini tsunami that swept the shore, so Drai deactivated his skill, leaped up, and perched on a tree branch, avoiding the tide while gazing at the remainder of the huge splash caused by the carp-eel when its head resubmerged.

"What the hell was that thing? Is it the ruler of Endless Blue? Max never mentioned anything about it, and I don’t remember seeing it in his map or Madeleine’s. Hmm, maybe they aren’t aware of its existence since it likely spends most of its time underwater—even I only got to see it by chance."

The water flooding the shore receded, and Drai shifted his gaze toward the large patches of broken tree stumps.

"Looks like this area is where it gets its veggies. Are these trees actually nutritious?"

Drai dropped to the ground and tore off a pinch of bark, which he then put into his mouth and chewed before spitting it out in disgust. He then did the same for a fistful of leaves, but this time he managed to swallow them, albeit with a terrible expression.

"Gah, that was nasty. I guess whatever good stuff these trees have isn’t meant for someone my size. But wait... What if I use Bio Drain?"

Drai’s eyes gleamed as he thrust his hand into the tree, but before long, he pulled it back out.

"I thought that would work, but it turns out to be just like other normal trees. Welp, I guess that’s it then."

Drai then walked back to the camp that seemed undisturbed. The night was still young, so he decided to train a bit before going to bed. He didn’t want to disturb the jungle too much lest he invite trouble, so he focused on honing his split-second activation of maxed out Nexus Augmentation—something he had managed to get a hang of just a few days earlier.

Hours later, he crawled into the hollow bark and lay on the leaf bed. His body was fine, but his mind was exhausted from all the multitasking, as he had to simultaneously manage his footwork or flight, attacking form, augmentation, and grabbing intent for each "Nexus Strike"—which is what he named his split-second max augmented attacks. Activating Arachno Sense once more, Drai found the surroundings still clear of any creature larger than a foot.

"Are all the animals just so scared of that ugly fish or is there something else preventing them from roaming around this area? Anyway, I hope nothing bad happens while I’m sleeping."

Not long after, Drai drifted off, and true to his wish, the night passed by peacefully.

The following morning, Drai roasted some meat for breakfast before cleaning up the camp and resuming his journey.

As he ventured deeper into the jungle, his surroundings slowly turned livelier. Sounds of birds, arboreal mammals, and undergrowth creatures quickly filled the air. He passed by various animals, both alone or in packs, but none attacked him.

"I guess the bountiful jungle made all these creatures less hostile, which means the lightning apes are really fucked up in the head," Drai remarked as he projected Madeleine’s map and inspected it. "Hmm... I should be close to the perimeter of the apes’ territory and their outmost patrolling routes. But Max said their range of activities periodically shifts, so I might have to go way deeper."

Just then, a large shadow leaped out from the shrubbery, pouncing at him.

But right before the ambusher got hold of him, Drai countered with a Nexus Strike, sending it flying before it smashed hard into a nearby tree. The soil under Drai’s feet sank a little due to the split-second activation, but not deep enough to hinder his mobility.

"Congrats for being the first to attack me today," Drai remarked amusedly as he turned to the sprawled ambusher. Upon seeing it, however, he furrowed his brows.

"Wait, I recognize you... Aren’t you the tiger from the underground jungle?"

Drai walked closer and inspected the large beast that was whimpering in pain.

"Hmm... Maybe not. You look a bit smaller than that guy. But your features are really similar though. Are you guys related?"

Drai poked the tiger a few times, which made it jolt away while growling in fear.

"Chill, dude. I’m just curious. If both of you are really related, then was the underground jungle actually filled with specimens taken from here? Interesting... If that’s really the case, I might just be able to find another siproot tree, then maybe I could bring back a siprootberry to share with Max and my friends back home. I shouldn’t get my hopes too high though—this jungle is really vast, who knows how long it would take to fully explore it?"

As Drai was frozen in contemplation, the tiger silently crawled away. However, it only managed to move a few meters away before Drai abruptly grabbed its tail, stopping it.

"Who said you could leave?" he scolded as he pulled the tiger’s tail, dragging it closer toward him.

The beast limped, seemingly resigning to its fate. Just from a single jab, its captor had rendered its entire shoulder unusable, which was why it didn’t dare to retaliate, fearing that this strange hairless biped would not remain that merciful the next time around.

"I doubt you can explain your connection to the tiger from the underground jungle, so let’s move on to the next question—where can I find the lightning apes?"

The beast tilted its head in confusion. Although it was intelligent enough to understand that Drai was trying to communicate with it, the tiger had no idea what his words meant.

"Light-ning-apes, you know, those battle-hungry idiots that can release electricity."

This time the tiger replied with a short growl, signaling its confusion.

Drai scratched his head helplessly. "I knew this was a farfetched idea. Hmm... Let me try that."

He recalled the lightning apes’ movements, facial expressions, gestures, and sounds before proceeding to act them out, mimicking the apes.

Too bad no one was around to witness the once in a lifetime spectacle of a young man comically aping out in front of a particularly attentive, large tiger.

Shortly after, Drai straightened himself and coughed embarrassedly. "So, do you get it now?"

Truthfully, Drai didn’t expect much, but to his surprise, the tiger nodded and slowly rose before turning around and walking away with a limp. 𝘧𝓇ℯ𝑒𝓌𝑒𝑏𝓃𝘰𝘷𝘦𝘭.𝒸ℴ𝓂

Drai rushed forward and propped up the tiger’s dysfunctional shoulder from below.

"I knew you’re pretty smart! Let’s go, kitty!"

The tiger was pleasantly surprise by the help, but it remained silent as it continued limping forward, wondering how such a naïve creature could last this long in the unforgiving wilderness regardless of his monstrous strength.

Due to the tiger’s injury, their pace was pretty slow, so it took quite a while for the two to trek through the dense vegetation and uneven terrain. This time, Drai barely saw any animals, which he guessed had been scared off by the tiger’s presence.

Eventually, they arrived at a cliff. Drai let go of the tiger and peered down.

"I thought we stumbled into a part of Funky Valley, turns out it’s just a random canyon, though I would’ve realized it beforehand if I had checked my map. Now, where are the apes?"

Drai heard a short growl and turned to the tiger, which was currently sitting there, pointing across the canyon with its healthy front leg.

Drai squinted hard and finally managed to spot some movements in the trees on the other side of the canyon, though he still couldn’t make out the creatures causing it.

"Hmm... It’s impossible to see them clearly from this far. Hmm... Will I ever get a vision skill to help me with this kind of problem or is that too much to ask for?"

Drai then turned to the tiger once more.

"You’re not trying to fool me, right? If I find out you’re lying, I’ll look for you again," he threatened while raising a clenched fist.

The tiger lowered its posture and let out a series of low growling murmurs, which somehow satisfied Drai.

"Okay then. Thanks for the help, kitty, and sorry for hurting your shoulder," Drai mentioned before leaping above the canyon, activating his flight midjump and zooming away.

The tiger took a last glance at the departing oddity, silently vowing not to attack anymore unfamiliar prey. Then, it turned around and vanished into the trees.

At the same time, Drai was getting closer to the opposite cliff. The moving figures in the trees rapidly became clearer, and soon, he finally recognized them.

"Haha! It’s really the lightning apes!" he delightedly remarked before adjusting his trajectory and speeding up.

An ape was reaching for a branch of red fruits when a dull blow struck the back of its head. Instantly, it was knocked out cold and plunged from the branch from which it had been hanging, crashing to the bushes below with a loud rustle and thud.

The noise alerted all the other apes, which promptly leaped from their trees, approaching their fallen comrade.

Just then, a white streak passed by, and another ape was sent tumbling into the ground.

Upon realizing that they were being attacked, the apes collectively roared and waved their hands threateningly, releasing a few crackling arcs of lightning as a warning.