Seed of Titan-Chapter 165: Mission Report

"Say, Horsie, don’t you miss your family?"

Horsie neighed lazily before lowering his head toward the large bowl of food that Max had just put down.

Max shook his head as he watched the ever-growing foal gobble up his lunch like he hadn’t been fed for days.

"Eating all this meat really messed you up, huh? Herd animals usually get depressed when separated from their kin, but not only are you doing fine, you also never seem interested whenever I offer to take you to visit your herd. Are you afraid I’d leave you there?"

Horsie tapped the ground with his front hoof a few times while chewing.

Max shrugged, unsure what the foal meant. He got the feeling it was something along the lines of "I belong to this group now" or "The food’s better here anyway."

Just then, the grass rustled noisily, and Drai appeared shortly after. He looked tired and was dragging a large figure by the scruff that scraped the trees.

Max eyed the figure whose fur was filthy and in tatters, sporting numerous bald spots and burnt patches. "Weren’t you supposed to bring back three apes?"

"I did manage to secure three of them before this fucker showed up and ruined everything," Drai curtly explained as he let go of his grip, letting his captive’s face slam lightly onto the ground. He then petted Horsie, sat down right beside him, and leaned in, resting his weary body on the foal’s large frame.

Meanwhile, Max curiously approached the motionless creature. "Did you torture this guy or what?" he asked while inspecting the ape’s ruined coat, yanking out a pinch of burnt hair and sniffing it.

"No. We just fought, but he ended up plunging into some kind of acid pool," Drai said. On his way back, he had made up a short scenario to replace the events involving the mysterious old man. He had also prepared some answers in case Max or Madeleine inquired further. And if these weren’t enough to satisfy their curiosity, he figured he could just play dumb.

"Heh, this guy has rotten luck—acid pools don’t usually form outside the Poison Swamps," Max remarked before flipping the ape over.

"Huh? This guy..."

Max rubbed his eyes and slapped the ape’s face a few times before turning to Drai and sending him a puzzled look.

"Yeah," Drai said, "that’s the Lightning King."

"What?!" Max exclaimed before turning to the ape again. This time he slid up the ape’s closed eyelids and found a familiar pair of eyes glaring furiously at him, causing him to leap away in reflex.

It took a few seconds for reality to sink in before he eventually walked toward Drai and sat down on a nearby bench. "I didn’t know you were this strong already. Why didn’t you reveal your full strength when we sparred?"

Still leaning on Horsie, Drai simply said, "Why would I?"

Max nodded quietly as he was already aware of the answer—their sparring sessions were meant for Drai to hone his techniques and grind his stats a bit, so there was zero reason for the lad to use his full strength. Truthfully, Max’s question was nothing more than a knee-jerk reaction to his astonishment.

Max suddenly chuckled before muttering, "Really, I never would’ve thought that you would surpass me this quickly, Drai."

"What are you saying?" Drai immediately objected. "I was just a bad match for that ape bastard, and that idiot even handicapped himself by choosing to duke it out in the air above Endless Blue. I’m sure there’s still a long way before I can finally beat you in a fair fight."

Max shrugged. Regardless of how they would fare against each other now, he was sure it would take a few years at most for Drai to eventually defeat him with ease. He secretly vowed to do his best in making Drai part of his family after returning—even if it meant turning the graceful young Velles ladies into a bunch of bodybuilders to suit the lad’s peculiar taste.

"Did you run out of threads?" Max asked.

"No, I only used a small amount to bind three apes—there’s still a large bundle in my storage. Why?"

"Well, that guy isn’t tied up." Max pointed at the Lightning King.

"Oh—that’s because he couldn’t move at all, so I figured it would be fine not binding his limbs. I don’t want to use your threads needlessly."

"I see... Heh, I didn’t know you could be that ruthless."

"Ruthless?"

"Yeah, didn’t you break all his tendons or bones so he couldn’t move?"

"Uh... Actually, he was already like that after I got him out of the acid pool. I think he must’ve gotten poisoned or was affected by a skill drawback or something."

"I see. Well, you better report to Madeleine soon so you can plan your next move. Maybe she’ll change the mission or even overlook your failure," Max suggested as he stood up.

"Are you going out?" Drai asked.

"Yeah, I need to gather some materials to refurbish the camp. It’s pretty damp here, so the plant parts are getting flimsier fast."

Shortly after, Max left the camp. Horsie was done eating and was now lazing on the grass. Meanwhile, Drai was tidying up his storage. He put back most of his equipment to the tool shed and placed half of his meat on the meat racks. He then went to Horsie and took out his water canister.

"Drink this, Horsie," he said as he opened the canister and lifted it to Horsie’s mouth.

Horsie obliged and gulped the water Drai was pouring. After all the water was gone, Drai stashed the canister while Horsie was looking at him with puzzlement.

"That’s water from the Endless Blue," Drai explained. "I don’t know if it has special properties, but I reckon there’s no harm letting you drink it. Best case, it’ll trigger something awesome. Worst case, you’ll get diarrhea."

Horsie neighed in protest before trotting away. These past few days, he occasionally ventured out by himself, exploring the surrounding areas. As in Drai’s case in Funky Valley, Max secretly observed Horsie during his first few outings, but he eventually let the foal roam alone after seeing that he only grazed and played near the vicinity of Misty Forest.

"If only I could be like Horsie and grow stronger just by eating and playing..." Drai muttered before walking to the Lightning King and yanking him off the ground, dragging him into the depths of Misty Forest.

Moments later, Drai finally arrived at Madeleine’s doorstep. The door immediately opened, and a well-dressed old lady stepped out.

"I’m sorry, Madeleine, but I didn’t manage to bring back the apes. I don’t want to sound like I’m making an excuse, but it was because of this guy," Drai said as he lightly kicked the Lightning King’s shoulder.

Madeleine eyed the ape briefly before asking, "Are you planning to hunt for them again?"

"Well, I don’t have a choice, do I?" Drai smiled wryly.

Madeleine smiled and released a thick cloud of fog that quickly wrapped around the Lightning King, lifting him up. The seven-meter ape looked at Madeleine, but unlike his earlier gaze toward Max, his current one was that of wariness—fright, even.

"I’ll consider your assignment complete because you happen to bring back Little Chiki," she said.

"Little Chiki? You mean this guy?" Drai questioned as he eyed the Lightning King weirdly.

"Yes. I’ve known him ever since he was just a mischievous adolescent underling. He really stood out from his peers, which led me to giving him that nickname."

Hearing this, Drai’s jaw dropped. Upon recovering from his shock, he asked, "You’ve been peeping on the lightning apes for years?"

Madeleine let out a hearty giggle upon hearing Drai’s peculiar term. She then explained, "I just happened to be researching them at that time. After I was done with the research, I only visited them when I needed to resupply my generator."

Drai gulped nervously when he heard the word "generator". Glancing at the Lightning King, he felt a tinge of pity upon picturing the miserable fate that awaited the jungle ruler.

Noticing Drai’s expression, Madeleine said, "No need to pity him, child. Little Chiki didn’t rise in the hierarchy by acting kindly, even toward his own kin. The jungle will undoubtedly be thrown into chaos due to the abrupt power vacuum, and the strongest electric apes will vie for Little Chiki’s empty seat, causing bloodbaths among their cliques, so it’s better for you and Max to stay clear of that area for the following weeks."

Drai merely nodded in reply. 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

"In the meantime, go back to your usual routine. I’ll notify you when the equipment is ready," she added.

Madeleine’s words surprised Drai. "You mean there’s no more assignments? Can I finally reach out to my parents?"

"Yes, child. You’ve helped me enough, and you’ve also improved quite a lot in the process. Thank you. Now, if you’ll excuse me—there’s work to be done."

Madeleine pulled the Lightning King closer before shrouding both of them and her house with fog.

Drai quietly watched as the group disappeared from view. If he didn’t care about being rude, he would have walked forward and tried to touch the obscured building just to satisfy his curiosity.

Instead, he simply bowed and left.

***