Chereads / A Man Among Gods / Chapter 13 - True Family

Chapter 13 - True Family

In a large forest stood a large mountain that was a beacon for the entire area. One could not see the top from the ground, instead only seeing little caves that were inserted in the mountain. In one of the caves rested an unconscious Zomarus.

This did not look like the original Zomarus, but someone who was skinny to the bone. His hair was as white as snow and his eyes just as colorless. It looked like Zomarus had been placed in a cave and was completely forgotten about.

Zomarus soon awoke from his slumber in confusion. He did not know where he was and the only thing that he could remember was the pain of Lurtar's kicks and his fear technique.

He tried to get up from the cold ground but could not with his now weak body. This time his master was nowhere to be seen, unlike last time. However, instead of finding his master, he found a pair of glowing eyes looking back at him.

The pair of eyes that looked back at Zomarus had an ominous yellow glow to them. From just a glance he could tell that he was not staring at a human but a beast. The beast carried a deep growl to it as it slowly made its way out of the shadows.

From the shadows exited an adult tiger. Once Zomarus had finally set his eyes on it he was petrified. To think that his life would be cut short by a tiger. Zomarus closed his eyes and welcomed death however, it did not come.

The tiger walked up to the weak Zomarus and began to lick his face. The sharp needles on the tiger's tongue could be felt on Zomarus' cheek which did hurt. The tiger then walked back to the shadows and came back when it noticed Zomarus not following.

"Oh, you want me to follow?"

Zomarus' body was extremely weak and could hardly get up properly. After barely getting up he made his way into the shadows to find the tiger lying next to three tiger cubs. The tiger cubs gave out a horrendous smell, and once he examined them he could tell that at least two of them had completely run out of spiritual energy.

"I'm terribly sorry."

He placed his hands on the two dead cubs, but once he tried to touch the other cub the adult tiger seemed to tense up.

"Don't worry. I'm going to help them."

Once he tried to explain the situation he slowly placed his hand on the cub's head. He slowly started to transfer some of his spiritual energy into the tiger cub.

Zomarus barely had enough energy to survive and transferring some to the cub could lead to death. He coughed up a little bit of blood and laid back down on the cold floor.

Before he could closed his eyes he would see the tiger cub open their eyes and even meow. He let out a little smile knowing that he would help the little tiger cub. Soon his eyes fully closed and put him into another deep sleep.

Once Zomarus opened his eyes again he noticed the tiger cub sleeping next to him. Looking around at the cave he noticed that the adult tiger was missing.

Not long after the adult tiger entered the cave with a deer in between their jaws. The deer seemed to be what the tiger had hunted for the tiger cub. Not long after the cub woke up and began nibbling on the deer.

Zomarus was starving and it felt like he hadn't eaten in weeks. He slowly crawled to the dead deer and took some of the meat out of the deer. The tiger didn't seem bothered by him doing so and continued to eat.

Raw meat was not ideal to eat, however, it was his last choice. If he didn't eat anything his body would also give up and collapse again. One bite after another Zomarus slowly finished the raw food and even grabbed seconds.

Once most of the meat was eaten from the deer the tiger and her cub would sleep together. This was Zomarus' chance to exit the cave and come back with some materials.

Slowly, Zomarus made his way off the ground and used the cave wall as support. The cave was not that deep as he could see the sun and sky from where he stood. It was a lot colder than he last remembered.

The cave stood a couple of meters off the ground with a pathway going up it. Zomarus slowly made his way down the path to try and figure out where he was. He still didn't know where he was or where his master had disappeared to.

After a while, Zomarus could only collect wild berries, fruits, and nectar. He would also collect some sticks just in case he needed to cook any food the tiger brought back.

At that moment his energy was nearly gone and he could almost see the bones outlining his body. He would use anything he could find in the wild and return them back to the cave.

~~~~~

After living with the tiger and her cub for three months, Zomarus soon got accustomed to life. Most days he would go out and eat berries and other fruits while the mother tiger could only bring meat once every five days.

After the first couple of mouths, Zomarus would grow close to the two animals. This would be especially true with the tiger cub since it carried some of Zomarus' spiritual energy with it.

During this time Zomarus would train using his surroundings slowly gathering energy for his soul space. As well as gathering energy he would head out to train his physical body and go hunting with the mother tiger often.

Everything seemed to be going great until one-day Zomarus did not head out with the mother tiger and she never returned.

Once and a while the mother tiger would be late collecting food, but she had never gone the night outside the cave. This was a great concern especially since the tiger cub was expecting the food to arrive.

The next morning Zomarus would set out to find some food for Taiga and Lora. [After a while Zomarus would give the two tigers names]

"I'll be gone for a while. Make sure not to go outside for any reason."

Zomarus waved back at Taiga and left the cave. His main priority was to find some food and deliver it back to Taiga. Lora was also a high priority but she was strong enough to take care of herself.

Two hours had gone by and all Zomarus could find was a couple of berries and two rabbits. He wanted to eat some meat but decided against it so that Taiga could eat. He headed back with two rabbits over his shoulder and a smile on his face.

That smile wouldn't last long due to the cave being emptied out when he arrived. The floor was covered in blood which was still warm. His mind would race to many conclusions as he raced outside and yelled out for them.

"Taiga! Lora! This isn't funny."

Zomarus jumped from the cave and ran around the surrounding area. Since it was getting dark most of the forest would go dark and he would use this to move around faster.

He would move around until he found some tracks on the ground. The tracks headed towards the southern mountain range where many high-level beasts occupied.

Once he followed the tire tracks he noticed a large opening where a gigantic ape ate his dinner. After a couple of glances, it was obviously what the ape was eating, an adult tiger.