No good! My heart is beating too loudly. It'll be bad if we're discovered.
Ye Xi took in a deep breath and held it. After a few moments, he took another deep breath and held it. Repeating the process three times finally stabilized his heart rate.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The steps got closer and closer, louder and louder.
Ye Xi spotted out of the corner of his eye the fern next to him beginning to tremble, and his entire body tensed… What gigantic creature was this?
The faces of Plate and Awl also visibly tensed, their bodies building up power as they prepared to lunge forward.
Boom!!
The owner of these footsteps finally appeared.
It was a massive dinosaur that was around ten meters in length, the size of a container truck. It had greenish-gray skin and was supported by four stocky limbs. Its neck and tail were almost absurdly long. It slowly tramped through the jungle, waving its head and tail as it chewed on the ferns.
The three sighed in relief, their bodies relaxing.
It was a herbivorous dinosaur.
There was no danger.
The booming of more footsteps came from the distance.
Awl whispered to Plate, "It's the rest of the herd."
Plate nodded.
Ye Xi took a peek and saw that they looked very much like Diplodocus.
Diplodocus could reach a length of twenty-seven meters as adults. This Diplodocus that was only the size of a container truck and lived in the forest was clearly not an adult.
It was said that adolescent Diplodocus were separated from their parents when their eggs were laid. When they broke out of their shell, they lived in the jungle until it could no longer hold their enormous bodies. It was then that they would emerge from the jungle to join the adult Diplodocus herds in the plains. These dinosaurs had docile temperaments and would not attack humans.
"Let's go," Plate said, standing up.
The three of them emerged from the fern and walked past the Diplodocus.
The Diplodocus slowly glanced at them before losing interest and continuing to chew on leaves.
Seeing this sort of giant dinosaur for the first time, Ye Xi was both nervous and curious. After all, not everyone could experience something like this. Yesterday, he had been a member of modern society, but today, he was in a primordial forest in front of an ancient dinosaur!
Those historians and paleontologists would probably die of envy if they knew about this! Ye Xi excitedly thought. As he walked, he couldn't help but turn around to take a look at the Diplodocus.
"Stop!!"
Plate savagely pulled on his arm.
Alarmed, Ye Xi turned to Plate.
Plate held his bone saber in front of him as he stared ahead. "The two of you get back."
Ye Xi followed Plate's gaze, and when he saw what he was looking at, his heart thumped.
Obscured in the shrubbery was some crimson-eyed monster the size of an off-road vehicle!
This monster's body was black and bulging with muscle, its four limbs short and thick. Two long tusks curled upward like the teeth of a rake, and on its head was an incredibly sharp horn half a meter long. Its nose was round and scrunched like that of a pig.
This was… a boar?
Ye Xi did not dare to be certain.
This terrifying boar had clearly noticed them. It was grunting and striking the ground with its front hoof. It lowered its head, aiming that sharp horn at them while its crimson eyes stared.
How could there be such a powerful boar?! Its body was pure muscle! It completely overturned Ye Xi's understanding of boars!
Awl pulled Ye Xi behind a tree.
The boar monster saw that these two-footed beasts dared to move in front of it and exploded in anger, bellowing as it charged at the pair behind the tree.
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The momentum of the charge was frightening to experience.
As the boar got closer, Ye Xi's heart began to beat out of control. The boar was so close that he could see the dried spots of blood on the boar's tusks and horn. What sort of beast had lost its life to this horn?
Could Plate stop it?!
In this precarious situation, Plate threw his bone saber and charged straight at the boar!
The two were about to collide! The boar's horrifyingly sharp horn was about to gore Plate!
As the two clashed, just when the horn was about to pierce through Plate's chest, Plate agilely moved to the side, and then he raised a fist, his right arm bulging with muscle, and punched the boar's head!
Plate was considered large for a human, but he was tiny compared to this prehistoric boar. But to Ye Xi's shock, the boar actually tilted to the side from the force of Plate's punch.
Plate didn't stop his attack, and he savagely punched the boar again.
The sound of flesh against flesh made a sickening thud. The heavily injured boar howled in pain, and when it realized what had happened, it went berserk! It began to give short roars while its eyes turned even redder.
The boar's scarlet and terrifying eyes coldly stared at Plate. It took two steps back, and then it charged at Plate like a black hurricane!
Ye Xi was flabbergasted. How could the boar be so fast?!
He pulled at Awl, almost ready to run. This was because he felt that a charge of this strength and speed was not something Plate could dodge.
In his heart, he already considered Plate dead.
But Plate remained unperturbed, staring back at the charging boar.
Just when the boar was about to strike Plate, he rolled on the ground with incredible speed, snatching up the bone saber he had tossed aside. Roaring, he jumped onto the back of the boar!
Leaving the boar no time to react, Plate raised the bone saber, aimed at the boar's head, and stabbed!
Ye Xi watched with wide eyes as the bone saber plunged deep into the boar's head, unleashing a geyser of blood.
Reeeee! The boar raised its head and gave a deafening squeal.
Ye Xi covered his ears.
This cry was far too sharp and frightening. Not even several tigers roaring together could match this volume. A shower of dead leaves drifted down around Ye Xi's head… even the tree leaves had been shaken loose.
Thump!
The boar's massive body crashed to the ground.
Plate jumped down next to it.
The boar's crimson eyes were wide open in sheer obstinance, its four feet still twitching. It was not dead yet, and it was still trying to stand back up.
The forest was still.
Ye Xi was still recalling that heart-pounding battle and had yet to come to his senses.
Awl felt his blood rush at this scene. He clenched his fists and softly muttered, "If I become a Warrior, I'll definitely be this strong!"
The battle just now had left him incredibly excited. He was impatient to become a true Warrior.
Plate pulled the bone saber out of the boar's body.
Awl and Ye Xi walked out from behind the tree.
Ye Xi stared at the dying boar, unable to believe that such a massive creature had been taken care of so quickly.
…Was this the power of a Warrior?
Plate plucked a few leaves to clean the blood off his saber as he coldly ordered, "Take care of this boar. We…"
In the distance, the jungle began to rustle.
Plate instantly stared at the ferns up ahead, his face turning grim.
A second later, two horned boars charged out of the jungle!
Plate yelled at the other two, "Run!"
Ye Xi was struck dumb for a second, and it was only when Awl gave him a push that he realized what was going on and began to run like mad.
With a roar, Plate raised his bone saber and charged at the horned boars.
Even though Plate was a Warrior, he could not fight with both of them at once. He was charging in with the understanding that he could die. But to his surprise, while one boar began to fight with him, the other one rumbled off, making a frightening charge at Awl and Ye Xi.
Awl saw that he couldn't outrun it, so after a few steps, he raised his spear, clenched his teeth, and bent down, intending to fight.
Plate saw out of the corner of his eye that Awl wasn't running, and anxiously cried out, "Awl! What are you doing!? Run!"
Awl yelled back, "If I run now, the kid is dead!"
Awl was prepared to fight to the death, but the boar actually ran around him and made straight for Ye Xi!
Holy shit!
Ye Xi saw that the boar was focused only on him and mentally cursed. He worked his leg muscles for all they were worth as he ran back the way they had come.
His blood seethed and the air howled past his ears. This was the first time he realized just how fast he could run!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The horned boar, which had to weigh several tonnes, made the ground groan as it charged.
Ye Xi didn't turn his head as he ran for his life, because he could tell from the booming footsteps that the boar was close at hand! He was keenly aware that he would be helpless and dead if the boar caught up!
Boom! Boom! Boom!
The footsteps got closer and closer.
He could already smell the boar's stench!
It was about to catch up!!
This understanding made Ye Xi's face turn red as adrenaline rushed through his veins. He spotted a tree ahead of him, and his mind went blank as his hands and feet began to climb the tree on their own!
This tree's bark was coarse, but its branches were very straight like poles, so there were no forks in the trunk that could assist him in his climb. But with his life threatened, Ye Xi clambered six or seven meters up the tree, his arms and legs firmly wrapped around the trunk.
Thud! The tree fiercely swayed!
Ye Xi looked down. Good lord! The horned boar had not been able to stop its charge and had rammed its horn deep into the trunk.
Ye Xi's heart skipped a beat. He did not dare imagine what would have happened if he had been a bit slower.
Thump!
Seeing that Ye Xi had climbed up the tree, the horned boar refused to give up. It lowered its head and charged at the tree again and again. With each strike, the tree swayed and leaves showered down.
Big Brother Boar, I didn't do anything to you!
Ye Xi inwardly gave a bitter smile.
Raaa!
After failing to fell the tree with several charges, the boar took a few steps back and unleashed a deafening roar.
This roar was like ten-some cannon firing at once in his ears, and Ye Xi found it excruciating. But he grimly kept his arms wrapped around the tree rather than covering his ears.
With this furious bellow, the horned boar charged with even greater speed at the tree!
The tree fiercely swayed, and only by exerting all his strength did Ye Xi manage to not fall down. His ears were still ringing from the roar, but a moment later, he heard the sound of the tree groaning from the weight on its trunk.
Shit!
If this continued and the boar charged a few more times, the tree would fall!
But at this point, Plate and Awl arrived.
Plate immediately raised his bone saber and hacked at the boar!
The boar was so focused on the tree that it took the blow without the slightest resistance. It furiously roared and turned to charge at Plate.
This was Plate's third fight against a horned boar. He had fought the first one cautiously so that he would not be injured, but he had been so anxious before that he had been pricked on the arm by a horn, and his entire arm was drenched in blood.
But Plate didn't seem to be able to sense the pain. Gripping the bone saber, he yelled at Awl, "Watch closely! this is how you deal with a horned boar!"
Raaa!
The horned boars had extremely thick skin. Plate's slash just now had not dealt it significant damage. Boom! Boom! Boom! The boar furiously charged over.
Plate raised his saber.
When Plate was one meter away, the horned boar suddenly picked up speed, but Plate seemed to have predicted this and moved to the side, causing the boar's attack to miss.
"Horned boars are extremely crafty. In the future, when you go hunting, you must watch out for their sudden acceleration!"
Awl's eyes flashed, and he watched without blinking the battle between Plate and the horned boar. A practical lesson from a Warrior was exceedingly rare.
This time, Plate did not finish off the horned boar in a swift and clean fashion. He let it charge again and again, dodging again and again, until the horned boar had used all the moves in its repertoire.
More mediocre Warriors probably would not have dared to teach while they fought, but Plate was one of the stronger and more experienced Warriors in the hunting team.
Moreover, he had a calm and cool personality. The more he battled, the clearer his mind became.
On the tree, Ye Xi also watched with extreme focus.
These are prehistoric beasts. Just a regular boar has become freakishly strong. And this is a tribal Warrior. They can contend against and even defeat monsters like this.
Ye Xi could feel his emotions surging.
Could… could he become a Warrior like this?
Squelch!
In the end, the horned boar was exhausted, and Plate aimed at its neck and ended its life with a thrust from his saber.