...
After almost three hours of work, I finish tying all the branches
With that done, I start walking across the bridge carefully
I do this because I have to check if all the branches are tied tightly, and if any of them are cracked, or broken.
After checking the entire bridge, I can't find any branch that has these characteristics
Then, I walk to the edge of the bridge.
Standing on the edge, I squat down, and then hang on to the branches.
I start to swing my body and then using the momentum, I throw myself towards the tree.
Using my arms and legs, I grab the surface of the tree, and begin to descend it quickly.
When I reach the ground, I start walking to, the few branches I have, while I'm lost in thought
"Maybe, I should start coming down from the tree, just like that! Although, descending in this way has no style, at least it has no chance of me swallowing dirt, and of course, in this way, the chances of me taking damage are minimal! Well, I will decide this in the future!"
As I approach the branches, I crouch and start to separate the branches that are on the ground into two stacks.
One of the stacks, with branches that are broken or cracked, which have now become useless for me.
While, on the other stack, the branches that are still whole, and that I can use to build the base.
After finishing separating all the branches, I sit on the ground and start looking at the two stacks, after a few seconds I notice the colossal difference in the number of branches between the stacks, so I sigh
"Sigh! Damn it! The branches that I can use in construction are much less, than I expected!
Tsk! It looks like I'm going to have to leave now, to look for wood! I thought I would only need to do this later! Huehuehue! How naive I was! Okay, I will need to collect lots of branches and vines! Besides that, this time I also have to bring a reasonably large amount of logs!
They don't have to be very thick, but they do have to be very long! Okay, I had better leave now! After all, the sooner I go, the sooner I return!"
I get up and use my hands to remove dust and dirt from my clothes
Then, I stretch my arms and legs and start running towards the forest
So, using my right hand, I grab Chunchunmaru from my waist, and I start spinning it, in my hands.
"Oh, as expected of me... I am very skilled, using Chunchunmaru!"
...
A few minutes later, I am in an area covered with bushes
On my shoulders there are several vines hanging, and several branches of different sizes are tied, in theses vines.
I start to observe the bushes that are in front of me, they are spread throughout the area, each one has a different size.
They have different colors, and are very similar to the other bushes, which I have already encountered.
The difference is that on top of these bushes, there are many flowers blooming.
These flowers, unlike the color variation of the bushes, have only one color.
All the flowers are red, a very vibrant and beautiful red.
The flowers appear to be emitting a faint red light.
Seeing this, I think that the flowers together with the surrounding night landscape are perfect for a beautiful photo.
However, I not stop just to observe the beauty of the landscape, but because my instinct is warning me that something is wrong with these bushes.
I take the vines and branches off my shoulders, and place them slowly and carefully, on the ground.
After doing this, while holding Chunchunmaru, with my right hand
I start walking slowly, towards the nearest bush.
The largest bush, is just over a meter
When I am less than a meter from the bush, my instinct warning me of danger
Feeling this, I don't think twice, and quickly jump back
In the next instant, the bush that I was approaching, bounces and hits the place where it was, with great force
BOOM!
I take a few steps away, while I wait for the dust to clear
After a few seconds, the dust settles and I can finally see what attacked me.
The bush was actually a monster, he looks like a big lion
This monster is not very tall compared to the others I have seen, it is just about five feet tall by nine feet long.
A little bigger than, the Asian Lion, a lion that inhabits some regions of the Earth planet
The monster's fur appears to be made of earth, and its claws and fangs are made of black stone
The big bush, in fact, was the monster's mane, the monster's eyes are red, the same coloring as the flowers present in its mane.
I notice that in the place where he was before he attacked me, there is a big hole in the ground.
"Oh, he probably dug that hole to hide his body! This is interesting! He only leaves his head on the surface to pretend to be a bush, and then when another monster approaches, he attacks! That is very smart! Anyway! If I'm right and this is the modus operandis of this monster. This means that he probably specialize in Dexterity, to help his surprise attacks!"
As I watch him, the monster lets out a roar, as if warning me to walk away
"ROOAAAR!"
"Calm down there, buddy! I won't attack you... yet! First, I want you to answer a small question... Why do you have the same hairstyle as Gaimon?"
"ROOAR!"
"You don't know who is Gaimon?" Well, this is a funny story! Gaimon is a pirate! He got stuck in a chest while- You know what... never mind!"
The monster completely ignores what I'm saying, he looks at me and roars
"ROOAR!"
"Well, I understand that you want to kill me! However, there is a problem if you attack me
You attacked me... I will attack you back!"
"ROOAAAR!"
At that moment, not taking it anymore, the monster roars and starts running towards me
Seeing this, I don't think twice and say
"
As soon as I say that, the monster freezes in place, and starts to shake with fear
Seeing this, I slowly start to approach the monster
However, at that time all the other bushes start to shake
Then, all the bushes reveal, in fact, to be monsters of the same species as this lion, they start to stare at me angrily
"Oh, so, actually, all these bushes, it was a bunch of lions! I mean… bushes of lions!"
As soon as I say that everyone is silent, and the lions start to face me with strange faces
However, a few seconds later, I can't resist and start laughing
"Huehuehue! Sorry, I couldn't resist, and I had to make this pun!"
While I'm busy laughing, the lions look at each other and wave
So they all go into an attack position, and prepare to attack me
Seeing this, I immediately stop laughing and say
After saying that, using my mind I put the other lions under the influence of Skill
That way, all the lions that were running towards me freeze, as well as the first lion to attack me
I lift Chunchunmaru and start to approach the lions, ready to finish them
However, I stop after taking just a few steps
I stop because I notice that, behind all the monsters, there are small bushes
These bushes are only a few inches tall and long, they are... cubs
These cubs are very thin and while tremble a lot
They look at me in fear, and make small sounds that resemble roars, in order to scare me
"Rooa!"
"Roa!"
Seeing this, I let out a breath as I face the leader of the monsters, who has just attacked me
"Sigh! So, you attack me, because you wanted to protect, these little ones!"
The lion roars, in a lower tone, as if he can understand me and is answering my question
"Roar!"
I begin to look at the leader's face, and I notice that in his expression, besides anger, there is also fear, and a little concern
I look at the faces of all the other monsters
Then, I notice that they all have the same expression, and that occasionally their bodies tremble a little
"Why are you guys shaking? Are you cold? No, it's not cold so it doesn't make sense!"
I keep watching them, and I notice that all the monsters, including the cubs, are very thin, as if their last meal was a long time ago.
"Oh, I understand, now... You guys are all, starving! So, you chose to attack me... Because with that, if you managed to kill me, besides protect your cubs, you also get food! And even if you failed, at least you would free your people from this suffering!"
Hearing my words, the lions look at each other in confusion
However, after a few seconds, the leader looks at me, and slowly nods, agreeing with what I said
"Well, I respect your choices! You are a good leader! I don't judge you for attacking me!
After all, I know how horrible it is... starving!
Anyway! I hope you can find food!
See you!"
After saying this to the leader, I look one last time at the cubs, who are hiding behind all the other monsters.
Then, I look away, put my machete around my waist, turn around and start walking towards my things on the floor.
I hang the vines and the branches on my shoulders.
Then I run away, without looking back, while think
'Apparently, the life of the monsters, here in purgatory, is more difficult than I initially imagined! I never expected that a monster, which looks like a lion, would starve here!'
I think about it for a few seconds
However, I quickly shake my head and say
"Sigh! Whatever! That's not my problem!"
...