The next day, I woke up with a stiff body from the impact of last night and my cheeks still stinging. I remembered King Ape's words from the previous night, saying that I should be more grateful to those who truly cared about me. I admit that the big monkey's words had some truth to them, but slapping me so hard that my body was thrown against the wall was a bit too much.
But I had no other choice. If this was truly good for me, I would suppress my emotions and follow King Ape's training. Besides, I still didn't know how to fight. Even in my previous life, I had no experience learning martial arts, so I decided to go through the training that King Ape would provide.
After showering and getting dressed, I went downstairs and saw Adrian talking with King Ape. I approached them and apologized for the words I blurted out to Adrian the previous night.
"It's good that you realize your mistake, young one," said King Ape.
"Let it go, don't worry about it. I'm not bothered at all, HAHAHA," said Adrian with a grin.
Next, Adrian explained that the first thing I needed to do was improve my physical abilities. I remembered that I had only done physical training once before, and after that, I didn't have the chance to train again because of the many events I experienced that led me to end up in this place.
For Adrian, who had traveled to various regions in this world, he found that there was no race that was exceptionally strong based solely on physical strength, except for the Chatterbeast race. They had strong arm muscles, fast legs, and reflexes that surpassed other races, making Chatterbeast the right choice for me to become a training partner.
"Hey, are you ready for your first lesson today?" King Ape asked me with a serious expression.
I nodded firmly. "Yes! I'm ready!"
Then, King Ape called one of the forest guards, and a monkey with fangs and long arms, who guarded the entrance to the forest, came forward.
King Ape walked toward the forest guard and said, "You can attack him seriously, just make sure he doesn't get killed."
Hey, hey, hey, is he serious?
As long as I'm not killed? What does he mean?
"Use this," Adrian said, throwing something to me.
After catching it, I realized that it was a shield made of solid iron. As I put it on, the monkey immediately leaped toward me and attacked with its long claws. I tried to block it with the shield, but it wasn't strong enough, and the shield shattered into four pieces.
"If you want to help me, take it seriously! At least give me stronger equipment!" I shouted at Adrian while dodging the monkey's attacks.
"Well, what can I do? That's all the equipment we have here," Adrian replied.
I discarded the useless shield. "Try to focus on avoiding its attacks! Don't just keep running!" Adrian shouted.
I decided to follow Adrian's instructions. With bare hands, I evaded all of the attacks unleashed by this scaly monkey. However, I couldn't match its speed, and I couldn't avoid the claw wounds caused by its sharp nails.
I saw King Ape and Adrian standing side by side near the house, watching me duel with this monkey. I realized that there would be no instruction given to the monkey to avoid injuring me with its claws.
But as time went on, I noticed that I was starting to catch up with its speed. Slowly, I began to see the repetitive pattern of its attacks, allowing me to avoid some of them, although they were still extremely fast.
I heard King Ape shout, "INCREASE ITS ATTACKS!" And then the monkey crouched down and spun, launching its sweeping attack that made me fall.
I realized that this monkey had been instructed by King Ape to attack me gradually. In the initial stage, it only attacked me with its hands, and then it used its legs to attack me. I looked at Adrian and King Ape, and King Ape was watching my match seriously while Adrian waved his hand, realizing that I was looking at them.
As soon as I refocused on my training, I saw the monkey already leaping over me and trying to stab me with its claws. I immediately decided to roll my body to the side to avoid its thrust.
I saw it pause for a moment, so I quickly got up again. It launched several combinations of hand and foot attacks. Slowly, I started to match its movements, and when I tried to counterattack, I landed a punch on its body, but the monkey didn't seem to feel any pain at all.
I realized that the scales on this monkey acted like armor for it, but there was no time to complain to them both because all of this was done to make me stronger.
Seeing my movements starting to keep up with this monkey, King Ape instructed it to stop holding back in attacking me. And instantly, the monkey's attack pattern changed significantly.
The punches and kicks it unleashed, combined with its speed and acrobatic movements, made its attack pattern highly unpredictable! Moreover, it was evident that the monkey was no longer holding back; it attacked me relentlessly, leaving me with bruises and unavoidable torn wounds.
I realized my powerlessness in this fight. Today, I admit defeat, and the fight is stopped. King Ape ordered the monkey to stop attacking me and return to its post. Realizing how weak and arrogant I was, I immediately walked toward them and apologized.
As time went on, I spent the first month in this place fighting 1vs1 with the forest guardian monkey, and now I could match its skills. I could evade all of its attacks, and even more than that! Now, I was fast enough and strong enough to counter its attacks. When King Ape noticed that several scales belonging to the monkey, my opponent, had fallen off, he immediately stopped my training and said that I was ready for the next session.