Neo crashed into the hard, rocky walls of the cave and felt his vision darken for a split second.
It felt as if his skull had cracked.
'Karma is a bitch!'
Hadn't he been making fun of the rabbit for slamming headfirst into the cave walls some minutes ago?
Now, he had experienced what it was like to smash one's head against a cave wall!
And he had no aura to soften the blow!
It didn't feel great!
Neo staggered up. He caught the rabbit flashing towards the tunnel entrance in the periphery of his vision and saw the gorilla chasing after it again.
The scene of a gigantic five-metre-tall gorilla chasing after a barely 12-inch-tall rabbit was particularly amusing to witness.
But Neo wasn't paying attention to that. His brows knitted as he gazed around frantically, searching for his spear.
It had been knocked out of his grip by the beast's slap, and he didn't know where it had gone.
Neo felt extremely vulnerable and powerless without his weapon. He knew without a doubt that his already meagre combat prowess had just dropped by 80% due to the loss of his spear.
He had to find it!
By calculating his movements and using logic to deduce the motion, Neo concluded that his spear had been flung towards the cave wall at the far end.
His head whipped in that direction, and his vision scanned everywhere rapidly. But no matter how he looked or how much he squinted, he still couldn't see his spear!
It appeared to have disappeared into the wall!
Neo's heart raced. There wasn't enough time. What should he do?
Go after the spear or make a run for the cave entrance?
Could he afford to lose his only weapon?
The answer was a solid no!
He would die if he attempted to walk back through the forest as late as this without a weapon!
Neo had no choice. He had to act fast!
Boom! Squeal!
The fluffy white rabbit squealed in pain as the huge, hairy foot of the gorilla kicked it in the arse.
The pitiful thing got flung away so powerfully that it resembled a football!
Neo's eyes grew solemn as he stared at the suffering bunny. He consoled it in his mind: Hang in there, buddy! Your sacrifice shall be remembered.
Neo was willing to make amends with the rabbit if it could help him buy some time. He promised to give it a good burial, even if there wasn't a corpse left...
With one final glance, Neo pounced at the wall.
He channelled all the speed he could muster into that dash. Despite his bloodied head hurting like crazy and his vision swimming like ocean waves, Neo ran like a horse on drugs!
He had barely crossed half the distance to the wall when the raging gorilla appeared before him again.
Neo's instincts flared, and he felt his mind surge with danger alarms.
He halted his charge so abruptly that his ankle snapped and his body tilted off balance. But as he stared at the massive palm that whizzed by mere inches from him, he knew he had made the right call.
Run!
Neo took advantage of his unbalanced body and dashed directly through the space between the gorilla's legs.
In battle, there was no such thing as honour or any of that nonsense. Decisions were made in split seconds, and there was no time to flesh out elaborate plans.
As long as Neo saw an opening, he would take it!
His manoeuvre allowed him to dash past the stunned gorilla and get closer to the wall swiftly.
As he ran, Neo smoothly kicked a small rock lying about towards the cave wall. He needed to confirm his theory before he reached the wall.
If his deduction was wrong and he couldn't get teleported like he thought his spear had, he would be dead meat!
Fortunately, the rock didn't even hit the cave wall before it disappeared in a flash.
He was right!
Let's just hope it works on living things!
Fwoosh!
As he ran, Neo heard the unmistakable sound of the rabbit activating the enhancement skill: Flash. This explained why the gorilla hadn't come for him again.
It would obviously prioritise the prey moving towards a visible exit over one just running towards the wall like an idiot.
This was what Neo was counting on!
His plan had worked. Neo realised that as long as his plans were based purely on logic and not luck, they would work as expected.
He could break free of his bad luck curse!
Damn it!
Five metres away from the wall, Neo tripped again!
He tripped!
He smashed his head against the floor, and two of his teeth flew out of his mouth.
The pain had not even registered in Neo's mind before he was up on his feet again.
Pain was just a distraction he didn't have time for at the moment.
Alas, a huge palm was already heading for his head.
It was too close!
Voom!
Neo didn't know how he evaded that attack.
All he knew was that his vision went dark for a split second, and when he regained his sight, he was already about to touch the cave wall!
What was happ-!
Swoosh!
Neo saw a bright flash of light for a split second and felt his body grow weightless.
The next thing he knew, he was mid-air and falling towards the ground.
Thud!
Neo fell the short distance of two metres and landed on his knees.
He yelped from the pain all over his body and got up.
Scanning his surroundings frantically, Neo deduced that he was still in the cave, just in a hidden extension.
He turned around and saw a huge cave wall behind him. He had passed through that wall and appeared here.
Neo also saw his spear lying on the ground and picked it up.
His theory had been correct.
Now came the moment of truth.
Neo still didn't feel safe. There was a big chance that the gorilla would also reach the wall and get transported over.
If that happened, he was going to die, without a doubt!
Neo stood in silence and prayed that this hidden location couldn't be accessed by beasts as well.
In most cases, this was how it had always been. Most secret locations in the realm containing treasures could only be accessed by humans, or powerful bloodline beasts would have taken advantage and used the treasures long ago.
After waiting for five minutes, Neo finally calmed down. He was safe for the time being.
He sighed softly and examined his body.
He was badly wounded. Unlike all those relic MCs, he didn't escape unscathed after a major heist!
They lied!
In fact, he didn't know how he was still alive. What had happened when he blacked out for that short period?
Neo was beginning to suspect that something was a bit off about him...
But now was not the time to think about it, for now...
Neo slowly turned back around and stared at the long path before him.
It was time for adventure!