[Work Review] I always feel like naming things is the hardest part. Pre-submissions, recommendations, comments, and coupons are always welcome! Thank you!
41. Adam’s Son 041 – Adam’s Son #2
‘What’s my species name?’
As I pondered the sudden turn of events, various letters popped up in front of me.
Name: Alpha White Dog
Species: Magical Beast lv.10
Strength: 33
Agility: 31
Stamina: 33
Skills: “Omnivore” “Sturdy Claws” “Low Frequencies” “Stealth Movement” “Dance of Courtship” “Inter-Species Mating” “Frenzy”
The list of letters now included a new entry: my name.
‘What’s this Alpha White Dog thing?’
Is this what they’re calling me, as in, this body’s name?
I frowned at the bizarre title when a looming shadow cast over me.
Turning my head, I found the Leader, with red hair and bloodshot eyes, staring down at me.
“Please grow and thrive, Alpha.”
The Leader’s strong hands gripped my neck,
and started tightening the hold.
I kicked and struggled to escape the restraint, but soon my vision faded to nothingness.
*
“What the heck is this guy doing?!”
I shouted, flailing like a fish out of water.
A rustling sound startled me from beside me.
Turning my head, I saw Raccoon Leaf awkwardly smiling and offering me a fruit.
“I-I wasn’t trying to eat it secretly! I was just hungry and took a bite first…”
I quickly averted my gaze at Leaf’s rambling explanations.
What met my eyes were not holes, not bushes, nor that weird human from earlier.
All I could see was a narrow, damp earthen pit.
Or you could call it a cave wall.
“What’s going on? Where did everyone go?”
I rubbed my throbbing head and sore neck.
After passing out due to choking, I couldn’t recall anything.
Raccoon Leaf handed me the wooden fruit he was holding.
“The humans left you after I took you down. I dragged you all the way here. No thanks necessary.”
“They left? Where did they go?”
I grabbed Leaf by the shoulders and shook him violently.
Wobbling, Leaf tilted his head and replied,
“I-I don’t know. I was too busy rescuing you. The humans probably went back to their place.”
“Hmph.”
I wanted to figure out where the humans lived and how to get out of this forest, but that plan seemed to have floated away.
“What about the tail? You didn’t see a severed tail, did you? A thick tail with red scales.”
I frantically searched every nook and cranny of the cave.
If you think about it, the whole scuffle with the humans was pretty much all about Yan-Mite’s tail.
If I lost it, that’d be a total bust.
“The tail? Oh, you mean the red-scaled tail? The wriggly one…”
“Where is it? Did you bring it? Please tell me you didn’t leave it behind!”
“C-Calm down. I brought it with me.”
Leaf rummaged in a corner of the cave.
When the tail, hidden under twigs and branches, finally came into view, I let out a sigh of relief.
As Leaf pulled the tail out, he smacked his lips.
“I don’t usually eat meat, but this is making me hungry. It smells amazing. I had a tough time with beasts attacking me everywhere because of this.”
“Good thing you didn’t drop it. Good job.”
“It looked important, so I made sure to grab it. Whose tail is this? Did you hunt it?”
“It’s Yan-Mite’s tail.”
“Yikes.”
Leaf frowned heavily.
He quickly wiped the drool from his mouth and shook his head.
“My appetite is disappearing now. It’s starting to get scary.”
The severed tail wiggled in Leaf’s hands, displaying frantic movements.
It was almost as if it were a living creature.
I accepted the dinosaur-like tail from Leaf and marveled at its thick, hefty weight.
Scraping my claws on the surface of the scales revealed firm flesh and muscles concealed beneath.
It gave off a wild, primitive vibe.
Yet the aroma wafting from it was even more enticing than the scent of pork belly and chicken when hungry.
Saliva poured uncontrollably from my mouth.
I opened wide and took a hefty chunk out of the tail’s thick flesh.
It was tougher than I thought because it was solid muscle, but the elasticity against my teeth felt surprisingly pleasurable.
With each satisfying tear, I noticed Leaf trembling beside me.
“You’re really digging in! You must love meat.”
I didn’t even have time to answer his remark, as I devoured the tail completely.
It was fresh, lean, and tasty enough to go down without any boredom.
Before I knew it, I was licking the little bits of meat clean off the bone.
‘Am I not gaining any experience points?’
I had hoped for some experience points after eating a powerful being’s body part.
But alas, no letters appeared.
Is it that eating body parts doesn’t grant you experience points?
‘What’s the actual criteria for gaining experience points?’
It seemed the method wasn’t as straightforward as I thought.
Shaking off my baffled thoughts, I caught Leaf’s anxious gaze.
“W-What? Why are you looking at me? You’re not still hungry, are you?”
Leaf was trembling as if I would turn around and devour him.
I thought about messing with him but opted against it—too much hassle.
“Where even are we? This doesn’t look like a treehouse.”
Finally, after getting filled up, I diverted my gaze to my surroundings.
Leaf, fluff all calm now, leaned against a cave wall.
“We’re close to the setting sun. Not too far from the treehouse. I mustered the strength to bring you and the tail back, but my arms were shaking, and those monkeys kept attacking…”
Leaf fumbled with his arms and legs.
On closer inspection, I could see patches of fur missing and many scratches.
“You’ve had it tough.”
I offered a casual pat of comfort but felt unsure of what else to say.
He hadn’t abandoned me, and maybe an unspoken bond had formed between us.
I had helped him during the scuffle with the human Leader, tossing rocks his way. He’d been useful all around.
My trust in Leaf definitely ticked up a notch.
“So we’re in the west of the forest then?”
“Not exactly the west, more like the border between the southern forest. The monkeys didn’t chase us this far.”
“West…”
I peeked out of the cave entrance.
The forest was shrouded in darkness so thick you couldn’t see an inch ahead.
The trees were so dense that even moonlight couldn’t filter through.
It felt more like a dense jungle than just a plain old forest.
Unlike the tall, straight trees I saw in the south, this area was chaotic with twisted, vine-like growths everywhere.
‘Even in the same forest, the setting can drastically change by region.’
Just then, a flash of light caught my eye.
With a crack, it felt like a tree had splintered apart somewhere nearby.
Thunder roared with a sound so loud it shook my ears.
Soon after, heavy rain began to pour down.
The raindrops were so big and heavy that it felt like I was getting a massage on my head.
‘Hope I’m not going bald from this!’
Do acid rain have a concept in this world?
This place seems so naturally preserved; I thought maybe it wasn’t such a bad idea to open my mouth wide and drink the rainwater.
“Hey, what are you doing? Get in here! There could be stalkers around!”
Leaf fussed, pulling on my shoulder.
With him tugging me, I hurried into the cave, shaking off the water on my body.
“What’s a stalker?”
“Monsters that only roam around on rainy days. They’re big, fast, and scary.”
Maybe it was the chill from the rain seeping into the cave, or the fear of the so-called stalkers, but Leaf was trembling.
‘Stalkers…’
I muttered the ominous name in my mind, shifting my gaze to the cave entrance.
Outside, the heavy rain was a wall of water, obscuring everything, and not a sound could be heard.
Just the resounding noise of everything being washed away filled the cave and the whole world.
Leaf stood beside me, staring out at the torrential downpour.
“When it rains like this, it’s best to hide in caves or tunnels.”
“For how long? How much more will it rain?”
“It looks like it’ll last two to three days. Could be over a week if it takes its time.”
“A long time, huh?”
Thinking about a week of downpour, I wondered if there would be floods and I might just float away somewhere.
“Won’t it flood?”
“What’s that? Flood?”
Leaf tilted his head with a curious look.
He made that same curious sound whenever questions popped up.
That must be his habit.
“A flood is when the water overflows and rises to the trees. If it rains hard, the water could pool up.”
“The only thing overflowing is the sea, right? If it rains, does it become the sea?”
Leaf kept making that curious sound.
He had learned much but seemed to know nothing at all.
I remembered then that he was just a four-legged raccoon.
‘Not knowing what a flood is means they probably wouldn’t experience any water disasters with all this rain.’
As I pondered where all this rainwater even disappeared to, Leaf seemed to pick up on my curiosity and spoke up.
“All this rainwater is nourishment for the Mother Tree. Deep underground, there are roots that are unimaginably thick and large.”
“Roots?”
“Yeah. According to Lady Eve, trees can grow just by drinking water. I guess the Mother Tree is similar.”
“Hmm, I guess that makes sense.”
I remembered the World Tree I saw from atop the tall trees; it was enormous enough to make my eyes bulge.
Even someone like me, naïve in measurements, could tell its trunk was probably comparable to that of a small city.
Given that the roots spread throughout this forest and that trees grow indefinitely, I began to understand why they wouldn’t be struck with floods or disasters.
“We should head south quickly. If the rain keeps us stuck here, we’ll be stuck for days.”
Leaf stopped staring outside and lay back deeper into the cave.
He coiled up like a snake and slowly closed his eyes.
“I think it’d be best to inform Lady Eve that humans came by. What’s happening in this forest?”
“According to them, they said they’re going to disrupt the ecosystem or something. Wasn’t their original goal to hunt the forest’s owner?”
“Hmm?”
Leaf, who had been curled up, lifted his head.
His eyes widened, and he cautiously spoke up.
“Do you happen to understand what the humans are saying? Really?”
Leaf’s question felt eerily loaded with suspicion.
Thinking fast, I started piecing together the situation and realized it wasn’t normal to understand human speech.
“No, I think I was just trying to interpret what they said… So, how would I understand humans?”
It was a bit of a gamble. I felt a gut instinct that I was entering into a troubling situation full of questions.
“Hmph.”
Raccoon Leaf made a short, thoughtful sound before curling up again.
“Right, it’s just Lady Eve who can understand them. I thought you came from a human city, so your language would make sense too.”
“I can only grasp the general context. Just that it sounded like that…”
“Complete nonsense. Hmph, I’ve been curious about what humans talk about.”
“Nothing much, I guess. They probably chat about what to eat for breakfast or lunch.”
“No, I’m sure they talk about horrifying things. They say those critters sometimes peel off the skin instead of eating the caught animals or just take their teeth. Isn’t that terrifying? Why on earth do they do that? You almost got caught by humans and had your teeth pulled out. Thanks to that, you’re alive, but…”
“My teeth were pulled out?”
“Y-Yeah. Didn’t you know?”
At Leaf’s question, I finally realized that something felt off in my mouth.
Running my tongue over my gums, I discovered one of my canine teeth missing from my lower right jaw.
‘What the?! What’s going on?!’
What on earth would make them pull my teeth out?
