Thud!
A figure covered in viscous, corrosive stomach acid crashed to the ground. Once down, the person quickly removed the faceplate of their helmet and inhaled the surrounding air with near desperation, a look of sheer bliss spreading across their face.
"Being alive feels amazing!" After a few deep breaths, the boy exhaled heavily and glanced around. Then his eyes landed on the one who had saved him from the jaws of death.
It was a massive ape with thick, glossy black fur. The ape's expression was strikingly humanlike, radiating a disdainful "you're pathetic" vibe. In its hand dangled a battered and barely alive green-scaled python.
The snake, which had swallowed Victor whole, now lay limp, its mouth askew, and a mix of thick, unidentifiable fluids and blood trickled from its jaws. The creature was utterly broken.
"Mighty Ape Bro! You're the best!" Victor gave the ape a thumbs-up, clearly grateful. He knew this was one of the many creatures Jeros kept as part of his collection—exceptionally powerful beasts.
"Hah!" The ape snorted, its nostrils flaring as it puffed up with pride. Its smug expression was unmissable, as though accepting Victor's praise as only natural.
No matter the era or the level of power, even beings of legendary stature could find joy in showing off.
"Ape Bro, can I trouble you for a favor? My gear is still in that thing's stomach. Could you help me get it out?" Victor asked, putting on a fawning smile.
The ape side-eyed Victor, then lifted the python by its tail. With a powerful motion, it squeezed the snake like a tube of toothpaste.
A torrent of foul-smelling, slimy liquid spewed from the snake's mouth, but Victor's Star Armor gear was nowhere to be found.
"Ape Bro, keep squeezing! My stuff's still inside!" Victor urged, gesturing excitedly as he moved closer.
The ape scratched its head and hesitated. It didn't want to kill the snake, which was now on its last legs.
"Ape Bro, squeeze here! My gear's right around this spot," Victor pleaded, pointing out the specific location in the python's body where his equipment was lodged.
Unable to resist Victor's persistence, the ape finally relented. Following his directions, it squeezed the python's body with enough force to make it retch repeatedly. After several rounds, the snake seemed completely emptied of its contents.
"There it is! Thanks, Ape Bro!" Victor cheered as his Star Armor components emerged from the pool of slime, flying toward him and circling around his body.
The ape snorted softly, satisfied that it had fulfilled its master's command. It glanced at the limp python in its hand and, after some thought, decided to wrap the snake around its waist like a belt.
"Ape Bro, you look incredible! That's such a stylish look!" Victor immediately offered his compliments, raising his thumbs in admiration.
The ape grinned, revealing its gleaming teeth, before turning and walking away. It decided to give Victor another two hours before resuming its role as a hunter.
Although its task in the survival exercise was to eliminate all the Douglas family talents, Victor's flattering demeanor had earned him a brief reprieve.
…
"Your brother totally lied to us! He said the difficulty was reduced, but this is way harder than before!"
A girl with flowing dark hair complained to her companion as they dashed through the dense jungle. Panic was evident in her eyes.
After some time exploring the forest, the girls had discovered that the so-called "cleared" jungle was teeming with dangers. Native creatures capable of inflicting real harm lurked everywhere, alongside all manner of terrifying insects and reptiles.
"He didn't lie," Desley, the dark-haired girl, replied coolly. "In the training arena, we had no choice but to fight him directly. Here, we at least have the chance to evade him entirely. In that sense, the difficulty is indeed reduced."
"You're still defending Jeros at a time like this? Look at what he's thrown at us! He even brought his pet creatures here. It's like he doesn't want us to have any chance of survival!"
The other girl's face paled as she recalled her earlier encounter with a massive bear. The experience left her trembling. She knew that bear—it was one of Jeros's pets, a creature she had sparred with once under his supervision.
Overwhelming strength, unstoppable force—this was how she had defined Jeros's creatures. They were utterly out of her league.
"Jeros made it clear this is a survival exercise, not a combat test. We're not meant to fight them; we're supposed to avoid them. If we play it smart, we might last the full three days," Desley reasoned calmly.
Howl!
A sudden wolf-like howl interrupted them. The girls looked up to see a shadow darting nimbly through the treetops above them. Its form was too fast to make out clearly.
"Don't run," Desley said with a grave expression, grabbing her companion's arm to stop her.
"What's wrong?"
"It's my brother's Blackscale Hound. We can't outrun it; fleeing would just waste energy."
"The Blackscale Hound?" the other girl's eyes lit up.
Among Jeros's many beasts, the Blackscale Hound was the weakest. It was the only one they might stand a chance against.
"Maybe our luck isn't so bad after all. First, we met a slow one, and now it's a fast but weak one," she said optimistically.
But her smile quickly faded as the hound stepped into view, its fiery gaze filled with fury.
Growl!
The Blackscale Hound snarled, its low rumble vibrating through the air as it stared at the two girls. While it was indeed the weakest of Jeros's creatures, that was only relative to the others. It wasn't about to tolerate being underestimated by mere humans.
"You've angered it," Desley muttered, cursing her companion under her breath for her careless remark. Her expression remained composed, but inwardly she was preparing for the worst.
"Doggy, I didn't mean it! I wasn't insulting you!" The other girl forced a strained smile, trying to placate the now-enraged hound.
Roar!
The Blackscale Hound wasn't having any of it. It lunged at them, unwilling to listen further. Its orders were simple: spare their lives but do as it pleased otherwise.
"Fight with everything you've got! Don't hold back—it's going to remember this grudge!" Desley sighed as she donned her Star Armor, deploying all her weaponry while retreating to create some distance.
"Such a petty dog! It's so vengeful!" the other girl muttered angrily. She hadn't lied about its weakness; did it really have to take things so personally?
As she hesitated, the hound closed the gap in an instant. Its massive paw struck her like a sledgehammer.
Boom!
The armored girl flew backward, crashing into a tree with such force that splinters flew everywhere. Her body embedded itself in the trunk, leaving her momentarily stunned.
…
Meanwhile, this scene of the Blackscale Hound utterly dominating two young women was being broadcast in a grand hall where other Douglas family members watched the survival training.
"That dog's too much! Does it have to hit so hard?" a boy exclaimed angrily, unable to stand seeing the brutal scene.
"If I were there, I'd beat that dog until it begged for mercy!"
"Yeah, right. If you were there, you'd be the one begging for mercy. Do you even realize who's fighting that hound? They're all geniuses with compatibility scores above 80%!"
"So this is what the top family talents go through? Man, I'm glad my score isn't high enough. If I had to deal with this, I'd lose my mind."
"Damn it! Beating up my goddess like that? I want to kill that dog! Who's with me?"
"Count me in!"
"Same here!"
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