The Austral Forest was teeming with monsters. The only things that varied from place to place were their numbers, strength, and level of danger.

This stream was no exception.

Monsters roamed its banks, while others lived within the vast expanse of water itself.

On the verge of losing consciousness, Ma felt that his life was in danger.

Just as fish do not learn how to swim at birth, and some animals can walk only moments after being born, instinct suddenly took over.

Ma sensed something coming from the depths of the stream and immediately shot back toward the surface.

He dragged himself out of the water and collapsed onto solid ground.

Having swallowed a considerable amount of water, he breathed heavily and struggled to expel it from his lungs.

Cough

Cough

His mind was hazy, but once his breathing finally returned to normal, Mamadou realized what had happened.

Damn, I don’t know how to swim.

Cough

Maybe diving in headfirst wasn’t my smartest idea.

Mamadou laughed at himself.

It would have been shameful to die by drowning.

On top of that, it was one of the ways of dying he hated the most. To him, there was nothing worse than dying from suffocation or drowning.

Plop 𝐟𝐫𝕖𝗲𝘄𝚎𝗯𝕟𝐨𝕧𝐞𝚕.𝕔𝕠𝐦

As he tried to recover from the ordeal, something shot out of the stream and lunged directly at his face.

Mamadou’s reflexes were quite good.

The same was true for his use of skills.

He immediately activated Claw in retaliation.

Several pieces of the monster fell around him.

At a glance, the creature looked like some bizarre mixture of a crocodile and a catfish, which made very little sense.

It had four sturdy legs and a crocodilian head, while the rest of its body resembled that of a catfish.

Perfect.

I’m getting tired of eating random things.

Fish is worth the risk of making a fire.

While his stomach was winning against his reason, several more of the creatures leaped out of the stream toward him.

[Claw]

He killed a few of them and used Evaluation on the others.

Since they did not seem particularly dangerous to him, he could afford to do something like that in the middle of combat.

[Austral Saltidouce: A crocodile-shaped monster that lives near or inside bodies of water. The Saltidouce is omnivorous and generally hides at the bottom of the water while waiting for its prey to lower its guard. Once it notices that the water is no longer disturbed and the target is not moving, it leaps out to bite. This monster is equally comfortable on land and in water.

Characteristics:

Can breathe underwater.

Extreme agility and great speed.

No magical characteristics.]

"I like this fish."

The levels of the Saltidouce Mamadou had killed so far ranged from 3 to 5.

He had slain roughly ten of them before things finally calmed down.

Mamadou therefore decided that he was going to eat Saltidouce, and nobody could stop him.

As a result, he chose to settle near the stream.

It was far from a carefully considered decision for someone who usually claimed to be cautious.

He decided to finish what he had started.

Since he had nearly drowned during his first attempt, he used Osbone to dig a hole and created a small pool by channeling water from the stream into it.

He stepped inside and took a bath.

He felt satisfied as he watched the dirt leave his body.

It’s a shame I’m just going to get dirty again soon.

How does the other one always manage to look clean?

Not that I’m particularly dirty. I don’t really change whether I’m clean or filthy.

But him...

I feel like he smells like roses all the time.

"After spending so much time on Mount Meru, I don’t remember ever seeing a stream."

Or maybe there’s one inside the Pit?

After all, that place is strange enough that something like this wouldn’t surprise me.

Haha.

Mamadou laughed cheerfully.

When he realized he was relaxing too much, he grabbed Osbone and began cleaning it.

He lifted the weapon and admired it.

"Osbone, you do such a good job."

"Even if I find better materials later, I won’t get rid of you anymore."

Mamadou suddenly felt like a hypocrite.

He wondered where that feeling was coming from.

Inside the basket he carried around, he noticed something sticking out.

It was a wooden handle.

"..."

He immediately understood why he felt strange.

The handle belonged to one of the stone axes he had crafted.

He used it less and less after obtaining Osbone.

Or rather, ever since the day that very axe had been driven into his back.

He climbed out of his improvised pool, walked over to the basket, and grabbed the axe by its handle.

The stone head had been carefully shaped, and the wooden handle had been polished smooth with stone tools.

He sighed.

"Although it was useful once, that’s no longer the case."

"So why am I still carrying this around?"

"On top of that, it’s extra baggage and extra weight."

"Should I dismantle it and throw it away?"

Mamadou shook his head at the thought.

The idea of discarding the result of so much effort felt wasteful.

I just need to find a way to keep using it until it eventually wears out.

No.

I’m definitely not keeping it because some random monster said it would come back to find me.

Now that Mamadou thought about it, there really had been something like that.

No way.

Haha.

Since he was hungry, he began eating one of the Saltidouce raw.

The taste was surprisingly good, which only increased his anticipation for how delicious it would be once cooked over a fire.

The man had become impatient.

Besides, don’t people say that fire scares wolves away?

Sure, some creatures might be attracted by the light, but others would flee from it.

There’s nothing to worry about.

Since evening was approaching, he started a fire using his usual method.

As he happily ate the Saltidouce, whose flavor he genuinely enjoyed, something suddenly fell from the sky.

Mamadou instantly jumped aside.

His basket was on the other side, along with everything he carried.

The object crashed directly into the fire, sending burning embers and fragments of wood flying into the air.

The creature immediately spat something toward his face.

"Raaaaargh!"

[Kang of Komodo — Level 10]