Chapter 3: The First Battle
After a week of searching, Brandon finally found a water source. This water body was about five kilometres away from the cave.
He looked around carefully.
Hiding in the mud, only a few pairs of eyes were exposed, but they could not be hidden from Brandon's keen eyes. Rest of the crocodiles were leisurely floating in the river, yawning from time to time. Several tall water birds were standing in shallow water with patience, looking for small fishes.
There was a group of zebras on the shore of the lake drinking water cautiously, withdrawing themselves at the slightest movement of water. And drooling at the sight of zebras were hyenas.
The three hyenas were slightly larger than domestic dogs. They should not be life-threatening. Brandon thought to himself. It had been one month since birth, and Brandon was already half the size of an adult monitor lizard. The Golden Bell had also reached the peak of the first level, but its defensive ability was already equivalent to the second level of the Golden Bell from his previous life. The physical body and the scales greatly enhanced its defensive capabilities.
He crawled towards the river bank, ready to drink water.
From the analysis of the exposed river bed, this place should have had a higher level of water. But the dry season was gradually approaching, and it had not rained for a week. If Brandon had not found a river, he might have died of thirst.
The river bed was full of black mud with the footprints of various animals on it. It looked very soft and viscous.
Brandon walked silently to a slightly safer area and avoided the crocodiles hiding in the mud.
Just as he was about to drink water, several hyenas saw the young lizard and surrounded him. A battle was about to begin. Three hyenas surrounded Brandon in the middle. They were aggressive and growled menacingly at Brandon.
The hyenas also understood that creatures like monitor lizards are not the kind of creatures that could be slaughtered easily by others. An aggressive lizard would attack back, even if it still looked small. But the drought had only increased their hunger enough to not make them care anymore.
The three hyenas rushed towards Brandon at the same time. Facing the hyenas, Brandon advanced instead of retreating. He positioned himself in two steps quickly, turned around, and whipped his tail in the face of one of those hyenas who were behind him. The hyena stepped back while wailing in pain.
The big tail dancing in the air at that time was not just for decoration. In addition to maintaining body balance when running, after a long period of training, the lethality of the tail had gradually exceeded that of teeth and claws.
There was a crying sound. That hyena behind him had already flown upside down, rolled a few times, and could not stand up tremblingly. Blood was flowing out from its ferocious mouth, and it looked like its nose had been broken.
The other two of those had a clear look of fear in their eyes. They let out a low cry, ignored each other, and scattered in the opposite directions.
The fight for survival had come to an end for now.
The group of zebras saw everything, and they seemed to be frightened of Brandon now. They retreated for more than ten metres.
Brandon felt a little proud, and his chest inflated unconsciously. He glanced around again before drinking water.
Strength is indeed the most important thing for survival, Brandon thought to himself.
After drinking the water, Brandon took a bath in the shallow water. It had been half a month since he took a bath. There was an indescribable strange musty smell all over his body. The environment of the rainforest was humid and dark. If he didn't take a bath, he might die from his own smell.
However, Brandon did not dare to go deep into the lake. Although he was somewhat confident in his own strength, he was still a little self-aware when dealing with a two to three metre long crocodile, especially when the crocodile was still in the water.
After taking a bath, Brandon walked over to the wailing hyena. It was almost dying. It was whining and rolled up hopelessly, but couldn't run away. Its legs twitched from time to time. When he saw Brandon coming over, he was frightened and scared. The look of despair could no longer be concealed.
Brandon stood over him on two legs before he ferociously grasped its neck with lightning speed. His whole body performed a death roll to bite off a big chunk of its neck.
He began dragging the hyena toward the cave to enjoy his feast at home.
Another lizard his size could never perform this feat and bring home hyena to devour. But Brandon had his cultivation. He dragged the whole body of the hyena through the jungle as his mouth never let go of the neck of his prey.
A few minutes later, Brandon returned to the cave and put the prey aside. As soon as Brandon came back, the little bird in the nest screamed loudly. Its small beak opened wider than its head. It was obviously hungry. Brandon threw some leftover caterpillars in the bird's mouth, the bird made a cry of satisfaction.
Brandon shook his head and began to handle the prey. He used his sharp claws to tear open the hyena's skin. If left to dry, it could be used as a mattress.
What a bumper harvest it is today. But I can’t finish such a big prey today. Don’t mention the rest tomorrow, it won’t be enough after half a day. It would be great if there was a fire. Brandon pondered, looking at the meat.
He could try to make bacon, which is suitable for storage and tastes good. It was much better than eating it raw.
Without a lighter, a magnifying glass, or a watch, it seemed impossible to drill wood to make fire. Although his claws were much more flexible than ordinary monitor lizards, he could only do some simple movements, which was not suitable for drilling wood to make fire.
I still have to try. Doing what came to mind had always been Brandon's thing. He walked out of the cave, leaving the meal inside while it was still early.
Over the past few days, he has become quite familiar with the trees and plants here. He started crawling towards the south. Based on his memory of past life, what he was looking for now was a vine-like plant with velvet-like beards growing on the top of the tree. It is extremely easy to burn. He planned to use this plant as fuel for fire. This plant often climbs on the trees that are stronger and straighter.
Countless vines would be hanging down from large trees above Brandon. Because other plants were also growing on these trees. But there was a large area in the south where trees and vines are particularly present in abundance, where he should be able to find a large number of these fluffy tentacles.
In the jungle, there was just silence all around, except for the occasional scattered unknown chirping sounds, which were also fleeting. As always, only a few faint, almost imperceptible rays of light stubbornly shined through the canopy of layers of plant branches and leaves to the ground, reminding the creatures on the bottom that it was daytime.
There seemed to be some sound... Brandon instinctively bent down and lied on the ground. His whole body was almost buried in the dead leaves and long grass. He put his head against the ground, with his ears carefully distinguishing the sounds.
Out of caution, Brandon deliberately climbed to a large tree nearby from where he could identify the origin of the sound.
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