Chapter 77: Branch
Hugh braced himself on the eagle's back. He had no trouble getting into the eagle, but there was still the danger of falling off the eagle. He had to make sure that he was alert the whole time that the eagle soared through the skies.
After a few hours of travel, they finally reached the giant tree. Hugh braced himself and looked out for the eagles that could appear from the tree.
Seeing that the coast was clear, Hugh activated his armor on his hand and pierced it through the eagle's back. This was identical to what he had done before since he wanted to kill the eagle for its meat.
With his armor activated for sixteen seconds, Hugh had an easier time killing the eagle. He had injured it while they flew in the sky, so it was already close to dying.
The last time he had fought the eagle, he had cuts and bruises all over his body. This time, there were fewer injuries than before since he knew what to do and avoid.
His hunting for the eagle was more organized as he used the eagle's flight patterns to kill it. Although he had killed an eagle, he was not confident fighting it if it was in its healthy condition.
He could kill a healthy eagle, but it would probably cost him multiple injuries and probably a broken limb. Hugh looked at the carcass of the eagle and started to eat it.
The meat was savory and was filled with nutrients that nourished his stomach. He broke its bones and drank the liquid in the bone marrow as he saved it for last.
Its skin and feathers were all eaten up, and there was nothing left of the eagle except some blood and bits of meat on the ground.
He sat on the ground as he patted his stomach. He was satisfied with the meat of the eagle and wanted to eat more. If it were not for the difficulty in killing the eagle, he would actively hunt for more.
As he thought more about it, the more he craved the eagle meat. If he could find an isolated eagle, he could kill with his bare hands and strip it of its flesh.
Since he had a lot of time, Hugh decided to explore the giant tree and look for more eagles. Since the dungeon resets every day, it would be good to familiarize himself with the giant tree that he would be going to every day.
He was excited at this new adventure he was going on. Even though he was eager to explore the tree, he did not forget to stay calm and observe his surroundings.
He was still at a dangerous dungeon, and any creature here could kill him if he dropped his guard. He started to walk along the thick gigantic branches of the trees like they were roads.
Within thirty minutes of searching, Hugh heard the sounds of ruffled leaves in the distance. Alarmed, Hugh hid away from the open area and observed his surroundings. Out from the sky, a large shadow was cast in the space where Hugh was initially positioned.
Then, two giant eagles landed on the ground, their claws digging into the bark of the tree. Hugh hid even further away from the eagles, fearing that they would notice him.
These were two healthy eagles. Hugh had almost no chance of killing the two of them together, so he had to avoid fighting them at all costs.
The two eagles looked around the place after they landed; their sharp eyes glinted under the bright sun. Hugh held his breath as he hoped that they had not noticed his presence.
After a minute of waiting, the two eagles stopped observing their surroundings and started to peck their own bodies as a way to clean themselves.
Hugh finally took a breath, but he still kept up his guard. It looked like the eagles had not noticed his presence, but he still needed to be stealthy.
Hugh waited for tens of minutes for the eagles to fly off, hit, they stayed in place. They looked like they were dozing off and playing with each other.
Hugh frowned as he waited for the eagles to take off. He needed to get out of this place and explore the other parts of the tree.
He would familiarize himself with the tree to be easier to navigate through it in the next days. He could dig down, but the sharp ears would probably hear it of the eagles.
Even if he dug down, he would only have a limited space to dig down. He was only at a branch of the tree, not the main shaft, so there was no place to dig down.
As Hugh was observing the eagles, he saw their eyes start to feel heavy and close their eyes. It looked like the eagles were starting to sleep, which was an excellent opportunity for Hugh to escape.
Hugh waited for a few more minutes to make sure that they were still asleep, and then he started to tiptoe his way out of their presence.
His steps were precise, and he made sure that he did not make any noise. Hugh started to progress out of their place step by step until he was a few tens of meters away from them.
Hugh kept his eyes locked onto the two eagles to make sure that they were still asleep. He also prepared his armor to be taken out of a crisis arose.
Hugh continued to walk in the tree branch until he heard a loud screeching sound from somewhere.
*KYAOOOO!!!*
As soon as Hugh heard this scream, he knew that he was in deep trouble. The sound traveled towards the two eagles, and their eyes immediately opened. They looked towards a specific direction to the north as if they knew where the sound came from.
Their wings spread forth, and they started to take off from the ground. With one large flap, they left the bottom and hovered in the air.
Hugh did not move as soon as the eagles opened their eyes. Eagles had good eyesight for things that were moving, so Hugh was hoping that they would not notice him if he did not move.
It seemed to have been an effective method to evade the eagles' eyesight as they started to fly off. Hugh felt relieved that the eagles flew off, but it was short-lived. Hugh heard another sound from his back.
Hugh turned around and saw a large squirrel squeaking towards the air as if communicating with the eagles. The eagles were forced to turn back and look at the squirrel, putting their vision near Hugh.
As they turned their heads, they saw Hugh standing there in the open. As soon as Hugh noticed his presence was known to the eagles, Hugh bolted out.
Hugh activated his armor on his leg and sped out from the eagle's view. It proved useless as he was still out in the open, ready to be picked off by the eagles.
Hugh frowned as he felt frustrated from the event that had happened. He almost escaped, if not for the squirrel that took the eagle's attention.
He looked around and saw that the squirrel bolted out as soon as it had taken the eagle's attention. Hugh's blood boiled as he felt a deep hatred towards the squirrel.
He swore to himself that he would hunt as many squirrels as he could if he ever got the chance. For now, he had to deal with the two eagles behind him.
Hugh knew that he stood no chance against the eagles if he was out in the open, so Hugh decided to dig under the wood. It was not deep, but it was enough to escape the clutches of the eagles.
He was only at a branch, so he had limited space to dig under. With his armored fist, he took out the wood and ate it as he carved a hole big enough for himself.
The two eagles landed on the hole that Hugh was in. They tiled their heads in confusion on what to do. They could not reach Hugh with their claws, so they tried to peck him from the hole.
Hugh dug down deeper, just a few centimeters away from the eagle's beaks. He did not want to dig further down because he did not know if he would fall.
He was safe at this place, but he had to think of something that could get him out safely. Hugh spent hours as he poked the eagles through the hole and gave them small injuries that piled up.
When the beaks came into his hole, he would punch them the best that he could. After a while, the two eagle's beaks were broken.
Hugh used this chance to get out of the hole and piece his armored hand on an eagle. He would quickly burrow himself back again in the wood because the other eagle would attack him if he stayed on longer.
It took a long time, but Hugh finally did enough damage towards the eagles that he could finish them off. He panted as he looked at the carcasses of the two eagles in front of him.
His left arm was broken and dismantled from one of the eagle's beaks, and his right leg was broken from an eagle trampling his leg.
He was exhausted, but he finally defeated two eagles. He ate their carcasses with joy on his face as he felt like he had earned this meat.