10 Chapter 10: Center-area Excursion
While on my knees in pain, I grabbed my abdomen while coughing out blood, dying the ground red; I even saw small pieces of organs lying in the puddle of blood, causing me to realize the severity of my injuries.
"I've vastly underestimated its power; this will put me out of commission for a day or two." Muttered Diddy with a painful expression while his mouth leaked blood.
Standing up, I wobbled my way over to the hammock and plopped myself on it, nearly falling out of it in the process; though it was still early in the day, with these injuries, I wasn't going to get anything done, so I decided to go to sleep. Unfortunately, I was also a little hungry, but it didn't look like I would be eating food soon, at least not solid foods.
'Haa, well, you know what they say; what doesn't kill you makes you stronger.' Thought Diddy, grinning as he closed his eyes and quickly drifted asleep.
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Waking up, I opened my eyes, feeling completely rested and rejuvenated after the slumber; hopping out of the hammock, I looked for the sun, only to notice it rising from the east.
'Roughly a full day, I suppose I was quite injured, though now I feel excellent; actually, upon closer inspection, my strength seems to have improved.' Thought Diddy as he stretched his body, only to notice his increased strength.
After doing a little testing, I determined that my strength had improved, even if only slightly, though that alone was a very welcomed surprise; it seems like fighting powerful opponents isn't the only way to increase my strength.
'Although that might be true, It's not like I've just discovered a cheat or loophole; I'm still required to push myself to my limit if I wish to improve my strength, just like I did with yesterday's training, granted, this isn't going to be a reliable way to increase my strength.' Pondered Diddy with a slight smile as he approached the tree and began practicing the same technique.
For the next two months, all I did was stay on the beach while practicing creating my technique, and boy, was it probably the most challenging thing I've done to date in both of my lives. Every day was filled with nothing but pain whenever I lost control and boredom from doing the same technique repeatedly until I either collapsed from exhaustion or destroyed my body.
However, what kept me going was the fact that everyday I continued to advance in the creation of the technique, granted it came with a severe cost, but from the sheer amount of power I was able to gather even without having entirely created the technique, I knew it was going to be worth it in the end. Not to mention, over the last two months, I've gotten decently stronger than before, and my body is much more durable after being constantly assaulted by an out-of-control technique.
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"Ugh, alright, that's enough; I need to take a break and do something; otherwise, I'm going to die from boredom!" Stated Diddy as he wiped the blood leaking from his mouth while panting in exhaustion.
Looking at the same tree, I had been staring at for two months, I clicked my tongue in annoyance while nearly acting on my impulses and destroying the tree, yet I held myself back as I now held a personal vendetta against this tree. When I destroy this tree, it will be with my finished technique and only that.
With a grunt, I turned around and approached the bonfire, which was currently cooking a deer; grabbing a piece of cooked meat, I quickly ate it before grabbing another two pieces of meat and devouring them as well.
'I don't think I've gone a full two months of doing nothing; even when I was learning the other six techniques, I'd still go out and fight some beasts.' Thought Diddy while looking at the forest with a contemplative expression before his eyes suddenly hardened with a ferocious glint.
"I've made up my mind; in three days, I'll be heading into the center area, and I won't leave until I find something!" Declared Diddy with a smile of savagery.
Since I'm resolved to fully explore the center area, I decided to head to sleep a little early than usual, figuring it's best to stop training and return to peak condition if I intend to explore the center area of the forest that I've been avoiding for the past several years.
While lying on the hammock, I looked up at the night sky and observed the beautiful moon, which was nearly in its full state; I don't know whether it was because I'd been given a chance to enjoy nature or if it had something to do with my species, but I really enjoy staring at the moon.
"Hmm, if I'm correct, it should be a full moon in three days; I'll be exploring the center area the same night." Remarked Diddy with a yawn as he entered dreamland not too long later, looking ever so peaceful, though you could say he was currently a wolf in sheep's clothing.
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Currently, at the edge of the inner area, I Inspected myself one last time, ensuring I was fully healed and in tip-top shape before entering the center area, as I didn't know what would happen.
'Here goes nothing.' Thought Diddy with a slight smile as he left the inner area and began entering the center area.
With my guard fully up and my senses on high alert, I headed deep into the center area, at least deep to me, as this is further than I've ever gone. Yet, just like the previous two times, nothing happened; even after walking around for two hours, I hadn't encountered a single beast, causing me to wonder if I had been wrong about this area the whole time.
'No, my instincts haven't let me down yet; there is definitely something here, and it's powerful.' Thought Diddy with a feral grin while eager to meet this powerful opponent.
Still, even if I knew something lived here, finding it was proving to be quite difficult, so I climbed a tree, intending to get a better vantage point; once I was at the peak of a tall tree, I observed the surrounding area, hoping to find something out of place.
"Bingo; other than the waterhole, I haven't encountered a single clearing in this entire forest." Remarked Diddy with a smile as he spotted an area in the distance with no trees.
Dropping from the tree, I eagerly made my way towards the clearing, though I took my time as I didn't wish to possibly get ambushed; once I arrived near the clearing, I stealthy stayed in the shadows while moving in the opposite direction of the wind, which was thankfully blowing in my favor.
Standing just behind a tree, I observed the clearing, and in doing so, I spotted a sleeping creature that was roughly the size of me, maybe even slightly smaller, which surprised me as when I laid eyes on the beast, it gave me a dangerous feeling. The creature's back, which was facing me, was black, while its furry tail was white and black.
'I may be wrong, but I think that's a lemur, and as funny as it sounds, it's quite big compared to the ones back on earth; then again, for this place, it's rather small.' Thought Diddy while closely observing the creature.
After observing the lemur for about ten minutes, I decided to go and hunt it; the moment I stepped out of the shadows and entered the clearing, the lemur's ear twitched, and it instantly looked directly at me, causing my fur to stand on end.
'Heh, I might've underestimated its strength.' Thought Diddy with a feral smirk while openly displaying his hostility, causing the lemur to stand up and do the same.
Seeing the lemur also displaying aggressiveness, I smiled in excitement, and just as I was about to launch myself toward him, the lemur beat me to it; moving at a fast speed, the lemur appeared directly in front of me in the blink of an eye while swiping its claws at me.
'Harden!' Thought Diddy as he crossed his arms while hardening his body, offsetting any damage the lemur's attack did.
Seeing the lemur use the technique used by the wolves didn't surprise me, but it wasn't something I was expecting, either; with how close the lemur was now, I outstretched my finger and aimed to stab his chest. Yet to my surprise, I watched how the lemur also hardened its body, which resulted in my nail only digging a few millimeters into his body.
'First, the wolves and now the Gorilla's techniques; things just got very interesting.' Thought Diddy with an excited smile as he backed away while kicking toward the lemur, sending a sharp wind blade toward him.
Having seen him use two different techniques, seeing him also use the lizard's technique to cancel out mine wasn't much of a surprise, and at this point, I just figured it would be safe to assume he knows every single technique.
As the fight waged on, the lemur displayed every single technique, and while I had already anticipated that, his level of proficiency was on par with mine. That was shocking since not even the six beasts that I fought with a few months ago were as proficient as me, which is saying something as they only had one technique to master, while I had six, not to mention I did it all within two years and who knows how many years they had.
'Still, I don't know why I was getting such dangerous vibes from this lemur; his strength is roughly on par with mine, and I seem more experienced in battle than him.' Pondered Diddy with a confused expression as he used his flexibility to dodge the lemur's finger assault.
'Either way, I'm trusting my instincts; they haven't failed me; besides, being cautious isn't a bad thing anyways; I just can't be overly cautious.' Thought Diddy while slashing at the lemur, who managed to evade by powerfully kicking the air.
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if it doesn't work, I don't know what to say.
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Elven Legacy (Chapter 130: Betting the Gift) || Hero of Harmony (Chapter 10: Alexander's Trauma) || One Piece: Chaos Kong (Chapter 15: Dojo Hunter) at [patreon.com/Ozonelayer691]
