When Alex was finished, there were plant cuttings all over the oasis. He had slowly made his way to the bell sprout, taking not a little amount of damage. His health had been severely depleted, and there was worry in the back of his mind. It couldn’t distract from the fact that he had finally beat the annoying plant.

It had forced him to get a little creative on the fly. Alex had gotten used to relying on his durability and brute force to defeat most enemies that he encountered. This was not the case with the carnivorous plant. He needed to get more used to this type of fighting. Alex was sure that he would run into plenty of enemies that forced him to be much more resourceful. He wouldn’t be able to punch all of his problems, some situations would require a little more finesse.

Alex had realized another problem during his fight with bell sprout. Not only was he pretty inexperienced with fighting in general, but he was particularly unskilled with swords. He had used his Eonsteel in its sword form a few times so far, each time showcasing how little he knew about the art. He essentially flailed his arms, hoping that one of the weapons would strike true. Hopefully on one of the sharp sides of he could help it as well. Yet another class he would sign up for once he got back to Earth.

Man for someone who didn’t like school that much, I have quite the queue going. I guess my problem was that it was hard for me to see the practical value of a lot of my classes. I know the value of these classes. They will help me kick butt, but better. A worthy cause.

Alex was starting to get hungry, so he took a bite out one of the small plant pieces, which he immediately spit out. Alex began scraping his tastebuds with his nails, hoping to remove every scrap of the plant from his tongue.

“Why is it spicy?” Alex screamed to no one.

It tasted almost identical to the wasabi he had at sushi restaurants. The only difference—it was at least fifty times more spicy. Alex chugged as much water as he could. His eyes began to water as he realized how much he had messed up. The water had actually made the plant residue even spicier somehow. He started jumping in place shaking his hands, desperately hoping that doing something would distract from the burning heat in his mouth. It did not.

After thirty, grueling minutes suffering the worst pain he had since being awakened, the burning finally subsided. He felt like he had suffered even more damage from eating the plant as he had when he was fighting it. He looked at his health bar to verify his thoughts and felt immediately betrayed by all that is good in the world. He hadn’t taken a single point in damage. He had actually recovered a significant amount. Much more than he normally would in that amount of time.

Did I just accidentally find a health potion?

Alex was scared by the notion. If he had in fact found a way to heal himself quicker, could he just leave it solely based on the fact that it did mean things to his tongue? He shuddered at the prospect of eating more of the devil plant. Yet, he couldn’t shake the feeling that, if he somehow gained a tolerance to the excruciating flavor, it would be extremely beneficial to be able to heal even faster than he already did after a battle. Especially if he was in a bind and needed some extra health fast.

He tried to bring a piece up to his mouth to make sure it actually healed him and it wasn’t just his imagination, but the lingering memory made him pull it back at the last minute. He took a few breaths to steel his resolve and forced a larger piece into his mouth. It was only about an inch long, bite size. Without chewing, Alex swallowed, the cutting gliding down his throat with little resistance. Alex’s entire body went rigid. Adrenaline started coursing through him, and he felt like he was facing down the Sand Drake alone at level one.

He looked around, frantically hoping to find relief in something. Then he had another idea, sometimes if he had something incredibly spicy, he would eat a piece of bread. The mostly bland flavor of bread was enough to dull the spice level to a tolerable amount. It just so happened, he had something that might fit the bill, even though it wasn’t necessarily bland. He pulled out some field rations and jammed them into his mouth. The aftertaste of the rations combined with the plant were so revolting, he nearly wretched. It did help cut down the spice that was lingering though. Not entirely, but enough to take it down from atomic level spicy down to a Carolina reaper level. So, still not great, but manageable.

A few more minutes of torture and he felt much better, the pain largely subsiding even if his tongue still burned a little.

I’m not excited for how that’s going to feel coming out.

Alex checked his health and it had indeed jumped up a higher amount than usual.

Well at least that proves it heals me. I didn’t suffer for nothing. I definitely don’t want to be popping those things like candy though. That is one of the most miserable experiences I have ever had to endure.

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Alex felt at least slightly vindicated for his suffering. He spent the next thirty minutes rolling the most diabolical snacks. He filled the field rations with a three inch piece of bell sprout and repackaged them for quick access.

“My health bombs are ready,” Alex said.

“Wouldn’t a bomb be detrimental to your health. That seems a little oxymoronic,” Nagaar said.

“First off, you know what a bomb is? How? And you’re moronic. You’re the one that died trying to kill a species that was obviously a ton stronger than you,” said Alex.

“We were technologically advanced you know. I know you saw our war machines. You think we could make that, but we wouldn’t know what bombs are? And I said oxymoronic not moronic, you idiot,” the king said.

“I guess that makes sense. What’s the difference between the two if you’re so smart?” Alex asked, annoyed.

“A moron is what you are. An oxymoron is a contradictory turn of phrase. For example, it was an open secret in my kingdom that I was targeting the Sand Drakes for my own vanity. I made it seem like it was in our best interest, but most could see through that,” the king explained.

Alex was clearly confused, “Yeah that makes sense. Perfectly clear. Thanks. Also, you didn’t need to insult me. That’s messed up.”

The king obviously could tell Alex didn’t get it, but didn’t push the issue further. “I will try harder not to hurt your feelings in the future,” was all he said.

Alex finished rolling up the last of his health bombs and stuffing them in his bag. The fight and subsequent looting had taken well over two hours and he was ready to fight some alien wildlife. He still hadn’t run into one of those monkeys and was itching for some payback. Alex picked up his gear and made his way back into the oasis.

Alex felt the embrace of the humid air and he welcomed it. With the sticky, uncomfortable heat of the oasis came the promise of fights and levels should he claim them. He meandered through the oasis. Alex would kill one of those monkeys if it was the last thing he did.

He ducked under a fallen, decaying tree and through the brush he swore he saw a glimpse of blue. It was so quick he couldn’t be sure, but Alex grinned with anticipation. He rushed forward, hoping to catch up. He bobbed and weaved through the brush, moving much slower than he would like. It was difficult for him to traverse the ever changing terrain while looking out for the monkeys. He lost sight of them a number of times, only to see them in a completely different direction. Alex was adaptable, however and took the sudden changes in direction in stride.

The oasis wasn’t overly large, but Alex felt like he had only seen just over half of it during his time there. It was difficult to navigate as it all looked largely the same. There were few landmarks to use as waypoints. Alex had started to create some with his battles, however. If he suddenly came up to a larger clearing, he could remember what he had fought there and where he was located roughly.

That was why he was surprised to come up to a clearing he had not caused. It was much larger than any he had made, roughly the size of a little league baseball field. It looked like it had been devoid of trees for a long time. In the middle of the clearing, a large congregation of blue colored monkey knelt, facing a much larger monkey of the same variety. Alex identified it.

Saxar Primate King

Level 62

That was definitely something that Alex wanted to fight. It was also something Alex didn’t want to fight for a long time. It would be a good preparation for his fight against the Sand Drake. He now had two potential enemies that were closer to the Great One’s level of strength. He would need to track down the djinn somehow and he would also need to be able to make his way back here when the time came.

For now though, Alex tried his best impression of a tree. He did not want to be seen. He did want to get a glimpse of what was going on in the recessed clearing. Peering over a fallen tree, Alex looked down. He saw fifteen of the smaller blue monkeys approaching the king in a line. They appeared to be communicating with the larger monkey. Each of the monkeys presented something to the king, which it would accept and they would be dismissed. About two thirds of the monkeys made their offering without incident when suddenly the mood shifted.

A monkey presented its offering, but the king’s face darkened. It began to bare its teeth and howl at the smaller monkey. It jumped pounding its chest and slamming meaty hands into the earth. The smaller monkey cowered at the show of strength. It averted its gaze and extended an open palm towards the monkey king. It was immediately batted away. Faster than Alex could register, the larger monkey was on top of the other, slamming its arms down into the offender.

I guess it wasn’t good enough payment. Seems pretty harsh. I’m glad the government doesn’t do that when we mess up on our taxes.

Alex envisioned men in suits going to people’s doors to collect taxes owed. The people would say they don’t have the money, then the suited men would start bashing them in. It made Alex chuckle.

I think a lot more people would be careful to pay their taxes if that was the approach they took. Wait why am I laughing at that? That’s kind of messed up. I should keep a tighter rein on my imagination. I’m going to end up a psychopath if I keep having thoughts like this.

A few minutes later, the assault ended. A red and blue monkey was left crawling away. Alex identified it.

Saxar Primate

Level 48

It was a decent amount stronger than he was. Suddenly, Alex felt a little more apprehensive about fighting the primate king. It had just manhandled that monkey and Alex was pretty sure he wouldn’t have been able to defend himself against the weaker of the two, let alone the king.

Alex retreated into the oasis. The injured monkey was traveling in his direction and while it would take it a while, Alex had no intention of being there when it arrived. He didn’t want to draw attention to himself when such a strong enemy was nearby. Alex was stupid, not suicidal.