Ryan felt as if his efforts were reduced to nothing as he continued to comb the wide Doom Forest.

He had been searching and looking for silver haired gorillas for the past hour but wasn't graced with the luck of finding even a strand of clue that could help him.

'At this point lady luck has completely abandoned me, not much of a surprise honestly speaking.'

Ryan thought.

He decided to take a break and laid down next to a tree.

He then removed a bottle from his waist and drank the water inside to relieve his thirst as he thought of what he knew about gorillas.

'The ideal habitat for a gorilla should be a habitat with lots of vegetation, fruit and water.. well , technically that's the ideal habitat for most mammals but whatever'

Ryan glanced around him, taking note of how moist the soil around him was.

Ryan hadn't seen a body of water such as a dam or a river ever since he had arrived in the deeper part of the Doom Forest. The forest was closer to a dessert than a tropical forest if he was being honest as the only source of water he had seen was a lake nearer to his house

And as for the fruit, the silver haired gorillas would need a stomach of steel to be able to devour whatever fruit grew in the Doom Forest.

'Ah, it's not good to just simply sit and not do anything productive. '

Ryan rested for a few more minutes before he stood up. He went back to searching once more : he took detours around sections of the forest filled with thorny bushes and purple vines , and also avoided falling into a large pit.

After a lot of searching Ryan found himself staring at a literal dead end, there was nothing but a thick wall ahead.

'I am mentally exhausted.'

Ryan thought as he decided on lying next to a tree a bit far away from the dead end.

It wasn't up until Ryan had actually laid his back against the tree that he saw that the dead end wasn't actually just a tall wall but a platform that led somewhere.

'Oh?'

The wall itself wasn't that long, it was probably around 6 to 7 metres long, it wouldn't be that big of an effort to climb.

If the silver haired gorillas weren't anywhere on top of the platform, Ryan would be forced to navigate back to the bees as a last resort since searching for the other creatures on the list on his own would more or less yield the exact same results. if such a situation could occur , It would probably take days if not weeks for Ryan to get everything on the list using the bees.

" it's time to go to work. "

Ryan stood up, preparing to climb the wall. He then slowly backed away - he needed to have some distance if he wanted to climb the steep wall.

After getting enough distance away from the wall, Ryan immediately sprinted towards the wall to gain momentum. When a metre was left , Ryan leaped , Landing on an uneven part of the wall which led to the platform.

Ryan then grabbed and kicked like a crazy man in order move his way up. He also extended a bit of mana from his fingertips which extended to temporarily stick to the rough wall like tough gum, which helped Ryan stick to the wall and essentially climb it better. He functionally became a spider.

Thanks to the mana , Ryan reached the top of the platform in just 4 minutes.

He rested for a bit with his back facing the ground, catching his breath and staring at the sky.

'What a waste to use this much mana in such a ridiculous way'

Ryan with a C grade aptitude needed every bit of mana he could get his hands on s he could advancement. With his black core mana he could only hold only a very small amount of mana so using that already meagre mana he had to only pathetically climb a wall was laughable.

Seconds later, Ryan turned and observed the scenery around him -

The place had trees that were packed closely with very green plants all around, there were even green vines in some places. The vines look a bit harmless compared to the purple vines, however Ryan wasn't planning on dropping his guard around them - once bitten, twice shy.

And of course the place was rather a bit swampy in some areas.

" Now then, It's time to go on a gorilla hunt. "

Ryan started looking all around him for potential gorilla habitats. He remained cautious - not moving too loudly and brazenly like thebcurious explorers in horror movies that met their end in a brutal fashion after being discovered. One thing Ryan had learnt was that one had to be very discreet and quick-witted to survive in the dangerous Doom Forest.

After 5 minutes of searching, Ryan finally detected a sign of life as he carefully and stealthily hid behind a tree.

Ba-dum ! Ba-dum! Ba-dumm!

A sound resonated across the area.

Ryan glanced at three silhouettes that were far away: They were towering beasts with visibly toned muscles, calloused hands and an unmistakable brute face. These 3 beasts were also quadrupedal in nature. However, the most distinct thing on their body was the silky silver hair they were covered with that made them appear less unappealing to the eye.

'What vile creatures.'

But of course any creature that lived in Doom Forest had to be either very savage or very cunning to survive - which was probably why the 3 silver haired gorillas Ryan had spotted were surrounding corpse of a small dead beast.

'Speaking of which , that small dead beast sure looks familiar... wait, is that a rabbit with horns? Isn't the same one as the one in my list - the horned rabbit?'

In the list Wung Dao had given Ryan , there were names of beasts and below the names scrawny drawings which represented them. Even though the drawings were hard to see and make out , the rabbit that was 5 metres away from Ryan was unmistakably very similar to the one that was on the list.

Ryan remembered he was supposed to get the leg of a horned rabbit.

'Surely these gorillas will be kind enough to gift me a leg?'

There was awkward tension amongst the silver haired gorillas as they stared at each other in temporary stillness, Ryan understood why.

'Even amongst the same species there seems to be competition for food, gorillas are known to be social when it comes to members of their tribe..but I guess even they aren't an exception to the savagery of doom forest, and especially since they aren't animals but beasts in this world.'

The silver haired gorillas seemed ready to pounce on each other and shed each other's blood for the rabbit in front of them. This was a temporary three-way stalemate.

However, it didn't last for long.

Ba-dum !! Ba-dum!! Ba-dum !! Ba-dum!!

The bigger silver haired gorilla lifted its upper body, its legs positioned similarly to a human as it repeatedly struck its chest once more. Before the two gorillas could see it coming , It immediately swung its arm at the nearest gorilla's face, smacking it mercilessly and making it stumble backwards.

It didn't take long for the other silver haired gorilla to get the idea, as it backed away from the bigger threatening silver haired gorilla.

'If the smaller two gorilla play it smart, they can work together against the bigger gorilla and then split the horned rabbit after attaining victory. Two fists cannot defeat four palms after all'

The bigger silver haired gorilla didn't seem strong enough to take on two silver haired gorillas - it would be left with no choice but to flee for its life if it was besieged.

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

'But I guess beasts will always be beasts'

In the end, the two gorillas backed away and left the menacing bigger silver haired gorilla, most likely returning back to their habitat or to look for another prey.

With the two silver haired gorillas gone, the gorilla immediately pounced on the dead rabbit and ate it with great haste as if it had been starved for days.

'That horned rabbit must be really a delicacy if three strong gorillas are willing to fight for such a small prey.. '

Ryan paused , staring at the lone barbaric silver haired gorilla which continued to devour the small thing as if attempting to swallow it whole.

'And of course seeing how that gorilla is eating it like there's no tomorrow - or is it because it has been starved for quite a while?'

Only just the limbs and the head of the horned rabbit remained as the silver haired gorilla continued to devour the small thing in blind hunger. Most of its insides were already devoured.

This was the moment Ryan had been waiting for.

Ryan tiptoed around the silver haired gorilla, preparing to attack it from its blind spot. Any beast would drop its guard when it was eating its prey and would only reinstate it if it managed to detect an enemy. Ryan who had been stealthily hunting preys ever since being transmigrated was confident in his ability to attack without being noticed.

When Ryan was 5 meters behind the gorilla, he walked as silently as possible, praying the silver haired gorilla didn't have super hearing. He stopped a metre behind the silver haired gorilla.

The silver haired gorilla still didn't seem to notice him, even though he was so close.

'Time to get this over with.'

A pale dagger travelled towards the defenseless silver haired gorilla back - specifically where its heart was positioned. Ryan was hoping to penetrate the heart and finish it all in one move. He was also adept at hunting; he could pinpoint the position of a beast's vital organs with 78% accuracy, of course given that the targeted beast greatly resembled an animal back on earth.

What Ryan hadn't expected was the silver haired gorilla escaping death by a hair's breadth - The gorilla surprisingly managed to keep its life by quickly turning before the attack could reach, swinging its arm at the incoming danger. It resulted in the pale Wyvern dagger being swatted away. Before Ryan could respond, the silver haired gorilla followed with a punch to the rib, knocking Ryan back by a good metre.

" Agh..! "

Ryan had suffered quite a blow; He had however anticipated the gorilla's punch and quickly coated his chest with mana in order to form a pseudo protective layer. Thanks to that, he had managed avoiding getting a broken rib.

" Huff, Huff... "

Ryan breathed heavily.

Even though Ryan had anticipated the attack, a lot of air had escaped his lungs during the impact therefore making it temporarily difficult to breathe.

After a minute had passed, Ryan could finally breathe steadily.

' This bastard is really strong, eh? How did he even manage to see my attack coming! '

The silver haired gorilla gave Ryan a glare of contempt. Ryan glanced at the horned rabbit right beside it - The silver haired gorilla hadn't budged away even by an inch away from it. Could it have been unwilling to leave its meal?

'Oh ? this is surely unexpected'

Ryan began calculating and scheming.

The silver haired gorilla's attachment to its meal to the point of refusing to leave it was nothing but a blessing to Ryan. The horned rabbit was obviously deadweight that would limit the silver haired gorilla's ability to fight freely. The silver haired gorilla was basically giving itself a handicap.

Ryan would accept the gift with warm hands, he had been running low on mana anyways.

'Refusing this opportunity would be spitting at lady luck's kindness!'

Ryan immediately jumped to action, literally leaping towards the silver haired gorilla before attacking it with his wyvern dagger. He diagonally made a cut towards its chest once he was close enough.

The beast defended by blocking with its arm, resulting in only a small cut being formed from the attack.

'Just a small cut ? Just how strong is this thing ! '

Ryan was shocked, the pale wyvern dagger was supposed to be quite an artifact - he remembered how one particular woman had said it could easily slice through monsters. Had she been lying about it being of wyvern origins or were beasts in doom forest extraordinary tough enough, that even a slice from a wyvern dagger was like a small cut from a kitchen knife to them?

Ryan didn't know, and he didn't have the leisure to speculate.

He continued with his attempts, dashing around the silver haired gorilla and slicing at its exposed back - just like the previous attack, only a small cut appeared. Ryan then quickly dodged a reversed back fist which was aimed at him, before using the gained momentum to launch himself at the beast to diagonally cut its face. The cunning beast backed at the last second, dodging the attack which would have been otherwise fatal if it had managed to hit.

'Tch , I was hoping to at least blind it'

Ryan continued with his strategy: slicing at the gorilla's chest which defended with its arm ,and ultimately resulting in a cut ; then quickly dashing behind it where it couldn't see him to slash its exposed back and finally dodging whatever attack it throwed and using the momentum to attempt to deal some crippling damage. Then repeat.

And the strategy worked.

This strategy was only possible due to the gorilla's refusal to move away from the horned rabbit. It was a hassle after all for the usually quadrupedal beast to rotate using its feet in order to engage with Ryan, who purposely dashed around it when he attacked - fully taking advantage of the handicap. Not even to mention it's huge build which slowed it down when it rotated.

Hence in less than 10 minutes the gorilla was spotted with several bleeding small cuts.

Sure getting sliced by the wyvern dagger would only result in small cuts, but would they continue to be 'small' and 'insignificant' if the gorilla was littered with them? Ryan also made sure to direct most of his attacks at pre-existing wounds to deepen them , making them more deadly.

" This is the end for you, brute face! "

Ryan teased as he continued with his relentless strategized attacks.

" Uaaaaa !!! "

The gorilla made a sudden battle cry as it finally abandoned the horned rabbit and angrily chased after Ryan.

It threw a fury of uncoordinated punches at him , Ryan of course easily dodged the sloppy attacks. The silver haired gorilla continued with the mindless attacking despite Ryan's swift dodges , it seemed that it wouldn't stop until it had landed a satisfactory punch.

'Stupid , wasting your energy like this won't get you anywhere'

Blindingly attacking Ryan, the silver haired gorilla failed to notice that Ryan's movements were actually calculated - Ryan had been dodging while simultaneously moving closer to the horned rabbit.

Achieving his goal of being near enough the corpse of the horned rabbit , Ryan picked it up and held it in front of the face of the silver haired gorilla, it stopped attacking - Ryan assumed it was shocked.

" I suppose you wouldn't mind if I took this? "

Ryan intentionally said as he used his wyvern dagger to remove a leg of the horned rabbit and purposely tucked it inside his waist in a place the silver haired gorilla could see very well.

The gorilla just couldn't deal with the stress any more and lost itself in anger, repeatedly hit its chest. Atleast it seemed so.

'Doesn't it know that beating its chest will lead to more blood loss? I thought it would have at least that bit of intelligence..no , that bit of a survival instinct'

The gorilla continued beating its chest. Contrary to Ryan's expectations there wasn't any visible increase in blood loss, in fact , it seemed that blood was gradually flowing out at a slower rate.

Ryan's eyes widened at what followed.

'The hell?'

The silver haired gorilla started increasing in size, stopping right when it was as twice as big. Ryan could also definitely see a yellowish hue surrounding the gorilla like a fog - no, aura was the term more suitable.

'This guy had this all along ! '

The tide of the battle was changed in an instant.

The swings and punching from the silver haired gorilla Ryan had thought to be a waste of effort quickly turned life threatening as the silver haired gorilla swung an arm half the size of Ryan.

Ryan dodged the hammer fist strike by leaping back as it came crashing vertically down.

" Holy... "

At Ryan's previous position, a small crack was formed. The ground had taken the full impact of the silver haired gorilla's attack.

'Get a grip!'

Ryan quickly steeled himself. Losing composure over the fact that the gorilla was using a trump card would be the height of folly.

" Uaaaaa!!! "

The silver haired gorilla made a second battle cry as it ran with all of its fours towards him. It was far faster than before, not to mention even bigger. Ryan too slow to outpace it, found himself the target of a quick sucker punch.

It was too quick and close to even think of dodging.

'Darn you !'

Ryan threw a mana coated punch with his left hand to clash with the gorilla's , in an attempt to subside the damage he would face if he didn't do otherwise. It had been too close to counteract with the wyvern dagger.

Baam!!

A small shockwave was formed as the two punches clashed.

Krrr

The sound of cracking bones sounded a second later. The cracking bones didn't belong to the gorilla.

" Aaaah !!! "

Ryan shrieked as he held his cracked fingers, the pain almost causing him to pass out. This was the first time he had been harmed to such a degree. He unfortunately didn't get the moment all to himself, how could the beast just leave him be after all?

Ryan ducked and then leaped sideways, dodging a consecutive hook and hammer fist strike combo.

" Damn you !!! "

Most of Ryan's fingers were dislodged and fresh blood was oozing out from them.

'Fuck ! Fuck ! Fuuuck!!'

The pain was almost unbearable that Ryan couldn't even think straight - which was why he only noticed an approaching slap attack which completely dwarfed him when it was already too late.

Thwark

Ryan was thwarted like a fly hit by a net. He only stopped flying when a giant tree broke his momentum -

Krrrrrr

- and also his back as well.

"Ahhh!!"

Ryan made his second shriek.

Ryan's surroundings were starting to get dark as his vision faded and he spat a fair amount of blood. The only thing that prevented him from immediately collapsing onto the floor was the partially broken tree which held onto him.

Despite his blurred vision, Ryan could still see the silhouette of the perpetrator that had broken his back from a far - the silver haired gorilla.

'Fuck.. I can barely move a finger.. ahhh, fucken crap !'

The silver haired gorilla picked up the wyvern dagger Ryan had dropped when his fingers were cracked. It eyed the dagger with curiosity, holding it between its index finger and thumb like a needle.

'I can't die like this.. I won't allow it !'

Ryan quickly restored his composure at the momentary break he was graced with by the gorilla which had decided to give in to curiosity. The silver haired gorilla had probably deemed Ryan as a sitting duck it could get rid of at its own leisure.

[ WARNING! ]

- You have lost more than the 40% of your blood. Additionally, your body has suffered approximately 70% damage. It is advisable that you activate it before any irreversible health issue develops.

Despite the agonizing pain, a grin managed to emerge on Ryan's face.

' Enjoy this moment while it lasts! '

It wasn't only the silver haired gorilla that had a trump card to use in the fight.

And there would be hell to pay when Ryan used his.