53 Ravage (1/2)

Shesmu used Inspect on the unknown creatures. They were parasite rats, level 35. From his past knowledge, Shesmu knew that he stood no chance against them.

As such, he ran.

He coated his legs in Ki and dashed out of the cave. Fortunately, the golden gorilla wasn't there to greet him, yet. However, Shesmu couldn't spare the time to breathe a sigh of relief. The thousands of rats, hungry for flesh and blood ran after him like an ocean wave.

In a moment of epiphany, Shesmu thought up a way to flee from those little pests. The trees. If he were to jump from one tree branch to the other, they would have much less of a chance of catching up to him.

With those thoughts in mind, Shesmu jumped up a tree branch. He took a few seconds to gain his balance before he jumped towards another tree, and then another. As time went on, Shesmu became more proficient at branch jumping and could do it easily.

Did I lose them?

Shesmu looked back only to have his expectations subverted. The rat army ate the trees. It was as if a Feller Buncher was going through the forest, cutting down trees left and right. Just that they were much faster and much more horrific.

What the fuck is this test?!!

However, Shesmu's misfortunes were only beginning. A mighty roar came from behind the trees, and the golden gorilla that Shesmu thought already left, appeared once again.

The golden beast jumped high in the sky and landed in front of Shesmu, scaring the latter shitless. Is this the end?

Even though the situation was grim beyond measures, Shesmu kept his calm. He focused on the gorilla's eyes. It wasn't looking at him, the only thing that was in its vision was the army of rats behind him.

It was then that Shesmu saw hope. There was a way out of that situation, he just needed to play his cards right.

He didn't move. He knew that if he did, while both parties surrounding him stayed stagnant, he would become the center of attention immediately.

And soon enough, the gorilla made the first move.

”Roar!!”

With a mighty roar, it jumped high above Shesmu and into the pile of overgrown rats. The moment it did, Shesmu ran like there was no tomorrow. He coated his feet with as much Ki as he could possibly, and launched himself out of the two monsters' fighting area. He ran like he never did before in this timeline.

Meanwhile, the golden gorilla was being assaulted from all directions. They sunk their poisonous fangs into its flesh, making it drip purple blood. No matter how much it flailed and jumped, the rats stuck on it like parasites.