Chapter 152 Reward
Adam had tried many different ways to get past them. He had tried climbing the mountains on either side, swimming through the river in the middle, and even jumping directly over the baboons.
However, every attempt of his was brutally thwarted by these magical beasts.
Adam learned the hard way that the weakest of these baboons was equivalent to a Bone Stage Magus, whereas the strongest of them—the baboon that the youth was arm wrestling against—had strength surpassing the Organ Stage!
If one came from the direction of the Mushroom Forest and was heading toward the center of the secret plane, they had no choice but to go through this group of baboons.
Fortunately, these magical creatures weren't bloodthirsty in the least. If anything, they were very playful and mischievous.
And greedy.
The leader of the baboons had communicated with Adam and informed him that if he wanted to move forward, he had to defeat him in an arm wrestling match.
If Adam won, the baboons would let him pass. However, if he lost, he had to leave behind all his possessions.
This was the reason why the youth didn't want to entertain them and kept trying to forcefully get past them. However, he learned that the baboons had immense physical strength so he was forced to play their game.
Moreover, if he tried to deal with even one of them, he feared that hundreds, if not thousands, of baboons would gang up on him. At that time, he wouldn't know what to do.
So the only way left for him was to defeat the baboon leader in a game of arm wrestling.
While Adam had clasped the baboon leader's hand before the match began, Valerian had already climbed on the head of a nearby baboon and started cheering with clenched fists.
"Myu! Myu!"
Surprisingly enough, the baboon in question didn't object to Valerian standing on its head. If anything, this baboon seemed a little scared of him even.
An old baboon with a hunched back and a thick tree branch for a walking stick approached Adam and the baboon leader. He looked at both of them and nodded.
"Kiee!" The old baboon yelled, signaling the start of the match.
Instantly, Adam's face flushed red and he inserted his full-strength. Meanwhile, the baboon leader had a grin on his face, laughing at the youth's weakness.
Seeing veins throbbing on Adam's face and hand, the baboon leader laughed even more loudly, eliciting a round of loud cheers from his surrounding brethren.
Adam bit his lower lip as he glanced at the baboon in front of him. He then glanced at his right hand which was about to touch the flat surface of the rock.
"Damn it!" He cursed through gritted teeth.
When his hand was mere inches away from the surface, Adam finally released his mana and augmented his arm with it. Finally, his hand stopped lowering any further. Instead, he began to overpower his opponent.
The cheers of the surrounding baboons gradually died down.
Seeing this, the large baboon scoffed. He too augmented mana into his hand. However, much to his surprise, he realized that he was still being overpowered by the puny human.
Finally, a solemn expression appeared on the baboon's face.
Adam continued to slowly increase the output of his mana. The sheer pressure released by his mana caused the surrounding baboons to retreat a few steps. They couldn't believe that a human's mana could possess such a wild and tyrannical nature.
No one was more shocked than the baboon leader, however. Regardless of how much he augmented his arm with mana, it still felt short.
Slowly but steadily, the baboon's hand got close to touching the surface of the rock.
"AAHHHH!!" With a final burst of power by Adam, he smashed the baboon's hand against the rock surface, causing it to smash into bits and pieces.
Silence.
Pin drop silence.
"Myuuu!" Valerian jumped into Adam's arms, congratulating him.
Adam gently patted the young dragon's head. He was slightly gasping for air after having put in much effort.
He felt that had he used his spells, he would have mostly won in a few moves. However, using mana for arm wrestling instead was very challenging. Especially because his opponent was physically bigger and stronger than him.
Suddenly, the baboon leader got to his feet and furiously drummed his chest. "KIIIEEEE!"
He glared at Adam with bloodshot eyes and inched closer to him.
Seeing the baboon show blatant hostility, Adam's face turned solemn and he got to his feet as well. "Are you going to renege on the agreement?"
It would be easy for him to deal with the baboon leader, however, there were simply too many other baboons around him. He wouldn't be able to fight them all. Although he could escape, he wouldn't come out unscathed.
More importantly, he had just expended a large amount of stamina and was extremely exhausted.
Just as he was about to cast a spell, the hunched-back, old baboon from earlier appeared between him and the furious baboon leader.
Then, he casually swung his arm and slapped the large baboon away.
BAM!
The baboon leader was swept off his feet and flew for dozens of meters before falling into the river.
Witnessing such a ridiculous scene, Adam's eyes bulged out and his jaw dropped to the ground. Even Valerian was the same!
The old baboon then turned to look at Adam and mentally transmitted a message. 'Human, you are strong. You may leave.'
Adam snapped back to his senses and glanced at the old baboon with respect and a hint of fear. He placed his hand on his chest and bowed sincerely. "Thank you, sir."
He then turned around and hurriedly left.
'Wait.' The old baboon called out to him.
"Y-Yes?" Adam turned around and looked at him nervously.
The old baboon disappeared from his spot, and a moment later, he reappeared in front of Adam.
Seeing such speed, Adam was flabbergasted. But he didn't have much time to think as the old baboon handed him a colorful egg and said, 'Your reward.'
Adam glanced at the egg and realized that it was one of the many that grew on the large banyan tree. He carefully kept it away and then bowed once again to the old baboon, bidding him farewell.
'Remember to drink it raw, young human.' The old baboon advised.
"Thanks for the guidance, sir." Adam then turned around and left.
After he made some distance from the banyan tree and the group of crazy baboons, Adam turned around and looked back, thinking, I can't believe the old guy was the strongest of the bunch!
He then looked at the colorful egg on his hand and smiled.
"At least, he was polite enough to reward me. I wonder what this is…"
Updated from fr𝒆ewebnov𝒆l.(c)om