Chapter 281: Survival of the Fittest

"I don’t think I like the sound of that."

"You shouldn’t."

Jacob sighed and peeked out from under Sheeby’s wing. He saw the corpses of the two apes sitting out in the open.

"I need to go now before something else gets to it. Whatever any of you guys do, don’t try to save me. Please."

They all nodded. Jacob lifted up Sheeby’s wing and jumped from twig to twig in the oversized bush they were in to reach the surface the apes fought each other. However, as he was approaching, other creatures were finally brave enough to get their shot at the free food laying out in the open. A mosquito-like monster swarmed the pools of blood and drank greedily from them only to be eaten whole by a strange creature with a long mouth and thick torso. Chaos was spreading like fire. If Jacob wanted a chance at getting a single bite, he needed to hurry.

Right as Jacob was about to scoop up a piece of meat, thirty different creatures sprung from all around him and dove on the carcass. Jacob winced and darted backward so he wouldn’t get caught in the frenzy. Everything in the group that wasn’t gouging at the corpse was attacking the others around it, all of them trying to eat the other alive.

Jacob steeled himself and pressed forward.

’I just need one piece. Just one and I’ll run away!’

He slid under the belly of an armored spirit, got thrown to the side by a big leviathan, and was sent reeling from being smacked in the face with a random tail. However, Jacob managed to scoop up a piece of brain matter so large it hardly fit in his hand. The screams of everything around him was deafening in the center of the fight. He winced as he tried to make his escape.

’It’s a good thing I’m so small. I hardly make for a decent snack it seems.’

However, his hope was quickly extinguished when one of the creatures spotted the goo hanging out of his hands. Immediately, its green body jumped toward Jacob and tried biting him, but before it could reach, another claw slashed at its throat, drenching Jacob in blood.

What Jacob failed to realize was how terribly he smelled. He now had powerful remains in his hand and was seasoned with the blood of a leviathan. He could not have looked more appetizing to the creatures around him. Suddenly, dozens of creatures turned their sights on him and surged forward. Jacob’s eyes widened and he shot away as fast as he could. As he ran, he stared down at the brain matter in his palm.

’Just think of it like a pastry. Maybe it won’t taste bad after all.’

He brought his hand to his mouth before chewing and swallowing the brain. It tasted like he tried to consume a strange gelatin made of feces. It was easily the worst tasting thing he ever forced himself to eat. However, the powers from his meal immediately started taking affect. The more Jacob managed to dodge his attackers, the easier it became. His feet felt much more firm on the greenery and his upper balance felt immaculate. His strength was increasing more and more by the second.

It got to the point where only one creature continued its pursuit after Jacob towards the thorn bush. It was the same green monster that tried to eat him in the first place. It was moving slower because of its injury to its neck, but it didn’t seem to care about the blood flowing out of itself. It just wanted to see him dead. Jacob flowed through the vines and leaves like water, danced between sharp edges gracefully, until finally reaching the place he believed Sheeby was hiding herself.

Jacob knew he wasn’t strong enough to fight back, so he decided to bring the creature to something that could. The green monster belched and opened its maw, ready to snap Jacob’s torso in half, but before it could, its neck caved in on itself, spilling another waterfall of blood over the area and going still. Sheeby unveiled herself and started eating the creature viciously. There was no doubt she was extremely hungry after the fights she had gone through and the power, she used up. Instead of stopping her, everyone let the creature be eaten entirely by Sheeby.

"Shouldn’t we save some meat for us?"

Slimo winced.

"We’ll find something else. Besides, Sheeby needs it more than any of us. She’s one of our only lifelines at the moment."

Everyone sat around in the bush quietly.

"Did you manage to get a piece of those things?"

Jacob nodded his head.

"I did. I almost threw it back up when I ate it though."

"I see. Would you say it was worth the trip?"

Jacob thought to himself for a moment. He could feel the power coursing through his blood like a raging torrent.

"I would say that, yes. I feel like I should try to strengthen myself as much as I can before I lose this power."

Slimo raised an eyebrow.

"You’re saying you want to go on the offensive? In this place?"

Jacob shrugged his shoulders.

"What would be the point in me taking this power if I don’t use it?"

Slimo rubbed his forehead.

"You’re a real nut, you know that?"

Lidia smirked and rubbed his back.

"Let’s hear him out a bit. We’re sitting ducks right now and we need to find a good water source. I don’t know about you all, but drinking the blood of these things doesn’t sound like a good time. Especially when it seems like everything here is corrupted."

Lidai was right. Inaction was just as dangerous as action in the jungle. If they sat and waited for a good opportunity, they would all die before that chance came. Slimo stretched his legs before speaking again.

"Let’s take a very short rest before trying to travel again. Sheeby needs it."

Sheeby already recloaked herself and covered everyone with her wings protectively. Following Slimo’s instructions, everyone willingly allowed themselves to doze off without a watcher for the first time since they had been travelling.

Their rest was brief but gave their muscles the chance to recover slightly. Jacob in particular felt extremely energized, like his energy reserves had exploded to levels he never knew possible. He was ready to fight something, anything to become stronger. Sheeby’s cloaking power had appeared to be replaced with something else. Instead of a cloaking power, Sheeby appeared to have some sort of ability to change the scales on her back to spikes.

"It’s unfortunate that her power was taken away, but it looks like this new one will increase her defense capabilities a lot more."

"Do you think her release is ready to go again?"

Jacob shook his head.

"Let’s not rely on Sheeby using her release power. She can use it whenever she wants to."

The group all climbed on to Sheeby’s spikey back and placed themselves as comfortable as possible. They were all able to hold on much easier than before as Sheeby flew slowly above the bottom of the jungle. Every now and then, she would slash her wing downward to clear some vines blocking their path. Jacob would see the vines almost immediately take their previous place after they were cut. He looked at Maria with curiosity.

"This place is unreal. I’ve never seen greenery grow back so fast before."

"I don’t think it would be wise to relate anything with logic nowadays. From everything we’ve seen, I wouldn’t be surprised to find out that this is some sort of plant farm to something much more powerful."

Jacob nodded his head and looked forward.

"You make a good point."

"How is your head?"

"Better. That feeling of hunger has died down a bit since I ate some of that ape, but I am unsure how long it will be before I start feeling like that again."

"Does it still feel like we’re in danger?"

"It always has. Even when we were sleeping under Sheeby while she was invisible, it still felt like anything could have killed us at any point. You all saw it yourselves, right? Saw how cruel everything is in this place?"

Everyone thought back to watching Jacob escaped from the dozens of leviathans that were all turning on each other on a whim.

"There is no such thing as a team in here. The animals don’t care about community or kinship. All they care about is their own survival. This is a place of total chaos filled with monsters who will fight with everything they possibly can to help themselves survive. Even the ape’s species leave their young at birth to live and fight alone in this hell."

Everyone remained silent as Jacob looked at them with a confused expression.

"What is it? Was it something I said."

"Jacob, stop talking."

Slimo lifted his finger in air as Sheeby started whimpering softly.

"Do you hear that?"

Jacob lifted his head and looked around. There was nothing.

"Hear what?"

Slimo nodded his head.

"Exactly. Nothing is making a sound right now."