n

n

nAito stood by the pond in shallow waters, gazing upon a broken fish trap.

nHaving dealt with the

"pond bigfoot,

" Aito had checked his fish traps, only to find shattered pieces of bamboo.

nHe or Jack would have never done that, leaving only a bigfoot as a plausible culprit.

nThat could only mean those things had started to mess with Aito's tools and constructions to impede his progress or simply make his survival harder.

nTo summarize, with each broken structure, he will have to repair or even rebuild it, thus using more stamina and time; which were essential to his survival on that forsaken island.

nSuddenly, a realization struck him. If those things sabotaged one of his food sources, they could do the same for…

n

"Fuck!

" he said, rushing towards his home, closely followed by Jack.

n***

nFlowing river sounds progressively entered Aito's ears as he got closer to his dwelling—so did the noises of axes on wood.

n'No, no, no, no! ' He thought, brushing past trees to finally enter an area where half of the original vegetation remained untouched.

nThere, the structures he had worked hard on the past few weeks were being cut down by three bigfoots. Two of them carried two-handed battle axes and the other a war-hammer of sorts that looked especially made for demolition.

nUntil now, he had more or less kept his calm during fights because of the drawbacks pure anger could bring upon one fool enough to be blinded by it and also because of his oath.

nHowever, seeing his hard work being ransacked with such disrespect….

n

"You….

"

nThe walls he and Jack had built; half destroyed. The small bench he liked to rest on; shattered. Some pitfalls that were hidden around; broken and unearthed.

n

"Jack,

" He said, showing him a thumbs down.

"No quarters.

"

n

"Kyaak!

" Jack said, tightening its grip on two iron daggers, seemingly just as pissed.

nStriding furiously towards his enemies, Aito stored his shield in his inventory, as well as his ax, while Jack blended into the trees' shadows.

n

"You…

"

nHe drew his newly acquired weapon, gripping it with two hands, its shaft cracking under Aito's strength.

n

"Come have a taste of my iron!

"

nDestroying his walls near the entrance, the hammer-bigfoot turned its head toward him and accepted his challenge with its other two brethren following behind.

nOutnumbered one to three, the hammer-bigfoot seemingly pitied him and stayed out of Aito's confrontation with the other two.

nA big vein bulged on Aito's forehead at his opponent's guts to underestimate him. Suddenly, the ax-evol monkeys attacked him simultaneously.

nAito's battleax reached back to gain momentum, and, with the power to shatter a tree, drew a wide crescent moon arc.

n—Gift: Mindless Fury—

nSLASH!

nBoth monkeys gawked at their ax heads falling off the shafts. Aito's swing being too powerful to halt with his current physique, he took advantage of the energy and, like a tornado, easily sliced through his stunned enemies.

nNot far from here, Jack jumped down a tree to double stab the hammer monkey, who was too busy watching his now sashimi-looking kin. It choked into its own vital liquid before lying dead in a pool of blood.

n

"Good job, Jack,

" Aito said, his mind returning to normal, as well as his strength.

nHowever, his muscles were a bit sore after using his gift, especially those he had used for the spinning attack.

nIt had been the same last time when he had cut down the iron tree. He guessed that it had something to do with the unusual strength his body endures while under 'Mindless Fury's influence, but didn't find a solution to that problem yet.

nThat's why he was reluctant on using it. Add to it the initial requirement of being furious, and this gift might as well be a curse.

nIf he could somehow find a way to get rid of that requirement or at least control it, he might then gain something useful in times of need. A power-up of sorts.

n'But how do I control my fury since, fundamentally, this is the complete opposite of control itself?' He thought, sighing.

n***

nAfter helping the man-thing clear up the debris around their camps, Jack ventured into the forest to scout out the surroundings. Those fatty monkeys might still be wandering around after all.

nSure enough, he smelled strange, unfamiliar scents in the forest. Some fresh, others dating back to this morning. Which meant more of those fatty monkeys were still roaming the island.

nAt some point, he stumbled upon a bush of berries that had one of those weird scents belonging to

"bigfoots

" as Aito called them.

nJack had paid little attention to those before, mostly because the man-thing stayed away from those things. But now that he took a closer look at those, they were tasty looking!

nHe approached a berry and marveled at its overall shape; small round fruit approximately 1 cm in diameter with a black dot in the middle. It looked like an eye, a beautiful eye, just like his perfect ones.

nJack plucked one out of the bush and ate it. Chewing on it, his eyes sparkled with curiosity then surprise and finally wonder. It was so good!

nUnable to contain himself, he rapidly plucked and ate every berry he could find on the bush to only stop when…

nBurp!

nHis stomach signaling its satisfaction and his patrol done, he headed back home to report his findings to his partner, with a handful of berries in hand as an afternoon snack.

n***

n

"Idiot,

" Aito said, looking at Jack on its bamboo bed, grabbing its stomach while bathing in its own feces.

"Didn't I tell you already to stay away from those berries?

"

nAfter repelling two more assaults from bigfoots, Jack started to salivate, then had stomach cramps.

nIt didn't worry Aito much, thinking that he simply ate too much as per usual, but when he found one of those white berries in Jack's stash, his worry hit the fan.

n

"Idiot,

" Aito repeated, placing a wet piece of cloth on Jack's forehead. He knew what those were: White Baneberry or commonly known as Dolls' Eyes. Found in North America, those berries were extremely poisonous. Those could lead to salivation, stomach cramps, diarrhea, and other symptoms.

nEverybody living there, nearby a forest, had learned about those plants. After all, it was common knowledge.

nAito feared that his partner wouldn't last the night. With no antidotes to his disposal, he could only hope for Jack's immune system to be stronger than a human's.

n

"Idiot,

" he said, worry in his eyes.

"Why do you have to be such a glutton?

"

nLuckily, now that it was nighttime, bigfoots' attacks had stopped for some reasons, but the temperature slightly dropped. It was a very minute change.

nAito who got used to this island's climate by now, could tell the difference and have a guess as to why it dropped. However, for now, something else worried him.

n

"Don't die on me, buddy.

"

nIn the few weeks they had spent together, the small evol monkey grew on Aito. It was an accumulation of different factors, the loneliness, the pain, the trial, his own sin, and Jack's weird but entertaining behavior.

n'Please....'

n