Chapter 57: Skull Ape
Mark originally thought it would take many more years before he had a chance to awaken, and he also had no passion for fighting, so he didn’t spend much time learning how to fight.
Coming to a dungeon at this point, moreover, a dungeon at least D-rank, was no different from seeking death.
"Master, why did you only give me a book teaching me how to use a spear and then directly throw me here? Could it be that you’re not satisfied unless it’s hell difficulty?"
Last time, he was so embarrassed that he wanted to kill himself, and this time, there was a high chance he would be beaten to death by a monster in the dungeon. Mark really didn’t know how many lives he needed before he could learn from Nexus until he ’graduated’.
"You two are seriously too much. I don’t even have a spiritual root yet, and you’ve already thrown me to a place like this. I don’t even have the confidence to enter an F-rank dungeon. Yet you directly threw me into a dungeon with such a high rank. If you want me to die early, you can just say so. I’ve already died twice, so I guess I’m somewhat familiar with it."
Mark’s current situation was no different from throwing a student working part-time at a fast-food restaurant onto a battlefield being bombarded. That was why even while running away, Mark still had to grumble to relieve some of the tension.
Eating and drinking also helped relieve stress, but Mark didn’t dare eat or drink recklessly right now. Heaven only knew how long his master and the system planned to leave him here, and there was absolutely nothing here that could be eaten or drunk.
Five miles away, on a mountain made entirely of rocks with not even a blade of grass, Nexus and the system were staring intently at Mark.
[Hey, what can that brat possibly learn by hiding in a tree hollow like that? Could it be learning how to starve? That’s completely unnecessary for someone who often doesn’t even get enough to eat like him.]
The system felt more and more annoyed the longer it watched. How could a disciple of the Cultivation Academy possibly be this useless?
No matter how much Mark buttered up the system, the system still couldn’t let him live comfortably. Of course, it wasn’t completely useless to butter it up; the system might ease Mark’s challenge a little.
"You’re not wrong. I sent him here so he could achieve calmness in life-and-death moments, not to practice starving and going thirsty. What do you think of that group of monsters? Should I bring them all over to Mark?"
Nexus didn’t act on his own and asked the system for its opinion. Even though he was Mark’s master, the system was also the highest-ranking staff member of the Cultivation Academy, so how to train a disciple should also be discussed with the system.
[My stupid master, a brain is very useful. Do you need me to gift you one? What the hell are you thinking, believing Mark alone can resist a group of skull apes? I guarantee that if they fight head-on, Mark has five seconds to say his last words.]
The monsters Nexus was talking about were several dozen skull apes. They were E-rank monsters with an appearance like monkeys with black fur, but their heads were skulls with two purple points of light where their eyes should be.
Their arm span was very long, and they had extremely strong throwing power, often using hard rocks and dirt to throw instead of actively engaging in close combat when they felt their opponent was strong.
Against an undernourished person like Mark, they would most likely choose close combat. Even so, at most, two punches to Mark’s head would be enough to make Mark die for the third time.
"Since you understand it so clearly, I’ll leave it to you."
With such an enthusiastic system, Nexus naturally wouldn’t let it stay unemployed. Whether Nexus or the system interfered with Mark’s training didn’t affect the final goal.
[Having you as my master makes me feel extremely embarrassed. I really don’t understand why Michael chose a lowly guy like you to be my master either.]
Although the way the system talked was like punching someone in the ears, its actions didn’t stop either.
Anyone could be the system’s master, as long as they could casually listen to it cursing them out like Nexus did; the system was truly a powerful right hand that could solve most problems.
At this moment, Mark was still hiding in the hollow of a tree, occasionally sneaking a glance outside to see if there were any monsters.
"When the hell is this damn nervous feeling going to end?"
Putting his hand on his chest, Mark felt like his heart was working way more than necessary. He didn’t know much about medicine, so he didn’t know if keeping this up for too long would cause him to develop some kind of illness.
"I’m sure those two are secretly watching me from somewhere, and something damn awful is about to appear. They definitely wouldn’t make someone who often doesn’t even get enough to eat like me practice starving."
After spending some time with them, Mark had somewhat figured out how Nexus and the system worked. If cultivating required enduring this kind of excessive pressure, then once the Cultivation Academy expanded, quite a few disciples would probably actually die.
Suddenly, a fast and powerful sound kept getting louder, making Mark immediately frown. He poked his head out and secretly watched in the direction the sound was coming from, his hand tightly gripping the spear.
Something extremely fast and pitch-black that looked like a monkey was sometimes running and sometimes swinging from the branches, making Mark’s eyes spin.
Mark was nearsighted and had astigmatism, so at a distance, especially at night, there was no way he could clearly see anyone, let alone a monster he had never encountered before.
The skull ape’s sharp senses immediately detected Mark hiding. Its two long arms reached out and grabbed a branch, then it spun around a few times before throwing itself forward. While flying through the air, the skull ape spun its arm and threw a punch toward Mark.
"What the hell is this?!"
Mark gritted his teeth and cursed. Since he hadn’t been able to see what it was clearly, Mark chose to roll several times across the ground to quickly dodge.