Chapter 35

EX Story: The Ape King’s Origin

Among the many professions of the High Races, there was this particular one which was called Monster Tamer. And just like what the title obviously hinted at; this particular job made it possible for an individual to tame a monster into submission. Though of course, it wasn’t as if a Monster Tamer could easily make any monsters obey his command. After all, since having the ability to tame a monster was truly convenient, it was only natural that there were conditions in doing so.

One of the conditions in taming a monster was that the target monster needed to be young and have yet to evolve. And though it was still possible to tame a fully grown monster, the chance of pulling it off successfully was overwhelmingly lower compared to taming a younger one. Another thing to factor in was the fact that the bond between the monster and the tamer was stronger if the monster had willingly acknowledged the tamer and their pact. Most of all, by being acknowledged by a monster, it was possible for any individual to acquire the title Monster Tamer. That was why naturally, it was deemed more efficient and safer to tame a young naïve monster compared to a fully grown but hostile one.

Because of these, being a Monster Tamer became quite a huge thing for the members of the High Races. This fact was especially true for those who were in power. In fact, it even came to the point that some Countries treated the taming of powerful monsters as a prerequisite for being a monarch. And among the countries being governed by High Races, this practice was mostly common to the Kingdoms ruled by humans. There were even numerous cases wherein both the nobility and wealthy commoners actively sought young monsters with the highest possible potential.

Obviously, all that fact resulted in the increase of demand for young monsters. As a matter of fact, it was even possible to obtain a fortune by capturing and selling a young monster that has a high potential. Though of course, that didn’t change the fact that capturing a monster was a dangerous job. After all, most of the time, searching and capturing a young monster meant facing and defeating its angered parents first. Basically, that was the same as facing the wrath of a fully grown monster. And if an individual was after a young monster with a high potential, he would naturally need to defeat or steal the cub of a powerful monster which obviously wasn’t an easy task per se.

Naturally, because capturing a young monster wasn't easy, almost anyone would readily jump on chance to easily capture a young monster. And though it only happened on rare occasions, there were some few encounters of young monsters that had been lost or abandoned by their parents. In this scenario, it would be relatively easy even for a civilian to capture a young monster since there wasn’t any parent to protect it. One of the best examples of this was the case of the future Ape King.

In all honesty, the Ape King’s memory from before he got lost and captured was a little bit hazy. And for some unknown reason, the last thing that the Ape King could remember was being surrounded by the flame of a burning forest. Along with that, there were also some thundering sounds of explosions accompanied by the dying howl of pain and anguish echoing all around. In that hellfire and thick black smoke, the Ape King could vividly remember the pain and desperation he felt while running for his life.

The scorching heat of the flame brushed past the young Ape King’s fur. And probably as a result of all the ash and smoke he inhaled, even breathing had become painfully hard for the young Ape King. Naturally, this eventually caused an oxygen deficiency which resulted in young Ape King losing all his strength.

While trying to catch his breath, the young Ape King fell on his knees. But despite feeling weak and being completely out of breath, the young Ape King still forced his body to stand up and run. At first, the young Ape King actually managed to pull off a miracle and successfully ran for quite some time. Unfortunately, even that miracle was short lived because the young Ape King’s body completely gave in despite his indomitable will. And while the young Ape King was lying face-down on that searing hot ground, he still stubbornly refused to let his consciousness slip away. Though probably as a result of both exhaustion and lack of oxygen, the young Ape King still ultimately succumbed to slumber.

Luckily, it still looked like luck was still on the young Ape King’s side. Because miraculously, when the young Ape King opened his eyes, the forest fire was gone and he obviously survived.

The young Ape King’s body was littered with burned wounds, but despite all his injury, the young Ape King still immediately got up on his feet only to fall back down on his butt. It was then that the young Ape King noticed that he was sitting in the middle of a burned down forest. Looking around, he saw the still smoldering trees and the jet-black ground. And whenever the wind blows, the ashes scattered on the ground would dance around the air as if in tune with the rhythm of the whistling gale.

Looking at that pitying condition of the forest, the young Ape King felt a jolt of pain in his heart. Honestly, the young Ape King didn’t know why. But for some unknown reason, even though the only thing he could remember was running through the burning forest, witnessing the scene gave him an indescribable feeling of loneliness and isolation. It was as if he could feel all the left-over sorrow and regret lingering on that ruined forest. And though his heart felt incredibly heavy, no matter how much he tried, his mind refused to give him a clue as to why he was feeling that way.

Unfortunately, before he even sorted out his feelings and processed what had happened, the young Ape King heard the sound of multiple footsteps. And when he looked around curious to the source of the sound, he saw a bunch of elves moving through that burned down forest. But for some reason, even though the forest was undoubtedly still dangerous, there wasn’t even a single one carrying a weapon within that group of elves. In fact, even though the young Ape King couldn’t differentiate each elf from their faces, he was still pretty sure that the elves looked haggard and exhausted. Furthermore, the clothes that the elves were wearing also looked incredibly ragged and dirty.

Without even moving an inch, the young Ape King just innocently stared at those elves with a curious glint in its eyes. Not long after that, an elf from the group finally noticed him and informed the other their other members. And upon seeing him, the group of elves stopped on their track and cautiously moved towards him. Though for some reason, the elves maintained some distance from the young Ape King despite showing some clear interest and desire to take him away.

Of course, the behavior of the elves naturally terrified the young Ape King. But despite his best efforts, his legs always gave in every time he tried to stand. To make matters worse, it seemed like the elves caught on his desire to escape so they encircled him while still maintaining some distance. And while the young Ape King was sitting there unsure what to do, the elves encircling him seemed to be discussing some things.

Evidently, the young Ape King had no idea what the elves were talking about. But despite being completely ignorant of the elves’ means of communication, the young Ape King knew for sure he was the center of their discussion. Specifically, the young Ape King could feel the overwhelming desire of the elves to take him away. And though he didn’t know why, the young Ape King could clearly sense the desperation in each of their voices and eyes.

The elves discussion took some time. Though in the end, it seemed like their desperation won over them and they decided to capture the young Ape King. And being completely exhausted and weak, the young Ape King was too powerless to resist and he was captured rather easily.

Surprisingly, the young Ape King’s treatment wasn’t rough by any means. In fact, despite showing some clear ulterior motives, the young Ape King was treated with care. Though of course, being that their group was trekking a burned down forest, there was naturally a lack of food and water. As a result, their journey had been unbelievably challenging and arduous to the point that they even left behind some elves who had become too weak to stay on their feet.

Fortunately, just right before the remaining members of the group completely succumb to exhaustion, a band of armored humans found and saved their group. Unfortunately, by the time that they were saved, the number of elves had already dwindled from ten to a meager three.