Chapter 36

EX Story: The Ape King’s Origin Part II

The young Ape King had no idea what happened after that, because probably due to his piled-up exhaustion from their arduous journey, the young Ape King immediately fainted right after the armored humans found them. The next thing he knew, the young Ape King found himself inside a cage, and for some reason, the remaining three elves were standing together outside along with a fancy dressed man who was looking at the young Ape King curiously. Then after talking it out for a while, the fancy dressed man nodded at the three elves and they proceeded to walk away from the cage. And though it might just be the young Ape King’s imagination, he could vaguely remember one of the elves looking back with a pained look plastered upon its face.

That was the last time that the young Ape King had seen those three elves. Luckily, the young Ape King’s life had been peaceful after that. And though he was living inside a cage, the young Ape King had no shortage of food because the fancy dressed man never missed a day in giving him what was necessary to stay alive.

Naturally, the young Ape King had no idea for how long he lived like that. But little by little, probably because of the kindness that the fancy dressed man had shown him, the young Ape King gradually grew fond of the fancy dressed man. Then one day, a notification suddenly appeared in the young Ape King’s line of sight. A few moments after that, the fancy dressed man came running towards the cage. Though for some reason, the young Ape King could clearly tell that the fancy dressed man was excited about something.

Much to the young Ape King’s surprise, the fancy dressed man immediately opened the cage and let him out. Of course, being that the young Ape King was actually very docile in the first place, now that he finally grew fond of the fancy dressed man, it was only natural that the young Ape King didn’t try to attack the fancy dressed man. Instead, the young Ape King slowly moved towards the fancy dressed man and gazed at him curiously. Unexpectedly, that action seemed to trigger something inside the fancy dressed man because the young Ape King was suddenly lifted up by the fancy dressed man. And then for reasons unknown, the fancy dressed man rubbed his cheeks into the furry cheeks of the young Ape King with a blissful look on his face.

Following that event, the young Ape King lived in the mansion of the fancy dressed man. And as it turned out, the young Ape King had noticed that the fancy dressed man was some kind of a leader and an important figure. One of the proofs of that was the fact that the fancy dressed man seemed to have a decent number of subordinates, and though the young Ape King still didn’t quite understand the sounds that humans were making to communicate, at the very least he understood that those people were addressing the fancy dressed man as Master. Furthermore, the young Ape King could also tell that everyone seemed to adore the fancy dressed man. Probably that's why before he knew it, the young Ape King also started to adore and regard the fancy dressed man as his master.

For a couple of years, the young Ape King served as the personal bodyguard of the fancy dressed man. And being the leader and all, whenever a monster was running wild on his territory, it was naturally the fancy dressed man’s responsibility to subjugate the monster in order to protect his people. Of course, the fancy dressed man could just simply deploy some of his subordinates to do the job. But instead of doing that, the fancy dressed man would always personally lead his subordinates into the battle. Because of that, the young Ape King was always dragged along whenever there was a report of a dangerous monster running wild.

Of course, it wasn’t as if the young Ape King hated his master’s behavior. In fact, the young Ape King actually found it quite fascinating that his master always chose to protect his people using his own strength. And though it was also true that the fancy dressed man needed some help from his subordinates and the young Ape King to do the job, the young Ape King still admired his master for personally leading the charge against those monsters. Furthermore, the young Ape King always found himself captivated by his master’s leadership skill doing the actual combat. The way that the young Ape King’s master lured their enemy into a trap, the masterful way of coordinating every single unit during the attack and the craftiness in using the terrain and everything within it as a weapon to grab a hold of victory. Adding the fact that his master was also a very kind and compassionate man, then it was only inevitable that the young Ape King regarded such a man with both respect and awe.

As a result of constantly battling together with his master, the young Ape King who was previously a chimp actually became a Banobo which was the Second Evolutionary State of their species. In humans’ standards, a Banobo was a dangerous monster that could single handedly wipe out a whole party of novice adventurers. That was why when the young Ape King evolved into a Banobo, there were naturally some people who showed some interest and fear towards him. And though the young Ape King had no idea about the actual situation, in a normal setting, owning such a dangerous monster needed some approval from the state.

Obviously, because owning a monster like that compromised the public’s safety, it was only natural that an approval wasn’t something that could be acquired easily. In fact, in a normal setting, owning a dangerous monster just like that without any permission would result in the confiscation of the said monster. Worse, the monster would then be eventually executed or imprisoned for life. Fortunately, because of his master’s influence and good reputation, the young Ape King was somehow allowed to stay by his master’s side. Though of course, the young Ape King’s master wasn’t the first and only one to be exempted to this rule but that was an entirely different topic.

Unfortunately, unbeknownst to both the young Ape King and his master, this whole ordeal had already sparked the fire of a whole new conflict that would eat away at their peaceful daily life.

It happened one time right after the young Ape King, his master, and his master’s subordinates had just finished subjugating a monster that was running rampant on the young Ape King’s master territory. At that time, just a few minutes after entering his master’s house, one of the house servants immediately came running towards the young Ape King’s master with a grave expression on his face. And though the young Ape King couldn’t understand what the servant said, just one look at the dark expression on his master’s face upon hearing it was enough for the young Ape King to understand that it was a serious situation. Unfortunately, for reasons unknown, the young Ape King’s master prevented the young Ape King from going out of the house and then hastily went to who knows where.

Naturally, this behavior confused the young Ape King. Because not only that his master was clearly flustered, the young Ape could also tell that everyone inside the house was on edge whilst his master’s subordinates were clearly preparing for battle. To top it all off, before his master went somewhere, the young Ape King also saw his master sending some of his subordinates to a separate mission on their own.

Two days went by in a flash, and within those two days that his master was gone, the oppressive atmosphere within the house has only gotten worse. Then finally, early in the morning of the third day, the young Ape King’s master along with his aides has returned. But unlike the triumphant return they had last time, this time, everyone on the returning party including his master was excluding a very tensed aura as if they had just seen death itself.

Seeing that, the young Ape King felt had a bad premonition. And though he didn’t know why, the young Ape King couldn’t help but compare his master and everyone else to those elves he met in the burned down forest. Maybe it was their atmosphere, or maybe it was the look on their eyes. Honestly, the young Ape King himself wasn’t so sure. But despite that, the young Ape King was certain of only one thing, and that was the fact that his master and everyone else has that same look of someone prepared to die.

After that, everything went by so fast that the young Ape King didn’t even have time to process what was happening. And before he knew it, the young Ape King was already accompanying his master in march together with an army of about a couple hundred armored humans.