More Fruits

Though our boy suffered the greatest humiliation of his lifetime, his swollen eyes were instead shining as he finally found that there were ways to beat the old monkey. He dragged his injured and weakened body slowly to a hidden cave nearby where he always went to recuperate after getting a beating from the old ape.

During the time he took to heal his injuries, he thought about all the other animals that he fought with especially those that he couldn't win. He decided to collect more of that fruit to gain an instant boost in strength to defeat all of them.

None of them were as powerful as the old ape, so he could win against them before the side effects of the fruit set in. After regaining his strength, he again went to the dangerous land to search for the pear-shaped fruit. One of the reasons to search for this fruit was due to its instant strength abilities whereas the main motivation behind this was due to its intoxication effects which he started craving. He was starting to show signs of an addict who craved the feeling of intoxication as he desperately ran to find the fruit.

He first went to the place where he had found that fruit. But when he reached the tree, he found that all the other fruits in that tree became too ripe, had lost all their luster, and fell down the tree becoming in the process of decomposing to become fertilizer and seeds for new plants.

Still, there were no signs of any strong animals or strong plants growing in that area. He stretched the time he usually stayed in the dangerous area to search for the fruit desperately.

After searching for more than a month, he finally found another similar tree using the alluring smell as a guide. The smell of this tree was also far-reaching like the previous one.

This area in which it stood also did not have any other animal living in it.

He went near the tree which had four pairs of pear-shaped fruit hanging in this tree which were reflecting in his eyes.

This time there were no fruits within the reach of his hands on the tree.

When he touched the tree, he felt warm and relaxed, new feelings were generated in his heart wanting to stay here and serve the tree. He could not take even a step to climb the tree as if he had lost all his heart and his strength to do it. After some time, he stopped touching the tree and the feelings vanished as if it was not there.

So, he tried several different means to pluck the fruit like stones and sticks as he strangely could not climb the tree for some unknown reason.

He became alarmed and kept some distance from the tree using means like hitting the branch holding the fruit with sharp stones eventually breaking the branches that were holding the fruits.

After collecting these fruits in his skin bag, he finally left this area to his own familiar territory.

After returning, upon careful analysis of the things he experienced, he realized he was almost bewitched to serve the tree. Also, he thought of how there were no other animals in that area which was bizarre as every other fruit or plant with a special part had some animal living around it, and how he always had to stealthily steal them if he was stronger than the animal or give up on them if the animal is stronger than him.

Realizing this, his body broke into a cold sweat as he comprehended how he had been in a dangerous situation, mistakenly believing it to be normal. He then looked at the six fruits in the corner of the cave wondering if he should use it or not. He decided to be cautious but still use them keeping a long gap between each usage. (Partly because his mind still cannot let go of that intoxicated feeling)

With the help of these fruits and the exaggerated strength they provided, he challenged several strong animals he could not beat before.

He took a whole year to win against all other animals in his designated safe territory except the old monkey using the cheat from the pear-shaped fruit. During this time, he took smaller bites of the fruit and spaced out each usage, allowing himself to rest until the side effects wore off completely.

In the meanwhile, he did not stop his adventures in the dangerous territories making use of the time between each of his fights. He would venture into the dangerous parts of the land to explore unique sceneries and continue experimenting with eating the unique parts of plants that show strange glow.

He realized his inventory of the pear-shaped fruits was finished before he could clear all other animals. This was mainly due to his compulsive addiction towards the intoxication which compelled him to eat more bite of the fruit than necessary to win the fight.

His routine in this period was he eat fruit, challenge strong animals, rest to wear off side-effect, explore the land to collect other strange glowing parts, and again eat the fruit. Though the strengthening effect of the fruit wore off each time after a certain time passed, his body itself was growing a bit stronger than before he ate the fruit. His increased strength in this period of time allowed him to trample upon the remaining strong animals left after the intoxicating fruits were finished with relative ease.

But the fruit did not come without any repercussions. As he consumed more of the fruit, he noticed both its strengthening effects and its side effects intensifying, which somewhat alarmed him.

Also, another strange thing was that these fruits had a long shelf-life that is without any storage method they did not rot or have their effect reduced even when he kept them in a random corner for many months after the plucking. When he had previously gone to pluck the remaining fruits from that tree, they had already become one with soil due to rotting and decomposing which was quite contrary but our boy could not make the connection as he was contented with its shelf-life. With each use, he became increasingly agitated and fidgety, though he remained unaware of these changes. The desire to experience that intoxicated feeling once more dominated his thoughts.