Tunnel vision.
Luke stood there, feeling triumphant as the wails of the dying Anterlaur echoed across the forest. He was overjoyed by the weapon he had acquired, and he silently admitted that his death was certain if he had gone against this beast with his bare hands.
Hiss!
Luke's train of thought was broken as his gaze fell on the black serpent. It lunged in his direction with malicious intentions blazing in its eyes. It was clear that the black snake wanted to exert vengeance on the treacherous human who almost got it killed.
'Bastard!'
Luke screamed in his mind as he staggered back and raised his left hand to block. His face squinted in pain as he felt the fangs of the black snake stab into his arm, but he insured and stabbed at its skull with his bone weapon, killing it instantly.
Thud!
Luke lost his footing and fell on his butt, however, he didn't seem to care about the fall and hastily opened the jaws of the serpent and pulled its fangs hand out before tossing it aside.
"Shit!"
Luke almost let out a sigh of relief, but the next moment, his face paled with fright as he felt a burning sensation spreading from the area of the bite to other parts of his body.
It was the snake's venom!
Immediately, Luke felt his Nephilim blood cells get energized as they rushed to the bite area to stop the invasion.
The battle between Luke's blood and the venom strained him, causing him mild but unrelenting pain. His gaze shifted to the bite mark only to see that the veins around his left arm were black, and it was spreading.
His blood was losing!
Luke turned slightly pale just seconds after the bite, and he felt a warm liquid roll out of his left nostril. Instinctively, he reached for it and touched it delicately before withdrawing his hand to see what it was.
Blood.
The fact his blood was losing against the venom of the black snake showed how potent its poison was. His gaze shifted to the dying Antlertaur. He had finally realized why the beast was so desperate to throw the black serpent off its head.
"Shit! Shit! Shit!" Luke cursed at the sudden turn of things.
He had put in so much effort into surviving in this deadly jungle and even gone against heavy beasts, only to be killed by a black snake!
"No, I can't die here," Luke muttered with determination etched on his face.
It was then that a thought struck his mind. Since his regenerative ability needed nutrients to function. It should be possible for his body to resist if he has enough nutrients, right?
Without hesitation, Luke scrambled over to the corpse of the black serpent. While he wasn't sure this would work, he didn't have any other idea and decided that it was worth giving it a try.
Luke placed his hand on the corpse of the black serpent, and he felt the call. Not daring to waste more time, he eagerly approved and felt the body and soul essence of the corpse surging into him
[Black Death soul core absorbed]
[Counter: 23/1000]
'Black Death? That explains a lot' Luke commented in his head.
However, he couldn't put much thought into this as his attention was taken away by a sudden shift he felt within him. The rate at which the venom was spreading had reduced notably.
Luke was shocked and excited at the same time by the discovery. The venom attacked his blood cells and destroyed them in order to spread, but by consuming corpses using his devouring ability, he could easily replenish the destroyed blood cells while satiating his hunger at the same time.
The discovery left him ecstatic!
Luke quickly turned to the Anterlaur and realized it had already died from blood loss. He walked over to it, placed his palm on it, and gave his approval as soon as he got the call.
Luke remained still in his crouched position as he monitored the changes in his body in silence. After an unknown amount of time passed, Luke was thrilled as he realized the venom had been completely purged from his system.
[Black Anterlaur core absorbed]
[Counter: 26/1000]
"Finally…" he let out a sigh of relief and turned his attention to the corpse of the Anterlaur.
Luke was shaken to realize that the corpse of the Anterlaur had shrunk to the point where its bone structure had become visible. It was only then that he realized how deadly the venom of the Black Death was and why the Anterlaur was desperate to shake it off.
Huff.
Luke exhaled deeply and decided to clean himself up first. He rubbed off sprinkles of blood that got on him during the fight on the fire of the Anterlaur's corpse.
After this, Luke quickly fled the scene quietly. He used the bushes as cover as he made his way back to the tree he had come from and climbed up hastily.
He knew that the stench of blood from the Anterlaur's corpse would attract predators soon. While seated on the branch, Luke was left wondering what would have happened if everything had gone south, and he couldn't find a way to deal with the poison.
He acknowledged that he had gotten too careless due to his strong desire to kill the Anterlaur. It was only because he was too focused on the Anterlaur that he failed to realize the Black Death had gotten so close to him.
Even after killing the Anterlaur, he was so caught up in the moment and excited about his victory that he forgot that the Black Death which he tossed on the Anterlaur was still present.
Two silly mistakes almost cost him his life, and this made him understand something. Even in his anger or joyful moments, he still needed to be alert and aware of his surroundings, especially while he was still in this jungle.
There are dangerous beasts, both big and small, that lurk in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to strike.
Also, Luke was made to understand that in the jungle, smaller beasts like the Black Death can be just as dangerous or even deadlier than huge beasts.
Never underestimate anyone!