I Truly Regret

"BAM!"

"THUD!"

"CLICK!"

"CLATTER!"

"That arrogant brat is over..."

Swaying my body up and down, trying to climb the branches of the tree as I stared at the distance.

I saw that arrogant brat who said that I should put my pride to rest and let him handle the rest...

Get himself smacked and almost eaten by the relentless lunging of those hungry crocs.

Well, I applaud that he managed to last this long.

"I thought he had some other tricks up to his sleeves."

But, based on what I am currently seeing now, it's pointless.

At this point, his body will get tired, and not just me who'll gonna end up dead.

He and those pitiful Alipins would also be in danger.

Yes, I admit he did a great job going on this far.

Defeating four crocs single-handedly is a feat of his own, even I was surprised!

If anyone would hire him as a personal warrior and slowly nurture him, his prospects are bound to be endless and he's a slave at that! Everyone would want to buy him.

"My hands are getting numb from gripping this branch..."

"Yaaah..." with a gruntling voice, I successfully managed to bring my body up in the branch.

But only my upper body and my chest is buried, closely linked at the branch.

Some of the leaves blocked my vision.

The branches of the Acacia tree swayed and the leaves fluttered through the wind.

The purple flowers of Bonobo trees added unto the flutter and it converged to a single whip of swirling breeze.

Steep grassy mountains and colorful tropical paint above the rivers, it should've been a serene place.

But due to an agile Miguel who hops and pounces like a mad animal below the giant acacia tree and the grassy hills which are now tainted in scarlet blood, the calm and placid place became a prelude to a graveyard ceremony.

A man in the Tree busily inspected the battle in front of his sight.

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"This is bad if this continues Badong would be in trouble!" Screamed the smallest among the three Alipins.

"But what could we do? We are useless..." replied the middle-sized among the three Alipins.

"And Talto... he is dying."

Far away from where Miguel and the crocs battled, the two Alipins were closely snuggled together.

They are hopelessly shrugging their heads while their attention alternated between Miguel and the unconscious fellow Talto—the Alipin that could've completed the trio.

Then, with some sort of self-conviction from who knows why he got it suddenly,

the smallest of the three exclaimed, "I have to do something."

With that, he left the middle-sized among them and went further up in the mountains.

"Wait! Aen! Where are you going?"

Seems that the name of the smallest among the three is Aen...

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"I have to do something!"

"Anything..."

Then a flash of realization occurred to me while thinking up to this point.

I admit from such a young age, I was never that bright...

My head would suddenly hurt if I think too much or if I seriously ponder about things.

Back in our old tribe, I was always been bullied. Often called "Dumb! Pathetic! or Ignorant!"

But then, I met these two.

Talto who was the tallest and also the person I am always arguing with.

We can't seem to agree at anything. But he was actually the brother whom I became the closest.

Yes, I treated them like brothers ever since the day we met.

From then on, the unbearable loneliest of being different which often alienated me from other tribesmen gradually became bearable.

And there was Malpi, the calmest and often the brightest among the three of us.

Compared to the two of us, Malpi had a middle-sized height and like peas in a pod, from then on the three of us had stuck together through thick and thin.

"And if by chance, I lose Malpi too... I don't know how I should live anymore."

Contained by my own anxious worries, I wanted to do something for Malpi's sake.

"I might not be the brightest, but my mind would work wonders too when needed the most!"

As I reinforced my conviction, I reached the place where I noticed Badong had come from.

It is a mini-bamboo forest and I think this is where he got those spikes he was using and throwing.

"It's got to be here somewhere..." hurriedly fastening my pace, I went searching for the knife he used.

Then, like a blessing that received my prayer...

I saw the knife neatly planted at the ground, near the bamboo stalks.

I immediately went there and without hesitation, I began cutting and forming sharp-edged spikes from the bamboo stalks.

"This shall help Badong..."

"These shall help us live!"

"Malpi..."

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"Where did that Aen go?"

He suddenly ran further the mountains and I can't see him.

He was already that small, now he is purposely being small.

"Should I follow him?" I contemplated while my sight alternated between Talto and Badong.

Badong, on the other hand, seemed like a superhuman. He stops for a while, but only for a short duration before again clashing with those behemoth crocodiles.

"If I were the one facing off against those savant beasts..." I shuddered just from that thought.

Much like Talto, or I'll just be eaten immediately without warning.

Malpi, the middle-sized among the bunch of three could only sit and watch as the impending crisis was left under the hands of Miguel whom they currently knew as Badong.

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"Heck! this is nuts hahaha" I laughed in the face of danger.

Their claws and some of their fangs managed to wound me and scratched my flesh.

I had been dripping blood all this time.

It was a good thing that the wounds are shallow, but still...

It quite impended me from moving at my natural pace.

"If only I still had other spikes at hand, I could've obliterated the remaining eight of them."

Shifting my gaze at the now broken spikes, at least I managed to kill four of them.

Then at the weapon at my hand,

"Haha this is nuts, what did I think about fighting a dozen of these savage beasts."

"The handle is now a bit crooked."

Breathing deep and exhaling fast, gasping for air, and a little bit of rest, I squeezed my remaining strength.

"This can't be the end of mine!"

If I could growl I would, as I yelled to the two remaining crocs who got up here in the land while I busily inspected where the other six went to.

"It seems that the lightly injured ones were waiting for me at the banks and the uninjured ones were still below that damn tree."

"Gasps" my consciousness is beginning to waver as I looked above me.

There, the one I did not manage to save.

His friend is pitifully crying...

"Wait! where's the other one?" And with that, I noticed that the smallest one among the bunch of three was missing.

"It can't be..." A scary thought spanned in my mind as I think that perhaps he was...

Also been killed?

But then...

All my worries began to disappear as a voice with a jubilant scream suddenly called me out from out of nowhere.

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"BADONG!" I noticed two spikes made out of bamboo, heading down on my way.

"Use this!" The smallest of the bunch yelled.

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"Hmp." I smirked while cathing the two spikes.

He seemed to have more on him.

"Now I truly regret calling them idiots just now." Swiping the saliva out of my mouth, my eyes blazed and my spirit was reinvigorated.

Armed with a new weapon, I dashed in the heat of the moment.

"Savage fckers! Meet your damned end!"