Chapter 4 - Rumble in the Jungle

The chief sat down on a large wooden throne and motioned for the two visitors to take a seat on the woven mats that surrounded the throne. Connor and Ethan sat down, but Aki remained standing behind them, his eyes scanning the surroundings.

The chief's voice was low and serious as he spoke, his eyes scanning over the youthful faces of Connor and Ethan. "We have lived in this forest for generations, protecting its creatures and keeping its balance. But now, a new threat has emerged, and it is one we cannot handle alone."

Connor nodded, his expression calculating. "The old lady sent us here to help, so I'm sure its something within our capabilities to help with. Tell us more."

Ethan leaned forward, his eyes wide with fascination as slowly he examined his surroundings. "Boy, it really is a totally different world in here..."

Connor clicked his tongue, mildly annoyed at Ethan's distracted self.

"S-sorry chief, please go on," Ethan sensed this and immediately regained his composure.

The chief smiled at Ethan's wonder, but then his expression turned grave once again. "The Stellanium contamination has made the forest more dangerous than ever before. And we need your help to neutralize...something."

Connor leaned forward, his eyes fixed on the chief. "What kind of threat are we talking about here?"

The chief's silence hung heavily in the air as he furrowed his brows.

Aki Tambun, who was standing on the side silently until a while ago decided to break the silence.

"We have been dealing with the Stellanium mutated creatures ever since our parents and grandparents decided to retreat into the Basin. The relics that we resonated with, they brought all of us here."

Aki took a moment to pause and he took a glance at the chief. They exchanged a look, and the chief took over once again.

"Yes. I'll be frank then. A Class 4 Stellanium Beast has emerged. We call it Bakas Mulau - it means the Mad Boar."

Connor's eyes widened in shock as the tribal chief finished his briefing. "A Class 4? That's massive, even for the Watch. How long has it been around?"

"This one emerged about a month ago. It's one of the native creatures of the Basin, but prolonged exposure to large amounts of Stellanium has mutated it," the chief explained.

Connor was deep in thought, "Hmm...a month, that's enough time to consolidate its powers."

"It has killed several of our tribe members who were unfortunate enough to cross paths with it, and if we do not take action soon...it may mutate into a Class 5 and escape the enclosure into the outside world. We do not want that happening," Aki added.

Ethan was deep in thought, "We need to come up with a plan. What are the beast's known weaknesses?"

The chief and Aki exchanged a knowing look. "Bakas Mulau has a tough hide and is incredibly strong. We tried poison but it seemed to be negated by the Stellanium it ingests daily," Aki suggested.

"Yes, it's tusks are also large and sharp. It also has immunity to fire...our warriors tried firing flaming arrows at it," the chief piled on to Aki's remarks.

"Come on guys, I said weaknesses! Not how insanely overpowered it is," Ethan frowned.

"When is it most vulnerable?" Connor asked.

"We have trackers constantly monitoring the beast's location. At night, it retreats to its nesting grounds. We can use that to our advantage," the chief replied.

Connor nodded in agreement, "That's our best bet. Let's plan for a raid later tonight. Let's go over the resources the tribe has and share the abilities of the relics we have to make this easier."

"I'll look up the database and see if there's any methods we can use to neutralize the beast," Ethan also said, not wanting to be left out from the raid planning. "Even better yet, if there's a relic around here that could help us with that."

"If only Big Bad Wolf was repaired..." Connor sighed as he exited the chief's hut.

-------

After hours of preparation, the team finally made their way towards the nesting grounds of the Bakas Mulau. The forest was eerily quiet, and the team could hear nothing but their own footsteps as they approached the beast's location.

"Remember, we need to be quiet," whispered Aki to the group. "We don't want to wake it up too soon."

Connor nodded in agreement as his fingertips glowed green. "I'll use my Cloak of Elements to bind it down with vines. That way it will be immobilized and we'll have the element of surprise."

Aki nodded. "That could work. We have some potent herbal grenades that we can use to distract the beast as well, giving everyone a chance to strike."

Ethan rubbed his chin as he scrolled through his tablet for more information. "The herbal grenades are a good call. You can't poison the damn thing but it's overly sensitive sense of smell might work in our favor."

"Okay, just like we discussed earlier in the day. We focus on using its weight against it and find a way to cause some damage. Just because the Bakas Mulau has a thick skin, does not mean its invincible," Connor reminded everyone.

Aki nodded as he gripped his spear, the "Sumundai" even tighter, signalling his spear-wielding warriors to go around the nesting ground to create a perimeter. The Sumundai is rumored to be a mythical spear from Kadazan-Dusun folklore that attracts good fortune and drives away evil spirits. In Aki's case - he can use it to create a protective shield around his comrades. Furthermore, the spear has true accuracy and it can also be retrieved magically from any distance. The warriors are using a replica of the Sumundai, which only has the ability to be retrieved when thrown.

The team had been preparing for hours, and now it was time to take on Bakas Mulau. Connor channeled his Cloak of Elements and summoned vines to bind the beast down. The boar was sleeping, but as soon as the vines touched its skin, it let out a loud, angry grunt and began thrashing around.

"Careful, Connor!" Aki warned. "That was too soon! It's not fully asleep yet!"

"I know, but we have to immobilize it somehow!" Connor replied impatiently, sweat beading on his forehead as he struggled to keep the vines in place, waving his hands and bringing more vines to wrap around the Bakas Mulau.

The other tribal warriors began throwing herbal grenades at the boar, hoping to overwhelm its sense of smell. The boar began snorting and coughing, clearly disoriented by the herbal grenades.

Aki stood in front of his team, holding his relic "Sumundai" defensively. "Warriors! Let's go for the kill," he said, motioning for the others to move forward.

The warriors threw their spear relics at the boar with all their might, but the boar, still thrashing around, broke free from Connor's vines and started charging towards Aki.

"Dodge it, Aki!" Connor shouted, as he waved his hands and summoned a bolt of electricity from his Cloak of Elements to shock the boar. The boar's movement staggered, but quickly recovered and continued charging towards Aki.

Ethan was frantically searching on his tablet from a distance. He was muttering to himself, "Come on...come on...there must be som..-!!!"

He glanced over the information on the screen to make sure he read it correctly and suddenly let out a cry of triumph. "Eureka!"

"Fellas! I found something!" he shouted at his team mates.

"What is it?!" Aki yelled, as he dodged another charge from the boar. Ethan was quite a distance away, and it was hard to hear him.

"Inside! You gotta aim inside the boar!!" Ethan exclaimed.

Aki looked perplexed as he made an attempt to digest what Ethan said, stabbing his spear outwards at Bakas Mulau in futility.

"IN-SIDE. IT'S IN-SIDES ARE SOFT!" Ethan yelled out once again as he gestured towards his own stomach.

Everyone fighting the Bakas Mulau were trying their best not to get smashed into meat paste as they tried their best to decipher Ethan's hint and signing.

A spark of realization then hit Connor and his eyes lit up, in excitement. He shouted at Aki, "Yo Aki!!! Is that spear of yours metal of any kind?" he gestured while trying to use vines to slow down the boar.

"Yes...I don't know? It should be!" Aki waved his spear to create a barrier as he dodge-rolled away from Bakas Mulau's thrashing while Connor's vines snaked around its thick legs to restrain it.

"Alright, Toss it here!" Connor gestured towards Aki, ready to catch Sumundai.

"Wha-? This can't be wielded by anyone other than myself! Are you sure?!" Aki rapidly questioned Connor's strategy, knowing that relics tend to be bound to their owners, with a few exceptions.

"Damn it...stop wasting time and trust me!!!" Connor yelled as he sent another bolt of lightning towards Bakas Mulau's hide, his other hand reaching out and still waiting for Aki's spear.

"Catch!" Aki threw Sumundai over and Connor caught it, grinning.

The other warriors watched in shock as their commander handed over his precious signature relic over to the outsider. After all, even they knew it was a sacred relic that nobody else could wield.

Ethan's eyes shone, as if understanding what Connor had in mind, waved and yelled at the tribal commander, "Aki! Aki! Use your sash! Use Sinurut's Blaze to give Connor some cover fire!"

Aki heard Ethan's gesturing and nodded with resolve, the red sash around his waist glowing as if hot flames were dancing around. The fire would not harm Bakas Mulau, but at least it would be able to distract it from whatever Connor was planning.

Connor waved the spear relic, Sumundai around and created a gust of wind with the Cloak of Elements, propelling himself into the air above Bakas Mulau. The giant boar roared with anger as it thrashed around from dealing with the relentless spear throwing of the warriors and Aki's flaming barrage.

As if waiting for this exact moment, Connor released the wind from beneath his feet and plunged downwards, channeling his energy into Sumundai which started to glow with a beautiful aurora-like light. Aki and his warriors were shocked, but they had no time to process this emotion as Connor drove the glowing spear into Bakas Mulau's wide open mouth.

"Boy, this is gonna hurt," Connor grinned and said to himself as he channeled the full capacity of the Cloak of Elements, summoning all the lightning he can muster from the atmosphere around them. With lightning reflexes, Connor sent a bolt of electricity surging through the spear, and it struck the wild boar with a deafening crack of thunder. The beast let out a blood-curdling scream as it convulsed, its body writhing with electrical shock, it's organs being electrocuted by endless droves of lightning that continuously struck the spear.

As the boar fell to the ground, twitching and spasming, Aki and the tribal warriors rushed in with their spears and herbal grenades, ensuring that the beast would stay down and dealt the finishing blow to put it out of its misery.

Once the dust had settled, Connor and Aki approached Ethan, both with expressions of awe on their faces. "Praise the Creator Minamangun!!!" Aki said, still shaking in disbelief. "T-That was incredible!"

Ethan grinned, still feeling the adrenaline coursing through his veins. "Good call mate," he said, clapping Connor on the shoulder. "Using the spear as a lightning rod was brilliant."

Connor shrugged, feeling a sense of satisfaction mixed with relief. "Only doing what I can," he lied. In truth, he had always been fascinated by the powers of electricity and had been waiting for a chance to use it in battle, Ethan's clue only helped bring that into fruition.

"We couldn't have done it without everyone's help," Connor said. "And Ethan, your research really came in handy. So, don't ever sell yourself short."

The team let out a collective sigh of relief as they examined the lifeless body of the wild boar. Connor inspected the wound that Ethan's idea had created. As he examined the fallen beast, he realized that Ethan's theory had been correct – the organs of the boar were much softer than its tough hide. With a little experimentation, they found a way to inflict internal damage on the creature, leading to a quick and merciful death.

"The beast will now return to the earth, once again in accordance to mother nature," Aki put his hands together as if to pray - his warriors doing the same in momentary silence.

Connor finally relaxed and his Cloak of Elements's faded into a grey color from its original scarlet red as the adrenaline rush wore off, as if to signify that the relic was also drained of its energy. "That was some crazy sh*t," he muttered under his breath.

"Haha, you can say that again," Ethan chimed in. "But we bloody did it!"

The team looked at each other, exhaustion and triumph written on their faces. They had defeated the Mad Boar, Bakas Mulau. Everyone was panting heavily and covered in sweat and dirt. Some of the warriors were bruised and battered, but nothing that couldn't be treated with a few herbal remedies or a nifty healing relic.

Aki was limping slightly, his left leg injured during the fight. Connor approached him, concern etched on his face. "You alright?" he asked.

"I'm fine," Aki replied gruffly as he stood upright to correct his posture. "Just a scratch."

Connor nodded, knowing that Aki was trying to downplay his injury. He turned to the rest of the team and clapped his hands together, grinning. "Let's head back and grab some drinks, shall we?"

The warriors cheered and hugged each other, their adrenaline still pumping from the intense battle. Even Ethan was smiling, feeling proud of his contribution to the team.