SSS SKILL: DUPLICATE

Chapter 2: Force of Nature

"Run!"Edgar quickly thought. He is very nervous because it is certain death if he fights the gray wolf. He is running toward the river.

"I can't run to the truck because the wolf can definitely catch up! Damn! Why is it on the periphery of outerzone? It usually lives in the inner area of outerzone. Damn, is it because of the poison guild?" Edgar read some news before that members of the poison guild blocked the retreat of a pack of magic beasts to the inner area, intending to annihilate them, but some beasts escaped to the periphery of outerzone, causing many casualties to weak hyperbeings.

Around Edgar are tall trees and wild plants. The grasses are one to two feet tall and the plants are one to two meters tall.

As he moves closer to the river, the trees became taller. There are thirty-meter-tall banyan trees with emerald leaves.

On the left side, below the towering banyan trees, are wild plants with big flowers. There are half-foot bees and dragonflies flying over the flowers.

On the right side, there are ten-meter-tall mutated banana trees. Their leaves are completely yellow, and giant fruits are hanging on them.

Not too far from the banana trees, there is also a huge banyan tree where purple monkeys live. They are one and a half meters tall.

There is a purple monkey currently enjoying its food with relish on top of a banana tree. It was startled as it noticed Edgar intruding into their territory, and then it felt angry. How can a weakling intrude on their territory? It jumped on a banana tree, took two one-foot-sized green bananas, and then jumped on a huge leaf. The huge yellow leaf moves down, but it is still able to bear the weight of the purple monkey.

WOOSH! The monkey jumped forward. It fiercely stares at Edgar, then threw the huge banana fruit in its right hand, followed by the fruit in its left hand. The banana fruits flew like boomerangs.

Edgar noticed the action of the monkey.

"Damn monkey!" Cursed by Edgar

There are huge roots in front.

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He put more strength into his feet, then jumped forward while rotating his body in mid-air. His head faces the ground.

Bang! The one-foot green banana missed Edgar, then it hit the ground. It created a small hole in the ground before the fruit smashed itself.

Edgar stretched his arms downward. His hands touched the root, then he used them to push himself forward.

Bang! The banana fruit hit the root. Edgar avoided it by a hair's breadth.

He rotates his body in mid-air, and then drew his sword while in the air.

Flop! He landed on a root. He pointed his sword at his back.

Boom! He charged forward, then threw his sword at a banana shoot.

WOOSH! The sword is rapidly rotating in mid-air.

Crunch! The shoot is cut. Although it is a shoot, it has the size of a normal banana tree before it mutated.

Stab! The sword stopped rotating and stabbed a huge banana tree.

Edgar runs toward the banana shoot. As he runs, he moves the sword sheath to his right side.

He picked up the banana shoot and put it on his left side. He drew out his sword from the banana tree and quickly runs as the monkey moves closer. The monkey wanted to chase, but it suddenly stopped and quickly retreated. It saw the incoming gray wolf.

Edgar saw that the monkey retreated. He rotated the sword in his right hand.

TNNG! He sheathed his sword on his right side while still looking to the front.

As he runs, he is still weighing the risk of going or not going to the river. He looks around him, the tallest trees are occupied by big insects and beasts. The remaining trees are ten to fifteen meters tall and are within the range of the magical power of the gray wolf.

"The flow of the river is very rapid and leads to the inner zone. There is no certainty to live, but there is a chance to live! Staying here is certain death!" thought Edgar. He is not at the river yet, but he can already hear the rapid flow of the river.

When he reached the edge of the river, he is overwhelmed by the strong power of nature. The river is nearly seventy meters wide. There is a loud sound from the current.

BOOM! CRUNCH! CRUNCH! Big and thick trees fifteen to twenty meters long are crashing into each other. Wood chips and branches are flying into the air as they crash.

Bang! A thick, ten-meter-long tree broke in the middle as it was hit by a big tree rapidly moving forward.

ROOOAR! An eight-meter-long brown lizard with two gray horns is drowning.

Big trees are easily crushed, and powerful beasts are powerless to resist. It is a mighty river that Edgar will use to escape certain death.

Edgar subconsciously swallowed as he looks at the crashing trees and drowning beast.

The wolf is already near, gathering its magical power to attack.

Threads of wind element gather to its claw.

The wolf slashed its claw at Edgar.

WIND SLASH

"There is no time to hesitate! Jump!" Edgar jumped with the banana tree.

Boom!! Just a second later, there is an explosion from where he was standing. He could have died if he had been a little late.

Splash!! Edgar plunges into the river. He is having difficulty going back to the surface to breathe because of the rapid flow of the river.

ROOOAR!! He can hear the angry roar of the wolf when he is finally able to go back to the surface of the river.

"I must stay near the edge of the river or I'll die. I must get out while the river is still in the outer zone!" thought Edgar.

While staying in the river, he is estimating the distance from the wolf.

"The distance should be enough. I feel tired. I must quickly get out!" thought Edgar. He feels exhausted because he used so much energy trying to stay near the edge of the river.

Edgar uses all his strength to move out of the river, but fate seems to want his death. He did not notice a tree moving toward his back.

"Acccckkk!" Edgar felt so painful. He felt like his bones and muscles are crushed. He lost his strength, and he plunged into the river, but he still instinctively holds the banana tree. When he finally resurfaced again, he is already away from the edge of the river. Despair and powerlessness are flowing in his mind and body.

When he feels that death is near, he remembers how his parents sacrificed themselves to protect him and his sister. He remembers how his dying father entrusted his sister, how his uncle and cousin helped them, and how hard he trained his spear and sword. He also remembers how magic beasts and lawless hyperbeings could easily destroy lives.

"Nooooo! I can't give up! I'm still alive! As long as I live, I will find a way to survive! No matter how small the chance, I will desperately grab that chance! If there is no chance, I will create a chance! Think! Think! Think!" Edgar remembered his reason for seeking power. He might die trying, but he won't give up as long as he has remaining strength.

"There is a way!" thought Edgar. He got an idea while looking at those large trees floating and crashing in the middle of the river.

"I could stay at that floating tree and wait for the flow of the river to become a lot weaker. I read in a forum that the river will become a lot wider in the deeper area of the innerzone, so the river flow is weak, but that is the territory of the Croc king and its species. I must get out before reaching where those crocodiles live," thought Edgar, then he moves to a floating tree that is near and does not often clash with other trees.

Edgar was able to climb the tree. He took a deep breath and feels a lot better. He started resting, but he is still alert.

Boom! An hour after staying on the floating tree, it collided with another tree.

"Ahhhhh!" screams Edgar. He grits his teeth and desperately holds the branch of the tree to avoid being thrown out.

A few minutes later, the rapid flow of the river became weaker.

"There is still some distance from the safest place to swim, but it might already be too late if I don't start now since I am away from the edge and the river will become wider later," thought Edgar. Then he took a deep breath and dove into the river.

A few minutes after swimming, Edgar is already near the edge of the river. The flow of the river became a lot weaker, but it also meant that it is closer to the territory of crocodiles. He desperately swims toward a slope on the riverside. He saw flat ground where it is easier to land, but he has an intuition that he will die if he can't get out of the river now. When he reached the riverside, he quickly climbs the slope.

SPLASH! When Edgar heard the splash of water, he jumped over the slope without looking back.

BOOM! Something hit where he was standing. Edgar rolls on the ground, then starts running. He looks back at the creature that tried to kill him, and as he expected, it is a nearly four-meter-long bronze crocodile with sharp spines.