Listening to Valerian's recount, Adam learned that after the battle was over, he was found lying unconscious by the young dragon.
Afraid that someone other Magi or magical beasts might pass by, Valerian transformed into his true form and flew away while carrying him.
The little guy flew for about a week, taking very little rest in the middle, and arrived at the large banyan tree—the home of the Peach Baboons.
Adam habitually started to stroke his chin, but his hand ended up grazing the bandage on his face, resulting in him wincing in pain. "Ugh, damn it, so annoying!"
He looked at Valerian and asked, "By the way, how long have I been out?"
'10 days,' the young dragon replied via mental transmission.
"So it's already been two and a half weeks since the battle, huh?" Adam mumbled absentmindedly. Then, he thought of a crucial point and asked solemnly, "Did anyone see your true form?"
Valerian tilted his head, seemingly in deep thought. He then replied, 'Except for them… I… don't think so?'
"Don't think so, huh?" Adam frowned.
That answer wasn't very assuring. But there was little he could do about it. In the end, he could only hope that no one on the battlefield witnessed Valerian's true form.
Adam suddenly raised his head and looked at all the baboons present. Everything made sense to him now. He finally understood why they were behaving so strangely.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64ce79d606107d003c23ea27", id: "pf-5140-1"})It was because they had seen Valerian's dragon form!
Both Valerian and the baboons were magical beasts. The former came from a legendary lineage that stood at the top of the food chain. It was only natural for the baboons to feel some sort of reverence toward the young dragon.
Adam slowly got to his feet and walked toward the old, hunched-back baboon. Then, he placed his hand on his chest and sincerely bowed. "Thank you, old sir, for nursing me back to health."
Seeing him bow, the old baboon panicked and so did the rest of the baboons that had just arrived. At once, there was pandemonium on the large banyan tree. The baboons started screeching loudly.
Adam was flabbergasted at this sudden turn of events. He looked around at the chaos and blurted out, "W-What the hell?! Did I do something wrong?"
Valerian, who saw what was happening, suddenly covered his face with his tiny paws. It seemed that he was very embarrassed.
Meanwhile, the old baboon hurriedly got on his knees and kowtowed over and over again. At the same time, he sent Adam a mental message through magical means.
'Esteemed warrior, I do not deserve your salutations! You are the elder brother of the Great One. I beg you, please, never lower your head in front of this humble one!'
"Whaa…" Adam was speechless.
Only a few minutes ago some of the younger baboons were showing their buttocks to him and taunting him, but now everyone's behavior toward him and made a 180-degree turn. Although the young kids seemed to be reluctantly showing him respect.
Suddenly, Valerian strutted toward him and tapped his leg. Adam lowered his head and looked at the young dragon with a questioning gaze.
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "64cc9e79c7059f003e4ad4b0", id: "pf-5109-1"})After Valerian sent him a mental message explaining why the baboons were behaving this way, Adam was even more shocked.
So it turns out that after the baboons saw Valerian's true form, they started worshipping him. In the past ten days, while Adam was unconscious, these baboons had been treating the little guy like he was the emperor.
Adam thought that the baboons would naturally have some level of awe and reverence toward Valerian, but he didn't think that it would be to this extent.
Listening to Valerian smugly tell him about how the baboons had brought him meat several times a day for the last ten days, Adam didn't know whether to laugh or cry.
But this situation was also not bad for the current him. He was grievously injured and desperately needed a place to recoup for a while.
It had only been a little over two months since he entered the secret plane, and from what he'd gathered there was still at least about a year left until the secret plane shut down.
Since he was here anyway and Valerian also seemed to have solidified his position as the temporary ruler of the baboons, Adam thought that he could use this ridiculous situation to his advantage.
The youth doubted that he would find another place safer than this. These baboons were pretty strong after all, and this area was under their territory. No Magus would be stupid enough to pick a fight with them, considering their large numbers and physical prowess.
In short, this was the perfect place for Adam to lay low and perhaps even train!
He turned to look at the old baboon and began, "Old sir—"
However, the baboon instantly cut him off and started kowtowing once again. 'Esteemed warrior, please do not call me sir. I do not deserve it!'
window.pubfuturetag = window.pubfuturetag || [];window.pubfuturetag.push({unit: "663633fa8ebf7442f0652b33", id: "pf-8817-1"})Adam's lips twitched and he wondered, Isn't this guy… overdoing it? Well, whatever.
He cleared his throat and stated, "As you can see, I'm very injured. So, I'd like to recuperate here for the foreseeable future."
The old baboon replied while still bowing, 'You may stay here for as long as you like, esteemed warrior."
"Hehe, alright, alright." Adam chuckled.
He felt that the old baboon was pleasing to the eye. Moreover, he was also quite shocked by the other party's eloquence. He couldn't help but wonder just how he had come to speak so coherently.
Suddenly he saw the old baboon hesitating about something, so Adam asked curiously, "What is it? Is there something you wish to say?"
The old baboon first secretly glanced at Valerian, and then finally looked at Adam and gathered the courage to speak.
'You see, esteem warrior, about the egg…'
"Hmm? What about it?" Adam frowned. To be honest, he was quite looking forward to having those rainbow eggs again. After all, they had great positive effects on the physical body.
The old baboon hurriedly replied, 'Please do not be angry, esteemed warrior! But I'm truly afraid that we cannot give you more than a handful of them. We have young children to strengthen in our tribe and every year the tree can only produce so many eggs. Please be considerate. I beg you!'
"Hah?" Adam was puzzled. "That's it?"
The old baboon raised his head and saw that Adam wasn't angry at all.
Adam continued, "I wasn't planning on consuming more than a couple of eggs anyway. The more I have it, the more my body will grow used to it, and the lesser its benefits will become. You don't have to worry."
The old baboon as well as the rest of the adult baboons breathed a collective sigh of relief. They really thought that this human would hoard all the eggs growing on the tree. If it really came to that, they wouldn't know what to do.
"Well then, I'll be resting on this branch for now." Adam turned around and walked back to his hammock, waving his hand nonchalantly.
The rest of the baboons also dispersed, giving the youth and the young dragon their privacy.
Valerian ran circles around Adam and asked excitedly, 'Brother, what are we going to do now?'
Adam's eyes shone with excitement. "Hehe, I don't know about you but I'm going to get drunk out of my mind~"
The next moment, a wine gourd appeared in his hand. The youth looked at it longingly. "Oh, my love, how long has it been?"
He uncorked the gourd and took a large mouthful of wine.
"Puaahh! Yes, that's what I'm talking about!"
'Brother! Me too! Me too!' Valerian jumped around excitedly.
"Huh?" Adam reprimanded. "Little brat, you're too young for this. Go drink milk or something."
He ignored the young dragon's watery, despondent eyes and continued to enjoy the wine. Meanwhile, he started to plan out what he was going to do here for the foreseeable future.
Hmm, after I fully recover I should go into a training retreat. There is much I have learned from my last battle. I need to put it into practice!
