38- Hidden Cave  

  

After looking around for a bit, I could still hear the sounds of the waterfall but the area was so dark, that I could not see anything.  

So, I opened the shop and asked the system to show me a torch or something that provides light.  

‘ding’  

The system filtered and showed a few items, after a while of looking at the list of items, I bought a simple Flashlight for 100 Sikka.  

With the flashlight, I observed the surroundings and found that I am inside a huge cave. And the sounds of the waterfall could be heard from behind a rocky wall. I got confused by this situation and thought for a moment.  

So, I concluded that I was in a cave which is hidden behind the waterfall. But I don’t know if it’s a natural or a man-made cave.  

Putting this matter behind me, I swam towards the shore to get out of the water and take a little rest.  

After getting on the shore, I shook Armelia who was still tensed and scared. I spoke to her,  

“Hey wake up. We are safe now and you can get down from me and stop strangling my neck.”   

Hearing my call, Armelia slowly opened her eyes and looked around, and said,  

“Where are we? Am I still alive? Why is it so dark? Is it nighttime already?”  

I answered,  

“I think we entered a hidden cave whose entrance should be hidden inside the lake, and when we jumped, we accidentally entered the cave’s entrance.”  

Hearing my answer, she nodded but still did not get down.  

Seeing her in a daze and still hanging to my neck, I once again spoke in irritation,  

“Hey, can you get down from me and stop strangling my neck?”  

Hearing my call, she woke up from her daze and immediately loosened her hands, and landed on the ground.  

“Cough...cough...sorry”  

It was clear that she felt awkward, but she still apologized.  

But when she remembered the jump from the cliff, she punched me in the chest.  

“Bastard, you nearly killed me and if you want to try that kind of stunt, you can try when you are alone. And don’t take me with you to hell.”  

I was caught off-guard and her punch connected to my chest, and I flew away for a few meters and fell to the ground.  

‘ding’  

‘-109 HP’  

When I realized what happened, I immediately got angry. But when I wanted to get up, I felt my throat sweet and I spurted out a mouthful of blood.  

“Blergh”  

And once again, I heard the system notification,  

‘ding’  

‘-1 Resistance’  

‘Due to injury and poison’s effect, host’s resistance decreased by 1’  

When I saw this, my anger reached to peak.  

.  

Armelia was startled seeing Orochi fly away from her punch. Then she realized that she accidentally used 50% of her power in that punch and the punch coincidentally connected to Orochi’s chest.   

But she felt that it was no problem as she felt Orochi was strong enough and had a smug look on her face,  

“Hmph. This is only a warning, next time if you repeat something like that, I will beat you up and break your legs.”  

Armelia had a proud look on her face, but when she saw Orochi coughing up blood, she got panicked and her face got pale as a sheet of paper.  

She felt that Orochi was equal to or stronger than her. And that’s why he could kill the Evolver guard who was fighting with her.   

And earlier when he escaped with her, his speed was also above her. So, subconsciously she felt that Orochi was stronger than her or was at least a Demi-Human stage cultivator.  

That’s why when she saw Orochi fly away because of her punch and although she accidentally used 50% of her strength in that punch. She felt that Orochi can handle her punch power and it will be just a normal punch for him.   

And that was a miscalculation.  

And now, seeing Orochi coughing up blood. She realized something was wrong and she was able to injure Orochi very badly. And her eyes became moist by instinct.  

(Well, something like ‘when an emotional and sensitive person hurts a person accidentally, he/she gets emotional and apologizes with sincerity and even cries instinctively.)  

.  

I quickly got up and prepared to fight with Armelia. But when I saw Armelia’s face I stopped.  

Seeing me get up. Armelia said,  

“I... I... I am really sorry; I did not intend to hurt you or anything. I accidentally used more strength and thought you could handle it, as I felt you were stronger than me”  

Hearing her reasoning I calmed down, but still, my anger did not dissipate. Because maybe if I had only lost HP, I would not mind agreeing with her reasoning; But now because of her punch, my ‘Resistance’ stat decreased by 1.  

Although, losing 1 stat point might look like a small thing, but when a person is poisoned with a mixture of two things like ‘Nine times Destroying herb’ and ‘Devil’s Breath’ and surviving from that is almost impossible. And by luck, that person gets a ray of hope, which helps him delay and resist the poison; but someone destroys it. Then even a Saint or a Buddha will get angry over it.  

Actually, if it was my previous self who did not get crippled and betrayed by his friends and fiancée, then I would surely take it easy and would say something like  

“It's ok, it is not your fault but mine because I put you in danger. So, with this punch, I hope you can forgive me” or something like that.  

But now it's different, I am not the old ‘kind’, ‘loving’, ‘caring’, ‘jolly’ type guy. Right now, the new ‘me’, has learned the basic truths in this world like,  

‘Here strength and talent are what matters, otherwise, people will either crush you or bully you.’  

‘Here- ‘Survival of the Fittest' is the iron law.’  

‘Your family, friend, wife, son, daughter, and all the people close to you can betray you at any time for benefits or greed.’  

‘Here, you can only trust yourself and nobody else could be trusted.’  

If I want to survive in this cruel world, then I always have to remember these truths.   

In my past life, some people said,  

“In front of absolute strength, all kinds of tricks and traps are useless.”  

But with this sentence, I can only agree and also disagree.  

Sure, there are situations where when you become so strong and you have reached the ultimate of strength then everyone can only bow to you or get crushed by you.  

But, what if, there are other people who have reached the same level as you. And those people group up and surround you?  

Since you have reached the pinnacle of cultivation and strength, you cannot go any further. Then here the so-called ‘Absolute strength’ is nothing but a false illusion. Because there will be people who can catch up with you.  

Plus, to have the so called ‘Absolute strength’ you have to go through many adventures, wars, fighting, luck, and many other things. ‘Absolute strength’ is not obtained when you are born or you can inherit it. It is obtained in a step-by-step process.  

And there is also a saying.  

“There is always a higher mountain beyond the mountain.”  

Meaning- There will always be someone better than you.  

So, it is not only about having Absolute strength, there should be equal Intelligence, shrewdness, and other things.  

And with all these, one can stand at the top.