A loud explosion rang out. Leo, who was playing and picking fruit in a tree, was startled and quickly jumped down, scrambling into Eric's arms, his fur standing on end all over his body.
Eric patted the little one's fur and looked up. It turned out to be a group of beastmen working together to fell a giant tree.
The Snow Wolves gathered firewood in such a simple and rustic way.
On this continent, even the trees grew unusually large. It wouldn't be an exaggeration to call them thousand-year-old giant trees. Any of them, if placed in modern times, would be a tree that needed protection. Now, within his sight, the Snow Wolves had already felled two or three of them.
Each tree had a diameter of at least three or four meters.
In a world with magic, the plants were indeed well-nourished.
Yesterday, he had been smugly proud of carrying a bundle of branches weighing just over twenty catties. Now, looking at the Snow Wolves before him, both male and female, transformed into their beast forms, he saw that just two or three Snow Wolves could carry a giant tree away.
Recalling the Thunder-Fire Beast, as big as a small mountain, being easily carried into the tribe yesterday, Eric felt relieved.
No wonder the people of the Eastern and Western continents called this continent the cursed land. The beastmen were all so powerful, and there was also the Elf race who could fight on par with the beastmen, and high-level magical beasts appeared endlessly.
Eric looked at the basket of mushrooms he had collected, and also the basket of wild fruits, and felt a little ashamed. No wonder the tribe didn't require the two of them to turn in their goods. With just the little bit the two of them gathered each time, in the eyes of the other beastmen, it must have looked like they were playing house.
At this time, most of the wild fruits were ripe, and the air was filled with the sweet fragrance of fruit.
Wild fruits couldn't be preserved until winter. Only some beastmen who liked to eat fruit would dry them to save as snacks for the winter.
Most beastmen only picked a few to eat each day when they were ripe, so every year, a lot of fruit fell to the base of the trees and rotted.
These fruits, when ripe, were all as big as a fist. Some were sweet like persimmons, others were sweet and sour and easy to eat like apples. In the bushes, there were also some types of berries, each one as big as an apple from the modern world, with a very delicious sweet-and-sour taste.
Having filled two baskets with mushrooms and fruit, he was about to follow the group back when he looked up and saw a giant hive, as big as a small house in modern times. How much honey must be in there!
Yesterday, he had carried a piece of meat weighing over a hundred catties without feeling strained. Today, he had to see if he could carry this hive. For the sake of the sweet honey, he definitely had to try!
Just now, Leo had excitedly climbed a tree to pick fruit while he spotted from below. Now, he also used both his hands and feet to climb the tree, intending to use his strength to get the hive down.
As he was energetically climbing, Eric was focused only on the hive when suddenly a whistling sound of wind rushed past his ear. He turned his head and saw a giant snow wolf leap from the ground onto another tree, then spring towards him and snatch him down in its mouth.
"You little cubs, you just can't walk away when you see thorn beast honey, can you? What if a thorn beast stung you? Your hides aren't tough enough to withstand it." Placing Eric on the ground, the snow wolf spoke.
It turned out to be Luci, who had seen him rushing towards the thorn beast hive and intercepted him.
Eric obediently bowed his head in self-criticism. Ah, a brief introduction: the bees here were called thorn beasts, a name that was simple to the point of being crude.
These past few days, he had seen the Snow Wolves display their divine might. Everyone was so formidable that he had overestimated himself. Not to mention he was a cub, he was also congenitally weak. Seeing such a large thorn beast hive, the thorn beasts themselves were surely not small, yet out of excitement, he had arrogantly climbed up.
He admitted he was craving thorn beast honey-roasted meat too much. He could also use the thorn beast honey to make fruit jam; his appetite had defeated his reason.
"All cubs are greedy like that," a few Snow Wolves who were splitting wood on the other side said with a laugh.
A tall, strong male Snow Wolf walked over, holding a branch and aiming at the thorn beast hive in the tree. He bent slightly, his gaze sharpening. With a 'whoosh,' the branch in his hand was thrown, hitting the thorn beast hive squarely without being off by a millimeter. With a 'thud,' the thorn beast hive fell.
Luci, with quick hands and sharp eyes, pulled Eric and Leo under her belly, using her paws to cover their poking-out heads.
"Bzz bzz bzz…" The swarm of thorn beasts angrily surrounded the hateful group of Snow Wolves, searching for the culprit.
The stingers on their tails, over half a meter long, aggressively jabbed at the Snow Wolves. But alas, the Snow Wolves had all transformed into their beast forms and were lying still on the ground with their eyes shut tight. After all, they were thick-skinned and well-fleshed, so they weren't afraid at all; their silver-white fur was completely unharmed.
The two cubs protected under Luci's belly were also unharmed. Seeing this, the swarm of thorn beasts flew around in circles angrily, but they could do nothing to this group of rogue-like Snow Wolves, so they had no choice but to leave.
Luci lifted her paws and let the two cubs out.
Of the remaining Snow Wolves, some chose to change back to their human forms, while others remained in their beast forms. They used vines to tie the chopped firewood into small mountain-like piles and carried them on their backs.
Eric excitedly ran to the thorn beast hive, taking a deep breath of the sweet fragrance in the air.
"Tang's throw was really accurate. You little ones are in for a treat," an older Snow Wolf said with a laugh.
Tang smiled smugly. He wrapped the animal hide around his waist, not bothered at all that there were female beastmen around.
The thorn beast hive looked even more enormous on the ground. Eric tried to lift it with both hands. He used all his strength until his face turned red, but could only move it a short distance.
As expected, he still couldn't do it.
"Ha ha ha, Max was already able to carry two such large thorn beast hives at your age!" Tang laughed heartily. He reached out a hand as large as a palm fan and patted Eric's shoulder.
Is it really okay to rub salt in the wound like that? Eric thought helplessly.