I Got a Gallery in the Wild - Chapter 81

The moment the trade restriction was lifted, the first thing I did was give the fixed handles a small bribe—no, a gift.

Even so, a gift just meant handing out chunks of fish meat skewered on sticks.

Because the size of the fish was so immense, even after sharing like this, there was plenty left for me to eat.

[Wild Grylls: How does it taste?]

[Heavenly Demon: It is magnificent indeed.]

A delicacy among delicacies.

It is the most delicious food this noble one has ever tasted.

You flatter me. I’m glad it was delicious.

[Wild Grylls: That’s a huge relief, haha]

[Heavenly Demon: It is no flattery.]

To yield such flavor through such simple preparation.

I wonder what it would taste like if properly cooked.

I’ll give you some later when I have spare time.

[Wild Grylls: When I have time.]

[Heavenly Demon: Who knows how long that free time will last.]

This noble one is fine.

Unsurprisingly, Heavenly Demon gave glowing praise.

She would probably happily accept whatever I gave her anyway.

Still, hearing such kind words felt great.

[Sword Matstar: The fish tastes like meat?]

I’m so jealous that you get to eat this every day.

Wanna come over?

Sword Matstar

Thanks, but my mom’s cooking is the absolute best.

[Wild Grylls: It’s been so long since I’ve had mom’s home-cooked meals that I honestly don’t remember.]

[Sword Matstar: Ah;; I’m so sorry. Truly, I’m sorry.]

I’m just kidding, haha. Still, it must really be delicious then.

Sword Matstar praised it as well. It was truly satisfying.

It was just seasoned with salt and grilled, but even that simple method yielded incredible flavor.

[Passing Dwarf: Hey. Give me more. This isn’t enough as a drink snack.]

[Wild Grylls: You shameless bastard.]

[Passing Dwarf: Juuuust ooonnne moooore pls.]

I can smell the alcohol through your post, go to sleep already;;

The dwarf... well, he spouted shameless garbage as usual. Judging by how his text stank of alcohol, he seemed drunk.

It seemed the dwarf didn’t actually intend to wring blood from a stone either, as he didn’t push the conversation any further.

Besides them, Starlight Lady, Princess Chaenggu, Allfather, Praise the Sun, and so on.

I handed out small portions to all the fixed handles who had shown me goodwill.

Since most of their reviews were glowing, I felt immensely proud.

And finally, the Orange Badge as well.

Thus, the giveaway event (?) came to an end.

’Anyway, the Orange Badge is definitely a religious person.’

I had a brief conversation with her earlier, and she asked if I had any intention of believing in God.

She felt like an evangelist, which was pretty uncomfortable, but since she didn’t push it further, I refrained from saying harsh words.

She was just curious why I cursed at God. So I answered everything.

Kwarurung!

And it seemed the consequences were revealing themselves right now. The result of cursing God.

I had no choice but to sigh at the rain falling much heavier than before.

It looked like today’s exploration was out of the question. The weather had turned far worse than earlier.

With thunder and lightning striking, it felt like the heavens were practically performing a ritual to order me not to step outside.

’Going crazy here.’

The silver lining was that I had plenty of stockpiled food.

And that I had finished the drainage work when the rain briefly paused.

If I hadn’t dug those drainage trenches, water would have pooled heavily in the moat or overflowed completely.

If I had to work under those conditions, I would have suffered far more.

’Just in case, I should set up the iron fence too.’

Just this morning, when it rained, a random raccoon invaded.

Not content with warming itself by the campfire, it even stole my Fasting Pills.

That guy got punished by Speed Sloth and turned into Wonmo’s snack, but I needed to be cautious of intrusions by other creatures.

’It was lucky that it was just a raccoon; if it were something else, it could have been dangerous.’

Even a raccoon wasn’t completely safe. If it had entered while infected with rabies, it would have been hazardous.

Strictly speaking, Speed Sloth was a risk too, but since he hated washing up, what could I do?

I stared at the thick sheets of rain obscuring my view and shook my head side to side.

Wasting an entire day like this put me in a gloomy mood.

"Wonmo, come here."

"Kkyuuu?"

Time to hug plump Wonmo to heal my gloomy mood.

He was like a round ball of fluff, so hugging him made me feel peaceful every single time.

Wonmo didn’t resist and quietly accepted my embrace.The source of this chapter is novеlping.com.

’When this guy grows up later, he’ll become way bigger than me, right?’

Wonmo’s mom, who had been sold off at the auction house.

Saying she was "sold off" sounded a bit strange, but technically that was what happened.

Anyway, that owlbear was a massive beast that boasted the size of a truck.

In other words, as time passed, Wonmo would grow to that size too.

’I really hope that time doesn’t come while we’re still in the forest.’

I heard it takes at least three years for an owlbear to reach full maturity.

Considering it takes 10 years for a normal bear to reach full growth, that was a terrifying growth rate.

’Though in exchange, he eats just as much.’

Owlbears were creatures that gained an enormous appetite in exchange for pouring all their energy into rapid growth.

Still, the Forest of the Four Seasons was abundant with food, and I had plenty of points stored in the Gallery.

Shwaaaaaa!

The problem was the rain. If it kept raining like this, it would threaten my survival.

Not only would the river flood, but I could also face unexpected situations like the raccoon invading the cave.

Even though I set up an iron fence, there were bound to be creatures around here capable of smashing right through it.

Tododododo~

Just like that lizard over there currently trying to climb over the iron fence.

Even if it didn’t smash the fence, anything trying to climb over it naturally deserved punishment.

"Wonmo, wanna eat that too?"

"Kkyuuu!"

The lizard trying to climb the fence turned into Wonmo’s snack.

With the rain pouring, all sorts of animals were frantically trying to enter the cave.

Exploration was doomed and I had nothing to do. Even so, I couldn’t afford to lower my guard.

’Instead of sleep... I should just practice my Internal Cultivation Art.’

When there was nothing to do, practicing cultivation arts was ideal. It washed away fatigue completely, so nothing beat it.

Just as I crossed my legs to begin breathing exercises, Speed Sloth standing in front of me caught my eye.

He was staring blankly at me with his signature relaxed expression.

Staring at him silently, a brilliant idea suddenly struck me.

’This guy seems to understand my words, is it okay to teach him the Internal Cultivation Art?’

People hearing this would probably think: What a dumbass.

That was precisely why it was worth trying. It was also an opportunity for Speed Sloth to get stronger.

He was already strong, but getting even stronger through cultivation arts? I couldn’t resist.

Before that, I should ask the Gallery. It was worth checking out.

Title) Can animals practice internal cultivation arts too?

Wild Grylls

(Photo of Speed Sloth staring blankly)

I want to teach the Internal Cultivation Art to this idiot, but is it possible for animals?

He’s already faster than me, but I don’t think it would hurt if he got even stronger.

└ Heavenly Demon: Sir. Perish the thought, but you are not planning to teach him the cultivation method this noble one taught you, are you?

└ Wild Grylls: Even if I told him the verses, he wouldn’t even understand them.

└ Heavenly Demon: Hm. That is true. Still, is he not quite an intelligent fellow?

└ Wild Grylls: Intelligence and wisdom are two different things, Master.

└ Heavenly Demon: I understand. Still, I have never heard of an animal practicing cultivation methods.

└ Sword Matstar: I don’t know about Mana Cultivation Methods, but similar entities exist. Monsters with relatively high intelligence like orcs, goblins, gnolls, etc. Liches were living humans once, so I’ll exclude them.

└ Wild Grylls: Can those creatures handle mana?

└ Sword Matstar: Yes. Though rather than formal training, it’s closer to being a mutation? Still, the significance lies in the fact that they can use mana.

└ Wild Grylls: So no animals?

└ Sword Matstar: Among the monsters I’ve encountered, I don’t recall any. If there were, it would’ve been total chaos, right?

└ Allfather: There exist historical records of attempts to teach Mana Cultivation Methods to monkeys or apes in the past. However, it is said that not a single attempt succeeded.

└ Wild Grylls: So it’s a waste of effort?

└ Allfather: Even I cannot say for certain. As Sword Matstar-nim mentioned, a ’mutation’ might be different. Strictly speaking, Speed Sloth is also a mutant, so the possibility isn’t completely zero.

└ Hey. If he gets stronger than that, won’t he just kill you?

└ He’ll kill you and steal all your Fasting Pills.

└ That honestly sounds totally plausible?

The last comment sounded a bit chilling. The moment I read it, I turned to look at Speed Sloth.

A face that practically advertised: I am a completely harmless animal~

Yet behind that face lurked terrifying claws.

"Bbareumbo."

"..."

"Even if you get stronger, you won’t kill me, right?"

Nod~

He actually understood and nodded his head.

It was a reaction that said: Why would I? Killing you would only be a loss for me.

└ Wild Grylls: I asked him and he said he won’t kill me?

└ How do you know that?

└ Wild Grylls: He nodded his head. I saw it.Get faster updates on nov⁠elping.com.

└ He’s obviously lying to your face lmao

└ Means he’s ready to backstab you at any moment ROFL

└ You trust animals? You’re gonna get betrayed lol

└ Wild Grylls: He’s already stronger than me anyway, what backstab;;

└ He’ll kill you right around the time you grow stronger. Can’t you even tell?

└ Wild Grylls: Don’t insult our Bbareumbo;;;

Even if that were true, I owed my life to Speed Sloth several times over.

I’ll just keep shoveling Fasting Pills into him so he never gets dissatisfied.

Anyway, I decided to teach Speed Sloth the Internal Cultivation Art—no, the Mana Cultivation Method.

Every single one of them said it sounded dumb as hell, but entertaining nonetheless.

└ Sword Matstar: Why on earth are you doing something like that;;

└ Are you a woman?

└ Sword Matstar: Why do you ask that?

└ Then you wouldn’t understand lol

└ Because it’s weird, that’s why we gotta do it!

└ Of course, of course.

Putting the Gallery aside, I faced Speed Sloth.

Speed Sloth merely stared at me with his laid-back expression, taking no action whatsoever.

"Alright, Bbareumbo. Copy me."

"..."

As I crossed my legs into a lotus posture, Bbareumbo slowly shifted his position too.

I wondered if the lotus posture would be impossible for him due to his short legs compared to his long arms, but surprisingly, that wasn’t the case.

Extremely slow as he was, he gradually folded into a lotus posture. I was surprised at how flexible his body unexpectedly was.

Furthermore, seeing how he didn’t tumble backward, his core strength seemed immensely powerful.

’Well, he does climb trees after all.’

When I straightened my posture, he straightened his as well.

Now all that remained was the breathing. I passed along the knowledge I had learned from Heavenly Demon exactly as it was.

"Alright. Now you breathe. If you focus on your lower abdomen while doing it, you’ll feel something."

"..."

"I’ll show you how to do it."

To demonstrate, I entered the cultivation state.

It wasn’t a full session, so I wrapped it up quickly just for the demo.

When I opened my eyes after ending the cultivation practice, I realized Speed Sloth was still staring at me.

"Give it a try. The key is breathing and the lower abdomen. Got it?"

"..."

"You know where your lower abdomen is, right?"

Just in case, I kindly explained it step by step.

Whether he understood my words or not, he remarkably mirrored my actions step by step.

It hadn’t taken long for me to sense mana.

Partly because I ate three Fasting Pills per meal, and partly because the Forest of the Four Seasons itself was dense with mana.

If so, wouldn’t Speed Sloth perceive mana quickly just like me?

Harboring such a curious expectation, I waited quietly.

"..."

"..."

"...Phew."

"..."

Only after waiting for about three minutes did the guy finally inhale.

Watching him slowly open his mouth was excruciatingly painful, but I waited patiently.

He inhaled, so all that was left was the exhale. Meaning the breath cycle was concluding.

"Phewww..."

"Forget it."

Which also meant my patience had officially concluded.

I could completely understand why animal researchers gave up on studying sloths.

Their everyday movements were so absurdly slow that it was infuriating.

’Anyway, he’s strong even without my help.’

Sighing, I crossed my legs into the lotus position.

Rather than taking a whole century, it was better for me to practice my cultivation art first.

’As long as I keep feeding him Fasting Pills properly, it should be fine.’

Holding that thought, I immersed myself in practicing the cultivation art.

While Grylls closed his eyes and focused on his Internal Cultivation Art.

"Phewww..."

Slow as he was, Speed Sloth was performing the ’breathing’ meticulously and steadily.

"Huuu-uuu..."

Even if it was mind-numbingly, agonizingly slow.

"Phewww..."

There was no denying that he was progressing, step by tiny step.