Chapter 39: No Conversation
Nick looked around worriedly. The sound of his first chop had rung through the woods. It felt like a monster king would come running at him from the shadows at any moment.
But according to Sosora, the only two monster kings that bothered being sneaky were the Midnight Panther and the Splash King. If any of the other monster kings came for him, they wouldn't be coming from the shadows.
Nick had no idea about the Splash King, but he doubted the Midnight Panther would take offense to his actions. Even if it didn't like it, he doubted the panther would try to get rid of him. They were friends now.
Nick gathered as much of his optimism as he could.
If any of the other monster kings, whether it be the Angry Cow or the Moose King, Nick was confident he would notice them before they could get him. So, he steadied his feet again and swung the axe–a little harder this time.
The movement still felt awkward, and the sound unnerved him, but putting more strength into it felt good. A larger chunk of wood got sent flying, and the impact as the blade cut into the tree felt nice in his hands.
There was something satisfying about it.
Nick hacked at the tree a couple of times before taking a break and looking around. It seemed he was in the clear for now.
His mind was calm while he went wild at the tree, but it still wandered. He thought about how he could improve his stance and how he held the axe to make better and more efficient swings that didn't gnaw at his joints. Each swing was marginally better than the last.
But he also thought about something else.
The monster kings were monster kings. Didn't that mean they had kingdoms? Not necessarily. It could just be a fancy name for powerful monsters. But that would only be necessary to separate them from ordinary monsters.