Cave man!

Time skip…

2 hours later

"Life doesn't always go as expected.

If it does, how could I be half dead, lying in an unknown cave?

Someone up there is toying with me. First, they killed me and sent me to this world. Then they baited me in the form of a system luring me into taking risks. And who would have thought? I actually took the bait with burning enthusiasm. I thought I could be something more… Someone who could gain wealth, power and prestige. I was greedy…Someone who could be a good son, a brother.

And now, I am nothing more than a sore loser lying in a dark humid cave with no hope of rescue. No one would come for me… I have nothing to be proud of."

He was not angry at Uncle Ben. It was his own choice that led him here. Alan was losing his will to survive.

But whenever he thought about his family, the dying embers in his heart gets reignited again. Although his situation looked bad. He was not ready to give up yet.

"As long as I have a breath left, I will try my best to live. Whatever you throw at me, I will never succumb to you, fate." Although he didn't know where he was or what time it is. He was not ready to give up just like that.

*******

Two hours ago

Alan was thanking God for letting him overcome this ordeal.

After killing the gigantic beast and getting a vast amount of energy, he was extremely happy.

The mysterious old man, Mr Smith as the researchers called him even announced extra payment.

It was a hundred thousand credits. The extra pay for each individual was a hundred thousand credits. It was a mouth-watering amount of money. No one would reject that.

Alan went over the moon in happiness after hearing this. Although he knew these extra benefits were to strengthen their fighting spirit. He was always happy about gaining some extra cash.

But, as those wise old men would say, everything comes with a price.

For gaining the extra bit of cash, they had to secure the body of the monitor lizard. They even had to transport it to the main camp. A dangerous mission for them.

Although it was heavy manual labour and dangerous. Everyone was ready for it. And a hundred thousand credits were no scoffing matter.

Even though the researchers were well respected, they were still not the apex in their discipline nor were they mutants. They too had their limitation when it came to cash. So, all they could do was to follow the mysterious old man's suggestion. The little bit of discomfort in their heart was melted away by the hefty rewards.

The old man became very energetic hearing everyone's affirmation. He was running here and there ordering everyone to quickly collect the blood samples and tissue samples. After going through the gruesome events, he didn't even look tensed or scared even now. It almost looked like he completely forgot about what happened a few minutes ago.

'Isn't he afraid of another attack from a similar beast?' Alan was confused seeing the relaxed look on the mysterious old man's face.

'This creepy old dude always kept silent and conservative. He didn't even bother talking at all. How come he became so enthusiastic now! He knows something that we don't. He is not even scared of these beasts!'

'If the old man is not really scared of the beast. This geezer may have some hidden tricks up his sleeve to save his arse or else he is a total idiot just waiting for death. Although he looks the part of a total idiot, I don't think he is.' Thought as Alan looked at the happy old man.

But who could have thought the moment they let down their guard another disaster will strike them.

Another beast bulkier and larger than the one they killed sprung up from the forest. There was astonishment on the old man's face. Like he never even thought that another beast like before could attack them.

'Just like I thought, he is an idiot!' Blood drained from Alan's face sensing the beast.

Alan reacted pretty fast, drawing his gun he shot at the beast. The guards also reacted by pulling their guns out and shooting at the beast. The old geezer quickly jumped in front of Isabella, protecting her.

The beast roared in pain, but it rampaged like a mad bull charging into the crowd. It seemed like it was angered beyond redemption from seeing the lifeless body of the other beast. Its slashing tail rammed into the guards sending them and the other material around them flying into the air. Their condition was unknown.

It was roaring like crazy, it almost looked like the mythical beast, dragon.

The beast became completely unpredictable with its movements.

The guard captain who near it unleashed his mutant superpowers. His body bulked up and shot forward like a cannon. He punched the beast in the head. For a moment the beast was stunned.

But it couldn't stop the beast. It lunged forward towards Isabella in a twisted turn of events. The momentum of the beast was incredible and it reached just a hairbreadth away from crashing into the old man and Isabella.

But before it could touch them. The old man punched the beast. At glance, it looked like an egg was smashing against a rock. But who would have expected the massive body of the beast weighing tons would fly away like a rag doll with just that punch.

'If he could have done that, why did he till now?' Alan thought.

The worst was yet to come, though. Before they could shoot bullets from higher calibre, more powerful assault rifles and finish the beast off. The beast scrambled to its feet and charged towards uncle Ben who was near the waterfall. Alan's eyes turned red seeing the beast turning towards uncle Ben. The only one that he actually cared about in the group.

His blood ran cold seeing the bloodthirsty look in the beast's eyes. It had come to avenge…

And the old man was not doing anything. Even though he was powerful enough to save uncle, Ben. He was guarding Isabella closely without any inclination to save anyone.

There was no time to think of anything. Alan leapt towards Uncle Ben with all the power he could muster. If he didn't reach there in time, uncle Ben would die. There was no moment of consideration, it was pure reflex on Alan's part to save, uncle Ben.

Pushing Uncle Ben away from the path of the beast, Alan saved him from immediate death. Uncle Ben was safe now.

But the same could not be said for Alan.

The only thing that separated the waterfall behind him from the beast was Alan himself.

The beast was bleeding from head to toe.

The numerous bullet wounds squirted blood out like geysers. But its momentum didn't decrease a bit.

Finally, it smashed heavily onto Alan's body. The mass of the beast propelled it further throwing it off from the top of the waterfall. Alan fell into the deep waterfall with the beast.

By pure accident, Alan grabbed onto the beast's tail…

That was all that he could remember, everything else was foggy to him.

But he didn't feel any regret in saving uncle Ben's life. Thinking about it still sends chills through his spine, but he also felt respect for himself.

'No, I am not a selfish idiot as I have always thought.' Thought Alan, feeling proud of his achievement.

Alan was not the kind to save someone selflessly.

He actually hated playing the hero. The side effect of being pragmatic.

If it had been anyone else in danger, he wouldn't have even budged to help them. Even if the beautiful lady's life was at risk, he would just sympathize with her. It was just another flower wilting early. Nothing he could do about it.

But when he saw Uncle Ben in danger, Alan found something that he thought he lost previously.

Humanity!

Seeing the cruel world in full bloom he was beginning to think he was no better than them. But now, he realized he was not.

He is still a human.