Free Web NovelChapter 15: Lands of Horror [4]
The pierced monkeys fell off the trees, breaking branches and hitting the ground with heavy thuds that kicked up the black dust on impact.
[You have slain a lesser beast, Fire Monkey!]
[You have slain a lesser beast, Fire Monkey!]
[You have slain a lesser beast, Fire Monkey!]
The system rang in my head, confirming the kills.
"Oo-ohh, ah-ahh!!" The monkeys on the branches screamed in rage and pain at the sight of their fallen kin.
They were screaming so loud I almost felt my ears would burst.
Damned monkeys.
Soon enough, dozens of stones wrapped in fire descended toward me, the air crackling in complaint.
I moved, running to the left. As I ran and dodged, I made sure the fire projectiles would hit the trees instead, since that’s where the monkeys were. I wanted to bring them down.
The trees that were hit started burning the moment the fire touched them.
I could have climbed up, but I’d have been at even more of a disadvantage since the monkeys could move through the branches with ease. So this was the better plan: force them down to me.
One projectile came straight at my chest. I planted my feet and a small wall of darkness rose up, blocking it.
At the same time I formed another spear and threw it upward. One monkey dodged, but an unlucky one took it straight through the head and dropped.
[You have slain...]
The system spoke again, but I didn’t pay it much attention and kept running between the trees after dissolving the wall of darkness.
I ran in a wide circle, picking out the thickest trunks I planned to bring down. But just as I rounded one of the trees, I failed to notice a monkey that had already climbed down, and suddenly there was a large hand with sharp claws right in front of my face, about to tear it off.
It caught me so off guard that I felt my life flash before my eyes. The hundreds of hours I had spent training with Ezio kicked in, and my body reacted before a single thought formed in my head.
Pulling on every bit of strength I had, I turned my head to the side, the claws missing me by a breath, and jumped back to put distance between me and the monkey that had snuck up on me.
"Shit, I almost died." I said, my heart pounding in my ears.
’If you had reacted just a fraction slower, your eyeballs would be hanging out of their sockets.’ Ezio spoke mentally to me through my shadow.
I looked at the bastard that had snuck up on me. It was different from the others, and bigger — two sharp horns jutting out from either side of its forehead, arms longer than my entire body ending in sharp-clawed fingers, and instead of brown fur like the rest, its fur was black.
If that thing stood upright, it would be well over two meters tall.
It was a Fire Monkey Leader, the head of the troop.
The claws of its left hand were dug into the bark of the tree, keeping it from falling.
I had been wondering whether this group of fire monkeys had a leader, and where it had been the whole time I was killing its subordinates. But it had been here all along, simply waiting for the right opening to strike.
It was a clever creature, and from the energy it gave off, it was Common rank — a tier above the Lesser ones.
Most people would see this as a cue to retreat, since a monster above your rank usually meant trouble. But for me, it was a chance to rank up.
At that moment something warm and wet ran down my face and dripped onto the black ground. Blood.
I tilted my katana and caught my reflection in the blade. There was a deep gash across my forehead, my face streaked red. So I hadn’t come away unscathed after all.
The wound began to burn, sending hot pain through my skull. I knew exactly why.
It was the effect of being wounded by a Fire Monkey. Cuts or bites from them burned like fire afterward.
Gritting my teeth, I drew on mana to start healing the wound. It would have closed in seconds with enough mana poured in, but that would have been wasteful. I couldn’t afford to spend that much.
I looked at the beast with a wicked smile despite the burning pain. I was going to kill that bastard in the most painful way possible.
The fire monkeys still in the trees had stopped throwing stones the moment their leader appeared.
The leader finally released the tree and dropped to the ground, looking down at it.
It raised its right hand, stained with my blood, and licked it. For a second I could have sworn it smiled.
Then it pointed at me, then at itself.
"Ooh-ah!" It bellowed, and suddenly the monkeys up in the trees erupted.
"Ooh-AHH!"
"Ooh-AHH!" freēwēbηovel.c૦m
"Ooh-AHH!"
The trees shook as they bounced around.
"Ah well, I don’t speak monkey." I said, scratching my head.
I didn’t understand the language, but I understood the meaning well enough.
It had decided I was a worthy opponent and was challenging me to a duel.
’It’s a Mid Common beast. I don’t think you should fight it — it’s far above your current level.’ Ezio said.
’I know, but it’s not impossible to kill, is it?’ I replied.
Monsters and Beasts scaled differently from Awakeners. ƒreewebηoveℓ.com
A monster could match a human in rank and still be far stronger than an Awakened of the same rank. They were never truly equal.
While Awakeners had subranks, Monsters and Beasts were sorted into Classes.
Class was what determined a monster’s overall strength. There were roughly four classes, and the beast in front of me belonged to the second.
I was only an Awakener nearing the Ascendant rank, and fighting a Mid Common beast leagues above my current ability was basically suicide.
I had long since come to terms with the fact that I wasn’t dreaming. I had spent two weeks in this world and hadn’t woken up back in my own — the people, Ezio, everyone, felt far too real to be just a lucid dream.
That bastard in yellow had really transmigrated me into my own book.
Which meant that if I fought this thing and somehow lost and died, I would probably die for real. I doubted I’d just wake up back in that alley where I had met him.
And the only way back to my parents was to reach the end of this story and meet the Man in Yellow again.
I could have run, come back stronger later. But my body refused to.
And I knew exactly why.
I had never felt this kind of thrill before. Fighting man-eating monsters while wielding magic abilities was a dream come true for me.
So forgive me, father and mother — your son might be a little crazy.
I activated [Clear Mind] and nodded toward the beast, pointing the blade of my katana at it.
"Ooh-Ah!"
"Ooh-Ah!"
The leader monkey beat its chest with its fists.
’You... you’re insane.’
