7 December Year 2367

Telfer opened up his eyes. He had successfully stepped into Apprentice stage. Telfer lied down on the ground and made a fist towards the ceiling. He was one step closer to the strongest.

*Growl*

Telfer rotated his head and looked at the leopard. It was still consuming the mana crystal. The flesh underneath the skin was squirming even more. It looked like there were worms moving under the skin. Sometimes knots would form in the flesh. The leopard growled even more frequently. Black gunk oozed out of its skin and onto the fur. A putrid stench filled the cave. Telfer pinched his nose and walked out to the stream. The setting sun painted the sky scarlet, then amethyst, emblazoned the vast expanse of sky, then dark obsidian. 

 "This is the life..."

Telfer heaved a sigh of relief as his body sank into the water. His head submerged beneath the water. It was as if time had slowed down. He could feel the current flowing past him. Every now and then, a fish would swim past him. Telfer surfaced to catch his breath. A dim moonlight bathed Telfer in a soft shimmering glow. 

*BOOM*

A loud boom shook the earth. The water current that was initially calm and slow rocked for a moment. The fish swimming in the stream picked up speed. Some of them collided into Telfer's body. A large wave splashed all over Telfer's body as he stood up to inspect the situation. A second boom came except it was slightly further away compared to the first one. Then a third. The booms grew softer and softer. Drops of sweat rolled off Telfer's body. He had just made a narrow escape. Whatever magical beast it was, Telfer was glad to have not met it. From the booms alone, he could tell that he would become food. Telfer sank back into the stream and calmed himself down. He had been lucky this time. The creature was heading away from him and did not catch him in the stream. It seemed to be headed somewhere behind him. Then it hit him. The cave... 

It can't be looking for the leopard right?

Telfer bit his lip. Blood spurted out of his lip but Telfer did not care. The cave. If it was as he suspected, he would have to get back immediately. His place of residence was being invaded. There was also the leopard who had helped him. But if he went back, he would definitely be smashed into a paste. There was no question about it. The leopard was currently consuming the mana crystal and was in an extremely vulnerable state. It would be of no help. 

Leave the leopard and stay? Gamble with my life and hope to kill it?

Telfer's eyes darted everywhere. There was no one to guide him or help him. Then Telfer laughed. His eyebrows relaxed immediately and he patted his chest.

"Who fucking cares? The strongest does not fear. It's time to slay a fucking monster."

Telfer stepped out of the stream and raced towards the cave. 

*ROAR*

Telfer climbed up a tree and caught his first sight of the beast. Silver hair that sparkled all over the body under the moon. A pair of hands reaching the knees as it stood on its legs. Muscles that were clearly defined and outlined underneath the hair. Everything came together to form a beast that was at least 6 metres tall. But the most unique thing was the additional eye on its forehead. It flickered everywhere as if it was scouring the area. It was a 3-eyed Ape. Famed for their fiercesness and brutality when fighting, 3-eyed apes used the greatest amount of brute strength when fighting. Corpses were usually found snapped into 2 or simply ripped apart from limb to limb. 

For those who survived, they were crippled until the point where even the latest technology could not heal them. Anyone who ran into these apes would be rendered powerless in front of their strength. Telfer gulped down nervously. It was a monster beyond belief. His eyes wandered to the leopard which had also discovered the ape in front of the cave. It struggled to its feet as muscles squirmed underneath its skin. Its eyes screamed pain and Telfer could hear its heavy panting from the tree. It rocked from side to side unsteadily as the ape approached the cave. 

"Don't think I don't know what you're thinking. It helped you once, did it not? I don't care that it's a middle sky level. As my successor, you need to have the strength to pay back any favours you owe."

Agvak's voice coldly rang out in his mind. 

The 3-eyed ape arrived before the leopard and raised its arms. Throbbing veins popped up all over its clenched fists. The leopard growled and vanished into the darkness.

*BOOM*

A tremor shot through the cave, causing cracks to appear within the cave and its vicnity. The ape pulled out its fists and turned towards the tree Telfer was on. The beast's face twisted with glee as it ran head on towards the tree. 

It can't possibly be...

Telfer nimbly leapt into another tree as the ape rammed its shoulder into the tree trunk.

*BOOM*

Telfer looked from atop another tree as the previous tree fell to the ground. The ape lifted its enormous frame from the tree and patted its shoulder in a rather unhurried manner. The ape squatted down, causing its legs to swell to twice its former size. Telfer caught a glimpse of a smile as it vanished. A cloud of dust rose from the ape's previous location. 

"Cloak!"

Telfer disappeared as the ape shot straight up to the tree he was on. Within a new tree, Telfer watched with a surprised look on his face. Contary to his expectations, the ape did not destroy the tree immediately. Its nose twitched constantly as it whipped its head around. The ape's eyes seemed to work just as hard as they flickered about constantly. Telfer's heart pounded as the ape crept closer and closer to his hiding spot. Telfer edged away as the ape neared his position. Beads of sweat trickled down his forehead. 

Please don't fucking find me.

Suddenly, the ape smiled and flung itself at Telfer. It's arms winded behind its back as it soared through the air. The smile on its face became increasingly twisted, as if mocking Telfer for being weak. 

*Snap*

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"BREAK FOR ME!"

Telfer shoved his foot downwards, breaking and flipping the branch upwards.

*WHAM*

Telfer watched on the ground as the arms closed in on his previous location. They were like beartraps, crushing anything that was unfortunate enough to be caught in them. Just then, the snapped branch impaled itself into the ape's chest. An angry howl shook the forest as the ape landed on the ground, plunging the branch even deeper into its chest. The ape stumbled towards Telfer as blood leaked out of the wound. It foamed at its mouth, saliva dripping with each step it took. Its eyes burned with rage as it wrenched the branch out of its chest. A clear channel had been formed through the ribcage, giving Telfer a full view of its purple beating heart. The branch was crushed within the ape's grasp, forming splinters that dug into the ape's palm. At this point the ape did not care. Telfer took his stance as the ape huffed and wheezed. The silver hair all over its body took on a purple hue. Telfer watched as its heart started beating faster and faster, turning dark purple. The third eye on its forehead pulsated, turning blood red. The saliva and foam disappeared to reveal canines that jutted out of its face. The ape cackled as its hulking frame kept growing and growing. The silver hair was almost completely dark purple now. 

"Yama's Strike!"

Telfer could not wait any longer. The ape was going all out at this point. It was already so strong to begin with. If its transformation was fully completed, the chances of victory would be absolutely zero. Telfer crammed his palm into the wound and drilled. Bones were shattered, flesh was torn to pieces. The ape howled in fury as Telfer pushed deeper and deeper into the wound. The wound stretched open to twice its size, exposing more organs underneath. The ape reeled back in pain as Telfer tugged at its organs. He felt a large piece of flesh in his hand and pulled at it as hard as he could. The beast's eyes rolled back as one its lungs was torn from its windpipe. The heart pulsed widly behind a waterfall of blood that cascaded from the broken windpipe. 

"Just die already!"

Telfer fished the deflated lung out and threw it onto the ground. The Eternal Harmony appeared in his hands. Telfer spied the open wound and shoved the entire length of the sword straight into the heart. 

"Got you now!"

The sword split the waterfall of blood in half and ran through the heart cleanly. Telfer dragged the sword straight down with all of his might. The heart was chopped into 2 pieces and hung loosely from the arteries attached to it. It pulsed a little before becoming completely limp. At this point, the ape's entire body was filled with its own blood. Blood poured onto Telfer's face as he hacked and slashed at the ape's body. Unfortunately, 3-eyed apes had a second heart which was hidden below in its abdomen. 

Suddenly, the a purple hand grabbed ahold of Telfer's wrist and squeezed.

"FUCK OFF!"

The sword clattered onto the ground as the hand squeezed mercilessly, completely crushing Telfer's wrist. The splinters which had been stuck in the ape's palm sliced into Telfer's skin, creating an additional wave of stinging pain. Poison gushed out from the crushed wrist as the Telfer gritted his teeth and winded up his other arm. It couldn't end like this. He had already sliced the heart open. Why was it still moving? Before he knew it, the ape's head slammed right into his forehead. Telfer blanked out as his body floated up into the air. The ape, which had been reeling back, hunched over and roared. Steam rose up from its body as red veins flashed all over its body.

No. NO. WHY WON'T I MOVE?

Telfer watched helplessly as the ape charged him while screaming inside. He was frozen, unable to move anything. The ape crashed into him like a typhoon. Blood gushed out of Telfer's lips, spraying the air and its surroundings. The ape pounded its chest and pulled Telfer's body towards itself. Telfer watched on in horror as the ape prepared its famous move: The Backbreaker. A hand clasped over Telfer's neck while the other over his legs. Holding Telfer in place, the ape jumped up and bent Telfer over its shins mid air. 

"LET GO OF ME!"

Telfer struggled to get out of the beast's grasp but all was futile. His arm had been completely wasted. The sword was gone. The beast roared and rolled mid air such that its back was facing the ground. Telfer's complexion grew ashen as the ape pulled at his neck and legs. His body was slowly folding under the ape's hold. His body was wrecked with unimaginable pain. It was like a thousand needles had all jabbed themselves into the same location at the same time. The ground was coming closer and closer. Telfer flustered as he reduced his options in his mind. 

What do I do at this point? I'm not going to die again. That's not fucking happening.

A grim reaper seemed to loom over Telfer as he descended onto the ground. The scythe in its hand sliced towards Telfer's neck as if it was foreshadowing Telfer's impending demise. Any second now. The ground was coming. Then he found it. Telfer activated Immortal Guard on his back and used Illusion Creation. His options had ran dry at this point. 

All or nothing. 

*BOOM*

The ape touched the ground and pulled down on Telfer's back with all its might. 

"Not today! Not tomorrow! NEVER!"

Telfer roared as his back held itself together under the ape's pressure. A second later, the load on Telfer's back disappeared as the ape threw Telfer aside and stumbled around in a dazed manner. The ape swiped and slashed at the air in front of it. It worked! In the eleventh hour, he had managed to pull it off again. Telfer rolled away and spied the sword a little to his right. He scrambled to his feet and raced towards the sword. Having the sword would make a world of difference. As he picked up the sword, the ape broke out of the illusion. 

*BOOM*

The ape leapt into the air and hurled its massive fists at Telfer. 

Mass Transfer

Telfer vaulted over the ape as it crashed into the ground. A thin thread appeared between the sword and Telfer's palm. As the ape turned around and prepared to jump again, Telfer flung the sword and impaled the sword into one of the ape's eyes before retrieving it. The beast clutched its eye for a moment before charging directly at Telfer. Its eyelid was completely shut, but blood seeped out underneath it. The damage had been done. Telfer turned around and weaved through the trees. The beast chased him without end, slowly catching up to him. Everytime Telfer weaved around a tree, the beast would barge straight through instead. Every now and then, Telfer would activate Cloak and vanish into the night, leaving the ape with no choice but to search by smell while widening the gap between the 2 of them. Telfer panted and ran without looking back. There was simply no time to check whether the beast was still there. Suddenly, the forest of trees expanded into an open clearing.

No, I can't face it head on.

Telfer's eyes darted around. Then he found a cave. A couple of stalactites hung at its entrance. An idea flashed through Telfer's mind. He changed direction and dashed into the cave. The ape followed him and entered the deep dark hole. Telfer activated Cloak once more and his eyes trailed the ceiling. 

No, too small. Still too small. There.

Telfer found his stalactite. He grinned and undid Cloak.

"I'm over here!"

Despite the darkness, the ape spotted him immediately and jumped over. The beast snarled as it descended on Telfer. The jumping and raised fists was all too familiar. Telfer grinned and stepped towards the beast. He was now completely under its belly. 

"You're completely open."

Telfer raised his sword and ran it straight down the belly before stepping aside. The beast fell to its knees as its organs spilled out. However, that was only for a moment for a hand swept towards Telfer's face. 

"I also knew you would do that. In exchange for strength, you lose the sensation of pain."

Telfer jumped up and activated Yama's Strike. The ape howled but it was unable to move its arm. Telfer had impaled its hand into the ground with the sword. No matter how much it struggled, it was firmly fixed onto the ground. For the first time during the fight, Telfer spotted what looked like fear in its eyes. It had been completely consumed by its instincts and hatred throughout the entire course of the fight. Telfer struck the base of the stalactite, causing it fall straight towards the ape's head. 

*Splat*

The stalacite ran itself through the ape's head. Blood splattered all over the cave floor. Telfer walked over to the ape and sliced its head off without thinking. As the head tumbled onto the ground with its 3 eyes devoid of any sign of life, Telfer sat down. He felt like he done the impossible. He had slain a beast of the Middle Sky level! 

Telfer laughed and lied down in the pool of blood while his freshly hunted prey was proudly displayed beside him.

End of Chapter