Meera stared at that monstrosity that had jumped out of the bushes. The Nightcrawler chimpanzee, the brothers had killed on the night they met her was not the Alpha. This thing was. She had seen a gorilla in her many visits to the zoo. This gorilla dwarfed them in size and build.
It had the same dark fur as the monkeys but long upper and lower incisors sticking out of its mouth. There was a circle of blue fur around his eyes. Its arms were as thick as Meera's body, and his torso must've been as broad as Silas and Cossus if they were standing shoulder to shoulder. The only difference from the other monkeys was that he did not have a tail like a normal gorilla.
The brothers took a careful step back. The monster's eyes were on them, and he stared down at them like they were his meal, which might not be far from the truth. As they hardly had half a dozen arrows left between them.
"Silas, I think we should run," Cossus practically whispered, but it was dead quiet thanks to a monster gorilla, so Meera heard.
"And run where?" Silas countered. "That thing will be on us the moment we run."
"I do not fancy getting eaten by that monster."
"Don't worry, you won't die. I'll make sure of it."
"You see his level, right?" Cossus shot back. "Not even you can kill it."
"It's only level ninety-seven," Silas said, chilling Meera to the bone. "I've killed people higher than that."
Now, Meera didn't know who to be, more scared of, the gorilla or the assassin. But level ninety-seven meant the monster was almost ninety levels higher than her. It would be like throwing a kid in a ring with a professional boxer.
Cossus looked like he wanted to argue some more, but the ape shut off all conversation with a growl that reverberated through Meera's chest. If she were down there, she would have pissed her pants by now.
Silas was not deterred, and despite Cossus's earlier hesitation, he also stood his ground. They gripped their bows tightly, and it looked like it would begin at any moment. Silas was the one who fired the first shot.
His arrow whizzed through the air and into the ape's chest. It hit the left side but only went in slightly, not even an inch. Meera gulped. The speed at which the arrow flew, it should have come out the other side.
The alpha ape huffed, gripped the arrow, pulled it out like he was pulling out a splinter, and crushed it in his mighty hand.
Cossus didn't delay a second as he let fly back-to-back arrows aimed at the monster's head. The ape raised a hand, and the arrows got embedded in his palm. There was a slight show of pain on the beast's face. But after that, he crushed those arrows as well.
Then he roared.
And it took everything Meera had to stay rooted to her spot. Every instinct told her to run, or she would die, but she had to stay for her friends. She couldn't just run and leave them alone at this point when they might die.
The ape charged them, and Silas and Cossus spread out, running in different directions, shooting arrows. Every single arrow hit, but they might as well have been pestering it with pebbles. The ones that hit its hide did not even find purchase and fell to the ground, while the rampaging ape tried to kill his prey.
The brothers going in the opposite direction did help as it bought them precious few moments, as the ape was confused about which way to go. More arrows, this time, all aimed at the monster's torso.
One shot by Cossus hit him in the center of his chest, and he roared as he staggered back. The Alpha ripped the arrow out, and a small stream of blood followed, but the big monkey did not care for it. What he did care for was Cossus, as he roared a blood-chilling roar and charged the Hunter.
Meera thought of hitting him with her chakram in the back of his head, but she was far too up, and the gorilla moved too fast for her to target. She remembered the notifications. Maybe, I've leveled up something that can help. She pulled up the notifications, and there were a lot of them.
*ding!*
[You have killed 27 Nightcrawler Monkeys]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 13. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
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[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 14. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
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[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 18. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 7. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 9% boost]
[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 8. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 10% boost]
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[Congratulations. Mirror Affinity has reached Level 12. All of your mirror-based attacks will get a 14% boost]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 12]
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 13]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 11]
[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 12]
[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 13]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 4]
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 5]
.
.
[Congratulations. Ambush Tactics has reached Level 9]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Eagle Eye has reached Level 3]
[Congratulations. Eagle Eye has reached Level 4]
.
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[Congratulations. Eagle Eye has reached Level 7]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Monkey Fist has reached Level 2]
To say she was thrilled to see all her skills level up was to say the light was bright, but she couldn't focus on the thrilling part. Her friends were literally in a life-and-death battle. That calmed her down quickly.
Next were the notifications for the Reflection ability, and for each hit, she had stolen an ability. She sifted through them quickly and discarded the duplicate skills, and they were all duplicate skills save for one. Ultimately, she had earned six Climbing, eight Monkey Fists, Six Tail Whips, and three Tree Walkers. Once she went through those, her levels increased even more, thanks to the duplicate skills.
*ding!*
[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Night Vision. Night Vision - Type: Passive. You have gained the ability to see clearly in the darkest environments, making it harder for opponents to hide. Would you like to acquire this skill?]
Meera gave the notification a blank stare. You come now after I already have Eagle Eye. Regardless, she accepted the skill.
*ding!*
[You have acquired the skill Night Vision - Level 1]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 14]
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 15]
[Congratulations. Climbing has reached Level 16]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 14]
[Congratulations. Tree Walker has reached Level 15]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Monkey Fist has reached Level 3]
[Congratulations. Monkey Fist has reached Level 4]
.
[Congratulations. Monkey Fist has reached Level 6]
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Image Stealer has reached Level 19. You have been awarded 3 stat points.]
She was confused at her main class leveling up, but then she remembered that she couldn't acquire Tail Whips, so that experience was added to her main class.
*ding!*
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 6]
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 7]
.
.
[Congratulations. Reflection has reached Level 10]
She got nothing special for Reflection as she did with Image Stealer for reaching level 10. She wasn't too saddened by it, but she had hoped she had earned something, like letting her absorb two skills simultaneously.
She put that out of her mind as the tree next to hers shook violently and dipped to the side, thanks to a blow from the Alpha Ape. She gulped and decided to hurry along and put her points in her attributes as those would be the real difference between useless and maybe not-so-useless in this fight.
She quickly allotted her stat points by putting some in Dexterity, Endurance, Agility, and a few in Constitution. She needed to survive the coming fight and could only do so if she was fast and had enough health to take a hit from the monster gorilla, though she doubted she would be able to, no matter how many points she put into Constitution.
With her skills and points sorted. She surveyed the battlefield below her, and things did not look good. The Alpha was bleeding from several puncture wounds, but none looked serious. He even had some slashes from Silas' blade as he had dropped his bow for his short sword. Meera's respect for his abilities grew even more upon seeing those slashes. How he managed to get close to that monster was a thing of mystery.
Silas and Cossus had tried to contain the Alpha in their small clearing, but it was more like the Alpha contained them. Whenever either of them tried to sneak into the bushes to lay a surprise attack on him, he would be there in a flash. For a monster the size of a car, he could move fast.
Despite how fast the Alpha moved, the brothers moved faster and stayed one step ahead of the beast.
That was until now.
Meera saw it happen a moment before it happened. The Alpha charged Cossus. The Hunter faked to the right, thinking it would fool the ape, but he didn't fall for it. Instead, the monster waited for Cossus to move left. The Hunter moved to stab the ape in its side, but the beast griped Cossus by the arm and twisted it upward.
Cossus screamed as his arm broke at the elbow, then the gorilla tossed him aside as if he were a rag doll.
Cossus crashed into a tree and did not stir.