Meera's heart thumped in her chest, and tears welled up in her eyes as she saw Cossus' broken form lying at the base of the tree. You can't be dead! Wake up, please!

"No!" Silas roared and rushed to his brother's side, sliding on the ground to duck a sweeping fist from the Alpha. Silas shook his brother while calling out Cossus' name.

Meera couldn't see what was happening with Silas' back blocking her view, but what she did see left her limbs frozen. While the Assassin checked on his brother, the ape descended on him, walking leisurely as if he knew the fight was over. He had taken care of one brother. All he had to do was kill the second and go home.

"Silas!" Meera shouted when he didn't turn.

Both Silas and the Alpha turned in her direction. It was good that all these leaves covered her so she didn't expose her position to the Alpha. But now, she had given up her element of surprise. The Ape knew there was another combatant on the field. But before he could make a move for her, Silas took his chance. He plunged his blade deep into the ape's shoulder.

The beast roared and swung his massive arm at the Assassin, but what Silas did next made Meera's jaw drop. He somehow timed it perfectly, landed on the gorilla's arm, and used the swing's momentum to pivot around to the beast's back while holding onto the sword. The Alpha roared as the blade ripped more of his shoulder open. He swung around wildly, and Silas saw his chance and kicked off the Alpha's back, taking his sword and a chunk of the Alpha's shoulder with him.

His nimbleness alone was enough to make Meera respect his skills for eternity. She had never seen anyone move like that. Not even the best gymnasts at home could have done what he did. Not while attacking a two-thousand-pound gorilla and delivering the first major blow to him.

The Alpha whimpered a little at the massive cut on his shoulder. His left shoulder pad was cut open and hanging by four inches of skin. Even the muscle underneath was flayed. Blood ran down the creature's arm in rivulets, matting his dark hair. The sight was so gruesome that Meera had to look away.

Then the Alpha gripped his muscle, which was hanging, and ripped it off, roaring while he did it. That was gruesome and amazing at the same time. He chucked it aside and stared down Silas, huffing.

Then instead of charging Silas, the Alpha went for Cossus. Meera's blood ran cold. Silas roared and dashed for the ape at blinding speed. He ran so fast that he was an actual blur. One moment, he was standing there, and the next, his sword had impaled the beast's already ripped shoulder. His sword went in till the hilt to the Alpha's roars.

He swung wildly and tried to beat Silas with his good arm, but Silas was too fast. He skipped away but had to leave his sword. The Alpha ripped the blade out and tossed it away. It skittered on the ground and got lost in the bushes.

Meera gulped for Silas. He was left without a weapon. But she was more scared than he was. He remained calm and didn't take his eyes off the beast. The Alpha seemed just about done with the human who had caused it so much trouble. He tried to lung for Silas only to find empty air.

Silas pulled out more blades. These were throwing knives with shorter blades.

I'm not sure what he's thinking, but I don't think they will work on him.

The Alpha attacked again, only to find nothing, but Silas launched a couple of his throwing knives as he dodged, which got implanted in the Alpha's open shoulder. He roared from the pain. Another throwing knife went straight into his mouth and embedded itself in the roof of the beast's mouth. The gorilla couldn't even shut his mouth. Each time it tried, the butt of the knife clashed against its yellow teeth.

As the Alpha was trying to smash the knife with its teeth, Silas jumped up and launched his final throwing blade right into the Alpha's right eye. The monster roared, cried, and whimpered, trying to get the knives out.

I take that back. Throwing Knives can do a lot, it seems.

Silas rushed off to the bush where his blade had slid off to. As the Alpha swayed on his feet, Meera finally got her chance. He was still enough that if she could get a good hit, she might even take him out.

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She pulled off her chakram, activated Eagle Eye, took aim at his neck, and let the chakram fly. But the monster moved at the last moment. Instead of hitting his neck, the chakram embedded itself in the beast's left shoulder. It was getting to the point where she almost felt bad for him. She heard the familiar bell of the notification and longed to see what she had gotten, but she needed to retrieve her chakram first.

The Alpha roared, and his right hand immediately went to rip out the chakram. She almost called it back but stopped and let him pull it out himself. When the chakram was firmly in his grip, she called it back. It sliced off two of his fingers as it zipped back to her. The Alpha cried in pain, but his eyes never left the chakram. She had sliced off two of his fingers, but now he knew where she hid.

He dashed for her tree, and Meera was ready to hop on to the next tree, but in his mad dash, the ape forgot about the Assassin at his back. Silas sprinted for the monster at his top speed, meaning he was a blur again, and stabbed the beast in his back. Another roar and a swing. Silas ducked, but the ape's mighty fist continued on to hit her tree.

Meera held onto the branches tightly. The tree rocked but held. As the Alpha and Silas were dancing, she quickly checked what skill she had gotten from the Alpha.

*ding!*

[Class Ability Activated. You have stolen the skill Primal Power. Primal Power – Type: Passive. You can use all your innate power to deliver devastating blows and overpower your enemies. Would you like to acquire this skill?]

*ding!*

[You have acquired the skill Primal Power – Level 1]

She didn't even think about it much. She needed a new skill anyways, and this could be useful. Given the fight they were in, any skill would help, even if her Power stat was sorely lacking. She hoped this skill would make up for it.

She quickly moved the leaves aside to survey the battle below, but then an earthquake hit her. She grabbed onto the branches once more. It took her a moment too long to realize it wasn't an earthquake. The Alpha had hit the tree hard enough that it was toppling over, and she was too late to jump off.

The tree crash-landed almost on top of her, pinning her down. The Alpha's roar felt like he was right next to her. Through the gap in the leaves, she saw the Alpha pounding his chest, and Silas was nowhere to be found.

Her heart thumped. Oh no, is he…did the Alpha…

She couldn't finish her thought before a throwing knife hit the gorilla in the side of his head. It didn't embed itself, thanks to its tough exterior. She tried her best to look around but was stuck, thanks to the tree pinning her down.

She tried to push out from under the tree, but her legs wouldn't move. There wasn't much pain, so she knew they weren't broken, just stuck.

"Meera, are you okay?" Silas asked in a brash voice.

"Yeah, just stuck under the tree."

There was the sound of exertion and heavy feet stomping on the ground.

"Can you get out by yourself?" Silas finally asked.

She was about to say no but remembered her new skill. "I can try. I got a new skill from the Alpha."

"Okay, get out from under there and then run," Silas said. "I can only hold this thing off for so long." There was a pause and some grunts of exertion from Silas and some roars from the Alpha. "Go around and check on Cossus and take him with you if you can."

"O-Okay."

She wasn't sure if she could avoid the mega-gorilla, but she owed it to the brothers for keeping her fed and giving her a place to sleep.

She activated her newest skill—Primal Power. She didn't know what she was expecting, but suddenly, all the veins in her arms bulged out. She snorted like a bull, and she knew that this tree would be of no concern.

She jammed her arms underneath the tree and pushed. It was the heaviest bench press anyone had ever done. If she had done this back home, she would have set a record that would never have been beaten. It took a moment, but the tree lifted off her, and she tossed it aside. By tossing it aside, she meant throwing it over her head, where it missed crushing her by a mere foot.

She deactivated the skill and felt famished. Like she had used all her energy and needed food to sustain herself, that was not all—her stamina took a considerable dive.

But Meera had no time to ponder on this. She stood pushing through the tree's branches, getting many scrapes and cut. By the time she was out of the tree. She noticed it was oddly silent. She turned around, and the Alpha towered over her with his mangled shoulder and missing eye.

Even without those, the thing was mortifying. Meera gulped. She had no speed skill to make her avoid the thing's attacks. She was done for.

The Alpha raised a fist to smash her into the ground. She had to make a run for it. But if she ran too soon, he would follow and finish her. She had to time this right. When his fist was falling, she had to run then. But his fist never got a chance to fall as Silas, bleeding from a gash in his forehead, jumped onto the gorilla's back. His short sword pressed into the Alpha's throat. The ape tried to reach for him and shake him off, but Silas wouldn't let go. His sharp blade was cutting into the beast, but Meera knew it would take too long.

"Meera, run!" Silas roared.

Meera was done running, and she was done being bait. She took a chakram off, held it in her fist, and activated Primal Power. The veins popped out again. She ran for the Alpha's exposed chest.

"What are you doing?" Silas roared.

At the last second, using her superior strength, she jumped and drove her chakram through the center of the Alpha's chest using Monkey Fist and Primal Power. Her arm went in up to her elbow. That's how she was sure she had done it.

The ape gasped, and with a single cry of agony, the beast was gone. She pulled out her arm and jumped aside as the Alpha finally fell.