Hazel dove to the side, avoiding the sharp spear of the flying monkey as it dove into the ground next to her. Repositioning herself, the mage whirled her staff at the monster and hurled a mana bolt at it. The bolt hurtled toward it, but before it could hit its mark, the flying creature flew like a rocket, avoiding the mana-condensed projectile.
Hazel glared at the flying monkey that dodged her attack, clicking her tongue irritably. “This is why I hate flying monsters!”
Just as she was about to conjure up another spell, another flying monkey dove down to stab her. Hazel spun around to see the monster closing in but couldn’t react in time to dodge. Thankfully, she didn’t need to as an arrow whizzed toward the beast and pierced its neck. The flying monkey then fell to the ground before shattering to pieces due to the Fractures overwhelming its vessel.
Hazel’s eyes widened after watching one of the winged beasts get killed. She glanced over at Astrid, who was the culprit that killed the monster for her. Her bow was out and she knocked back the string, prepared to launch another arrow at one of the harpies flying around.
Two of them flew down as a pair, attempting to tag team Astrid and kill her that way. Sadly, they underestimated the dark elf. Greatly, at that.
Just as the flying monkeys got close, Astrid rushed toward them before sliding on her knees, moving under them as they flew past her. Before they were out of range, the dark elf had her bow ready and fired another arrow, striking one of the winged primates in its spine. The creature then fell, missing the platform, and descended into the abyss.
The other flying monkey watched in horror as one of its members fell toward the void. It then whipped around and glared at Astrid, its eyes seething with rage. It let an angry screech and flapped its wings, barreling toward its foe.
A smile formed on Astrid’s face. She sheathed her bow and brandished two daggers. Getting close, she slashed at the creature. Her first attack missed because the flying monkey fluttered to the side. But it seemed Astrid anticipated this and as soon as the monster avoided her strike, she hurled her other dagger in its direction.
The flying monkey didn’t react in time as the blade plunged into its chest, killing it instantly, and immediately shattered when it fell to the ground. Astrid turned her gaze at Hazel, giving her a thumbs up, to which the mage reluctantly returned one.
Once again, she was a bit annoyed that Astrid was hitting her shots and taking down the flying monkeys while she struggled. Then again, Astrid was far more experienced when it came to fighting, so acting like an envious child wasn’t going to do her any good.
Still, a part of Hazel found it unfair how the dark elf was easily killing the winged primates. It only made her more competitive to do better.
It had been a while since she felt like competing against someone. The last time that happened was her senior year in high school when she and a friend of hers challenged each other to see who would get the highest score on one of their tests.
And Hazel one by at least two to three points. And now she felt that urge again. A drive to do better than Astrid, even though their lives were at stake. And yet…she couldn’t resist the compulsion, willing her to try harder.
Stolen from Royal Road, this story should be reported if encountered on Amazon.
One of the other flying monkeys flying around Hazel descended from the pack, making a beeline straight for her, releasing a primal battle cry-like screech. Hazel raised her head and made eye contact with the monsters. Her expression was neutral yet it gave off a cold aura.
Just as the winged monkey closed in on Hazel, a blue transparent dome materialized around the mage. The monster couldn’t stop its momentum and clashed against the dome and bounced off, crashing into the ground.
While in a daze, Hazel got rid of her mana shield and cast a mana bolt, firing it at the monster. Her magic projectile struck the monster in the skull, obliterating it and sending fractured shards flying around, even pelting Hazel with some as well.
“Ha!” Hazel cheered. “Eat shit!” She taunted the fragments of the flying monkey as they disbursed into the air.
Before she could gloat further, the sound of more primate screeches caught her attention along with a familiar scream coming from Astrid. Hazel spun around and saw her partner taking on at least five flying monkeys at once. And she wasn’t winning.
They surrounded Astrid, attacking her all at once and not giving her a chance to defend herself. Because they were so close, she couldn’t rely on her bow and resorted to using the daggers from before. But even that wasn’t enough.
Every time she slashed at one of the flying monkeys, another one flew behind her and stabbed her with their spears, digging blades deep into the dark elf. Astrid screamed in pain, stacking more injuries as the fight carried on.
“Crap…!” Hazel panicked, realizing that her partner was in danger and rushed toward her.
Since she was playing as support, her main goal was simply attacking from a distance. But that proved to be a problem since she couldn’t use her magic while Astrid was in the middle of the horde. And if she didn’t do something quick, her partner was dead.
“D-dammit…” She bit her lip, trying to come up with a plan to save Astrid. An idea then came to mind, and Hazel took a deep breath. “Astrid! Duck and roll now!”
While being ganged up on by the flying monkeys, Astrid hastily turned to face Hazel. Their eyes met for a moment, before the dark elf’s widened with shock and fear, realizing what the mage was planning to do.
She didn’t even hesitate and ducked and rolled out of the way, allowing Hazel to deal with the monsters. The mage directed her staff at them, preparing to launch a spell. However, before she could, a sharp pain coursed along her back, as if something pierced her skin.
Hazel didn’t need to know where it came from since she immediately heard a familiar and annoying screech from another winged monkey. She was then pushed into the ground by the monster, as it continued to dig its blade into her back.
Hazel groaned in pain but still tried to take it down before it could fully pin her. She tried to lift her arm that held the magic staff and point it at the monkey. Sadly, another flying creature appeared and pinned her arm to the ground, stabbing the back of her hand.
“A-agh…!”
She was hit with unimaginable pain as the monkey pushed its spear deeper into her hand and back. It reminded her of the time she accidentally stabbed her palm with a hunting knife her grandfather had. She was messing around with the blade and accidentally tripped, stabbing her hand in the process. The accident left a nasty scar and Hazel became very cautious with sharp objects since then.
Hazel was beginning to lose feeling in her hand. To make matters worse, the flying monkeys kept poking her body with their spears, drawing more blood. Even while pinned to the ground, she could see her life essence pooling around her. She was beginning to lose a lot of blood and her vision was beginning to get blurry.
The last thing she saw was Astrid moving away from her group of flying monkeys, shifting her gaze toward the mage. The dark elf looked alarmed as she watched Hazel slowly get done in by the monsters on her side.
“Hazel!” Astrid called out to the mage, trying to reach out, but her voice became muffled by the constant screeches of the winged primates.
The last thing Hazel saw was the dark elf rushing toward her with haste as darkness enveloped her vision.