Hazel’s ears flooded with the chorus of screeches from the flying monkeys. It was so loud and obnoxious that she couldn’t even pass out in peace after losing so much blood. Though, perhaps that was for the best.

Since she wasn’t planning to die in such a way.

The flying primates were still painfully clinging to her body. Their spears were deep in her skin as if they were clinging onto her body for dear life. The pain was becoming so bad that Hazel could hardly think straight. But she didn’t need to.

All she needed to do was act on instinct. All she needed to do was take out her enemies by any means.

“You damn…monkeys!”

Hazel released her staff and pulled her arm away from the flying monkey. Some of her skin got ripped off from forcibly pulling her arm away. Even when her arm flared with pain, she gritted her teeth and quickly grabbed the monkey’s leg, keeping a firm grip on it.

The flying monster screeched in confusion, glaring at the mage. Little did the beast know that its fate was sealed as soon as Hazel touched it.

“For poking me with that damn spear, here’s a gift from me to you!”

Hazel then activated her Decay skill, targeting the flying monkey she latched onto. The winged creature began to shriek in pain, flying up in the air in a panic. Meanwhile, the spot where Hazel touched it started to erode into cracks.

They slowly spread all across its body, originating from its leg and snaking all the way to the rest of its body. All the while, the flying monkey panicked, calling out to its fellow brethren to assist it. But they couldn’t do anything either. They simply stared at one of their own, slowly deteriorating from the Decay skill.

But Hazel wasn’t finished yet. Did these monsters think that they could simply turn away from their enemy like that?

“None of you bastards are safe, either…!”

Since the flying monkeys were too busy watching another succumb to Decay, their grip on Hazel loosened a little, allowing her to move away and scramble for her staff. With it in hand, she whirled at the winged beasts that were grouped in front of her.

Even when the monsters spun around to see that their prey was free, it was already too late. One of the flying monkeys tried to screech and alert the others, but Hazel was faster and cast a Baneful Sickle.

The cursed purple sickle barreled toward the monsters and tore into them, severing limbs and torso. A couple of them only got grazed by her attack, but that alone sealed their fate. The remaining flying monkeys that survived suddenly fell to the ground, twitching in pain.

Hazel glanced at them and saw the sickle wounds she inflicted on them. The cracks on the body began to worsen, spider webbing across their bodies as the curse took effect.

Watching this unfold, she didn’t notice Astrid appear behind her, grabbing her shoulder and spinning her around so they could face one another.

“Hazel, are you alright?!” She questioned, looking worried; her eyes scanning Hazel’s body, noticing all the wounds inflicted by the flying primates.

“More or less…” Hazel muttered before she looked behind Astrid and noticed the other monkeys flying their way. “Incoming…!” She pointed, showing the dark elf.

Astrid turned around and brandished her daggers, ready to fight. But Hazel had different plans.

“Stick close to me!” Hazel shouted, grabbing the dark elf’s wrist and pulling her closer.

Astrid was surprised by this but didn’t have time to question it before Hazel conjured her mana shield, enveloping both of them. Thanks to the barrier, the flying monkeys couldn’t get to them as their spears rebounded against the dome, not even making a scratch.

She sighed with relief. “Thank goodness I can get people in my shield as well.”

It was her first time using her mana shield skill for two people, but luckily, it worked out in her favor.

“Astrid, get your bow out. I only have a couple of seconds left before the shield goes away.”

“Got it…!” Astrid quickly sheathed her daggers and whipped out her bow, knocking back an arrow right after.

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Mana Shield was only going to last around seven seconds or so. It used to last five, but it increased it by two seconds. That might not seem much, but in a life-or-death scenario, those extra two seconds mattered profoundly.

Her seven seconds were soon out, and the mana shield began to disappear. But Hazel and Astrid were ready.

“Attack them now!” Hazel shouted while pointing her staff at the flying monkeys.

Astrid followed along and had three or four arrows drawn and ready to be fired. Just as the barrier was completely gone, the player pair fired at the swarm of flying monkeys. A combination of arrows and mana bolts burst forth, tearing through the winged monsters before them and killing them instantly.

Their bodies shattered in unison as their fragments disbursed into the air. Watching them dissipate before their eyes, Hazel and Astrid abruptly collapsed; fatigue finally catching up to them.

“That…really sucked.” Hazel huffed.

“No kidding…” The dark elf sighed.

Although they were in the clear for the moment, Hazel and Astrid couldn’t stay in their current location, in case another flock of flying monkeys decided to attack them again.

“You got those healing potions, right…?” Astrid asked, sitting up from the ground and wincing in pain.

“Yeah…they should be in my pouch.”

Because of the injuries they sustained during the fight, both of them required some healing. So, it was time to drink the healing potions.

Hazel reached into her bag and pulled out the last two healing potions. The mage gave one healing potion to Astrid and uncorked hers.

The dark elf did the same and quickly downed the potion, immediately feeling its effects right after. All of her injuries including a piece of her arm that was severely torn to shreds. Her flesh stitched back together until it was completely healed and her arm was as good as new.

Hazel admired her healed limb, seeing that not a single scar was visible. She sighed and glanced over at Astrid and saw that her injuries were healing just as fast. Once her body was completely cleansed of wounds, the dark elf leaned back and gazed at the stars.

“I’m beginning to despise this dungeon,” Astrid grumbled.

“Tell me about it,” Hazel scoffed. “Thankfully, these healing potions came in handy.”

In the distance, the sound of flying monkeys screeching could be heard as it got closer to the player pair. They flinched in fear and quickly stood up.

“We should get moving!” Hazel urged.

“Agreed,” Astrid rapidly nodded her head.

The dark elf and human mage grabbed their belongings and hastily rushed toward the tower ahead of them. All while trying to escape the swarm of monkeys coming their way.

…

Hazel and Astrid soon arrived at their destination, standing in front of the hill that led the pair to the tower before them. Before proceeding further, the pair were sitting down and breathing heavily.

“I…hate…those monkeys…” Hazel panted, trying to catch her breath.

“I forgot…how annoying those winged pests were,” Astrid sighed. “They’re just like the ones…that constantly attack my tribe.”

While racing to the Tower Island, Hazel, and Astrid stopped a couple of times to deal with the winged primates that flew toward them. Unlike their first encounter, they were prepared for them when the airborne monsters attacked.

Thankfully, they didn’t sustain any severe injuries like the first time. Of course, that didn’t mean they got away unscathed. Hazel had a couple of scratches and stab wounds on her shoulder and arms, and Astrid bore some slash marks on her stomach and back. Other than that, their wounds weren’t exactly grievous enough to need a healing potion. And that was all that mattered at the moment.

Plus, despite the trouble they went through, the pair did benefit something from the winged beasts, and that was a level-up.

Status Window

Name: Hazel Thatcher

Race: Human

Level: 14

Class: Mage

Free Points: 0

Attributes:

Strength: 7

Agility: 16

Endurance: 20

Intelligence: 32 (+8)

Wisdom: 30 (+3)

Willpower: 12

Killing all those flying monkeys stacked up enough experience for her to reach level 14. After achieving another level up, she put her three points into Wisdom, increasing her mana regeneration more. And while she was ecstatic about her current progression, a part of Hazel wished that she didn’t have to get so close to death while doing this.

None of her skills experienced a rank-up, so that was a bit of a bummer, but it didn’t bother her that much. Besides, she likely had an opportunity to increase their ranks while they were in the tower.

Now that both of them were on the island, they were able to get a better look at the tower before them, to which the pair realized that the tower was beginning to look more like a miniature castle.

Aside from the pillar-like tower, there were also more pieces of architecture stacked around it, making up a small but manageable castle. Something that people of lower nobility like Barons or Viscounts would take residence in.

Due to the gothic architecture, Hazel felt that this castle belonged to some vampire noble. And that gave her chills. If she had to deal with some kind of fractured vampire after dealing with fractured zombie-like humans, then she was going to file a complaint to the system managers, If that was even possible.

“Well, since this place is a lot bigger than we thought, we should probably get started…” Astrid advised.

“Yeah, let’s see what this tower castle building has in store for us.”

The dark elf and mage nodded at one another and proceeded to trek up the hill, marching their way up to the castle tower.