"Hairy apes! Big, big, and wild! You think you’ve seen beasts before? Ha! Nothing like them, no, no. Covered in fur, thick as the forest itself! Strong arms, fists like hammers, they break, they crush, they throw! They swing from trees like the wind, faster than you can blink. Ha-ha! You hear them, but never see them—until they're right in front of you!" Parroting the Wise.

I spoke too soon. Half the group were still on the trunk when a hairy mammal swung down and smashed into Walter, sending him flying. Private Ryan was on the ball and grabbed him, but that meant he couldn’t defend himself.

They were large ape-type creatures, and there was a large pack of them. Their fur was tough and strong. They attacked with sticks, hands, and teeth, and they could also throw things. Their fur was a yellow-red colour, with sharp teeth.

Our Scout was called Suda, and she was good with the bow. Ranged weapons were going to be key in this fight. One of the other privates was protecting Ryan with a shield as he hauled Walter back up, and I saw Myantha strike with her blade and draw blood, but not a great amount.

Arrows started being shot from above us, and I assumed Alistern was the source.

I heard a “Damn, my knife must have fallen out” from somebody. I checked my weapons as it could happen.

I had re-engaged my Spectral Cloak at the attack, and I was ignored, which meant they couldn’t sense me. This was a Hunter's Trial; let's go hunting.

I grabbed Lightreaver and jumped on Rob, and we slipped through the branches. The apes were very tall. If they stood straight, they would be up to my chest, but their arms were very long, and their feet acted like hands. I was surprised they didn’t have a tail.

I lept off Rob and landed on the back of one with my Haladie and Lightreaver going deep with Thrust. This didn’t kill it, but I probably dropped its health by half. A long hand grabbed over its shoulder and dragged me with it. It was very strong. I identified them as Ape’cots.

I sliced the muscles in the arm with Burning Strike and Bloodletting, and it tossed me away. I spun with Cat Reflexes and dropped Lightreaver again to grab a branch. I could only use one weapon as I needed to grab things. I only had two hands, whereas the Ape’cots essentially had four. I stored the haladie and drew Shadowbane. It would enable me to keep some distance, as I needed to keep out of reach.

I summoned Lightreaver, and I would use it as a throwing weapon. Rob’s tail smashed into the wounded Ape’cot, but it was holding on tight and charged toward the exposed Rob. I Charged toward its back and Slashed at its neck and drew a lot of blood, but didn’t sever it. Rob chomped on its leg with Crushing Bite, administering acidic poison, and I slashed again twice more, killing it.

I Stored the body in my Storage to harvest later. I am not sure if the trial will give me drops after it has been stored, but it is worth testing. The chances are good if I am still in the Trial.

I was slammed from the side, and another Ape’cot launched itself at me from above, and we both flew off the branch. I grabbed its arm as Shadowbane went flying. I brought the Burning knife from the ring and stabbed it as we crashed through the smaller branches. It was tougher than I was, and I landed hard as it bounced once, reached out for the next branch, and swung away. I moved from where I landed and cloaked up.

These were not monsters Rob could deal with, so I sent him back to the main group, where he could be of more use helping there. He could Tail Smash and bite and rescue those who fell. It was the latter I really sent him back for if he fought below them.

I ran along the branch, calling Shadowbane back to me. An Ape’cot swung past, oblivious to me in my cloak, although I noticed its nose flare. I swung Shadowbane in a Longslash as it went past. It didn’t fall but was bleeding a lot as it dropped to a branch below me, probably confused as to what hit it.

I discovered Charge didn’t work unless I had something under my feet, so maybe I should learn the Dive Attack. I had launched myself at the Ape’cot, but it kept moving. I landed, and Acrobatics used the momentum to launch myself after it. I Thrust Shadowbane deep and slammed the Burning Knife up into its skull, killing it. The ring knife was very convenient as I stowed it away again.

I Stored the body as I kept moving, jumping to another branch and throwing Lightreaver and a dart at a passing Ape’cot. It carried on and disappeared into the foliage. I targeted another that was ripping a branch off to use as a weapon. I brought Shadowbane down in a Chop and hit the bone, severing the bicep. I whipped the blade around in a slash as the Ape’cot looked for what attacked it and struck out blindly. The slash severed the hamstring on a leg but didn’t go all the way through. It was a really tough hide.

I ducked a wild swing of a branch held by the Ape’cot and Thrust into the stomach as my Helping Hand threw a Piercing Death Dart up its nose. It flailed around in pain, and I didn’t quite get out of the way in time, catching a solid hit. The Bone Armour stopped my leg from breaking, but I was shoved off the narrow branch, and Steady Footing and Sure-grip were not enough.

I spun with Cat Reflexes, dropped Shadowbane and grabbed a branch. The Sure-grip in my glove combined with Climb, and I hauled myself back up, calling Shadowbane and Lightreaver back from wherever they were.

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I jumped back up to the wounded Ape’cot and finished it with a Thrust to the brain. I stored the corpse and looked for the next opponent. I cast Self-clean as the smell was the main way they could find me, and ran and jumped to another branch.

I sliced an Ape’cot swinging past and threw Lightreaver and a dart before I backstabbed another. If I had been an assassin, I would have had a bonus skill for backstabbing, but I was not and just had to rely on Thrust.

I was slicing through thick hide when an arrow pieced its eye, and it died on me. I will need to watch that, or my allies will take me out. I shoved the body in my Storage and moved on.

I was well below the others now, and I saw several falling Ape’cots. There were no falling people so far. I would need to make a conscious effort not to go down too far. Down is the easy way to go. I headed up.

Light Speed, Thrust, Dodge back, Slash, Burning Strike, Piercing Throw to the nose, Chop. Usually, four Skilled Strikes from a surprise attack were enough to kill an Ape’cot, sometimes more if it is a higher level. This Spectral Cloak hiding me is fantastic for these monsters, but it's a shame it doesn’t work for all monsters. I would have liked to know how the Woodpeckers sensed through it, but I guess I never will.

Skill Learned:

Ambush Strike: The initial strike from an unseen position doubles the power of the strike.

+1 Agility, +1 Intelligence.

That is a very useful skill. I put it to use, and it reduced four strikes for the lower levelled Ape’cots to between two and three, depending on how accurately I struck. I started distracting them with my Mimic Sound, but I didn’t think it was worth the mana bringing images into play. The occasional Eclipse was less attention-grabbing than Flash. Several Ape’cots responded to my Flash, and I backed off and picked them off one by one. Getting mobbed was dangerous.

Special Action:

Store over twenty unharvested monster corpses.

Storage over Level 5

Storage gains Monster Morgue. Store unharvested monsters for harvesting later. Length of time the Monster Corpses will take to dissolve into loot extended x10.

That should give me plenty of time to harvest them later, as it takes ages for a monster to dissolve into loot when someone has the harvesting Skill. I wonder if I can get it to do the harvesting for me. I imagine the answer is, not easily.

This must be a large herd or group or whatever they are called. I have killed well over twenty. There are twelve of us in our group. Even if the average is fifteen, that is almost two hundred kills, and there are still plenty around.

The key to this fight is to manage the stamina and mana usages. If I run out, I am dead. That is the advantage of being in a larger group: you can rest. I have plenty of potions, but there is a long way yet to go.

I have forgotten where Lightreaver is. I am glad it is soul-bound, and I can summon it back.

I saw a flash of steel and green and jumped and moved toward it. Myantha and Alistern were fighting back to back with their swords. There was an unmoving body at their feet. They were trying not to be swamped and were fighting quite a mob with more dropping on them all the time. If the body was dead, they wouldn’t have bothered, so I moved close and created a Copy of myself next to me. I then slammed Provoking Aura over the area, and my copy ran off down the branch with a hoard of Ape’cots after it.

I let Spectral Cloak go and approached, “That won’t distract them for long,” I said.

Alistern was feeding a potion to the Private and then went to pick him up.

“Wait a sec,” I said. “Rob is on his way.”

“Thanks,” Alistern said.

I went around storing bodies. Myantha looked at me with a raised eyebrow.

“It is for Harvesting later,” I said. “We could do with the drops.”

An Ape’cot went flying sideways above us as Rob dropped his Adaptive Camouflage and lowered himself on the branch. I saw the Ape’cot bounce off a branch and then catch itself and start climbing back up.

“I’ll get the Private to the group,” Alistern said.

“I hope your Riding Skills are good,” I said, showing him where to hold onto the harness. “Be gentle, Rob. You have an injured person.”

Alistern mounted and held the unconscious Guard across his front, and Rob headed toward the trunk.

There was a hoard of Ape’cots heading back toward us from my image that had disappeared, so I summoned Lightreaver, only to discover it was already in its sheath on my belt. I drew Lightreaver and Shadowbane and turned beside Myantha, who had her dual swords out.

I tossed a shield with a Ward on it in front of us, and when the Ape’cots ran over it, it started Flashing. Every time an Ape’cot touched the ward, it flashed, and it continued to Flash until the Beast Core ran out of mana. It was a strobing light. I added a pulse of Provoking Aura to the confusion, and Myantha and I started to take advantage of the half-blinded and confused monsters. I added Nights Embrace to contrast the Flashing and add to the confusion. I forgot to ask Myantha if she could work in this sensory nightmare, but she seemed fine, although she stayed on the edges.

Purifying Dance didn’t have the bonuses against these creatures as it did against Undead and Infernal, but it was still a good weapon technique. I added in my Ambush Strike as I used Spectral Cloak and my own Flashes and Eclipses.

The Ward was drawing in more Ape’cots. Some dead bodies were dropping past us now as Alistern, and maybe the scout archer was thinning the herd. This was a good idea, drawing attention to a ward and away from the people. I will definitely say it was my intention from the beginning.

I replaced the ward when the monster core ran out. And the apes kept coming. Other Guards appeared and started fighting on the edge, and Rob roamed above us.

Eventually, the horde was finished, and the harvesting began. The horde of Ape’cots was not too challenging, so the trial was still in its easy stages.