“Get back!”

Wren got yanked back by Bella as a staff swung through where he had stood. He could feel his neck creak in exertion. It seems it had only brushed the tip of his nose, but the force of that was enough to spin his head and give him whiplash. The stone monkey had been sitting still far away, and had approached in a heartbeat and attacked him. Yet it did not pursue. As soon as he was out of the light of the peaches, the monkey returned to where it had been and sat back down.

Wren took a moment to compose himself and turned to the other two, “Sorry about that. Now we know that the guardian thing is legit. And it’s strong. Far stronger than us.”

“Yeah, take a look at its stats.” Wren looked over at Javi’s prompting and analyzed it.

Name: Stone Monkey

Class: Staff Master

Strength: 230

Speed: 240

Durability: 220

Intelligence: 50

Charisma: 50

Luck: 50

Abilities: Stone Skin, Monkey King's Eyes, Falling Water, Flowing Stream, Pounding River, Calm Lake, Raging Sea, Thunderous Ocean

Titles: Servant of the Monkey King

“Wow. That is not something we should fight. Or at least that’s something I would’ve said if we hadn’t gotten our classes. What do you think Bella? Can we take that?”

Wren looked over to see Bella looking at him incredulously. She did not seem particularly enamored at that idea, “Are you crazy? That thing is way stronger than us. There is no way we can beat it.”

“But could we fight it?”

“You can fight anything. Even if it means dying in five seconds.”

“Oh, c’mon. Take me seriously. I know we can’t beat that but do you think we could distract it? If two of us distract it, then the third can steal a peach. And once they have, we make a run for it. It’s not that bad of a plan right?”

She stopped and considered it for a moment. After a minute of thinking she responded, “Alright. We might be able to hold it down for a minute or so. And if it doesn’t leave the light, then our odds of escape are good. So who should be facing the monkey and who should get the peach?”

Javi spoke up first, “I can defend. My main skills are in defence. So I should face it. And I think you should be with me Wren. You’ll be able to pester it at a distance while I keep its attention. And since Bella is the fastest of us, she can get out quickly.”

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The other two nodded in agreement but Wren looked worried, “Are you sure? You’re essentially suggesting to take it on mostly by yourself. Your plan doesn’t have me doing much.”

“Yeah, you are far more fragile than me. If it gets a solid hit on you, you may not survive. I can take much more of a beating than you.”

“Alright, if you say so.” Just be careful buddy.

----------------------------------------

Javi took a first step into the light. Let’s do this. Come at me monkey.

The monkey leaped forward towards him. Now that he knew it was coming he could see its approach, but it was still much faster than him. As it swung down he dove forward and past it. He needed to draw it away from where the others were. He managed to keep barely getting out of the way for a little bit. Thankfully the class advancement gave a small speed boost. I wouldn’t be able to react otherwise.

However, he eventually got to a point where he couldn’t dodge. So instead he raised his shield to intercept the blow. Using his new skill Absorb, he took the blow. And even then, he could feel the blow rattle his arm. It was much worse than the hit from Bulldraw. But he was stronger now as well. And with Absorb, he could take it.

Absorb: Lessen the power and distribute the impact of a blow. The better timing you have, the more effective the skill is. Get as close as you can to using it when hit. But don’t wait till after or it won’t work at all.

Blows continued. He was in a tight spot but he could take it for now. Finally, he got a break when a small blow hit the monkey. Wren had hit it with an Aether beam. It whipped its head around and moved to run towards him.

Oh no you don’t. It was time to use his other new skill. Just as important of a skill for a tank.

Eyes on Me: Draw attention to yourself. The higher your charisma, the more effective it is.

Using his other new skill got the monkey to return its attention to him. Thankfully, this was all the time he needed to regather his breath and prepare for another onslaught. He could even see that Bella was making her way towards the tree and would soon get a peach.

But of course, not everything can go as planned.

As the monkey started its next barrage it felt even heavier than the last. And soon enough, Javi could hear his shield start to creak. Then cracks began to form. He jumped away and got a moment as the monkey slammed its staff into the ground where he had been. He could see that Bella was grabbing the peach now. He just needed to buy a little more time.

He switched back to the original strategy. Dodge. The shield wasn’t reliable anymore and he just needed to not get hit. He began to move around while keeping an eye on Bella’s progress. Occasionally, Wren would fire a shot that bought him a second to recoup. And soon enough Bella was heading out of the area without a hitch. Very good, now I just need to get myself out.

Javi began to run and dodge his way towards the edge of the area. It looked like he would be fine, but the monkey suddenly became a blur of motion. While he could tell where it was aiming, he could not see the attacks. It became much harder to dodge and he was struggling to progress. But he was close now.

And then he saw it. A blow he couldn’t dodge. He would have to rely on the cracked shield and hope it could take what final blow. He raised it in front of him and knew it wouldn’t work. The staff slammed into the shield, breaking it completely.

But it didn’t stop there. The blow continued and he could hear his bones crunching as it smashed his arm. As it made contact with his body, only his broken arm stood in the way. And yet that must’ve been enough as nothing else got broken. However, he could feel the blow lift him from his feet as he flew back and crashed into a tree. He groaned and curled up into a ball. This was to be the end of him.

He couldn’t do anything else. His body was broken and he couldn’t muster the energy to run. He waited for a finishing blow to come, but none did. He looked up and saw that the monkey was once again sitting in the middle. And he saw that his body had been blown back out of the light. Through some miracle, he was alive.