When he reentered the glade he had both full HP and MP. He had decided to keep the menu up at all times, so that he wouldn't accidentally commit to anything without enough mana. The same system message from earlier greeted him.

*You have found a hidden glade in the jungle biome, congratulations. In order to keep the treasure found here, you have to fight it inhabitants first. Good luck 10 of 10 monsters cleared.*

The system seemed to pause for a moment before another message appeared.

*Congratulations for being the first person in your group to clear a hidden glade. Hidden treasure rarity increased by one rank. In order to obtain the hidden treasure, you must defeat the Hidden Boss 'Crowned Jester Monkey'. Select Yes when ready to begin fight.*

"Fuck me man," Owen was royally pissed now. The first message had made it seem like the horned monkeys were the only thing that he would've had to fight. But the message saying he had gotten a higher rarity of treasure still made the boss fight tempting. Taking a proper stance, he began to charge his weapon full of mana, he would only get 2 strikes like this, so he needed to make it count.

As soon as he felt like he couldn't put anymore mana into his spear, he selected yes.

A giant dome formed around the glade, making escape impossible. Owen cursed at his stupidity, but didn't let himself lose focus. He heard something rushing towards the glade at breakneck speeds and Owen turned slowly towards it but kept his spear charged. A enormous version of the horned monkey he had been fighting entered the dome from above, crash landing into the center of the glade.

The horns that had only looked similar to a crown on the other monkey, looked like a well furnished crown, that glinted in the sunlight. It was muscular, built much more similar to a gorilla than a monkey as it was named. Its tail was covered in the same rock material the Jester's crown was made of. It looked around for its opponent, before spotting one of the monkeys that Owen had slain earlier.

It let out a howling wail, that cause the trees to shake back and forth. Owen had started to approach the monster as slowly as possible. It hadn't seemed to notice him, so he finally released the thrust. Just as fast as Owen's thrust, its tail came up to block the strike. However, his attack held both the power of a mana charge and the extra power of a sneak attack.

Again, an unearthly howl ripped across the glade, sending shockwaves of air crashing against the barriers. Pieces of rock were thrown everywhere as the tail shattered into nothingness. The boss was peppered with its own tail shards all across its back leaving tiny bloody gouges.

Owen didn't fair much better however. He had had enough time to try and shield himself from some of the shards, but the rest cut his clothes into tattered pieces. Owen took a quick couple steps away from the boss. He hadn't seen it try to fight yet and was worried that is was going to be another ranged enemy, but the boss just continued to scream for the moments it took him to back off.

More than ten meters separated them now and was trying to focus on not reacting to the pain that the cuts all across his body were causing. He took the briefest of glances at his HP bar worried he would be below half.

*You have 400 out of 400 health points, You have 193 out of 400 mana points.*

"What the fuck, was his menu broken?" He watched cautiously as the boss began to dance around in a circle and begin to start screaming in a much more controlled manner.

He tried to turn his attention back to his glitched out HP, but something whizzed by his head faster than he had been able to react. Barely noticing it, another whizzed by his head from the other direction. Finally fully changing his focus to outside of the barrier, he saw that a dozen or so horned monkeys had gathered around the glade, each with a golden aura causing their movements to seem slightly blurred, despite them clearly moving about the same speed as before.

The most annoying thing was that the barrier was letting through each and every earthen spike that was thrown through its borders. He watched as one of the monsters formed a spike in its hand just as before but when it threw the spike, the golden aura seemed to focus into its arm and added bonus power into the throw. Despite knowing it was coming and having paid attention to it throughout the whole process, it took everything in his power to be able to dodge the oncoming spike.

Another scream echoed inside of the barrier, but it was different this time. The Crowned Jester Monkey had formed itself an earthen spike that it began wielding as a staff. Despite their still being a distance of at least 10 meters between them, it began swinging its club at a frantic pace. Owen was confused for a moment before seeing one of the smaller monkeys throwing its spike at the boss monster.

Its swinging club crashed against the spike launching it at speeds that Owen couldn't process. "Fuck me," He cursed, he was going to die. He decided that if he was on his way out, he should at least give it his best shot and threw all of his saved up stat points into agility.

*You have gained 4 stat points in your agility.*

He charged. He was able to dodge the first spike that had been batted his way, but the next slammed into his left arm crippling it. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the system message.

*You have broken your arm. Apply your health points in the injured area or find a healer to fix this injury.*

He wasn't sure what apply your health points meant, but he didn't have the time to figure it out either. As if the boss were waiting for him to be closer, it stopped frantically swinging its weapon and started charging at him as well. They clashed, Owen's spear was almost knocked completely out of his hand. He was holding it with just the one arm now swinging in wide arcs as he desperately dodged each of the oncoming blows.

They fought like rabid dogs. There was no form or grace behind their weapon movements or how they dodged attacks. Owen was gradually falling behind however. His broken left arm was making it impossible for clashes of strength and despite the apparent lack of technique from his enemy, he wasn't able to land a solid blow.

Trying to create distance, he thrust out his spear in multiple stabs. The boss stopped the chase and instead seemed to be winding up an attack. "Please, for the love of god, what the hell is wrong with my HP." It was still proudly displaying 400 out of 400 points. He cursed the system as he was going to die without ever knowing what killed him, but as the idea of his arm healing enter his mind, his HP started to change. It began to drop slowly but began picking up speed.

For the first time in this fight it was Owen's turn to scream. his flesh was knitting itself back together in each of the gouges the shrapnel from the rock tail had created. Worst of all his arm started to knit the muscle and bone back together. It was all too much for him as everything became blurry.

The boss that had been charging something up, finally swung its club with more power than ever before. It disappeared as soon as the swing began though. The discombobulated Owen was none the wiser as the pain from his healing broken arm was worse than when it had originally broken. He felt the air seem to shift before he was hit by a truck. He rag dolled across the glade crashing into the opposite side and slumping down into the ground.

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He tried to imagine his body being healed had his HP began to dip even faster. The boss had begun making jeering cries and it jumped around swinging its club with much less force now. Owen wasn't sure how long it took, but everything suddenly snapped back into place. He had 7 out of his 400 HP, but he his body felt okay again and he held back the feeling of wanting to cry. "Round 2, but there is no way I'm surviving this."

They entered each others melee range again, but as they fought, Owen started adding mana into his every swing and thrust as his attacks began to meld into something resembling a proper attack. Each of his swings was deflecting the club many times its size now with relative ease, and finally he saw his chance. The boss jumped back to the other side of the glade and began charging up a swing again, this time Owen saw clearly what it was doing.

The golden aura he had seen on the smaller monster outside of the barrier, was pouring into the boss monster and infusing its weapon. It seemed to grow larger and larger and as the Horned Jester finally swung, it seemed to teleport directly behind Owen. Owen who had learned a painful lesson hadn't seen this specifically, but knew it was the same attack that threw him earlier. He threw himself to the ground, right as the club passed above his head where his side had been only moments before. as it caused the sound barrier to break. The boss spun a few times with the momentum of its swing died down.

Owen took his chance and charged every bit of his remaining mana into his spear and thrust towards the Horned Jester's chest. His own attack seemed to cut through the air as his mana infused spear went straight through the club the boss had tried to block with and into its chest. It started screaming again and Owen was getting really tired of it.

He made another quick couple of thrusts with his spear stabbing different places he was pretty sure there were vital points. The system message he had been waiting for popped up and it was euphoric.

*Level 5 Crowned Jester Monkey has been slain. 50 experience gained. You have leveled up, You have 1 unallocated stat point(s).*

It was almost over, just a little bit more cleaning up to do before he could take a long nap. The horned monkeys that had surrounded the barrier began leaving in droves as the Jester had died. A few of them stayed and with Owen's new agility he was able to chase most of them down, but having already reached the max level of experience he could gain from them, all he got himself was a little bit of peace.

Collapsing down onto the floor of the glade, he closed his eyes and immediately fell asleep. He woke up to the sound of things moving around him. It was dark out now and when he checked the time left for the round, he sighed.

*Gain a minimum of 4 levels - Completed, Gain at least 1 combat skill - Completed, and reach the rest zone at the peak of the mountain in the center of the island. 49:46:56secs.*

He still had more than 2 days left and he had almost died more times than he could count. Then a big smile spread across his face as he remembered his whole reason for even fighting, changing over to the system message specific to the glade his grin got even wider.

*Congratulations You have cleared the Boss 'Crowned Jester Monkey' and now have access to the treasures of the hidden glade.*

Three separate chest materialized in the center of the glade each one more furnished than the last. The first one looked like a classic wooden chest from the movies. It was about the size of a suitcase and when Owen opened it up, a new notification window appeared.

*Congratulation, due to your achievements clearing the Boss monster Solo, you have been awarded Spear of the Monkey Emperor. This weapon is famous for being used by the late Jeweled Monkey Emperor. Wielding this weapon gives the user 2 additional stat points in strength and 1 additional stat point in dexterity.*

The Spear was a sight to behold. It was a jet black steel, with golden filigree decorating the blade and stretching all of the way down the haft of the weapon. Standing with it in hand, it stood 10 centimeters over him, despite this, the weight was perfectly balanced for him, light enough to easily maneuver, but heavy enough he could still recognize the power he could put behind it.

Owen was over the moon, but turned his eyes to the second chest. Much like the first it was a regular wooden chest, but the decorations were done with silver and gold lacing together in intricate patterns all across the front. Opening up this chest, Owen smiled wryly at the new rewarded as he glanced down to his mostly bare chest.

*Congratulation, due to your achievements clearing the Boss monster Solo, you have been awarded Jeweled Monkey Emperor's tunic. This tunic was worn by the famous Jeweled Monkey Emperor, it was his lucky tunic worn into battle numerous times. Wearing this tunic grants the user 2 additional stat points in resilience and 1 additional stat point in luck.*

The tunic was of a similar quality to the spear, decorated with the same pattern of golden filigree, built into the white cloth of the tunic. It had a heft to it, but as soon as the message was dismissed, it seemed to grow lighter until the weight was barely noticeable.

This was turning out to have been well worth it. All of the time he had spent not exploring and focusing exclusively in on this glade had been wearing down on his psyche. He knew there was more to explore and as the had ticked by he was having a harder and harder time convincing himself it was worth it. But this last chest washed away all of those thoughts.

*Congratulations for being the first person in your group to clear a hidden glade. Hidden treasure rarity increased by one rank. In order to obtain the hidden treasure, you must defeat the Hidden Boss 'Crowned Jester Monkey - Completed.*

The chest was nothing like the others. Where the others had been made with wood, this was made of silver. The decorations were made of gold and had red gems, which Owen assumed were rubies. The pattern was even more intricate than the previous and the pattern looked almost woven into the silver itself. It was difficult to see them being separate, but the most exciting thing was what was inside of the chest.

*Your item rarity has been increased by one, new rarity is RARE.*

Opening the chest a small amulet was inside and another system message explaining the item appeared.

*Congratulations, due to your achievements clearing the Boss monster Solo, you have been awarded Jeweled Monkey Emperor's Amulet. This amulet is an heirloom passed down through the generations and each descendent has placed some of their knowledge inside. Wearing this amulet permanently grants the skill Identify, this skill uses the knowledge of the previous Jeweled Monkey Emperor's to accurately categorize the world. Wearing this item grants 5 additional stat points in mana.*

This was the first item he had seen now other than his starting spear that looked like basic gear. There was a dull blue crystal in the center of the amulet, that looked like a barely tinted piece of glass. It had tiny metal bezels made of copper, long since turned slightly turquois, a few of the smallest sections still a red brown color. The material the amulet was made of tarnished silver, making it looked almost like it was slightly burnt in places.

Overall, not what Owen would've assumed to be an heirloom for an imperial family. But he was surprised, there hadn't been much history added into the item's description, but it was definitely enough to be the beginning's of a lore for this world. The boss monster he had fought had been called a 'Crowned Jester' and was only level 5. It made him worried about the possibility of there actually being an Emperor hiding somewhere in this biome, though as long as it stayed as level 5, he wasn't too anxious about it.

Looking back at his new stuff, he couldn't be more happy, after equipping all of his new gear, it would be as if he had gained 11 levels. He quickly disrobed then threw on both his new amulet and tunic. Immediately there was a surged of strength as his stats increased, but the feeling died down a moment later.

*You have learned a new skill, Identify. The skill identify will categorize monsters and other enemies and give you their basic information based off of the knowledge you have gained.*

The whole system seemed to pause for a moments before a new panel appeared.

*Would you like to add the 'Jeweled Monkey Emperor's' inheritance knowledge contained in this amulet to your identify skill? Y/N? You have selected Yes.*

Waves of energy poured out of the amulet, creating a whirlwind out of a rainbow of colors. Red, blue, violet, green, and yellow streams of power circled each other rotating faster and faster. The corpse of the Jester he had just fought also turned into a darker brown energy and was sucked into the vortex of power.

It continued to pick up speed as it began to condense and form a multihued marble that radiated power. Everything in the surroundings that had been a monkey type monster had turned into pure energy powering the marble. As it took its final shape, the winds died down and the marble landed heavily into Owen's palm. A red colored system menu filled his vision unprompted and the system's voice thundered through his mind.

*You have turned the RARE item 'Jeweled Monkey Emperor's Amulet' into the epic item 'Pill of the Jeweled Emperor Polymath'. This Pill when consumed will upgrade the skill 'Identify' to the skill 'Polymath's Keen Eye'.*