Wild Tusk Monkey looked really pissed off. It looked at him in a similar way as many others did: with a sneer, a desire to kill, and a spark in the eye to smack his little beak and crush his neck. Murai didn't like it of course. That was why he killed every single one of his 14 opponents without any remorse as he preferred.
Be it an undead, demon, or beast, he smacked them with his beak, cleaved into them with Blade, and used these precious moments for his training. Sonar was specifically difficult to figure out in terms of uses, so he focused on it as much as he could here when foes weren't that difficult.
It proceeded faster than he expected but the journey between the Islands was much more of a headache than the fights themselves. He figured out many good facts about him and what he could do and teach himself. For the start, the latest Boosts evidently enchanted his power and slightly shifted his perception of his abilities and what they even meant.
This was the change evolved abilities represented.
It wasn't like levels that moved the Blade, or Fire Shot. Those increased their strength, but never became crazy, which he found interesting.
He didn't know how or why such change made such a sudden difference. Perhaps it was the Mindarch and Will of the Battleworld who changed it all? Moving it together into a more notable Boost? Or was he before some threshold of his limits he had no idea about?
Truth be told, he wasn't sure about any of this, though he was seeing the proper effectiveness of it right now. Lisa hardly mentioned words about abilities and what mattered, but from the looks of it, this world had many complex powers. Attributes were the easiest to perceive. Their number correlated with physical realms of possibilities. Of course, something like Will, or Soul Power was hardly something he noticed, as they were rather vague in their effects.
For Murai and his body, Vitality was the greatest gift that he could ask for.
He grew up, his feathers expanded and his height increased. It was greater than ever, while magic and every evolution of an ability changed how one viewed or used them.
Better stabilization of his body came more from experience, so it was a matter of time before he got better. His beak and general strength followed this idea also, but a smack of his beak wasn't under some complex rules. Peak and Blitz were.
His mana was another thing altogether when body and magic were connected and suited one another. It was significantly better than any Attribute increase because his mind and handling magic were more suitable for him than mana itself.
That sounded contradictory, but it was like handling a master swordsman a huge pillar-like sword that constantly wanted to fly out of his hand. Murai worked like that with his magic, so he could force it clean, but it wasn't that appealing.
Whether it was Mana Arrow or Mana Blade, they were pretty good right now if he Shape then well, but unfortunately... the Peak outshined them.
Considering his nerve-wracking choice of using the Core Defying Fusion Technique, the situation around his mana space and Beast Core needed constant attention. After fighting, it will give him new ideas and further improvements.
Hence, everything needed time.
Seeing his opponent put him in a greater mood than his past foes. Grade B and Level 34. The first of its kind that he met in this Gate was before his eyes. This should be a great adversary against his current level, and quite far from Gate 1's difficulty.
This should be more difficult than dealing with Crowhell Bat.
Murai was kind of happy to see that, similar to the wave of Undead before meeting that bat. It meant this monkey was more dangerous than 24 undead combined together.
And right it was. This monkey felt dangerous.
Standing on a pillar and hunching its back, the monkey wasn't old but ferocious and wild. Wild Tusk Monkey held very loose humanoid features with tight and developed muscles, and legs and arms the thickness of a small tree, stemming from the species of monkeys that once ruled over the Radagan.
It had a sturdy and long tail coming from its back, and fur all over its body added to its ferocity. Its legs and arms weren't the most notable but their size resembled gorillas instead. They were unlike the rest of its body, including the tail, head, and chest.
Its fur hid a potent set of muscles, while its head made the final vision of Mindarch's expectations. It had a deep pair of eyes of crimson color and a wild mouth. It wasn't undead. It was pretty much as alive as it can get, growling and itching for a fight. There was some insanity within those eyes.
Murai felt the chaos of its emotions from his Soul Read right away.
Perhaps a lot more went on within them but it was hard to feel anything else than wildness and chaos. Under the eyes, a wide open twitching mouth revealed clear fangs, describing the mouth of a carnivorous beast. Wide and tall, each side of the jaw had a pair of sharper and longer teeth than the rest. They were deadly fangs capable of stabbing and tearing the foes apart.
Monkey glared at Murai with clear killing intent. Huffing and making high-pitched noises, it at least didn't bang its chest like gorillas. It was a monkey after all and all resemblances to them were there as part of the same family of beasts. It was just thicker and larger than usual monkeys. It also shouted and opened its mouth, bearing its teeth at him in taunts.
It was standing on the pillar, overlooking him like a powerful predator of the jungle. Its thick but quite long tail swayed behind its back, helping with balance, or it could be a powerful whip or additional limb.
Murai sighed, stretching his neck. “Well, another kill goes under my belt ... or how is it said? Nevermind. Let's see what you've got, monkey.” He burst his Will to fight, flaring up his mana in preparation for a close or long-range fight. It always depended on the opponent and his strategies, which often changed in the last dozen or so Islands.
His opponent didn't do the same. It had no Mana Core in its body.
Wild Tusk Monkey was a very physical beast with a powerful physicality. Be it Strength or Vitality, they were its main aspects. No magic was available for it because its mind wasn't ever up to that task. Monkey's instincts weren't meant for that.
It was a clear depiction of a foolish beast that could never become accustomed to mana and its magical properties. It was rare to see a proper mage amongst most beasts. But seeing a magical beast wasn't rare. They could have specific bloodline-related enchantments or abilities that depended on instincts.
Murai was exactly that case, as Anatideas were a special case.
Murai always knew that mind and knowledge always increased the limits of the magic.
Perhaps that was why he had Wisdom at 100 since he arrived in this world. It was a sensible idea, considering his soul was the greatest source of his Cursed Living, albeit it was more of an aftereffect. His beginning of this madness was unlike this at all. Those were struggles after additional struggles and more suffering. It all came down to the fact that changing and shaping his living was possible, the more he endured it.
And he was far into this charade that had no stops.
This world shall endure it.... like him.
He bet the monkey's body must have some other powers excluding the magic. Evolution, specific abilities, or effects, and various improvements could change one's life in its entirety because this world gifted a lot of beings with unnatural treasures and changes by following certain tasks. Simple living and battling for one's life was the most common method to acquire it. The better a being took it, the better and stronger this world regarded them.
That was the slowly accumulating truth that Murai was getting into his head.
This monkey was the same, regardless of anything. There was a spectrum of interest for every individual, as levels and attributes followed every soul.
Murai figured this monkey probably didn't hold much control or choices over them, but neither did he. There wasn't a speck of intellect in its eyes. Just savagery and the will to hunt, but that didn't mean it was weak.
His Sonar flashed forward, traveling in a single moment to encompass the whole platform again. Like a breath, it pushed against the monkey on the pilar. There didn't seem to be a strong connection of mana to this monkey, nor did it seem vivid like a flame or notable light. But it had at least something. It had an outline of power stemming from the Mark of the Mindarch, granting benefits like stronger attributes, or various enchantments that worked like small blessings. Most undead had the same thing.
With a simple impulse of his Sonar, Murai sensed the mana around this place. Before him was a sturdy monkey with a strong body that was significantly more alive than the ordinary beast. Rich Vitality had a weird scent under his Sonar. Mana washed its body like dust on old furniture.
He wondered if he had this sort of effect himself but when he tried to wash his Sonar over himself, it never worked. Detection was the same story but weaker.
Wild Tusk Monkey grimaced in the vision of its prey, noticing the change of pace or it felt the Sonar. It jumped from the pillar, arriving at the section of the entrance in a dozen-meter-long leap, landing right before Murai in a heavy blow to the floor.
Murai wasn't impressed.
Straightening its back in front of him, the monkey was more than 1 and a half meters tall. Up close he saw its thick body and tail that was longer than its body. In a sense, it wasn't a monkey. It resembled a gorilla in mass but a monkey in its concept. But it wasn't the right kind of attitude one should have. Describing a demonic beast of this caliber wasn't realistic in nature, as this monkey had its bloodline, which meant it wasn't an ordinary monkey.
It had no aura of a wild animal. It had the power of a demonic beast, filling its body with an unnatural aura that no monkey should have. Murai was the same in his Anatidae perception.
Monkey was a couple of steps before him, fingers trembling and its flexing muscles contorted like the rest of its body. Even the grin widened.
Monkey glared closely at the duck below its eyes, hunching and wondering about something or so Murai felt. He exchanged a simple glance with it. And it looked back at him as if no worries were within its eyes. It was acceptance or a sight.
Murai didn't like it for sure.
He frowned, wanting to slap this monkey over the edge. There was also something else within their gazes. Something toxic or infuriating for both of them. Murai made the monkey quite uncomfortable and its position as a hunter wasn't as strong as it assumed.
It was humiliating to acknowledge it against a duck.
Its hunting was its purpose; its time in this temple was finite. A prey was more than apparent before its crimson eyes. Feeling some nasty pressure from this duck didn't make sense. For fear to arise, it was furious at its weakness. A tail slammed the ground behind, cracking it and swinging it around like mad.
As if it had life on its own, the tail drifted like a whip straight towards Murai's side.
The blow was quick, dull in its power but powerful in its snap. The painful quacks didn't spread, nor the the floor become an utter mess.
Murai moved his beak the moment he noticed a flicker of mana in the air, or was it the air itself he noticed under his Sonar? It was all sharpening his mind anyway, so he was watchful over any change. He poised his beak forth and pushed his body to clash against the tail. It was about 6 to 7 centimeters thick at the butt of the monkey's body. Then, it thinned out but not so much for it to be razor sharp.
The tail was for grabbing and smacking purposes alone. It mostly worked wonders to shatter something in its powerful slaps. The tip was still thick and had no apparent fur. There was thin intangible hair. That was about it.
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He caught not, not deflect it or chewed its tail off.
Seeing its failure and not even staggering or bleeding duck, the monkey grunted in displeasure, yelping and screeching like crazy. It turned its tail into a wide variety of attacks while its body remained in place.
Sometimes the tail aimed at Murai's legs, other times at the head or wings. The motions of the tail were quite crafty and fast to seek. Not for Murai, fortunately. His mind was clear, Sonar worked wonders and his beak was sturdy like the finest tool under his belt. His mind kept up with the barrage of dozens of strikes, clashing against his moving neck and beak in less than 3 seconds.
Murai did what he did best.
Experiment, learn, and move on.
His beak started to glow in slowly accumulating aspects of mana and Beak's Blitz. He used it once more, putting a weird flow of mana to his beak which enchanted it in some sort of way.
Well, he wasn't the best at this sort of thing for the time being. He wanted to test it some more but the lack of great enemies was way too lacking. He put his diligence to the test, figuring this monkey should test his second-strongest beak ability right now. It was about the second overall, so it wasn't a big deal anyway. The Peak was the best! It never disappointed him, even if it didn't reach its proper evolution change.
He had every right to be confident. Each new addition and discovery elevated his mind, allowing him to overcome future adversaries.
Blitz surprised him with how versatile and flexible it was.
Each strike of the tail arrived at him with powerful momentum and weight, cracking the floor and challenging his back. Each swipe was like that of a hammer whip or some kind of heavy weapon with unnatural flexibility. He knew of many variants of similar weapons. A whip sword of metallic elements, tails of beasts made of flexible fibers, hair, or tendons. In some lives, he even saw some lunatics who used spines of beasts as a whip or straight-up sword.
Those were laughable, but then... they worked.
His neck would make a terrible whip and he was way too short to consider using such ideas.
His own whips of his neck were more than passable for him. He remained on his spot, unmoving as he deflected, caught, or forced Blitz against each and every swipe of this huge tail. None of the slamming hits went to his feathers. Perhaps even if they did, Murai was confident that his body could take them all.
But why risk it when he had other kinds of experiments and tests to see?
His body may be full of mysteries and strong defenses, but that wouldn't be the most sufficient action for his current needs. He slowly began to understand that he should think much more about his actions rather than the things that surround him. Taking new things beyond his mind, the abilities were much more amazing to level up than he thought.
He realized it at last.
The power that this world had for him wasn't small. Perhaps evolving the abilities after so long was even better than his evolution. Beak's Blitz worked so much better than Fury, he laughed at it from time to time.
But as always, everything needed proper learning processes. And following the leveling of him or his abilities was meant to take a long time. Complaints, tears, and labor will come out of this without any doubts. Even countless curse words out of his mind wouldn't help to quench it, so he kept continuing, as the taste of the aftermath wasn't bitter.
It wasn't unbearable to fight as a duck, and even as time progressed, his ideas were changing his mind.
There was one thing that was new to him in this regard. Proper power that built around the aspects of further details and quality. It wasn't always about him, as this was Anatidae stuff he lacked before. It was all about Blitz and discovering its uses alongside his body improvement.
While the fights so far were easy, that didn't mean that Murai wanted to be over them in a mere flick of his Beak. Not at all. Since his experience and familiarity needed to be better, he took time with the majority of the fights while suffering no injuries. Flawless results afterward were just a cherry on top of his efforts.
Right now, he was using the most basic structure of Beak's Blitz that he got. Unlike Beak's Fury which was simple to the bone, Blitz was fundamentally different. It was like Beak's Fury multiplied to another level, adding to its complexity and usability in different layers. It wasn't so simple as smacking fools left and right, using the momentum of his neck before shoving the tip into his foes.
Blitz was an accumulation of every momentum, move of his neck and beak, and taking opponent's attacks as well. It was a continuous powerful weight of strength over every attack that depicted momentum and combos, giving Blitz a time where offense and defense happened at the same time.
In this stance, or to be precise, with the Beak's Blitz that worked continuously unlike the Peak, Murai felt the accumulating strength after each swing or after taking a hit to his beak. It all ended up strengthening it, and the flow of mana over his beak grew from his core, blood, and momentum. His chest was getting hotter, mana harder to tame and his mind was utterly focused like never.
It was like working with the Peak, but better. He loved this.
Murai figured attacking with this ability could be much stronger and more flexible than anything he had. It shouldn't be that far off of the Beak's Peak, but that ability awaited its evolution which Murai was very curious about.
However, Peak had one issue. That was the channeling of mana and stress over that time. Blitz had this as well but in a different direction. It was less stressful in mana use since the accumulation of mana and hits happened naturally over dozens of seconds. Blitz can last longer than the Peak. Minutes. It wasn't quick and immediate.
Murai understood that the offensive power of Beak's Peak was much stronger than Blitz.
But what if the Blitz accumulated power for longer than a few minutes of constant fighting?
He was taking hits and while he was seeking the benefits, the negatives were also there. A wound, failure, or overwhelming his Blitz meant a stop to this accumulation and backlash.
In this way, Blitz wasn't up to the strength of his Peak, but that didn't mean it was weak. In fact, it was way up the ladder of uses and something that Murai liked the moment he tried it against a couple of opponents. It was way too versatile, flexible, and quite usable power that set his beak like a sword, hammer, or spear. It was everything yet it was still a duck's beak.
It was as strange as laughable.
Blitz was akin to having a powerful tool at the tip of his neck. Well, it was that, since ducks were that: beings with the beak at the end of the head, right past the neck. Countless other animals were no different. Birds used their beaks for everything, and ducks, swans, or gooses had it too. It was their mouth, to say the least, so when mana became usable alongside the various demonic bloodlines, Anatidaes ended up as monsters.
And Murai was loving it.
Dozens of attacks flew away in no time, bearing their weight and mass against Murai, whose eyes were wide open and his neck and beak ready. He glared in each direction of every attack, swiping his neck left and right, down and up, or sideways like a hammer. He was furiously smashing the tail away. The monkey was doing nothing but using its tail for now. It remained standing there, a couple of steps away with its arms flexed beside its body and mouth wide open in shock and anger.
It remained glaring at the Murai, focusing on the victory and fight.
Ha! Does it think it's powerful? Is it taking its time to savor it like a fool? That fact is over its head, and not mine! I am taking my time. Not it... Murai though. In a mere moment of his blissful tests, he changed his style of combat which was taking the hits without any attacking.
With his Blitz ready, beak glowing, and mana flooding his body, he used more power over his Blitz, smashing the tail far to the right before pouncing at the foe who didn't expect that for some reason.
Monkey growled like a wounded beast, letting shrieks and shouts crash its mind.
It countered this attack by pushing its left hand against the beak. It was a rather futile attempt, considering Blitz was under a lot of accumulative power. It ended up being a terrible decision that monkey didn't even manage to regret. Murai hit the arm, crashing the fur, muscles, and bones. He moved easily, leaving rough bloody holes and deep flesh crevices in the hand. A lot of blood splurged out of this clash and Murai felt great.
If he wanted, he could've ended this fight right here by smacking the hand away and slamming his beak to its head or chest. He had done something else. He could have accumulated his Blitz strikes over one spot, severing its hand completely before moving closer.
He rather tested the flexible nature of his beak, and the jabs and stabs of his Blitz. It was something that wouldn't hurt knowing and he could do more than that. At least against opponents that weren't immediate dangers.
He was ready to fight more by testing his Blitz.
To say the least, he assumed a position of an utter nightmare. His eyes gleamed in delight, feathers spiked, and the monkey grew frustrated and filled with horror.
Murai turned mad.
It screeched in anger and pain, showing its teeth and backing away, disappointing Murai since he didn't expect a foolish retreat. This change happened in a couple of seconds, leaving few chances to put forth any defense or changes. Monkey hoped to finish this but it backfired splendidly.
Now, it acted with its instincts and nothing else, fearing for its life. Monkey backed off to the pillar, hitting the back with it while it kept watching Murai in horror. It wanted to flee upwards, hiding at the top of the pillar that should be safe against this duck. It was a good idea that counted for its cowardice or fear.
Murai went forward, pursuing the enemy on the ground. This idea proved to be right for this task and his Blitz was far from being over. The accumulation was still going strong, but without more hits coming in or out, he feared Blitz would lose its effectiveness. That was his finding for now. Not a fact. If he wanted to continue testing, he needed an enemy with some backbone. Not a coward.
He wanted to smack it again, shatter the second arm to see if it wasn't a sham. Unfortunately for him, the monkey jumped aside, leaving him on the ground. The fleeting enemy wasn't good, His tiny legs weren't meant to catch up with these fools.
Disappointed as he may be, the monkey made a fatal mistake. It wanted to go back to the pillar by grabbing it and trying to climb. Murai saw it in immeasurable anger and was utterly disappointed.
“You bore me. Just die then.” He quacked and used the momentum of running to jump up, going straight at his foolish foe. Using his legs like that wasn't looking to be that right. It was making a rather funny-looking picture. A jumping duck with a glowing beak and glistering feathers followed a neat straight line. Pointing forward, he assumed a position like an arrow. His beak was an arrowhead, ready to piece and hit the target.
Murai pierced and pushed into the monkey's leg. His beak went straight into the fur and muscles, exposing flesh and bones when the leg almost exploded. The monkey panicked, and veins bulged throughout its body, overpowering the fur. This wound led the blood flowing out and it was almost clear to be unable to win.
Still, Wild Tusk Monkey may be cornered, it used its bloodline ability on its own, ushering in the Blood Drive. Muscles contorted, blood flowed and the body grew. It should've done this earlier, but it was far too terrified of Murai's ability, or something completely else. By instincts and fearing for its life, its full power advanced.
However, it was already far too late for this sort of change since Murai was over his tests. Disappointed, and fed up with this coward, he slowly fell down.
He did care for the proper form of his enemies, and he was long over this charade. He fell to the ground while the monkey clung to the pillared hallway through to the top, building up power over this form in order to drop down and kill that cheeky duck.
Murai glared at that power and didn't change even when the monkey didn't look that bad. The bleeding stopped, but the holes he caused didn't close.
In the end, he Conjured some mana out of his body, Shaping a Proper Mana Blade of a simple nature. Straight and meter long, the edge of this blade was glistering in Sharpness. It moved on its own, cleaving at the screaming monkey that didn't expect a long-range attack. Still clinging to the pillar, its head fell down, leading to a rain of blood from the rest of its body.
“Don't worry. I won't eat you since you have no meat anyway. Hmph!” Murai smiled in a lessened mood because this foe wanted to flee and not fight.
Some of the past foes were no different than this. He expected something else from a Grade B and Level 35 foe.
Turning his Shaped-up mana away, Murai was over this Island. The fountain didn't last that long. The monkey's corpse fell down close to Murai before Mindarch's voice carried over the results with a great mood and an even stronger voice.
[Excellent accomplishment, Citizen M!] Mindarch shouted. [15th Island is a splendid success, albeit it was playful and poorly proper. Tier has been Satisfactory since Citizen M played in a bad mood of the fighting before the veil would turn the best tides. It wasn't a Flawless victory but a slight struggle. The proper battle should be efficient, over when one has the Will for it.]
[Citizen M is testing things, which is respectable.]
[Bonus for the 15th completed Island has been added to the ending results.]
[Space Cage halted and bridges uncovered.]
[Go on to the 16th island. There are much more of them to go through.]
As soon as Mindarch was over, Murai noticed Lisa and Lorry emerge from the entrance of this island.
“Oh, this one was such an arena?” Lorry wondered out loud, looking over the pillars and everything. It wasn't obvious to him that he knew all of the islands on top of his memories. Lorry wasn't aware of how this fight went, however.
“Yeah, but nobody, nor this monkey used it to the advantage.” Murai quacked, hitting the monkey with his leg after noticing his Blitz was actually disappearing under his beak. Murai wished to have some hands and a book, writing what he had figured to make sense out of it. Blitz was fine under his mind. He remembered how many hits he took, how many seconds he fought with, or how it felt overall.
How long it took to form was also important, but accumulation was kind of vague. The longer it went on, the better it was.
That was an easy answer but the conclusions weren't as simple.
It was better behind his slight disappointment, but when the Blitz had nothing to do, it quickly diminished and returned to normal. There wasn't some painful backlash in this natural act, which he was glad for. Perhaps this flow of power over this Blitz worked well with his body or his Beast Core, which could make their evolutions much more viable than anything else.
It wasn't bad because the accumulation of hits went from there, through his spine, neck, muscles, and blood. A lot of things went around Blitz to make its power rush throughout his body, focusing on his neck and beak.
That was why he wanted a paper in hand to make some conclusive test results.
It wasn't possible, unfortunately. “It seems this asshole is just another prick which underestimates the power of this duck. Hph! Such a bummer to see such enemies! Disappointing.” Murai complained out loud, yet he couldn't hide the prideful giggle and a smile that didn't mind being underestimated at all. In this case, it was to his advantage since he could come up with all kinds of ambushes, killing the foes before they would even have a chance to retaliate.
That was his shameless style of fighting. And if the foes thought of them as jokes, he had no troubles with that. The current combat capabilities under his body were growing rapidly, so he quite liked to see any results done. It wasn't as fair for himself as he preferred but that monkey deserved it.
“It's no wonder though, Murai Hisagi,” Lisa argued. “Your body looks tasty. Any lofty and arrogant beast should either think of you as a meal to be devoured or an insanity. Nothing in between. A duck, you see? It is kind of funny... Just wait until you meet the beast with some senses, pride, and a powerful bloodline running through their veins. I bet those will be more than hesitant to be overly dramatic to run, and lofty against an Anatidae.”
“Says Lisa.” Lorry chuckled, wondering how she knew this monkey ran away. She ignored him without any care.
“Dumb beasts are whatever. They will remain dull and dumber even if their instincts scream at them that an utter monster is before their faces,” she said with a meaning that she understood. Murai discerned her words with the context of the Islands, knowing that more enemies would provide better challenges and learning experiences.
The further he will go, the tougher the opponents will become.
That was a splendid chance for growth.