“Astrid!” Mike quickly steps towards her and leans over, shielding her with his body. She lies on the ground, a big muddy ball stuck to the side of her head, tangled deep in her hair. I can hear her starting to cry. “Quickly, let’s hide you near the merchant inside.” He starts to pull her up the marble staircase, which has short yet long steps, all the while looking around.

I stand on guard, though the hammer in my arm already makes it strain a lot. “That one point.”

“Please make at least some difference!” Opening my stats panel, my muscle memory instinctively ticks the strength plus 1 button. “Finally, two digits!”

A small burst of energy pulses through my body from my head to the tips of my fingers.

Now I grasp the hammer in the correct place and raise it with better ease. “Placebo or not, I must be stronger—at least a bit!”

Markus Hale foreigner level 7 Strength 10 no skill Agility 3 no skill Willpower 4 no skill Endurance 3 no skill

“Stop it! I’ll go with you!” Astrid refuses to stay, while Mike pulls the mud out of her hair with his bare hands.

I wait for them to join my position, swinging my hammer in the meantime, adjusting my arm to its weight. Astrid wipes her tears with the sleeves of her patterned parka, which she wears over her summer dress.

We move at a normal pace, keeping our guard up.

“Uu, ua, ua, ua, ua,” Mike mimics some primate noises.

*Swoosh*

A White Guardian, level 4, descends quickly from a bamboo tree and tries to attack Mike.

He probably mocked them in their language because the primate is more than furious at him.

Unsheathing the rusty blade in a blink of an eye, he slashes it over the monkey's shoulder, making a bloody slit. His move was pretty damn sleek. He must’ve trained while I was gone.

*Dull thud*

The monkey screams obnoxiously loudly and falls as a heavy wooden arrow pierces its back.

I raise my surprised gaze at Astrid. A strand of her hair waves in the air, caught by the leftover bowstring vibration. There’s nothing above its head anymore—it’s dead, and I believe she got rewarded.

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

Rustling leaves signal the approach of a group of three more monkeys. In the distance, three silhouettes are shambling towards us. As if that weren’t enough, two more descend from above, landing close by. I start to panic a bit as the one on the left is level 5.

White Guardian, level 5, and White Guardian, level 4

It shouldn’t be a big deal theoretically, but this one could be faster, stronger, and possibly more durable. As the wielder of the clearly superior weapon, I choose to clash with the stronger one.

Mike knows what to do and positions himself in the way of the weaker one.

This tale has been unlawfully obtained from Royal Road. If you discover it on Amazon, kindly report it.

Astrid quickly notches her arrow, securing it in place on the bowstring.

She raises it to eye level and tracks one of the three in the approaching group while aiming.

I grasp my hammer tightly and jump from side to side, blocking the monkey’s path to our ranged unit—the pale red-haired young woman.

The beautiful pristine hammerhead shines with a quick golden flash as I turn unpredictably and bash the monkey right on the temple. The hammer loses its virginity.

The strong sound of cracking skull will stay with me for a while.

Surprisingly, the beast is still alive, yet it makes no sound at all. Only a tiny sliver of health remains in its health bar. On the other hand, Mike’s monkey is screeching enough for both of them.

While mine clumsily rushes towards my legs, I take a peek at Mike’s situation.

It’s not white anymore—almost fully red, covered in blood. His average sabre does a great job of slicing open wounds, even through the fur.

One of the approaching trio somehow manages to speed up towards Mike, angered by his methodical torture. I’m sure he could’ve simply stabbed or even impaled them outright, but he chooses to slice them all over. I believe this will negatively impact the sharpness of his blade. He didn’t mention anything about a sharpening stone being included with his purchase.

Astrid fires at the monkey sprinting towards Mike, hitting it in the left side of the torso.

The animal’s own momentum sends it into a ragdoll spin. Its body tumbles to the ground as it struggles to regain control.

I don’t hesitate with mine any longer and smash it again in the same spot, sinking one-third of the hammerhead into the monkey’s skull, creating a perfect round hole.

Blood and brain fluid start to spill out, covering my hammer and the monkey itself.

I step on the monkey’s tail, pry my weapon out of the wound, and let the carcass thud to the ground. The ragdolling one is crawling back up, while Astrid readies the finishing blow.

I quickly move towards another one, the leftmost of the group.

It seems that all three newcomers are level 5.

With my already overstrained forearm, I keep swinging the hammer in front of the beast, trying to land a hit. It dodges well, with a few occasional scratches on my sweatpants. The thick fabric once again proves to be great protection.

Mike’s approach is, again, more brutal. He slashes one across the belly multiple times, nearly spilling its guts. Then he finally stabs it through the neck, almost decapitating it.

As I continue to try to land a blow on mine, my strongest strike misses and lands on its back.

*Loud gruesome crack*

I break its spine, and the monkey collapses instantly, screeching and unable to move.

Another two are incoming in the distance. A brief eye contact with Astrid as I shift towards the next target signals her. She gives the paralyzed monkey a quick mercy shot to the chest.

Again, my side is left. A rushing monkey, level 5, zig-zags towards me, and I use its own momentum to swing the hammer. I miss and hit the ground, burying my hammer in the soil.

Luckily, the furry ape’s tail gets in my way, and I stomp on it, pinning the beast for a moment. Enough time to swing my hammer and paralyze it by smashing the back of its neck, breaking the spine in two.

What’s left is the mercy blow. I hear a satisfying *Ding.*

Eager to spend the point, I wait with Astrid for Mike to finish his fight.

Mike slashes the last one across the face. Cutting its lips and gums, the small monkey looks terrifying, exposing even more teeth, all covered in blood.

His slash ends at the eyelid, cutting it wide open. With nearly all its health depleted, he decides to stab it in the eye for the finishing blow.

Unfortunately, his sabre slips to the side, severing the eye cord loose. Then the tip enters the head from behind the eye.

Its eyeball falls out while the beast is still alive. Astrid almost pukes and turns away. I watch with a disgusted expression.

The eye, already covered in dirt as it rolled across the ground, lies near his feet. Mike pushes his weapon deeper into the skull, finally hitting the brain and killing the animal instantly.

“Phew.” He wipes the sweat from his forehead.

“That was indeed gruesome,” he notes, cleaning his sabre on the monkey’s fur.

Astrid looks a bit shocked. “Did we basically massacre some animals here?”

She asks, worried.

“They would do the same to us. Look at Mark’s knees and my arm,” Mike reasons while pulling up his sleeve to reveal a moderately deep scratch.

“What’s up with this golden bracelet on their tails?”

He asks, stomping on the tail and crouching down to touch it.

“Don’t! Mikey, we don’t know who owns them or why they have it,” Astrid cautions.

“Yeah, don’t. It suspiciously matches the merchant’s theme—white and gold...” Before I can even finish my suggestion, he slips the bracelet off and examines it at eye level.

Astrid grunts and sighs afterward.

“Right! And in front of the temple...” She points back at it with her arm.

“The temple?” Mike asks, confused.