Auron's barrier fell, having reached the time limit. He cast Healing gale. The cool breeze spell returned a generous chunk of health instantly. As he cast it one more time, he was left low on mana, but his health being raised up to its maximum was worth the mana headache.
The use of wind magic so flagrantly only served to enrage the King baboon further. As he howled and beat his chest, the three largest monkeys repeated the previous process of going over and receiving items to throw. Auron was now able to anticipate what came next. He formulated a plan while the smaller monkey circled him. He knew how to deal with the flurry of elemental attacks.
As they began dancing and throwing the objects around, the smallest ape dripped with pride as it strutted around inside the ring. Auron clasped his dagger tightly and smiled. The smallest monkey took offense to the show of Auron's teeth and screamed, holding its lips open in a challenge as it rocked its head up and down.
The red stone, was casually tossed from behind Auron to the monkey as it leaped in the air, repeating the process from earlier exactly.
Auron expected this from the unintelligent animals and held his ground. When the object was thrown, he activated his wind blast and re-directed the glowing red object at the monkey's face. The creature's face contorted from shock as the item it expected to catch rocket past its outstretched hand directly to its head. Flames erupted as the mana crammed stone wailed against its forehead, and the monkey fell dead to the ground. The smell of burning hair wafted into Auron's nose, causing his lips to turn down in disgust. He swallowed hard at its death, but the adrenaline from the battle washed over his guilt.
You have defeated a
At once, all of the monkeys threw their fists down and raised their heads, and voices in a joined chorus of screams. Fury from the loss of a pack member caused them all unimaginable mental turmoil. Auron knew he would have a better chance of taking on the group in another area, so he turned and ran toward one of the edges.
In its grief, the monkey directly in Auron's path had no time to react as he jumped in the air and dropkicked him off of the edge, the soles of his feet connected with its chest.
Auron followed the monkey over the edge and began to fall as well. "Zander! Break our fall," he yelled as they hurled down toward the hard ground.
The monkey's rage doubled in seeing the disrespect toward their battle circle. As Auron flew over the side, they gave chase to the edge.
Halfway through their trip downward, the monkeys that held the remaining three elemental objects whipped them down. Beating Auron to the ground, the objects all hit and exploded as Zander activated a cushion of wind.
The summoned wind pillow, disrupted by the water, air, and electrical objects, all fought for dominance over the area. Auron's fall slowed only slightly as he smashed into the rock speckled floor of the jungle.
The monkey Auron kicked landed unceremoniously onto its head. Its neck snapped. Its death was instant.
An audible crack ripped through the area as the monkey he kicked, and he hit the ground. Auron's collarbone snapped like a twig from the rough landing taking 35% of his health in the process. A deep primal grunt escaped Auron's mouth as the pain threatened to make him blackout.
You have defeated a
"What is my durability stat even accomplishing" Auron grumbled through gritted teeth as he cradled his left arm. His pain resistance did little to reduce the ache that throbbed with every pulse of his heart. The furry mammals began throwing themselves down the platform support beams.
Halfway down, they started to use their hands and feet to grab vines and swing toward the trees. The king monkey gripped the top lip with his feet and jumped directly to the trees with one mighty leap.
Zander cast healing magic, quickly mending the bone and restoring Auron's health. As the magic worked its way into his body, Auron's eyes watered from the slip of bone moving back into place. "Thank you. Try and save your mana. I do not want to have to travel without you in this jungle again." Auron said as he raced them toward the treeline.
As he ran, Auron was frustrated by the lack of experience from both kills. "Zander, why do these creatures only have one mana type? They do not even give experience," He huffed out while he dodged around trees and leaped over roots. Zander clung to him in place around his shoulders.
[They are not dungeon monsters. They do not have souls. These are just wild animals that wish to kill and eat you. Remember what I said before. It's them or us.]
As a monkey got close, it viscously raked its hand along Auron's face. The swipe did not break the skin, but the pressure from the glancing blow stung his cheek severely. Zander blasted it back up into the thick canopy of leaves above them. This well punctuated his point. These monkeys were out for blood. Another notification for a kill flashed up as Auron dismissed it.
The monkey's yipped and barked as they swung on vines, and leaped on branches. They seemed to have picked up allies while chasing the two.
Auron heard a loud crash from a branch above him as he tried to search for a location he can defend himself properly.
Frantic with his movements and search, he did not find a defensible location quick enough. A powerful weight pressed into his back. Auron was knocked forward rolling several times before coming to a stop against one of the large trees in his path. While midroll, his face was greeted by several roots. The impact with the tree knocked the wind out of Auron's lungs and half of his hp out of his health pool. The King Baboon rushed forward to kick Auron again. At the last second, the boney rogue pointed his dagger forward, gripping it with both hands, and moved green mana directly behind him. Auron lost half of his vision as blood leaked from a cut above his eyebrow. Despite his halved vision, he had no trouble aiming at the animal as it charged.
Activating wind thrust, Auron used half of his slowly recovering mp and slammed blade first into the charging beast. As the knife sunk deep into the creature's meaty ribcage, Auron noticed the rough bristle-like fur as it pushed back against his hand; the coat paired with its thick hide and beefy physique stopped the blade from entering far.
The King baboon seized Auron by the shoulders with a vice-like grip and threw him away into another tree, the throw aided by a gust of wind from the creature. Like a frisbee, Auron flew spinning through the jungle.
The baboon landed with a tumble as it favors its injured side. Auron's landing was the broad side of a thick tree. His legs wrapped around it, and the back of his skull gave the trunk a rough kiss. Day turned to night as his vision faded slightly as the blow robbed him of his vision temporarily. Zander was thrown off a few meters to the side of where Auron landed.
Bleeding, and critically broken, the stars he saw, combined with the confused state of mind from a concussion made him woozy. He spat up a globule of blood as the impact sunk his health another hundred points.
Zander, like a god of wind and fury, rose up from where he landed. Auron raised a wobbly hand to stop Zander's attempt to heal him, as he noted his flashing health bar now stood at 100/400.
Auron activated stealth as the Large ape began to rise while holding its torn open side. It seemed though the blade did not enter deeply, in the process of shooting Auron away, it ripped a wide path down its ribs.
Called from the depths of Auron's core, devious purple mana sank into his surroundings.
The great baboon looked around, rage and confusion evident on its human-like face. The Large primate then yipped at the smaller monkeys watching the battle take place from the trees. They yip back in what sounded like a coordinated effort to locate Auron. The King began thrashing around vigorously as it furiously beat the ground like a drum.
It lept up, grabbed a branch, and snapped it off in a display of immense strength. If Auron had not already been on the move, the wild swing and the subsequent toss of the branch would have killed him.
Knowing he was on a time limit with this ability Auron swiftly moved around toward the back of the creature. Doing his best to keep a grip on his bloodied blade, Auron remembered it was him or the beast. He would strike true.
Running up behind it, he thrust his goblin blade into its back and used his dagger skill back-stab. The creature's thick latissimus muscle then clenched on the blade, and Auron worried it would snap. The 3x damage multiplier added to Auron's attack was still not enough to fell the beast.
Ripping outward with all of his strength, something important was cut. The beast's right arm fell uselessly to its side. Auron plunged the blade once more. Holding on to the hilt, he was brought backward at high speed. The ape threw them both into a tree. Auron felt its warm skin and rough fur scrape against his own as he pushed his knife toward its spine. Auron had to stab the monkey in the back two more times. Though he was being squished by the beasts panicked slams backward, the movement helped him sink the blade in deeply. Each stab tugged at Auron's emotions as he justified the attack in self-defense, being outnumbered by the animals, and every time it rocked him against the tree, he lost health and the sense of where he was.
This tale has been pilfered from Royal Road. If found on Amazon, kindly file a report.
Finally, he worked his dagger into its spinal cord. Like a marionette with its strings cut, the once great and powerful monkey king fell forward lifeless.
When the great beast died, Auron fell forward as well. Dragging himself to its corpse, he ripped its belt off.
The creature luckily was not on entirely flat ground, its chest propped up on a root, so the belt was easily removed. His half-conscious mind was not certain if the dungeon rules of items disappearing applied to the outside world as well. He was surprised by the weight. Or lack of weight, as he carefully clasped it around his waist.
Holding Belt of many pouches: This belt once used by a young adventurer was taken off its corpse and used for years, by the leader of a pack of Baboons. Four pouches are attached to this belt. Each pouch can hold one item or the duplicate of the said item up to a limit of 30.
The four pouches were split up, two on each side.
As he placed the belt on and the information flowed into his mind, the smaller baboons and three largest all jumped down to form a circle around him. Auron prepared to continue fighting. His health bar flashing worried him to the point that he told Zander to heal him. Auron raised his blade and summoned mana to his palm, ready to take on the rest of the pack.
As Zander summoned a blessed wind that restored him, the surrounding monkeys did something surprising. *Bing*
Baboon King title now available.
As the update flashed onto his screen, the Baboons around him grabbed each other's hands and bowed deeply. In a display of great flexibility and odd intelligence, their heads touched the ground.
Confused by the events, Auron opened his screen and read the title description while keeping one eye on the strange monkeys cautiously.
Baboon king- You have taken the life of a pack leader and stolen its title. The pack it once led will now follow your lead. You may call upon the pack once a month to aid you in battle. Creatures related to this species will not show you aggression immediately unless prompted.
As he read, Auron began to feel a twinge deep in his chest, and his eyes took on an iridescent glow. The amethyst shard in his storage ring flew out its place and hovered over Auron's head, The shard took on a purple light transforming into a mini star of mana, which began to resonate with the Larger monkey that had access to yellow mana.
When he finished reading the monkeys, all joined hands and leaped into the air. With a flash, the ring of monkeys had begun to spin in the air as the circle shrunk and became tighter. The purple glow from the amethyst joined with the brightness of yellow mana from the monkey. One more flash lit the area, and the monkeys were gone, replaced with something else. After a moment, a metal band floated down in front of Auron, as he and Zander watched in amazement. Raising out his palm, the semicircle of metal set down gently. A thin steel bracelet now rested in his hand, set into the bracelet, was a small amethyst gemstone speckled with what looked like gold. Sunk into the metal was a bead in the shape of a monkey's head. Auron hesitantly slipped it on while reading its description.
Pack summoning bracelet. As is the right of a king, you may command packs of monsters that you have asserted your authority over. The combination of purple blood magic and the manipulation of organic material given by yellow mana drive the Taming power that runs through this accessory.
Confused and overwhelmed by the events, he looked over at Zander. The look of bewilderment on his familiar's face told him quickly enough that neither of them had any clue what happened. After a few moments of stuttering, bewildered by the events that transpired. Auron summoned his bucket of water and clump of mushrooms and sat down hard against the nearest tree.
After taking a few hand-fulls of the water and devouring one of the mushrooms, he rested his head back on the tree. "I am never going to get used to whatever that was." He trails off as he tries once again to comprehend the sequence of events.
Zander was equally as confused. After a long pause and several minutes catching his breath, Auron made a loud grunting noise.
"So, there are eight types of mana, right?" He says, looking expectantly at Zander.
[Yes. There are eight types. Each type has its properties, element, and effects.] Zander says quickly, shaking off the trance he was under from the events he just witnessed.
Auron pushed himself up and began to pace. He forcefully ignored his protesting thigh muscles. "So each of these colors of mana has certain abilities, and separate from those abilities, each color also has an elemental type," Auron speaks his thoughts out loud, now swept up in the thoughts running through his mind. "I wonder if I can use my status slate to make a chart." He says as his pacing comes to an abrupt halt.
After several moments, and a line of failures, Auron pulled up his map and attempted to write everything out using the blank spaces mentally.
Warning incompatible process. Skill creation allowed. Chart creation skill granted. Secondary title awarded: Scholar.
Mentally selecting the title, he read its description.
Scholar: Though this title does not come with stat boons, you can now manipulate your status display. If enough information is gained, special attributes may be unlocked. Error. Lateral thinking skill already found.
Feeling something click in his mind Auron watched as an empty box appeared on his slate screen. Expanding the table, he then filled in all the information he knew so far by thinking back on his experiences.
Colors
Ability
Element
Green
Healing
Wind
Blue
Arcane?
Water
Red
Perception
Fire
Purple
Mind manipulation
Blood magic
Black
Condensing or pulling
Gravity?
White
?
?
Yellow
Sound, or organic something?
?
Grey
?
Earth
The rudimentary table would have to do for now. Auron did feel a little better now that he was able to write down his observations. Reading the Table to Zander, he was pleased that his familiar had no objections to the data.
After staring at the empty boxes, he sighed and left them as question marks. Eventually, he would know more and keep track of what the various combinations of colors did. "Zander. Why do animals not have levels?" Auron asked after contemplating for a while.
After he struggled to speak for a moment, [Animals were not included in the Agreement, but received elemental power as a bi-product. That which was taken had to go somewhere.] Zander's face twisted in pain as he said the words "Agreement" and Auron felt the air around them warp at the mention. This Agreement was something Auron would have to find out more about.
As he stood, Auron noticed that the body of the old Baboon king still lay where he had left it. Its lifeless eyes, reminiscent of a doll, stared off at nothing. Now that the battle and subsequent commotion had ended, the small creatures and insects were making a racket. Something lit with blue mana whooshed by as Auron ducked defensively. After realizing whatever it was had no care for Auron, he looked back at the animal's corpse.
With no dungeon to reclaim it, the body would rot. Out of remorse or respect, Auron began to dig into the dirt next to the creature. By the time he had dug a hole wide enough to fit the large being, the sun was starting to disappear over the far mountainside. Sweat pooled on his brow, and tiny insects would not stop flying into his eyes.
Auron absentmindedly worked as the shadows grew longer. His stat changes in strength, allowed him to work much longer than he would have before. Eventually, the hole was big enough that Auron could push in the body. He would not always be able to pay his enemy's respect, but even if he had to harden his heart for battle, he would not forsake it altogether.
The evening had come by the time he slowly slid the body into the hole. After a great push, the body tipped down into it. After falling in, Auron noticed a glow emanating from its chest. The glow reminded him of wind magic. Hesitantly reaching out to touch the location, Auron was surprised when the source moved out of its body and laid on its chest.
Wind stone: The source of power for an aged elemental animal. Can be used to upgrade a familiar of a different element.
"Well, that is interesting," Auron says while looking at Zander. "This will not be any use to us though." He says as Zander shakes his head in agreement. Slipping the item into his ring Auron finished pushing in the body. He did his best to cover it with dirt, but the result was unsatisfactory.
"I wouldn't be surprised if this is too shallow." He said after stepping back and looking at his work. "I guess that is the circle of life." He said slowly. Not ashamed of his fight, but not proud of having to kill something again either. Kneeling near the grave, he placed one hand on the mound of dirt and stood up.
Brushing the soil from his hands, he invited Zander to jump on his shoulders, and the two head back over to the tower.