My conjured blade had evaporated somewhere in-between me being sent flying by the Monkey King's kick and impacting with the ground hard enough to at least pop a few things internally.

The breaths were starting to come now, though, at least one or two, but they were pretty damn ragged.

Regardless, with the breaths came the rage.

My hand raised, shaking and angry. Without hesitation, without dwelling on just how strong and apparently fast this monster was, I grabbed his ankle.

"Get... your... foot... off me, fucking... asshole," I said through pained exhalations.

And, to my surprise, the Monkey King's bored expression evaporated.

He laughed, his chuckle a halfway point between looking like he felt bad for me and being actually amused.

"You just might be human, huh?" he said as his foot started to slip off of my back; my weakened fingers trailed from his metallic fur without much fight.

What did he say?

I still hadn't quite caught my breath--

"Fun," he said, his chuckle turning into a smile; his big, pearly-looking teeth were full on display--what were they even made of?

His foot still hovered in the air, his balance perfect looking and still oh so casual, as if he was contemplating.

Oh fuck no--

Then he kicked me again.

I more felt than heard the crunch in my ribs. I guess if sounds were just vibrations then, strictly speaking, I heard the jangling of my bones in my entire body.

God, it hurt.

Where before I'd simply been sent flying, now I was outright spinning, rotating like a flicked top as I'd been hefted off the meadow field of a tower top and sent tracing along its breadth with speed.

I buzzed past multiple trees. In my third or fourth rotation I could swear I saw the Monkey King... waving bye at me?

That asshole. Was he still smiling? Why did he look like he was just on an evening stroll with a friend or something?

I didn't have time to contemplate the possibly sadistic nature of the golem, however. As soon as I'd seen his mocking wave my face was already rotating away from him.

And, because of that, I realized I was heading straight for the trunk of one of the massive fantasy-variety dogwoods.

I could feel that my body had grown stronger, but I hadn't invested in Endurance or Strength. If I hit the tree I'd probably almost die. Could a healing spell, or [Arcane Fencer] even knit me back together?

Fuck that and fuck the damn monkey.

[Fire-Flicker] flared, fueled through my pain and by my defiance; it was hard to grasp the spell through the agony, but, with as closely connected as that particular spell was to my soulcore it was a little easier to reach for.

My body waivered, glowing and then forming into a wisping cloud of purple fire. The change of my form's state did nothing to dull the pounding discomfort I was in, and I almost fell out of the spell, but I just barely managed to hold onto it on account of how pissed I was.

The orientation of my limbs within [Fire-Flicker] was somewhat of a tricky thing to grasp when I didn't have any limbs. The same sensation of floaty-diembodiedness had been a problem with [Mana-Flicker] as well, but the further I pushed my [Spell-Control] skill, the less [Fire-Flicker] seemed to hold my transformed state to not behaving like fire.

I was still bound to gravity, though, at least at my current skill level. The sheer, bone-cracking momentum the Monkey King had hit me with still carried over as my body became a cloud of purple blaze.

How did that make sense, if fire was energy and not strictly solid matter?

Hell if I knew. Shit was quite literally magic. Mana was weird, I guess.

Thankfully, in the strange world the System dominated, unless a spell was designed to make it do it, fire still retained its inability to really hit things.

When my body, as morphed as it was by my sorcery, smashed into the otherworldly, silvered tree, instead of it breaking my every bone, I simply split around it.

The purple blaze that was me broke into two parts, flowing off to either side of the plant. The sensation was fucking weird, but it gave me just enough time to right myself.

Pulling myself back together felt natural, as if it was what the spell wanted me to do. The two halves of me made flame recombined, my body solidifying once it was on the other side of the tree.

I staggered back as the flame cloud I'd become grew into the shape of me and I once more touched down upon solid ground.

Agony redoubled throughout all of my reformed ribs. My hand fell to grab at my torso and my other grasped frantically for the trunk of the tree I'd just hit as I fell into it.

It was all I could do not to fall over.

My health-bar was flashing ominously. Something was damaged inside. I could feel it.

The mana of my soulcore still came slowly when I reached for it. [Arcane Fencer] gave me some control over my natural processes thanks to the spells I'd fed it during its creation; as far as I could tell it was more efficient than [Accelerate Healing] had ever been.

Arcane Energies pulsed through my core, knitting unseen broken pieces within me. All of the agony was blending together though, I could tell by my health bar that I was getting better now, but too many thinks were shattered for relief to come quickly.

My hair fell around my eyes as I looked up to search for the Monkey King.

I thought he'd be gone, but he wasn't.

He was walking towards me now, the eye upon his forehead open for the first time.

The golem had an eyebrow raised in my direction. Then, to my surprise, he nodded at me in what looked like approval.

After the nod had been given, the air around the Monkey King rippled. His body waivered and twisted as if becoming a mirage.

I pulled up higher against the tree trunk I struggled to hold myself against.

"What do you have against humans!" I screamed at him, maybe trying to throw him off, maybe just trying to buy myself time to recover.

"Nothing, really," the King replied, his slowly rising voice barely reaching me from the distance, as he span his glaive as if warming up for a fight. "But are you kidding? If I did? You guys can be real dicks."

Then he was gone again, as if he'd been pulled into some space in-between the air; he didn't disappear, or teleport, though, his body quite literally seemed to slide into the space that surrounded him.

Where the hell had the monster gone?

My healing was good, better than it'd ever been, but it wasn't immediate. Still, my health bar was just barely out of the red now. Through my mana was all but halved after the strain of managing the feat of surving the monster's blows.

I scanned my head, half expecting the creature to appear to kick me again. But he didn't.

What was the golem playing at?

And where was Gwen?

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

Clarissa was sent flying. Gwen didn't catch it at first: the appearance of the golem. The Monkey King was too fast for her, but she did feel a strange disruption in the ambient mana around herself and Clarissa before she even saw him.

The panther's body acted before her mind did, however, even before her eyes could register the Monkey King's appearance, and she turned on the suddenly appeared attacker, just as he was lowering his leg following his strike.

The Monkey King's eyes glanced to the cat.

His System nameplate rippled as if glitching.

[Monkey King, Level ???, Elite.]

As Gwen stared at the golem, her teeth barred in a vicious snarl that ignored the primal terror raging in her chest in response to the sudden concentration of mana surrounding the thing.

Then it returned to normal as if it had never happened at all.

[Monkey King, Level 30, Elite.]

The Monkey King looked at Gwen, the eye upon his forehead wide open and glowing vibrantly gold. "You're very loyal aren't you."

It wasn't a question. Not that Gwen would've taken the time to answer it.

The panther lunged, despite her legs screaming at her not to attack. She was scared yes, but also angry someone had dared to attack Clarissa.

The air around the Monkey King rippled, however, and, by the time Gwen was where he had been, her claws met nothing but air.

And a golden rush of movement, with claws of its own, slammed into her rippling torso.

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

I searched frantically, a shot of adrenaline filling me. I didn't see Gwen anywhere.

The panther was gone. The Monkey King was gone. Even his dog was gone.

Had they stolen my cat?

Meanwhile, the winged monkeys up above, which I'd practically forgotten about began to screech and begin their descent towards the garden.

"That's going to be fun for you."

I spun on the voice immediately. My legs listened to me a bit better now, at least well enough to half-backstep and half-limp away from the tree I'd been holding onto as I self-healed.

The tree that the Monkey King was now casually sitting up in, his body draped over its biggest branch as comfortably-looking as possible.

"What are you doing!?" I screamed at him, already feeling my hand summoning a runic grenade from my inventory. "Where's Gwen?"

"You're probably too low level to have a real teleport skill, but it's still rare to have the beginnings of an elemental-body like that," the golem said as he casually swung his free-hanging leg back and forth in the air beneath the tree-limb he sat upon; his back was set firmly against the trunk of the plant itself. "I'm impressed you're still standing. You got a self-heal spell too? What do your elemental manipulation levels look like?"

My mouth would've fell open if I wasn't so pissed, if my heart wasn't hammering through my chest in what was probably truly real fight or flight induced quasi shock.

When did the sage act get dropped? This guy didn't sound at all like this earlier.

"Where'd the wise, meditating guy go? Humans can be real dicks? It's like you're two different people the way you're talking now," I said. "And Gwen... where's my cat?"

"More than that actually," the Monkey King replied and then smiled wide. "And you fell for that? Sorry, you were just too easy. I was meditating before you showed up, but come on."

The Monkey King cleared his throat, holding up a single finger, and putting on what looked to be a serene face, even going so far as to close his eyes as if to mime centering himself. "Why do you further violate this fallen temple, child? Only an end to stories is to be found atop this citadel."

The Monkey King paused for a second, as if waiting for me to respond to his mocking quoting of himself.

My mouth really was hanging open now.

When I didn't give him anything, the golem slowly peeked open one of his three eyes. Then stuck his tongue out at me.

He continued: "A wise final boss, waiting for you serenely on top of a tower? Even the System is only that cliché half of the time."

My grip on the enchanted stone in my palm grew much tighter.

"Why are you fucking with me?" I said through clenched teeth. "And more than what?"

"I'm more than two people, kinda-sorta. At least I can be," the Monkey King replied casually, choosing to answer my second question about what he'd said first. "And, because, I'm trying to decide if I'm helping you or not. You could be worth my time, but--"

The Monkey King paused and looked over my shoulder, his lips pursing into an amused o-shape. "Oh."

"Oh?" I said, not willing to take my eyes off the strange monster in front of me. "Do you think I'm stupid?"

"I hate to tell you what to do," the Monkey King trailed his voice. "Well, no, I guess I really don't, but..."

"But?" I snapped, my desire to peek over my shoulder only growing.

"You should really dodge that?" he offered, raising his hands in what looked like a casual acquiescence.

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

Gwen felt the impact strongly, but the flare of mana that followed blinded her before she could fully react to the hit.

The world evaporated, at least momentarily, and solidity and sense went with it.

Then, it all reappeared in an instant, and she felt her limbs become whole again.

Senseless floating, a sensation that she had not enjoyed no matter how brief, became claw on claw combat.

She felt teeth pierce her shoulder and met it with a swipe of her lightning-charged paw.

A loud whine echoed as she tore through metallic fur. Together her and the Celestial Hound, which had blindsided the panther, slammed hard into silver metal, rolling away from each other for a few feet.

They were still on the floating rings, she could tell that much, but they were on a different section, a middle piece, now.

They'd moved through space instantly, somehow; she'd have to be careful of that she reasoned.

Gwen found her equilibrium winning out easily, despite the hard roll, and she was on her feet by the time the hound was just managing to lift itself back onto its powerful legs.

The panther rumbled low in defiance.

Fine then, she reasoned, she'd remove one enemy and then help Clarissa with the other.

The Monkey King had seemed strong, but she trusted her companion. Her person would find a way to win her fight.

Gwen lunged, her body becoming violent lightning.

In response, the unwavering hound broke into a run towards her, its body manifesting into a silhouette of divine light itself.

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

Suddenly hearing the incoming shrieks of the winged monkeys from behind me, I had no choice but to look away from the Monkey King.

I lashed out with my arm, throwing my runic grenade into the mouth of the nearest airborne automaton. The explosion that followed was at least somewhat satisfying.

But they were in a swarm, a gaggle of monkeys. A troop? Or would the winged ones make it a flight?

Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

A mana-rune burned itself off underneath my armor, as a bit of the mana it granted me was instantly burned up and sent pulsing through my legs.

I side-stepped and dodged away from another flying golem, bringing my hands together and withdrawing the pillar of fire that was my summoned blade.

By the time the second monkey had come back in for me, I was already ahead of it. With a violent twist of my hips, I tore my rapier through its neck and beheaded the beast in one go. [Raging Blade] being upgraded into [Arcane Flametongue] made my weapon much, much better at cutting through the mana-resistant metal the automatons were made of.

The next monkey didn't even wait for its comrade to hit the ground to come in for the kill, however.

At close range, however, I had at least somewhat of an advantage. They weren't that fast and, despite being airborne, they didn't have any ranged weapons.

I raised my left arm and fired off my grappling line, [Blazing Weapon] was cast even before the spear-tip had left its housing and, enshrouded in the purple-hot flames of the spell, the sharp point of the metallic cord easily pierced through the head of an incoming monkey, and then another, and another.

Soon enough, I had a string of spasming and winged golems, all strung out along the cable of my self-moving and thought-guided grappling line.

I didn't have time for mercy. Not for robots. Not when there were so many of them.

More were already coming. Too many. I couldn't even count them all.

My grappling line began to rapidly retract as my body, and all of my gear, pulled into a cloud of flame.

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

A winged monkey came in, I forced my right hand to solidify and remove its head.

Controlling [Fire-Flicker] for long periods of time strained my mind. It was like my brain didn't like not having four limbs and a generally human shape, as if it wasn't designed for it--which, I guess it wasn't.

My [Spell-Control] and [Fire-Manipulation] skills were climbing rapidly, however, and I was starting to be able to pull off some cool tricks despite the headache of it all.

For example, I'd just completely dissolved my right arm and snaked the purple fire it'd become between the legs of one beheaded monkey, only to reform my hand--and sword--on the other side of it to behead the second monster floating behind the first. All the while the length of the rest of my arm remained in the shape of flame.

My left arm, meanwhile, I'd lifted to fire my spell-enchanted grappling line through a few more of the enemies.

My feet were getting pretty solid underneath me again and I was starting to catch my stride.

"You got the skill yet?" I jumped as the voice of the Monkey King asked me the question from where he'd appeared leaning up against a tree I'd just dodged behind.

"Screw off!" I shouted at him as I slashed the head of a different enemy that followed me around the tree.

The Monkey King made a 'tsk sound before I was forced to lose sight of him as I broke into a cloud of flame to avoid another golem's incoming claws.

"This just isn't going to work," the Monkey King's voice continued, as I felt a pair of hands grabbing me from behind as I reformed. "If you keep healing the pain away you'll never get it."

"Let go of me!" I whirled as fast as I could, but my sword only hit air.

I felt the talons of the Monkey King's hand piercing straight through my side before I heard his voice. "Now I know it hurts--"

I staggered and my knees hit the ground. How could I stop this monster?

As he was prone to do, the Monkey King was suddenly standing in a different space above me as I grasped at the gaping hole that now took up my stomach. I'd never been hurt that badly before.

The very, violent acting and yet very calm sounding golem shook my blood off of his beautifully carved hand as he continued speaking: "but this is important. The way you flounder around when you get broken up just ain't gonna work. You can't dodge everything."

My eyes shook as the Monkey King's form became two of him. I was pretty sure it wasn't magic causing the effect though, just my own rapidly dropping blood pressure and fluid loss.

The golem continued speaking: "Don't make me kick you again to make this work. Suffer through it like a big girl."

I grasped for my mana, flaring it into my legs, just enough to jump forward from the ground even despite my grievous wound.

The Monkey King's eyes grew wide as he back-stepped, time slowing in my perception as he just barely managed to avoid the cutting edge of my blade.

"I'm going to kill you," I gasped.

The third eye on the golem's forehead was already opening as he was smiling again. "Gonna have to cut up the other monkeys in the circus first."

The golem's body rippled into nothingness and I was left, my insides dangerously close to becoming my outsides, as the next swarm of winged, lesser automatons came in at me.

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

There was no time to pull one of my few remaining health potions out.

I had to fight and heal at the same time, and I had to do it with just magic. If I didn't... I'd die.

[Healing Hands] flared in my left hand, enshrining it in its golden aura as [Arcane Fencer] also worked to fix me up.

Meanwhile, my sword arm worked vigorously just to fight back the spinning horde of flying monsters.

I was surrounded now. I couldn't dance away, not when I could barely stand.

The winged golems could still touch me in my fire-form. It made me more elusive, but it didn't make me invincible.

It wasn't long before the first scratches made it through my armor.

Then the glancing blows became deep ones.

I stumbled. I'd lost too much blood.

My mana bar flickered as it fully depleted.

My mind waivered. I couldn't even activate my last mana-rune.

I was falling then.

And just as I did, he appeared in front of me.

Like a whirlwind, the Monkey King's body rippled out of empty space.

The nimble Golem spun his glaive and cut the winged monkey nearest to me in half, another followed that one in death and then another.

Then, the Monkey King leaned back and his weapon extended, growing longer and cutting through or knocking aside every monster that flapped its body through the air for at least ten feet.

When he finished with the ones directly around him, the Monkey King rolled his weapon over his head and individually bisected the remaining golems.

And he chuckled once as he did it.

My health bar, meanwhile, flashed as it neared zero.

I hadn't even realized I'd hit the ground.

My eyes flashed black, my blinks became slow.

"Did ya' get it?" the Monkey King asked me. "It takes a shit-ton of hurt and damage to manage getting the skill, but you should have it by now."

What did he--

Oh, I could see it now. Two System notifications had just populated.

[+5 Pain-Resistance.]

Of course. Then there was the other notification.

[You are nearing death.]

I blinked and the Monkey King was still looking at me.

"You should heal yourself, if you did get it," the Monkey King offered. "I'm not going to do it for you."

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

I fell into blackness.

My mind faltered, drifting.

A voice.

"Clarissa. You have to heal."

It wasn't the Monkey King's voice. It was sing-song. So familiar. It was friendly.

"I can't," I whispered as I felt myself falling further into the black of nothingness. "Too much pain."

A silence followed. Just nothingness.

And then there was a flash of green mana.

"Okay," the voice was accepting, calm, but laced with a twinge of reserve, "I'll do it for you. Forgive me for overstepping again."

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

My eyes shot open.

My mana was half-filled. My health bar was mostly refilled.

I felt better, but the last mana-rune on my chest was gone.

But I hadn't activated it, or healed myself. I remembered that now.

I forced myself to sit up.

The Monkey King turned to look at me and raised an eyebrow. "That's interesting."

A flash of light glowed out beside the golem and I watched as a mass of mangled red and white tumbled out of it.

Gwen.

Following the limp form of the panther, a hound stepped from the light next, before it flared out.

The Monkey King glanced at my half-dead companion, unmoving before looking back at me and speaking again: "You know, I'm going to kill her if you don't fight."

I was on my feet before I'd realized it. Then my feet became fire. I crossed the space between me and the Monkey King in a flicker's worth of time--meaning barely any at all.

With no time to unsheathe my sword, and not willing to give the golem enough of a moment to open his third eye and teleport away, the mana for a [Fireball] had already pooled itself into my hand by the time it was slapping against the Monkey King's hard, metallic cheek.

The concussive ball of fire exploded the moment it touched the golem's face.

For the first time I saw the monster falter, his powerful neck being sent careening to the side by the blast of my spell.

I didn't hesitate, my right fist followed my first open-palm hook with an overhand strike. I wasn't thinking though, I was so angry. My right hand simply connected, this time being closed, as I channeled the power and intent of a [Fireball] spell into it.

The purple aura of my flames enshrouded my right fist and, upon contact, exploded.

[You have learned a spell! Exploding Fist [3rd] added to spell list.]

I didn't think to reflect on this revelation. I was too mad, even if it'd been a while since I'd created a spell in the moment.

I went in for another hit, planting my feet hard as I summoned my new power, and drew on my old boxing days, to bring a violently intended uppercut straight towards the damned monkey.

Arcane fire condensed around my fist and, without even thinking as I was doing it, my left arm erupted into a [Fire-Flicker] from the wrist down. My hand, wrapped in the aura of [Exploding Fist] was rocketed up by the exploding pillar of flame that connected to my still-manifested elbow, directly into the chin of my opponent.

It was the Monkey King's turn to lift off the ground now, if only a little, as he was sent staggering back.

My mana regeneration rate was good, but even I knew it couldn't keep up forever, or much longer for that matter. I needed to kill the Monkey King before he got his footing.

As the monster staggered backwards, I retracted my flaming arm, solidifying it and summoning my conjured sword as I did so.

Time slowed, as I altered my perceptions with [Arcane Fencer] and forced my body to its limits with it as well.

Sword at the ready, I lunged, activating [Resolute Strike] as I did so.

The Monkey King's head was still lurched back. He was exposed. I knew I could cut the metal he was made of as long as it was the same as the others. I could kill him.

And I would. For what he did to Gwen.

My shoulders flexed. My body letting go of my reservations towards slaughtering a thinking person.

Only the flash that erupted at my side stopped me from fully committing to my blow against the Monkey King.

The Celestial Hound came in faster than I could move. Its canine were barred, ready to rip me in half.

The only thing that saved me was the power of [Resolute Strike] flowing through my body as the ability drained my stamina bar to about half.

I pivoted, pulling on skill, spell, and my activated ability.

The hound and I crossed paths.

It was close, but I struck first.

My blade dug into the neck of the monster, sundering it.

"Enough!" I heard a violent shout and I felt an unseen force ram into me from behind.

I rolled, time catching up to me, and landed on the ground hard.

Breathing in ragged breaths, I felt a twinge of thought pass over mine and Gwen's soulbond for the first time since I'd seen that she was hurt.

Instantly, I turned my head to the cat. I'd landed almost beside her.

"Gwen," I stammered.

She was looking at me, but she was hurt badly.

"Clarissa," she heaved, her massive chest barely being able to get the words out.

"Get in my soulcore," I said.

"You need--" she rasped.

"Now!" I shrieked, only now realizing that my face was streaked with tears that had probably been there the entire time I was punching the hell out of the Monkey King.

The panther's drooping eyes let go of their defiance and, with a flash, I felt her flow into me.

I closed my eyes and reached for her touch. I found it easily enough. She was weak, but alive.

As long as I lived she would recover within my spirit.

So I had to live.

My eyes trailed to the Monkey King. The monster looked grieved as he stroked his own companion's head.

"I told him to suppress himself so we could give you a fair fight," the strange golem said; there was deep sadness in his voice. "He listened."

The Monkey King closed his eyes and I could see his hand gripping his glaive hard.

The unmoving Celestial Hound flashed brightly and, just as Gwen had flown into me, the wolf-like canine's spirit flared into the body of the Monkey King.

It was his familiar?

The Monkey King opened his eyes and came to stand as he spoke: "You're strong. I didn't think you'd be able to kill me, even if I limited myself."

The golem brought his hand to his jaw and rubbed it, before continuing: "Oren saw that you might've taken my head there, so he stepped in, but he still obeyed me and didn't try to hit you nearly as hard as he could've."

The third eye on the Monkey King's forehead opened and his nameplate began to shift and glitch.

[Monkey King, Level ???, Boss.]

"I'll give it to you that you're strong, strong enough; the potentials there," the Monkey King admitted, his eyes were way more serious than they'd been before. "So, tell me: why are you fighting? That's just as important."

I raised myself up, a look of disgust in the snarl that I gave the golem. "Fuck you."

His nose twitched. "I'm trying to be civil. You almost killed my dog. I can help you, I just need to know--"

I gripped my sword in front of me and interrupted his spiel. "Fuck you. I don't need your help."

The Monkey King's mouth hung down a bit as I watched his better angels lose the fight behind his eyes. "You know what? Fuck you."

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

The air rippled around the Monkey King, but this time he didn't teleport away. He stayed right where he was, but more of him appeared nonetheless. One after another, creating a ring of monkeys that surrounded me.

"You're a real bitch, you know that?" the Monkey King said, all of his mouths talking at once. "But I'll at least make this lesson fair."

The monster's nameplate flickered again, restoring his level.

[Monkey King, Level 30, Boss.]

I didn't have time for whatever weird shit he was up to.

I lunged forward, raising my blade as if to strike.

The Monkey King grimaced and moved to meet my blade swing..

[Fire-Flicker] activated and my body began a swirl of flame that slipped the golem's guard.

I didn't like being surrounded.

My upper torso appeared behind the original Monkey King, my legs still a tail of flames and I brought my sword down hard into his shoulder, bisecting it and removing his weapon-wielding arm.

I could cut him, after all.

The Monkey King grunted in pain as his glaive fell free to the ground. I couldn't, however, avoid the angry kick that he lashed out with in response to his injury.

I flew through the air and, before I knew it, I was smashing into the intact arms of two of his clones. They must've teleported behind me.

"Why the hell are you fighting so hard?" the armless version of the golem said as he started to approach me, his voice sounded annoyed. "I tried to talk to you!"

"Fucking hypocrite," I grunted and reached my hands up to the faces of both of the clones that held me. "It's because I don't trust you!"

"Will you stop--" the two clones began to say in unison, before I ignited the piercing flame runes I'd kept in reserve on my palms.

I'd packed a lot of compressed magic into the runes when I'd stored them away and, by the time I was running forward to meet my original, armless enemy, the two clones of his that had tried to hold me back were stumbling around with large holes in their heads.

The armless Monkey King brought his remaining hand up to his face and sighed. "I don't need a feral child who can't communicate. Training butchers isn't my style."

Two of the clones milling behind the golem flickered out of realspace, only to appear off to either side of me with their glaives raised.

Flaring the mana I had remaining in my soulcore, I reinforced my flexibility and, when the pair swung their weapons down, I rolled my back over and behind my hips. My head, to aid my evasive maneuver, became a pillar of hard to hit flame, slipping right under the edges of the weapons intent on stopping me.

My hands, meanwhile, both summoned runic grenades. My free palm simply tossed the rune under the feet of the nearest monkey. My sword-hand, meanwhile, fumbled to do the same.

Once they'd fallen beneath my enemies, I ignited the runes with my mind without hesitation.

By the time I was standing, my grappling line was already shooting out rapidly to pierce the ankle of the injured Monkey King.

"What the--" the golem's eyes grew big, as I yanked him off his feet. "Fuck!"

The counter-effect of pulling the golem over, however, was that I was sent flying towards him.

Exhausted, and with my mana rapidly depleting, I smashed atop the metallic monster and we were both sent rolling over one-another. My sword fumbled from my grip, flying off somewhere.

Coming out on top of him, I straddled the golem and raised my fist.

[Exploding Fist] wrapped my hand in concussive, purple flame as I brought it down angrily.

A tooth was sent flying from the Monkey King's mouth when I connected with the mini hand-to-hand variation of my [Fireball] spell.

"Sto--" he started to say.

I hit him again. I couldn't trust him. I wasn't a butcher like he said, I didn't like murder. I would've like to have spared him if I could, but he was too unpredictable.

I dropped my other hand into his eye, hard, and my fist exploded with arcane fire against his thickened faceplate.

My chest heaved. I was so tired. My mana was practically gone; I was just using whatever was regenerating.

"Wai--" the Monkey King tried to say.

He'd almost killed Gwen.

I dropped all of my weight and mana into another strike. My body sluggishly followed after my falling strike.

I had to protect my friend.

I had to survive.

My knuckles were bloody, my hand deformed from driving itself into the alien metal of my enemy.

I raised my hand again.

"Plea--" the golem started to say.

I couldn't trust him.

My fist came down again, just as the Monkey King's System nameplate flickered.

"No more!" he bellowed, a newfound strength in his tone.

[Monkey King, Level ???, Boss.]

My [Exploding Fist] hit, my face a strained mix of regret and finality, but this time I felt like I was punching not just metal, but the concept of solidity itself.

My hand cracked as the explosion of my spell went off.

The Monkey King's dented, golden eyes were staring up at me with rage. He turned his head to face my own, easily ignoring that my fist was still on his face.

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The clones of the monster yanked me off of him, restraining my hands with their now seemingly much greater strength.

The injured Monkey King, his face a mess of dents, and still missing an arm approached me.

I met his gaze as he slammed his hand into my face, a punch returned for all the ones I'd subjected him to.

I felt my jaw crack. Ouch.

My health dropped by nearly a fourth.

"I could kill you with less than a thought!" he roared.

My neck felt like it'd been put on a bobble head's body. I could barely keep it straight enough to look at the golem. When had he got so strong?

"Fuck you," I whispered through the broken teeth and blood, purely and only being so repetitive because the phrase itself seemed to piss him off.

I didn't want to die. But I was so tired of this world's bullshit.

"Why are you intent on killing me?!" he screamed, his hand raised for another strike. "When someone begs you to spare them, do you not stop? I don't have room for someone like you in my Centrality."

"Did you give her a chance to beg," I said; I had felt what Gwen had been feeling when I'd met her eyes. She'd fought for me and herself... and she'd failed. She felt like a failure, despite being on deaths door. "Or me?"

The Monkey King's face shifted and the fury abated in his eyes somewhat. He lowered his hand.

"You have will and talent; you're far above where you should be for your level," he admitted and sighed. "Maybe I did overstep."

"Are you going to kill me?" I asked.

I felt fear. I did, but at the same time... I felt something else to.

In response to this unnamed emotion, I forced myself to stare at the Monkey King, to stare into the eyes of death.

And, honestly, I felt a bit of satisfaction at seeing his mangled metal features. I'd fucked death up pretty badly, huh?

"Maybe... just tell me why you fight already, about why you want to win so bad," he replied, a bit of good-spirit returning to his tone. "This could still shake out alright for you."

Was he serious?

Images of Gwen and my siblings instantly flashed through my mind at his question.

But I wasn't going to give him the satisfaction.

"Fuck you," I said instead.

What right did he have to be the god who decided if I lived or died? My life was my right not his.

The Monkey King's hackles raised and his face became incredulous. "You've gotta be..."

I saw the golem give-up mentally then; it was all to clear in his eyes and on his face. I'd gotten him, broken through his tough veneer.

I smirked a little bit as the Monkey King began to speak again, despite the terror flaring in my tired chest:

"You're such a bitch," he said as he raised his fist again.

The world went black as he connected with the unbroken side of my face, hard.

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Dragging, my hair burned against my scalp.

My body was too tired to move, even though I wanted to reach up and fight against the hands of whoever was pulling me across the ground.

My eyes flickered open slowly.

"Good, you're awake," the Monkey King's voice said from above me, though he didn't stop tugging me along behind him. "I've decided this whole thing might've been my fault. I'm not sure if you're just the dumbest talented potential student I've found in a while, or just really angry at the world."

We stopped and I strained my eyes up to meet the Monkey King's own, as he continued to speak:

"But, after thinking about it, I don't think you're a butcher after all," he continued. "I've reflected on all the variables and, well, you tried really hard to stay alive and I think you might've mostly done that to keep your friend alive too--with her being tucked all safe in your soulcore."

I felt the golem pull me up; pain flooded through my scalp, as he held me with one-hand at eye-level.

I still couldn't move, my health bar flashing at around one-percent.

The golem's mouth kept moving, however:

"And I like your spirit, I guess; even if you pack a mean right hook."

"Fuck--" I started to say, after pulling up every little bit of strength I still had left in order to speak.

The Monkey King rolled his eyes and cut me off: "Yes, fuck me, I get it."

He smiled big and slipped in a snide remark: "That's why I'm dragging you by the hair and not carrying you."

He continued and shook his head, disapprovingly: "Anyway, your quest objective is down there. I'm going to postpone my judgement on whether I help you or, you know, kill you before you become a threat to yourself and everyone around you like all talented, bad apples eventually do. So... good luck I guess."

And then he tossed me into the pillar of light at the center of the garden.