[Decoy] collapsed from the hit, leaving the Chain Nail stuck in the ground.

  The Primal Dread Monkey faltered, unsure of the kill.

  I once again owed my life to quick thinking and anticipation . . . and to [Decoy]. It was such a simple technique, yet it served me better than any special ability could.

  Who needed a [Shadow Arm Darkness Mind Laser Pulse Cannon] when my current techniques worked just fine? Maybe, my moveset wasn’t so bad after all—

  Focus, Damien.

  The real me crouched in the grass, having left [Decoy] to stand in my place. As long as I remained immobile, the Primal Dread Monkey would have difficulty seeing through [Stealth]. I could finish the battle with [Sneak Attack] if I timed things properly . . .

  But, the Primal Dread Monkey roared in fury. It raised its palms above its head . . .

  I knew that technique—

  Clap!

  A thunderous wave exploded across the forest. Many of the regulars fell on their faces, stunned by the technique.

  I managed to hold my ground, but my eardrums suffered all the same. The damage affected my health meter and summoned a [System] message.

  You have been struck with [Deafness]!

  All sustained skills and abilities have now been deactivated.

  You are afflicted with [Dismay]!

  All stats have been reduced by [2].

  The sudden reduction caused me to drop by one tier in Strength, Perception, and Dexterity, each of which had been sitting at 11, 21, and 31 respectively thanks to my lone Fear stack.

  In the blink of an eye, I’d gone from silver rank to Iron as far as the potency of my attributes was concerned. It meant certain defeat if I remained in battle, but where could I run to?

  The Primal Dread Monkey charged, leveling the ground in its wake. The entire forest vibrated with the force of its advance. Those vibrations reached my ears as though through a curtain of water. But, my hearing was shot, and my balance suffered as a result.

  I managed to dodge despite the odds and avoided the monster’s initial assault. Its large hand closed around my foot—

  “[Silhouette]!”

  I didn’t need to shout, but my senses were all jumbled up. Black tendrils punched the monster’s arm, forcing it to launch me into a tree.

  My head rang with the force of the impact, obscuring my vision. Pain radiated across my back.

  The Primal Dread Monkey pivoted, abandoning the fallen Wood Elves to chase after me. Again, I could only rely on vibrations to maintain my sense of awareness.

  The air currents shifted—

  I rolled aside and avoided the Chains of the Combat Ape which obliterated the tree behind me.

  The monkey continued without pause. Heavy chains flattened the ground over and over in an attempt to squash me. I escaped the barrage and raised [Silhouette] in my defense—and, just in time, because a combat chain shattered the mass of tendrils and flung me into the air.

  The Primal Dread Monkey stomped around in jubilation.

  Curse this crap. I had become weaker than I was at the start of the battle, and unless something changed, I was going to die.

  Hey! It seems you are afraid.

  +1 has been added to all stats.

  Yes!

  A surge of energy filled me as my stats returned to the threshold. I vaulted neatly over the next attack and swung my Chain Nail to pin the monkey’s weapon to a tree.

  The Primal Dread Monkey tugged, but the fused chains didn’t come loose. With a guttural roar, it uprooted the entire tree. I retracted my Chain Nail at that moment to send its weapon flying into its face.

  To its credit, it caught the combat chains between its teeth without flinching. We glared at each other from across a gap of ten meters: man versus monkey.

  I had about seventy percent of HP left in my health meter; the monkey had only forty. Even then, its raw HP outsized mine. It could also kill me with two clean hits which tipped the battle in its favor.

  My hearing remained completely ruined. [Nightfall], however, was still in play. [Dark Stalker] returned from cooldown as a result with record speed. And, [Silhouette] had shown remarkable increases in speed, power, and reflexes . . .

  All things considered, the monster and I were even. Victory boiled down to whoever took the most chances. And, I put those chances in my favor by taking the first step.

  The movements of the air currents changed. I raised my blade in anticipation of the monkey’s attack; it did not disappoint. It crossed the distance between us in a single bound, raising large hammer fists above its head.

  Despite the circumstances, a grin cut across my face. This was my chance to prove that I had surpassed the old Damien. And, to be honest? Fuck this monkey.

  I stepped aside in the same manner the Samurai had done against my party. And then, calling on [Dark Stalker], I vanished into the shadows. [Silhouette] attacked from the opposite flank before the monkey could react and launched multiple tendrils into its side.

  The Primal Dread Monkey spun around in a wide sweep, flattening the entire area around it with its chains. I rode my shadow tendrils into the air just before they shattered and landed on the monkey’s shoulder.

  My dagger sank into its neck and fused in place. The rest of the chain went around the arm that tried to swat me. It left the monkey tied with one arm to its neck. And, I procured an extra dagger to stab at its nape.

  The monkey screamed. It saved itself from falling flat on its face with its free arm and lashed out with its tail. Again, I read the air currents to step out of range, and then I faded into [Stealth]. With most of its health gone, the Primal Dread Monkey became the fiercest it had ever been.

  It kicked and bit, spun, snapped, and shrieked.

  This story has been taken without authorization. Report any sightings.

  However, [Silhouette] had reformed in the shadows, and it pleaded even now for a chance to finish the job.

  “Do it,” I said.

  The monkey dove forward on three limbs and crashed into a wall of shadows.

  Its great head fell from its shoulders and toppled to the ground.

  Who’s incredible?

  You are, that’s who, boyo!

  You have participated in the killing of Primal Dread Monkey LVL 35. An appropriate amount of XP has been allocated per your contribution.

  You have leveled up!

  You are now level 29.

  You have leveled up!

  You are now level 30.

  Visit your status sheet to allocate your free stat points.

  You have unlocked a technique choice for reaching level 30!

  Use [Meditation] to pick your reward.

  Oh, wow. I’d forgotten I was due for another one of these. Paz had taught me that technique choices happened at every tenth level, with extra rewards granted each time a ranker ranked up.

  It came out to a total of twenty techniques gained across one’s lifetime, including [Meditation], a fighting style, and two bonus rewards gotten at levels 15 and 85. The only other way to unlock extra techniques in Vizhima was by the acquisition of Traits.

  I boasted two active traits: [Against the Odds], which offered the techniques, [Map] and [Identify]; and [Born of Fear], which bestowed [Scaredy-cat] and [Fear Aura]. Sadly, there was no known way to acquire additional traits or swap out old ones. Traits appeared in Vizhimans during Awakening . . . or in the case of [Migrant Soul]s, during the process of reincarnation.

  Nevertheless, a new technique choice meant I could finally get the [Shadow Arm Darkness Mind Laser Pulse Cannon] I desire. Please, make it a reality, [System]! I’d promised earlier to stop asking, but I was just joking, okay?

  “You saved us,” one of the Wood Elves—the one with the paunch—said with a tone of reverence. He seemed to be the leader of this bunch, of which only three rankers remained.

  The rest wandered around in the dark, searching for the regulars who had fled to safety.

  I fished my Chain Nails out of the battlefield and looted the slain monkeys: an action that granted me two extra sets of Combat Chains. Paz would probably benefit from one of them.

  “Think nothing of it,” I said. “It’s the least I could do.”

  The Wood Elf stiffened and narrowed his eyes. His eyesight probably wasn’t as good as mine in [Nightfall], but he was still an elf regardless. “Wait . . . Don’t tell me . . . you’re Nanduli?? How are you even here?”

  Nanduli? was Old Speech for Dark Elf, but his question sounded strange. “What do you mean?”

  A ruckus resounded across the forest. A large reptilian beast bounded on all fours in our direction, followed swiftly by a half-naked man with a spear.

  “Paz?” I asked.

  “Damien?” Kajal answered. “Is that you?” She rode atop the reptilian monster, squinting in the direction of my voice.

  She looked at home atop the large lizard, but I couldn’t for the life of me imagine how she had convinced Medekeine to serve as her mount.

  “What’s the meaning of this, Damien?” she asked. “Why didn’t you return after scouting the situation?”

  “Sorry,” I said. “The elves needed my help. They were being attacked by two Primal Dread Monkeys.”

  “Your mission here is more important, Damien. You could have easily waited for reinforcements.”

  I had the situation under control, but I didn’t say that aloud to avoid challenging her authority.

  Kajal understood the words left unspoken, however, and let me off with a sigh. “We’ll speak more about this, Damien. But, not right now. Report on the situation.”

  “Apologies,” the elf with the paunch finally said. “Who are you people? Dreadwood is not in the best state at the moment. If you’ve come to stir up trouble—”

  Kajal glared in his direction. “We’re emissaries from Skeelie, sent to give aid to the Wood King. You’re a Wood Elf, yes? Do you have news to share about the goings-on in the forest?”

  The young div lumbered into view at that moment, pulling the wagon with Logain perched atop it. She glanced at me with curious eyes, and then at the elves, seeing just fine in the dark.

  The Wood Elf balked. “Just the five of you? What could you possibly hope to accomplish here?”

  “Six,” Medekeine hissed.

  “A talking drake?!” The Wood Elf reached for his inventory, then mustered his composure. “No . . . a Shifter. You’re truly adventurers from the human kingdom, then?”

  “And, from the dwarves.”

  “Elves, goblins, humans, dwarves . . .” The Wood Elf shook his head. “It’s happening all over again: the goblin war. Sadly, it’s too little too late. I’m Dilwan, the leader of this expedition. One of the chieftains in Dreadwood.”

  He certainly didn’t look the part. Most elves stood tall and lanky, with well-defined and rather exotic features. Dilwan, on the other hand, seemed closer in appearance to a deadbeat human dad. [Identify] placed him as a level 38 Shaman, a rather high rank.

  How could that be? He was stronger than each Dread Monkey, yet he had failed to defeat them even with help. Was there something I’d missed?

  “What are you doing here, Chief Dilwan?” Kajal asked. “You’re far away from home.”

  “Home, eh?” Dilwan said with pained laughter. “We don’t have a home. The goblins besieged Nybala three days ago. It fell yesterday to flames and rage. The elves you see here could be the only survivors.”

  “The elven villages are falling?” I asked. “How many?”

  “Who knows?” he said. “We had the misfortune of being in the path of the goblin advance. We tried to flee in the direction of the Wood King’s domain, but Goblin Riders chased after us and split our party into two groups. This group had nowhere else to turn than in the direction of Skeelie—”

  “Must be pretty bad,” Paz said, “if elves are willing to seek refuge in human cities.”

  “We don’t need refuge,” Dilwan hissed. “We simply need a place to regroup and organize. We’ll join the Wood King once we’ve gathered our forces.”

  . . . Which sounded a lot like seeking refuge, bro. Why were you lying?

  “Skeelie will take you in,” Kajal said, as though her words were final. “You need only speak with Ezin the guildmaster. You’re about a day’s walk away from the border. Maybe two, because you travel with dependents.”

  “The entire forest has turned against the Hinduli?,” Dilwan lamented. “The wild god has abandoned us. It’s the reason our village was destroyed . . . the only reason we have been beset by his playthings. This all began when an enemy entered his grounds and desecrated his temple.”

  “Oh, wow,” I said and adjusted my collar, “who would do such a thing?” The air suddenly felt hot and clammy.

  Dilwan continued, “If you intend to visit the Wood King’s court, you would be better served returning to your city. An army of goblins occupy the grounds between this region and his domain. You won’t get far.”

  “We don’t intend to,” Kajal said. “I hear the Wood King has outposts established for business with my kind.”

  “And, you think that those outposts would remain after the onset of war? Hah!” Dilwan regarded her with crazy eyes. “Tell you what, if you help us locate our survivors, I will personally lead you to the Wood King’s domain. As a chieftain of Dreadwood, I possess the authority to bring emissaries to his court.”

  “You just said that an army of goblins stands between us and the Wood King.”

  “Then, you can accept my help or navigate your way past that army on your lonesome. Good luck completing your mission without knowledge of the current lay of the land.”

  Kajal pursed her lips. “I’ll need to discuss this with my party.”

  “Take all the time you need. It’s not like we can travel much further beneath this blasted spell.”

  That caught my attention. “You know the cause of the strange weather phenomenon?”

  “The goblins, alright,” Dilwan said. “They emerged from their mountain on the night of its first appearance. And, they have only grown stronger under its influence ever since. It’s strange magic, I tell you. The power of Fear. Nybala would never have fallen otherwise.”

  “Damien,” Kajal said, “the rest of you too. Come aside for a moment. We need to talk.”

  I walked past Dilwan.

  “How is it,” he said abruptly, “that one of the Nanduli? made it this far?”

  ”What do you mean?”

  Dilwan raised his brows as if my question was nonsensical. “Last we heard, Harkonean was the first village to fall. It’s said that the goblins descended on it in their thousands and razed it to the ground.”

  No . . .

  “Is this not true?” Dilwan asked, watching my reaction. “That’s all the tree whisperers say. The goblins have also not stopped singing praises of their exploits. One such goblin is called Galagor the Chief-killer . . .”

  Chief-killer?

  “. . . because he broke the spine of old Nana Irithiel.”