Humans are weird creatures. They make things called weapons in substitute for claws and horns then use them the mostly kill themselves. When master gave me the spear, I did not know what to say. Yes, it was sharp, it was durable but it cannot compare to my claws. I have them all the time so they can't be lost, an enemy can't take them away from me, they are easy to carry around and running on treetops and they do not stick out like a stiff tail. So, I decided to just humour master.
"I am not taking that," I told her. Maybe not.
"Haran, humans are cunning creatures and sometimes we have to think like them too..." she started but I cut her off.
"I do not care about what humans use, master. I have my claws, fists, legs and muscles, that's all I need for survival. This this you call a spear will full my claws," I told her and threw it back. She caught it easily then smiled at me.
"Okay. Let's wait and see if you won't change your mind. We have been invited by an Emperor Beast class monster to participate in an oncoming purge so be ready to move," master said then went back into her den.
"What is a purge?" I asked Mr Snake who seemed always present whenever I came to see master.
"This is when we monsters attack any human settlement near our territories because they have been killing a lot of us lately. An Emperor Beast class monster gathers all the King Beasts, Lord Beasts and Chief Beasts in their territories and use their surbodinates to attack the human towns or cities till none of them are left alive," Mr Snake answered.
"Wow, so we hunt them down till they leave our territory? This Emperor Beast is badass," I said in awe. Master got out of her den with a beast skin in her hands.
"If you are done with your useless talk let's go," she said.
"What's that you're carrying?"
"My mother's hide. I will use it to show the Emperor that I am the new master of her territory and we won't be torn apart," she said as her eyes showed longing as she carressed the hide. She then became serious. "Try and keep up, Haran."
With that, she took off running towards the deeper parts of the forest. I followed with Mr Snake but we couldn't quite keep up, especially me. I was just in a Servant Beast class while Mr Snake was in Noble Beast class. He had one more level so that he could catch up with master, the Chief Beast class. Neither of us squeaked out a complaint so we just gritted our teeth and did our best so that she would not leave us in the dust.
Master seemed to have realised our colundrum for she slowed down a bit so that we could match her speed. I smiled thankfully at her and she flashed me her smile. Soon, we came across a herd of other monsters who exuded heavy pressure. The more powerful a monster the more pressure they produced towards those weaker than them. Chief Beast monsters and above can cover up their pressure for if they leaked it, small fries like me would die from it. Good thing there were none here, just Noble Beasts and below. When they saw master, they quickly made way for us. I became cheeky and started taunting some predators known to hunt us monkeys down. I could see the anger in their eyes as they bowed their heads towards master, afraid to raise them up or even growl out their displeasure or threats.
"Haran, stop monkeying around," master warned me and I immediately behaved. I came to know later humans used those words to their cubs to mean they should stop being naughty. First of all, we are not naughty, just curious and agile. Second, I am pretty sure these carnivores started it. But I would rather be shaved than talk back at her. We easily made to where we were going thanks to master and her Lord Beast class aura.
In front of us was a small rocky hill that was currently being surrounded by countless monsters. These monsters had different cultivations and different ethics but they seemed docile to each other. On the hill were twenty four flat rocks and one big one behind them. On the twenty four rocks sat gigantic monsters that sent shivers down my spine. The first one was occupied by a snake so huge it did not fit on the rock. Its tail was still touching the bottom of the hill. The second had a wolf that dwarfed any elephant I ever saw. It was sitting on the rock on its hunches, its radar like eyes scanning each of us. The third was a lioness! She was as big as the wolf and her whole body showed muscles as if she had been running and dragging small hills all her life.
The fourth one was a bull that dwarfed both the lioness and wolf. His body was rippled with muscles and his horns seemed they could pierce the moon with how sharp they were. The fifth was an eagle the same size as the wolf. Its eyes seemed like they would see through everything by how sharp they were. The sixth was a lion the size of the bull and just as mascular. He had his eyes closed as if he did not want to spare us a single look. The seventh was an insect, a centipede as long as the snake and more terrifying. The eighth was a normal squirrel except there was nothing normal about him if he was given a stone with these monsters. The ninth was a pelican as big as a three hundred years old tree. The tenth one was a bee as large as the wolf. She must be the Queen of the bees.
"Haran, stop staring at the King Beasts class monsters or they might find offense with it," master warned me so I looked away but not before seeing a monkey seated with the others. He was not as tall, not as menacing and not as imposing as the other Kings but he was seated there with the others. Master must have seen my gaze linger on him so she decided to help me.
"He is called the Monkey King. He was a golden furred monkey with his whole troope not even monster class yet. He found a legacy of a great Monkey Sage and he cultivated it to be as strong as he is right now. Notice how he almost resembles a human if not for his fur, fangs and ears? That is the work of the legacy. It turned him into a monkey as smart as humans. If you work hard you might just be the next Monkey King," she encouraged me. I gotta say, Monkey King does sound nice and I get to have all the monsters bow down to me.
Suddenly, a pressure bore onto each and everyone of us. I could hardly breath properly because of this and I saw that I was not the only one. Everyone including the King Beasts were having difficulty breathing. Us Servant Beasts were the first to keel and kneel followed by Noble Beasts then Chiefs Beasts. By then, everyone else just knelt at the sametime. I heard heavy footsteps approaching so I curiously looked up. What I saw made all the fur on my body stand up. There stood the largest gorilla I have ever seen. The hill that could make the King Beasts look small only reached his knees! His eyes seemed like whirlpools, ready to take away souls of those who look into them, his fur was prickly like those spear things, only a hundred times more deadlier and I could feel as if my body was being pierced by them. I quickly looked down as blood flowed out of my eyes. The gorilla laughed lightly and I felt my soul clinging on to dear life. I have never been so scared like this for the four years I have been alive.
"You may rise," we heard a deep, strong and almost relaxing voice say. We all looked up and there on the huge last rock sat an aged gorilla just as large as a silver back. "Good to see our territory has fresh blood to keep us strong. It has been a while since I came out of cultivating and the turn out wasn't as big." The monsters laughed but I couldn't even produce a peep because I was sure this gorilla was the scary giant one I saw earlier. "We also have a new Lord Beast with us. Bene, please give us the evidence of your take over." Master nodded then walked out to the base of the hill and stretched out her hands with the hide on them. The hide floated all the way to the gorilla's nose who took a sniff and nodded.
"It is your mother's, good. As the Emperor of this East Forest I hereby confirm your rank and territory in my forest." the gorilla said. Master bowed to him respectfully then went back to her spot.
"As I said, it has been a long time since I went for cultivation and in my absence the humans thought it best to interfere with my territory. Many of you have lost children, parents, siblings and other family members to these greedy beasts and I am here to tell you the time has come for all of you to have your revenge. It is time to eradicate all these human pests that have been leaching off of our land. This time tomorrow, each and everyone of you will be filled to their brim with human meat..."
"Excuse me, why do we have to go tomorrow?" I suddenly asked. There was silence everywhere that I was afraid I might have said something that will have me executed and in a gruesome way. I saw the gorilla turn his abyss like eyes to me and I felt my soul shudder. He raised his hand and I was lifted from my spot and floated in front of him.
"What is your name, little monkey?" he asked me.
"My master gave me the name Haran, Esteemed Emperor," I answered trying as much as possible not to sound weak.
"Haran, why do you think we should not attack tomorrow?" he asked me.
"Because the humans are definitely alert now. All these monsters converging at the same time, even someone as stupid as me can know something is wrong. Since they know monster convergence can bring about hordes they are already making plans to stop us all tomorrow. Master once told me that there are humans stronger than her so there might be humans stronger than you, Your Esteemed Emperor and if by chance they are passing by they might interfere and have us all killed."
"The chances of us meeting such an expert are zero to none," the Lion King growled at me.
"My Lord, you might have stayed in your den for far too long you might have forgotten how this place is. A Servant Beast might be out foraging for food and finds a Chief Beast that makes it dinner. A Noble Beast might be resting in a pool but a King Beast might swoop down from the sky and take it to be eaten by its children. We can never be certain and the more we wait the more uncertain things become," I answered using Master's words.
"You are a clever monkey," the Monkey King said with a smile on his face.
"I am young so I learnt everything from my master. She is the only Monster I respect," I answered them.
"What about us or His Esteemed Emperor," the Lion asked.
"I fear you, everyone does because we are nothing but your pawns. We fight for your battles, we die to fulfill your orders and you might not even fight in the battle," I answered, getting more courageous with time. The King Beasts are growled at me at the sametime.
"If you are a King Beast, what would you do in their place?" the gorilla asked me with a strangely calm voice.
"Your Esteemness, when I first talked to master about humans, I could hear the hatred she had for them. As her disciple, her enemies are my enemies. I swore that day that if I was powerful enough, I would wage a one monkey war against every single being that uses monsters as their cultivation medium," I answered. There was eery silence all over the forest when everyone heard my proclaim even the Emperor and the King's were surprised dumb by it. Then, the Emperor started laughing so hard the air, hill and trees started trembling.
"Good, very good. A monster who hates how we live and dreams about our well being. Haran, you have just reminded me of something very important. No matter how many humans we kill, they will still come after us. No matter how many we enslave, their species and others that are not monsters will be coming to use us as cultivation mediums. Even I have to hide else I become their target so that they can make a trashy being breakthrough where they can't. We have had enough of being persecuted for our hearts, we have had enough of them slaughtering our families so that they can make stylish belts. We have definitely have had enough of them making our bones into weapons that will later kill all our brethrens. Haran, who is your master?" the Emperor declared then asked me.
"Uhmm, I think you called her Bene. I always just called her master," I answered, strangely calm. The Emperor turned to Master who had a euphoric look on her face.
"Bene, that explains why you hate humans so much, monkey. So, from this day on, Bene is now my Inheritor. She will be trained by me so that she can train Haran into the sword that finally beheads these beings that have enslaved us for far too long. A new day for us monsters have began and today, we will celebrate by slaughtering all the humans and traitorous monsters who agreed to be subjected by them in the human city sixteen miles from our forest. Today, we dine in blood!"
All the monsters roared at the sametime, bringing about destruction to the forest because of their sound waves. Some stomped their hooves, others clapped on their paws and others jumped around. I bet the humans are pretty scared now.
"Chaarge!" the Emperor shouted and all the monsters took off towards the human city.