Philip and I found a nice hidden spot near a steep hill outside the woods, and left our stuff their so we could hunt and fight without burden.
I looked towards the wall of towering trees in front of us, finding it weird how the woods seemed to begin out of nowhere. Typically a neighboring ecosystem would fade in gradually as you travelled further into it, showing increasing signs of presence until becoming fully dominant, however this was not the case and the Temperate Woods seemed completely out of place.
I looked around, breathing in the warm humid air. While the forest wasn't exactly like a jungle, there were definitely similarities.
Abundant vines hung from tall trees, whose tops were thick with leaves to the point that essentially every inch of the place was covered in shade.
Foliage abounded on the ground, and literally everything was completely smothered by greenery. The bright reds of large alien-like flowers and the soft browns of tree bark were the only exceptions to the vibrant green haze of plant life.
One thing I didn't understand was how the Temperate Woods boasted such a different climate from the rest of the surrounding area, because while it indeed was a pretty massive place, it was nowhere near large enough to logically justify having a completely different weather pattern.
I asked Philip about it, but he didn't know much either, only that it was caused by the affects of a 'Domain' something or other.
As we passed through the forest of tall jungle-like trees along the sole dirt path, Philip motioned for me to stop.
"Wait here for a minute, I'm going to use my skill to see if anything passed through here recently. Or even currently nearby."
I watched as Philip shimmied up a nearby vine, sat on top of a branch for a bit, and then came back down.
"What did you do? Find anything?"
"Yeah I did, my skill is [Heightened Sense Smell], and I found a few different leftover scents. The most common one is the one I assume belongs to the monkeys since they are the dominant species around here. I sniffed around in the air and located their scent actively coming from two different directions."
Philip pointed out in both directions, one went directly into the dense jungle, and the other was further down the dirt road. Obviously it would be easier to hunt the monkeys near the road, so we continued down the path cautiously, searching the trees as Philip periodically used his skill to hone in on their location.
Apparently his skill constantly consumed energy as long as it was kept active, so by splitting its use up into short bursts he could keep using it for a long time despite his sorcery stat being low.
"Stop, don't move, don't speak," he whispered suddenly.
I froze, watching as his eyes scanned the air, looking for where the monkeys were located after he had presumably smelt them nearby.
"look. over there."
Philip pointed to a specific tree where I could see a tangle of vines and branches blocking further view.
"I saw movement behind those, can you launch a fireball to clear out the vines and foliage? The explosion should confused them and that's when we'll start picking them off."
…
"I can do better than just confuse," I grinned as arcane mana coursed through my body, coalescing around my open palm.
[Fireball]!
An orange-red ball of flames formed and flew out rapidly, zooming towards the area Philip indicated.
The fireball slammed into the barrier of vines, which gave way easily compared to a solid surface, so that even as the spell exploded the momentum it had carried the blast out into the space behind, damaging some monkeys who had been close by.
[User Slayed Level 9 Entity - Longtail Monkey]
[User Slayed Level 7 Entity - Longtail Monkey]
[User Slayed Level 10 Entity - Longtail Monkey]
Three tattered corpses fell from the canopy above, crashing heavily onto the ground. I paid them no attention aside from taking note of where they had fallen, and began casting yet another fireball.
*HOOOOO* *HOOO* *HOOOOOOOO*
Primal screeches rang loudly as monkeys flooded out, spilling into various different directions. A few noticed me and Philip immediately, hollering as they swung towards our position.
The monkeys were now spread out, so I would need to target individuals this time around, and wasting my stores of arcane energy was not in the best of interests. Considering this, I charged the spell shortly and kept it small.
Next to me, Philip was already nocking an arrow, carefully aiming at a monkey above. Right when the monster stopped between swings to wrap its tail around a branch, he shot the arrow clean through the chest of the creature, and only a few seconds later the monkey was dead on the forest floor.
Even if the shot hadn't been enough to kill it, injuring the monkey to make it fall certainly was, and thus I realized to kill the monkeys with my attack, all I to do was just knock them down.
[Fireball]
A small golf ball sized fireball launched forwards, exploding against a tree that a [Longtail Monkey] was swinging past on its way towards me.
The resulting blast singed its fur, causing no damage, however it did alter the monkey's trajectory. The beast tried to grab onto the branch it was originally aiming for, but it couldn't reach, and as a result it fell many tens of feet down to the forest floor.
[User Slayed Level 8 Entity - Longtail Monkey]
My strategy had worked! feels good man!
However, any more satisfaction I would have felt was cut short by a new collective screech.
*HOOOOOOOO!!!*
I glanced upwards to witness five monkeys come out from behind a nearby tree all at once as they rushed towards Philip. He reacted quickly, swapping the aim of his bow from his current target to the new threats.
Above him, some of the primates who didn't scatter were now swinging towards his position, their powerful lengthy tails flexing as they wrapped around branches and used them as a kind of third arm.
Seemingly all of the nearby monkeys had aggroed onto him, maybe it was because his height surpassed mine by a significant margin, but what was for sure was that we were in trouble.
"SHIT, I didn't think there would be this many of them all in one group!" Philip cursed as he fumbled with his bow, slinging it over his shoulder in favor of his daggers.
"Philip! stand still and let them charge you, jump back when I say so!"
He had seen my triumph over the centipede, and decided to trust me with his safety.
"Got it!"
The monkeys closed in, the ones who had rushed out from behind a tree dropped down and were now running quadrupedally across the ground, while those who were coming from above descended using vines.
Right when the closest monkeys were about to reach him, I released the energy I had been secretly preparing over the past few seconds.
"GET BACK!"
[Fireball]!