I froze as Canis charged the ape. I knew the small hound was committing suicide by attacking. But I couldn't move. ( She's dead!) I thought as I slowly moved forward. Out of the side of my eye, I could see the tiger headed my way. I summoned a hand full of nuts and threw them at him. All of them had heavy magic on them.
Boom! BooM! Boom!
I didn't even bother to look at the tiger as I ran for Log. The tall black gorilla laughed as he dropped Canem's body to the ground. I lost it, and I summoned my sword out of my ring. The gorilla swung his massive arms aiming for Canis—the hound dove to the side, evading the beast by a hair. Log missed Canis and hit the ground instead. Chucks of earth exploded from the beast's attack. As soon as Log's arms touched the ground, I was there. I drug my sword up the beast's long muscular arm. I managed to break the skin but not by much. I could congratulate myself just yet as the tiger appeared next to me, swiping his claws my way.
AHHHH!
Log screamed as the tiger's claws missed me and hit him. Before he could recover, Canis bit his leg. The hound didn't do much damage but succeeded in distracting the beast for me. I leaped in the air, recalling my sword at the same time. (Stone fist.) I thought as I stuck the beast in the jaw, rocking its head to the side. I had applied heavy magic to my move to add something extra to the attack.
"Pesky nat!" Log screamed as he swung at me. Just then, The tiger jumped for me.
Bang!
The tiger took the hit that was meant for me. The blow knocked the tiger back like a rag doll. Canis used this as his chance to attack Log again. Unfortunately, The gorilla was ready this time. He kicked the hound hard, sending him flying. More rage filled me as I watched my pet fall limp. I wasn't going to let anyone else die today.
I was about to charge back in when a hair arm stopped me. Leaf had come to my side, but I didn't see any sign of her children. I wondered why the monkey would come back but decided to let the thought go. I had bigger fish to fry at the moment.
"Im going to kill that bastard!" I started to Leaf as I moved her hand. Well tried to move her hand. The layer five spider monkey didn't budge an inch.
"Go young one live to fight another day." Leaf said as she watched me. At the same time, the tiger began to move instead of coming after me, however. The beast looked at the gorilla.
"You stupid ape, I should kill you for that." The tiger announced, glaring at Log. The gorilla looked as if he was about to lose it as it balled its colossal fist.
"Don't call me stupid!" Log yelled as he rushed the tiger. The two again engaged in battle. (They don't even see me as a threat!) I thought as the two beasts ignored me. The thought made me even angrier. If Leaf didn't stop me, I would have jumped in the battle with them.
"Your not strong enough, plus you still have someone to protect. You can;t die here." Leaf said, pointing at Canis, who wasn't moving, but I could see his chest rise and fall, meaning he was alive. As much as I hated to admit it, Leaf was right. I was no longer Sir Goerge, the strongest paladin in the Lorain empire. I was Gora, and right now, I was no match for the beast in front of me. I also wasn't alone anymore. Canis may be a dog, but she was more like family to me. ( Forgive me, Canem, I could not save you.) I thought as I looked at the dead jackal.
I quickly made my way to Canis, picking him up as carefully as I could. I then made my way back to Leaf, who was still watching the Log and the tiger fight. I took one last look at the beast before vowing to get my revenge for Canem. Then I began to move until I noticed that Leaf didn't follow me.
"We have to go now!" I said as I passed Leaf. The monkey looked at me with a sad expression.
"I will make sure they have a hard time following you. I just ask that you take care of my children." Leaf said as she looked down. She planned on sacrificing herself so that we could escape. I was about to reject her and demanded that she come with me.
"I dont have much time left. Even as we speak I am slowly dying. All i have left is my daughters. As I am I can't protect them for long. But you can." Leaf said as she grabbed my hand.
"Please human, no Gora. Protect my daughters." After speaking her last words, Leaf let me go and ran towards the fighting monsters. I fought the urge to run after her. ( Damn it!) I thought as I raced away from the scene. If I was stronger, I could have saved everyone. I cursed myself for being so weak as I ran in the direction Leaf came from earlier. I need to find her daughters and leave.
It only took a few minutes to find Leaf's daughters. The two beasts were hiding in a tree when I saw them. The baby monkey greeted me first, hopping on my back. Leafs older daughter also came out of her hiding place slowly. She looked terrified. I had started to call her Frons to help with the confusion. I didn't know why animals chose to name their kids all the same name. Frons meant Leaf in my old language.
"We have to get out of here." I said to the animal. I tried to pull her hand, but she didn't move. Frons was starring in the direction we had come from. She was looking for her mother. I didn't know what to say to the little monkey. I couldn't just tell her that her mother wasn't coming back. I looked at the little monkey for a long time before I finally spoke.
"Your mother is giving us time to escape so, we have to move now. Do you understand?" I asked gently. The little monkey looked to me, then back in the direction of her mother. I watched as Frons whipped off tears before she nodded her head. Then she began to run and fast. I was caught off guard for a second by her sudden movement but managed to catch up to her. Leafy rode on my back while I carried the wounded Canis. I didn't know where Frons was taking us, but I figured she knew the forest better than me. So, I reluctantly followed her.
We ran for hours, twisting and turning through the forest. To my surprise, we didn't run into any other animals. It may have been because Frons was leading the way or because three alphas were going at it right now. Either way, I was grateful. On our run, I keep seeing visions of Canem dying in front of me. It became a challenge to quell my rage. I wanted to cut Log into little tiny pieces, but I knew I would stand no chance. The most I could do was make a slim cut on the level six gorilla. ( I was such a fool!) I thought as we traveled.
Suppose I hadn't decided to make the journey to the mountains so early. Canem may still be alive. If I had left the cave last night instead of this morning, I could have saved Leaf and her daughters this heartache. This whole situation was my fault. ( I wonder if you'll stay with me after this?) I thought as I looked at the unconscious Canis. The jackal had just lost his twin. I couldn't imagine how he must be feeling. Jackals were known for choosing strong masters to follow. With his sister dead, I had proven that I wasn't that strong at all. I doubted the beast would stay by my side after what I did.
We travel far into the night, not stopping even to rest. We made it to a part of the forest with nothing but dead trees. The grass on the ground was all black, and the whole area smelled like burnt earth.
"Where are we?" I asked Frons, who had stopped to rest up against a dead tree. Leafy jumped off my back and cuddled up to her sister. Neither of them could talk, so I wasn't getting any answers from them. They did seem to relax in the area, so I assumed we were safe. I sat Canis down gently and looked around for a bit. My body was in so much pain, and I was exhausted from all the running. But I was not letting my guard down again.
I finally sat down after checking the perimeter. I summoned my sword and stuck it in the earth next to me. The second I was finished, Canis's head shot up. He looked me in my eyes, growling at me. I went to pet the hound when.
"Ugh!" I grunted as Canis bit down hard on my hand. I didn't fight it. I took the pain. I leaned down, looking at the jackal in his pupils. He had a mixture of anger and sorrow in his eyes. ( I deserve much more for my failure.) I thought as Canis bit down harder.
"I'm sorry boy. I am not fit to be your master." I said to the jackal. He growled a little before letting my hand go. He then struggled to his feet and began to walk away from me. My heart starts to break as I watch the hound move further from me. He didn't go very far, choosing to stop at a nearby tree. I couldn't blame the dog for being angry with me; I was just glad he didn't abandon me completely.
I promise you I will never let something like this happen again." I said to Canis, who just snorted at my words. ( No more fun and games.) I thought as I laid back. I needed more power, and for that, I needed to upgrade my core. I sat cross-legged and began to meditate. But I ran into another issue. All my Ki was being used to heal my still broken body. To level up, I need a massive among of Ki. Although I had more Ki than the average person at layer two, most of it went to healing my body.
I summoned a handful of berries and thought about a solution for my problem. I need more Ki to level up, but it would take days, if not weeks, for me to fully heal. I need to get strong and fast. My best bet would be to increase my body. I could find a technique for that with all the Ti-Ki books I had stored in my ring. My core strength was still unknown, so I didn't want to increase it too much. The last time my core ranked up, I thought I was going to die from the backlash. ( I'm positive the second I rank up to a layer three, I'll be faced with unimaginable pain.) I thought as I looked to Canis.
"Screw it! Log is going to pay for what he's done!" I said as I summoned a pair of earrings. They were given to me by my goblin brother for my birthday. Thinking about the books I had stored in my ring reminded me of the accessories. The earing contains the Ki of a layer five being. Meaning my lack of Ki would be solved with them. I could use my own Ki to rank up while using the Ki from the earring to heal myself.
"Wait, you filthy gorilla, I'm coming for you!" I said as I pierced my ear. Blood dripped down my neck, but I paid it no mind. I went back to meditating. I was done being naive. For me to survive, I needed to be stronger.
Frons: Is Leaf's Oldest daughter.