That was the fifteenth spectral monkey by now. This was abnormal. A pack of ten was pushing it, but there seemed to be no end in sight.
Furthermore, it seemed like they were starting to be far more coordinated than usual.
He side-stepped another one and sliced its neck. It disappeared like all the other ones. That was number sixteen. There was something going on. There was only one answer to that.
Ryuma scanned the area as he fought. It had to be somewhere in the vicinity if the books he read were accurate. He started fleeing the area as more monkeys approached. He couldn't search and fight at the same time. Right now would be a good time using somebody versed in scanning for spirit energy. Every time a monkey came flying at him, he'd slice it if only to have to deal with that same monkey once.
His eyes darted back and forth even as he fought more of the monkeys. It just had to be here somewhere.
There it was.
A spectral monkey that looked identical to the others, with the difference being that it was surrounded in red spectral mist, rather than blue.
Kill that one, and the rest will scatter.
He dashed, flipped, and skid around the other monkeys, slicing through some of them along the way. Once he got close to the red one, he swung his katana aiming straight for its neck.
The monkey hopped out of the way. It bounded off the wall and jetted towards him, punching him in the face. Landing on another wall, it launched at him again.
Ryuma tried timing the red monkey, but the blue ones were a distraction. Swinging both katanas, there was a wild dance of slices happening all around him. As random as it looked, it was accurately hitting every blue spectral monkey in the vicinity. Some of the cuts were shallow, others hit with enough accuracy to kill on the first hit.
"Wind Artes: Wind walker!"
Ryuma boosted his way straight towards the red spectral monkey. He swung his sword and missed it by a hair's breadth. The two kept boosting past each other.
It was hard to catch this thing. Both moved too fast, and the target was too small. Even though this was a level one demon… or apparition, this thing wasn't easy to deal with.
At least, not with his sword skills alone. Him and the spectral monkey boosted towards each other one more time.
"Wind Artes: Whirlwind spin!"
Ryuma's spun, sucking the monkey up like a vortex and slicing it in various places across its body. It fell, skidding across the ground as spectral mist leaked out its wound.
"AAAHHNNN! AAAHHHNNN! AHHNN!"
The monkey hollered thrashing about as spectral blood leaked everywhere. Its wounds were deep, and it screamed in pain.
Ryuma relaxed his guard and put his katanas to his side. The way this looked, it was going to bleed out. There was nothing more he needed to do. He took a deep breath. The remaining spectral monkeys looked on with shock. It finally stopped thrashing and fell to the ground, silent.
None of the monkeys surrounding him, made a move to attack.
Ryuma turned around and began walking away. They're not going to attack, and he had things he needed to do. He'll come and handle them later.
Is what he thought at first. He halted his advancement and turned back.
Something wasn't right. The red spectral monkey, although it laid dead, its body was still there. It never disappeared like the rest of them. And this behavior of the rest of the spectral monkeys was unsettling.
"AAAHHHHHHNNNNNN!" The red monkey began screeching again. Louder than it ever screeched before.
All the spectral monkeys, those around him and further out began running towards the red one. None of them stopped to pay him any mind despite how close they ran towards him. The first of the monkeys that made it sunk its teeth into the red monkey. All the other ones thereafter followed suit. They were devouring it. Any of which that got a bite began to have glowing red eyes.
The dogpile looked so encumbered that Ryuma could no longer even see the red monkey. It was a wonder to him if there was anything left of it remaining by now. At the very least, the shrieks have stopped.
The spectral monkeys closer to the outside of the dogpile, starting converging with the ones closer to the center. They were merging and transforming into something else.
This monster was at least ten feet tall. The muscles in his arms were as hard and large as boulders. The calves in its legs looked powerful enough to kill an average gorilla. Its stomach abdominals were defined enough to see every muscle. And its body was transparent enough to show the red monkey infant inside the stomach of this spectral beast.
{Shit! I forgot it could do something like this!}
Indeed he read about this in the academy, but to be honest, there were so many apparitions he read about, memorizing every ability was a chore itself. A red spectral monkey had the ability to transform from a level one leader to a level two spectral beast.
A beast outside his capabilities to handle. The protocol behind for somebody at his level to deal with such a apparition was to retreat and request reinforcements. Reinforcements of the very people trying to kill him. He didn't have that option.
Nor was he far enough away from this thing to where a successful retreat was possible. Fighting was his only option.
He brought up his katanas. As fearless as his eyes glared at it, his heart beating as fast as it was, was a different story entirely. He may have been skilled in the academy, but this was no longer the academy. A spectral apparition is always going for the kill. The level ones he could handle, but a level two he didn't have the spiritual energy to deal with.
The spectral ape sucked up air. "RRRRAAAAAWWWWWRRRRRRR!!!" Its scream reverberated around the canyons. Its echoes heard for miles around. The area around them shook like an earthquake.
If he didn't shut this thing the fuck up, it would attract any priest nearby. He couldn't think of a more fucked position. Assuming he even survives this apparition, he doubt he'd be in the condition to deal with The Order.
Nevertheless, he brought up his katanas in a defensive 'X' position. This thing was big. It's obvious that its physical power was something crazy. Hopefully that meant its speed wasn't too ridiculous to deal with…
As soon as those thoughts entered his mind.
The spectral ape was already upon him having launched itself forward. Ryuma's eyes widened. It happened faster than his mind could react to. He could see it but acting on it wasn't something he was ready for.
Its powerful fist collided with his katanas pushing him back some distance until the spectral ape forced its fist forward, sending Ryuma's body crashing to the side of the bedrock. His body hit it with enough force to crack the surface, causing him to spit out blood.
{Dammit! Is the difference between a level one and two that far apart?}
There was a red 'X' mark on the apes knuckles where it hit the blade. If anything, it meant that his blades could cause harm.
The ape jumped high into the air and came slamming down. Ryuma reacted that time and jumped out of the way. The resulting crash to the ground caused the canyon to tremble. It created a small crater.
The ape began thrashing about again. All Ryuma could do was survive its temper tantrum. How many bones he fractured from that last one, he couldn't tell. At least that's what it felt like.
It dug its fingers into the stone and chucked it at Ryuma.
Ryuma swung his swords fast enough to deflect the shrapnel coming at him. He dodged to the left and just barely avoided its fist colliding with him again. He was able to see it and react to it this time.
Right here, right now. He had no choice but to level up. Sure his physical strength couldn't be willed into hitting harder, but he was on guard at every millisecond of the battle.
Having dodged the follow up, Ryuma was leveled, right where the monkey baby was. He countered by slicing the great ape's mid-section. He was using the apparitions own speed against it.
Two lines formed on the ape where the cuts were supposed to be, but it didn't cut nearly as deep to reach the monkey baby. Kill that thing and this apparition was as good as dead. He needed to find a better way to pierce its skin. It felt like trying to cut through steel.
The great ape twisted its body swinging its massive arms and successfully close-lined Ryuma. The position in which it was done saved him from excess damage, but it knocked him back quite a ways away from it.
Ryuma took a breather. What has he gotten himself into?