"What an annoying bastard," Cursed Alex while observing the rapidly approaching four-armed monkey-like monster.
Firmly holding Cedrix on his shoulder, Alex turned around and continued leaping from branch to branch to evade the persistent monkey. After about ten minutes, he stopped, looked back, and didn't see the monkey anymore.
However, to his dismay, the monkey reappeared, leaping from branch to branch using its arms.
'What a persistent bastard' Alex clicked his tongue. The monkey who refused to drop the chase like the others had, was beginning to really, really annoy Alex, he could even swear that he could observe a hint of smile on the lips of the bastard each time it caught up with him.
Remembering Lilia's words about level 5 monsters, Alex suppressed the increasing need to beat the crap out of the monkey he was feeling and instructed the system to raise his agility by four more soul points, bringing his agility to 150, then turned around and attempted to escape the monkey again.
However, even with the increase to his speed, the monkey managed to catch up with him again, approaching Alex with a smile that looked like a mocking one to Alex.
Deciding that he has had enough, Alex completely stopped and descended from the branch he was on.
'If you want to die so much, I'll be happy to oblige,' he thought while placing Cedrix on the ground.
As soon as the old man was set down, he dropped to his knees and started vomiting everything in his stomach.
"That... was... the worst... feeling ever!" muttered Cedrix as he wiped his mouth.
"Why did we-" Before he could finish his sentence, Cedrix spotted the monster swiftly approaching them, and his soul nearly left his body.
"M-M-My lord...." He just pointed to the monster, unable to finish his sentence.
"You should step back if you don't want to get caught up in the fight," Alex warned.
"B-But the lady said-"
"I know what she said, but since this bastard doesn't want to let us leave in peace, I don't have a choice," Alex replied.
Obviously, what he said was a lie. He could easily instruct the system to increase his agility to the point where the monkey couldn't keep pace anymore, given the number of points he had. However, there was something about this monkey that fueled his desire to seriously beat the crap out of it. Perhaps it was the mocking smile on its face or something else; all he knew was that his hand was itching to give it a proper thrashing.
'Plus, I would have an idea of the strength of a level 5, and in the worst-case scenario, I can always escape.'
While Cedrix scrambled to his feet and distanced himself from Alex, the monkey-like monster finally caught up.
It stared at Alex for a moment with a smirk on its face, and in the next instant, the monster measuring at least five meters lunged at Alex from above the branch it was standing on, its two right arms balled into fists.
Crack
The branch on which the monster was standing shattered into splinters of wood due to the sheer intensity of its movement.
In a split second, the monster was already in front of Alex, its two fists aiming for his head!
Alex's eyes widened in surprise, not expecting such speed. Fortunately, he did anticipate an attack like that, which was why he wrapped his smoke around the nearby trees.
Just when it seemed that the fists would land on him, the smoke linking him to a nearby tree swiftly pulled him away from harm's way.
Boom
The monkey's fists missed Alex by a hair's breadth, continuing until they landed on the ground, causing a resounding explosion that raised a cloud of dust and created countless cracks in the earth.
'It was a close call,' Alex thought with apprehension.
When the dust cleared up a bit, and Alex could see the destruction the monkey's fists caused, he took a cold breath, thankful that he managed to evade such a blow.
The monkey's attack had created a small crater exactly where he stood. Had he not moved in time, only the gods know in what state he might be right now.
Now Alex realized the true danger the monkey represented, but he had no intention of giving up. It seemed the monkey had the same idea.
After its failed attack, the monkey quickly found Alex's new location and charged at him. Again, its speed stunned Alex. Before he had time to think of a counterattack, the fists were already in front of him, leaving him no choice but to evade.
Boom
Two holes the size of Alex's head were carved into the tree just behind him!
However, it wasn't the end. Before he could reach the tree to which the smoke was linked, the monster was already on his tail, swinging its arms again.
Alex urgently changed his course, aiming for a different tree. However, before he could reach it, the monster appeared before him again, its fists shooting toward Alex.
Alex had to change direction once again, and each time, the monster appeared before him. This back-and-forth game continued for a long time, with the monster's fists getting closer and closer to landing on Alex.
'This can't go on!' Alex thought as he narrowly dodged another punch that came perilously close to his face. It was so close that for a moment he thought, "it's going to connect."
These few exchanges allowed Alex to understand something: the monkey-like monster was fast, extremely so, faster than he was!
However, Alex had no intention to enhance his ability; he had more than his physical might to rely on anyway.
With a thought, Alex expanded the smoke in the surrounding fifty meters and made it as thick as he could.
The sudden loss of its sight caused the monster to stiffen, but it quickly overcame its surprise. It had already been blinded by Alex's smoke, so it knew that it just needed to look through mana instead of its eyes, which it did. However, there was a problem.
It couldn't sense Alex anymore!
The monster stood still, a frown etched on its bestial face as it kept trying to sense Alex's presence, but it couldn't. How could it? Alex was indistinguishable from smoke. The only reason they managed to sense his location was due to Cedric, who was on his shoulder, but it wasn't the case anymore.
The monster couldn't see him, but it wasn't the case for Alex; he could perfectly see it.
"You have been enjoying yourself playing with me until now, right? Now it's my turn!"
Before the monster could deduce the general direction Alex's voice came from, it felt something violently crash into its side!
'It's defense stats might be high,' Alex concluded after the punch he had delivered to the monster's side. He had used almost all his strength, yet it barely staggered!
'But it's a good thing; it wouldn't be fun otherwise,' he smirked coldly.
Since there was smoke all around him, Alex didn't need the trees anymore. He could just solidify one part of it and use it to pull himself in that specific direction. Thus, he could move in every direction that he wanted and he made good use of it.
Moving swiftly, Alex appeared behind the monster and delivered a devastating punch directly to its spine.
A cry of pain escaped the monster's mouth as it staggered forward.
It quickly turned around in case Alex would try to hit it again. Unfortunately, before it could turn around, another punch collided with its face.
It released another cry of pain, its arms flailing in the air to try and stop Alex from attacking it again. It succeeded, but only for a very short time because a moment later, it got punched at the back of its head.
This scenario continued for a long time, with Alex relishing each time he felt the monster's ribs and bones crack under his punch. With each blow he delivered, a strange, dark glee surged within him, compelling him to strike it again, with even greater force than the previous punch.
The monster's body was battered, blood oozing from countless wounds on various parts, but it couldn't do anything about it. It tried to escape the cursed smoke, but even that wasn't possible. Unable to see or sense where Alex was, it sometimes ran straight at him each time it attempted to escape, and it never ended well for it, so it had to give up on trying to escape and find another method to come out alive from this hell.
Meanwhile, Alex, who kept hitting the monster with ever-increasing ferocity, suddenly came to a stop. His eyes widened as he observed the monster's body.
'Why is its body becoming shorter?'