Daniel pulled the stone knife from the face of the Mountain Monkey, twisted in horror, without uttering a word. Black blood, like dark wine, dripped from the blade. However, with a single sharp swipe, Daniel cast it to the ground, where it was immediately absorbed into the soil.
System notifications flickered before his eyes:
[You have killed Threat Monster, Mountain Monkey.]
[You have earned 50 experience points.]
[You have earned 34 points.]
[You have obtained an item.]
[You have obtained an item.]
However, Daniel brushed them aside. Neither inside nor outside did he appear particularly impressed. Experience, points, items – none of it mattered right now. Only one thought was born in his heart:
"It's not enough," Daniel whispered. "I must kill them all."
Something long dormant in his soul awoke, like a malicious dragon. Something that had slumbered within him for the last four years. Anger, pride, confidence, and a thirst for blood came alive in him again...
He forgot about the wounded Seraphine, forgot about his status and everything else. His soul was seized by a wild desire to destroy everyone who had forced him to run and hide. He wished to trample every enemy into the ground, to gain more experience, more points, more items.
This feeling he felt looking down at the fallen Mountain Monkey couldn't be described in words. It was beautiful. Winning through skill, not luck, was the best thing in the world. And he wanted to feel it again. Many times over!
Daniel quickly scanned the line of received items. His inventory now contained:
[Raw Mountain Monkey Meat] and [Stone Knife].
The Stone Knife that the Stone Monkey had held dissolved as soon as it died.
"Stone knife," Daniel calmly said, and the knife materialized in his free hand. Now he had two knives, and he felt a thirst for revenge born deep inside him.
He wanted to quickly discover how lethal he would become with two blades. Those malicious creatures that had chased him had to pay. He was eager to test them on the monsters that had forced him to run and hide. He was only twenty experience points away from the next level, and that only fueled his thirst for blood.
He exited the pit and headed towards where the monkey cries had once come from. This time, it was not Daniel who was prey and running away. Now Daniel was the predator, going on the hunt. He tightly gripped both knives in his hands.
A vast field, overgrown with tall, rustling grass, became his arena. In his imagination, he already saw his victims; he felt their breath and their fear. They could not escape from him.
Daniel began tracking, moving between the bushes, like a predator hunting its prey. His movements were subtle and calculated, his gaze—cold and unyielding.
The field was enormous, so Daniel could not precisely determine where the Monkeys might be. He was not guided by logic or reason. He was driven forward by pure instincts and a thirst for blood.
He struck and slashed through the tall grass that stood in his way, and confidently moved forward with a grim calmness in his face and an icy stare.
Suddenly, Daniel, enveloped by the sounds of nature and his own thoughts, stopped, lowering his gaze to the ground. His eyes caught barely discernible traces on the trampled grass, like a whisper of the earth, pointing the way forward.
In that direction, Daniel had heard the angry cries of the Mountain Monkeys when he hid in the pit. Daniel slowly and quietly began to follow the monsters' tracks. After about two hundred meters, Daniel finally caught the distant grumbling of one of the Mountain Monkeys.
The dark-haired boy stopped. The knives in his hands trembled with impatience, coming alive from the thirst for the blood of their future victim. But Daniel himself remained unswerving and calm. However, he began to behave more cautiously, no longer slashing the grass in front of him but gently touching it, pushing it aside.
The cries of the Mountain Monkey grew louder and louder until finally, they were heard just two meters from him. He slowly crept up to his victim until he finally saw it.
The Mountain Monkey was sitting with its back to him on a log, scratching its occiput.
Daniel might have wondered what a log was doing in the middle of a field overgrown with tall grass, but at that moment, he was not interested. What really interested him was why the Mountain Monkey was just sitting and not looking for him.
The Mountain Monkey was idling, throwing a stone forward, materializing in its hand straight every three seconds, but that was all.
Daniel, meanwhile, lurked in the shadows, calmly watching the creature. It was clear to him that he could easily kill the Mountain Monkey, but if he did, the chance that he would find the remaining two Mountain Monkeys would diminish significantly. So, he just waited, staring at the monster.
Suddenly, the Mountain Monkey abruptly stood up and threw a stone at Daniel with a sullen expression on its face. The stone whizzed past Daniel's face, leaving a small scratch on his face. However, judging by the reaction of the Mountain Monkey, it did not intend to hit Daniel; it was just another lucky throw.
The monster let out a loud and piercing scream, lifting its head to the sky.
Everything around froze for a moment. The Mountain Monkey seemed to be waiting for something, and soon a responding monkey cry came from afar. The Mountain Monkey wailed again, and then all was quiet. The Mountain Monkey sat back down on the log, continuing its meditative game with the stone.
Daniel continued to wait, knowing that waiting could bring sudden danger, but also an opportunity.
A few minutes later, a monkey cry was heard again not far to the right. This time it was less forceful; it wasn't a scream, the Mountain Monkey in the distance let out a cry of medium volume. The Mountain Monkey on the log turned its head in the direction of the sound and replied with the same soft cry. Suddenly, all went sharply quiet.
The Mountain Monkey turned its eyes forward again, calming down. The silence was soon pierced by a loud rustling of grass to the right. The grass parted, and another Mountain Monkey appeared from the green thickets with a stone in its hands.
The appearing Mountain Monkey looked annoyed, almost offended. With a loud, irritated cry, the Mountain Monkey approached its kin on the log.
A spectacle broke out for all to hear. The Mountain Monkey on the log leaped up, responding to the cry of the second monster. They began to argue, quarrel, blame each other. The Mountain Monkey was irritated by the inaction of its kin who was sitting on the log, while it and the others were looking for a human.
With gestures and screams, the Mountain Monkey pointed in the direction from which Daniel had come and then to the left.
The Mountain Monkey wailed that while the Mountain Monkey on the log did nothing, its kin were trying hard and looking for a human. Moreover, the Mountain Monkey on the log had distracted the Mountain Monkey from the search.
The outrage and accusations only intensified. But the Mountain Monkey on the log was also outraged in return. It didn't understand the point of looking for a human in such a vast field. It expressed its dissatisfaction. Even a monkey would understand that he had long run away from here.
However, the Mountain Monkey didn't care. A human had killed and eaten their younger kin. They had to punish the human in the most cruel way. The anger of the Mountain Monkey did not subside, and the monster continued to heap its reproaches and accusations on the Mountain Monkey on the log.
The latter accepted all this towards itself with irritation, lowering its head.
However, suddenly, the Mountain Monkey fell silent. The Mountain Monkey on the log raised its head and was about to finally seize the moment to explain itself to the other Mountain Monkey. However, instead of meeting the gaze of its kin, the Mountain Monkey on the log saw a human plunge a stone knife into the eye of the indignant Mountain Monkey behind her back.
The Mountain Monkey on the log raised its head in shock and saw the piercing and icy gaze of the human directed at her. The Mountain Monkey tried to swing the stone, but the human anticipated the Mountain Monkey, bringing the tip of the knife to the eye of the Mountain Monkey on the log, not even allowing it to squeal.
The human had two stone knives, and the Mountain Monkey on the log knew what that might mean.
"If you don't want to die in agony and hellish pain, show me where the last of you is looking for me?"
The Mountain Monkey on the log immediately, without the slightest doubt or twinge of conscience, pointed to the northeast for the human.
Now everything fell into place for Daniel. Four Mountain Monkeys decided to divide and split this vast field into four parts, searching for him. Each of the Mountain Monkeys tried to find him in one of the blocks.
The fmonkey, which he killed first, took the southeast. The monkey that revealed the location of its kin to him took the southwest. The monkey he had just killed took the northwest, and finally, the last monkey was in the northeast.
The Mountain Monkey on the log greatly eased Daniel's task. Watching their argument with the other Mountain Monkey, Daniel realized that this monster was not as loyal and obsessed as its brothers.
The Mountain Monkey trembled under Daniel's cold and unflinching gaze, attempting a sharp tail strike. But Daniel, without losing a second, plunged the stone knife into the Mountain Monkey's eye.
It instantly collapsed to the ground, hitting its head on the log. Daniel's knives were again stained black. With a cold and calm expression on his face, he climbed back into the forest from the tall grass and vanished into it.
***
The Mountain Monkey with the knife, its face tense and enraged, searched for the human. The monster had not heard the cries of its kin for a long time. Although they had agreed in advance to call out to each other every half hour, the last forty minutes had been quiet. The Mountain Monkey with the knife was greatly alarmed by this. It moved across the field, cutting down the grass it saw in front of it.
Through the rustle of the wind, the Monkey heard a faint rustle in the grass. It stopped, on alert, and peered into the shadows beneath the tall trees. Its eyes darted from side to side, trying to discern the lurking enemy.
Daniel slowly and silently emerged from his hiding place, spotting his prey. His gaze was calm and cold. He knew that this was the last opponent in his path, and he could not lose.
"Your friends," Daniel calmly said, throwing a knife and two stones to the ground.
The Mountain Monkey stared bewildered and stunned at the objects on the ground, which disappeared after three seconds, and one of them reappeared in Daniel's hand – the stone knife.
The Monkey was about to let out a loud and enraged roar, but Daniel was not finished.
"By the way, if you're curious how I knew you were here. One of your friends sold you out."
The monster stared at Daniel, both shaken and hostile.
"Why are you looking at me like that? Think I'm lying? Why would I lie?" Daniel looked at the Mountain Monkey with a calm and indifferent face, slightly alarming it. However, the Mountain Monkey did not hesitate and immediately attacked Daniel.
Unlike the first Mountain Monkey with a knife, this one did not hold back. It attacked immediately, using all its strength: tail, knife, and claws on its paws. However, Daniel, unimpressed, parried each attack with two blades and an indifferent face and continued:
"While your trio was diligently searching for me, your brother simply sat on a log. He must have become bored, and he decided to call one of your brothers. By the way, whom I killed from behind, piercing his eye."
The Mountain Monkey let out an angry cry and lunged at its enemy with renewed force. However, the human before the monster was unbreakable. The Mountain Monkey assumed that it might be able to wound the human, given the injuries that covered his legs, face, and body. The monster thought that if its brothers could wound the human, it could as well.
However, the human was too strong. His reaction and focus were at an incredible level. The Mountain Monkey could not see a single gap in his defense.
"Then I put a knife to the eye of your lazy brother," Daniel continued, fixing his icy gaze on the Mountain Monkey. "And I told him that if he didn't want a torturous death, he'd better show me where you are. And who would have thought that the monsters in this game would be so realistic. Can you imagine? He sold you out without hesitation."
Daniel said in a calm tone and an unflappable face. Tears welled in the eyes of the Mountain Monkey. Its movements slightly slowed. The attacks lost accuracy.
"You know, it's hurtful when monkeys underestimate you. First, you are all so angry, confident…"
Suddenly, Daniel knocked the knife out of the Mountain Monkey's hands, startling the monster. Of course, the knife would reappear in the monster's hand after three seconds, but during those three seconds, the Mountain Monkey could only defend itself with its tail and claws.
"...but in the end, each of you looks at me with this gaze. You start to tremble and finally realize that the man who seemed like such easy prey was actually the predator."
The Mountain Monkey hoped that the knife would reappear in its hand, but as soon as the three seconds passed, the knife of the monster's brother pierced its frightened face. The Mountain Monkey didn't even squeak. Life left its eyes, and the monster fell to the ground.
Daniel straightened up, looking at his fallen enemy. His face remained calm and unflappable. He wiped the blood from the knife on the grass and looked at the sunset, painting the sky in warm shades.
"It was enjoyable," Daniel said in an indifferent tone.