Lucius moved through the forest, away from the area that Magar had claimed as his own. He didn't feel the need to scout much more in the south with such an impressive being protecting the area, so he headed east. After a while, he reached the old dirt road again, following it south until he came to an intersection where he could continue moving east. The sun was still shining high in the sky, with only a few lazy clouds drifting around it. The forest was a patchwork of orange and red from the changing fall leaves, while a few patches remained green from the pine needles. You would never guess that the world had descended into a bloody struggle for survival by looking at the scene around Lucius right now. The young man took a deep breath and tried to enjoy the natural environment. He had spent most of his life surrounded by gray, lifeless concrete that was filthy with litter. Even with the end of the world pressing down on him, being in nature did a great deal to ease his worries.
As he watched the trees while he moved past them, he came to a stop. His eyes narrowed as he looked carefully at the canopy a few dozen meters away. When he decided he hadn't seen anything and was about to continue walking, the bunch of leaves he had been watching abruptly shook, and a fist-sized rock came barreling out of them toward him. Lucius' eyes flung open as his body's relaxed posture transformed into a firmly planted battle stance. The rock moved through the air at superhuman speeds with deadly accuracy, forcing Lucius to jump to the side to avoid being struck in the head. A chorus of rapid, high-pitched cackles flooded out of the forest around him. Something was there, and it could see him.
Matriarch's Fury materialized in his hand as he rushed in the direction the stone had come from, making full use of his high dexterity and strength. He climbed a large boulder in a few carefully placed leaps before jumping six feet high onto the limb of the closest tree. From his elevated position, Lucius caught his first glimpse of the creatures that had him surrounded. There, in the tree a half-dozen meters away, stood an apelike creature a bit smaller than a full-grown man. The beast's body was covered in yellow fur that spread over rippling muscles, it's eyes radiated a strange blue glow. It's hands had opposable thumbs like a human's, with short red claws at the end of each finger. The creature released another round of its ear-piercing cackles, displaying the oversized canines that could not even fit in its mouth, remaining visible on its face even when its jaws were closed. The creature moved through the trees like a true expert, effortlessly gliding from branch to branch at speeds that made Lucius dizzy. Looking around, he counted five of them in total.
The creature in front of Lucius didn't allow him to get any closer, flitting through the trees as he approached. As he did his best to catch the creature, his chest was flooded with a sudden warning from Sense Danger. The severity of the warning made Lucius fully aware that he did not have time to think carefully. He ducked forward and dropped out of the branch, grabbing onto it with one hand as he fell to hold himself up. Three rocks, moving like bullets, exploded against the thick branch where he had just been standing. The force of the projectiles was so great that the limb was nearly destroyed, bending down toward the ground, with only a few thin fibers keeping it attached to the tree. Lucius was swung toward the ground as the limb he was holding onto suddenly changed its orientation from horizontal to vertical. He kicked off the trunk of the tree while still holding the damaged limb, swinging toward the closest branch that looked sturdy enough to hold his weight.
He stood still on the new branch, listening carefully and preparing himself for another attack. He watched as the creatures swooped down to the ground to rearm themselves with rocks before taking up positions around him again. Lucius clenched his fist around the handle of his sword as the muscles in his legs tensed. His brows furrowed in concentration as he readied himself. The creatures wore arrogant smiles as they continued to cackle and provoke him. When the largest of the bunch let out a particularly headache-inducing noise, the group released their next barrage at Lucius. The moment the beasts made their move, he pushed off the branch in the direction of the closest one with so much power that the tree limb beneath his feet cracked and shattered as he launched off it.
Lucius was moving directly toward one of the creatures, which also meant he was moving directly toward the deadly rock it had hurled at him. The creatures wore confused expressions when they saw his movements, as if he were charging toward his own death. Lucius took full advantage of that single moment of hesitation. He watched carefully as he flew through the air toward the hurtling rock, focusing all his concentration on it. The man and the rock sped toward each other, but the instant they should have collided, the rock disappeared, and Lucius flew past unscathed. He continued toward the beast without hesitation. The creature finally realized its mistake and turned to escape, but by then Lucius was close enough to execute his plan. Landing on another branch, he pushed off again toward the fleeing monster and summoned the rock from his space ring. He aimed carefully and returned it to the creature with as much force as he could muster.
The beast saw the rock coming and jumped to the side, but the moment it landed in its new position, a long, needle-like black sword came flying toward it, piercing through its arm—the only thing keeping it in the tree. As the creature tumbled out of the tree toward the ground, the sword disappeared from its arm and reappeared in Lucius' hand as he followed directly behind. When the yellow, ape-like monster hit the ground, it scrambled to its feet in an attempt to run, but its body was harshly slammed back into the ground by the force of Lucius landing on top of it and driving it into the dirt with his sword. The impact was so powerful that splinters of pain shot through his arms and legs, but the sensation was soothed shortly after by the life flowing into him from the creature, thanks to his sword's ability.
You have slain Magna Simia, Level 9.
Through effort, you have raised Sword Fighter to Level 3.
When the remaining creatures saw their companion lying dead in a heap on the forest floor, blood flowing from the large wound on its chest, they let out angry screams toward Lucius but ultimately decided to flee. He watched as the dead creature's four companions flipped through the trees toward the west.
"Good luck... Magar is in that direction." Lucius said a silent prayer as he imagined the fate of the unlucky creatures. Looking down at the body of the one he had slain, he held his chin in thought. "The skin on these things should make strong leather. If I hadn't been falling from the sky, Matriarch's Fury might have struggled to pierce it." He held out his hand with the Adventurer's Ring and lifted the body off the ground. Once it was in the air, he stored it in the ring's dimensional storage space.