Wiping blood from his eye, Edan glared at the monkeys that stood on the shore. They barred their teeth at him and bashed their horns against their neighbors, the clack-clack of bone on bone was loud as it traveled over the pool.

  Behind them, he could still see the main body of the…pack? Herd? Gang? Having fun destroying his and Tali’s belongings.

  Edan pulled up his stat screen and looked at the 25 points remaining. He received the most points in Strength and Constitution through his class, with Dexterity following. His class seemed to be heavily based on physical power, with his skills reflecting that.

  Since that was the case Edan so no issue with dumping fifteen points into Endurance, bringing his base state up to 107 and his actual to 171. It also meant that all of his body related stats were over 100. The remaining ten points were split evenly between Dexterity and Willpower.

  Edan felt hot like he’d caught a fever, and he heard his heart beating in his chest like a drum. Then it faded and he felt fine. Still abused, but better.

  Filled with new determination, and a hunger for more levels so he could squash a few more monkeys, Edan pushed forward, the water around his waist surging. He pulled the last remaining dagger from its sheath along his chest. The monkeys had stolen the rest when they had dogpiled him.

  Chittering happily as he approached one of the monkeys took a brave step forward. Water lapped at its ankle and it shrieked before stumbling back. Edan took advantage of the small distraction.

  [Charge] activated. His body pushed through the last of the water hard and fast enough to throw droplets everywhere. Too distracted by the flying water, the monkeys reacted late. Edan was among them before they could react.

  Lashing out around him Edan focused on keeping himself moving. Always moving. If he stopped it gave them time to latch on to him and slow him down. Edan twirled among them, one foot lashing out and punting a small hairy form across the clearing. His arm followed, plucking a leaping monkey from the air and redirecting its flight so it sailed out into the pond.

  A stone whizzed past his ear and he cast a quick look back towards the main part of the camp. The rest of the gang had seen his resurgence and were on their way. A few picked up stones to throw at him again.

  Edan pulled a monkey from his back. His hair tore painfully from the roots as the monkey refused to let go. Crushing its neck, Edan held it up like a makeshift shield. It only took him blocking one to stop the rest.

  Unable to hit him from a distance they surged forward once more and Edan found himself being pushed back again.

  His blade began a blur as he activated [Flurry] again and again in an attempt to keep them off him. Teeth bit into his legs and calf and even his toe. He felt sharp claws along his back and blindly pulled a screeching animal from his shoulder. Its finger got stuck in the strap of his leather armor and he had to pull hard to free it.

  [Striped Forest Simion - lvl 32 x2 slain]

  [Striped Forest Simion - lvl 31 x2 slain]

  [Striped Forest Simion - lvl 34 slain]

  …

  ..

  [Experience gained]

  [Vitalis gained]

  [Level 33 -> Level 34]

  [+15 Stat Points]

  When he felt himself weighed down [Charge] would help him burst through. [Slash] was useless against so many. More and more Edan found himself relying on basic movement to keep himself free.

  Exhaustion pulled at his limbs though, the constant use of skills draining him even with the slight increase from his level up. Edan briefly regretted not putting more points into Endurance and he didn’t have the time now. But all it took was a monkey biting him to remind him that Constitution was important as well.

  The fight, if you could call it that, created its own strange rhythm, a rhythm that, when coupled with Edan's exhaustion, lulled him in a sort of daze. Muscle memory took over as Edan's body fell back on what he knew. Edan twisted and turned, his body moving him through the first steps of the [Dance of Titans] on instinct.

  [Upgrade: Dance of Titans [Rare] -> Dance of Titans [Epic]]

  The notification pulled Edan from his daze and he opened his mouth to cheer out loud but a monkey stuck its grubby fingers in there and tried to yank out his tooth. Swearing and spitting Edan yaked it off.

  –

  Tali laughed as the alpha wolf batted her away. She flew over the sea of grey fur and crashed through a tree trunk. With a groan the tree toppled, its tangled branches slowing its fall.

  With the heat of her blood coursing through her veins and the inky tattoos gradually slipping up her neck, Tali grabbed the fallen tree, leaning back for balance, she swept it across the clearing, toppling wolves by the dozen.

  Little more than a shadow, the alpha wolf jumped onto the tree trunk as it passed, and ran up its length. Tali saw its approach and flicked the end of the trunk she held. The wolf jumped off at the last second and fell towards her, its jaws wide and salivating.

  [Resonance] activated and the ground around Tali sprouted stone spears. Stepping to the side, Tali let the wolf land where she had just been standing. A spear burst from beneath the wolf, its narrow blade slipping through the creature with ease. The head burst from the back of the wolf, momentarily pinning it in place.

  Tali jerked back as its jaws snapped shut close to her face. She slapped its muzzle hard enough to bounce its head off the ground. Dazed, it didn’t fight as she grasped its jaws between her hands and pulled. Suddenly panicked the wolf clawed at the ground. Cracks appeared along the spear's handle.

  If you discover this tale on Amazon, be aware that it has been unlawfully taken from Royal Road. Please report it.

  Tali swung onto the back of the wolf, her hold on its jaws forcing its neck to twist at an uncomfortable angle. Locking her legs around its throat she squeezed, even as she pulled in opposite directions with her hands. There was resistance and Tali laughed as the wolf bucked beneath her.

  The spear snapped and the wolf tried to roll over to get her off but Tali hung on.

  With a sound like ripping paper, Tali tore the head from its shoulders.

  Standing, Tali laughed as she held a section of the head up. Worms and blood fell around her like rain.

  There was a moment of stillness from the surrounding wolves. They looked between Tali and the corpse of the alpha. A few whimpered or whined. Some took a step towards her. Others, mainly those on the fridges, began to slink away as the fight left them. Once the rest saw them retreating they were quick to follow suit.

  Like a tide retreating they vanished between the trees, leaving only the bodies of the dead behind.

  The Bear stood up on its hind legs and roared loudly into the night, the thick fur on its neck shaking. The roar broke off into a gurgle and the bear dropped to all fours before staggering sideways.

  Tali, smiling at the bear's defiance rushed forward. Her earlier joy fell from her face. Her markings began to retreat down her neck.

  The bear slumped over, its side rising and falling slowly as it took deep breaths and let them out in a huff. Brown eyes stared up at Tali as she approached and the bear gave a half-hearted growl.

  “Easy, little mother,” Tali whispered, crouching down by its head and slowly holding a hand out. “You have proven victorious. Rest.”

  Tali felt its wet nose under her palm and gently brushed the fur along its muzzle. It was slick with blood. She heard a whine from behind the bear and peering over saw two small forms moving in the mouth of the cave.

  The bear growled weakly and attempted to stand. It managed to lift its head a couple of inches off the ground before exhaustion once more made it slump over.

  The cubs whined from the dark shadows of the cave again before hesitantly stepping out into the moonlight. Tali watched their approach, still stroking the mother bear's face gently. They looked like their mother with the same dark green fur and white patches on their face, though one had a white patch that extended down to its muzzle. It looked like it wore a white mask rather than a crown.

  Leery of Tali, they watched her cautiously. When she made no outward moves against them they rushed to their mother's side, pushing their heads against her stomach and pawing at her. She huffed a great breath on them, her brown eyes turning warm. Tali slid under the mother's head and when the bear next laid its head back down it found it in the comfort of Tali’s lap.

  “I will stay with you, little mother,” Tali murmured, stroking its great head.

  The cubs crawled up Tali’s thighs to reach their mother's head. Whimpering they nuzzled at her, the white patches on their heads turning red with her blood.

  Tali continued to gently pet the bear as its breathing slowed. She had failed to save it, in the end. Levels meant little when faced with endless numbers.

  “I will watch your little ones.” She said at least, rubbing the fur between the bear's eyes. “As I watch my own.”

  Tali sat quietly with the bear as it breathed its last breath. The great sides that had once moved to a steady rhythm fell still and all that could be heard in the woods were the whimpers of its cubs.

  –

  Edan had been pushed back into the water by sheer numbers. He’d figured it would happen and gone willingly. Worse came to worse he could relax in the water, recover, then head back into the fray. Maybe get another level.

  What he hadn’t counted on was the mass pelting the monkeys had started the second he was out of reach. They picked up pebbles from the shoreline and with unnerving accuracy launched them at his head.

  In desperation, Edan had dove underwater and swam out further. No sooner had he popped back up than more stones flew at him. Worse, not all of it was stone. Some were brown and smelly.

  Forced further out, Edan had to tread water. More stones flew at him and cursing Edan dove back underwater and swam closer to the waterfall.

  It was only once he was certain he was safe that Edan pulled up his notifications. The increase in the rarity of [Dance of Titans] had come with an increase in the modifier for Endurance. It was 0.2 in comparison to the other 0.1s.

  While he had his stats up, Edan also assigned his free points. 5 points went into Endurance and another 10 went into Spirit.

  –

  Varga watched the earthworm wriggle on the palm of his hand. They were interesting creatures. Singular in their goal. At least to his mind. And yet gifted with something so amazing he could scarcely believe it. Cut one in half and two would grow.

  A string snapped in Varga’s mind and he flinched, his hand closing on instinct, crushing the worm. Frowning, Varga glanced out across the moon-laden canopy that stretched out beneath him.

  Drifting in the breeze, his ragged cloak snapping about him, Varga took a second to feel for his pets. He still felt the loss of his Viper keenly but now another had joined it. His wolf.

  A loud moan escaped Varga and his hunched form shook. Someone would have thought he was crying if they hadn’t seen his thin, bony, hands clench into fists.

  “Who?” He hissed.

  Varga knew where his wolf had gone. The site of his latest interest.

  Flying over the treetops quickly enough they turned into a blur, Varga reached the location and falling through the canopy in a rain of broken branches, he stopped above the forest floor and hovered there, taking in the scene around him.

  Dead wolfs littered the forest floor, so thick he couldn’t see the ground beneath them. Satisfaction flared in his old shriveled heart. His attempts at boosting the Amalgamation's racial skill for pack control had obviously worked. Varga turned in a slow circle, taking in the sheer number of bodies.

  It had worked very, very well.

  Vraga’s brow drooped as he saw the corpse of his greatest experiment. Its body lay like a twisted shadow around a field of broken stone spears. Not touching the ground, Varga drifted over to it and looked down, displeased.

  It had not been his most powerful pet, but it had been his most stable. Once more Vraga looked at the mass of dead wolves. Perhaps, given time, it could have been his most powerful pet.

  What a waste.

  Vraga saw something wriggle in the blood-stained grass. Drifting the rest of the way down, his toes touched the grass and sank into the soil under his weight. Worms, fat and white, crawled towards him. Vraga allowed them to burrow into his skin.

  “Welcome home, children.” he cooed gently.

  Once more taking to the air he looked at the forest. There was a patch devoid of wolf bodies, closer to the base of the cliff and Vraga drifted towards it. Blood stained the ground but there was no body. Following what looked like drag marks, Vraga looked at the crumbled cliff face.

  He briefly wondered if the creature still existed beneath all that rubble. It was obvious his wolf had failed in acquiring it, but that mattered little. If he could get its body that would be just as well.

  “If you want something done right…” he muttered.

  It took little effort to move the rubble, though he disliked the dusty residue it left on his hands. Hidden behind all that crumbled stone was a cave. Excited at what awaited him, Varga drifted closer to the ground so he wouldn’t hit his head on the ceiling.

  Darkness swallowed him as he entered the cave.

  A moment later he burst from the cave, his face twisted in anger. Rising rapidly through the canopy he burst out the top and floated in the sky.

  “Where are the children?” He growled out between yellowed teeth, his eyes flashed and his soul burst out as he swept the forest. He would find them. They were his.

  There. Something. No, a lack of something. Animals. Animals hiding from something stronger than them. Something strong enough to kill his pet and steal his prize.

  Vraga shifted, tracking the trail, and flew after it. The moonlight overhead bathed his ragged robes of black and purple.