The trip to the area where the Golden Apes are reported to be staying is a quick one with Cain carrying both Prana and Nemu, the only two members of the group who cannot fly. The treant turned demon looks to be more than a little uncomfortable with the concept, holding Cain tightly enough that even if he weren't holding her, she would be securely attached to him, but Nemu views the experience as a bonus nap.
Only seconds after liftoff she had sighed and curled up against his side, using her claws to latch onto Cain's clothing, eliminating the chance that she might accidentally slip loose while sleeping and fall from his grasp.
"Does she always sleep while flying? Like to not see the ground or something?" Prana asked, devoting herself to looking only forward.
"No, she just takes the love of sleep to an entirely new level. Like the domesticated cat, she can and will sleep almost anywhere or at any time unless she is in danger." Cain laughs, searching the ground for signs of their targets.
Their golden fur blends in surprisingly well with the fallen leaves in the bamboo forest, and they are under a kilometer away when Cain finally spots them. They are mostly just lounging around in the shade, but the crackle of lightning from the few who are playing gave them away to his finely tuned senses.
"Alright, I have activated [Ancient Wisdom]. Prana, you will have the ability to summon a mythical quality creature that you are personally familiar with for the duration of the fight. It's one of my most valuable support skills, so I would appreciate it if you kept it to yourself. Being begged for benefits gets very tiring when too many people find out at once." Cain explains, looking down at the shocked demon.
"I heard that you have a lot of hidden power, but this is really impressive. I can call almost anything. I can even call clones of the others. But I think that something immune to lightning and more vicious might be in order."
The look of intense concentration on her face makes Vala laugh, but it doesn't take long until Prana has chosen her Summon for today. A Mythic quality Thunder Dragon. They are lightning users, which isn't optimal, but they are immune to lightning as well, and vicious in close combat. Not only that, Prana can use it as a mount if she needs to get somewhere faster than her own legs can carry her.
"Let's start in the clearing there by the river, and then you can go up to the back side of that hill and start out of sight," Vala suggests, pointing to her intended target.
It's only a hundred meters from the closest of the Golden Apes, a distance they can cover in a few seconds, but the Companions don't mind. They're here for the fight, stretching their might and their bodies after a while cooped up in the Merger.
The spell isn't uncomfortable, but the lack of freedom makes them all a little stir-crazy when they're trapped for an extended period of time. Especially Laura, who almost immediately gets bored and starts bothering the others for entertainment, knowing they can't escape when they're all in Merger.
The Golden Apes are on the intruders to their territory the moment the group lands. Vala moves forward, summoning two copies of Carnage, the Wrath Demon.
The first thing the two giant demons do is hug Vala for the present she is giving them, combat against an entire tribe of Golden Apes. The second thing they do is use their heavy bronze axes to swat away a pair of Apes intent on ruining their emotional moment.
Cain darts up into the air, intending to head for the other side of the hill, as Vala suggested when he hears a sudden cry of dismay from Prana.
"Hey, why do you guys all get two? That is so not fair."
Chuckling, Cain looked for the edge of the Golden Apes' territory so he could start with the patrols and work his way inward. The patrols are usually among the best fighters, but they are also usually alone, giving Cain the perfect opportunity to work on his combat skills.
The moment he lands, Cain draws his new spear and the Pestilent Scimitar and moves towards the nearest Golden Ape that he saw on his flight overhead.
The guard seems to be up for a good fight, forming lightning claws as soon as he sees Cain's weapons and roaring his challenge at the tribe's enemy, currently in the form of a two-and-a-half meter tall bronze-skinned demon.
Cain uses [Charge] to close the distance, the tip of his spear being blocked by a lightning claw, then hastily retracted as the Ape ducks low and swings his claws upwards, attempting to take out Cain's legs.
The claws are easily turned away by the Scimitar, and the Ape is forced to jump into the trees to dodge the next strike of the Spear, returning a split second later, claws first.
The fighting style of the Golden Apes relies heavily on their surroundings, using trees, rocks, and hills both as a defensive barrier and a platform to stage attacks from. Despite their inability to fly, the fight is almost three-dimensional in the tall trees.
The two circle each other warily for a moment, assessing their opponent's strength, and then Cain lunges past the Ape with his full strength, swinging the spear as he does and knocking the beast to the ground with the haft of the weapon.
The Ape rolls away, but Cain pursues, landing a solid hit with the Scimitar, and then another with the spear as the mighty beast struggles to defend itself.
Realizing that it is a lost cause, the Ape goes on the offensive, using ranged lightning to drive Cain back, almost forcing him to use a defensive spell to avoid injury. Of course, he would heal in a few seconds, but that isn't the point. If Cain wants to get better acquainted with his physical limits, using ranged magic and shields defeats the purpose.
While Cain prefers to spar with his first opponent, the others are out for loot. The very first Golden Ape that they took down gave Prana a tiara that granted lightning resistance as well as physical damage, and now they're motivated to see who can get the best shiny thing by the end of the battle.
They could be more brutal, using flight and area attacks to hit more targets at a time, but that wouldn't let them know who was doing better. For now, they aren't in much danger, and Evangeline is having no trouble keeping up with what little healing they do need.
Despite being the last non-Mythic Companion, she didn't bother with calling something that could assist her in her healing role, instead, she called a pair of shirtless Mythic Seraphim High Inquisitors to guard her.
Prana thought it was a bit odd since they didn't really need the extra damage and the High Inquisitors only have [Holy Light] to heal with, but the disguised Seraphim insisted that they were a defense against enemies attacking from the back, while secretly admiring the eye candy she had created.
Her decision soon proved to be a wise one, as one of the Golden Apes managed to escape from Vala and Carnage and leap straight at Evangeline, trying to take out both the weakest target and their healer in one shot.
The swords of the High Inquisitors appeared in their hands without warning, flashing with bright white light as they chopped the Mythic beast into three pieces with a single strike.
Even Carnage was impressed by that one. He couldn't accomplish it, but the Seraphim could at the same quality.
The secret lay in the way they attacked, using holy light concentrated on the blade, it was effectively four attacks instead of two, and the Apes were weak against Holy Light, as most beings are.
A few seconds later, Laura cheered as she tore apart an Ape herself, her shimmering dragon scales covered in slushy red blood from her half-frozen target.
"I got a shiny thing, and I'm pretty sure it's going to be enough to win today." The Opal Prismatic Dragon cheered, linking the item in party chat for the others to bask in her glorious victory.
[Pouch of Eternal Satisfaction] May be used once every 30 seconds. Reach inside to receive an Ancient Quality sweet treat that grants a random bonus for the next 30 seconds.
Prana burst into laughter at that one, seeing that it was possibly the least versatile or truly useful Ancient Quality item she had ever heard of, but when Laura reached inside with one blood-covered claw and pulled back out a smoked beast meat roast that smelled like maple syrup and fruit she began to reconsider. Perhaps that was the best possible item for the day.
"Oh, not bad. 500 mana a second for 30 seconds." Laura declared as she chewed the sweet and meaty treat. That was a truly impressive bonus that she got, along with the three kilos of tender roast meat.
The others all wondered if the size of the treat would scale to her own body size. If it did, she would be spending a lot more time in dragon form, pulling out treats before transforming back to enjoy them. No matter how much she eats, the dragon doesn't seem to put on weight though, so there wasn't much of a chance of stopping her from snacking incessantly now.
"How is the Ancient doing?" Prana asked, using her vines to bind an ape while Carnage physically rips its head off, abandoning its ax in favor of brute force.
"It looks like he's finished sparring with the first guard and has picked two of them at once for his next target," Evangeline replied, being the only one that had the luxury to investigate their mental bond.
Two on one was a much better fight for Cain. The attacks from multiple directions, coupled with excellent teamwork pushed his physical agility to its limits.
'If I keep this up, I might actually become a proper swordsman' Cain thought to himself as he sparred with the two Mythic beasts. With every passing minute, he was becoming more comfortable with the sword techniques, and increasing them to Mythic Quality didn't only improve the damage of the attacks, it also provided him with a variety of new footwork and subtle improvements to his techniques.
Those were things he could have never gained if he couldn't use [Versatility].
He also knows from experience, that using them over and over will help with muscle memory, making him a better fighter even when he isn't using the skill at a Mythic level. His defense was still a bit lacking, as he didn't upgrade the [Defense basics] skill book, but it was enough to keep them at bay while he fought, as long as he maintained an aggressive style.
A sudden side shift to spear one of his attackers led to a mid-air collision, which Cain quickly leveraged into a double kill, skewering both Golden Apes through the temples at the same time. That made three kills, not exactly fast progress, but his combat power was growing exponentially.
"Alright, who is next?" Cain called out to the forest, receiving a chorus of roars in return.
His challenge had not gone unnoticed, and the clearing soon filled with Golden Apes from the main resting area of the tribe, dozens of them at once. The challenge and response weren't missed by the others, who simply shared a smile at hearing the boss having so much fun and kept at their attacks.
None of them, except perhaps Prana, had any fear for his safety. Not only did he have more than enough Mythic abilities in his arsenal, but he could also call a veritable army of Demons if he had to. The time for that wasn't yet though, and Cain continued to rely on his physical skills, finally using his saved status points to improve his overall status.
[Name] Cain
[Level] 380
[Class] Watcher From Beyond
[Race] Ancient
[Awakened] Mythic
[Physique] Mythic
[Stats] +510->10
[STR] 575->700
[DEX] 575->700
[CON] 575->700
[INT] 575->700
[HP] 92,000->112,000
[MP] 115,000->140,000
The effect was immediate, and the strongest of the Golden Apes, who were almost keeping up with Cain were suddenly left struggling to stay alive. They lacked the intellect to understand the reason for the enemy's sudden power up, but its effect they understood very well.
"It's good to be powerful. After all, I've got an Ancient to slap for stealing my Misha." Cain chuckled, confusing the Apes.
Even demons shouldn't look so happy while fighting, right?
