Before long, a group of monkeys swung in on the branches and dropped to the ground, forming two rows around Daichi Yayahara.
The old monkey descended from above, landing in the middle—it was the same damn monkey from before.
Clearly, this guy held some authority here—probably thanks to that mana stone around its neck.
"Chii-chii!" The monkey screeched, pointing its finger at Daichi—an obvious order to attack.
Daichi had already buffed himself with Wind Step and Might Strenght Sigil. Though these monkeys were physically stronger than normal adult humans, his strength and speed had long since surpassed human limits.
Not to mention the Performance Booster still had his mana surging wildly—he was a one-man wrecking crew.
As the horde of oversized monkeys lunged at him, Daichi punched through them like they were balloons.
In less than a minute, over twenty monkeys were sprawled across the ground—and Daichi stood face to face with the old monkey.
It was so stunned it forgot to cast a spell.
Daichi chuckled. "A monkey's still a monkey. Never a match for a human."
Just as he raised his fist to end it, he felt a surge of danger from the side—and leapt away.
A larger monkey crashed down from above, smashing a crater into the ground.
As the dust settled, Daichi saw it was the monkey who'd been feasting on the bento earlier.
"Well, well. A tank and a caster combo? Pretty classic. Let's see what you've got."
Daichi took a combat stance, silently cursing himself for still not having studied proper martial arts. He should've started after that last close call.
Analyzing the situation, he thought, The big guy's only about two-thirds my strength—not much of a threat. But the mage? That's the real danger. Even a rushed spell from him packs a punch. If I take one full-on, I'm toast.
The brute monkey charged, trying to end things fast, while the old one began gathering mana for a follow-up.
Daichi sidestepped. The punch hit the ground with a boom, forming another crater.
No time to gawk—the caster flung a fireball at his last location.
Daichi barely landed before he had to dodge again—the fireball exploded behind him, scorching the earth.
He needed time to cast—but as soon as he started chanting, the old monkey screeched, and the big one barreled toward him again, this time recklessly, ignoring self-preservation.
"Damn… they already picked up on my mana flow while chanting? That fast?"
He gritted his teeth. "Fine. Let's try a Tier 1 fireball—see if I can nuke the mage."
He gathered an above-average dose of mana and launched a fireball the size of a human head—easily equivalent to his usual Tier 2 output, thanks to the Performance Booster.
But the old monkey raised a barrier infused with natural energy. The fireball fizzled on contact.
"Tch… I can't one-shot either of them. Any spell strong enough to take one out will leave me open to the other. I could drag it out an hour, but…"
Not only would that be tedious, it'd make a liar out of me. Plus, if Dekisugi doesn't see me at the summit, he'll come back for me…
Just then, a voice echoed in his mind: "You've inscribed the Soul Sigil. You can now use soul-based attacks without chanting, though they're weaker."
"...You? Soulstele?" Daichi dodged another fireball. "How?"
"Yes, my master. You can channel your soul energy directly into the sigil's soul-etched pattern. Though less powerful than chanted spells, such attacks can disable opponents—provided their soul strength is much weaker."
"Fortunately, these monkeys—though physically enhanced—have souls barely stronger than average. A single strike could leave them paralyzed."
"But be warned: in your current state, you can only fire one such attack. Anymore and you'll risk soul depletion. Even I can't fix that instantly."
"One chance, huh? That's enough."
Daichi evaded the tank's lunge, then charged at the caster monkey.
Seeing him rush forward, the old monkey panicked and flung a fireball at him.
Daichi jumped, twisting mid-air to dodge, while the tank scrambled away to avoid friendly fire.
In midair, Daichi hurled another fireball down at the caster. The monkey threw up its usual green barrier.
The tank was momentarily unable to chase, and the caster was pinned.
Now!
Daichi triggered the soul sigil. A silent, invisible pulse shot forward.
The old monkey had just relaxed after blocking the last fireball—completely unguarded.
The soul strike hit like a dagger in the mind. The monkey shrieked once, eyes rolling back, and collapsed.
Daichi landed next to it, tore the vine necklace from its neck, and grinned. "Mana stone… acquired."
Behind him, the tank monkey lunged.
Daichi didn't even look—he flicked a Tier 2-level fireball behind him, blasting the monkey off its feet. It crashed into a tree, body scorched.
He walked over to check—still breathing.
"Good, not dead. If I killed it, Dekisugi would be upset."
Then he sniffed the air. "Smells kinda good though…"
He took a deep whiff, then reluctantly turned away.
"Forget it. Burnt meat probably tastes bad anyway."
He carefully peeled the vines off the mana stone—the true prize of this whole mess.
Mana stones were rare treasures, not for cultivation, but for enchanting magical tools—boosting spell strength by channeling ambient natural energy.
This one, pulsing a vivid emerald hue, was clearly high-grade. Possibly one of the best of its tier.
Grinning, Daichi tucked it away and jogged back up the mountain, buffing himself with Wind Step again.
Mana was meant to be used, after all.
Ten minutes later, he reached the summit.
His clothes were torn and dirt-streaked from earlier—though he'd cleaned the grime, the rips remained. He could pass it off as snagging on branches.
Soon after, Dekisugi and the others arrived. Seeing Daichi unharmed, Dekisugi sighed with relief.
He walked over. "Hey… about before. I was wrong."
"No big deal," Daichi waved it off. "Everyone's safe, that's what matters. Let's not dwell on it."
Dekisugi nodded gratefully.
Their teacher strolled over. "How come you all got here so late? Even with Dekisugi?"
The group panted in unison. "It's a long story…"
The teacher let it go—he assumed they just hit some delays. Everyone was here, that's what mattered.
"Well then, let's eat!"
It was noon. The kids all sat down, pulling out their lunch boxes.
Dekisugi reached for his—but his backpack was empty.
He'd forgotten the monkeys had ransacked it earlier.
No way he could ask anyone else for food… Guess he'd go hungry.
Just then, a lunch box appeared in front of him.
"Eat. You made it, after all."
Dekisugi looked up. It was Daichi, offering one of the boxes of pastries he'd packed.
He smiled. "Well, in that case, I won't hold back!"
(End of Chapter)