Strange Encounter

While Vann continued to ponder, a sudden noice from a distance caught his attention, forcing him to snap out of his thoughts.

Listening closely, he realized that the noice came from a group of monkeys. But there was also another faint sound that comes along with it, a high pitched sound that he can't quite put a finger on.

His curiosity got the better of him as he put his thoughts in the back of his head for now and ran towards the direction of the noice.

When he reached the place, he found more than 5 monkeys standing in a circle. The 4 of them is familiar to him as he has already killed some earlier. But there is one that is bigger than normal and has white fur instead of being brown.

In the middle of the monkeys is a small blue figure. It was a lot smaller compared to the monkeys which is why Vann can't see it properly to understand what it is.

But since he was a lot closer now compared to earlier, Vann finally figured out the source of the high pitched sound earlier. It was the chirping of a bird, a very loud one at that almost as if it was crying for help.

Focusing his eyes, he can see that he is correct in his assumption that the small blue figure is indeed a small blue bird. And just barely, he can see a hint of red in one of its wings as it desperately flapped its other wing while seemingly crying for help.

[Monkey (Normal, Common)]

Level: 2

Health: 70

[Albino Monkey (Elite, Common)]

Level: 2

Health: 100

[Baby bird (Normal, Common)]

Level: 0

Health: 5/20

It didn't take him long to figure out what's going on with the clues presented to him as he looked at the monkeys and the small blue bird. He can't help but pity the blue bird as he knew all too well what's it like to be in its shoe. That's why he decided to help it even though he knew it was frankly stupid and risky.

Bracing himself, Vann kicked off with his right foot and charged towards one of the normal monkeys.

The sound made by his moves attracted the monkeys as they turned towards his direction. But it was far too late as the moment they did, Vann was already right in front of them.

With utter concentration etched to his face, Vann slammed his shield at the monkey in front of him towards the direction of another, sending it flying through the air and crashing against another unprepared monkey and away from the blue bird.

Not letting this advantage go to waste, Vann shifted into a very aggresive style as he focused on the monkey he sent flying as he knew that he will be at a disadvantage the moment he was surrounded by the five monkeys. So in order to prevent that, he has to kill at least one with the help of his surprise attack even with the cost of suffering some damage.

He thrust his sword forward, piercing both of the monkeys' chest and impaling his sword deep in their chest. Then he attacked the monkey in the front with the edge of his shield right at its face and in one swift motion pulled out his sword and finally dealing the final blow with Enhanced Attack.

[You gained 3 exp!]

His series of movements was so fast that the monkey he's attacking can't retaliate in the slightest while the other monkeys only managed to reached him just when he was finished executing Enhanced Attack. The result of his all out attack killed his main target and leaving the other one near half health.

Unfortunately, Vann was unable to react in time as one of th normal monkey who is also the closest to him scratched his back, making him furrow his brows from the pain. Despite this, he ignored the attack and instead focused on killing the second monkey.

From his position after his last attack, Vann slashed upwards, splitting the particles that just appeared after the first monkey's death and creating a deep gash to the second monkey's chest and reducing its health even more to just a bit more than a quarter of its hp.

It was at this moment that he heard the other two monkeys finally reaching him and was preparing to attack together with the one who first scratched his back. Vann knew that he even though he needs to kill the monkey in front of him fast, leaving his back open to three attacks from monsters 1 level higher than him will be too dangerous especially since one of them is an elite monster.

So with that in mind, Vann spinned to use a back kick with his right foot to the second monkey and during the split second that he turned around to face the monkeys at his back, he determined where they will be attacking and blocked their attacks with his shield.

He almost got knocked back from the force of their attacks if not for him directing that force into his kick by slightly jumping with his left leg in the direction of his kick. As for the second monkey, it was knocked backwards once again as it yelped in pain.

The combined attacks from the three monkeys reduced Vann's health by 18 points and together with the first attack he received, he only has a little under 50 points of health. Meanwhile, the second monkey is left in near death state with just a pitiful amount of health remaining.

After returning to a standing position, Vann immediately leapt forward and turned around at the same time to face the rest of the monkeys while slashing at the still flying monkey who was hanging by a thread, finally ending its life.

The dead monkey slowly started to turn into drifting particles as Vann assumed a battle stance, facing the enraged monkeys who is charging at him furiously while the small bird used this chance to hide behind a tree while fearfully staring at the battle.

A grim expression appeared in Vann's face as he watched the three monkeys rushing at him, carefully assessing their every move as he knew that the real batlle will only start now.

With the element of surprise finally ending, he's now forced to fight them head on despite the disadvantage in numbers. The only saving grace for him at this moment is the following notification that appeared after the system notified him when he gained exp.

[You gained 3 exp!]

[You leveled up to 2!]

[You gained 5 attribute points!]