The Battle of Wits with the Ape Demon

The skateboard zoomed toward the stables at an incredible speed. Ryan had spent a lot of time with these docile animals, and naturally, he had developed a certain attachment to them, so he felt a deep urgency in his heart.

"Damn it! What the hell are you? Put down... Damn it!" Ryan burst into the stable and saw that the door had already been broken down. In front of him, a humanoid creature was devouring one of the horses. Ryan recognized this horse—it was a young colt he had personally raised. But the creature didn't even glance at him as it continued to gnaw at the animal, blood splattering everywhere. Ryan nearly gagged at the sight. The other horses huddled together in fear.

"Fireball!" Ryan silently recited the incantation, and a fireball appeared in his hand, quickly launching toward the humanoid creature.

"Arrgh!" The fireball hit the creature, causing it to scream in agony. The beast lifted its head, then lunged toward Ryan with a furious roar.

Since the stable had no lighting, Ryan had never intended to enter it. He had planned to keep his distance from the creature. This was the way of a mage's combat—stay outside, keep your distance. He wasn't foolish enough to rush in headfirst; he could still learn from his experience in the game.

"First-level Beast, Ape Demon." Ryan finally made out the creature's form. It stood at least two meters tall, walking upright like an ape, but much larger than any earthly gorilla. Its claws were razor-sharp, like swords. Ryan remembered from the Beast Atlas that while the Ape Demon didn't possess any magic, it had one earth-based spell, Stone Skin, which it could only cast a few times. However, its magic resistance was extremely high. According to the book, a first-level mage would not stand a chance in a one-on-one fight with an Ape Demon—death would be inevitable.

Ryan watched as the Ape Demon charged at him, and he released another fireball, this time aiming for the creature's face—its weak spot. The Ape Demon raised its arms to shield its face, and the fur on its arms sizzled as it was roasted, sending the acrid smell of burning leather into the air.

"Arrgh!" The Ape Demon lowered its arms, saw that its enemy was still ahead of it, and let out a mighty roar. It charged forward again, but the creature, with its low intelligence, failed to realize that Ryan had put more distance between them.

"Heh, this is interesting," Ryan thought, watching the Ape Demon approach. He wasn't afraid—in fact, he was almost pleased. After launching the second fireball, Ryan pushed off with his left foot, and the skateboard slid back, maintaining a 30-meter distance from the demon. Since fireballs had a maximum range of 50 meters, and the snow was 2 meters deep, Ryan, with his skateboard in hand, could easily outmaneuver the bulky, clumsy demon.

The Ape Demon made several charging attempts, but every time, it found itself just a bit too far away from Ryan. Despite its intelligence being on par with a small child, it persisted in its pursuit, oblivious to the widening gap between them.

Ryan continued to skate around the stable, exchanging fireballs with the Ape Demon. His attacks had already rendered the demon's arms useless, but the deep snow prevented it from using its agility to its advantage.

"Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh!" The Ape Demon, frustrated, let out a howl and began to glow with a yellowish light. Its body morphed, taking on a stone-like texture. With a sudden roll, the creature launched itself toward Ryan.

"Stone Skin! That only makes you heavier, you fool. Oh wait—no, that's bad," Ryan thought, watching the demon enhance its defense with Stone Skin. As the creature rolled toward him, Ryan quickly dove to the side.

"Ouch!" Ryan got up, feeling a sharp pain in his side. The Ape Demon's claws had scratched him, leaving a small cut. Fortunately, the damage was superficial, just a little blood, but it was enough to rip through his already tattered clothing. "Good thing I dodged quickly," he thought.

"Arrgh! Arrgh! Arrgh!" The Ape Demon sniffed its claws, realized it had hurt Ryan, and pounded its chest in excitement before rolling toward him again. Its claws glinted coldly in the snow.

"What the hell?! Just because the tiger doesn't roar, you think I'm a sick cat?" Ryan cursed as he saw the Ape Demon coming for him again. This time, he used Water Ball—winter magic made it about the size of a football, a result of the environment affecting magic potency. In warmer environments like oceans or lakes, a first-level Water Ball could be much larger, but less powerful.

"Dammit! Earth Shield, Water Ball!" Ryan was no longer as composed as before. His clothes were long gone, and he was barely covered by a ragged cloth tied around his waist. With a quick motion, he summoned an Earth Shield in front of him, then fired a Water Ball while dodging to the side.

"Haha! Frozen, huh? You think my Water Ball is just for show? Come at me!" Ryan taunted. The Ape Demon, having rolled in the snow several times, was now unable to move properly. Ryan's continuous casting of Water Balls had effectively frozen its limbs.

"That's what you get for causing trouble. Now, you're stuck," Ryan sneered. He kept launching Water Balls at the creature, watching as it struggled to break free. Once it was thoroughly frozen, Ryan planned to melt the demon's head with Fireball and finish it off with a Wind Blade decapitation.

"This demon ape is a perfect alchemical material." Niu Niu appeared beside Ryan without him noticing.

"Exactly, how did I forget about that!" Ryan slapped his forehead, then glanced at Niu Niu. She seemed unusually polite today. He thought for a moment, then turned around and headed back to the cave.

"The blood of the demon ape?" Ryan began, "Well, its blood makes an excellent solution for soaking leather. If you use both the skin and blood of a demon ape, the resulting armor will have enhanced defensive properties. The teeth are great for making daggers and arrowheads. The bones, when ground into powder and mixed with blood, become a useful ingredient. The bile is used to carve earth-type magic circles. The nails are natural daggers. The eyeballs, when soaked in blood and bile, can be set into a hat to ward off dust. The tendons are used for making magic bows. The brain is a natural supplement, and the bone marrow can increase the magic power limit for earth mages. It's all quite valuable."

"Too bad it ruined my clothes, better send me a new set of leather armor!" Ryan grabbed a wooden bucket and rushed toward the demon ape.

Ryan fumbled as he tried to drain the demon ape's blood. The blood was watery, yet red, not viscous, with a hint of earth-yellow in it. It's said that the blood of a level-9 magical beast takes on the color of its element. The bucket filled up halfway with the ape's blood. The next step was refining it, but this left Ryan in a bind. Blood is usually refined immediately after being released—using a magic furnace to purify it, removing any impurities, and leaving only the essence. The process requires constant stirring, and if the brain, bone marrow, and eyeballs aren't carefully separated from the body in time, their effectiveness would be compromised. Of course, if the blood is stored in a crystal vial, it's much simpler. The vial preserves the vitality of the blood, preventing the magic from dissipating. But Ryan wasn't sure how to proceed.

"Give me the blood," Niu Niu offered. Though she wasn't familiar with the process, she could see Ryan was struggling, so she didn't mind helping.

"Okay," Ryan handed the bucket to Niu Niu, who surprisingly managed to lift the large bucket. From a distance, it looked as if the bucket was floating by itself.

"Hmph, watch our Wind Blade," Ryan muttered as he found a spot on the demon ape's neck to cut, where the skin had folds and was easier to break open. He skinned the creature, feeling it was his first time doing something like this. Fortunately, the demon ape's body was mostly free of blood, and its meat was snow-white, not red. The skin was thin, about 2 millimeters thick. As soon as he skinned it, he took it back to the cave and tossed it to Niu Niu to continue.

After a lot of effort, Ryan managed to finish cleaning the entire demon ape. The snow around them was covered in bones, meat, tendons, and other parts. He discarded the internal organs since they had already cooled. Had they been fresh, they could have been used in certain potions. What amazed Ryan the most was the demon ape's tail, which was as thick as an arm. On Earth, there's a saying, "you are what you eat," and Ryan was curious to try it, so he decided to keep it.

Now, Ryan had more work to do. He had already prepared a solution for the eyeballs, so as soon as he removed them, he dropped them into the liquid. The tendons were left to dry in the shade. The bone and brain matter would be saved for dinner, as Ryan loved eating pig brains on Earth. He set aside the teeth and nails.

"Sigh, I finally understand why mercenaries travel in groups," Ryan said while gathering all the useful materials and storing them in the cave. "But this demon core is a real treasure. I just wonder if it's worth anything."

"Most mercenaries wouldn't bother with the demon ape's body parts," Niu Niu replied. "You see, they spend months in the magic beast forest on each mission. The materials only fetch a few hundred gold coins, and things like the eyeballs, teeth, and nails are easy to carry, so they take them. The brain will be eaten by itself. Didn't you know?"

By now, Niu Niu had finished her work. Ryan had thought she would be refining the blood in a large iron pot, but it turned out she had a magic furnace.

The magic furnace looked somewhat like a kettle, except not as high. It had magical runes carved into it, and a fire-type magic core was embedded in the top. Once that's done, you don't have to worry about it anymore. The magic furnace was priceless, crafted mainly from crystal. Ryan had no idea who was unlucky enough to lose it.

"I didn't know that," Ryan chuckled, feeling a bit embarrassed.

"Books! If you read those books, you'll know all about it," Niu Niu replied, pointing at the wooden table with the books stacked on it. She gestured toward a sealed crystal vial on the table containing half a vial of liquid that glowed with an earth-yellow light. "By the way, this is the refined blood."

Ryan picked it up, noticing it was about 2 ounces. "Is this all?" he asked, puzzled.

Niu Niu, not happy at being questioned, replied, "What did you expect? That's all there is—half a bucket. We need to save some for soaking the demon ape's skin and the eyeballs. This is already the refined stuff."

"Finally, some fresh meat! It's been months since I had anything like this. It's nice to do it myself, too. By the way, Niu Niu, where did this demon ape come from?" Ryan asked, as he dug into the meat from the iron pot.

"It's not that there's nothing here," Niu Niu replied, still reading her book. "These things all have legs. In winter, food is scarce, but the strongest beasts around here are only level 2 or 3."

"Well, Niu Niu, why is our Duchy, so close to the Imperial Capital, so barren?" Ryan asked, his curiosity piqued.

"Ugh! This is the mountain area. Just read your books and stop bothering me," Niu Niu snapped.

"Ugh! Should I leave or stay? With my status as a magician, I shouldn't have much to fear, right? I'm just dealing with a little knight." Ryan now understood the world a bit better and realized that his position as a magician made him part of a privileged class.

"I wonder if nobles really have that 'first night' right they talk about," Ryan thought with a smirk, then popped another piece of demon ape meat into his mouth.