Clan Arh’Rezak wasn’t overly wealthy , and could only pay up to a point for each daemon going through . Any more and the risk of the invasion turning unprofitable would be too big . The rest would have to come out of their own pockets .
Most of the soldiers couldn’t afford it or only got a few levels extra , but the scions of their clan of course got some special benefits under the table . Either from their elders or even from the clan itself .
Maybe not even Ogras himself was a match for Rydel , though he had a few hidden aces in case they ever came to blows . And it might actually come to that , as Ogras had a strong suspicion that Rydel had been sent through the portal to both keep an eye on things , and if possible , neutralize him . That would eliminate any threat of a branch family becoming too strong in the clan .
The crystal mine isn’t going anywhere , and it would seem a waste to attach such large manpower to quickly excavate it . Also , a large portion of our mages are occupied building your… Palace . In my opinion , it would be more pertinent to… -
It doesn’t matter what your opinion is , Rydel . The clan decided I was the most suited for this task , so my orders are what goes . Now leave my study , and remember your manners in the future or there will be repercussions! - Ogras practically screamed , looking very much the part of a fool enjoying his new found power .
Rydel only sneered and performed a barely acceptable salute , and left the study without another word .
Left silently brooding behind his desk , Ogras prayed that the natives and Rydel would find and kill each other , solving all his problems at once .
Chapter 35 - The Fourth Beast
Zac sat perched on a branch in a large tree eating an apple he had foraged earlier . The tree was one of the few in the vicinity that still stood tall and unaffected by the corrosive effect of the incursion , and its dense branches provided natural insulation from prying eyes . He had chosen this tree to be his temporary shelter to spend the night yesterday .
He had spent two nights close to the incursion now , trying to gain as much information as possible . Yesterday he had kept scouting around the demon city and up toward the mountain .
He had made some interesting discoveries . First of all , he had realized how the third skill quest progressed . It was based on time . It seemed that he had to be out in the forests fighting roughly 18 hours for the quest to progress by 1 point . That meant that he had to spend most of his time awake fighting every day . He didn’t mind though , as he was planning on doing that anyway .
But it also meant that it would be an extremely close shave to actually manage to complete it before the 2-month deadline . He had already decided he didn’t dare to wait , he’d kill at least the two remaining heralds as soon as possible . He didn’t want to repeat what happened with Vul , being incapacitated and missing his deadline due to waiting until the last moment . He needed time to recuperate in case he got hurt from the fights .
He had also found the fourth type of beasts that the demons had brought through the portal . They were magic monkeys . Or rather they were called Stone Monkeys by his Eye of Discernment] , and did not look quite as demonic as the other three animals .
They were roughly up to his chest in height but had a bulkier build . They were an anthracite grey and surprisingly no fur . Instead , it looked that they had plates of rocks covering most parts of their bodies , forming almost a natural armor . The aspect that made them look somewhat demonic was their shining red eyes .
The stone monkeys were the most well-rounded of all the demon beasts so far . The barghest was all brawn and no brain , the gwyllgi high speed but low strength , and the imps were incredibly dangerous but also incredibly frail .
The stone monkeys were strong , agile and also durable . Even more annoyingly they seldom moved alone . They seemed to be united in one large group , and Zac suspected that the fourth Herald was the pack leader . He hadn’t seen it , however , as he didn’t dare venture too far into the mountains as it was crawling with monkeys .
That meant that the final Herald apart from the monkey was either a juiced up gwyllgi or imp , depending on which of the two he had managed to kill with his lucky roll for survival . He wasn’t sure which he preferred to be alive , as both felt like they’d be a pain in the ass to fight .
It seemed that the monkeys stayed in the mountain due to their affinity with rocks . Zac often saw them perched and completely immobile on outcroppings as though they were gargoyle sculptures . Their natural habitat was likely in mountainous regions back at their home planet .
He had been happy to notice that each stone monkey gave a lot of Nexus Coins upon killing them . However , he still would rather farm the less lucrative barghest after his only encounter with the monkeys .
Zac thought he had finally managed to single out a solitary stone monkey . It was far away from any demon activity and seemed to be randomly walking around close to the foot of the mountain . Zac had planned to fight it to test it out .
What followed had truly exceeded his expectations . As soon as the monkey noticed Zac it didn’t try to fight . Instead , it screeched at the top of its lungs and started fleeing back up the mountain . While it was faster than a normal human , it still was no match for Zac .
Within a few seconds he had caught up to it , and a brief struggle erupted . The monkey’s fighting style was a full-on brawl , and it was a whirlwind of punches and kicks in a disorganized and confusing manner . It also had a pair of sharp teeth which it tried using when an opportunity arose .
Zac estimated the Strength of the beast to be somewhere in the 60’s , almost on par with Zac’s before he got his class . Its other stats were quite good across the board , even its intelligence seemed higher compared to Earth’s normal primates .
Of course , even with its strong stats , it was no match against Zac . He had grabbed an arm with his free hand and threw the monkey down on the ground . A quick swing and it was dead . The stone plating on the monkeys was quite hard but offered little resistance to his weapon .
The problems came after . The screech of the monkey had pulled a swarm of his brethren over , who all had seemed extremely enraged upon seeing their fallen comrade .
Thus Zac had been beset by an avalanche of angry fists and kicks coming in from all directions . Every swing of his axe had maimed or killed a monkey , but they were endless and fearless . Finally he had escaped , only because the monkeys seemed loath to leave the mountain and enter the forest . They had stopped right at the foot of the mountain , angrily roaring at Zac .
Zac was completely exhausted by then , both physically and his cosmic energy . Even new and improved pathways had barely managed to sustain him in his escape . He wasn’t sure that he’d make it out if that onslaught had started a bit further up the mountain . He’d be drained and then finished off .
The upside from that experience was that it had been the most efficient farming of currency and cosmic energy he had ever done , except from when he killed the heralds . In that free-for-all brawl , he had gained a level and over 10 000 Nexus coins . He wasn’t sure about how many he had actually killed during the escape , but it seemed that the monkeys each awarded around 350 to 400 nexus coins .
The individual gain wasn’t at the level of the imps , but there was a horde of monkeys but only a scant few imps from what he had seen so far . Of course , there still were many locations on the island he still hadn’t ventured to , and they might be a cluster of imps somewhere .
If the monkeys weren’t so territorial and had such teamwork , he’d never want to leave the mountain again . He’d gain enough Nexus Coins to buy the movement skill Steps of Gaia] in no time . But he deemed it too large a risk to farm these beasts , at least for now . He would have to venture up the mountain again soon though , as the Herald was probably hidden somewhere in there , maybe in the form of a monkey king .