Stubborn mule

The dilemma they had walked into, proved itself beyond dangerous, that fact was painfully obvious. Olivia wanted to launch an attack, as she didn't plan to stand idly by.

Which was why she transformed her arms into big, white spikes. Weaponry of that kind would prove useful under short notice.

William on the other hand, didn't want to take any chances whatsoever. In other words, the boy didn't plan to let these enemies get too close.

With such a goal set, he started to focus on this one, crazed enemy which he had attacked earlier. Shortly after, the boy tossed one neuro-shock after the other!

Throughout this vile process, his thoughts raged with an intent to obliterate the target. Every sense of his being craved to fight this primate away.

"Drop already you hairy brute!" He repeatedly thought.

While William unleashed these numerous attacks, the system spread out an important notification.

[You successfully broke down the target's facial recognition abilities,] The lady in his head, briefly described.

Such a tiny milestone was achieved after several attacks, but it wasn't enough to kill the beast. Oftentimes, delivered damage wasn't enough to win an intelligence-oriented battle.

For example, the enemy did halt for a moment, surely even an animal could notice neuro damage. But this opponent wasn't dead, worse yet, it prepared to attack once more!

Olivia acknowledged that short halt, so she stressfully asked. "What's happening now? Don't tell me they're waiting for more friends!"

Clearly, this fine brunette was as confused as the damaged gorilla, she was absolutely clueless.

The situation became especially stressful, once the ape showed signs of contemplation. Ironically, this animal received enough brain shocks to reconsider its approach!

Through a split second, the primate even poked its head forward, as if it tried to remember which snakezoid to mangle.

It seeked William's face but couldn't figure out what he looked like. Thanks to that problem, the enemy's patience spread thin right away.

"Oh god, here it comes!" The good brunette warned.

With that same level of disorientation, this crazed opponent locked Olivia as a target, and violently charged forward!

In response, the ground itself unleashed numerous thuds. This thick, adrenaline-raising noise was the product of the gorilla's palms. The ground itself lightly shook, every time those oversized fists slapped on it!

It was transparent that this dilemma grew hazardous, but William didn't plan to let this animal attain an advantage. He unleashed over fifteen neuro-shocks until now, and didn't plan to stop either.

"Just one more shot..." The boy sighed.

Throughout that process, he noticed how some shots proved useless. Apparently, if he attacked a stronger portion of the enemy's brain, that shock ended up as ineffective.

Such a realisation could prove of aid, but he wasn't in a state to try specific movements. Instead, every part of his being raged with the crave for violence.

"Why won't you die, you stone-headed cunt!" He wholeheartedly cussed.

A blink later, the system notified. [You just diminished the target's visual perception nerves, now the creature can't see whatsoever.]

A result of that matter definitely seemed useful, but it didn't prove plentiful enough. The opponent continued to charge forward, even though it had no sense of orientation.

Likewise, the problem was still there, but it had an easy fix. The boy acknowledged this advantage, and acted on it under a blink!

He leaped towards the lady, and tackled her out of the way. They crashed against the mud together, but Olivia didn't like that idea.

Which was why she shouted for once, "Why'd you do that? I can handle one mud ape!"

"You don't need to," William answered, and wiped the dirt off his own face.

A moment later, he pointed towards that one, dark-furred gorilla and said. "Look, the flea-bag doesn't even know where it's going. Why should you fight it?"

Although she was confused, this good woman could understand the other's point. That was why she didn't prove difficult, and simply closed the topic whole.

Afterwards, the couple of friends stood up quite swiftly, they didn't want to let their guard down. Indefinitely, there were two more hairy beasts who could prove lethal.

The reputation of these animals was famously violent, but at the moment it was clear that these same creatures were confused.

Which was why they didn't charge right away. Instead, they just stalked from their comfortable distance. Unlike their angrier friend, these apes resided high on the bone pile.

Olivia glared back at these beasts, and noticed that the opposition was hesitant. Admittedly, such an opportunity could be yielded for good.

That was why she quietly urged, "Okay this is our chance to get out of here, we can't fight them anyway."

That idea seemed beyond attractive. Indefinitely, the boy wanted to follow along with it.

Yet coincidentally, that was when the system announced. [You meet the required criteria to handle more tasks, don't push this one aside.]

Afterwards she swiftly specified, [Side task number three = Attack these apes until they go completely brain-dead.]

[Upon completion, you'll be rewarded with five-hundred system points.] The system assured.

It felt odd to get a task right now, especially since a couple more of them were already active. But at this point, the boy didn't have time to ask any questions.

Instead, he sunk in a wave of thoughts, but was brought back to reality by his one friend.

She poked the boy and insisted, "Come on, let's get out of here. What are you even looking at?"

It was obvious that the lady referred to her friend's blank stares, but that didn't matter much. William fetched new plans and was ready to follow them.

"I'm looking at the apes," He first answered.

And then pressured, "I want to fight them, we aren't going anywhere."

"Are you stupid? You can barely walk!" Olivia shouted.

Throughout that holler, she slightly spooked the supposedly tough enemies, they almost hid in the pile of bones.

After a moment she counted, "Mud apes are strong, I can't handle them all alone. Especially since they can kill you before I can even do anything."

Finally, she encouraged through a soft tone. "We can't risk it, please, let's get out of here Willy."

Surely, reason rang behind every corner of this brunette's words, for once she had become calculative. But no matter how much sense she made, all William could see was the reward.

So while these friends exchanged a few words, he had already unleashed the fifth neuro-shock against those couple of gorillas.

For that matter, he stubbornly insisted. "I'm fighting, you can sit back and watch."

Once again the lady got ready to yell about how stupid such an idea was, but once her attention leaned towards the opponents, it was inevitable to notice weird things.

"Why's that one walking with its hands?" Olivia whispered.

Surely the scene she referred to was related to the same apes. After this point, it was difficult to figure out how these enemies should be handled.

"They're dancing for me," William jokingly answered.

Such a reply didn't make sense out of this scene, it only complicated the matter further. Considering such perplexity, the brunette decided to back away for once. Perhaps her friend was finally dependable.

While she stepped back, the snakezoid by her side, unleashed another bundle of attacks against these enemies. The achievements turned out good enough.

One beast walked on its four hands, as if it tried to dig for gold. While the other enemy had it worse, it spun in place much like an angered ballerina. Of course, these actions weren't at all random.

While the boy attacked, the system did notify about a few senses which got burned down.

The prime example in this case, were the destruction of the paternal orientation senses, these primates couldn't do much once those portions were destroyed.

That aside, whole portions of these enemies' brains had been melted down, and tossed somewhere in their internal blood stream. So noticeably, the boy made considerable progress.

What proved as an aid was the concept that mud apes were easy to blind. And once an opponent got blinded, it was easier to handle them.

These creatures spent most of their lives deep in the mud, obviously, their eyesight wasn't the best thanks to such an environment.

However, once the boy reached a certain degree of success, he didn't hesitate to celebrate.

"Haha! See? I'm burning them with my brain magic." William joyfully shouted for once.

He wanted to give the lady a brief explanation of what went on, but it seemed risky to be specific. Admittedly, it was easier to describe his own abilities as mental powers.

"Brain what? That's not even a thing!" Olivia shouted back, and then she dwelled deeper in contemplation.

The younger one was a tad shocked about such a reply. In this odd world, he expected that there would be an odd branch of power for everything, intelligence as well.

Nevertheless, he still argued. "Oh yeah? Then how am I doing it? Watch me!"

His enthusiasm about this matter was fairly great. Such a pace of happiness seemed a tad psychotic, especially since he found joy from the mental destruction of these opponents. But in this case, no soul had the chance to judge.

With that same energy, William wanted to portray a great display of power. He even squatted down just to grab attention.

Through those moments, he muttered. "I'm smarter than some thick-headed monkeys, those points will be mine."

He wanted to look badass for once, but mental battles had a specific characteristic, they were not so graphic. There weren't any great displays of power, no. 

The only thing that was visual about this sight, was the fact that he looked like an angry chicken, all thanks to this squatted position. Olivia almost broke out into laughter, but felt that this wasn't the best time to do so.

That aside, although the overall scene was odd, the results were still plentiful. Until now, William had unleashed at least forty neuro-shocks.

"Oh... oh boy, I feel so tired." He expressed.

It became transparent that mental attributes had a negative effect, they tended to drain the caster as well. Although that sounded bad, there thankfully wasn't any permanent damage.

Nevertheless, he had shot enough neuro-shocks to reach considerable progress. The quantity of attacks he unleashed eventually became effective, even though each shot wasn't so strong individually.

Yet it was an inevitable fact that with progress came complexion. He melted down millions of neuron brain cells, but that only created an unpredictable problem.

"What the hell..." The younger snakezoid mumbled.

One of these opponents went ape shit, and grabbed its own kind. An action of that matter, was backed up by intense gorilla strength, so the situation only advanced.

With those strong pairs of arms, this one gorilla tossed its own comrade up and across the air.

Characteristically, William was unlucky enough to be a target of this projectile. He only had a whole second to get out of the way.

"Of course..." The boy whispered, and internally cussed his own fate.