Monkey Business

Having been found out already, Aeon had no more reason to keep quiet. He yelled, "Beasts!"

In the end, their group did not have any weaklings in it. After hearing Aeon yell, the three people standing on the previously cramped rocked all jumped away at the same time. Each of them took one small rock for themselves.

Aeon also jumped back while grabbing Suri who was bobbing up and down on the surface of the water. Immediately after, a tower made of ice sprouted from the Aeon was previously standing on. Its main purpose was to block those creatures behind the waterfall.

Although Aeon trusted Korona's skill, he did not stop jumping back. "We need to get to land! There's too many of them."

All of them nodded and followed suit.

As expected…

Crack! Shatter!

The ice tower was broken into pieces and the baboons inside started streaming out of the small window beside the waterfall. Approximately, there were about 50 of them, and all the smallest was just as big as Suri. They were in for some tough fight.

In no time, the group was able to head back to land. At that moment, Levi asked the most important question, "Did you see a galaxy flower in there?"

"Yes, three of them!" Aeon replied as he dropped Suri beside him. The latter was still very wet.

"Three?!" Levi's eyes sparkled. If one looked closer, one might say that his pupils have turned into gold, "I guess we'll have to fight, then!"

Suri stood up and heated his clothes to dry them quickly. Having a heavy cloak from being wet was never beneficial to a mage.

Aeon took out both of his swords as he eyed the baboons who were nimbly jumping over several rocks in order to get to them. Their agility was nothing to be scoffed at.

"I think this is not a good spot to fight," Korona voiced out. Fighting near trees is never a good option when the opponents belong to the monkey family.

"There's a clearing just down the river, let's go there," Levi said.

"Mn."

Everyone agreed and started running along the river. The trees were a few meters away from the river so they were relatively safe.

The group realized that the baboons' agility was not their only asset, they had remarkable speed too. They could not shake off even those baboons running on all fours that were following them through the ground.

From time to time, a baboon would jump at them from a nearby tree, but Aeon would jump at it, too, and slit its neck accurately mid-air. Unless they use their numbers, they would not have any advantage over the group.

Levi sent dozens of wind blades over those who were directly behind them too. At first, it was really effective, but the baboons immediately adapted. They started becoming more agile, dodging the wind blades one after the other making Levi click his tongue.

The case was similar to Korona. After some time, her attacks became useless, too. Moreover, they could not whittle down their numbers just by chipping at them. They're not sure, but they think that the baboons' numbers are increasing. Probably those baboons who were already in the forest regrouped with its family and helped to chase them down.

After a few minutes, the group arrived at the clearing safely.

Without dallying, Korona created an ice dome that looked like a turtle for the three Remorans to take cover. The dome was slightly transparent, enabling the three to assist without directly engaging the baboons. There were also windows for them to throw their projectile spells.

Aeon and Suri stood outside the dome, their weapons at hand.

In this battle, the Remorans played a supportive role, contrary to their previous display in power in the camp. Their duty was to prevent any baboon from circling around Aeon and Suri as the two wiped out those who were in the front.

The baboons had not yet seen his ability, so Suri held back using his magic. He would activate his explosion to get as many baboons as possible in one go. He slashed at the baboons as they closed in.

Aside from their sizes, the baboons have one more trait. As they were running earlier, they did not display it. However, when they got to the clearing and faced Aeon's group, their claws and fangs started growing. It appears that they could control the sizes of their teeth and nails through their own will.

It was about to get more annoying.

Several baboons pounced at Aeon and Suri at the same time.

Aeon smiled.

The baboons were agile and fast? Hmph. That was nothing compared to his teacher, Montis.

Aeon rushed forward.

Zing!

His blades whistled through the air.

Five baboon heads dropped to the ground.

But his attacks did not stop there.

The baboons did not allow Aeon to kill them pretty easily as well though. They put up their guard, displaying their intelligence as monkeys.

Suri also slashed at the baboons, but they defended with their metal-like claws.

At the back, Selena started casting a C-ranked spell. She raised her wand in front of her. For them, it was already a relatively high-level spell.

Korona assumed the duty of watching Suri's back. She could hardly keep up with Aeon's movements so he decided to leave him be. He could take care of himself, she thought.

Levi became responsible for guarding their ice dome. Being the fastest one to attack, he was most suitable for the job. The other baboons who couldn't approach Aeon and Suri rushed over to the dome to prey on the three Remorans, but all of them fell one by one. At first, they were able to dodge the wind blades. But after some time, as Levi picked up the pace, the wind blades became a net, rather than a single thread. The baboons had nowhere to dodge to.

Whoosh! Whoosh! Whoosh!

Baboon meat fell to the ground, creating a gory sight. No one was paying attention to this though. There were more important things to worry about.

Aeon attacked like a storm and dodged any of the oversized baboons' attacks. Despite having the advantage in numbers, Aeon had control over them. Aeon used their large builds to hinder each other's mobility, giving more space for him to attack.

Selena finished her C-ranked spell. It looked like a star that fell and exploded in the midst of several baboons. It was a spell that belonged to the Star Explosion Series, a relatively expensive magic series containing dozens of fire spells. Thirteen instantly died from the explosion. Some who were caught up in the explosion was left with severe burns on their bodies.

At that pace, they would be able to wipe out the troop of baboons in a few minutes. Unfortunately, that wasn't the end of them, yet.

Shatter!

The ice dome Korona made broke into fine pieces. Hearing the sound, Aeon and Suri immediately looked over.

Shit!

Two baboons, at least five meters tall, were now chasing the three Remorans. One of them had red fur while the other had navy blue fur.

Levi was carrying the two girls on his shoulders as he ran away.

Despite their large build, the baboons moved at a speed relative to their sizes. Even Levi who had the assistance of his magic in order to boost his movement speed was not up to par. In no time, one of the large baboons, the red one, caught up. The blue one headed towards Aeon.

Suri ground his teeth and enchanted his weapon with a D-ranked spell, Dragon Slash. The spell belonged to a magic series ranked higher than the Star Explosion Series, the Draconic Flames Series. Coupled with the Samo's specialty of concentrating fire magic, it would only become more terrifying. The spell, however, was still a bit hard for Suri to cast while moving so his movements became slightly sluggish.

Regardless of class, Wind mages, in general, lacked explosive power behind their spells. Instead, their attacks were sharper. On top of that, they had spells that enabled them to have high mobility. Levi utilized this feature extremely well.

After tossing the two girls, the two landed safely and stood up. They watched as Levi dodge the baboon's swift, gigantic claws. They both gaped in awe, but they did not forget their duties. The two started casting a spell and lifted their weapons at the same time.

Levi was patiently dodging the red baboon's blows. He was not tense, nor was he afraid. All he needed was an opening and he would slash at the baboon's neck. Wind magic rotated in his hands.

The red baboon was very smart, though. Although Levi was puny in front of its gigantic size, it did not underestimate Levi. As much as possible, the monkey would circle around Levi and move to his blind spot before attacking. It was very swift, but Levi's movements were executed with much efficiency, so none of the baboon's attack landed on him. At least none yet.

At one point, however, the red baboon appeared to be moving into Levi's blind spot, but instead of pouncing at Levi like it usually does, it ran towards Korona and Selena.

Levi cursed. Now he was forced to be proactive. Wind surrounded Levi as he rushed towards the red baboon.

….

Aeon was in a much more desperate situation. Unlike the Remorans, Aeon was still facing half a dozen small fries as he dodged the blue baboon's swift attacks. Sometimes, Aeon would even bait the small fries towards the blue baboon's blows so it would end up killing its own kin, but the blue baboon never fell for the trick.

Roar!

The sound of roaring flames echoed from a distance. Suri had released his spell and annihilated the baboons that stood in a cone in front of him.

Suri rushed over to Aeon. He had already finished wiping out the small fry baboons with his D-ranked spell. He started enchanting his broadsword with another D-ranked spell, Flaming Stab, in order to assist Aeon.

….

Contrary to the red baboon's expectations, Korona was actually prepared about it switching targets. As the red baboon rushed straight towards Korona and Selena, Korona finished her D-ranked spell, Ice Spear. The spear dropped from the sky, catching the baboon off guard. Also, the spear was not one to be estimated. It had a radius of half a meter. It would surely bore a huge hole into the baboon's body.

At the last moment, the red baboon shifted its body, and the spear only shaved off a part of the baboon's right shoulder. Nevertheless, it was still significant damage. It was about to celebrate its partially successful dodge when it saw something sparkle in front of it, a red jewel.

Selena had also finished her D-ranked spell.

There was a sharp noise, like a bomb about to detonate.

"STAR EXPLOSION!"

BOOM!

The red jewel exploded in front of the baboon's face.

….