Chapter 12: Adaptation (2)

Daniel blocked the Mountain Monkey's attack. Without hesitation, he decided to do the same thing he did in the battle with the Mountain Macaque.

He tightly grabbed the Mountain Monkey's tail, lifted it high in the air, and was about to start smashing the monster against the ground. However, the Monkey was bigger than the Mountain Macaque and heavier. Moreover, Daniel was holding it with only one hand.

The Mountain Monkey suddenly twisted in the air and turned its face towards the ground. It leaned its body forward, putting all four paws in front of it, and then effortlessly landed on the ground, pulling its tail out of Daniel's hand.

Before Daniel could regain his composure, it immediately pushed off the ground and rushed at him again, this time aiming a knife at his throat. The Monkey seemed enraged. Apparently, it had saved its tail attack as its final trump card, but somehow Daniel managed to fend off its unexpected deadly attack.

With renewed fury, the Monkey began to attack Daniel again: this time, the monster attacked not only with a knife but also with its tail and even its intimidating paw, from which it sharply released its claws.

Daniel barely managed to fend off the monster's fierce attacks with his stone knife. It was impossible to block all attacks, and wounds gradually began to cover Daniel's body. However, all of the Mountain Monkey's attacks aimed at vital points of Daniel's body were calmly blocked.

`Are you telling me that this damn creature has been holding back its strength this whole time?! How much of its strength did it actually use?!`

At the moment, Daniel could only defend himself, and this was not only due to the Mountain Monkey's new and unexpected attacks.

Daniel had never fought with a knife in his life. Moreover, he did not even hold a sword in his hands for four years. He stopped practicing with a sword after he learned that he did not have a core and that he was a Hollow.

Before that, Daniel had practiced with a sword every day from the age of six until he turned fifteen. But four years without practice had a big effect on how Daniel fought now.

If it were four years ago, he would have crushed this damn Monkey in no time, and even at the age of ten, he would have dealt with it better than he was now. Now... he was much inferior to the monster.

The Mountain Monkey began to overpower him. The Monkey's attacks became more dangerous and threatening to his life. Although Daniel's eyes remained calm, inside him everything shrank with fear.

`What's wrong with me?! Wake up, Danny! Even if it was a long time ago. I'm much more dangerous with a blade in my hand than without it! I need to think not about how not to die! But about how to kill this damn creature! I need to inflict as much pain on it as I can! No fear! When going into battle, think first about how to kill, not about how not to die...`

Daniel remembered his father's words. Immediately, his hesitant movements and uncertainty were replaced by unpredictable and furious multiple attacks. The young man was no longer afraid of dying or getting hurt; his only goal was to make the Monkey suffer so that the monster knew that Daniel would not be an easy prey for it.

Fierce and swift attacks were made from both sides. It seemed that the battle had finally become equal, but unfortunately, wounds only appeared on Daniel. The Monkey looked safe and sound.

Daniel tried to aim at the Monkey's face, but it was aware of its only weakness, so the monster protected its face most carefully.

`This is a tough fight. Very tough.` Daniel thought to himself.

All of his attacks missed, while the Mountain Monkey was dealing significant damage to him. Daniel furiously attacked and defended himself from the sudden blows of the monster, which attacked him with a tail, claws and a knife. It was impossible to predict what the Mountain Monkey would suddenly attack with each time. Therefore, the numerical superiority in weapons gave the Mountain Monkey a huge advantage over Daniel. The monster's attacks began to hit more often, they were about a millimeter away from hitting Daniel's vital points.

`Damn! Damn! Damn! This creature, if I don't kill it, I'll at least leave a scar on it for life! You motherfucker! Damn bastard!` Daniel boiled inside. However, it didn't help. His attacks still didn't reach the monster. The Mountain Monkey either covered its face with its paw or turned abruptly with its back to Daniel, causing him to miss and plunge the knife straight into the monster's stone layer.

`Something needs to be done. Think, think. Why can't I defeat this creature, why? Because it's faster and its arsenal of weapons is much better than mine? These are excuses. I need to think. It's not about the damn monkey, it's about me. I'm not who I was before. And this damn knife. I can't do anything with it! It's useless! I need a sword, give me a sword!` The young man thought angrily and desperately to himself.

Suddenly, in the middle of the fight, Daniel paused for a second and took a deep breath, which caused the Mountain Monkey to become confused.

It tried to take advantage of Daniel's temporary slowdown and suddenly attack him, but the young man in front of the Mountain Monkey was somehow different than before. With a cold expression on his face, he calmly repelled the Mountain Monkey's sharp attack and took a fighting stance. The Mountain Monkey tensed up.

`What is this human doing? Why did he change so suddenly?` The Mountain Monkey quickly returned to its previous tactics and began to attack the human fiercely and unpredictably again, but he began to defend against the monster's attacks much more often and much more successfully than before.

The human stopped making unnecessary movements, they became sharp and precise.

`Adaptation.`, `Seeing yourself through the eyes of the enemy...`, `Without a doubt...`. The image of his older brother flashed before Daniel's eyes, his words ringing in his ears. It seemed to Daniel that Arthur was standing next to him again, teaching and guiding him.

`Exactly. It doesn't matter if it's a sword... a knife... even a shovel! I need to adjust the weapon to myself, not the other way around. A knife is very different from a sword. It's lighter, faster, and smaller. I struck with it as if I had a sword in my hands. But the sword isn't that swift, so I struck much more than I planned. But it was only beneficial to the Monkey. This bastard took advantage of my openings in my defense when I attacked. But now everything has become clear to me. The fighting style with a knife is different. Knife blows almost don't drain my stamina, like the same sword in my hands, but because of this greed consumed me. I struck more than I should have. I forgot about technique, precision, and just like an idiot, started attacking quickly. All of my strikes must be sharp and calculated. The Monkey easily reads me when I attack non-stop, but sudden and rare attacks will make her very alert and also thanks to this, I can pay more attention to my defense.`

Everything was exactly as Daniel predicted. His new fighting style began to push the Monkey back. If before the Mountain Monkey was clearly the leader in their fight, now the balance was on Daniel's side. None of the Mountain Monkey's attacks hit him anymore. With calmness and grace, he repelled every attack from the monster, while also managed to attack it too.

The Mountain Monkey was shaken, but it had no intention of running or retreating. Despite the human successfully defending against all of its attacks, he couldn't seem to inflict any damage on the Mountain Monkey. And the Mountain Monkey knew that it was more resilient than the human, so all it needed to do was wait for him to tire out.

`My attacks aren't having any effect. I need to think. The bastard's face is too well protected. There must be another way. If I leave things as they are, my energy will simply run out and this motherfucker will kill me. No, don't think about that. Push all thoughts of death aside. Today, one creature will die, and it will be the Mountain Monkey. I will kill the damn monkey, period. I just need to think. Work out a few options, a few paths...`

Suddenly, a small memory flashed in Daniel's mind. He hadn't given it much thought at the time, but now it was key for him.

`Their weak spot... Ha... Ha... Strike between their... Stone layer there... Ha... Fragile...` Serafina's words echoed in Daniel's ears.

`Between their what? She couldn't be a little more specific... The most important thing and she didn't say it... Think. Think. Fragile... Fragile stone layer?`

`Having put all the pieces of the puzzle together...` the words of his brother resurfaced in Daniel's mind.

Daniel began to assemble the puzzle: his brother's words, Serafina's words, how he sees himself through the eyes of an enemy, and finally, the final piece of the puzzle - how Serafina had killed one of the Mountain Monkeys.

At that moment, Daniel was too shocked and didn't have time to understand what was happening. But now the image came back to him.

He threw a stone at the Monkey's back and the stone layer broke sharply in that spot.

So the Mountain Monkey's weak spot was where he hit it with the stone.

"Between their sharp protrusions." Daniel concluded. These small indentations in their stone layer were their weak spot. Now Daniel understood what he needed to do.

Daniel made a sharp attack and aimed the tip of his knife blade at the Mountain Monkey's face. However, the monster quickly turned its back to Daniel.

A loud clang rang out in the Mountain Monkey's ears. The human had dealt a fairly strong blow to the monster's back. Although the monster was surprised by the human's sudden change, though it didn't feel any suspicion or fear.

`The human is desperate.` thought the Mountain Monkey.

The Mountain Monkey continued to unleash a barrage of attacks on the human, hoping that his desperation would cause him to make mistakes again. However, the human didn't make any mistakes. He even seemed more focused than before, continuing to deliver stunning blows to the monster's back.

Now the Mountain Monkey was starting to despair. It was annoyed that for the past two minutes it hadn't landed a single blow on the human, but he just kept stabbing Mountain Monkey`s back with his knife. However, what kept the Monkey from suddenly lunging at the human was still his stamina. Although the human's breathing remained steady, which also confused the Monkey, the monster still knew that sooner or later he would run out of breath.

CRACK.

Suddenly, the Mountain Monkey heard a strange sound coming from the monster's back.

The Mountain Monkey looked piercingly and intensely at the human. The monster couldn't see or feel what was happening on its back, but this sound made it very wary.

`What had this human done?! What did he do?? Why did this human always look so calm? Why hasn't he run out of breath yet?! Why was he so calm??? What was that sound? What have you done, human?!` The Mountain Monkey screeched in rage.

"I don't understand what you're saying. But you're probably panicking. You're panicking and don't understand what's happening, right?"

The Mountain Monkey fell silent abruptly. The monster stared at the man intently.

"I hope you understand me and will understand what I'm about to tell you..."

The Mountain Ape looked at the man with a burning and hostile gaze.

"I will kill you, damn Monkey. I will stab you with a knife, and you will die at the hands of a human. And by the way..."

The Mountain Monkey listened attentively to the man, occasionally attempting sudden and sharp attacks. The monster looked visibly tense, facing the icy and unaffected gaze of the man.

"Macaques tastes like shit."

The last phrase infuriated the Mountain Monkey. Wild and furious rage flooded the monster's consciousness and made its heart beat several times stronger.

The monster mindlessly lunged at Daniel, but he swiftly plunged the knife into the Mountain Monkey's back.

Unexpectedly for the Mountain Monkey, the human's knife pierced through its stone-like layer and dug deeply into its flesh. The Mountain Monkey let out a heart-wrenching scream, its eyes widened.

The Mountain Monkey fall on the ground. The human stepped on its head with his heavy footwear, pressing the Mountain Monkey's face into the ground.

The monster couldn't move, as the man stabbed the Mountain Monkey's spine with the knife.

Realizing that the monster could no longer move, Daniel quickly pulled the stone knife out of the Mountain Monkey's back. Its blade was stained with black blood.

He stood up from the monster's head, squatted next to the Mountain Monkey, and abruptly grabbed the monster's head.

The Mountain Monkey looked at the man in fear and shock, while he stared at the monster with a piercing icy gaze. The monster trembled violently.

"I told you. You will be killed by my hand, damn monkey."

Before the monster could even scream, Daniel swiftly plunged the knife deep into its eye, piercing through the monster's head completely.

The last thing Mountain Monkey remembered was Daniel's frightening, icy stare.