The Blue Necklace

I wonder how much Mana i could gather from absorbing all the ice Mana contained in the crystal clusters...

As i was lost in thoughts, i notice something moving towards me at high speed.

It was... A monkey?! Why the hell would a monkey be here... Wait, i can sense a little bit of Mana in it, it's a monster!

It had red eyes and its arms were slightly larger than a normal monkey's, it also had white fur and black skin.

I was going to take out my spear but i wouldn't have made it in time if i did that, so i decided to use my daggers instead.

I took out my daggers and, as the monster jumped towards me, right before it reached me, i dashed forward for an instant, cutting through the monster's whole neck thanks to the momentum it had from jumping towards me. It then landed on the floor, dead.

There are monsters in this place...

Did the others encounter these monkeys too? It would be kind of troublesome if they were in really large groups...

I'll reuinite with baldie and the others first, then, when i have the chance, absorb the other crystals' Mana. I started looking for them, but since the room was so huge it would have been difficult...

As i look around, i see a group of three monkey monsters beside a crystal i hid behind. I notice that one of them has something shining in its hand, i can't see what it is though...

I took my spear out of the Bracelet Of Gluttony...

[Perfect Aim]

I mutter those words in my head, while imagining to pierce through the monkey's head.

*Pierce*

It hit right at the centre of its head. The moment the spear landed, the other two monkeys started freaking out, and, before they regain their composture and notice me, i jumped from the top of the crystal, landing on one of the monekys, piercing its chest with both my daggers. The other one sees it and starts running away, but before it got too far, i took my spear and threw it at the monkey, piercing its chest.

[Perfect Aim]

Then, i took my spear back and went to the monkey who had the shining object, out of curiousity. I open its hand wich was still holding the item, and take it.

It was a cobalt necklace with a tear shaped bright blue crystal. It looked wonderful.

[Congratulations! You discovered an artifact that once belonged to one of the 7 Apostles!]

An artifact! But...

What is an "Apostle"?

[Analyze]...

Item Name: Tear Of Pure Sadness Type: Artifact

Grade: Sacred/Legendary Series: Emotion

Skills:

- [Lonely Descent]: Your sadness has reached even the Gods. Your tears are so full of sadness, that they freeze the moment they leave your eyes. If you take even a step, you will freeze everything around you. You now have the power to freeze anything and everything through your endless sadness.

-[Chosen] Anyone who doesn't meet the conditions to equip this artifact, will instantly freeze and die a cold and painful death.

[Alert! The skill [Analyze] detected a set effect: [Amygdala]: You now have every artifact that represent a different emotion each! Through your various and strong emotions, you get to see the world from many different perspectives, and somehow always manage find the light hidden in the darkness! (All Skill effects are tripled permanently, you will not soccumb to any mental spell or mental attack of sorts, you will always have the determination to stay alive and complete your goals and objectives.)]

This sure is a cheat effect... too bad i need to find other artifacts that are hidden who knows where. Even right now, where exactly are we? Where is this giant rocky pillar located at?? How do we get back???

Well, at least i got the Tear Of Pure Sadness for now, and it seems like i meet the requirements to equip it luckly, the question is if i can use it whenever, or only when i'm feeling sadness...

I'll test that when i have the opportunity, let's keep searching for the others for now.

I also want to analyze one of the monkey monsters, i'm curious about why they live in such a cold place...

*Crumble* *Crumble*

After a while of walking, i heard Haru's Earth magic in the distance. Is she fighting against those monkeys?

I quickly went to the direction i heard the noise coming from, and found Haru and Mia fighting a large group of monkeys.

"I'll take care of the ones on the right side" says Mia, while charging at the monkeys with her black katana, "Got it" says Haru, while lifting her right arm and pointing it against the monsters on the left side.

Mia began slashing throat after throat. With each step she took, a head went flying. It was a combination of [Shadow Steps] and her peerless use of the katana.

Haru clunched her right hand in a fist, and the moment she did that, a giant stone hand rose from the ground, lifting every monster wich was in its palm up in the air, then, it closed into a fist, crushing the monsters to death.

Seems like she learned a new move.

I notice a monkey running away in the distance, looks like it escaped right before Haru created the Earth hand.

Just what i needed.

[Analyze]...

Name: Saru Race: Snow Monkey

STR: 8 AGI: 13 INT: 6 STA: 5

Total Mana: 250

Description: A monster wich was once a normal animal. Its race mutated into monsters because of the long term exposure to the strong Mana filling the cave they live in.

Skills:

- [Reinforced Body (Passive)] Lv.3: Slightly reinforces the user's body with Mana.

Equipment:

- NONE

Accessories:

- NONE

What?! Even normal animals can mutate into monsters?! I didn't expect that...

But since it's not an original monster, it isn't too strong, they don't even have any unique skills. The only one they have is a natural characteristic of every monster...

[Perfect Aim]

I threw my spear at the runaway monkey and killed it. I then went to retrieve the spear from its body and reunite with Haru and Mia.

"So you were here too, Ray." says Mia while looking at me, "Eh?! Really?? I didn't notice you at all..." says Haru, "Yeah, i watched the fight. Congratulations for learning a new magic attack, Haru!" I tell Haru, "Hehe, thank you..." says Haru while blushing a little, "Yeah, whatever. Let's go see if the others found an exit." says Mia while walking away, "Wait for us!!" says Haru while chasing after her.

I wonder if Darius and Akira are alright... baldie can still fight if it's against those monkeys, but Darius has a broken arm, and Akira... Well, i don't know if he's strong enough to defeat them...

Domo should be okay since he has his sword and isn't injured... Wait, can he even fight with this cold? I can still fight because i have good affinity with ice Mana, Mia... is Mia, and Haru had affinity with the Water element from what i remember.

We have to find them as soon as possible...

"I'll go look at that side, you keep going that way. You're strong enough to fight the monkeys without me." I say, while heading the other way, "Wait! Will you be fine alone?? What if you get surrounded by a large group of monsters..." Says Haru, worried about me going alone, "He's stronger than you think." says Mia to Haru, "But..." says Haru.

They then kept walking, even though Haru looked still a bit worried.

Now, time to find Domo and the others.

And try the new artifact i got too, if possible...

Chapter 26-End.