Crystaline monkey
The search began as the group walked out of the city. Beyond the city walls, a desolate desert wasteland unfolds. The terrain is a vast expanse of arid sand, stretching out like a sea of endless dunes. The sun beats down mercilessly, casting a harsh, unrelenting glare across the barren landscape.
Winds whip through the abandoned remains of structures, creating haunting echoes that resonate through the empty canyons. Tumbleweeds, stripped of life, roll across the lifeless plain. The occasional skeletal frame of a long-forgotten creature serves as a stark reminder of the unforgiving nature of the environment.
The city's protective walls, now weathered and worn, stand as the last line of defense against the encroaching wilderness. The stark contrast between the thriving city within and the desolation outside creates a poignant visual testament to the harsh realities that lie beyond the safety of civilization. Quickly checking the device that was handed to them which was currently in Jim's hands, Caden started walking towards the north as the others followed him.
The group had been walking north for eight hours and finally they could see the area around them change. Whilst walking, the group had noticed that slowly, more and more trees seemed to appear and before they realized it they had left the wasteland and were walking through a very dence forest. After walking in silence for soo long, Kilton finally snapped. "Ok when are we going to reach this enigma? Am bored out of my mind." He said as they were still walking. "Well, the good news is we are making progress, the bad news, we are nowhere near the enigma." Jim replied. "Oh come on, it can't be that far can it?" Kilton asked hopping the answer is no. "Why are you even complaining, are you tired or something?" Kim asked with a hint of mockery. "No am not, am just bored that's all." Kilton replied a little annoyed. Before the group could continue the lovely chat a wierd clicking sound was heard from a nearby tree. As the group looked towards the source of the sound, they saw a beast. It was a monkey half the size of a human being, the monkey's face was covered in a strange blue crystal and going from the very top of the back just under the neck in a straight line along the spine all the way to the very end of the tail were small crystal spikes about 15cm. The at the very top of the tail was a bigger spike that looked too heavy for the tail to carry. The monkey also had red fur covering it's entire body, making it look wierd in an environment like so.
"Well, you said you were bored, well let you kill this thing." Kim said. "A crystaline monkey, I haven't seen those in a while." Jim said as he looked at the monkey. "Alright, let's see how much of my boredom it can take away." Kilton said as he got ready to fight the monkey but he never did get that chance as something went flying past him and pierced the monkey's head killing it instantly. "We don't have time for this, we need to keep moving." Caden finally said as he continued walking forward. "Aww I wanted to kill it." Kilton complained. "Jeez what a buzz kill." Kim said as she was also expecting Kilton to do something. "It's alright guys, beasts never travel alone, we just need to walk a little while and they'll attack." Pam said as she started to follow Caden. The group continued to walk forward as the silence that was once broken returned to them.
Two days passed since the group had killed the monkey. They had been walking in silence since that incident as no one had anything to say or just didn't want to talk. As the group was still walking the same strange clicking sound could be heard, but this time it wasn't from one monkey but a whole bunch of them. "Oh, it seems they finally decided to make a move." Pam said as she stopped walking. "I know right, it was getting on my nerves having to act like I hadn't noticed them for two days straight." Kim said with a sigh of relief. "Maybe they were waiting for us to tire out before attacking, it would have worked if it wasn't for the type of people we were." Kilton said. One thing to note about hunters was that they were trained in various different ways, one of them being to surpass human capabilities. It reached a point where high ranking hunters could go for weeks without sleeping, eating and drinking but still function as normal and not affect their body. The group on the other hand was special because they had been bound to an enigma which already allowed them to surpass human capabilities, combined with the training and they were on the same level as mid to low ranking hunters at such a young age. Why they were selected for the mission instead of any of the high ranking hunters, they don't know.
The group was faced with far more monkeys than they thought as they could count a total of fifty-one monkeys. 40 of them were normal crystaline monkeys, although others wouldn't use the word normal. 10 of them were the same size as a human being and instead of a line of spikes going along the spine, it was their whole backs that were covered in crystal spikes but they were still the same size. Then finally, the leader of the crystaline monkeys. It was a crystaline monkey the same size as a human being, and it looked just like a regular crystaline monkey except for one small detail, it was made entirely out of the blue crystal substance. It was the monkey's skin, organs, limbs and tail. The monkey glowed a majestic crystal blue as it stood at the front of the monkeys. "Is that a crystaline king, I didn't think we'd see one so soon." Jim said. It looks so nice, I wish it was friendly so I could keep it as a pet." Pam said looking at the thing with stars in her eyes. "Now I know my boredom is going somewhere. I can't wait to battle these things, come on guys what are we waiting for." Kilton said. "We are waiting for the orders of our team leader." Kim said. "Alright everyone." Caden said, speaking for the second time since the expedition began. "Enjoy."