Chapter 8

The sudden dizzying weakness that one becomes overwrought with at the sudden drop in blood sugar could be the most accurate way to describe the feeling of Marcie reaching the limits of using her lightning skill non-stop. She was only grateful that she was already on the ground in case she ended up fainting. 

A few deep breaths helped a little bit as she continued to feed the electric charge into the ground. There were still three more monsters left and it looked like they were waiting for the chance when she faltered in her defense. 

'Shit…. I can't last any longer…' she thought as she gritted her teeth. She could try to use the last of her electricity to light the area on fire, but that would only lead to her suffocation and eventual burning. 

'How do I get out of this… how… shit….' Marcie's mind raced and her view darted about trying to think of anything she could do to improve her chances of survival, if even a little bit, but as she recoiled withdrawing her now depleted output of electricity, she felt dread begin to settle in.

Just as Marcie thought the remaining three creatures were going to attack, shadows from above darted about with giant leathery fists the size of a small Volkswagen smashed down upon each of them, crushing them completely. 

Marcie yipped and fell backyards gazing up at the new additions to the party. She was completely dumbfounded by what she saw. 

~Ding!

*Gabome Monkey. D-Rank. These monsters live in family groups, sometimes up to 60-70 individuals. Extremely territorial and possessive. Information saved to your system library.*

More emerged from the shadows of the forest and had her completely surrounded and the air filled with the hoots and chuffs of the group. These monkeys were an odd mashup of Great Apes and Mandrills, two species on Earth who were not to be underestimated or to be careless around and this was a dungeon, she had no doubt these ones would be even more dangerous.

Marcie was astonished at their sheer size. They were definitely some sort of monkey monster, with long tails, but they were at least twice the size of elephants! What a ridiculous world this was!

Slowly shrinking down wanting to slink back into the roots of the tree, she prayed that they didn't notice her, or at least, they were not hostile. Unfortunately, the monkeys were far too curious of a species as one snatched her up. She wanted to use her lightning or shield but was already exhausted and had too little mana to activate more skills. It began to smell and inspect her curiously.

While looking at her, the monkey flipped Marcie upside-down to make her dangle by her feet, however, doing so caused her extreme nerve pain in her back and she let out a loud yelp.

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. New skill unlocked. Pain Tolerance D.*

The monkey flipped her back around as OC felt her pain numbing slightly. She was trembling horribly as the monkey poked the side of her head with a finger that might as well be her head. It let out some more hoots and transferred her to be securely wrapped by its muscular tail.

While she managed to recover enough mana for one more lightning attack, using it now would probably just make the beasts angry. It seemed like they weren't going to kill her immediately, rather they were saving her to be a snack for later or they just found a new toy. In an ironic way, she was grateful for their aptitude for curiosity.

The troupe of monkeys started to excitedly hop and stomp about as the other monkeys still hiding in the trees replied with howls. Not able to do anything against them, Marcie braced herself as best she could and the whole troupe of primates took off into the trees with Marcie in tow.

It was difficult before, but as the primates swung about in coordinated unison, like a dance in the air, Marcie was able to make out how large of a group there was. From what she could tell, there were about a dozen or so of them, all of which bore some bright colors amongst their manes. Perhaps this was a hunting party consisting of young males. One who bore some more silver was at the front and was slightly larger, must be their leader.

Marcie was attempting to grab her bearings when she suddenly felt the g-force intensify with a sudden release. The monkey that was holding onto her flung her casually into the air amongst the swinging pack! 

Futility was the lesson of the day as Marcie screeched and reached out to grab something, but her whole body was spinning and flipping around so that she couldn't get her bearings.

Right before she was about to hit a huge tree branch, another monkey caught her mid-air and tossed her up again. They repeated a few times, and with every toss and every catch, her body writhed in even more pain than the accident that caused her injury to begin with. With every throw and catch, more system windows would pop up, not that she could see them in this situation.

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 2.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 3.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the skeletal frame. New skill unlocked. Fortified Bones F.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 4.*

~Ding!

*You've managed to obtain your orientation whilst swinging through the trees. New skills unlocked. Spatial awareness E, Iron stomach F.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 5.*

~Ding!

*Extreme impact to the body. New Skill unlocked. Shock absorption F.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 6.*

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the skeletal frame. Fortified bones F increased to level 2.*

~Ding!

*Extreme impact to the body. Shock absorption F has increased to level 2.*

~Ding!~Ding!~Ding!~Ding!...

~Ding!

*Damage taken to the central nervous system. Pain Tolerance D increased to level 10. Pain Tolerance D has ranked up to Pain Tolerance C.*

When she was a child she always felt unnerved to go onto roller coasters but right now, those supposedly scary amusement park rides seemed like a lazy river boat ride in comparison. 

At some point in time her body stopped moving in the air. The disorientation finally caught up with her and her head hung down while she vomited up what little food she ate that day. 

When meaning to wipe her mouth, she felt resistance from her hand. Why can't she move? Marcie glanced around and realized that the monkeys were calling from a distance now not able to approach. 

As she got her bearings, she felt a fluctuation in whatever she was stuck on. Marcie's eyes trailed up large sticky ropes and it dawned on her, she was stuck in a colossal spider's web.