Don sprinted around the clearing, feeling the cool night air whip by him as he moved faster than he ever had before. His feet sank into the soft earth with each stride. His toes dug past the grass and into the soil before propelling him in steps that almost resembled leaps. Don practically flew over the field of grass, blue in the shadow of the jungle and silver in the starlight. It was exhilarating, but it only lasted a short time before his stamina bottomed out.

Then he sat under the burnt tree and meditated. According to Cel, meditation would double his stamina regeneration even without a related skill. She was able to call Don back to himself when he recovered too, and so they continued alternating between sprinting and meditating for hours. She even had Don train his constitution. Any time his natural health regeneration brought him back to full, he veered into the trees and intentionally ran through a thorn bush. So long as he was regenerating HP, Cel said, he was working towards his final point in Constitution.

The meditation cleared his head, and while it was exhilarating at first, it wasn't long before the novelty of running himself ragged wore thin. It gave him plenty of time to think about the daunting task set before him. If he was going to drive off the apes, he had to put some serious planning into it. He didn't even know where to begin but as his mind replayed his encounters with the creatures, he remembered Sonja.

Not only did she stand up to the ape, redirecting one of its attacks without exploding, she actually drove it away. He did his best to remember every detail. Sonja wasn't the one to drive away the creature, he realized. It was the centurions. But they needed her to defend them while they attacked. Gregory proved that well enough. But Don didn't have immortal warriors to back him up. He just had a cave full of frightened children. Even if he did bring them to bear against the apes, their skills are all centered around running away! Void! They can't even use their best ability in combat! Not that Don would let them fight those monsters anyway.

He remembered the four huge shapes looming above the collapsed meeting hall. He might not have a choice. He might be able to survive against one of those monsters if he keeps clear of its massive hands. But actually hurting it enough to drive it away... not a chance. That one ape took 12 separate attacks from the Centurions' spears before it ran. Meanwhile, Don shrank away from the mere memory of the time he was stabbed in the shoulder back in the crypt.

If that wasn't bad enough, it would likely scream and roar the entire time they fought, attracting more of them. Don couldn't imagine surviving an encounter with any more than two of the creatures. So he started imagining that he was being attacked by one of them.

He imagined an ape standing before him, raising its arms and preparing to bring them smashing down. Don dodged to the left. His foot tore the ground, plowing up a small mound of earth as he put all his effort into changing his trajectory. The bulk of his body hardly moved at all and he realized with a chill that it wouldn't have been enough. He imagined another one swinging a single backhand horizontally. He tried to duck under the attack but stumbled. He kept himself from faceplanting but caught Cels attention in the process.

"What was that?" She asked. Don was suddenly embarrassed. He had forgotten about the seemingly tireless fairy that followed him around the clearing.

"I was trying to figure out how I would dodge some attacks from those apes." He admitted sheepishly

"Want some help?" Cel asked

"You can help me with the apes?" Don asked pitifully

Cel burst into her tittering laugh. She only responded when it subsided and she was wiping a tear out of an eye.

"No, I can teach you a time-honored evasion technique though."

Don couldn't mask his disappointment over their mental link but he needed all the help he could get.

"Okay, what is it?"

"Rolling." Cel said plainly.

"Rolling?" Don wanted to be sure he heard correctly.

"That's right, rolling. Here, I'll show you."

Cel proceeded to pantomime a forward leap which ended by her catching herself on her left hand and right forearm. Then she continued forward, rolling over her shoulder and across her back until her feet came back down, one tucked snugly against her hip and the other stretching forward. She finished the roll by smoothly transferring her weight back to them. Of course, she did this all while flying so she could break down each step and perform the maneuver as slowly as needed. She had to repeat it several times before Don was willing to try for himself.

His first attempt ended poorly. He leapt forward well enough, but he kept his arms out straight and ended up falling over like a tree. He knocked the breath out of himself when he collided with the earth, letting out a muffled whumph in the process. Surprisingly, his stamina dropped precipitously during the failed attempt. It wasn't the effort he expended. That was pretty minimal, but his hard landing seemed to damage the resource pool significantly.

Don kept at it and eventually learned how to perform the maneuver. It let him cover a lot of ground suddenly without losing much momentum and because he could jump into the roll using both feet, the ground didn't slip out from under him quite so badly. He could also stay very low during the roll and for a second after. It would be the perfect counter to the backhands.

After that Cel helped Don practice by diving and swooping at him from different angles. He was now spending just as much time rolling as sprinting and the dodge became felt a bit easier and more natural with every repetition.

After one such session, Don was having trouble sinking back into his meditation. Nap's little nursery rhyme kept butting into his thoughts. He couldn't get the damn verses out of his head. He eventually had to give up. Something about that rhyme just wouldn't leave him alone. He thought back to the conversation that prompted the song and a phrase floated through his memory followed by the first line of the song yet again.

The enemy can't attack what they can't see... Out of sight... Out of mind...

Don hurriedly opened up the description of the ColoColo's [Forest Walk] ability.

Forest Walk

+50% movement speed

+50% concealment

-50% stamina consumption

Restrictions:

Can only be used in wooded areas

Can not be used in combat

With that speed and the bonus concealment, the apes would never see them coming! Could they stay out of combat until they attack? Then what?

Fade away...

Don recalled the way the crowd of over 30 monsters had scattered into the trees in just a few seconds. If they could escape, and then come back when their [Forest Walk] is active again... No, it was too risky. The ColoColo wouldn't be able to hurt the apes either and just one hit could end any of them. Then Don kicked himself. Their [venomous bite] ability was the perfect answer. He had seen the way three ColoColo pounced on Kat the night before. There was no reason they couldn't gang up on the apes too. With enough poison, the apes would be helpless.

After sharing his thoughts with Cel she pointed out a glaring hole in his plan. The [venomous bite] took a whole second to perform. That was an entire second when they would be helpless, and attached to an enraged giant. Despite that, she was oddly enthusiastic about putting her children in harm's way.

"This is a good plan, we just have to tweak it a little. Those apes looked like heavy-hitting strength-based monsters. That means we probably already beat them in speed. How quickly can they move again after attacking?"

Don was always so focused on the explosions their attacks seemed to generate that he never paid much attention to that detail. Thinking back he realized there was always a window almost two seconds long after their heavy attack in which they stood still. It was the same when they attacked the dome. There was always a substantial pause between blows.

"That's when we'll hit 'em!" Cel declared "You bait out an attack and the ColoColo use their [Venomous Bite] before running away. All you have to do is keep their attention!"

Don grimaced but he was always going to have to dodge their attacks. If that was all he had to do, he might just manage. If he could keep himself from getting outnumbered. That was still going to be a problem.

Don put extra effort in as he rolled his way around the clearing until he was dizzy and could hardly move in a straight line.

His agility increased at one point, It was the last of his physical and support attributes to reach 19 but with his Aspect of the Ram bonus, it was the first to effectively reach 20. He didn't suddenly run incredibly faster or dodge further, but the milestone felt significant. They kept up their strange calisthenics all night until rolling came as naturally and easily as walking.

It wasn't until Don had worn a track around the field and the stars were fading in the predawn light that Don's eyes snapped open to a notification.

Congratulations! You have unlocked the Ascetic Profession!

Would you like to become an Ascetic?

[Yes] [No]

Don followed Cels instructions and declined the offer only to have a better one replace it.

Congratulations!

You have unlocked the (rare) Monk Profession!

Would you like to become a Monk?

[Yes] [No]

Don was well past doubting Cel at this point. He accepted his new profession without hesitation. Maybe now he would stand a chance against the monsters that had caused so much trouble for his tribe.