Name: Natasha

Race: Mandrill lvl 3

XP: 0

Size: 70

Type: Beast

Faction: Unaligned

Armor: 0

HP: 18

Strength: 4/Speed: 8/Endurance: 5/Magic: 1/Plasticity: 1/Luck 6

Senses: Vision 3, hearing 3, smell 2, taste 1, touch 2

Abilities: Balance 2, omnivorous 1, aposematism 1, innate magic 1

Skills: Bite 1, strike 2, grapple 2, throw 1, climb 1, sneak 1, hide 1, dash 1

Spells: Bluster 3

I moved from one branch over to the next. Jumping and gripping to the loose branch that bent under my weight. It made my hair stand on end every time, worrying that I was going to snap it off and fall to the ground, but each time I was fine just bounding over to the next. I might even call it fun if I didn’t feel like throwing up when I looked down, but it was just something I’d need to get used to, being a monkey.

One hop to the next three, and the leaves rustled against each other from the bob. My plan of keeping stealthy wasn’t exactly going to be child’s play like I had thought. Sneaking through that dungeon had made me feel pretty good about my skills, but being a black furred monkey in a pitch black cave, all I really needed to do was be quiet. Now I was a black furred monkey surrounded by yellow and brown with every movement causing another rustling of leaves. Actually you would think we would blend into our environment more, but we basically stick out like sore thumbs, not only because of our fur, but also the bright red and blue faces.

Thinking about it made me a little bit bitter. It was sort of a raw deal when I think about it. I didn’t even start with the stealth skill at all. Were we supposed to be a combat monster? Surely not. I had 5 hp to start with and all I could do was bite, punch and throw stuff. Then I thought about the size of our monkey clan and my nose wrinkled up. We weren’t fighters, we were a swarm mob. One monkey biting wouldn’t hurt bad but thirty throwing rocks would. Just my luck, not only was I a weak monster to start with, but also the exact type of thing I was looking to exploit for xp was the one thing I couldn’t kill. Perfect.

I wonder why of all things I’d spawn as a monkey, but statistically it made sense. If I was equally likely to be born as anything, the swarm creature would really be the most likely. Though in that case I’m really lucky that I’m not a plankton. The thought of being a tiny little protozoan floating along waiting to be eaten by a whale made me thankful that the thing I ended up being was at least a sizable monkey. Now at least there was a chance at leveling up as opposed to just floating around and hoping.

I shook my head, clearing out the thought, needing to keep my mind on the goal. I need to find something that I could hunt and farm for xp rather than having to get into a fight with something that could well kill me. After all, hunting was not about being some big macho man and tracking down bears to kill them with your hands and a can-do attitude. It’s about doing the minimum amount of work possible to put meat on the table, or in some cases keeping the deer population down so they don’t starve themselves, but that’s not really applicable here.

I hopped to the next branch, looking down below at the few things I could see occasionally moving through. Those chunky looking gazelles came through every now and then, usually either alone or in pairs. Not hunting those, too big. I spotted some sizable bugs, but again, mostly solo, and too big for what I’m looking for. More of those lizards, but again, always solo. The further out I went, the more I realized that most animals were solo, which limited my options quite a bit.

I kept a mental note of which direction home was, trying to be sure I didn’t get lost while I explored further and further out. The next thing I came across was the first potential candidate, but it was very quickly set as a much less certain decision. There was what looked like a big beehive. My initial thoughts were how it technically fit most of the criteria, but these bees are about the size of my fist, and even if they are less numerous than regular bees, if they act the same, they will have no problem throwing their lives away to kill me. So that’ll be another nope.

I continued on past another clearing I had to circle around. It had what looked like a tunnel in the ground, and while that had some prospects, the chances of me going down into that tunnel and never coming out are a coin flip. It could be gophers, it could be a dog sized spider, and I’m not even risking that as a possibility. Maybe if I don’t find anything I’ll come back and scope the place out, but I’ll think about that later.

I huffed out slightly, a bit disappointed in not finding anything after what had felt like an hour of searching, but with my attempted stealth it was more likely close to two. I hopped to the next tree and ambled around to another branch, but this time instead of seeing another lizard again, I saw a more familiar shape on the ground below. Another human. I suppose I must be getting close to where their town is, which isn’t great. Both because I don’t want to risk getting killed by humans, and also because if there was a good farming method near here, humans probably already have it monopolized.

I looked down at them from overhead, trying to stay out of sight, but I couldn’t risk going to another tree in case they might hear me. So I just watched. They had some kind of big wicker basket on their back, picking out some plants and tossing them into it. So maybe some sort of herbalist or maybe a forager, looking for food. It wasn’t easy to tell either way cause they were very much dressed as a sort of medieval peasant from one of those paintings of the period, not to be confused with medieval peasants from movies that look all dirty, colorless and depressing.

From this angle I could see a general shape but no face. I could tell they were at least a woman with a white head scarf covering her hair. Plain green dress, and on her hip she had a knife. It was probably mostly for cutting plants but it was a little too big to be only for that. Which makes sense. In a world full of monsters I wouldn’t expect anyone who regularly goes out into the woods to not be capable of handling herself. Still, I watched, not sure if this was my monkey curiosity, or my human curiosity. Actually that’s a good question too.

I pulled away from the edge of the branch slowly to try and keep quiet, but my mind was mostly on my question. Now that I’m a monkey, I should have a monkey brain, right? Shouldn’t I have monkey instincts? And only a monkey’s intelligence? Yet I still think the same as I used to, and in English no less. Hmm… I guess the soul somehow overrules the flesh? Also that means souls are pretty much as close to being proven to be real as physically possible, at least for a monkey. That’s a big revelation. I’m going to need more time to properly process that, and not when I’m worried about hiding from humans. Put that in a box for later.

I took in a slow breath, not wanting to make much of a stir when I don’t know if I’m close enough to be spotted or not. Jumping to another branch will make too much noise for sure, so best to try and climb down instead and go around her. So I make my way to the trunk, taking a firm grip and making sure I have three points of contact at all times to go as slow as possible. It takes nearly a full minute to make it to the ground, where I can make a wide circle around where she was, and hopefully continue my search.

I spared her a few glances, but didn’t look all too closely. After all, the more I could see her, the more she could see me. Eventually however, I made my way all the way around with little issue. Hopefully some time in the future I can get sneak up to 2 so I don't have to worry so much about being spotted. Getting behind another tree, I slowly let out a breath I was holding, feeling my shoulders loosen. Starting to walk away, I pause, ear flicking slightly as I hear a rustle, some ways away.

I peek around the tree and see the woman had started walking in my direction but doesn’t look like she noticed me. What she did notice was the same noise I had. We were both looking at a bush. She had her knife out, so I reached over to do the same, just in case, fishing out my knife in my palm. We both sat there in silence, watching the bush for a few long seconds that stretched out far longer than they should have. I was almost ready to say it was safe to move, raising my hand to the tree trunk beside me when a blur rushed out of the bush.

The woman jumped back, and I just watched in surprise at what I was seeing. A giant rat about the size of a cat rushing towards her. It was a fantasy staple, so I wasn’t surprised in the slightest that they existed, but I was surprised that they would attack a human. That is until right after the woman started moving, another rat came out of the bush then another, and another. A small swarm of rats after her, little mouths snipping and biting at her ankles as she backtracked.

I was stunned for a moment by the sheer absurdity of it, the awful luck for her, but the good luck for me. A swarm of rats is exactly what I was looking for. Or maybe she is lucky that I was here looking for something like this, cause otherwise she would have to fight them on her own. I wasn’t going to just leave her to fend for herself after all. I’m no mon-... well, technically I am a monster, but still. As she kicked wildly around at them to try and keep them from biting her feet or ankles, I grabbed a stone off the ground and dashed forwards, chucking it full force into the crowd of rodents.

10 XP

One dropped instantly from the stone as I came in, knife in one hand, the other reaching out and nabbing one rat’s tail. It was almost effortless to raise it up and smack it back down into the ground again, where it bounced, sending the other rats scattering when they realized there was a second creature to fight.

10 XP

The woman was still panicked by the look of it, but only about half of the rats were focused on her now, and the other half were looking at me. I couldn’t tell if seeing me made her feel better or worse, but that didn’t bother me. Seeing a crazy monkey jump out of the trees would freak me out too. Three rats came whipping around to bite at me, the first one latched on, but when I flinched the other two missed.

-2 HP

I pulled my arm back and went for a wide swing with the knife. The one biting my arm got cut on the first swing, and a few more wild flails whipped around. Another rat jumped forward and got my wrist, yet another circled around to bite my leg, but I slashed again, getting them back each time they got me.

10 XP -2 HP 10 XP -2 HP 10 XP

After a second I realized I wasn’t winning out in these trades, even if I killed them, they were whittling away at me. I grunted, raising up on two legs and jumping up to slam both fists down into the ground, the rats moved faster than I could swing down so all I hit was dirt, but as soon as the next one tried to circle around and bite my leg, I grabbed it, chucking it wildly at another while the knife hand just flailed to keep the rest at bay.

10 XP 10 XP

The wild flailing helped, but as soon as they saw an opening, the rats chomped down on the underside of my bicep. I grit my teeth, starting to reach over to grab it when another two bit the other arm. I was going to need another strategy if I wanted to kill all of these rats and not get whittled to nothing.

-2 HP -2 HP -2 HP

And so I thought, how can I kill as many rats as physically possible in the fastest time possible? The sting of those teeth made the thought less active, and more a wordless rage bubbling in my throat. So I did the only thing I could think of. Instead of backing up and hoping one gets hit by the knife, I dug my heels in, and dashed directly into the chasing crowd of rats, both arms swinging full force in a wide arch to try and bludgeon as much of the crowd as physically possible, hoping to bulldoze right through them.

I charged forwards, and their momentum didn’t stop before they met mine. The ones in the back had enough time to react, but were trampled by the weight of the rest of the ones ahead. Some I could feel the impact hitting them, and damage being done, but a majority were just being flung into the air some ways away and scattered. The woman looked like she wasn’t doing as well with her group, her knife hand useless as she was standing, and her kicks didn’t seem to be the most effective at dealing damage.

10 XP 10 XP 10 XP 10 XP 10 XP

Now that the crowd was dispersed, I quickly grabbed a stone, lobbing it into the group at the woman’s feet, and started chasing down the nearest individuals from the scattered group. Throwing seems to be the safest way to deal with the groups, but I can only hit one at a time. I grabbed the one nearest and chucked it towards a tree with a harsh thunk, and crumpled onto the ground.

10 XP

After being scattered, the half that I had been fighting dispersed, skittering off into the bushes again, but the other half were still focused on the woman, so I took my knife hand, pulled it back and dashed forwards again to try and carve as wide of an arc as possible through them. While the other times they’d cut more cleanly, the rough swing did more ripping than slicing, and splashed red over the ground in front of me, the crowd once again dispersing as the panicked ranks of rats split for the bushes

10 XP 10 XP 10 XP 10 XP

I started to chase down a couple of them, but the rats were clearly more than a little faster than me. I huffed out a sharp breath out in a sigh as I stood there in the dell, not quite happy with how that went, but still satisfied that I’d succeeded. It was useful to note that swarms in this world aren’t like swarms in games that fight to the end. They will flee after a point, so it might be less useful to try and farm them unless I can figure out a better way to kill more than one at a time. They did a surprising amount of damage in a short time. Which to be fair, is to be expected of a swarm, but still, I only have 6 hp left.

I looked back around at the woman who was leaning against a tree. She had a few cuts on her feet but looked pretty much unscathed after all of that. Maybe I should have taken note of how she’d kept them off her, because mine clearly didn’t work. Still she looks pretty shaken up, and she’s looking at me like I’m going to eat her. Lucky for her not only am I no normal monster, I’m also not a cannibal. Actually, would it still be cannibalism? I am a monkey now after all, so technically that would only apply to monkeys. So what would you call the eating of the thing you used to be? Pseudo cannibalism? Regardless, I should leave her be, she’s had a rough day.

I turn and start to run to a nearby tree, climbing up quickly as I hear her saying something behind me, but she may as well be speaking Korean, cause it’s lost on me. Maybe it’s a thank you, maybe it’s “get lost you dirty monkey”, but either way I’m not sticking around to risk the wrath of someone holding a knife that big, at least not when I’ve only got 6 hp. I quickly hop from one branch to the next and check my menu as I go, no longer worried about sneaking as much as speed.

I saw the hefty 170 xp total after that little skirmish and smirked a bit. At least I was right about it being a good farming method, now all I need to do is figure out how to do it without my arms getting turned to Swiss cheese. I jumped to the next branch and bound over again with surprising ease. It’s much easier to climb when you don’t hardly weigh anything. I remember trying to climb a rock wall once when I was human, and those handholds are even designed to help you up, but I couldn’t make it more than ten feet up.

Midway through my inner monologue, I land on another branch which bounces under my weight almost as if to warn me about getting too comfortable. I have a bad habit of daydreaming that I really should get out of the habit of. I shut the system window and tried to keep on the lookout for things that want to kill me, like those lizards. Or by all the hope in my body, not the centipede.

I at least knew which direction I was going. I had kept a mental note of where the other monkeys were before I left. Going out exploring without knowing how to get home would have been a problem. Though on that note, I wish the system was a bit more like a game in that I got some sort of map I could use or something. It would have made a lot of this way easier. But I guess whatever sort of “game” this is doesn’t want anything to be easy. Well, at least not easy for me. This is probably the town at the beginning of the adventurer’s journey, or the tutorial zone. It makes sense that the monsters would be at a severe disadvantage here. Still not happy about it.

I slowed down after I felt I was far away enough that the lady wasn’t following, nor was anything else. Going back into sneaky monkey mode, trying to keep a low profile. Now I just need to think. If I go farming rats again, and get just as many as last time I’ll level up, which is good, but how do I take on a swarm of mice alone, and fast enough that they can’t run away? The best way would be to ambush them, but I don’t have any wide sweeping attacks. Well, none that do damage. I can blow wind at them, but it’s just going to send them flying. Actually…

I stopped on a branch, thinking for a moment about how I could use that, stroking my hand over my chin. I could certainly build a trap, and I wouldn’t have to worry about them falling into it. All I need to do is get on the other side and bluster to blow them right into it. The question is, how do you attract a bunch of rats, and what sort of trap can kill just as many…?

I could dig a pit, but blowing wind at them may just send them over it. A wall of spikes could work, but that would need a lot of spikes to work right. Something like a snare would only work if I had a net, and there’s no guarantee that I’d attract rats with something I can’t control the trigger for. No mouse traps for these mice. Maybe it would be easier to think of the best way to do this, if I had more tools at my disposal.

Pulling the fruit out of my pouch, I quickly skinned it and chomped down on the sweet fruity goodness. Honestly the only good food I’ve had since coming here. Maybe if I could cook some of the meat it would be good, but I don’t know how to cook. All those days making instant meals and only the most basic levels of cooking required to boil noodles was coming back to bite me in the butt now. I really should have watched more survival shows. Now I’d need trial and error to learn, or at least trying to spy on humans to see if I can leech any info off them.

I took another bite out of the fruit, casually tossing the seed out below where it fell with a quiet pap onto the moss. The thought struck me with the noise. That’s certainly a different option. I could drop something from above. If I knew anything it’s that gamers don’t look up, and neither do most things. So if I could figure out how to make some sort of widespread net or something to catch them under, then all I’d need to do was finish them off. The question was how to get a net like that. The only thing I could think of to try and find rope would be vines or something, and I don’t know how to tie a net. More trial and error I suppose.

Or, if I try and risk it, I could go to the human town to see if they have a net I could borrow. And unlike most people in my situation I do mean borrowing. I may be a monkey, but I am no thief, plus these humans probably would need any net they have. I would ask permission if I could speak and weren’t mortally terrified of them killing me, and I would only need it for as long as it took me to figure out how to make my own. But again, sneaking into human-ville isn’t going to be my first option. I’m going to leave that as a last resort. Right now, the plan is to try and do it on my own with some vines, and not risk getting chopped to bits.

Dusting off my haunches, I continued on my journey back to the monkey tribe, keeping my eye out for any vines on the way. To my disappointment, vines weren’t all like the big thick ones you see in cartoons, they mostly tended to look like grape vines, which I suppose you could make a net out of, but rats would chew right through it. I was nearly home, when I spotted something that caught my eye. I was looking for vines, but a thornbush would also be extremely useful.

Natasha