Okay… It’s been three days since the last attack, and all I’ve been doing was grinding my skills like crazy since I had nothing to do. It was also a means of getting ready for the future, but mostly to quell my boredom. I get skittery when I’m not doing something.

I checked my skills to see how they looked like now. 3 days of grinding non-stop isn’t minimal after all.

[Skills]

[Gorilla Body] lv 6

[Inhumane Endurance] lv 6

[Gorilla Go Smash!] lv 3

[Gorilla Fighting Tech] lv 2

[Earth Manipulation] lv 3

And this is my current status page.

Name: Jionni

Age: 0

Gender: Male

Race: Gorilla

Class: Juggernaut

Level: 2

Exp: 180/ 200

HP: 570/ 570

MP: 260/ 260

Str: 16 = 40

Vit: 20 = 47

End: 15 = 35

Agi: 11 = 13

Dex: 12 = 14

Int: 11 = 16

Wis: 10 = 15

Cha: 7 = 8

Luc: 1 = 1

A huge increase in my stats in the STR, VIT and END attributes. I can already feel myself becoming stronger, and the last time I punched a tree with my bare hands, the pain was minimal, as well as being able to almost tear it in half.

FYI, I used my [Gorilla Go Smash!] skill and literally uprooted the whole tree up in the air with a single hand. Yeah, that’s how strong my strength is now, although the same can’t be said for my… slowness, yes, slowness… I ain’t fat damn it…

Anyway, the results of the training were pretty obvious, getting physically stronger was one result. The result of [Gorilla Fighting Tech] and [Earth Manipulation] however got me speechless.

With [Gorilla Fighting Tech], I can now fight just like a gorilla would. Basically, overpower the enemy while having the gorilla style of fighting, such as biting, smacking, lifting and crushing, or even just dog piling. Hell, even slinging poop at the enemy would count as the gorilla style.

[Earth Manipulation] however, was the golden skill for me, even if my control isn’t that good yet. The most I could do was manipulate a few meters of earth around me and turn it into a dome. I dubbed it [Earth Dome] for simplicity’s sake. I do not want to call an ability a long-ass name when in the middle of a fight where every second counts.

I could also fire some bullets made of earth at the enemy, and as usual, dubbed them as simple name called [Stone Bullet]. I can even control their trajectory, their piercing power, and even make them rotate, kind of like a normal bullet, so that would probably be my strongest weapon as of now.

[Earth Wall] is just that, a literal wall of Earth. I could control its height and width, even control how it curves. One thing I found out that once erected, [Earth Wall] will stay permanently until destroyed or manipulated by me or another [Earth Manipulation] user.

And last but not the least, my currently personal favorite, [Sinkhole]. What does it do? Well, it creates a hole on the ground, that’s it. What, too plain and simple? Well too bad, but it is also one of the most versatile and powerful skills I have in my arsenal. During fights, I could create holes on the ground to mess up the enemy’s balance, use it to create a gap when running from an enemy, or even just straight out yeet them to the bottom of a very deep pit, provided I have the mana for it.

And that brings me to another problem, my mana reserves. [Earth Manipulation] is a skill that will eat up my mana like no other if I try to manipulate an entire area, and with my currently meager mana reserves, I could only create about 2-3 big sinkholes before I run out of mana.

Which led me to my current predicament, browsing through the Market for any INT or MP buffing skillbooks. Mana potions are good and all, but I want something that would grow with me since I am just starting out.

A browse through many catalogs after searching for INT or mana led me to one book that is within my budget.

Book of the Apprentice Mage – 150 DP

Without hesitation, I bought it and quickly consumed it.

[Skill Apprentice Mana Manipulation created]

Apprentice Mana Manipulation – Control the Mana within you and within the atmosphere. As an apprentice, your control and efficiency are still below average. Increases INT, WIS, and MP by 25%. Bonus increases with skill level.

I checked my status again and saw that my MP value increased by a hundred, I also felt smarter for whatever reason, probably the increase in INT.

Anyway, since I’m tired, I better rest for the moment. When I wake up, I’m going to grind my skills again.

Warning! Trespassers Detected!

… On second thought, I’ll have to defend, and this time, I’m joining in. Donning the Armor of the Primates, which I practiced with in the last three days, I grabbed the huge club and jogged through the passageway heading towards the other miniature garden where the other monkeys were defending.

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~ Third Person POV ~

“Hey Lennon, this is the place, right?” the human male, now known as Lennon looked at his lover Kayla with a sharp gaze. A gaze which most of them currently held.

“Yes, this is the place, everybody gears up, we may be fighting against unknowns,” Lennon replied while glancing at his party members, Kayla, his lover, Mariona and Merethyl Yelhana, the twin elves, Grurnuid Opalfeet, the dwarf, and Sogtharoch, the demon.

Everybody nodded in response and gripped their weapons tightly, Grurnuid hefting a huge shield taller than him and a standard axe, Mariona and Merethyl wielding bow and arrows, and a magic staff respectively, Kayla wielding a saber in one hand, and a gun on the other, Lennon hefting a sword and shield combo, and finally, Sogtharoch holding a halbered with a shortsword hanging from his waist in case his halberd is useless in certain situations.

Last of Abandonment is a well-equipped party with an all-rounded team composition, with Grurnuid as the main tank of the party, with Lennon switching from harassment and defending his teammates, Kayla as their main damage dealer, Mariona and Merethyl as supports, and Sogtharoch as a hybrid in terms of close combat.

“Alright, let’s go,” Lennon led the party, one hand holding a torch while the other raising his shield slightly in case of any surprise attacks. These Hunters are experienced when it comes to dungeon diving, seeing that they survived reaching D-rank, which are considered average in the Hunter Association.

The party moved as a unit, not one leaving an angle out in case a surprise attack or trap come barreling towards them. It happened before, they didn’t want it to get caught off guard again.

“Lennon! Shield up!” Grurnuir yelled as he raised the tall shield and slammed it against the ground, with Lennon doing the same, making himself smaller behind the shield, while the others got behind them in an instant. A clang later, an arrow bounced off of Grurnuir’s shield, and Mariona quickly returned another arrow towards the direction of where the arrow traveled. Another clang was heard a few seconds later after Mariona released her arrow.

“That sounded like a shield,” Sogtharoch surmised as he grabbed the shortsword in his hand as the party reached the end of the passageway and into a miniature forest.

“A forest type, alright, Merethyl, scan,” Lennon commanded and Merethyl obliged. A few verses and a lightshow later, Merethyl opened her eyes, it glowing a bright green.

“5 monsters ahead of us, two large, 3 small,” Merethyl said while gripping her staff. “They also have weapons, probably from the poor Hunters who came here 3 days earlier.”

“Alright, thanks for the info,” Lennon responded with a nod. “Grurnuir, we’ll take care of the big ones, while Sogtharoch and Kayla takes care of the small ones. Mariona and Merethyl will be support as usual.”

“Roger,” all of them responded in affirmation as the party moved ahead slowly in case there are any traps laid beneath the ground or withing the shrubbery or trees. Once they approached the monsters a certain distance away, the large humanoid, hairy brutes rushed towards them, one of them carrying a shield and club, while the other have its natural weapons, arms and teeth.

“Grurnuir! Up front!” Lennon and Grurnuir both clashed with the two giants, their shield protecting their bodies from the heavy attacks from the brutes. Lennon dropped a knee, surprised at the strength of the brute wielding a metal club, while Grurnuir grunted against the relentless attacks of the other colorful faced brute that was trying to pry the tall shield away from him.

The two of them were already losing, but an arrow and some mana bullets from Mariona and Merethyl quickly disengaged them from their losing battle.

“Shit, they’re strong,” Lennon said through breaths as he quickly got up on his feet.

“Aye, them monsters relentless too,” Grurnuir replied as he checked his shield. The shield was still good, albeit a few scratch marks from the earlier attack marred its sheen.

The hairy brutes then continued with their attack, and all Lennon and Grurnuir could do was hold them off, as the strength of the brutes are beyond most of the monsters they fought. While they were at a deadlock, another support came in in the form of Sogtharoch trying to stab the colorful brute with his halberd. The halberd struck, and blood came gushing out of the wound. The colorful brute now enraged, glared at the demon who wounded it, and began slamming its hands against the ground while screeching, causing the elf twins to cover their ears in pain.

Meanwhile, Kayla was busy dealing with the three childlike monsters. The reason for dealing with them alone was because their tanks were getting pummeled by the brutes. It was okay if they were mindless monsters like the usual ones, but they were intelligent, and it looks like these childlike ones are intelligent as well, as seen by one of them harassing her with a sword and weaving out just in time for an arrow to come heading towards her, while the other one was busy trying to get past her defenses so it could reach their healer and archer.

“Shit, Sogtharoch, better hurry up,” Kayla cursed under her breath as she aimed her gun towards one of the monsters. ‘Make it count, bullets are getting expensive nowadays.’

She fired, but the monster was able to notice the danger and hid behind a tree before getting hit by the bullet.

“Shit,” Kayla cursed again as she sidestepped a sloppy thrust from one of the monsters wielding the short sword and saw this as an opportunity to cull one of their numbers. She opted for a quick stab, but a whistling arrow grabbed her attention and she quickly dodged. Not a moment later, an arrow struck from where she was standing a second before.

The twin elves were busy supporting Kayla and the tanks in hoping to better their chances of survival. Luckily, the colorful faced brute was slowing down due to blood loss, but Sogtharoch was injured as well due to a minor slip up. A bitten leg was the last thing they needed, so Merethyl quickly opted for a quick Heal, healing the damage done to Sogtharoch.

He nodded in gratitude and continued to poke at the colorful faced brute. While that was going on, Lennon was busy redirecting the attention of the other brute by not letting it help its colorful faced comrade.

The plan was working, and a moment later, the colorful faced brute collapsed on the ground due to blood loss, and Sogtharoch and Grurnuir spared no time and quickly killed it. It heaved one last breath before the life in its eyes dimmed.

One threat now gone, Sogtharoch quickly ran back to where Kayla was fighting to support her, while Grurnuir went to support Lennon fighting against the remaining brute. The brute was desperately fighting, but when its shield was knocked away, courtesy of Grurnuir’s attack, Lennon quickly grabbed the opportunity to slice at its throat.

The brute seeing its demise, went for an all-in attack, and used all of its strength to bash in the head of Lennon. Lennon was able to see the attack, but he was so deep in his movement, that he was only able to shift slightly to avoid fatal damage. His sword met the neck of the brute, while the club met his shoulder, breaking it and flinging him away a few couple meters.

“Lennon!” Grurnuir cried out in concern, but immediately followed up with an attack to kill the large brute. It dropped dead, and Grurnuir rushed towards Lennon and grabbed a healing potion from his pack.

“Here, drink,” Grurnuir offered the potion and Lennon accepted with a pained smile. Drinking it, he felt the pain lessen, but his arm was still damaged.

“Shit, I’ll be out of commission. Tell them to finish up and retreat. This dungeon is beyond us,” Lennon commanded while Grurnuir nodded. Grurnuir then ran up to where Kayla and Sogtharoch were fighting, with Mariona and Merethyl standing beside him, Mariona firing arrows when she has a clear shot, and Merethyl trying to lessen the pain and fix the damage dealt to Lennon.

It was then, a roar echoed through the forest.

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~ First Person POV (Jionni) ~

Damn it! If they breakthrough now, I’ll be screwed! I should’ve paid more attention towards gearing my summons! I’m a fucking idiot!

I cursed myself at my shortsightedness and naiveness. I didn’t make enough plans, thinking that the next trespassers will only be slightly stronger than the last, but no, what came was a cohesive unit with enough teamwork to kill my two main defenses. Shit!

I roared loudly, hoping to get their attention, the chimpanzees perking up and screeching as well. I rushed towards their destination and saw a female human and a black-skinned horned human. I didn’t care right now, my life is at stake and I roared again, casting [Sinkhole] beneath the feet of the female human since I saw a gun.

She slipped at the sudden loss of foundation, and one of the chimps, Chia, rushed towards trying to stab her. She failed though as the black-skinned horned human blocked the strike with his halberd. I focused my gaze on him and commanded the three chimps to focus on the horned human as I bash in the head of the female human wielding a gun.

I rushed towards the female who was still trying to get up from her downed position. I then felt something bump against my armor, and paid it no heed. I reached the human who was about to get up and raised my club and swung down. She looked above in horror, eyes wide with few tears escaping. I felt pity, but no, it’s either me, or you. I will survive, I’ve been given a second chance, I will not waste my freedom!

The club crashed down, but was met with resistance. I used the [Gorilla Go Smash!] skill for that, so that was enough to turn any ordinary person into a pile of red, but my club was blocked by a huge shield that towered over a body so short in comparison, a face full of beard adorning his head. A dwarf?

The dwarf then collapsed, eyes rolled back, foam coming out of his mouth. I didn’t stop, raising my club again, I tried to swing it down. Tried being the keyword.

I felt a sharp pain below my chest, making me wince in pain. I staggered back and looked at my chest. Blood was dripping down, and I saw red. I looked at the female who held a gun towards me, eyes wide in fear. I roared again, this time using [Stone Bullet] and fired it at her, which hit her stomach, making her scream in pain.

The black-skinned human was still busy dealing with the chimps, so that was one threat currently busy. I then felt another bump against my armor, and this time looked at the direction where the bump came from. Two female elves greeted my sight, both of them beautiful, and similar looking. Twins probably.

Roaring once again, I casted [Sinkhole] beneath their feet, causing them to stumble. I rushed towards them, hoping to end their resistance. I will not die today, I will survive!

“Fuck! Mariona! Merethyl! Use it now!” another human, leaning against a tree behind them screamed at the two. I saw them take out an orb, and all of the trespassers began glowing. What is happening? They’re glowing? A final attack? No! I won’t let that happen!

I roared out again, hoping to freeze them by intimidation, but my roar was ignored, and suddenly, the light was gone, and in my sight, nothing but air remained. What the fuck?

Defense Successful!

… Mother fucker, a get-out-of-jail free card… Shit, they’re gonna report this, and I’ll be saying goodbye to my peace.