[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 319]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 315]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 330]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 301]

…

I create [Empyrean Lance] and shoot it through yet another Spineback Ape.

Even now, I'm only able to create one lance at a time. Would the skill need to be called [Empyrean Lances] for me to make more? It's still fun, though.

Sensing vibrations of kinetic energy, I track the incoming attack and jump to the side. A primitive spear made of some sort of very heavy and durable black wood hits the tree behind me, pierces it, and flies further. A few more follow. I weave between them while firing back my lances, which are much faster and rarely miss.

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 321]

[You have defeated Spineback Ape - lvl 331]

[Lvl 309 Lvl 310]

My mood immediately improves as I put more stats into mana. Like a dose of endorphins I’ve been starved of for so long.

Maybe because of that, I attempt to use [Manifestation]. The image of a long javelin weaves into existence, accompanied by a dark hum and pressure every time I use the skill. A multicolored light shines weakly and briefly as the javelin forms over my shoulder. And a noticeable chunk of mana disappears.

The structure I had in my mind is gone, too, requiring me to rebuild it again.

I bend kinetic energy around it, and the javelin launches forward, only to miss the ape by the tiniest bit. It bursts into particles of mana after hitting the boulder behind it.

[Manifestation - lvl 1 Manifestation - lvl 2]

Slowly, but surely.

Then I get back into the fight, even though I know I'm making it worse. The more apes we kill, the more of them appear to fight us, as if they were being drawn in by the deaths of their kind.

They throw themselves at us without hesitation or fear. Izzy thinks they may have some sort of primitive hive mind that drives them. And the longer it goes on, the more evolved the Spineback Apes seem to be. Min-Jae says he saw one with tree bark that had been worked into chest armor.

Otherwise, they are unassuming. They look more or less like normal apes, just as tall as we are, with grayish fur and orange eyes. They're very strong and durable, but at the same time, they’re not all that fast.

Other than some kind of shared domain that becomes stronger the more of them are nearby, they don’t seem to use any skills. That domain of theirs is interesting, too. It's a restrictive field that tries to suppress mana and physical stats.

So far, we've moved three times, but they follow us every time, somehow managing to pinpoint our location by some unknown means. Izzy doesn’t notice anything. Sophie and I find two mana-based marks. Biscuit and Noodle can’t sense or smell anything.

These damned apes must have put an airtag somewhere in our baggage.

Other than these annoying monsters, there’s something else the twins have noticed during their scouting. Because of the dense foliage, Tess can’t really see that far. We don’t fly high to scan the area, and so far we’ve avoided large-scale scans. So the twins, with their variation of Sneaky Mode being more hidey-oriented than mine, are currently the best suited for scouting.

It will be a sad day when that leads the system to offer them a class with Phantom in the name. I’ll have to beat them up then, even if it’s just out of principle. No way am I letting those two smug bastards get away with something like that.

On one of their scouting runs, they found a small village full of demons. Just those words are enough to give most people headaches. Demons are lunatics, and none of my experiences with them so far have shown me otherwise. My expectation is the same for these as well.

Dennis and Aaron observed them carefully. They know demons can sense hearts really well, and that much like me, they might have thermal or kinetic senses. They are excellent at detecting movement or heat. I also wonder: would a primordial lightning demon be able to sense the electricity in neuron connections? I mean, I’m no scientist, and maybe that’s just bullshit, but I don’t care. I like being paranoid. There’s just something comforting about assuming the worst.

From observing the demons, the twins learned quite a bit. There are about 100 demons. Rather than a village, it seems more like a tribe. They wear animal skins, though they are well processed. Their weapons are made from bone, monster teeth, processed crystals, and roughly smithed metals. There are bows, javelins, and other ranged weapons as well. Of course, there are skills we have to worry about, too, and primordial energies.

Interestingly, they live inside one of the massive trees, hollowed out likely with some skill. The entrance is masked and guarded. It’s to the point where I’d call them elves rather than demons. But I remember what Feran told me. Some demon groups just like to find a rough environment, settle in, and force themselves to adapt or die.

What a bunch of lunatics. I bet these ones are like that. Either they’re the descendants of such demons or some nomadic group that just moved into the area, maybe even to this planet, whatever it might be. Not like the name of this floor gives away a lot.

We don’t know exactly how strong they are, but to survive here, I’d have to guess that they’re somewhere over level 250, with some possibly ranging into the 300s. Dennis and Aaron are probably lucky to have gone unnoticed. Still, it’s an interesting find, and sooner or later, we might still run into them.

Possibly, there are more such tribes. Or maybe it’s one large group, split into smaller bands so that survival doesn’t become “too easy”.

I know I play with stereotypes a lot when it comes to demons, but damn, so far I haven’t seen so much as a single speck of a reason not.

----------------------------------------

Two days have passed, and I’ve had to endure the constant screeching of Spineback Apes. At this point, I’m sure we’ve killed thousands, and more still keep coming. Like ants, they wipe out all the monsters in the area. And interestingly enough, the other monsters rarely attack them. Instead, they try to escape without fighting back.

“I’m done waiting. I’ll just bomb them out. Tess, I swear I’ll burn this jungle to the ground. I don’t care if this place is humid, I’ll generate so much heat it dries up and burns like kindling.” I tell her.

Tess resolutely shakes her head. “No fire.”

“I can bombard the place. I could use kinetic or tricolored orbs. Say the word and I’ll carpet-bomb this place until it’s finally quiet and I see no more apes. Mana bursts, projectiles, lances, I can even make everything oscillate until it turns to dust. I have enough mana. I want silence so deep it echoes.”

“No large-scale damage.”

Instead of arguing with her, I turn to Izzy, who sits next to Sophie, who’s currently braiding her hair.

“We shouldn’t do it,” she confirms when she catches my gaze.

Sophie, from behind her, adds, “All the monsters avoid using fire skills or causing too much damage to the area. They’re afraid of something. The same goes for flying.”

“I can deal with any monsters that get unhappy with it.”

“And if it’s Champion rank?”

I’m about to groan when Izzy waves for my attention. I look back, and she smiles at me. “Just for now, please.”

Her sister smiles, whispers something to her, and hugs her from behind. Izzy leans back into the hug and giggles while still looking at me.

“You guys have a lot of tokens, right? Just go to Beyond for a day or two to check on things there. Maybe try to fish again. Meanwhile, we can explore the area. It's not that dangerous so far. It was you and Sophie who killed most of the apes, so we might lose them when you leave,” Izzy says.

Tess also seems to agree. “It's not a bad idea.”

“We could go tomorrow, just for a day, maybe two? We’ll appear in that Spherical safe zone, right?” Sophie asks.

“As long as they haven’t changed the rules, then yes,” Tess nods. “But we need to make some preparations first.”

“Do you want to meet that demon tribe?” I ask.

“I think we should leave them be for now. The ones staying can deal with them if we need to, or at least escape. But so far, it looks like everyone is avoiding this area, even the demons. Probably because of all the apes.”

Maya snorts from where she’s lounging near the edge of the clearing. “Even those frogs we saw the other day were smart enough not to kill any of the apes. We’re the only ones who screwed up.”

“I wouldn't call it screwing up,” I mutter. “I’d call it clearing space.”

Maya stretches her arms overhead with a groan. “Yeah? Space for what? More apes?”

I shrug. “Could’ve been worse.”

Tess tosses a small stick at my thermal cube as it floats in between us as if she were throwing kindling on a fire, “Anyway. Beyond.”

The way she says it makes us turn back to her, and we return to the subject.

----------------------------------------

As I enter Beyond, I find myself in that familiar area with my handler. It seems to be around midnight, and I’m standing on polished, perfectly smooth black stone that stretches on forever.

Even now, there's nothing as far as the eye can see. No hills, no trees, no mountains, no clouds. Just flat, polished black stone. Only broken by the sky, glimmering and sparkling above with a vast array of stars and nebulae.

My handler sits behind her old wooden table, piles of papers and mana stones stacked in front of her. This time, she doesn't even bother to look at them. Her expression is more serious as she watches me. Her hair, black with bits of red mixed in, looks redder today, and her brown eyes seem lighter in color.

"Congratulations on being one of the last tutorials to experience this version of the 8th floor," she says.

"How come?" I ask.

"Little Tyven died not long ago," she says, leaning back in her chair and crossing her arms. "And I still don't know if I should find it funny, considering everything it set off."

"Is it ok for you to talk to me like this? It’ll only allow me to confirm my suspicions."

"I don't give a fuck."

"In that case, tell me more."

She snorts. "You’ve already collected enough information to piece things together, and lately, things really aren't going the way I'd like. Too many old monsters are coming out of seclusion. Ambition, vengeance, the thrill of battle, sheer spite, oaths that have yet to fade, and those still chasing meaning in a world that moved on without them. Some only want to blaze once more before the end. Things that should happen once an eon now feel like they happen every year."

"So the Ruler of Envy is dead."

"Yes, and already, several of the strongest Masters of Envy are fighting for his position. Envy having one of the highest numbers of Masters is both fitting and amusing, considering his subclass."

"Who did it?"

"Guess."

"Holy fuck."

"Holy fuck indeed.”

"You have to go now, but I want to give you a warning. As much as I can work around the rules, there are limits. I can't help you or tell you more, doing that would only make things worse. I just wish you and the others hadn't come to Beyond today."

Something in her voice catches me off guard. It makes me uneasy.

"What do you mean?"

"I'm sorry. The timing is just too bad. It's too early for you to meet people like them. Please remember that. This isn't anyone's fault. It's just bad luck."

I start to feel a pull as her words hit. They cut deeper than I expected, especially coming from her. My vision begins to blur as I start to disappear into Beyond, no matter how hard I try to resist.

"What do you mean?!" I repeat.

The last thing I see before I'm gone are her eyes. They look more yellow than brown now.

"Just don't break," she says.