Solomon's Crucible 18. A Bit of Monkey Business (Patreon)

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Solomon stared at the monkeys for a moment, then started trying to sidle his way back out of the area. He didn't have anything that could reach the monkeys as long as they stayed so high up, while they were more than capable of raining whatever they wanted down on him. It just made sense to head back to the fringe of the dungeon floor and figure out a plan before taking them head on.

The monkeys weren't having any of it. As soon as he started moving away from them they burst into action, screeching angrily as they started a coordinated bombardment. Solomon at least got his shield up to protect his face, but more than a few projectiles smacked into his new clothing. He didn't lose any HP, but it left a mark nonetheless.

Even so, he was making progress. He thought for a moment he would get out of the monkey's territory without any serious problems. Then a weight came crashing onto his back.

Solomon staggered. If not for his increased strength, he would have been taken to the ground. As it was, he still had to deal with a very angry piggyback rider. The monkey was scrabbling at his head, trying to grab hold of his hair.

He went with the momentum from the initial impact, turning his first stumbling step into longer strides as he aimed himself at a tree. He leaped into the air, spinning around to let the monkey on his back absorb the brunt of the blow. The shock of impact made the monkey lose its grip on him. He ducked his head, swinging the shield attached to his arm back overhead. There was a crunch, and the monkey that had troubled him fell to the ground as he straightened up.

Solomon didn't have time to celebrate his victory. By the time he had gathered himself and looked up, two more monkeys were flying through the air straight at him. He managed to intercept one with his spear and got his shield up in front of the other.

Instead of bouncing off his shield, he found the monkey had grabbed hold with its feet and was swinging its hands wildly to try to get at him. Meanwhile, the monkey impaled on his spear was trying to pull itself close enough to get at him, but was stuck on the crossbar. Behind it, several more monkeys had launched themselves towards the fight.

If he stayed in place, he was going to be swarmed under. Solomon dropped his spear and brought the shield over to cover his body, then lowered his shoulder and charged forward. One of the flying monkeys hit his shield and bounced off. He gave it a stomp as he passed over it. The system's HP healing would have it back on its feet eventually, but he needed every second he could get.

Another monkey went flying over his head, thrown off by his movement. All around him, monkeys were landing on the forest floor, reorienting themselves, and chasing after him with a will.

A quick glance showed that they were going to catch up with him soon. Rather than continue the chase, Solomon aimed himself at another tree, catching the monkey on his shield with a brutal crunch as he slammed to a halt. It fell to the ground, dead. Spinning around, he drew his hatchet and stood ready.

A soothing wave of healing moved along his scalp. Solomon hadn't even realized how badly the monkey had managed to scratch him up. Considering what they'd been throwing at him, he spared a thought to hope that the system knocked out infections when it healed scrapes and cuts.

Seven more of the little bastards were charging right at him. They were all on level ground, though, and well within his reach. Solomon smiled and charged forward again, not wanting them to have a chance to gang up on him.

This time, rather than rely on his shield, he swung his hatchet with the assistance of a Power Attack as soon as the lead monkey came into reach. The underhanded swing caught the monkey in the chest, smashing through its rib cage and lodging in place. While he had to have done grievous damage to the monkey's internal organs, it wasn't quite dead. Which meant, thanks to the follow through on his swing, he was now holding a pissed off monkey upside down right by his face.

He managed to yank his head back quickly enough that the monkey's paw flashed by his eye instead of taking it out, then moved his arm out away from his body. It was awkward, but it only took a few steps before he was able to slam the back of the monkey's head against a tree trunk as he ran by. Its skull caved with a satisfying crunch, which left him holding onto an axe embedded into dead weight instead of an angry combatant.

He turned around to find the remaining monkeys still doggedly intent on taking him down. Surely an actual wild animal would have given up long before now. Unfortunately, these system generated creatures were undaunted by the sight of their fellow dangling from Solomon's weapon. He shook the hatchet, but the monkey was stubbornly hooked in place.

Solomon kicked away the next monkey to come close to him, then cursed his own stupidity as he remembered he had a system-granted ability for this situation. Loosening his grip on the handle of his hatchet, he let it slide down so that his hand was touching the dead body.

"Disassemble."

He had to kick away another monkey before the spell did its work, making the corpse vanish and depositing a beast core between his hand and the axe handle. He let the core fall to the ground, unable to access his inventory and unwilling to fiddle around with his pockets in the middle of a fight.

That done, he tossed the hatchet into the air, resetting his grip.

"All right, who's next?"

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