Chapter 42: Mountain Ape

A full month of training went by in a flash, and today was the last monster-hunting mission Kanan and his group would go on together. Sparring together, hunting together, and talking with each other brought them closer than before.

This was reflected in the way they moved together as a team, successfully hunting monsters around the base of the mountain with relative ease. They still had some trouble here and there, but their teamwork made it possible to slay any monster that crossed paths with them.

Currently, they were climbing up the mountain to find a strong monster as their final hunt before swapping teams. They were ordered by Selin to do so, but they all collectively wanted to go big or go home, so they would have hunted a strong monster either way.

"I’m excited to see what kind of monster we’ll come across today." Terin was slightly hovering over the ground. He had become very proficient with his wind abilities and was able to incorporate them into his everyday life.

"Keep your guard up. You never know when a monster might get the drop on us." Lopis’s shadows covered her entire body like a cloak, a black mist oozing from her body as if she were a ghost.

"I still haven’t gotten used to using my powers on rocks. I hope I’ll be as helpful as the others." Alue’s abilities worked best in the green parts of nature, where plants were. Since his powers were nature itself, this meant that they could work anywhere, since the whole world was nature, but he wasn’t used to using them elsewhere just yet.

To compensate, he carried plants and seeds in a travel bag he brought along with them for times like these. A smart alternative.

"Don’t worry, I’ll protect you." Fera and Alue had become slightly attached to each other over the month. She had a bit of a fire inside her when it came to her personality; Alue had the opposite, so they got along perfectly.

He blushed and nodded.

"Lovebirds. Just become mates already." Reda rolled her eyes. Her teleportation abilities were already top-notch. During the month of training, she managed to teleport faster and survey her surroundings better. This allowed her to create a fighting style that perfectly matched her powers: a vanishing assassin.

Kanan had the most growth out of everyone thanks to his special traits. This didn’t mean he was some OP guy or anything. He still lost to Selin and the other expierenced warriors every time they sparred, but compared to his peers, he was on top.

One thing that he did make sure to master over the course of the month was spirit constructs. Besides transferring his power to others to make them stronger, this was the easiest way to use his ability.

"If animals are something to go off of, then the monsters that live on the mountain should be very strong, so let’s focus on the task at hand." Kanan had become the team leader of sorts; at least that’s what everyone agreed on, everyone but himself.

Being a future leader of the village, Kanan accepted this minor role since it would give him some practice for the future.

"You think we can take on whatever monster gets the drop on us?" Reda asked

Kanan shook his head. "I don’t know. Being confident is good, but knowing how to assess a situation is better. Now focus up; we’re climbing higher."

The higher they climbed, the thinner and colder the air became, each breath taking more effort than the last. Loose gravel shifted beneath every step, and pebbles skittered down the mountainside before vanishing into the depths below.

Jagged cliffs stretched upward through wisps of drifting clouds while fierce gusts of wind whistled between the rocks, drowning out all but the occasional crack of shifting stone and the distant cry of birds.

"A cave." Terin spotted. He pointed upward to its location for everyone to see.

"Can you use your wind to sense what’s inside?" Kanan asked

"On it." Wind wrapped around Terin’s arms, and in one swift movement, he sent it flying gently into the cave. He was able to use his wind as a kind of echolocation to sense things around him, making Terin really good for reconnaissance.

"I feel two creatures, but one is dead, I think. Well, one’s not moving."

"Can you make out what the monsters were?" Kanan asked

"Yeah, hold on." Terin guided his wind along the monsters to further picture the shape they took. "One of them is a...I’m picturing a mountain lion-type monster."

Kanan nodded, expecting that this would be the case. "And the other?"

"A bipedal monster of some kind, a monkey, maybe?"

"A monkey? In the mountains?" Lopis was skeptical.

Reda shrugged. "Maybe it wandered off and was snatched by the mountain lion monster."

"It’s possible. Monsters have different migration patterns and habitat locations than their animal counterpart." Kanan made sure to inform himself about monsters before hunting more of them.

"What the—!" Terin jolted backward, his face slightly in shock as he gazed toward the cave above them.

Kanan placed a hand on Terin’s back to prevent him from slipping. "What is it? What happened?"

"T-The monster, it felt my presence! It knows we’re here!"

A gut-wrenching cry escaped from the depths of the cave, shaking the whole mountain, nearly causing a landslide. Reda had to place a force field around everyone so the falling rocks wouldn’t crush them to death.

The shaking continued as a large paw stepped out of the cave, its grey spotted fur matching that of what a creature that lives on the mountain would look like. Then, its head appeared, a massive mountain lion with blood dripping from its mouth.

"Shit! A Shadow Cat! This is going to be hard!" Lopis prepared to attack, but then she noticed something off about the monster. "Kanan, do you see that?"

"See what?"

"Its eyes, they’re closed."

Kanan looked at the monster’s eyes, and sure enough, it wasn’t open. In fact, its paw looked a bit limp, as if there was no strength in it.

"Wait a minute. Is...is that monster...dead?"

As if on cue, the Shadow Cat was tossed out of the cave, plummeting below the mountain where the clouds blocked the image of the surface.

Stepping out of the cave was a tall, muscular, and very angry ape with red eyes, fangs sharper than any feline or canine monster, and brown fur. Its tail slammed against the mountainside, causing rocks to slide down, and its feet gripped the earth with such force that its toes were inside the rock.

"Hey, Reda," Kanan called out.

"Yeah?"

"Think you can teleport us back to the village?"

"Umm, probably not."

"Thought so."