Monsters Uprising

The rain had intensified, and the surroundings were much darker, but in a clearing amid the mud, Sief ran between the trees with a furrowed brow and gleaming eyes.

As he ran, he noticed a creature standing in the mud. Its body was covered in roots, and its head resembled that of a skeletal goat. Among the roots, pale claws moved in rhythm with the assassin's pace.

Sief gritted his teeth and took cover behind a tree, feeling small impacts. When he glanced to the side, splinters of wood were flying toward him at a surprising speed. Another scream to his side made him turn around.

Amidst the barrage of splinters, a small humanoid creature with a goat’s head charged at him with a hatchet aimed at Sief’s head. Sief furrowed his brow as he watched the creature get hit by the splinters, yet it continued its advance.

With a single slash, Sief split it in two, and the splinters stopped, but more of these creatures kept coming.

Sief stepped out from behind the tree, but a greenish mass with glowing yellow eyes appeared before him, forcing him to dodge to the side. Thorns emerged, and he blocked them with his dagger, sparks lighting up the dark forest.

The monster hit the ground and quickly turned, revealing a much larger, quadrupedal green draconid. Its body was robust, and its elongated jaw was covered in gleaming scales. Its back also had some spikes that caused Sief to shake his dagger, still frowning.

‘That strike was heavy, this weapon is really good... but it didn’t try to bite me... was that just a body move?’ Sief pondered, watching the creature flex its legs and open its jaws again. ‘Too soon?’

Once again, the monster leapt, its immense jaws aiming for Sief's head and body, but he dodged to the side. The creature passed by him, but Sief quickly struck again, sending more sparks flying as the reptile’s skin was as hard as armor.

Sief stared, still frowning, but in mid-air, the monster swung its tail. Sief blocked with his metal bracer, but the force sent him crashing backward into a tree.

He furrowed his brow and reached for the dagger on his back, but suddenly roots entangled his body. Looking down, he realized the roots of the tree behind him had moved, trapping the arm holding his dagger. When he looked behind, he saw a bark-covered figure with an empty, monstrous gaze.

The reptile turned and charged, jaws wide open, but Sief clenched his fist, and a brownish metal blade appeared from his free arm.

With a swift motion, he slashed the roots, and the tree screamed. However, the reptile had already leapt at him with its jaws wide. Sief ducked and cut the reptile’s abdomen with his dagger, opening a wound that extended along its belly, spilling blood.

The creature crashed into the tree, its weight causing both to fall. The tree screamed again, but Sief quickly struck with both blades, slashing through the bark and spraying yellowish liquid.

Splinters flew through the air, aging as they went, but Sief turned his attention back to the monster in the center of the clearing. Once again, it raised its claws, but Sief took cover behind the tree, frowning as he concluded.

‘A tree guard and a dracodile... tough monsters... but I’m getting better at this.’ Sief raised his head as he heard footsteps approaching, and another small creature with a goat’s head leaped, only to be pierced by splinters, falling dead at his feet. Lowering his brows, Sief sighed. ‘But this is getting ridiculous...’

He grabbed the monster’s head, and once again, the barrage of splinters stopped. This time, however, Sief jumped over the tree and rushed toward the root-covered monster, which tilted its skeletal head slightly to the side.

Once again, the pale claw was raised, larger than before, and movement came from the mud. In an instant, a massive root emerged from the water, aiming for Sief’s head, but he ducked, sliding along the blade, narrowly avoiding another root that came for his body.

He easily jumped and slid, giving one final leap to dodge yet another root, before heading straight for the monster’s face, which raised its smaller claw.

The branches on its body sharpened and aimed at the assassin mid-air, launching another rain of splinters.

However, Sief used the goat-headed creature’s body as a shield, allowing the splinters to pierce it while he got closer to the root monster.

He threw the goat-headed body toward the skeletal head, spinning around and slashing both, sending bone fragments flying and leaving a large gash in the monster’s skull.

The creature's eyes glowed a yellow hue as it roared, its branches coiling together to form a single, larger, and sharper one, which quickly spun toward Sief’s body.

But the monster only slashed through the air, seeing Sief already in midair, arms spread wide.

In an instant, a strike came from opposite directions, and both weapons destroyed the creature’s head, which fell to pieces on the ground, followed swiftly by the rest of its body.

Sief landed on his feet in the mud and sighed, turning to the surroundings and seeing other goat-headed monsters watching from afar. They quickly dropped their weapons and fled, screaming.

With a long sigh, Sief knelt and noticed a point of greenish aura emerging from the monster’s back, revealing itself as one of the screecher’s poisoned spikes.

'I managed to hit it from the start, but it must’ve been too quick to take effect...' He stowed the spike and examined the bodies of the dracodile and the tree guard. 'Stronger monsters... the tree guard was just one of the tough ones, and the dracodile was merely its mount... two monsters forming an alpha pack... maybe that’s why they were killed so easily. But I can feel a difference in power now...'

Sief pulled out his old dagger to clear space between the monster's branches, which were quickly deteriorating, but there were no items underneath—just a strange crustacean-like body emitting a foul odor that made the assassin back away with a furrowed brow.

'Maybe I haven’t gotten stronger, just more accustomed to it. Their speed doesn’t vary much, only their types. Maybe the alphas in these light green areas won’t be a problem anymore..." Sief approached the dracodile and began tearing off its scales and spikes. 'I wonder how my stats are now...'

He gave a slight smile and continued collecting, taking with him various scales, claws, teeth, and weapons from the goat monsters, which were nothing more than a range of goblin weapons.

Sief took shelter under a tree, and the glow in his eyes flared up, revealing his location, now close to the territory's edge. He looked up, frowning as he felt rain wetting his face.

'It’s hard to tell the time with this cloudy weather, but I feel faster...'

His eyes continued to glow as he touched the territory's name, revealing a broader view of the area, which contained three main regions.

'Moss Swamp, Ent’s Dwelling... Shadow Trail... so that was the Ent?'

Sief stowed his map and resumed running through the swamp, his backpack much heavier than before, and his dagger sheathed on his back as he thought.

'This could’ve been useful more times... but at least it shows some elevations, like high points and alternative routes... there’s probably another alpha in the Shadow Trail, which is on the dirt road... maybe that’s how that guy managed to mark the safe zones so well... although it didn’t work out this time... I wonder if it’s because of the rain...'

His steps continued along the blade’s path, and smaller monsters began to reappear, but all were swiftly dispatched by his weapons, clearing the way for Sief. After a long run, he could feel the rain starting to stop.

Gradually, the landscape began to change. The trees became farther apart, the dark forest receded, and Sief looked up, still seeing heavy clouds but also some rays of sunlight breaking through them, revealing a scene of wet grass and a few puddles of water. As he got closer, Sief realized they were simply small water pools with grass growing out of them.

However, what caught his attention in the distance was a tower, so tall it could be seen even from almost a territory away.

Sief stepped into one of the puddles and sighed, feeling his tired vision and realizing it was still only mid-afternoon. Checking the map again, he saw he had entered a new territory: the Regias Forest.

Slowly, he stowed the map and rubbed his eyes as he concluded.

'Sorry if I kept you waiting too long... Bea...' He lowered his hand, revealing tired eyes with faint dark circles, though his irises still glowed slightly with a greenish tint. 'I’ll have my answer soon...'

But something grabbed his foot, making him look down. He saw a blue-skinned monster, almost completely camouflaged in the water. In an instant, more aquatic explosions occurred around him, revealing other monsters with thin blue scales similar to the one holding him.

They all leaped and charged, screaming, as Sief clenched his fist, raising his hidden blade once more, concluding.

'Come at me.'