"Quick! He's coming from your left!"

  I shouted, my voice cutting through the chaos.

  "Got it!"

  Lavapup reacted instantly, throwing herself backward just as the massive, goril-like monster smashed down where she'd been standing a split second earlier.

  "SOULFIRE!"

  Fmes ignited at the tips of her hair, racing downward as her fists and feet burst into fire. The heat warped the air around her as she kicked off the branch beneath her, unching herself forward at ridiculous speed, her fist clenched tight.

  The monster screeched—loud enough to make my ears ring.

  Its body twisted mid-air, spikes along its back hardening as it curled inward, compressing itself into a dense, spinning ball of muscle and bone.

  "Oh hell—he's attacking!"

  "Move, move, MOVE!"

  I raised my wand, fire already crackling violently at its tip as I tracked its trajectory.

  "FIREBALL!"

  The spell burst free, a roiling mass of fmes smming into the monster's side with a deafening impact. The explosion sent it veering off course, its spin breaking just enough to miss Lavapup by inches.

  That was all she needed.

  "Thanks a lot, Tray!"

  She shouted, twisting mid-air and smming her burning fist straight into its exposed side with a feral yell, fmes exploding outward on impact.

  The goril's hardened bone armor shattered apart as it let out a pain-filled screech, swinging its massive armored arm straight at the brown-haired girl.

  "Oh shit—!"

  She barely managed to dodge, the giant fist whistling past her head, close enough that it stirred her hair. One direct hit like that would've blown her skull apart.

  "I've got the next one—don't worry!"

  I reassured her, pnting my feet firmly as I focused on the spell forming in my mind.

  "Stone Pike!"

  The ground beneath me cracked violently, fractures racing forward like lightning through the earth, tearing their way toward the spot Lavapup was baiting the monster into.

  "Perfect bait, Pup!"

  I called out, stepping forward just as the stone spear erupted from below.

  The massive spike tore straight through the goril's skull, lifting its body off the ground and pinning it in pce mid-motion. The creature went limp instantly, its roar cut off in a single, brutal moment.

  "You have sin a Bone Ape – Level 28."

  The system announced it in the same ft, uncaring tone as always.

  Lavapup turned toward me, still faintly burning, and we met in a quick, solid handshake.

  "Great job, kitchen," she grinned, ramming her elbow lightly into my side. "Really thought you'd leave me hanging there."

  I let out a slow breath, gncing from her to the corpse suspended in the air.

  I got the pun.

  Unfortunately, it wasn't funny.

  And somehow, I already knew she was going to make that joke.

  She always cracks one after almost every successful hunt like that.

  It happened more often than was healthy for my mental well-being.

  "...Not funny."

  I turned away without another word, scanning the forest for movement.

  "Come on," I said. "We've still got three more to take down before we can head back to the city."

  I checked the quest status while speaking.

  We already had the five Dreadwoods and three Ripplehides. The only thing still missing were the st three of the ten Bone Apes.

  "By the way, Tray... I finally reached level twenty as well!"

  She announced it proudly, hopping in front of me and fshing a peace sign.

  "Congrats," I replied. "What level is your Soulfire at now? With how often you spam it, it should be close to double digits."

  I asked while she kept walking right beside me, cheerfully stepping through the turquoise grass.

  "Yeah... I'm about halfway through level nine. Shouldn't take long until I hit the next milestone!"

  She said, taking unnecessarily long steps as we approached the next Bone Ape, which sat peacefully on a branch, feeding on another unfortunate monster.

  "That's good," I whispered, pulling out my wand as its tip began to crackle, glowing with a faint blue light. "The level five upgrade was huge. I wonder how crazy it'll be at level ten."

  "Whatever it does," she replied, her voice lowering as well, "it'll definitely make it stronger. That's more than enough for me."

  She continued forward, this time carefully, her movements deliberate and quiet. Not a single unnecessary sound.

  She avoided every fallen leaf as she closed the distance to the unsuspecting ape.

  The crackling around my wand grew louder—sharper—bolts of lightning coiling around it, barely contained.

  They were ready.

  All they needed was my command.

  I could feel her ember eyes burning into my back as she climbed onto a branch behind the ape, poised and waiting.

  "Okay, okay, I'm doing it. Chill out,"

  I sighed, finally taking proper aim—straight at the creature's skull.

  "Lightning Bolt."

  The words left my lips, and a beam of condensed electricity tore through the forest, crackling violently as it ripped between branches.

  By the time the ape noticed, it was already too te.

  The bolt struck.

  Its massive body seized up, muscles locking as it let out a strangled sound before plummeting to the ground with a heavy crash.

  Without waiting for a signal, Lavapup jumped down.

  The tips of her hair ignited once more.

  With a loud scream, she drove her fist straight into the beast's chest.

  The impact was so violent I could hear ribs cracking—even from where I stood.

  In the next second, a slender figure flew past me, so fast I barely registered it. Then I felt—and heard—something crash violently into the tree beside me.

  "What in—"

  I spun around just in time to see Lavapup peeling herself out of the shattered bark, wiping blood from the corner of her lips with the back of her hand.

  "It seems we ran into a big one," she huffed, reaching into her inventory. "Might even be a kinged version!"

  She uncorked a rge red bottle and downed it in one go.

  The moment the liquid vanished, a green shimmer engulfed her body, crawling over her skin like living light. Bruises faded. Cuts closed. Blood dried up and disappeared as if it had never been there.

  "...A kinged one?" I echoed, cold sweat beginning to trickle down my forehead. "Are you sure?"

  I slowly turned back toward the monster.

  Above its massive form hovered a name—written in deep, bloody red.

  Bone Ape — Level 33

  My stomach dropped.

  Yeah.

  That was definitely a kinged version.