Beast Monster System

- FLASHBACK -

"And here's the sub-plan; Aksel, I forbid you to use The Beast From Hell or any skill that is similar to it-"

"Wait- what??" Aksel immediately interrupted Jake as soon as he heard that. He got confused because of it.

"It's too dangerous. You couldn't control your mind and yourself when you used The Beast From Hell. It was literally just kind of luck that you stopped it before your HP totally ran out, and we have no guarantee that you will be able to stop this skill before your HP decreases to zero if you use it again. That's clearly too risky, we won't take the risk," Jake gave the boy his reason.

"But I've leveled up, it won't be the same as before. My HP and MP are five times more than before now, I-"

"It's about whether you can control yourself or not, Aksel. Even if you have ten thousand HP, but you can't control yourself while using that kind of skill, I still won't allow you to use it," Jake told Aksel, he cut the boy's words just like how Aksel did it to him previously.

"But, Captain, if he's gonna face off a Bigfoot that you suspected as the strongest one amongst all the other Bigfoots here, how is it possible for him to lock the fight to be won by him?" Jade asked Jake a moment later. She also looked confused, just like the previous Aksel, who looked disappointed at the moment.

"I'll tell you how; Curt, go become invisible, and as soon as you being invisible, you have to run as fast as you can over to the Bigfoot that Aksel will be facing off, a couple of seconds after you do it, I'll approach the one that has wings, while Jade will also run over to the one that Aksel will be facing off so you can be there earlier than her. You have to become visible again once you're behind that Bigfoot, kick its back as hard as possible, it will help Aksel to kill it easily," Jake told them with quite a low tone. He really made sure that no one besides them would hear him.

"Wait, didn't you say that both Jade and I will be facing off the other monkey, Captain?" Curtis asked Jake confusedly immediately after. He also frowned due to his confusion, and he wasn't the only one to show such an expression, the other teens also did the same, they were surprised by this order.

"Yeah, but the thing is; Aksel won't be ready to be in a one versus one fight, he'll need help for this," Jake answered Curtis while turning his gaze from Curt to Aksel in the middle.

"What do you mean? He had just leveled up, he's clearly ready, Captain" Cheryl stated, she was still confused.

"Mentally, he's not ready. He might have managed to beat his fear and his doubt towards himself before, but I don't think he will manage to do it easily next time," Jake said as he folded his hands on his chest. The captain looked at Cheryl and Aksel alternately.

"And why do you have to make these two things sound like a big problem for us?" It was Jade's turn to ask, there was also clear confusion on her facial expression.

"Aksel's fear and doubt towards himself aren't just some things that fearful people normally have. These are like some kind of PTSD, it won't disappear easily, and of course, it's a big problem for us since he has the strongest system," Jake answered. Now the conversation got deeper, making Jake look at Aksel intensely to see his reaction.

Everyone was surprised to hear what Jake had just said, including Aksel himself.

'He knows it?!' Those three words crossed Aksel's mind immediately after Jake mentioned his PTSD.

"PTSD?" Chandler made sure in disbelief.

"We'll talk about the details later, but in essence, some things would block him from having trust in himself, having confidence, etcetera, and probably some of you can guess the cause by now. But one thing for sure, Aksel needs big support from us, I'll say the only time he wouldn't need us is when he was like possessed by that hell creature," Jake responded a moment later, but surprisingly, all of them were silent afterward. Some of them looked at Aksel, while the rest would try not to do the same, which made them have awkward gazes.

'Did the bully he received much worse than mine? Or is there another reason behind his PTSD?' Chandler started to wonder about it in his mind.

'Oh, God. How could his dad think sending him here is a great idea then?' Cheryl thought.

"Whaaat?? Our enemies are waiting for us patiently there, it's not the right time to be silent, guys. Cohme aaawn!" Jake continued after a couple of seconds, he really didn't expect that they would be silent after he told them about Aksel's PTSD, this also made the positive, so-relax, and a quite cheerful version of Jake come back.

'Possessed?' While most of them thought about Aksel and his PTSD, Jade highlighted the possession thing that was also mentioned by Jake earlier.

"How will I kill that Bigfoot with one attack, Captain?" Aksel built up a new conversation a second later, it seemed like he wasn't really comfortable with the conversation about his PTSD.

"Good question, Aksel. You have to end it with only one attack indeed. Now, can you only use your claws without having to enter that beast from hell mode? It will be so useful and helpful if you can," Jake replied while releasing his folded hands from his chest.

"I'm not sure, Captain … but apparently, besides skills, I have also sub-skills, so probably I can do it, I'll try," Aksel answered. His facial expression as he finished his words showed that the boy was eventually pretty sure about it.

"Oh my gosh, so you have skills, sub-skills, and a special skill? Goddamn, I wish I had the Beast Monster System. It starts to be so boring that I have only one skill and haven't leveled up yet," Curtis said. He exhaled heavily afterward.

"But Invisible Mode only costs three mana points, right? I wish I had a simple but cool skill like that, I think even my sub-skills cost more than five mana points, you know," Aksel responded to Curtis just shortly after.

"Hmph! I know that you're actually just making fun of me right now," Curt stated, he looked so upset at the moment.

"Alright, alright, we've wasted quite a lot of time by now, it's time for action. Let's wrap this all up first. So with Curt being invisible, I do think our main target here will be guessing that Curt is about to give it a surprise attack even if Curt uses his skill when that Bigfoot doesn't pay attention, it most likely will lower Curt's chance to succeed in kicking it, and we have nothing to make it not to think so. 

Jade, your role will be needed if the worst possibility happens; you have to immediately help Curt if he fails, I'll leave the winged Bigfoot if the other Bigfoot comes to help our main target. Our sub-plan will also immediately be canceled if that happens, and Aksel has to join the fight too as soon as our sub-plan is canceled so I can handle the winged Bigfoot again. However, you guys have to make your respective plans afterward. Get it?" Jake spoke to Jade, Curtis, and Aksel a moment later.

"Yes, Captain," the three teens replied immediately after.

"And if everything goes according to our plan and sub-plan … Aksel, make sure you're ready with your claws and super speed the moment after Curt kicks that Bigfoot," Jake continued while turning his head towards Aksel. Aksel only nodded his head as an answer of 'yes'.

"Both of you also have to handle that last Bigfoot afterward," the captain said to Curt and Jade, he turned his head from Aksel to those two so quickly.

"Got it," Curtis replied briefly, while Jade was also only nodding her head.

"But, Captain …" Curt continued less than a second later.

"What?" Jake responded to Curtis immediately.

"I'm not sure that my attack will be as powerful as you hope it will be. I mean … I don't think it can help Aksel that much, because honestly, it will be absolutely unbelievable and amazing if I can make that monkey move just one step forward though," Curtis stated.

"Don't worry, I came up with this sub-plan with some preparation too. Chandler, give him that mushroom," Jake said, he began to smile again right when he said the first word 'don't'.

"Y-yes, Captain," Chandler replied to the captain immediately after. The boy then took out a small and weird-looking mushroom from one of the piles of the tied medicinal plants.

"Oh my God, what is that??" Curt asked disgustedly immediately after.

"A mushroom, it's a super rare mushroom and Chandler could only find one," Jake answered him a second later as everyone looked at that tiny mushroom simultaneously. No one seemed to know about Chandler having it besides Jake and Chandler himself, and thus, they were all quite confused and surprised.

"When did you get this?" Cheryl asked Chandler a moment later without stopping to look at the mushroom with a look that showed how much she was surprised to get to know about Chandler having the mushroom. From the way she asked him, the girl sounded pretty sure that Chandler got the mushroom when she, Shawn, as well as Aksel, helped him to search for the medicinal plants. She was just surprised because she didn't notice it previously.

"When we searched for the medicinal plants. But I only told Captain about it since I wanted this to be secretive," Chandler explained.

"Why?" Curt asked while frowning.

"We're running out of time. Curt, eat this mushroom now," Jake said as he took the mushroom from Chandler's and handed it over to Curtis.

"HUUUH?? Raw??" Curt was extremely shocked by that order, his dramatic inhale described his feeling so well.

"Wait, what's the use of this mushroom in the first place, Captain?" Aksel finally asked the most relevant question here.

"It will increase your physical strength. The bigger the mushroom's size is, the bigger your physical strength will increase. This mushroom we have here is actually too small, and thus, Curt's physical strength won't increase at an extreme rate, but enough to make a quite powerful kick that can throw away a Bigfoot," Jake answered.

- FLASHBACK ENDED -

"F*ck, that was close," Matt said, he looked pretty upset at the moment.

Aksel then turned around since Matt was behind him after he almost killed him.

"Huh?! What happened?! How could he survive?! Was that because he changed his form into his human form?" Cheryl spoke confusedly from a distance.

"No … it was a different Bigfoot," Shawn stated. Chandler, Rosemarie, and Cheryl immediately turned their heads toward him afterward.

"This guy …" Shawn muttered less than a second later while kept looking at Matt who was in his human form.

"Captain was right, he's probably the strongest one amongst all of them. I don't really understand how, but it seems he summoned another Bigfoot in the last seconds and controlled it to protect him. He also changed his form to minimize the chance that Aksel had to kill him. That headless Bigfoot on the ground, it clearly wasn't his Bigfoot form, and he did it all as fast as Aksel's movement," Shawn told the three of them.