Speed Is King

By that time, he was level 60 and extremely tired. If he wasn't a Lightning Apostle and didn't have the attribute boosts from Elliot's levels, he would have definitely fallen in the forest.

"And you still had the nerve to think about challenging the Ant Queen." Wu Kong chided himself as he sped through the rocky terrain that stretched out endlessly for many, many kilometers. He still had a long way to go before he reached the forest where Elliot said the Behemoth Lightning Apes had made their lair.

Suddenly, Wu Kong stopped dead in his tracks. His powerful nose had caught the scent of an extremely powerful beast.

He glanced around warily, but there were nothing but trees and rocks around him. Even though the moon was shining brightly, he was a monkey, and monkeys didn't have the best night vision.

Wu Kong immediately climbed up a tree to hide himself, observe the area for a while and also to give himself a chance to recover to his peak condition.

For a few minutes, absolutely nothing happened.

And then one giant mountain goat filled with horrible wounds appeared as it made its way out of the forest. It staggered weakly and walked unstably away into the distance.

After a few more minutes, a few more random animals also appeared and dispersed around the area. A few human beings made it out too. They were the extremely lucky few who had survived the ant invasion of the forest.

Wu Kong simply rested on the tree and munched on a food bar which Elliot had given him. He could feel a rising sense of excitement building in his system as the scent of the powerful creature slowly but surely became stronger.

The beast must have been attracted by the powerful smell of blood emanating from the forest where the ants were feasting with all of their might.

True enough, a mighty roar soon resounded from the direction where the giant mountain goat had disappeared to, followed by the distinct death cry of a mountain goat for a quick second before it was cut off.

The beast had arrived.

Wu Kong remained on his tree and kept a vigilant lookout in the direction from whence the roar came from. His mind raced to do the math.

"If it appears in one minute, then it must be a huge beast that's able to eat that giant goat in one bite. I can't deal with such an enemy. If it appears in five minutes, then it's still plenty huge, and I probably also can't deal with it. However, if it appears in ten minutes, I should be able to deal with it." Wu Kong mumbled to himself.

One minute passed. Then two minutes. Then three. Very soon, eight minutes passed, and still no sign of the beast.

Wu Kong was about to nod and sigh with relief when a huge silhouette appeared in the darkness. His heart immediately fell.

It was a tiger of some sort, but much bigger. It was probably around the size of Elliot's Primal Feline Warrior.

It fell directly in between the categories "Avoid fighting at all costs" and "You can kill it, go ahead".

"You just can't make life easy for me, can you?" Wu Kong muttered at his fate. "Should I fight or not?"

The Mutated Sabertooth Tiger Lord raised its ferocious head and sniffed the air a couple of times.

Wu Kong knew exactly what he smelled. The smell of blood coming from the forest was extremely overpowering, and it was probably the only thing it was interested in.

Wu Kong had no doubt that the tiger could smell him. But he was desperately hoping that the tiger was hungry and would focus on getting an easy meal.

In the best case scenario, the tiger would be thinking, "Why should I chase after an irritating monkey all over the mountain when there's a feast to crash just a short distance away?"

And apparently, much to Wu Kong's joy and relief, the tiger was extremely hungry.

After sniffing in his direction once, the Mutated Sabertooth Tiger Lord turned towards the forest and began to run towards it.

Wu Kong grinned. When it comes back out wounded and tired a few hours later, he would meet with a fully recovered Wu Kong ready to reap its pathetic life.

Life worked in many mysterious ways. The smartest did not always come out with the best plans, and the strongest did not always make it to the end. A combination of circumstance, preparation, and of course a huge generous dose of luck mattered much, much more than personal strength.

And that night, an extremely powerful beast would fall to an intelligent, patient, and extremely lucky monkey.

*-*-*-*-*-*-*

[San Wu Kong has gained 5 levels and reached level 65 for killing a level 110 Elite Mutated Sabertooth Tiger Lord.]

[Congratulations! You've levelled up to level 63!]

[You have gained 0.5 attribute points from San Wu Kong.]

"Wu Kong? You're still fighting this late at night? How are you doing?" Elliot asked with a slightly concerned voice in his mind space.

"I'm not really fighting, Master. I'm just cleaning up after a bunch of ants." Wu Kong chuckled. "Don't worry, I'm totally fine."

"Good to hear. You must be really lucky if merely cleaning up can net you so many levels and an Elite Mutated Sabertooth Tiger Lord. Keep the beast core for Rex. She might be able to use it." Elliot said with a smile.

"Of course, Master." Wu Kong immediately agreed.

"Find a place to sleep and have a good rest. If things continue the way it went today, the second day of the Apocalypse would be an extremely crazy day, full of dangerous beasts everywhere." Elliot told Wu Kong.

"Yes Master."

Elliot sat up and opened up the shop. With Wu Kong's kill causing him to level up, he finally had enough points to buy the skill which he had been thinking about the moment Hawk informed him it was available.

[White Dragon Warrior - Transform into a White Dragon Warrior.] [Cost: 30 points]

Level 1 Aerial Charge - Burst forward with 200% movement speed for 10 seconds

Level 1 Ice Beam - Deal 500% Ice Attack.

Level 1 Armor-Piercing Slash - Pierces armor and deals 200% more slash damage

Level 1 Paralyzing Bite - Paralyzes enemy for 1 second and deals 200% more bite damage

Level 1 Dragon Aura - Weakens enemy by 50% and strengthens allies by 50%