Digitize: Rebirth of the Silver Death God

Chapter 31: The Pests of Bamboo Grove, Beginning of a Fierce Battle

A cold mist saturated the air, blanketing everything with this region as a series of soft footsteps echoed from its boundaries. If one looked carefully through a sea of towering bamboo shoots that grew to incredible heights, they would see an indirect thing figure moving through a vague track. Occasionally, this individual would bypass a few corpses of humans and non-humans as even the soil below his feet showed tracks left behind from a carriage's wheel.

Nero frowned as he halted his steps, he looked at the tracks below his foot as well as the corpses and found that their blood was fresh. He pondered, 'These tracks are recent, much like these corpses... since it's so, then I can only assume that I'm already within the quest initiation zone.'

As Nero began to look around more carefully, he found that the mist was slowly beginning to recede for a small section of four meters. Soon, the sight of a ruined carriage was revealed along with many bodies of villagers. Their arms were ripped from their bodies as their guts were torn open, scattering their organs about the ground.

Nero didn't like this scene, but as he had killed so much during his training, he slowly became numb to it. At this time, Adult Nero's voice sounded in his head, "You were right, the quest should start soon, be careful, these monsters aren't like those of the inferior breed."

Nero grew even more solemn at those words, firmly gripping his Common Iron Sword in his arm as he slowly sheathed it by his side. He stared past the broken carriage and fallen villagers, carefully inspecting the surroundings. Soon though, a notification had sounded at the core of his mind, showing him a series of text in from of his eyes.

Ding!

[You have discovered the grounds of the massacre, kill the pests that lurk about these woods, and restore honor to the fallen villagers of Winfrey; failure for this quest will result in a loss in prestige.]

[Commencing battle in... 321, begin!]

As the announcement sounded, Nero's pupils shrunk when he saw the mist that previously receded by a section growing denser once again.

"Damn, do I have to fight these things in low visibility, when am I going to get a break!" Nero cursed as he hardened his grip on his sword handle and sharpened his senses with his spiritual awareness.

Eventually, the mist clouded over everything in sight, as by now, Nero couldn't even see his hands before him. Instead, he could only push every ounce of his concentration into his senses as he listened to his surroundings.

Adult Nero nodded in praise as he spoke, "That's it, focus your senses and use it to guide you through battle, the more you hone it, the clearer your battles shall become."

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Nero had already tuned out everything, he was now in his most focused state to date, as despite having his eyes open, his world had fallen into darkness.

Drip! The resonant vibration of the dewdrops falling from leaves sounded clearer in Nero's mind, as now, he could hear things he couldn't normally. Eventually, the shuffling of small creatures brushing through the underbrushes and a few other nimble and agile steps were heard.

Initially, those steps wouldn't be heard by even the most experienced warrior. However, as Nero grew more focused not only sounds, even the vague images had begun to appear within his eyes, as the mist seemed to have become clearer.

Nero's eyes then grew sharp as he slanted his body forward while glaring at the figures approaching him from three different angles. They were apes with adorable pink colored fur, with clothes wrapped around their foreheads like headbands and combat wrappings around their slender arms and legs.

They each stretched their arms out behind them while running with their torso forward with their tail swaying behind them.

'What are these apes? Ninjas?' Nero questioned in a puzzled way, but he didn't lose his focus and kept his eyes on his foes, for they were a notch faster than him.

Swish-swish-swish!

These apes had instantly surrounded Nero from three separate angles; their appearance became even more clearly at this range despite the mist so thick no one could see anything.

As they stood silently, their headbands made flapping noises due to the soft wind as despite their cute appearance, they each looked at Nero with sneering looks as if pondering how to toy with him to death. It appeared that they felt confident as they knew no one could identify them in this misty scene.

Nero snorted as he saw this, he thought to himself, 'Hmph! Well, since they're giving me a chance, I can at least inspect their stats before they attack.'

As Nero thought this, he shouted with his mind, 'Check Status!"

Ding!

[Martial Ape]

[Level: 3]

[Grade: Common]

[Health: 350/350]

[Combat Force: 100 stones] Normal

[Body Tenacity: 20]

[Spiritual Awareness 30]

[Speed 80 km/h]:

[Skill: Ape Fist Style]

[Description: These apes are of a common breed, born in the wilds of the Bamboo Grove, each are naturally gifted in the ways of martial arts. One must be very careful around their kind, for, despite their seemingly harmless nature, the savagery is like no other.]

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'Jeez, are you kidding me, what kind of speed and strength is that? It looks like I really am going to have a warm time...' Nero thought to himself in shock as the sword in his arm trembled slightly, but he knew that this wasn't the time to dally.

The Martial Apes seemed to have already noticed his movements; they shifted their eyes onto each other before nodding.

Swish! Instantly, without even so much of a sound or battle cry, the ape standing behind Nero struck its fist as it dashed towards him at full speed.

Nero was expecting this attack; with his heightened senses, he could even see it a few notches slower, allowing him to perform his Four Point Unity Steps at the right moment.

Swoosh! With a sway of Nero's body, he slid to the side, arriving at the Martial Ape's flank, which had now swept past his previous location.

Not even wasting a moment, Nero took a deep breath as the Magic Power in his body gathered in his sword that was held in its sheath. He leaped forwards employing the assault movement of his Four Point Unity Steps, causing him to dash forth at over 71 km/h, arriving at the ape no sooner than it halted.

The Martial Ape was a bit surprised that Nero avoided it, especially in this kind of hazy scene. However, its eyes promptly shifted to the side, quickly sensing Nero's presence with its superior awareness. It sneered as it adopted a combat posture, very much like a horse stance as it lifted its hands to its sides with its palms facing Nero.

"Die! Flash Cut!" Nero shouted in anger due to being provoked by the Martial Ape; his arm moved like a blur as he unsheathed the sword in a flash.

Shing! The sword's cry sounded across this section of the Bamboo Grove, as a bright silvery light shone about the area before promptly receding. If it were in a typical fight, this would lead to the enemy's end, but much to Nero's surprise, it would appear that he had far underestimated the ape's abilities.

Currently, before a stunned Nero who stood with wide eyes, was a scene he had never seen before, his eyes zoned in on the palms of the Martial Ape that were calmly and firmly clasping the edge of his sword like it was holding a piece of paper.

"How... how could this...?" Nero was about to question this mad scene, but right now, his eyes shrunk as his pupils shifted to his left and right.

Knowing that he didn't have much time, Nero ignored the sneering ape before him and pushed all of his Magic Power into his legs to dash forward.

"Kikikiki!" The Martial Ape laughed as it thought Nero was prepared to fight it head-on, it let go of his sword and clasped its two palms into a fist to pulverized him. But sadly, the opposite of its expectations had occurred.

Nero seeing his sword released, used this chance to slide under the body of the Martial Ape and jumped into the air.

While the Martial Ape was surprised and furious of being made of fool of by a weaker being. The area where Nero once stood exploded with bits of dust flowing about, as now, the two other Martial Apes were standing in Nero's previous location with their arms pressed against the ground, forming deep fist impressions.

Nero gulped as he saw this while thinking, "If those punches had struck me, I wouldn't have ended up as a simple corpse..."

The Martial Apes didn't mind that Nero escaped, as to them it was only a game and eventually, he would break once they were determined to catch him.

They dusted off their fists and looked at him while fixing their posture. Their eyes shone in a sharp ray as the cold air exhaled from their mouth was swept by the soft wind, carrying both it and the dust to the side as it gave them an imposing air.

Nero felt anger as he knew they were looking down on him; he didn't know how to fight these creatures. Adult Nero seeing this spoke once more, "What's wrong? Can't handle it?"

Nero gritted his teeth as his eyes shone in a firm ray as he once more sheathed his sword, adopting a battle stance as he spoke inwardly, 'I won't accept defeat so easily...'

Adult Nero smirked at those words; he closed his eyes while speaking, "Haha, then good luck... prove to me that you are worthy of your pride."

As Adult Nero's laughter resounded in Nero's mind, he saw that the apes were cracking their fingers and joints, causing them to make horrifying noises; the atmosphere then grew colder as the battle was about to change anew.