Bro, I'm not an Undead!

A short man with large green eyes and amber hair in a crew cut suddenly shook and came to his senses.

His eyes peeled open and his smile receded.

“Huh?” he muttered as he struggled to remember just what was happening. Or rather, what had happened to him.

As the vision of the white forest expanse on the side of a mountain clearly drew into his eyes, it all suddenly came back to him.

“That thing slapped the crap out of me…”

He remembered a rather solemn looking monkey dishing out an honest slap that put him out of commission.

The monkey that had slapped him had been dealt with by Fore in his mass murder of the monkeys, dispelling the effects he was suffering from moments ago.

Bron began to wonder where the others were, turning his head this way and that but then…

GUUUM!

A loud roar of the crust underneath his feet sounded as a ripple travelled through the ground from atop the mountain!

…!

Bron was shocked.

What was this!

He saw a change in the lines of trees above as the visible shockwave descended madly, all the vegetation it crossed starting to…bend forward!_.

The trees, the grasses, the shrubs, they all bend in the direction of the mountain’s peak, as if revering whatever force caused the loud thrum!

As the shockwave reached him, Bron didn’t know what to do except try to tank whatever force sought to bash him into submission.

Yet, this proved ineffective immediately!

A strange power bore down on his burly body and caused him to imitate what the trees were doing!

However, while the trees bend forward, Bron found himself bowing his head directly into the ground with a vehement force!

BAM!

“Oow!” he groaned.

His body was prostrated in the same direction as the trees and grasses and nomatter how he tried to move, his body wouldn’t budge from this position!

As the shockwave descended, the same became true for Stylla who was shocked to find her body plunging head first into the hard ground while she bowed, Fore following afterwards!

All living things on the mountain bowed down in the direction of where the shockwave had originated before it reached the foot of the large structure where it settled!

All living things…

All except, a certain Discount Human who was awed by the shocking presence that had just bloomed and the descendent of the ripple from atop the mountain that passed by everything except this place!

None of the trees on this section of the mountain prostrated themselves and by extension, him.

He merely floated over the waters while wincing at the soul damage he received and wondering what was so special about this place to not be affected by the rippling phenomenon, when he discovered another oddity.

Skullius moved his hand.

Then his legs.

When he exerted his weight by asserting control over his body, he began to sink into the water, but this didn’t stop him from thinking… and a moment later, rejoicing.

He could move!

He could actually move!

Despite using [Crude World Projection], Skullius could move!

His mind was still flaring with pain but he did his best to ignore it for the sake of enjoying this moment.

The Discount Human then started flailing his arms and legs in the water, creating splatters and splashes while trying to reach dry ground.

Eventually he exited the water body clumsily but he lifted his hands up high and wore a cheerful grin!

Even though a terrible sense of heaviness washed over him, he could move.

The side effects of using the Fruit of World Myths had lessened considerably!

“Yes! Some good news!” he called.

When he considered what could be candidates for making this possible, what popped in his mind was that it was either the progression in Tasks or the Enriching gems.

Skullius wagered that it was Enriching gems.

Surely.

Still though, he was stuck in the thick of tension as while almost sinking himself into full thoughts about this, the trees and shrubs in this special section of the mouth rustled as a Sage Monkey assaulted him!

It lunged towards Skullius, a slap at the ready with a solemn expression.

Skullius pulled his heavy body while relying on [Great Rush] to grant him the boost in speed he needed to avoid the attack that would potentially lead him to peace.

‘Are these bros not affected by that shockwave thing too?!’ Skullius thought.

He ducked down, barely being missed by the slap!

This was a Tier 2 Sage Monkey which meant that it wasn’t as fast as the other more vivacious ones!

As Skullius knew how to tackle these monsters, he quickly flashed forward and held the Monkey’s wrists!

…!

The monkey gawked at this move in surprise as it felt Skullius pull its hands apart for but a second and then…

BAM!

He quickly launched a series of jabs into the monkey’s face with another skill he extracted from the items he bought from Frock!

[Quick Strike]!

It sped up his attacks considerably, allowing for quick successions of short ranged attacks!

Skullius also added on [Brawn] to boost his maximum damage!

In a few moments, the monkey bled from its nose, its skull caving it!

[You have killed (II) LV17 Mountain Sage Monkey. 59,000 Exp awarded]

[Your prey emits the essence of Null Life…]

“Ha.. this reminds me of the time I killed Red bro…” Skullius reminisced before he looked around.

He didn’t know what caused that tremendous shockwave, but what he could do now was stay here and loot the abundant Enriching gems around him!

He dashed from one tree to the other, storing many of the Enriching gems while being completely oblivious to the actual grand scale of ridiculousness that was happening outside, with his partners stuck in prostrating positions!

He had taken a few tens of the purple and red gems when…

GUUUM! GUUUM! GUUUM!

It wasn’t shockwaves this time!

It was the sound of something heavy, walking down in slow steps.

Skullius was curious.

He looked up to where the noise originated, and his eyes saw something among the hunched trees that suddenly began to return to normal in a ripple that descended!

At the very top of the mountain, a taller than normal monkey stood with its chest jutting out!

It was thick, with its physique visible from under the coat of fur that shrouded it.

It was not white like those of the other monkeys, but golden with a twinkling lustre as though it had been smothered by a high quality gel.

The monkey’s eyes were ocean blue with a mysteriousness about them that made Skullius gulp subconsciously.

The Discount Human’s attention was then drawn by the massive structure that this monkey held over its shoulder in a comical scene that most wouldn’t believe.

A three meter tall statue with a girth of almost two meters rested upon the shoulder of the monkey, the undisputed Cluster General digging its fingers into a grove at the corner of the statue.

The statue looked to be made of cobblestone, smooth all round while having a dark blue hue with its entire design being that of a fat monkey with its eyes closed and hands clasped together.

It was almost ball shaped, with the feet in a traditional sitting position.

On top of the statue, above what was supposed to be the head, was a web-like rune that glowed with a sky blue colour, the same being visible beneath the statue.

Skullius couldn’t resist using the guidance field to check the description of this item as it clearly wasn’t normal and when he saw the name, he was dumbfounded, the description making him shake his head!

This would be Skullius’ first encounter with a natural treasure.

No!

The natural treasure….Yamogogofafa!