Epoch of Twilight

Just like people playing laser-tag, some animals prefered to scatter all over while others preferred to attack in one specific direction. The strange bird belonged to the latter category. Luo Yuan noticed that the bird had chosen a clear path on the giant rock. The nearer to the cave, the damper the soil in the potholes was.

The bird’s next move had to be picking up the giant rock closer to the cave. It usually chose rocks that were similar in weight, so that habit did not leave it many choices. Its scope was narrowed down even more.

However, Luo Yuan’s estimation was only relative. Mutated birds perceived distance differently than humans. A thousand meters were a long distance for humans, but for birds it was just a few seconds away. Their cognitive scale difference was like the difference between Heaven and Earth.

As a matter of fact, the strange bird’s range of choice was approximately 1.5 kilometers in diameter. Even if the bird chose the nearest giant rock that met its requirements, that rock would be at least 100 meters away. The rocks furthest away were up to 1,000 meters away, which exceeded Luo Yuan’s attacking range.

Due to air resistance, the bigger the distance, the weaker the power of the spear would be. Once it exceeded 100 meters, the sound of speed could not keep up with it. Even though its power would still be strong, it would be harmless against the highly defensive light-green mutated beast. Luo Yuan would only get one chance. If he failed, ambushing it again would be almost impossible.

He looked at the time. It was 1 a.m., five hours before sunrise. He had ample time to put his plan into action.

Luo Yuan was struggling to move an one-meter wide rock on his own under the moonlight. He was stumbling and soaking in sweat, his veins bulging on his forehead. He moved forward slowly, the giant rock on his back leaving a one-meter deep furrow.

Although Luo Yuan had killed the light-green bird effortlessly, when it came to this giant rock, he felt powerless. Judging by his strength, even a vulnerable blue level creature of small or medium size would be stronger than him, let alone a light-green one.

"How I wish the giant lizard was here." Luo Yuan could not help but think of his pet, who never complained. Distracted and tired, he slipped and fell to the ground.

"Oh! Oh! Oh! Oh!"

A primitive mutated creature nearby pointed at Luo Yuan, screaming and jumping. It acted as if it had discovered something epic. As a matter of fact, it had been following Luo Yuan ever since he had arrived in the area. Perhaps it thought they were the same species, but was curious about his small size.

Luo Yuan wasn’t sure whether to laugh or cry over the fact that he was being taunted by a mutated beast. He gave it a killing stare, but the Green Hidden Creature’s shield rendered it pointless. On the contrary, it made the mutated beast, which was as strong as king kong, even more excited. It ran around Luo Yuan, making strange noises and attracting the attention of several mutated beasts, who they turned their heads to look at them.

That mutated beast had obviously inherited ape-ish characteristics. The fact that many mutated beasts were staring at it did not make it behave itself. Quite the contrary, it seemed exhilarated. It ran around crazily for a while and started moving a giant rock exactly like what Luo Yuan had been doing.

The rock that the beast was moving was even bigger than Luo Yuan’s. It had to be at least 10 tons, but that weight was nothing for a seven-meter tall beast. In a few seconds, it had managed to push the giant rock 10 meters away, without even breaking a sweat.

At first, Luo Yuan had been curious about what the giant ape was trying to do. When it pretended to fall while pointing at Luo Yuan and screaming though, he felt as if countless alpacas were running around in his heart.

"Sh*t!" His facial expression changed as he secretly took hold of his sword. Out of nowhere, he suddenly thought of something and let it go. "You want to play? Be my guest then!"

His face looked dangerous as he walked towards the giant ape, who was laughing while it continued its performance. The ape had not noticed the incoming danger. It was using its strong fists to beat its chest, producing a loud noise. It was showing of its strength to the mutated beasts looking.

Luo Yuan smirked as he walked faster and faster towards it. They were less than 50 meters away now. He had a clear vision, and a few steps later, he appeared under the giant ape’s feet. He twisted his waist and aimed a flying punch at the ape’s calf.

The happy ape stopped what it was doing. Its eyes popped out of its head and it let out a groan that shook the Earth. Luo Yuan had not even used all his strength. If he were to use the attack that could temporarily break the speed of sound, he could have bent a metal rod, let alone an ape’s bones.

That was just the beginning of the torture of that sneaky ape. After that first hit, Luo Yuan stomped his feet and landed behind it. He aimed carefully behind its knee and gave it a hard kick. The ape was only 0.1 second into its first groan when the second hit made it let out a short, deep moan. The sudden blow made its voice sound distorted.

Its heavy body fell to the ground, its mouth filling with mud. It looked infuriated and ferocious, its muscles expanding and its veins bulging like cobras. There was a terrifying energy in those ridiculous muscles as the ape tried to stand up using its hands.

Bam!

It didn’t even get a chance to stand before it was hit heavily on the head, its face plunging into the mud once again.

Bam! Bam! Bam!

The punches were hitting its face over and over again like raindrops. Luo Yuan added a little Will on every hit, just to give a lesson this level-two ape who’d been looking for trouble. The addition was only for show, the punches were not meant to kill it.

It was the most painful and devastating fight in the ape’s life. No matter how much it struggled to fight back, it was no use. Luo Yuan’s Dexterity was 15 points. Slowly but surely, the ape’s head was buried deep into the ground. Only the back of its head was still visible.

Despite its thick skin and strong will to live, it was beaten up by Luo Yuan for a full six minutes. Its head was buried deep within the ground, but the sound of its mellow groans could still be heard.

"That’s some crazy beast we have here!" Luo Yuan raised its eyebrows as he kept beating it up, adding more Will to his punches. Soon, the ape’s roar became a groan. The groan did not last long before it turned into a cry of fear.

Luo Yuan thought about it and stopped. He took a few steps back. The attack was barely over when the giant ape jumped up quickly, showing its terrifying sharp teeth and the vengeance in its eyes. It looked at Luo Yuan, who was standing in front of it, before it lunged itself at him.

It gave him a slap using its hands, which were as big as baskets.

The ape had to be gifted. Its strength was terrifying. Even before the hit had reached Luo Yuan, a strong wind had started to blow out of nowhere. In the blink of an eye, the ape’s palm slammed down on the ground. It was not even one meter into the ground, yet the Earth shook a little. That stunning attack did not make it happy, though. On the contrary, it seemed to be scared. It started shaking as it realised that that dangerous little thing in front of it had disappeared.

Its head was the size of a round table, but it looked like a rusty machine as the ape turned around stiffly. It could see a small human standing behind it out of the corner of its eyes. Shocked, it let out a wail and ran away as fast as it could. Its courage to fight back had disappeared into thin air.

However, it only managed to take two steps away before it felt a massive pain on its knee and collapsed to the ground. Its groan went on for an hour and a half, travelling around the area and scaring all the mutated beasts away.

...

The ape was squatting timidly on the ground, its eyelids drooping as its eyes stared into empty space. It also experienced the occasional seizure. It was like a teenager beaten up in school. It had lost all its energy. Each time Luo Yuan looked in its direction, it would use both its hands to cover its head as it moaned. The one-hour-and-a-half long fight had turned this motion into a reflex for it.

"Did it hurt its head?" Luo Yuan thought to himself, glancing at it. He was worried, because there had been a message from the system.

"The Dark Blue Level Creature Raging Ape has surrendered. Would you like to keep it as your Battle Beast? Yes/No?"

Luo Yuan had never thought that he’d be able to keep another battle beast. He wasn’t sure whether that had come with his evolution or if he could have done it anyway. Besides the giant lizard, he had never attempted to keep any other mutated beast, so he could not confirm either theory.

His face betrayed his excitement. He wouldn’t have been interested if this had been just any ordinary mutated beast. Even a normal dark blue creature wouldn’t have been of much help. This creature was different, though. It was the size of a human, its physique was majestic, and its strength was also impressive. Judging by its performance earlier, it seemed to have a high IQ, so it would be easier to communicate with compared to the lizard.

It could be a better coolie than the giant lizard too, and be able to take over some of the carrying. Luo Yuan didn’t need it to be in battle. As long as it was by his side, it could save him a lot of trouble.

After he clicked "Yes", a brand new Battle Beast attributes panel opened up.

"Battle Beast: Raging Ape"

"Level: 0 (Dark Blue)"

"Attributes"

"Power: 21"

"Dexterity: 13"

"Physique: 20"

"Intelligence: 8"

"Sensory Perception: 11"

"Will: 13"

"Experience: 0/1,200"

"Skills: Hammering: 15; Tearing: 16; Ramming: 8; Casting: 7; Biting: 13; Climbing: 19; Surviving: 18"

"Natural Abilities: Naturally strong, tough skin"

"Status: Elite"

"Loyalty: 65 (there is a risk of betrayal if it drops lower than 50, Full Value 100)"

"Unassigned Attribute Points: 0"

"Unallocated Technique Points: 0"

Luo Yuan was delighted. It was like finding treasure. If the ape had not been strong, it wouldn’t have been so active among the beasts. The Raging Ape’s attributes were shocking, and it had only just been caught. Maybe it was on the verge of evolving. Except for its Dexterity, the rest of its attributes were higher than the giant lizard’s. Especially its Intelligence, which was a shocking 8. It was a very smart beast. Although it did not exceed human intelligence (which normally ranged from 9 to 10), its Intelligence was extraordinarily high for a mutated beast. Calling it an intelligent creature would not have been an exaggeration.

Its sub-attributes aside though, its main attributes were just as developed. Its Strength and Physique were sky-high, and all its attributes were balanced. When it came to potential, the Raging Ape was way ahead of the giant lizard. If it evolved a few levels and improved its Dexterity, which was its weakest attribute, it would have a bigger combat capability than the giant lizard. It was such an unexpected delight.