Maintaining their vigilance, they continued onward as their makeshift ice platform boat glided silently across the water. The dense bamboo forest loomed ahead with the landmass cloaked in shadows and dense greenery. This entrance marked the path forward into the Monkey King’s domain.
The bamboo was thick, but a well-worn and traveled path led inward, towards what used to be his Monkey troop’s village. The towering bamboo stalks arched overhead, forming an almost impenetrable wall of greenery along the pathway.
Lassim and Cirra stepped off the ice onto what appeared to be an old dock ramp, possibly for the former folks that would visit and travel to this bamboo enclave before the Monkey King lost his sanity.
The dock was short, as after just a few steps they were back onto damp, but mostly solid, ground. The path felt strangely inviting, yet foreboding at the same time as they could make out the numerous monkeys in the bamboo forest, just hidden out of sight, for now at least. They just sat and stared, eyes glazed over with a green hue, like statues.
"Let me ask you," Lassim whispered, glancing at Cirra as they made their way deeper into the forest. "Do you want me to give them a scare and potentially bring the big guy out at once, or do you reckon it’d just make him go crazy and send every monkey at us at once?"
Cirra considered his question thoughtfully. "With them all being mind-controlled, like we believe, I think any actual intimidation you try won’t be that effective and will most likely make the second option occur," she replied.
"You’re right," Lassim acknowledged, a hint of frustration in his voice. "But to be honest, my mana is a bit special, and I think I can’t really hold back how much pressure comes out if things get crazy. You already got a taste of it when we met during my face off with that town guardian. I’ll try my best, though, no promises."
As they continued walking, Lassim kept a close eye on the unmoving monkeys watching them pass by from their sentry points and extended his spirit sense further towards the village up ahead, only to encounter an unexpected interference.
"That’s curious… Can you check real quick to see how far your spirit sense can see into the village? We should be close enough for my spirit sense to cover well beyond a kilometer away, but there’s something wrong with it once it gets closer."
Cirra closed her eyes for a moment, extending her spirit sense. After a few seconds, she opened them and nodded. "I’m experiencing the same thing. There’s definitely some sort of interference blocking our senses."
They ventured nearly a hundred meters into the bamboo forest when the first signs of movement caught their attention.
Small figures flitted through the trees, their presence marked by the rustle of leaves on the bamboo and the occasional hollow thud sound of something knocking against them.
Suddenly, a few monkeys, three in total, leaped from the branches, their eyes glowing a sickly green. These creatures, barely half a meter in height, had bodies ravaged by necrosis. Their fingers and toes exhibited exposed tendons, remarkably still holding the bones together.
Lassim’s eyes narrowed as the first of the monkeys lunged at him, their movements erratic but aggressive.
He raised his hand, and the air around them began to shift. Drawing upon his divine water mana, he felt the moisture in the swampy ground and humid air respond to his will.
With a swift motion, he drew the water up, drying out the ground considerably. The moisture coalesced into a swirling mass above his palm before he sent it hurtling towards the attacking monkeys.
The wave of water struck the small creatures with force, knocking them down and pushing them away. They tumbled through the air, their tiny bodies landing in twisted heaps.
Despite their grotesque appearance and the damage inflicted, they showed no signs of pain.
Lassim noted their strength, roughly Spirit Incubation 5 or 6, and saw how some limbs broke upon impact, yet the monkeys continued their assault, driven by the mind control overriding their physical limitations.
Grimacing, Lassim realized this would be more difficult than he initially thought. These creatures wouldn’t be easily deterred unless he used more drastic measures, which directly put Cirra’s wish of not harming them at risk.
As more monkeys appeared, he tightened his grip on his halberd and made a decision.
With a powerful swing of his halberd, Lassim performed a swirling motion. The water he had manipulated surged up, sweeping the three monkeys that had initiated the attack into its grasp.
They flailed helplessly as the water swirled around them and bound them together.
Focusing on his divine mana once more, Lassim executed an ice variation of his [Storm’s Grasp] technique. The water solidified into a freezing grip, encasing the monkeys in a single large block of ice with just their heads protruding.
The captured monkeys struggled, their glowing eyes glaring with mindless fury as they released sounds that were like a horrifying mix of wails and screeches at the same time.
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"Cirra, it’s your turn," Lassim called, ready for her to demonstrate her unique abilities or make a determination on what to do with them since she wanted them alive.
Lassim and Cirra carefully approached the frozen block of monkeys, both curious to get a closer look.
Cirra’s elemental spirit weapon, the unique pair of goggles over her eyes suddenly lit up with their own earthy glow. The lenses began to protrude, telescoping outwards, towards the ice encased monkeys, seemingly sensing something.
Lassim was just about to ask what she was doing when a change occurred.
The monkeys, seeming maniacal at first, their horrifying screams echoing through the dense bamboo reached a peak. Their mouths were wide open, eyes still glazed over with a green glow, releasing pure and unrelenting screaming.
But suddenly, without warning, all three monkeys went completely still and stuff. The piercing screeching halted mid-cry, their mouths frozen in grotesque contortions. The green glow in their eyes faded, leaving behind an eerie, lifeless gaze. It was as if any semblance of life, even if it was the horrid existence they were subjected to, had vanished.
Lassim’s brows furrowed as he observed the sudden stillness.
His senses somehow could clearly tell that, while they had previously shown some sort of "Life" by their movement and obvious attacks, it was wrong. It all felt wrong. What he was witnessing, he now believed, was just their husks. Their aura hadn’t changed at all after the glow dissipated, further giving that unnatural sensation he felt more validity.
"They were never alive to begin with," he murmured, more to himself than to Cirra. "These monkeys were dead the entire time, their corpses somehow are still controlled by the Monkey King. So… I reckon they really did die for that 1 week when they all disappeared. When they returned the week later as—whatever they are now—they’ve been dead for all of it."
Cirra nodded, her eyes filled with a mix of horror and determination.
"Should we adjust our approach?" Lassim asked, glancing at her. "Now that we know?"
Cirra shook her head slightly. "My spirit weapon allows me the ability to be able to see their inner circulation. It’s normally used for me to find root systems and carefully able to see the inner workings of plants and isolate their parts. It allows me to be more efficient, but the battle side of it allows me to detect minor changes in my opponent’s mana pathways.
I’ve gotten good at reading the flows of circulations and predicting where attacks are coming from if I can get the chance to study my opponent beforehand. During their last moments, I noticed there was some sort of circulation happening so I’d like to still hold hope that some might have a bit of their sanity left. It’s too early to tell." She sighed.
Almost trying to convince herself, she added, "There might be others, possibly someone close to the Monkey King, who aren’t as deeply infected or showing as much necrosis. They might be the only ones that still have their sanity."
Lassim, though doubtful, decided to trust her judgment for the moment. "Alright," he conceded, "I’ll keep going easy for now, just in case you’re right."
Yet, Mari sent a mental note, her tone somber. "[None of the monkeys currently in our spirit sense show any signs of life or even breathing or blood circulation. The center of the village up ahead is still hidden from our senses, but I don’t hold any hope that it will be different once we get closer.]"
Zaphy chimed in, her voice crackling with frustration, "[I sense around sixty-five monkeys still hiding among the bamboo. I’ve locked onto them and can zappity-zap them with a big ol’ chain lightning if you want!]"
Lassim shook his head, mentally reminding her, "[We’re trying to save them according to Cirra’s wishes... for now, at least. We’ll do some zippity-zappin’ against the big guy. I reckon he’ll be tougher to take down and some simple ice won’t work.]"
They continued down the path, the air growing heavier with the scent of decay and the oppressive weight of the energy and the stench surrounding them.
No additional monkeys attacked, but they did hop and swing among the bamboo stalks, following them along the way.
The bamboo walls seemed to close in, creating a claustrophobic tunnel leading deeper into the Monkey King’s domain the further they went. A clear overgrowth and lack of maintaining and pruning the bamboo overhanging the path. Each step brought them closer, the sense of foreboding growing with every passing moment.
As they neared the entrance to the village, the once vibrant and bustling settlement now lay in eerie silence, its former inhabitants reduced to mindless puppets under the Monkey King’s control.