Chapter 899: Monkey see, Monkey Please don’t
An excerpt from the Imperial Bestiary of the Howling Sky Dukedom.
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In the jungle ruins of the Quivering Leaf Empire, there is a species of monkey known as the Martial Mimic Monkey.
This strange monkey has the uncanny ability to copy any aether art it has witnessed once, down to a near perfect degree.
To an extent.
The quality of the aether arts this species can mimic is highly dependent on their individual tier.
A majority of these monkeys only ever reach the Third Tier, making them able to mimic major Corporeal arts at best.
However, it is believed that if a Martial Mimic Monkey ever reaches a higher tier then they would be able to mimic even more powerful aether arts.
Of course, such a thing is completely pure speculation due to the fact that no third tier Martial Mimic Monkeys exist in any capacity, natural or otherwise.
Perhaps it could be considered a truth of the world: those who merely copy without understanding can never achieve greatness, or something like that?
Regardless, there are other, more interesting beasts in the wider world…
_____Meanwhile, in a part of the world where theory turned into reality…________________
=So how strong is this Martial Mimic Monkey that you, the old men and the Imperial princess are currently facing?=
[Not entirely sure, damn thing is hiding it’s power level.]
[It was originally a Diabolic Onyx Dragon at the sixth tier, so…maybe around of at least a tier above that?]
=By my calculations that mean this Martial Mimic Monkey should be able to mimic any move at the major Ethereal grade, maybe above that.=
[Shit.]
[How?]
<=We don't know, but we're about to find out because the Imperial princess is making a beeline towards the monkey.=>
[SHIT!]
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“What the hell?!,” Zhong Wei shouted in disbelief as he saw a giant palm made of cedar with an eight point diagram on it’s center flying towards him.
He wasn’t shocked at his own aether art being used against him, since he technically “borrowed” a copy from the Cedar Hall sect back home and had no moral high ground to judge a fellow copycat, but he could be shocked that this so-called Martial Mimic Monkey had copied the exact way he used the technique.
Every subtle movement, every twitch of the muscle and even the way the aether flowed was exactly how Zhong Wei would’ve done it.
Evidently, this moment was so shocking to Zhong Wei, that he ended up freezing up for a split second while keeping eyes trained on the wooden palm.
Luckily for his ass, he she a companion who didn’t really care about this moment of stwnge deja vu.
“HA!”
*CRACK!*
“Ookie?”
Just as the palm was about smash down on Zhen Shi and Zhong Wei and reduce them to paste, the former had made use of his [Astra] in order to counter. Under his command, the chains of his [Astra] had surged forth like a pair of giant serpent and pierced directly through the wooden palm and halting it’s movement mid-air. Once the palm was locked in place, another jerk of the chain sent it flying towards the Martial Mimic Monkey.
Most creatures and people would start panicking at the sight of their own attack being turned against them, but the Martial Mimic Monkey was like a certain dragon blooded princess that was watching this fight unfold. In other words, it was battle crazy.
Amused at the sight of his own attack being used against him, the Martial Mimic Monkey opted to rush forward while channeling his aether into his fists in order to smash it into pieces.
Unfortunately, this turned out to be a risky decision.
Because at the exact same moment that the Martial Mimic Monkey was a out to smash into the frozen cedar palm, presumably using his fists to do so, Jinju Ren had decided to cut in.
Literally.
[Draguar Strike!]
Making use of her [Dragon Dominator Saber], Jinju Ren channeled a mixture of aether and dragon force to summon one of her familiars in an attempt to slash through the Martial Mimic Monkey’s arm.
There was no set plan or reason in wanting to slash through the Martial Mimic Monkey’s arm, but sheer combat instinct told Jinju Ren that doing so would greatly weaken this beast’s ability to fight.
Unfortunately, that didn’t pan out as anticipated because Jinju Ren forgot to factor in an important detail about monkey aether beasts, they had tails.
Just as her blade was about to come down, the Mimic Martial Monkey’s tail briefly turned into one similar to that of a Diabolic Onyx Dragon and surged towards her abdomen. As it did, the shallow image of a deep blue sea serpent could be seen encircling the tail.
…
[Wait a minute…did it just adapt an attack to its own biology? I thought these things couldn’t do that!]
=No…I think the dragon blood did something to it…either way less talking, more catching! Because that attack looks like
[I know, I know!]
…
BAM!
SMASH!
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At the same time as the Martial Mimic Monkey smashed the frozen projectile coming towards him, he manifested a dragon’s tail and jammed it into Jinju Ren’s abdomen like a battering ram and sent the princess flying. Due to her overcommitting on attacking, she had no time to prepare a proper defensive measure against the Martial Mimic Monkey’s attack.
A dragon’s tail by itself hits about as hard as a normal battering ram, adding an aether art on top of it made them hit like a battering ram being launched by a ballista.
Jinju Ren should’ve been sent flying through several trees and into the ground, had she not been caught at the last minute by Nepherage.
The sturdy jade valkyrian kaijin made sure to brake herself as opposed to standing firm, in order to mitigate the kinetic energy and prevent any possible shockwaves to reverberate through them. Jinju Ren may have been dinning her [Regalia] at the moment, but it was better safe than sorry.
[Are you alright, Mistress?,] Nepherage asked as soon as her feet stopped dragging across the ground.
Jinju Ren proceeded to cough a bit, as one does when they get suddenly gut punched, but still managed to nod.
“Yeah…I’m fine,” Jinju Ren said as she got up to her own feet. “Just wasn’t expecting that sudden gut punt.”
[Understandable.]
…
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Immediately after seeing the 37th Imperial Princess get knocked away like an abused servant girl, Hermit Zhong Wei saw red and decided that rushing in was the best idea, despite having seen it be a bad idea, twice in a row.
Especially now of all times.
<<[Astra], manifest!>>
Taking a page out of Zhen Shi’s book, Zhong Wei decided to summon forth his own [Astra] in order to attack the Martial Mimic Monkey.
After all, as the name implied, this beast could copy aether arts, not innate aether abilities.
<<[Treant's Hammer!]>>
Hermit Zhong Wei’s [Astra] took the form of a giant wooden club that appeared to be made of gnarled and aged oak, a fitting weapon for someone who was given the mantle of hermit.
“Ook, eek!”
If the Martial Mimic Monkey attempted to block the attack or use its bare fists to counter blow, it was very likely to lose this match up. At least, that’s what it’s instincts told them.
However, the Martial Mimic Monkey just learned a move that would definitely work in this situation.
One that would make use of the energy he had just finished mastering no less.
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As Hermit Zhong Wei’s club was about to smash into the Martial Mimic Monkey’s shoulder, the aforementioned beast had suddenly curled their paw as if to mimic a claw.
A jaguar’s claw to be specific.
As it did, dragon force began to flow around the Martial Mimic Monkey’s body, causing the vague visage of a Draguar to encapsulate them.
By the time that Zhong Wei noticed what was going to happen though, it was too late.
Clang!
Bang!
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The Martial Mimic Monkey used the first [Draguar Strike] to knock away the [Treant’s Hammer], while the second was used to strike back against Zhong Wei himself.
But like a repeat from the last guy getting blown away, Zhong Wei got caught by Patriarch Zhen Shi and his chains shaped [Astra].
…
<=Oh...that's really, really not good...=>
<=...=>
=I’ll contact our lord.=
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