Chapter 59: Mark vs Skull Ape [2]
If Mark knew that his life was being compared to an ordinary spear, and on top of that, was far inferior to it, his expression would probably be extremely interesting.
"Alright. We’re here to train Mark, not you. Don’t over-buff him; otherwise, we’ll have to switch to a dungeon with stronger monsters."
The system was this hardworking, so Nexus was quite satisfied. But being hardworking and doing unnecessary things was not a good thing at all.
[An existence as perfect as me needs to train for what? Next time you talk to me, think about your words carefully, got it, you stupid master.]
Just as expected, the skull ape, with its overwhelming strength, could easily knock Mark back even with an extremely stupid attack.
"Damn it!"
Feeling a shock so strong that his whole body went numb, Mark gritted his teeth and retreated nearly ten steps.
He originally thought he could withstand this seemingly extremely stupid attack, but he had greatly underestimated the skull ape’s muscular strength.
But at the very least, Mark’s mind was still functioning relatively well. He had noticed the unusual reaction of the spear in time.
Even after taking such a powerful attack, the shaft of the spear only bent slightly when it came into contact with the two fists, then immediately returned to its original state. If Mark’s eyes were accurate, this spear had absolutely not deformed even a little.
"At least there’s some good news. If the weapon can’t be damaged, then I can feel much more at ease. The gift from the system really isn’t an ordinary object. Sorry, system, I accidentally doubted your greatness. Please forgive my short-sightedness."
Mark knew that the system was secretly watching and listening, which was why he said things like this.
When he received the spear, it was clearly just a normal good spear, but now the spear seemed to have become some kind of extraordinary treasure.
The system might have given the spear some kind of buff, but he wasn’t sure how long it would last. Even while fighting intensely, Mark still took the time to flatter the system, mainly to make this buff last as long as possible.
Mark didn’t want the spear to snap in half while he was fighting. Clashing head-on with the skull ape’s attack just now was enough to give Mark a more accurate understanding of the current situation.
"Going head-on doesn’t seem to work. I have no choice but to wear down its stamina. Based on its reaction, it seems like..."
After observing the skull ape punch hard into the tree trunk and attack him, Mark noticed something they had in common, which was probably an important weakness.
The more strength it used in an attack, the longer the skull ape paused before moving again. Now, only a few seconds after the skull ape stopped, it was already showing signs of moving again.
"Based on its actions, it probably knows how to provoke others really well. I’ll take the risk. Either way, I don’t stand a chance of winning if I don’t do this."
The corner of Mark’s mouth curled up, and a trace of madness completely different from his usual self appeared in his eyes. Even Mark himself didn’t realize how much he had changed after spending such a short time with Nexus and the system.
Mark kept retreating, making provocative gestures toward the skull ape with his hand as he moved.
Even though it had no eyes and couldn’t see colors, the purple glow in the skull ape’s eye sockets allowed it to see Mark’s actions very clearly.
Immediately, the skull ape dug its fingers into the ground for support and then hurled its body toward Mark. Although it couldn’t make any sound, this action was enough to let Mark know that he had successfully provoked this stupid ape.
Looking at this extremely stupid posture, the corner of Mark’s mouth curled up. When the skull ape got close enough, Mark planted the spearhead into the ground, pushed off, and jumped to the side at the same time to increase his speed.
The distance was too close for the skull ape to react in time. Its head slammed into the tree trunk.
Everything was exactly as Mark had predicted, as the skull ape’s movements immediately froze after it smashed its head into the tree trunk.
"My chance."
Even though he didn’t know where he should attack, Mark was certain that hitting the head wouldn’t kill the skull ape.
Just look at its head; it was nothing but an empty skull with a little light inside. Hitting it definitely couldn’t take it down.
"Die!"
Since an ape’s way of thinking seemed to be quite similar to a human’s, Mark used all his strength to grip the spearhead tightly and charged straight forward. Mark was smart enough to understand that his arm strength was too weak, so he used all the force from his running to increase the damage.
The spearhead pierced straight into the skull ape’s chest. Its chest was so hard that the recoil left Mark’s whole body numb.
The wound was roughly ten centimeters deep, and if the skull ape’s body was similar to a human’s, this would definitely be a fatal wound.
"I hit it."
Mark’s eyes lit up as if victory was right in front of him. At the same time, he also felt that he was incredible because the first time he used a spear to stab someone, it was already a fatal attack.
Of course, how could things be that easy. If it were that easy, Nexus wouldn’t have called this lesson staying calm in the face of death.
The skull ape stood motionless like a statue. It didn’t make any reaction that looked like it was about to die.
"You’ve... you’ve gotta be kidding me?"
Mark’s eyelids twitched nonstop. Feeling that something was wrong, he immediately wanted to pull the spearhead out, but his muscles were practically a joke. He had to yank it back and forth several times before the spearhead finally came loose, but it was the skull ape that pulled it out.
Under Mark’s eyes that nearly popped out of their sockets, the skull ape casually pulled the spear out itself. Its palm gripped it so tightly that Mark couldn’t pull the spear back at all.
The skull ape raised both arms, using the spear to lift Mark high into the air. Its grip wasn’t strong enough, causing Mark’s hands to slip off the spear and sending him flying freely through the air.
Seeing that its enemy no longer had a weapon, the skull ape, which didn’t know how to use a spear in the first place, simply threw away the ridiculous ’wooden stick’ in its hand and jumped into the air.