The hours blurred.
What followed was not a story—it was a process. A rhythm of violence and extraction, repeated across island after island, each one larger than the last, each populated by creatures slightly stronger, slightly faster, slightly more cunning than the ones before.
The gorilla island was the fortieth they invaded.
Fourteen thousand square metres of dense vegetation, thick with vine-covered trees and moss-slick boulders. Hundreds of Furry Gorillas moved through the undergrowth—hulking grey beasts standing one and a half metres tall, their fists like sledgehammers, their eyes glinting with feral intelligence.
(Furry Gorilla)
Level: 10
Attributes: Strength 31 | Agility 27 | Intelligence 12 | Resilience 24
Skill: (Heavy Fist) — Critical strikes to vital areas, +2 fist strength on impact.
Level 10. Individually, they were weaker than the siblings—Essim and Aisha had both reached Level 9 at 99%, their attributes averaging around 50 points thanks to upgraded equipment. But there were hundreds of them, and in the confined jungle terrain, numbers mattered.
Essim moved through the gorillas like a current through stone, the Vampire Sword leaving arcs of crimson light with every swing. Each kill fed the Blood Energy passive, stacking his Strength higher and higher until each blow landed with bone-shattering force. Shadow slashes—five phantom blades trailing every strike—carved through the ranks.
Behind him, Aisha operated with clinical efficiency. Her Corpse Stick pulsed with dark energy every ten seconds, raising the fallen gorillas as shadow warriors that turned on their living brethren. The resurrected beasts were weaker than the originals, but they were relentless, and they freed Aisha to focus on precision strikes with her staff's secondary abilities—ice bolts and concussive blasts that scattered enemy formations.
[Killed Furry Gorilla: EXP +34]
[Killed Furry Gorilla: EXP +31]
Five hours of near-continuous combat. Forty islands conquered. And throughout it all, Essim had duplicated the silver chests five more times, adding another two thousand five hundred chests to their reserves. The loot from those chests continued to pour strength into their equipment, their buildings, their growing army of summoned creatures.
It was on the final gorilla that the notification appeared.
[Killed Furry Gorilla: EXP +35]
[Congratulations. You have reached Level 10.]
[Tier-1 Promotion Mission has been unlocked.]
Essim exhaled. The tension that had been coiled in his shoulders for hours finally released.
"Level 10," he said, almost to himself.
Aisha, leaning on her staff a few metres away, mud-splattered and breathing hard, managed a tired grin. She'd hit 10 as well.
Essim opened the promotion panel.
[Tier-1 Promotion Mission]
Requirements:
• Aura Crystal x1
• Energy Crystals: 10,000
• Level 10 Monster Heart: Protector rank
He blinked. That was it? No trial, no dungeon, no epic quest? Just three items—all of which he already possessed. The silver chests had dropped dozens of Aura Crystals across every race and class, and they'd killed several Protector-ranked guardians on the larger islands.
The choice of Aura Crystal, however, was significant. Each crystal determined race, class, and the skills unlocked at promotion. Essim examined his options carefully. Swordsman crystals came in several varieties—Void Race, Desert Race, Dragon Race—but one caught his eye:
(Aura Crystal: Swordsman — Sacred Human Race)
Among all the crystals he'd collected, only a handful carried the word "sacred." Something about it felt right—a class rooted in his own humanity rather than borrowed from an alien race.
"Aisha, which one are you choosing?"
"Archer," she said without hesitation. "Elven Realm Race. I've been thinking about it since I saw the crystal drop three hours ago."
Of course she had. His sister never made decisions impulsively.
"I'll go first," Essim said. "If anything goes wrong, at least you'll know what to expect."
"Careful, brother."
He selected the crystal and confirmed the promotion.
[Tier-1 Promotion: Using Aura Crystal (Swordsman — Sacred Human Race). Confirm?]
"Yes."
The world went dark.
They developed a system over those hours. Essim would scout each approaching island as they drifted toward it, assessing monster types and levels through the system display. Aisha would prepare her loadout — switching between offensive ice magic for crowd control and the Corpse Stick's resurrection ability for sustained engagements. They communicated in shorthand, a language of gestures and half-sentences born from a lifetime of understanding each other.
Some islands fell in minutes. Others demanded careful strategy — flanking manoeuvres, tactical retreats, the creative use of terrain and chokepoints. A spider island with web-covered tunnels forced them to fight in single file. A bird island required Essim to switch back to the Evo Bow for anti-air combat while Aisha's hailstorms grounded the flocks.
Each victory made them stronger. Each close call made them smarter. And each island absorbed into their territory made the next one slightly less intimidating — a slowly expanding base of safety in a sky full of monsters.
The pattern became almost meditative. Drift. Scout. Fight. Extract. Merge. Drift again. The sky was endless, the islands were endless, and the siblings' determination burned steady as the golden sun above.