But Stark didn't stay idle either, he would move from platform to platform, trying to follow them.
Their speed was phenomenal, and if anyone saw it happening from afar, all they would see were flashes of colors as they kept moving around.
Depending on where Stark was located, the monkeys were smart enough to either go down or go up, and their agility allowed them to hold onto small things to climb, or do a wall run.
Stark on the other hand actually didn't want to risk it, so he did it the normal way: jumping and holding himself into the ledges when needed.
"AURA SMASH!" in comparison to the spears, the crimson fists were much slower, and he only had three, meaning that he focused them all on a single monkey who was running around.
Stark aimed for the monkey that was closest to him, following it for a good two minutes while avoiding the arrows.
And when he saw an opportunity arise...
~FWISH~
He threw the three crimson fists at it, ALL three hitting it as it was unable to avoid them while Stark almost caught up to it.
~BOOM~
The fists exploded upon impact, and the monkey obviously died, letting out a loud screech before collapsing onto the platform below.
Stark took a deep breath, his heart pounding in his chest. He knew that he couldn't afford to lose focus now.
He quickly jumped from platform to platform, trying to continue this momentum by heading toward one of the remaining monkeys.
He found his next target, and began following it, gaining distance on it slowly.
"HRIISK-!" it seemed to be the slowest monkey as Stark was actually faster than it.
As he got closer, he tightened the grip around the three vials in his hands, ready to throw them.
But...
"HIKHIKHIK!" the monkey, sensing that its life was in danger, used everything it had and began running against one of the stone walls of the valley, toward a platform way farther.
'Shit,' Stark knew he couldn't jump all the way there, and stopping would mean losing his momentum and some of his adrenaline.
And so... he did the unthinkable: he copied it.
When he reached the very edge of the platform he was in, he looked ahead, and ALSO began running against the wall, doing a flawless wall run while following the monster.
And so, when the monkey dropped on the ground of the next rock platform, thinking it was safe, it looked behind it and...
It saw Stark in the air, who had used the wall as a jumping pad to get above the sniper.
"Hik-"
~FWISH, SPLASH~
He threw all three [Crystal Stun Potions] at it, its speed not allowing it to avoid them from such short distance.
The vials shattered upon impact, releasing a cloud of white fog that enveloped the monkey.
And so he managed to finish his first (and only encounter) in the first zone.
The main goal of this zone was actually to quite literally just ignore the monkeys: the challenge was to keep going while avoiding the arrows that were relentlesly sent toward you.
The system didn't expect there to be anyone crazy enough to try and follow the monkeys, especially with their speed who was higher than an average level 225-250.
You could say Stark found his OWN way of doing it, since for him defeating monsters was always the right choice.
That is actually one of the reasons why they only had three skills: they weren't meant to be fought.
"Phew..." he sighed as he looked around, making sure there weren't any more surprises.
And then.
~DING, DING, DING~
[You have slain "Sniper Monkey lv220", gained 340,000 EXP!]
[You have slain "Sniper Monkey lv220", gained 342,000 EXP!]
.
.
[You have slain "Sniper Monkey lv220", gained 341,000 EXP!]
And so...
[+2,043,000 experience!]
He got over 2 million EXP from that simple fight.
Monsters above level 200 were truly a blessing when it came to helping you level up, though you needed to defeat them for that to happen.
Unfortunately though, Stark didn't level up.
[Experience: 3,603,000/3,690,000]
So close, yet so far.
And so he needed to keep going if he wanted to get to level 75, which was the goal of this entire 'operation'.
After the monkeys died, nothing came disturbing him as he parkoured from platform to platform, slowly going down the valley.
It took him thirty minutes, sure, but they were pretty peaceful and without any issues as the monkeys were the ONLY monsters and challenge of this zone.
And so... in the end...
~THUD~
He managed to end on the ground at the very bottom of the ravine, able to see the corpses of the three monkeys he had sent away, all crushed.
And then...
~FWISH, DING~
[Second Zone: Path to the Bridge]