Mamadou’s life depended on it, so he moved with relentless determination.

His vision gradually blurred, and he struggled to stay conscious. He jumped, used vines to launch himself forward, farther and farther away.

Sometimes he missed and barely managed to catch himself at the last moment, but with the goblins on his heels, he paid attention to nothing else.

As time passed, he forgot about his condition, his wounds, and everything else. He focused on only one thing: reaching the mountain.

Why did he want to go there?

What certainty did he have that he would survive once he arrived?

Was it because it was filled with his own kind?

Was it because it was the place where he had opened his eyes for the first time?

Mamadou didn’t know.

He wasn’t even certain that his fellow monkeys wouldn’t kill him upon arrival.

Yet he had decided to go there anyway.

If he died there, then so be it.

And now that he could no longer think or reason properly, the desire to reach that place was the only thing keeping him conscious.

The atmosphere of the forest gradually began to change as time passed.

The air became more humid, and the ambient light grew dimmer.

A stone flew toward Mamadou.

He fell from the tree he was on once again.

"Aaaaaaaaargh!"

He screamed, got back up, and stumbled.

But before the goblins could reach him, he leaped again, grabbed a vine, and launched himself into the air. He flailed wildly and somehow managed to reach another tree.

Without caring about anything else, he jumped again.

Mamadou kept going.

Again and again.

While the goblins harassed him over and over.

And finally, he saw that he was almost at the foot of the mountain.

"Just one last effort."

"If it’s over there..."

"If I can make it..."

Oro, the Goblin Chief, clicked his tongue the moment he saw Mamadou approaching Mount Meru.

His own carelessness had caused this situation.

By playing with his prey, he had given it the chance to escape.

But it wasn’t too late.

If they managed to stop its advance and prevent it from reaching the mountain, even at the very last moment, everything would be fine.

They could still salvage the situation.

The problem was the monkey’s stubbornness.

It refused to collapse.

It refused to be caught.

Oro thought the monkey was worse than a cockroach.

He grabbed the axe recovered from the monkey’s den.

Catching the monkey on flat terrain would not have been a problem.

The issue was that there was no logic whatsoever in its movements.

It moved by launching itself from tree to tree.

Sometimes it zigzagged.

Sometimes it ran along the ground.

Sometimes it swung through the trees.

Sometimes it slipped.

Its movements were completely chaotic.

The Goblin Chief advanced while the goblins beside him moved swiftly through the forest.

He carefully observed the monkey’s movements, trying to determine where it would be one second later.

The moment he was certain—

Shwp!

The axe flew through the forest and landed in the monkey’s back.

It sank deeply into its flesh and sent it flying even closer to the mountain.

Thud!

The sound of goblin footsteps drew closer to Mamadou.

He felt something lodged in his back, but he didn’t know what it was, so he paid it no attention.

He tried to stand up.

But he couldn’t.

He gritted his teeth.

Frwww! Frwww!

Using the one arm he could still move, he gathered all his strength and dragged his body forward.

He crawled.

"I’m almost there..."

Although his vision was blurry, he knew he had reached the foot of the mountain.

"Someone! Anyone!"

He crawled.

Rain began to fall across the forest.

The temperature had already suggested it might happen, but suddenly a torrential downpour descended.

Mamadou dragged a trail through the mud behind him.

"Someone, I need help! Call an ambulance!"

"Please! I don’t want to die!"

Swoob! Splash!

Mamadou was so overwhelmed by emotion that he didn’t notice what was happening behind him.

One of the goblins saw Mamadou crawling and rushed forward to finish him off.

Oro stopped him.

He shook his head.

"Don’t take another step!"

The monkey had reached the boundary and crossed into another territory—Mount Meru.

At that point, Oro decided there was no point attacking anymore. 𝒇𝙧𝙚𝓮𝙬𝙚𝓫𝒏𝓸𝓿𝓮𝒍.𝓬𝙤𝓶

He had wanted to capture the monkey, heal it, and then ask it questions.

But it seemed fate had decided otherwise.

"Hey! I know you’re listening!" the goblin shouted through the rain.

"I am Oro, Goblin Chief. Soon I will become strong enough that even this mountain won’t be able to protect you."

"If you survive those injuries, become as strong as you can, because I will come to reclaim that axe."

"If you still have the strength to speak, tell me, Monkey Warrior! What is your name?"

The light in Oro’s eyes faded.

The goblin seemed disappointed.

He turned around beneath the rain.

He signaled for his troops to withdraw.

In the end, ten goblins armed with spears and armor had failed to capture or kill a single monkey.

It was a bitter defeat for Oro.

Even he hadn’t realized when his feelings had changed.

After all, this monkey had originally been nothing more than prey.

As the goblins withdrew—

"Ma... M..."

A muffled, extremely weak voice reached the goblin’s ears.

Curious, he turned around.

The light in his eyes flared brighter than ever before.

It was hope.

Without realizing it, he had begun hoping that the voice came from the monkey.

And of course, it did.

While it continued crawling, as the danger hanging over its head slowly retreated, it kept mumbling something, as if answering Oro’s prayer.

"Ma... Ma... D..."

"Ma..."

???

"Ma?" Oro muttered.

"Ma?" he shouted.

"Ma, Warrior Ma. A worthy name."

Oro laughed heartily.

"Ma, I am Oro, the greatest of goblins. We will meet again, and next time, you won’t escape."

Even though Oro was preparing to migrate in search of new opportunities, he considered it a certainty.

How would Ma evolve by then?

He couldn’t help but look forward to having a true battle with him next time.

Given the ingenuity Ma had demonstrated, Oro had high expectations for him.

If he continued creating strange things in the meantime, there was no doubt that goblin civilization would take a tremendous leap forward if they could seize those creations for themselves.