LEVEL EVERYTHING UP in my Eldritch Tribe

Lyerin stood there in the eerie forest, muttering to himself. "Of all the things that old man could have chosen… Carnivorous Blast Apes," he said with a grim smile. "What nostalgia."

The Carnivorous Blast Apes were infamous creatures. He remembered them vividly from his past life.

They were beasts of terror, known not just for their size and strength, but for their extraordinary and horrifying ability: they could explode when enraged.

It wasn't just a small burst either; when a Blast Ape detonated, it unleashed a devastating explosion capable of shredding even the strongest armor with ease. It wasn't a question of how tough your defense was—these creatures had a one-hundred-percent success rate in piercing through even the most magical of protections.

It was an instinct that they seemed to have honed over centuries, an innate skill that made them feared by all who ventured near their territories.

And they didn't stop there. In addition to their explosive demise, the Blast Apes had another terrifying trait—they could throw magical bomb seeds.

These were seeds they grew naturally, filled with explosive mana, and when thrown, they detonated on impact. The bomb seeds were capable of reducing an entire area to rubble within seconds. They didn't give you time to think, only to react, and even then, many didn't live long enough to regret their decisions.

The apes hurled these seeds with astonishing precision, turning entire fields into death traps. It made them unpredictable and impossible to approach safely.

The memories of his past flooded Lyerin's mind. No one, in any of his lifetimes, had dared to fight these creatures head-on. It was considered suicide.

They were too wild, too erratic.

The combination of their explosive tendencies and their reliance on raw emotion made them utterly untamable.

The Carnivorous Blast Apes weren't just animals—they were living weapons, walking mana bombs with very short fuses.

Lyerin couldn't help but shake his head as he recalled the countless attempts to tame these creatures.

Over the years, many have tried. Great magicians, tamers with special abilities, and even renowned beast masters had attempted to subdue them, hoping to harness their power. None had succeeded.

He remembered one mage in particular, a renowned tamer who had believed he could break through the apes' wild nature by using a combination of magic and empathy. He had isolated a juvenile Blast Ape, casting a spell to calm its mind and suppress its emotions.

For a time, it seemed as though he was making progress.

The young ape had become docile, following simple commands and responding to the mage's directions. But then, one day, it exploded without warning, taking the mage and his entire tower with it.

Then there was the case of an ambitious noble who had constructed a special containment field to house a Blast Ape.

The field was designed to nullify magic and suppress the apes' explosive tendencies.

For months, the noble believed he had succeeded in capturing the creature. He had plans to use it in warfare, to unleash it upon his enemies as a living bomb. But during a routine inspection of the containment field, the Blast Ape had grown agitated.

Unable to escape, it had gone into a rage, detonating with such force that the blast wiped out half of the noble's estate, leaving nothing but a crater where his mansion once stood.

And there was the tale of the warrior, an expert in hand-to-hand combat who had sought to prove his strength by taming a Blast Ape. He had challenged the creature directly, using his speed and agility to avoid its explosive attacks.

For days, he had fought the beast, wearing it down, thinking he had it on the ropes. But on the fifth day, just as he moved in for the final blow, the ape had triggered its explosive death, catching the warrior in the blast and reducing him to nothing but ash.

Lyerin smirked at the memories.

How nostalgic.

No matter how skilled, how powerful, or how cunning, everyone who had ever tried to control the Blast Apes had met the same fate. They were too wild, too emotional, too chaotic. They could not be tamed. Or so the legends said.

But then a thought occurred to him. Lyerin stared off into the distance, his mind racing. "What if I could tame them?" he murmured to himself. "What if I could succeed where all others have failed?"

It was a wild idea. No, it was a ridiculous idea. Everyone knew the Carnivorous Blast Apes were untamable because they were driven purely by emotion. Their rage fueled their explosions, their wild nature made them impossible to control.

They were creatures of chaos, acting on instinct alone. No amount of training or magic could suppress that primal fury.

But Lyerin was different. He had a tribe that he was building, a tribe that was leveling up, growing stronger every day. He had methods that others didn't.

If anyone could tame the untamable, it was him. His ability to manipulate loyalty and growth within his tribe was his secret weapon. He could raise the loyalty of even the most unruly creatures, bend their will to his command by nurturing them in ways that no one else could.

After all, if he could level up the loyalty of the Cragar'Throm Clan Mana Beasts, why not these exploding monkeys?

A smile crept across his face as the possibilities ran through his mind. Imagine having a squad of Blast Apes at his command—explosive, powerful creatures that could tear through enemies and turn the tide of battle with a single detonation.

Their wild unpredictability would become a weapon in itself, something that his enemies would never see coming.

Lyerin could have them stationed at the borders of his territory, ready to explode at the slightest provocation.

Intruders would never stand a chance.

Or he could send them into battle as living bombs, letting them wreak havoc among his enemies before blowing themselves apart and leaving nothing but destruction in their wake.

Or, perhaps even more terrifying, he could use them as assassins—sending them into enemy camps under the guise of simple mana beasts, only to detonate when the time was right.

Lyerin chuckled darkly. "Blast Apes as pets... imagine the terror I could sow with an army of walking bombs at my side."

The more he thought about it, the more excited he became. No one had ever tamed these creatures before, but no one had ever had the means that he did. He had the knowledge, the experience, and most importantly, he had his tribe.

He could raise these apes from wild, destructive creatures into loyal, powerful allies.

The thought alone sent a thrill through him.

With that decision made, Lyerin's grin grew wider. He couldn't believe it.

The idea of having pets that could explode on command was too good to pass up. His tribe would become the most feared force in the world with these apes by his side.

But just as he was reaching for his magic ring to prepare himself, he froze. Huh? Where could it—

Before he could even finish the thought, the truth dawned on him. His hand fumbled at his side, searching for the ring that should have been there. His face twisted in disbelief as the realization struck him like a punch to the gut.

The ring was gone.

"Where did it—" he began, but then he froze again. Lyerin cursed under his breath as he understood what had happened.

Victor.

That old bastard had taken his ring!

The ring where he stored all his supplies, his potions, his weapons—everything he needed for survival in this place.

Lyerin looked up at the sky, clenching his fist. "Did that old fool want me to fail?" he muttered, a mix of anger and disbelief rising hotly in his chest.

Victor had known.

He had known that Lyerin's mana was slow to recover because of the lower dungeon's mana-draining effects, and now, he had tossed him into this forest without any of his tools, without the resources he would need to survive.

Lyerin felt a flicker of rage ignite within him, but instead of letting it consume him, he forced it down, channeling it into resolve.

If Victor thought this would be enough to stop him, then the old man was sorely mistaken.

Lyerin had dealt with the Carnivorous Blast Apes before. He had survived them in his past life, and he would survive them again—no, more than survive. He would tame them. Out of spite, if nothing else.

"Fine," Lyerin growled, determination hardening in his chest. "I'll show that old man what I'm capable of."

The scent of water drifted through the air, crisp and clean. Lyerin inhaled deeply, letting the smell of the river fill his senses.

The water wasn't far from here. He could hear it flowing, a soft trickle amid the quiet of the forest. It smelled fresh, mingling with the earthy scent of vines and moss that clung to the twisted trees.

Lyerin's gaze shifted, and he spotted the five Cragar'Throm Clan Mana Beasts nearby, still looking confused, their heads swiveling as they took in their surroundings.

They seemed lost, unsure of what to do now that they had been thrown into this unfamiliar place.

Lyerin sighed softly and mumbled to himself, "Now I know what to do."

His gaze sharpened as he prepared for what came next. "Forgive me," he whispered under his breath.