Episode 24
Liam stood before Zeke, beads of cold sweat trickling down his face.
“My lord, let me be the decoy. You should escape while you can.”
Zeke chuckled softly, gently pushing Liam back.
“I appreciate the sentiment, but no need.”
Liam knew Zeke was a knight of considerable skill, but facing a monster was an entirely different matter.
There were countless tales of skilled knights meeting their end in battles against monsters.
And Zeke, still a cadet at the academy, couldn’t possibly handle a dangerous monster like a troll.
Before Liam could protest, Zeke darted forward.
“Swift Step. Phantom Footwork.”
Zeke’s figure blurred, slipping into the troll’s blind spot.
“Graaaah!”
The troll swung its massive club, but Zeke’s swift, phantom-like movements made him impossible to catch.
In his past life, Zeke had slain more trolls than he could count.
Moreover, he found it easier to harness his full power now than he did back then.
Zeke channeled his mana, infusing his sword with a deadly aura.
Swish!
He calmly circled the troll, severing its tendons with precision.
Rumble!
The troll’s body twisted, causing the entire cave to tremble.
Unfazed by the troll’s thrashing, Zeke struck at its knee joint.
Thud!
The troll, unable to support its own weight, collapsed.
Yet, the troll’s notorious regenerative ability began to heal its wounds.
Zeke seized the moment before the troll could fully recover.
With a swift motion, he drove his claymore into the troll’s neck.
Slice!
The troll’s massive head separated from its body.
As it fell, a message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.
[You have defeated a troll. You gain 30 Karma Points.]
Both the hellhound and the troll had granted him Karma Points.
“So, magical creatures are considered monsters as a whole.”
Gremlins, being too weak, didn’t seem to count for points.
Zeke smiled with satisfaction.
If he could gather points by hunting monsters, he could accumulate Karma Points much faster than anticipated.
He activated his minimap to locate nearby monsters.
With a sly grin, he turned to Liam.
“Liam, collect their heads.”
“Understood. Should I grab the gremlins too?”
“Just the big ones.”
Zeke twirled his sword and headed toward the marked monsters.
This time, a group of goblins awaited him, seemingly biding their time for the troll to pass.
Zeke approached silently, swiftly decapitating the goblins.
“Eeek!”
The goblins barely had time to scream before they became points for Zeke.
[You have defeated a goblin. You gain 5 Karma Points.]
Having dispatched five goblins, he earned 25 points.
“What’s my current total?”
[Current Karma Points: 165]
With no chance to venture outside the dungeon, it seemed wise to gather a large number of points now.
As he formulated his plan, a new message appeared before Zeke.
―Tutorial Surprise Mission―
[Hunt 100 monsters of ten different types in the dungeon. Time limit: 72 hours.]
[Surprise Mission Reward: Double Karma Points / 2 Random Boxes]
[Current Score: 3 types / 7 monsters]
[Non-aggressive monsters do not count.]
“A surprise mission?”
A new type of mission had appeared.
Seeing the enticing rewards, Zeke grinned. He decided to act immediately.
To complete the mission within the time limit, he needed to move quickly.
“Liam, let’s get moving.”
Zeke navigated the dungeon like a seasoned adventurer.
He quickly identified the types of monsters present by examining the traces they left behind. With Liam drawing the monsters’ attention, Zeke would strike from behind, swiftly decapitating them.
Slash!
After each hunt, Liam would tie up the heads of the monsters Zeke had slain and carry them.
They continued hunting in the dungeon, taking breaks at their base camp when their stamina waned.
Even with his infinite stamina skill, Zeke still needed rest to stave off hunger and fatigue.
They repeated this cycle of resting and hunting.
Over three days, Zeke swept through the dungeon, hunting 99 monsters of nine different types.
“Just one more type to go.”
It was odd for a test dungeon to house so many dangerous monsters.
But Zeke was more concerned about the possibility of failing the surprise mission, which left a bitter taste in his mouth.
Then it happened.
Rumble!
Zeke sensed a strange sound beneath his feet.
He shouted to Liam.
“Liam! Toss me an orc head and step back!”
Liam quickly followed Zeke’s command, tossing an orc head in the direction of the sound.
Then they waited in silence.
Moments later, the ground shook.
Crunch!
A dungeon worm emerged, devouring the orc head with its sharp teeth.
Zeke knew that oil was like poison to dungeon worms.
He swiftly retrieved oil from his bag and coated his blade.
Then, using his swift step technique, he closed in on the dungeon worm.
He boldly thrust his sword into the worm’s weak spot beneath its jaw.
“Graaaah!”
Zeke’s sword pierced through the worm’s jaw, reaching its crown.
The worm thrashed, trying to coil its tail around Zeke.
Crack!
The powerful tail attempted to crush him, but it was futile.
Zeke’s healing factor kicked in, mending his broken bones and muscles.
“You filthy worm!”
Zeke focused his mana, imbuing his sword with a fierce intent.
His blade, now even sharper, sliced the dungeon worm in half.
Slash!
The bisected worm collapsed to the ground.
Zeke shook off the worm’s tail and stood up.
[You have completed the surprise mission.]
[For completing your first surprise mission, you receive a random selection of low-grade potions and scrolls.]
[Time reduction points are added to your reward.]
[Your earned Karma Points are doubled.]
[You receive two random boxes as a reward.]
The rewards were substantial, reflecting the effort he had put in.
“Damn, I thought I was done for.”
The cadets who managed to escape the dungeon within the time limit looked worse for wear.
Even though they only faced low-level monsters like gremlins and goblins, the constant threat of ambushes meant they had to push through three days with little rest.
Those with family support fared slightly better.
They emerged with gremlin and goblin heads or ears strung together.
Particularly impressive was Jaken Valdeck, who carried a hobgoblin’s head.
Hobgoblins were notoriously fierce and quick, making them difficult to hunt, and everyone looked at Jaken with awe.
Jaken basked in their admiration, grinning.
“All that practice paid off.”
Then it happened.
“Oh my god.”
Reina Draker emerged, carrying a bloodied orc head.
When she presented it to the instructor, he was taken aback.
“There was an orc in the dungeon?”
“I found strange tracks and discovered a wild orc had made a nest after devouring other monsters.”
The instructor’s expression turned serious.
“It seems a wild monster escaped from the danger zone. Well done, Reina Draker.”
The cadets marveled at Reina’s prowess, repeatedly expressing their admiration.
The instructor checked his watch, noting the remaining exam time and the cadets who had yet to return.
“Only Zeke Draker and Liam Stone’s team hasn’t returned.”
While the others had emerged, Zeke and Liam were still missing.
Jaken and the other cadets mocked their absence.
“Maybe the goblins got them.”
“Or they’re too scared to move.”
As the exam time neared its end, Zeke and Liam appeared, not through the designated exit, but another one.
The instructor addressed them sternly.
“Zeke, Liam! There’s a designated exit. This will cost you points.”
Zeke approached the instructor and dropped something at his feet.
“What is this?”
It was a monster’s head, but larger than usual.
The instructor’s eyes widened in shock.
“A t-troll?”
While the instructor gaped, Zeke opened his bag and began pulling out more items.
From orc heads to hellhound heads, everything he produced was from high-risk monsters.
Zeke stacked a dozen heads before the instructor, dusting off his hands.
“There are more, but I couldn’t fit them all in the bag, so I brought what I could.”
The instructor stared, dumbfounded, at the pile of monster heads Zeke had amassed.
The other cadets wore similar expressions of disbelief.
Then Zeke’s sharp gaze swept the crowd.
At the back, he spotted Owen Siemens, whose expression caught his attention.
“So, it was him who tampered with things.”
While others were in shock, Owen, despite trying to hide it, wore a look of dismay.
It seemed odd that high-risk monsters were appearing one after another in the test dungeon.
Even if he didn’t know the exact method, it was clear that Zeke and Liam had been deliberately led down a dungeon path where high-risk monsters appeared.
“Those Siemens guys are always up to something shady,” Zeke muttered, having pieced together the situation.
“Is this enough to pass?” he asked the instructor.
“Oh? Uh, yes, it is,” the instructor replied, somewhat flustered.
With that confirmation, Zeke and Liam headed straight back to the academy. After days of relentless monster hunting, they were both exhausted and eager for some rest.
“It seems the time has come.”
After a bit of rest, Zeke found himself in his private training room, staring at the text floating before him.
― Dragon Skill Level 1 ―
Devour (Locked)
The recent dungeon hunt had earned him a massive 780 points. After some deliberation, Zeke decided to unlock the mysterious Devour skill.
[Do you wish to unlock the Dragon Skill: Devour?]
“Yes, unlock it.”
Zeke activated the skill, curious to see what it could do.
The text appeared again.
― Devour Information ―
In the Devour state, you can digest anything and convert it into energy. Additionally, if you consume a monster with bloodline abilities, you can absorb those abilities.
“What? What kind of nonsense is this?”
The explanation was utterly baffling. The ability to digest anything and instantly convert it into energy, even absorbing a monster’s bloodline abilities? He had never heard of such a power, not even in his past life.
“This is insane.”
Now he understood why it required 50 points to unlock.
Zeke decided to test the Devour skill.
A low hum resonated as the skill activated, and his shadow began to ripple.
He pulled some leftover jerky from his inventory and tossed it onto the floor. His shadow moved at his command, swallowing the jerky whole.
[Energy converted, mental strength restored.]
Suddenly, his mind felt clear and refreshed.
“So, it replenishes mental strength too?”
This meant that even without proper sleep, he could use this skill to maintain his mental stamina. In battle, if he ran low on health or mana, he could absorb and digest anything to recover immediately.
Zeke reaffirmed that there was nothing useless about the Dragon skills.
He opened the Dragon Skill menu again.
[Unlocking Level 2 skills requires 50 Karma Points]
With 50 points, he could unlock a new Dragon skill. Whatever it was, it had to be better than the Level 1 skills.
“Alright, let’s make a bold investment here.”
Just as Zeke was about to unlock the Level 2 skill, there was a knock at the door of his private training room.
“Come in,” Zeke called out, a bit annoyed.
Decker entered the room.
Zeke spoke with a hint of irritation in his voice. “Decker, I thought I told you not to disturb me when I’m in the training room unless it’s important…”
“We’ve received a message from Lord Gelion,” Decker interrupted.