Grey felt a light slap on his face and heard a gruff voice telling him to wake up. He grumbled, still wanting to rest awhile, but then he heard a heavy sigh, followed by a heavy slap.
Grey's eyes shot open. He held his cheek in surprise, his expression turning into a frown. He activated [Lightning Fist], ready to beat up the bastard who had woken him so rudely.
"Calm your horses. You wouldn't wake up, so I had to use force."
Grey's mouth dropped open at the sight before him. It was a talking monkey, about the size of a small cat, perched on his shoulder. The creature had bright blue fur, a face framed with a short mane of tufted fur, and large, expressive eyes that sparkled with intelligence and curiosity, and its tail flicked back and forth playfully.
"What are you?" Grey asked in a fascinated tone. It's not every day one sees a talking monkey.
"I'm Apollo, a Liberator, Knight of the Celestial Wardens, whatever that means. I took a monkey as a host because my body was too damaged by zombies. Now, I'm here because of you, Grey Adamas."
Grey frowned in confusion.
He couldn't begin to make sense of what the monkey was saying or how it knew its name, and it seemed too overwhelming to even bother trying, so he simply asked, "So, what do you want with me?"
"You're the necrotic heir, and my goal is to kill you for existing, or so I think." Apollo said with a serious expression on his face.
Grey's eyes narrowed as he balled his fist, flickers of lightning crackling around him at the threat. He was ready for anything, but Apollo raised his slender hand in surrender.
"Listen...I mean no harm. Though your aura tempts me to kill you, I won't. You are not to be killed, that much I remember. You see I don't remember much after waking up from coma."
"That doesn't make much sense. Explain things in order." Grey said annoyed by Apollos rambling.
"Alright, I know i'm a liberator, I woke up from a coma thanks to the system descent. Zombie ate my body, so i removed my soul to search for an empty vessel. Then i found the monkey, possessed it and now i'm here to do my job."
"Which is..." Grey asked.
"To monitor you."
"Because i'm the necrotic heir."
"Yes."
"Why should I trust you?" Grey asked, feeling nothing but doubt. Something about the monkey face wasn't trustworthy and he didn't trust that Apollo was just going to simply monitor.
"I could have killed you in your sleep if I wanted to, but I didn't," Apollo explained. "Also, you're too weak right now. Battling you would be boring."
Apollo then released his aura, and Grey froze in his tracks. He could sense the massive amount of energy in the blue-fur monkey and knew he meant what he said. The difference in their strength was quite large.
"So i'll wait by your side until you're strong enough, then I'll kill you." Apollo said, almost too cheerfully.
"But you said you were simply going to monitor me."
"Do you have hearing problem, I said was until you're strong enough."
Grey sighed, he certainly wouldn't be able to chase away the monkey at the point he his so he had no choice but to endure the monkey shenanigans.
"So you want me to take a monkey with dementia as a pet?"
"Yes...No, take that back. I'm not a pet," Apollo said, not refuting the dementia part. He had indeed lost his memory.
"You're definitely one, you have a name tag on your collar. On it says Peanut." Grey chuckled.
Embarrassed by the cute name, Apollo yanked the tag off at a speed akin to light.
"You will never call me that," Apollo slowly threatened, pointing his monkey finger at Grey.
"Understood... Peanut," Grey teased.
"You piece of shit. I'll just kill you right now," Apollo yelled, releasing his aura, to terrify Grey, but was pleasantly surprised when Grey didn't even flinch.
"As expected of the necrotic heir." Apollo muttered seemingly impressed.
This statement got Grey curious, and he asked, "From the way you mentioned my title, it seems it's something important. Do you know what it means?"
Being an heir meant he was entitled to something—a position of power or an inheritance. Whatever it was, it was most likely left by someone important, but for what reason?
"It means you're special enough to get the attention of higher powers deeming you a threat. Which is why you need to get strong fast."
Apollo then leaped unto the decapitated zombie.
"Almost getting killed by a zombie of this level shows your strength is low. Pathetic." Apollo spat.
Grey frowned. Apollo was totally looking down on the juggernaut's strength, but when he thought about it, why wouldn't he? Grey felt like an ant facing Apollo, meaning the blue-haired monkey was levels beyond him.
But, pathetic or not, he fought a hard battle and won.
This reminded him of the reward he had gotten from defeating the [Juggernaut Zombie] so he checked out the notifications he had gotten.
=============================
[Emergency Quest Completed]
[Kill Juggernaut Zombie: 1/1]
[Reward now available. Would you like to confirm it?]
=============================
"Confirm."
=============================
[You have killed Juggernaut Zombie]
[You unlocked inventory]
[You have received shard stones:]
[Strength: +5] [Agility: +5] [Stamina: +5] [Vitality: +5]
[You have received healing potion +50 health]
[You have received weapon: Bane sword]
[You have received skill: Berserk]
=============================
Grey let out a wide grin. As expected, the rewards were bountiful. The shard stones were even different, containing more stat points than the ones he got from regular zombies, and he got one for every stat.
Grey gasped, wondering how many regular zombies he would have to kill to get this many shard stones.
He clicked on the new skill, Berserk, and a description popped up.
[Berserk-0: Double all stats for one minute]
[Side effect: Drained stamina and temporary halt in stamina recovery.]
[Effects get better once proficiency increases]
"Hmm..."
Grey wasn't sure about the skill, as the side effects seemed rather dire. Losing stamina in a fight meant death, which means Berserk should only be used as a last resort, and only when you're sure you'll be able to defeat your enemy.
'Maybe it'll get better once the proficiency increases,' Grey thought. Just like his elemental ability, [Lightning Manipulation], had gotten better, [Berserk] would too. His proficiency was quickly rising at 20, and he had new skills under the element. The higher the proficiency, the stronger the ability and the fewer the restrictions.
It'll only get better as it progresses, just like reading a good Meganovel.
Grey was sated, glad he took the risk. Instant gratification was the best kind of motivation, and it worked wonders for Grey. So much so, he wanted to get back into hunting zombies, especially after Ethan showed him how weak he was.
"You said there were higher powers, right?" Grey asked.
"Yeah," Apollo replied, leaping onto Grey's shoulder. Grey didn't mind this and continued talking.
"Are they as strong as you?" Grey inquired.
"No... they're much more powerful. Emphasis on the powerful," Apollo said with all seriousness.
"Good... then I won't lose the motivation to level up."
Grey responded, much to Apollo's surprise. The blue-fur monkey let out a grin, finding the Necrotic heir more interesting than he initially thought.
Grey then equipped the [Bane sword] and swung it in the air. It was quite sharp, and Grey liked the sound it made as its blade cut through the air. Soon it would be cutting through zombies and the powerful monster he could sense on top of the building, waiting for something, most likely him.
There was a monster more powerful than Apollo at the top of the building. Grey could sense it, and Apollo could too. Walking towards the stairs, Grey took out all his shard stones and swallowed them, his stats increasing yet again. "Are you going to help me in this fight?" he asked Apollo, who was standing on his shoulder. "No. I want you to get stronger. Helping you will be counterproductive, don't you think?" Apollo replied. Grey nodded. "That's good. I don't want to be babied. Just don't get in my way, or I'll hack you down along with the zombies." "Sheesh... cold much. You couldn't do it if you tried." "We'll see." Grey planned to clear the zombies as he moved upwards, leveling up until he reached the top of the building to face the powerful being—if it didn't come down to him first. He didn't know what would happen if that did occur, but one thing was for sure: he wouldn't back down from a fight. As soon as he entered the next floor, multiple zombies attacked him. Gr
“How do I know you're not sick like the rest of them? and turned into some f*cking vampire." Greg asked still very much willing to swing his bat at Grey. “Zombies...they're freaking zombies." Grey corrected.“Who cares." "Zombies?" Amy interrupted.“ You mean like those monsters in apocalypse movies?" she asked. "Yes," Grey replied, and Greg let out a chortle. Grey didn't understand what was funny, and frankly, the man was starting to annoy him. "Look, I'm glad you saved us, but aren't you taking things too far? There's no such thing as zombies." "Really? Then how do you explain that?" Grey said, pointing to a zombie coming through the entrance. Greg's face went pale as he saw the zombie approaching them, and Amy screamed. Grey, with a sigh, raised his hand and released a lightning blast, finishing off the zombie, much to the surprise of the two. "Showoff," Apollo remarked, picking his nose, and Grey shook his head. "How... how do you do that?" Greg asked. "The system reward
Greg, who had his back to the window, wondered about Grey and Amy's reaction until the glass wall behind him shattered, with the bird-like creature crashing into it. Grey pulled Amy out of the way and covered her from the shards of glass, but Greg wasn't as fortunate. The bird-like creature gripped him by the shoulder with its powerful claws, dragging him forward. Greg screamed and cried out for help, but he was silenced by two stabs of the bird-like creature's beak piercing his skull, ending his life. It then dropped Greg's body on the ground and frantically began to gobble up the inside of his brain. Grey and Amy watched in horror at the gruesome sight. "Oh, that's a scary one," Apollo uttered in an amused tone. Amy covered her mouth, holding back the urge to throw up, while Grey's scrutinizing gaze lingered on the huge bird.===========================[Name: Cockatrice] [Quest: Defeat Cockatrice in 30 minutes] [Reward: New Skill]===========================The head of the c
Amy could hear the cockatrice and Grey fighting as she headed to the stairwell, indicating an intense battle. Going down to the 5th floor, she was nervous and scared she might run into a zombie, but she saw nothing. The whole place was empty, and not one corpse could be seen. Grey was right; there were no zombies left. Their deaths were most likely caused by Grey, whom she considered an anomaly. No normal person would adapt so quickly to something as crazy as an apocalypse, yet Grey was treating it like a game. It was weird, but people with adaptability were winners, and Amy chose to stand on the winning side. She was completely resolute in her decision to stand with Grey. He was the only way she could survive. But Grey was cold. Too cold. She saw the look in his eyes when she argued to stay. He tried to hide it, but nothing could get past her senses. She could tell: Grey had considered killing her. Was she mistaken? Maybe. But one thing was sure: she had sensed hostile intent i
Grey placed his hand on the body of the cockatrice and wasted no time activating [Essence Plunderer]. Immediately, a notification popped into his vision. ============== [Ability detected: Blade Scattershot] [Unsuitable for host] ============== Grey felt disappointed, but it made sense, after all, he didn't have feathers he could shoot out blades like the cockatrice did. However, before Grey could retract his hand from the cockatrice, another notification popped up, widening his eyes in pleasant surprise. ============== [Searching for a more compatible ability for Host] [New Ability detected:] [Iron Carapace] [Iron Carapace: Solid iron scales interlock to form a durable carapace, enhancing your defensive capabilities and shielding you from harm] [Would you like to plunder it?] ============== "Yes," Grey said, and immediately he felt something flow into his arm that caused him to feel a slight jolt. Grey then checked his stats window. ======== Name: Grey
Wendy could hear the steps of the Sabertooth quickly reaching her.Despite her dizziness, she forced herself to run, her heart thudding wildly as she felt cold chills on her back.The Sabertooth shoved and clawed its way through the zombies toward Wendy, a feral look on its face.Wendy was exhausted; she wasn't athletic and fast enough to outrun the beast. It was only a matter of time before the zombie caught up to her.But suddenly, she saw someone come out of the stairs holding what looked like a bat. Relief washed through her, and she yelled without reservation, "Help me!"The man saw her and his eyes widened as he noticed the Sabertooth dangerously close to her. He gripped his bat tightly, set it on fire using his element, and hurried towards her.In just a few steps, he had reached Wendy and raised his flaming bat, ready to swing. For a split second, Wendy was sure she was the target, but then he shouted urgently, "Duck!"Instantly, Wendy ducked, and the flaming bat struck the Sa
Grey was on his knees, panting heavily, while Apollo stood, his face reflecting a mix of emotions.Grey had only managed to land a single strike during their fight, and for Apollo, that was a big deal.It scared him how strong Grey would be when he reached his level, but at the same time, he was also excited by it.He didn't have a system like Grey.His soul had been damaged as a human, so when he entered the monkey, only a fraction of his power came with him.He understood that his recovery would take time, and was confident he would return to full strength but would his recovery rate be higher than Grey's growth rate? He didn't know. 'Should I just kill him now?' Apollo thought but shook his head.If he did, it would be out of fear, which was cowardly, and that would also mean he was going back on his word. So Apollo decided to let it go and buried his worry."That was good training, though. I bet you regret it right now," Apollo said."No. In fact, I should be thanking you," Grey
"Who are you?" Rush asked cautiously."Me, I'm..." Grey didn't get the chance to finish as a looming figure surged forward with lightning speed, delivering a devastating punch that thundered into his side. The impact sent him skidding across the ground, gravel, and debris swirling in his wake."Nathan?" Rush exclaimed, seeing Nathan's arm already covered in rocks, his ability [Earth Gaunlet] activated.He then turned towards the stranger to see the damage done. Yet, his jaw slackened when he witnessed the stranger casually dusting off his coat, completely unharmed.The mysterious figure certainly wasn't normal, remaining unscathed by Nathan's blow. Even the monkey perched on his shoulder seemed untouched. Then, as if that wasn't shocking enough, something strange happened. Without warning, Nathan's earth gauntlet began to fracture, small shards tinkling to the ground like raindrops.In the split second Nathan had attacked, Grey had managed to counter with lightning speed using [Over