A Monkey with a Mission

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.

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[Emergency Quest Completed]

[Kill Juggernaut Zombie: 1/1]

[Reward now available. Would you like to confirm it?]

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"Confirm."

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[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]

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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.