A Dragonslayer’s Peerless Regression

Chapter 24

Liam stood before Zeke, beads of cold sweat forming on his forehead.

“My lord, I will act as bait. Please, use that time to quickly escape.”

At those words, Zeke let out a small laugh and pulled Liam back.

“I’ll take the sentiment to heart.”

Liam knew Zeke was at the level of a Purple Knight, but dealing with monsters was another matter entirely.

There were countless cases where even skilled knights had lost their lives in battles against monsters.

Let alone Zeke, who was still a cadet at the academy. There was no way he could take on a dangerous monster like a troll.

Before Liam could stop him, Zeke leapt forward.

“Swift Wind Technique. Phantom Footwork.”

Zeke’s body left afterimages as he closed in on the troll’s blind spot.

“Kaaaargh!”

The troll swung its massive club.

However, it was impossible for the troll to track Zeke’s rapid movements, enhanced by Phantom Footwork.

In his previous life, Zeke had slain more trolls than he could count.

Moreover, he now found it easier to use the Soul-Body Technique than he had in his past life.

Zeke summoned mana, wrapping the energy of Sever around his blade through the Soul-Body Technique.

Swish!

With precise movements, Zeke circled the troll, severing key tendons.

Rumble!

As the troll writhed in pain, the entire cave trembled.

Unfazed by the troll’s violent thrashing, Zeke coolly struck its leg joint.

Thud!

The troll, its joint destroyed, collapsed under its own weight.

But true to a troll’s nature, its wounds began to regenerate rapidly.

Zeke didn’t miss the brief moment as the troll tried to recover.

With a swift motion, he drove his claymore toward the troll’s neck.

Slice!

The massive troll’s head separated cleanly from its body.

At that moment, a message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.

[You have slain a troll. You have gained 30 Karma Points.]

Both the Hellhound and the troll had awarded Karma Points.

“So, monsters with mana are classified as magical beasts.”

It seemed that Gremlins were too weak to count for points.

A satisfied smile spread across Zeke’s face.

If he could accumulate points simply by hunting monsters, he realized he could gather Karma Points much faster than he had anticipated.

Zeke activated the mini-map and scanned for the locations of nearby monsters.

Grinning, he spoke to Liam.

“Liam, gather their heads.”

“Yes, sir. Should I include the Gremlins too?”

“Let’s stick to the big ones.”

Zeke twirled his sword once in his hand and began walking toward the area marked with monsters on the map.

The goblins were clustered together in one spot, seemingly waiting for the troll to pass.

Without a sound, Zeke approached and swiftly slashed through the goblins’ necks.

“Keeek!”

The goblins turned into points for Zeke before they could even scream properly.

[You have slain a goblin. You have gained 5 Karma Points.]

Having dealt with five goblins, Zeke had earned 25 points.

‘What’s my total now?’

[Current Karma Points: 165]

Since opportunities to venture into external dungeons were rare, this seemed like a good chance to gather a significant amount of points.

As he formulated his plans, a new message appeared before Zeke’s eyes.

―Tutorial Emergency Mission―

[Hunt 100 monsters of ten different types in the dungeon. Time limit: 72 hours]

[Emergency Mission Rewards: Double acquired Karma Points / 2 Random Boxes]

[Current Score: 3 types / 7 monsters]

[Non-aggressive monsters are excluded from the count.]

‘An emergency mission?’

A new type of mission had appeared.

Looking at the rewards, Zeke grinned. The rewards were appealing enough to warrant immediate action.

To succeed within the time limit, he needed to move quickly.

“Liam, let’s move.”

Zeke navigated the dungeon like a seasoned adventurer. Identifying traces left behind, he quickly deduced the type of monsters present. Their hunting method was simple: Liam would draw the monsters’ attention from the front, and Zeke would eliminate them from behind with his sword.

Slash!

Once the hunt was over, Liam tied the heads of the slain monsters with a cord and carried them.

They continued hunting the dungeon’s monsters, retreating to their base camp for rest whenever their stamina waned.

Even with the Endless Stamina skill, it couldn’t stave off hunger or the need for sleep, making occasional rest essential.

The cycle of resting and hunting repeated over the next three days. In that time, Zeke swept through the dungeon, slaying 99 monsters from nine different species.

‘Just one more species to go.’

In truth, it was unusual for a test dungeon to contain so many varieties of dangerous monsters.

But Zeke was less concerned about the oddity and more anxious about the possibility of failing the emergency mission. He clicked his tongue in frustration.

Then it happened.

Rumble! Rumble! Rumble!

Zeke detected a strange noise coming from beneath his feet.

He shouted to Liam.

“Liam! Toss me an orc head and stay back!”

Liam quickly followed Zeke’s instructions, handing over an orc’s head and retreating. Zeke grabbed the head and flung it toward the source of the sound without hesitation.

Zeke held his breath and waited.

Moments later, the ground began to tremble.

Crunch!

A Dungeon Worm emerged from beneath the ground, biting down on the orc head Zeke had thrown, its sharp teeth crushing it effortlessly.

Zeke knew that oil was effectively a poison for a Dungeon Worm.

Quickly, he pulled a bottle of oil from his bag and coated his blade with it.

Then, stepping with Swift Wind Technique, he darted toward the Dungeon Worm with incredible speed.

Without hesitation, he drove his sword into the creature’s weak spot—just below its jaw.

“Kyaaaak!”

The sword pierced through the worm’s jaw and went straight up to its crown.

The Dungeon Worm thrashed wildly, attempting to coil its tail around Zeke and crush him.

Crunch!

The powerful tail wrapped around Zeke, trying to squeeze him into submission, but it was futile.

Zeke’s Healing Factor activated, mending broken bones and torn muscles in an instant.

“You disgusting insect!”

Focusing his mana, Zeke imbued his sword with the will of Sever.

The blade, now pulsating with overwhelming energy, cut clean through the Dungeon Worm, slicing it in half.

Slash!

The two halves of the Dungeon Worm collapsed lifelessly onto the ground.

Zeke shook off the remnants of the worm’s tail wrapped around his body and stood up.

[You have successfully completed the Emergency Mission.]
[As a reward for completing your first Emergency Mission, a random selection of low-grade potions and scrolls will be granted.]
[Time Reduction Points have been added to your reward.]
[Acquired Karma Points are doubled as a reward.]
[Two Random Boxes have been granted as a reward.]

The hard-earned rewards were worth the effort.

* * *

“Damn it, I thought I was going to die.”

The cadets who managed to escape the dungeon within the time limit all looked utterly exhausted.

Even though the dungeon primarily contained lower-level monsters like Gremlins and Goblins, the constant fear of monsters appearing out of nowhere had kept them on edge. For three days, they had barely slept and had pushed themselves to their limits.

Those backed by noble households seemed slightly better off.

They carried out the heads or ears of slain Gremlins and Goblins as proof of their efforts.

Jakenn Vardec, in particular, stood out as he presented the head of a Hobgoblin.

Hobgoblins, known for their ferocity and speed, were challenging prey, so the other cadets looked at Jakenn in astonishment.

Jakenn enjoyed their admiration, smirking confidently.

‘It was worth practicing beforehand.’

Then, it happened.

“M-My God.”

Reina Draker emerged, carrying the bloodied head of an orc.

When she handed the orc head to the instructor, he looked utterly shocked.

“There was an orc inside the dungeon?”

“While exploring strange traces, I discovered a wild orc had devoured other monsters and built a nest,” Reina explained.

The instructor’s expression grew serious.

“That’s troubling. It seems one escaped from the restricted area where wild monsters are confined. Good work, Reina Draker.”

The cadets murmured in admiration, reaffirming that Reina was in a league of her own.

The instructor checked his watch and noted the cadets who had returned and the remaining time for the test.

“The only ones still out are Zeke Draker and Liam Stone’s team.”

Zeke and Liam hadn’t returned even though all the other cadets had exited the dungeon.

Jakenn and several other cadets mocked their absence.

“Maybe they got eaten by a goblin horde.”

“Or maybe they’re frozen in fear and can’t move.”

As the test time was nearly up, Zeke and Liam emerged—but not from the designated exit. Instead, they appeared from a different exit entirely.

The instructor, noticing them, called out sternly.

“Zeke, Liam! There’s a designated exit. Coming out from there will cost you points.”

Zeke approached the instructor and placed something in front of him with a thud.

“What is this?”

It was a monster’s head. But it wasn’t just any head—it was unusually large.

When the instructor realized what it was, he gasped.

“A… a troll?”

Unperturbed by the instructor’s astonishment, Zeke opened the bag he was carrying and began pulling out more items one by one.

From an orc’s head to a Hellhound’s, every single item he produced belonged to a high-risk monster.

By the time Zeke finished, over a dozen high-risk monster heads were piled before the instructor. Dusting off his hands, Zeke casually remarked, “There’s more, but I couldn’t fit everything in my bag, so I only brought what I could carry.”

The instructor stared blankly at the pile of monster heads, utterly stunned.

The other cadets around them were equally dumbfounded.

It was then that Zeke’s sharp eyes scanned the crowd.

He spotted Owen Zimmens standing at the very back. Owen’s expression, though quickly masked, betrayed his dismay.

‘So, it was him who pulled that stunt.’

While others were too astonished to react, Owen seemed to be struggling to hide his embarrassment. The sudden appearance of so many high-risk monsters in a testing dungeon was suspicious from the start.

Though Zeke didn’t know the exact details, he was certain that Owen had somehow manipulated the dungeon routes to direct Zeke and Liam into areas filled with high-risk monsters.

‘Typical Zimmens scum—always up to something shady.’

Having pieced together the situation, Zeke turned to the instructor.

“Does this count as a pass?”

“Huh? Oh, uh, yes. Yes, it does,” the instructor stammered.

After hearing the instructor’s response, Zeke immediately headed back to the academy with Liam.

Having spent several days hunting monsters, fatigue weighed heavily on them. All Zeke wanted now was to rest.

* * *

“It’s time.”

After a decent rest, Zeke made his way to his private training room and stared at the message floating before him.

―Draconian Skill, Stage 1―

Gluttony (Locked)

Thanks to the large number of points he earned during the dungeon hunt, he now had an impressive total of 780 Karma Points.

After some deliberation, Zeke decided to unlock the mysterious Gluttony skill.

[Would you like to unlock the Draconian Skill: Gluttony?]

“Yes, unlock it.”

Zeke activated Gluttony to see what it could do.

A new message appeared before him.

―Skill Information: Gluttony―

While in the Gluttony state, you can digest anything and convert it into energy. Additionally, if you consume magical beasts with bloodline abilities, you can absorb their powers.

“What? What does that even mean?”

The description was astonishing. Not only could he digest anything and convert it into energy, but he could also absorb the abilities of magical beasts with unique bloodlines. This was an ability unlike anything he’d encountered, even in his previous life.

“That’s insane.”

Now he understood why the skill required 50 points to unlock.

As a test, Zeke activated the Gluttony skill.

Woooong!

As the skill activated, his shadow began to ripple.

Zeke pulled a piece of jerky from his inventory and tossed it onto the floor.

His shadow moved at his will and swallowed the jerky whole.

[Energy converted. Mental strength restored.]

A sudden clarity washed over Zeke.

“So, restoring energy includes mental strength too?”

This meant that even in situations where he couldn’t properly rest, the skill could replenish his mental reserves.

In battle, if he was running low on stamina or mana, he could absorb and digest anything to recover instantly.

Zeke reaffirmed that every Draconian skill was invaluable.

He brought up the Draconian skill menu.

[Unlocking Stage 2 requires 50 Karma Points.]

By investing 50 points, he could unlock a new Draconian skill. While he wasn’t sure what it would be, it was bound to be more powerful than the Stage 1 abilities.

‘Alright, let’s make a bold investment here.’

Just as Zeke was about to unlock the Stage 2 skill, there was a knock on his private training room door.

Knock, knock!

Annoyed, Zeke called out.

“Come in.”

Decker entered the room.

Zeke, irritation creeping into his voice, said, “Decker, I thought I made it clear not to disturb me when I’m training unless it’s important…”

“Sir Gelion has sent a message,” Decker interrupted.