The assassin left the Duke’s chamber silently, his destination: Iron City.
Michael continued his daily activities, completely unaware of the target now on his back.
Upon reaching the dungeon, Michael entered alone.
His Twin-Headed Wolf emerged from his Inventory.
“Alright, buddy.
Let’s run riot,” Michael said excitedly, stretching out his hand.
Void Slayer materialized instantly in his grip.
Without hesitation, he swung the blade at the first unsuspecting monkey monk he spotted.
Before the creature could react, it was struck down from the tree and died instantly.
[Life Span Devoured]
[+4 years worth of lifespan]
“Hmm.
Guess I won’t be dying young after all,” Michael smiled.
The Monkey Monk Temple was a special alternate environment — a dense jungle with an abandoned temple at its center.
The boss, a four-armed monkey monk wielding a staff, resided inside the temple, while the regular mobs were two-armed monkey monks.
These monkey mobs were troublesome due to the difficult jungle terrain, which favored their agility.
The death of the first monkey alerted the others with its dying cry, and they rushed toward Michael’s location.
“Hmm.
Let’s see what Blood Bullet can do,” Michael muttered.
[Blood Bullet]
Release a lethal compressed blood projectile from your index finger, piercing enemies with gun-like precision.
[Cooldown: 5 minutes]
The cooldown had initially annoyed him, but he was already thinking of ways to improve it.
The first monkey reached him, leaping into the air and swinging its spear down.
Michael remained calm.
“Blood Bullet.”
The monkey couldn’t dodge.
A high-speed blood projectile drilled straight through its skull, exiting the other side.
The lethality surprised even Michael.
He immediately reclassified Blood Bullet as a powerful trump card for surprising enemies.
Focusing back on the fight, he swung Void Slayer toward a monkey dancing on a distant tree branch.
The path was blocked by foliage, and the monkey looked at him mockingly, confident in its safety.
A miniature spatial tear opened behind the creature.
The blade Michael was still holding phased through space and severed its life force.
Michael smiled, swinging his sword casually.
After reaching F-rank, he had gained access to one of Void Slayer’s abilities:
[Space Domain]
Within a 50-meter radius, your sword can bypass space itself to cut enemies inside the domain.
It was an incredibly powerful skill that rendered distance meaningless.
With Void Slayer and his Twin-Headed Wolf (using only Snow’s ice abilities in the jungle), the group advanced steadily, clearing C-rank monsters with ease.
After carving through waves of monkeys, Michael reached the temple at the heart of the jungle.
“Alright, buddy.
Handle the boss.
I’m sure you can manage.
I have some things to experiment with,” Michael told the Twin-Headed Wolf.
The boss was B-rank, the same grade as his pet, so he wasn’t worried.
While the wolf fought, Michael began testing his new Daylighter abilities.
He cut himself and observed the rapid regeneration.
He tried drinking the blood of the monkeys — it tasted like acidic lead, making him vomit.
He then fed his own blood to captured live monkeys.
It had no immediate effect, but when he wounded them, they healed noticeably faster.
His blood could even bring a beast back from near death.
Finally, he killed monkeys and fed them his blood — no effect.
He tried feeding them his blood while they were still alive, then killing them.
Still nothing.
Just as he was about to stop, one of the monkeys he had fed earlier began thrashing and roaring.
Blood leaked from its orifices.
Michael watched with curiosity as a faint connection formed between them.
He instinctively knew what was needed to make the transition permanent — more blood.
But before he could act, the monkey shrieked and died, failing to complete even the first stage of the transformation.
“Either the monkey was too weak or incompatible,” Michael muttered in disappointment.
He tried a few more times with similar failures.
By then, the Twin-Headed Wolf had already defeated the boss and cleared the dungeon.
Michael was tempted to test the process on his pet but decided the risk was too high.
He set the idea aside for later, planning to experiment on more animals — and possibly humans — to better understand his bloodline.
He stored the monster corpses in his Inventory and left the dungeon.
Outside, he encountered a guild party preparing to enter.
They had been unable to access it because someone was already inside and had been for quite some time.
As Michael exited, he came face to face with Cecil, Jermaine, and several other adventurers.
“So you were the one clearing the dungeon.
You sure took your time,” Jermaine said with a forced half-smile.