The Hunted Regressor: My Heretic Saint System-Chapter 27: WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!

Even after meeting Ignotus’s eyes, the monkey didn’t move, remaining seated there on the tree’s branch, its tail swishing, not deeming him much of a threat...

Or perhaps baiting him.

A bait that he was willing to make use of once he was sure of one thing.

His Beholding Eyes flickered, revealing the thing’s makeup.

—

Name: Mischievous Monkey

Rank: Youngling

Runes: One

—

"Good."

He settled his grip on the sword.

"Dealing with two now would’ve been trouble."

Ignotus slowly stepped forward, his boots crunching in the dirt.

The monkey hissed and sat up, its long tail whipping at him.

He didn’t flinch, knowing that it wouldn’t reach him, and kept walking.

Sure enough, it didn’t, and just as the tail pulled back to its owner, he rushed forth and stabbed upward...

Punishing his stab, its tail lashed out again, thinking that it had got him, but it was tricked.

Ignotus’s attack was nothing but a feint that he used to prepare for his next step, the one move he practiced on his way here.

Matching his over-practiced move, he ducked under the tail and stabbed once more.

This time, he fully extended his arm, attacking for real, his blade tearing through the monkey’s chest and pinning it against the tree trunk behind.

The monkey screeched before going limp and sliding down, most certainly dead.

"That’s why..."

Ignotus twisted the blade free.

"We rehearse, Spoon."

Ding!

—

{Ordination: 1}

[SF: 6/10 → 8/10]

—

He stared at the floating text and chuckled.

’Almost there.’

Ordination two, and likely by the end of this quick session, ordination twenty was upon him.

Turning around to face the now hyped Felix, Ignotus pointed towards the distance.

"I don’t hear any monkeys there, so you’ll be safe."

The butler tilted his head.

"What do you want me to do, Young Lord?"

Appreciating his enthusiasm, Ignotus’s pointing finger turned upward.

"I’ll be killing them until sundown, so go make camp."

Felix bowed deeply...

"Yes, Young Lord!"

And with that, he went forth with no fear, perhaps wanting to show his usefulness to Ignotus so as not to be abandoned.

Nodding at him, Ignotus wiped the blood on his sleeve and dashed deeper into the jungle.

Two men, each with a completely different objective, yet surprisingly, the same need to succeed.

Before Ignotus, the next ones came fast.

Three of them this time, swinging from tree to tree, never staying still while constantly lashing out with their tails, even though he didn’t get close to them yet. It was as if they were warning strikes, screaming at him to turn back.

"Alright, alright, one at a time!"

He baited them out the same way:

Step, feint into step, and real stab.

One monkey swung back into range right as he lunged forward, and the blade caught its ribs.

Another hurled a second rock at his head, which he ducked and sprinted into, allowing it to hit the monkey behind him. While he, at the same time, cut the rock thrower down, only to turn around and do the same to its kin before it could recover.

"Hm, thanks for the help."

He flicked his wrist, his sword dripping blood.

Luck? Yes, that was his Rune Path, and it worked.

But this was just the beginning; the plans he had for his Runes would change everything.

And so he went, these poor monkeys paving the way for that future.

There was no ding sound, as if the system was waiting for him to stop, knowing full well that he wasn’t going to any time soon.

Four came next, screeching from the treetops.

Yet, even then, one by one, they fell, all against the same practiced motion, a never-changing one, drilled into his muscles until it was less technique and more of a damned reflex.

Five tried swarming him, their tails snapping from every direction, their cries filling the area. But Ignotus spun with them, constantly dodging low and rolling through the dirt.

’Who said that rolling wasn’t a core of true combat?!’

His strategy burned into his bones with every kill.

Sure, he wasn’t perfect; a tail clipped him every now and again, no doubt made worse thanks to his Calamity, but it was never serious or even an injury. Each time, he only grinned wider, finding himself going harder and harder.

And thankfully, whenever Calamity struck, Luck spared him, the two triggering in tandem, even though they directly opposed each other.

If only Calamity had its say, it’d have the Mischievous Monkeys throw poop at him instead of rocks, but thankfully, he was spared from such a gruesome Fate, one worse than death.

"Yeah, that’s it! Keep me awake!"

He stabbed one clean through the throat, ripped the sword free, pivoted, and gutted another mid-leap. Blood sprayed his face, soaking his clothes... he looked like a madman, but he didn’t care one bit.

Hours bled away, kill after kill...

Monkey after monkey.

Ignotus stopped counting, his body moving on instinct rather than thought.

The jungle floor around him became a graveyard, monkey corpses piling under branches, their blood splattering across the bark, stinking the air with its iron.

Ignotus moved through it all with a surprisingly calm demeanor, almost a bored one.

It seemed that the thrill of killing them had waned, becoming no more than a chore to him.

Still, he wasn’t doing too badly on the mental front. Eris talked to him every other hour, momentarily taking his mind off the constant and relentless repetition.

Only when late night came, when he could barely see, the moonlight covered by what was above, did he finally pause.

With his breath ragged and chest heaving, Ignotus stabbed the sword into the dirt and leaned on it, letting go a little.

His thin frame looked slightly... fuller now.

Muscle clung faintly to his arms, and his shoulders were a fair bit broader.

Of course, this was not natural; no way he’d gain such muscle from this quick workout of his today; it was the monkeys’ Soul Fragments.

It had knitted into him and shaped him, a cheat all Runebearers loved.

Unfortunately, not a single Rune dropped; even his Luck Rune didn’t make a difference.

The chance of getting one from Class Six monsters was so extremely low, so he didn’t hope for any in the first place.

Runes were of the Soul, so one’s Soul had to be strong to retain Runes after death. Meaning that, naturally, the higher the class the monster was, the higher the chance of its Runes remaining intact after its death.

That didn’t apply to Runebearers, as while their Souls might be smaller in size, they were tougher and more resistant to death, making the chance of their Runes staying behind an almost guaranteed thing.

And yes, ’almost,’ as Runebearers could self-destruct, ensuring their Runes would break. Or more commonly, Runebearers would lose their all if they were attacked by a much stronger foe; most times, even the mere presence of the strong broke the Souls of the weak.

’I’d know that firsthand, of course—’

Ding!

The sound finally came, interrupting his thoughts.

—

╔════════╗

║OVERFLOW!║

╚════════╝

╔═════════════════╗

║☆ ORDINATION UP X 5 ☆║

╚═════════════════╝

[You’ve Slayed Mischievous Monkey X 69!]

[SF = 58!]

[Ordination: 1 → 6]

[+ 15 STAT POINTS!]

—

Ignotus paused, staring at the glowing words for a long, long moment.

His eyes were wide, his expression blank, and he...

"WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!"

He screamed.