The Last Paragon in the Apocalypse

He needed 38,400 points to hit Level 8, so he knew he had to go all out. The stronger he got, the better his chances of taking on Tier 3 monsters. Last time, he got lucky and caught a Tier 3 monster off guard, but he wasn\'t sure he\'d get that same stroke of luck again.

Ev if he did get lucky again, it would only work once. But to make 40 million gold in three days, he\'d need that kind of luck hundreds of times over. This time, he planned on staying out in the field for a few days before heading back.

Ev though he\'d awaked, Klaus knew almost nothing about cultivating. To really get a grip on the intricacies of the cultivation world, he knew he\'d have to move to the city, where he could gather the knowledge he needed to navigate this new life.

Right now, Klaus\'s top priority was getting several times stronger so he could gather the funds needed to move his small family to the city.

Slash!

A sword light flashed, sding a sharp ice arc slicing through the air. The arc struck a Tier Hound, killing it instantly.

"I still don\'t have that sharpness and effortlessness I crave," Klaus muttered, staring at his sword with a puzzled expression. For the past five hours, he\'d be hunting and honing his sword skills, but no matter how hard he tried, he just couldn\'t break through to the next level.

Sure, he could take down a Tier monster with a single strike now, but it still didn\'t have that razor-sharp precision he wanted. There was always some dullness to his attacks. It was frustrating. With a sacred class like his, he couldn\'t help but get a little obsessed, hoping to fix it before moving forward.

"I guess I\'ll have to keep killing more monsters—maybe I\'ll figure it out," Klaus sighed as he stored the body and continued his rampage.

"A zombie," Klaus muttered, stopping in his tracks. He narrowed his gaze at the figure standing over a monster\'s lifeless body, its mouth smeared with blood and chunks of meat. It was clear the zombie had killed the creature and was now devouring it.

The zombie\'s head jerked up as it caught sight of Klaus. Its eyes, empty and lifeless, locked onto him. The creature growled a low, macing sound that st a chill down Klaus\'s spine. His grip tighted a the hilt of his sword, his focus sharping as he prepared for the fight.

Klaus didn\'t flinch. He took a deep breath, ctering himself. He wasn\'t going to use any fancy skills or elemts this time. This was about pure speed and precision. His agility had be honed to the point where he could strike before most emies ev realized he\'d moved.

The zombie lunged at him with surprising speed, but Klaus was faster. In a single fluid motion, he sidestepped the attack and swung his sword in a wide arc. The blade cut through the air with a sharp hiss, aimed directly at the zombie\'s neck.

The strike was clean and precise. Klaus\'s sword sliced through the zombie\'s neck with one swift slash, beheading it instantly. The creature\'s body crumpled to the g, lifeless, while its head rolled away, the dead eyes still staring blankly.

"Slower than I thought," Klaus muttered as he stared at the Tier Zombie lying on the g. His sword flashed again, slicing cleanly through the monster\'s head, cutting it in half. As the pieces fell apart, a small stone, about the size of a grape, tumbled out. It was in color.

"Low-Grade Zombie Stone. I\'m emotional, y\'all. Who would\'ve thought my first kill would produce a stone?" Klaus grinned as he picked up the small stone, turning it over in his hand.

"It\'s just a Tier low grade, meaning this Zombie was one of the weakest. But hey, this little thing is worth about ,000 gold coins—that\'s more than ough." Klaus tucked the stone away in his space ring and began moving deeper into the forest.

He had finally tered the part of the forest where the Zombies roamed. As he walked, he noticed several Zombie corpses along the path, indicating that others had already be through here.

A rustling sound caught his atttion. Klaus glanced to the side and spotted another Zombie stumbling out from behind a tree. Without hesitation, he drew his sword and lunged forward. The blade sliced through the air, and with one clean strike, the Zombie\'s head separated from its body, collapsing in a heap. No stone this time.

Klaus continued onward, his sses on high alert. It wasn\'t long before he countered a pair of Zombies, shambling toward him with slow, unsteady steps. He didn\'t waste any time. With two quick slashes, both Zombies were down, their heads rolling on the g. This time, one of them dropped a small gray stone.

"Another one," Klaus said, pocketing the stone. "This one\'s worth a bit less, but it all adds up." Zombie stones come in differt grades. There is the Low Grade which is . Th there is the Medium grade which comes in brown. Th there is the black high grade.

However, aside from these three, there is a grey zombie stone which is less than the low grade but also valuable. It\'s mostly dropped from zombies that have just advanced to Tier . But although its worth is less, it\'s still better than .

As he moved deeper into the forest, the number of Zombies began to increase. Some came at him in small groups, others alone. But it didn\'t matter; Klaus cut them down with ease, his movemts quick and precise.

Every so oft, a Zombie would drop a stone, either or gray. Klaus collected each one, stashing them in his space ring. The thrill of finding these stones kept him going, pushing him to take down as many Zombies as possible.

After dispatching another small group, Klaus found himself standing in a clearing. He took a momt to catch his breath, looking a at the fall bodies. "Not bad," he thought, "but I need more if I want to buy a house," Klaus said with a small smile.

A sudd noise behind him made Klaus spin a, sword at the ready. A larger Zombie, clearly stronger than the others, was lumbering toward him. Its eyes glowed with a dull, eerie light, and it moved with more purpose than the weaker ones.

Klaus tighted his grip on his sword. This one might be more of a challge, however, he quickly dismissed that though wh he saw the Zombie move. The Zombie lunged at him, but Klaus was quicker. He sidestepped the attack and brought his sword down in a powerful arc, severing the creature\'s head in a single blow.

As the body fell, a bright stone rolled out. Klaus picked it up, a satisfied smile spreading across his face. "Low grade but worth more than the plain , I guess there is some luck following be after all."

He pocketed the stone and pressed on, his confidce growing with each kill. The deeper he wt, the more Zombies he countered. But of them could stand up to his speed and skill.

In a few hours, Klaus had gathered several more stones, but he wasn\'t satisfied yet. He wanted more. In fact, he wanted so many that ev if he took a break from hunting for a while, he\'d still be in good shape financially.

"This place is good," Klaus thought to himself. "The deeper I go, the stronger the zombies I counter. If I can manage to get a few Medium-grade stones, that would be great."

He wasn\'t aiming for the Higher-grade stones—those were found in Tier 3 Zombies, and he knew he wasn\'t ready for that yet. He still had to sure he had the strgth to take them on. But now wasn\'t the time to push his limits recklessly.

Klaus continued to press forward, his eyes sharp and his sword ready. He countered another group of Tier Zombies, slightly stronger than the ones he had fought before. They moved with a bit more coordination, their growls louder and more macing. Klaus didn\'t hesitate. With swift, precise movemts, he cut them down one by one, his sword flashing in the dim light of the forest.

Wh the last Zombie fell, Klaus quickly searched the bodies, hoping for a Medium-grade stone. His heart skipped a beat wh he found one—a dull blue stone, larger than the others he had collected. It wasn\'t a High-grade, but it was better than the Low-grade stones he had be gathering.

"Perfect," Klaus murmured, storing the stone in his space ring. "Just a few more like this, and I\'ll be set. But these Zombies are becoming stronger, I have to test my limit and distribute the points accordingly."

He continued his hunt, slaughtering more Zombies along the way. The deeper he vtured, the stronger the Zombies became. Their numbers grew, but so did his determination. Klaus was reltless, cutting them down with precision, collecting stones, and moving on without hesitation.

Finally, after heading ev deeper into the forest, Klaus countered a differt kind of Zombie. This one was unlike the others. It still had the rotting appearance of a Zombie, but its eyes were sharp, not dull and lifeless like the rest. In its hands, it held a bone sword, gripped tightly as if it knew how to use it.