Chapter – 56
Squish! Splash! Squish! Splash!
A huge slime, the size of a large cushion, wobbled its sky-blue, pudding-like body as it threatened me. Honestly, it just looked like it was dancing.
The materialized Agnes covered her mouth with both hands.
<Oh my, what do we do… it’s so cute…!>
Fwoosh!
I channeled my aura into Europe and sliced the slime in a single strike. Hm, as expected of a legendary sword.
“Let’s move on, Agnes.”
<…….>
“Why so quiet?”
<You’re surprisingly efficiency-oriented.>
“Thanks for the compliment.”
From the puddle of sticky goo, I fished out some loot. There were plenty of materials for making coagulating agents for alchemy. Not bad at all.
I immediately climbed the stone stairs to the next floor.
[<System> Trial Tower Floor 2 Boss, ‘Bouncy Poison Spore Mushroom’ has appeared!]
Crisp!
Squelch!
The mushroom burst, scattering spores like a snowstorm.
I just let them be, even as they caused poisoning upon contact.
“Heal.”
I also needed to level up my Holy Power skill.
“Next floor!”
[<System> Trial Tower Floor 3 Boss, ‘Voracious Carnivorous Plant Nepenthes’ has appeared!]
Sploosh!
The giant tulip with tentacle roots shattered into pieces.
“Hm, looks like this trial is climbing up to floor 300. Well, next.”
[<System> Trial Tower Floor 4 Boss, ‘Fierce Ogre’ has appeared!]
Screech!
“Ugh. First time fighting a mammal. Good, my tolerance training continues. Next.”
[<System> Trial Tower Floor 5 Boss, ‘Vengeful Skeleton Knight’ has appeared!]
“Oh, undead? I can just heal him to death. Come on, come on… oh, he won’t come. Guess he’s scared of the ‘Fame Echo in the Undead World’ passive. Fine, I’ll go. Heal! Heal! Heal!”
Kree, kreeeeek!
“Rest easy under the name of the Keeper of Souls. Next floor.”
It was roughly like that every time.
Since the “bosses” were basically one-hit kills, ascending the floors took longer than defeating the bosses themselves.
The most productive spot was the 15th floor.
[<System> Trial Tower Floor 15 Boss, ‘Infinite Zombie Summoning Circle’ has appeared!]
Uwooo… uwoooo…
“Let’s stay here for a while and work. My healing level will rise a lot.”
<Why are you learning an offensive healing…?>
“What’s wrong with offense? It’s all about mindset. I’m healing these zombies as if they were patients, with mercy in my heart.”
<Your face doesn’t look it.>
“The patients keep running away, though. Can’t I disable the fame passive? Hey, stop there!”
Uwooo…
I worked until the overloaded summoning circle burned itself out.
Finally, my healing skill reached level 10 without buffs.
“I’m hungry. Time for a meal.”
<You’re hungry after fighting zombies… impressive.>
During the tutorial period, the system reduced the mental shock I received, so even gruesome scenes didn’t affect me much.
By getting visually accustomed to these things, perhaps when the tutorial ends and the mental barrier lifts, I’ll remain somewhat resilient.
I replied lightly to Agnes.
“There aren’t any zombies right now. After clearing the floor, corpses disappear after a while, which is nice.”
I sat down on a suitable spot and ate my sandwich.
The menu was sweet potato salad sandwich and chicken breast sandwich.
Perhaps because the food was dry, I found myself wondering about someone.
‘Our sweet potato pass must be doing fine…’
…No way.
To build the protagonist-like backstory, he must be rolling around in the past before the story even begins, in a sweet potato field.
There was nothing I could do for him now. I could only do my best with what I could control.
After finishing the meal, I brushed off my seat and stood.
“On to the next floor.”
✠
I surged upward through the tower, clearing floors at an impressive pace.
Even I thought my progress was remarkable.
On the first day, I cleared twenty-five floors; the second day, twenty-two; third day, eighteen; fourth, fifteen; fifth, ten; sixth, seven floors.
By the seventh day…
Kreeeeek…!
A half-human, half-bird harpy fell to the floor, its wings severed.
Seeing it writhing in a crater, soaked in blood, I decided to show mercy.
Thud.
I plunged Europe into the harpy’s vital point and twisted it at a right angle.
[<System> Congratulations! Trial Tower Floor 100 Boss, ‘Rampaging Mad Harpy’ has been defeated.]
While rummaging through the corpse for loot,
[‘A critic of balance exclaims that you climbed to floor 100 in a week! Overpowered!’]
‘Really?’
[‘Trial Tower architect trembles: until now it was just a tutorial; floors 101+ are the real deal!’]
‘Got it. I’ll look forward to it.’
I climbed the stone stairs as usual.
The tower’s structure was simple. Follow the stone stairs around the perimeter, and a steel door leads to the next floor.
Beyond the door was a gym-sized hall, where the boss always waited at the center, welcoming me enthusiastically.
But that formula broke on the 101st floor.
Chirp, chirp, chirp!
Opening the door revealed a forest. The scale was too large for an indoor garden, and I could see the sky.
<From floor 101, the battlefield changes to special environments. Feels like a dungeon.>
“Oh, um, it’s nice to see sunlight after a while.”
<I’ve been fighting on perfectly polished floors until now. Time to try using various terrain.>
The floor’s boss was a magma golem at the center of a volcanic mountain. I had to do a bit of mountain climbing to reach it.
Indeed, as the architect said, the difficulty spiked from floor 101. It wasn’t as smooth and easy as before.
Agnes showed her ability as an instructor.
<Keep a wide view. You can’t look back during battle. Scan the terrain and angles of your battlefield.>
<For advanced application, use the terrain. Cunning, agile enemies respond better to indirect attacks. Bounce your whip off obstacles.>
I, the exemplary student, followed her instructions diligently.
“Huff… haah… haah…”
By the time I defeated the boss, I was completely exhausted. I was barely standing on the cooled magma golem, Europe plunged in.
<Well done, Eyelet.>
“Is this… roughly an A-rank boss?”
<Yes.>
It was equivalent to Ardima’s level.
Back then, with Divine Descent and a single ultimate skill, I had nearly killed Ardima. I now realized just how broken Divine Descent was.
‘The penalties are equally deadly, though.’
As I ascended higher, my progress slowed. Soon, I could only clear one or two floors per day.
After a month, even one floor per day became exhausting.
As the seasons changed and I reached floor 200, it took several attempts to clear a single floor every few days.
Sometimes only one floor per week, ten days, fifteen… occasionally even a month.
Yet, I had grown considerably. Especially my Holy Power skill had risen, boosting my ranking.
Seasons cycled twice, and now I was fifteen, in the summer.
On the day I successfully cleared floor 265, I smiled and activated my healing skill on my battered wounds.
[<System> Basic skill ‘Healing Lv.60(+10)’ activated.]
A solid level. Enough to properly call myself a healer.
And I had gained it purely through practical combat training.
The necklace chimed.
<Compared to other skills, it’s overwhelming. The undead’s sacrifices were worth it.>
“Exalted, indeed.”
<But can I be honest?>
“Of course.”
<Between you and Agnes…>
“You don’t think a healer suits me, do you?”
<You don’t. No matter how you look at it, you’re an attacker.>
“Eh, I said my future goal was a ‘useful healer,’ didn’t I? That’s why I awakened Holy Power first.”
<Really? Can’t believe it.>
I looked up at the blue sky of floor 265, feeling like shouting.
‘You see this, Sweet Potato Pass!’
I raised my level to heal you.
Just then, Agnes materialized before me in holy light. Her face, completely serious, had no trace of playfulness.
<The time has come, Eyelet.>
“Yes.”
I straightened, adopting a serious stance.
My growth had extended beyond Holy Power. Today, a major change had occurred in me.
Agnes spoke in a stern tone.
<I’ll ask again. Eyelet, do you still wish to learn the Dual Blade?>
“Yes, Agnes.”
I had reached the minimum requirements to enter the Dual Blade path, achieving Aura Expert level.
[<System> Your ranking has changed. Current rank: 52 (▲51)]
The heat in my dantian settled, and my rank shot up. The system seemed to recognize me as a competent dual-wielding talent.
[<Quest> ‘Mandatory Education for Wise Possessors (S-Rank Possessors)’ achieved.]
[<System> Quest rewards can be claimed when the tutorial ends. Keep your rank in the top 100 until the tutorial ends.]
Not bad. This quest lets me keep an eye on my ranking.
‘There’s someone to compare with.’
Agnes smiled before me.
<Welcome. You are now my student, my disciple.>
“I will work hard, Master!”
I drew the training Dual Blade I had prepared and shouted with determination.
Agnes instructed me to temporarily halt dungeon clearing and focus on Dual Blade swordsmanship, movement techniques, and mental cultivation.
I followed faithfully, learning swordsmanship, building aura, and solidifying my fundamentals.
