Chapter 8
Only the faint, flickering flames could barely make themselves seen from afar.
They were torches set into the walls.
But even those weren't doing their job.
“Ugh… a darkness gimmick right off the bat…. Wait. But this is basically a freebie.”
Dragon Eyes didn't care about darkness.
Once I got used to it, I could see everything.
I’d climbed mountains even on moonless nights, so as long as I watched my footing, it wasn't a big deal.
“So I just have to be careful.”
I walked in, keeping my guard up.
The room wasn't large.
Clack.
Clack.
A skeleton armed with a longsword rattled.
It was over two meters tall.
And from the way it gouged the ground with every step, its strength was nothing to scoff at either.
There were two of them.
As soon as they spotted me, the two skeleton giants started clattering toward me with great momentum.
“Eek. This is a little different from what I imagined.”
Once the skeletons got close enough, they raised their swords at the same time.
Then one veered left and the other right, closing in fast.
It looked like they planned to attack from both sides at once with their swords.
“Heh. So that's how you want to do this?”
A mad grin spread across my face.
Naturally, my pupils turned into a reptile's.
I held a sword in one hand and a staff in the other.
I tucked one hand into my coat and gripped the sword tightly with the other.
“Casting, Bullet.”
—Paaang.
A blue flash burst from the staff I held in reverse grip.
The aim was perfect, but because I'd set the power low, it didn't kill it.
But it was left in a groggy state.
All that was left was the other skull-faced bastard, who had closed in thanks to the other one's sacrifice.
I tossed the staff aside and used the hand that had been holding it to brace the blade.
Surprisingly, if the angle was right, you could put force into the blade without injuring your hand.
I knocked the skeleton's attack down to the floor.
—Kkak!!
The skeleton's sword stuck into the ground, freezing its movement for a moment.
Without missing that moment, I dove toward where I'd thrown the staff and rolled.
While rolling, I recovered the staff and aimed at the skeleton.
Another blue flash burst, and one skeleton collapsed.
This time I'd cranked up the power, so it was an instant kill.
I finished off the skeleton that had been left stunned.
Red magic stones dropped one after another.
“This isn't too bad.”
[User : Yumia. Lion's Floor (1/3). Soldier Room cleared! Mana, stamina slightly recovered! Reward granted!]
[Clear time: 10.14 seconds. Recorded.]
***
Outside the tower, Isela was watching the message too.
If the difficulty doesn't match, party play is impossible.
But there was a loophole: forming a party and viewing the messages.
And the Rare (R)-grade trait Isela had obtained from the tower: Observing.
A trait that let her project one party member's third-person view into the air as a screen.
With it, Isela and Woo Soohyun were sharing Yumia's vision.
“I-I-Is this even possible? She hasn't even been in the tower for a minute, and she's already cleared the first room! And in Hell mode, no less!”
Anyone would think Woo Soohyun was overreacting.
But he couldn't help it.
Her movements and judgment were nothing like those of a normal first-time tower climber.
With that tiny, cute body, she was smashing through Hell-difficulty enemies without mercy.
When blue flashes bloomed as her white hair fluttered, the enemy lost its head.
“That girl has always been like that. Sure, her trait boosts her dynamic vision too, but… that's just pure instinct. She always finds the best path and drives in with terrifying precision.”
“Do you… think that's possible?”
Isela didn't think it was possible either.
But if you were going to question that, wasn't a man becoming a woman even stranger?
“Well, it's right in front of me, so I have to believe it. Can't be helped…”
[Collect your reward!]
The moment that message appeared, the shared vision shut off.
Because Observing was a trait with a cooldown and a time limit.
“If we wait here, she'll come out.”
Isela smirked at Woo Soohyun.
Because it felt like looking at herself on the first day of training, when she sparred with Yumia.
She recalled how Yumia had casually beaten her back then, when she'd awakened an A-rank ability and gotten full of herself.
“What should I buy to suit her tastes?”
***
The effect of Isabel's potion was absolute.
It increased the mana my body could hold beyond its maximum.
'Oh? My body feels fresh and light, too. Must be because my mana capacity increased.'
I don't know the side effects, but at the very least it's not something you give to a student.
Even if I put it up for auction right now, it'd probably fetch a few hundred to around a thousand.
The recovery wasn't all that high, but that's just how potions were.
About half my mana remained.
If the same enemies showed up the same way, I could easily beat them down.
'Good. Let's see how far I can go.'
I picked up the magic stone and put it in my pocket.
Magic stones were prized both as an energy source and as research material.
At Hell difficulty, wouldn't they sell for a high price?
But the most important thing was still left.
The first room's reward.
'So, what are you going to give me?'
What I needed first was mana. More precisely, an item that raises the maximum mana.
Give me mana!
[Collect your reward!]
Then a silver box appeared before me, and inside it was a white-glowing orb.
[Status Enhancement Choice (1st Floor, R)]
“Yes!”
An item that lets you choose one of the stats—endurance, strength, agility, or mana—and raise it.
It was the most basic item, but for me it was the most urgent.
And crucially, I’d heard this was something that only appeared in boss rooms to begin with. And now it was here!
'Then… what do boss rooms give?'
I understood why Isela had told me to absolutely go for the highest difficulty.
On lower difficulties, even if it appeared, it would probably be a lower-grade enhancement choice.
There was a good chance Rare grade wouldn't even appear.
I chose mana right away.
Raising endurance would've been fine too, but mana was desperately needed right now.
I could always make up for it later by obtaining an artifact or a defense-type trait.
'Mana.'
The moment I thought that, my body was wrapped in a bright blue light.
“…Oh. Oh?”
I could tell for sure.
My mana capacity had nearly doubled.
The potion's effect was still ongoing, but I could feel the overflow mana becoming fully mine.
If I keep conquering the tower and growing stronger like this…
At the very least, I wouldn't have to suffer from having too little mana anymore.
***
[User : Yumia. Lion's Floor (2/3). Archer Room cleared! Mana, stamina slightly recovered! Reward granted!]
[Clear time: 15.14 seconds. Recorded.]
The second room was the same too, except that the enemy was an archer instead of a soldier, and even the reward was the same.
I chose mana without hesitation.
Now my mana capacity was three times its original amount.
That meant I could fire three big shots!
And the mana recovery granted every time I cleared a room was pretty handy.
'I could just keep going.'
I went straight into the third room.
[Lion's Floor: Entering the third room!]
But the third room was different.
For one, the darkness had lifted, and it was spacious.
I could see two skulls in the distance.
But they were much taller than the ones before, and they even had shields.
There were two of those skeletons.
Those bastards started running toward me before they even saw me.
And three skeleton archers with torches mounted on their heads.
Fortunately, they were similar to the ones from the previous room.
“But… they're a bit far away?”
A skeleton archer released the tightly drawn bowstring.
—Swaeak.
“Aaaah!”
I nearly died! Why the hell is that arrow so fast!
If not for the dynamic vision boosted by Dragon Eyes, I might've been hit!
The moment I saw them closing in, I ran in the opposite direction from the charging skeleton soldiers.
Blue light spewed from the tip of my moving staff.
“Ranged targets first! Casting, Bullet!”
—Tspang!
“Casting, Bullet! Casting, Bullet!”
—Pang! Pang!
I cast the spell and pierced the heads of all three skeleton archers.
Not flesh bits… but white bone fragments flew everywhere.
I confirmed that minimum power wouldn't pierce them, so I had to use enough for two shots.
That left enough mana for nine shots!
—Clack, rattle!!
The skeleton soldiers—no, the skeleton giants—didn't stay still.
With their archers gone, they closed the distance with their shields out front.
“Casting… Bullet!”
A small explosion slammed into the shield. That hit had used three shots' worth of mana.
"...Why are they so damn tough!"
But only the shield broke; there was no real damage.
A giant's sword came crashing down on me.
A vertical slash.
“Crazy! He's using a greatsword like a one-hander!”
—Kagaak!
I managed to deflect it.
It didn't end up sticking in the floor, but it threw off my stance.
“Casting, Bullet!”
It pierced the head of the one whose shield had broken.
I had enough left for three or four small shots.
I'd burned through all my mana dealing with the ranged ones.
Closing in on the shield was dangerous.
If I got close, I wouldn't be able to run.
But running away here without even trying anything felt kind of pathetic.
'Hmm… but even so, the shield protects their front.'
A headshot would kill it in one hit.
And this bastard was hiding behind a ridiculously huge shield and inching closer.
'Pissing me off.'
…Wait.
If the front won't work, then I can just attack from the side, right?
…Can I do that? Calculating a curve that sharp is pretty hard.
I immediately raised my staff.
Then I aimed just beside the skeleton giant,
“Casting, Bullet.”
I fired.
As if it were a curveball, the bullet of mana bent inward,
—Pang!
“There we go!”
The skeleton head behind the shield turned to bone dust and scattered everywhere.
Only a bright red magic stone remained in its place.
It was a little bigger than before.
[User : Yumia. Lion's Floor fully cleared! Mana and stamina fully recovered! Reward granted!]
[Floor clear time: 42.39 seconds. Recorded.]
[Reward :Status Enhancement Choice (1st Floor, SR), Small Wooden Staff (R)]
I looked at the golden box that appeared before me.
Inside it was something like a golden, glowing essence.
This reward was also a Status Enhancement Choice.
But it was SR, of all things.
I chose mana right away!
“Power… power is surging through me!”
Now my mana pool was seven times what it had been before entering the tower!
I could spam basic attack spells now!
But on closer inspection, there was one more reward.
There was a wooden staff inside.
“Oh, ooh, ooooh!!”
It's an artifact! Rare-grade!
And a staff, of all things—the one I needed most!
So I won't have to pay silver every week to rent a staff anymore!
“I'm saving my silver!!!”
I hurriedly grabbed the staff before anyone could see!
With the magic stones and artifact I'd collected, I headed for the exit, savoring the afterglow.
The newly expanded vessel still didn't have enough mana in it to keep climbing higher.
And with just this reward, I’d gotten everything I needed to learn magic at Reinhardt.
Now it was time to go back.
And then, with just a few steps left to the exit...
A resounding fanfare played in my head, and a flashy message appeared before my eyes.
[Hell Difficulty Special: Speedrun!]
“Huh?”
[Speedrun Rank:SSS! Speedrun reward granted! Choose your reward!]
“...What? They're giving me more than this?”
I’d heard that if certain conditions were met, challenge objectives in the tower would open.
But Hell difficulty had so little information that I’d given up on it...
So it was a speedrun!
Who knew my impatience would come in handy!
I checked the rewards immediately.
It'd be nice if I could take them all, but apparently that wasn't the case.
Four cards were displayed before me.
When I looked closely at the cards, explanations appeared as messages.
[Cards you leave behind will be added to the next opportunity of the same rank!]
'...That's even better this way.'
The burden of choice was definitely lighter.
As expected of Hell difficulty, the scale was enormous.
I looked at the first reward right away.
[Dragon Eyes (SR) -> (SSR) Enhancement]
Dragon Eyes are enhanced.
Dragon Eyes now contain a small amount of dragon mana.
Dragon Eyes' [Clairvoyance] trait is greatly enhanced.
It was pretty good.
Come to think of it, Dragon Eyes was a pretty good trait.
I felt a little bad for dismissing it as nothing but a telescope gimmick.
If there was nothing else, I'd probably pick this without hesitation.
I was also a little curious about dragon mana.
Next.
[You have obtained an artifact!]
[Red Moon Earrings (SR)]
When worn, the Red Moon emblem is engraved on the backs of the hands and arms.
Mana increases dramatically! Mana instability increases!
I grimaced at the picture drawn on the card.
“Eek…”
A cringe-worthy chuuni-style pattern drawn on the backs of the hands and arms.
It's obnoxiously noticeable.
If Karnaroff or the student guidance office saw it, they'd probably nag me.
But a huge increase in mana is tempting.
I'll be climbing the tower anyway, so if I can spam spells even more than I can now, the early floors should be easy.
For now, I'll hold off.
[An ability is added!]
[Flame Demon Orb (R)]
Fires flames at extremely high temperatures.
Depending on the user's proficiency, efficiency increases by up to twenty times!
This seemed like an ability with good synergy with [A Great Mage's Aptitude].
Getting an ability on the first floor—what a great start...
An ability was something I'd long desperately wanted...
Uh.
That said…
'Hmm… it's definitely not bad. Not bad at all, and it even goes well with my trait…'
…And somehow seeing Rare after SSR makes it look bad.
Anyway, pass.
Chances are it can be replaced with magic anyway.
The last one was a trait.
I had a feeling.
“...This is it!!!”