The Spirit Trembles and the Tower Topples in Shock (2)

My thirteen Mythic-grade traits.

They were often far more impressive than their descriptions suggested.

Take the 'Tower Harmonizer,' for example. Its bland description merely said it could move me through the Tower, yet it gave me a ridiculously easy climb.

The 'Sword God' claimed to provide combat bonuses, but actually raised everything from swordsmanship proficiency to judgment.

And 'Fusion,' which let me combine and enhance not only items but summons as well.

How should I put it? The descriptions were written carelessly, with the feeling of, 'It's Mythic-grade, so it works somehow.'

I already knew that, but…

'Why is Dragon Knight activating, of all things?'

The fire spirit, Salamander.

That's a lizard.

Even when I examined it with Dragon Eyes, I couldn't find the word 'dragon' anywhere.

And yet, the Dragon Knight trait suddenly activated.

I genuinely had no idea what was going on.

'Don't tell me I'm supposed to ride that thing?'

It's called Dragon Knight, isn't it?

If I ride that, won't I be a lizard rider?

I'm a practical person who doesn't care much about appearances, but this is a bit much.

My eyes narrowed on their own at the thought.

I even tightened my grip on my sword.

-Tremble.

"S-so it can't be…!!!"

The fire lizard seemed similarly tense.

It trembled as it looked at me.

"Kyaeung…? Kkang, kkang!!!"

Dohwa, who had been watching nervously, now raised their two tails straight up, but…

Contrary to what Dohwa and I expected,

the reaction that followed wasn't hostile at all.

-Prostrate.

"…May I apologize for speaking so insolently to you?"

"Huh?"

"Kyaeung?"

The spirit flattened itself against the ground.

As if that weren't enough, it pressed its head firmly to the floor.

It looked as though it were pledging its submission.

In fact, that's exactly what it was doing.

"I never expected such an honored person to visit this lowly place."

"An honored person? What am I supposed to be?"

"You are favored by the greatest of all races, the dragons."

"Ah."

Come to think of it, the trait description had said something like that.

'The dragon's love dwells within you.'

I just hadn't expected it to be applied like this.

-Tilt.

'But why bow just because I'm favored? They're the GM of the third tier!'

Then a sudden sense of incongruity struck me.

Wasn't this a little excessive?

"Why are you bowing your head? Dragons are amazing, not me."

I asked right away.

The answer came immediately.

"Because I am a spirit. All spirits are vassals of dragons, so I must submit to you, who stand as their equal."

"…Really?"

"Indeed. And please speak to me informally. I can hardly bear it."

"Hmm, I see."

So, to summarize:

You have a dragon backing you?

Okay. Roll out the red carpet.

"Did you come to the temple to ascend, as I expected?"

"That's right, but…."

"I shall escort you comfortably. Normally, an initiate must blaze their own trail, but I cannot impose such hardship on you. Please leave it to me."

He was even offering to clear the Tower for me…

What kind of absurd free ride was this?

Yuna would be furious if she saw this, asking how anything like this could exist.

Of course, I had no intention of refusing.

"Then could you open the door first?"

-Point.

I pointed to a door set into one side of the temple.

No, it was closer to a wall than a door.

It consisted of one small door to start with, followed by ever-larger doors layered and connected together.

The doors opened automatically after evaluating an Awakener's overall strength.

'Didn't a manga use this as its motif? Was it called 'Hunger X Hunger' or something?'

A door famous for being featured in a Japanese mega-hit manga, a series that finally concluded after a staggering twenty years of diligent serialization.

It was also famous as the door borrowed for that manga, but anyway.

This was what an Awakener who faced the door generally experienced.

They barely managed to open the smallest door, or failed to open it because they lacked the ability.

If they failed, they cleared another training quest given by the spirit.

Then, regardless of whether they succeeded, the spirit would casually open two doors afterward.

Awakeners were generally overwhelmed by the spirit's might when they saw that, but…

-Crack!!!

"There, I've opened it!!!"

The spirit, who normally should have stood aloof and offered only unsolicited advice,

opened the door immediately at my request.

It had put so much force into it that the third door even opened a little.

"Thanks~."

What a sweet freebie.

I was thinking that as I tried to walk through the door, but…

-Halt.

'If Salamander can do that, how much could Dohwa do?'

A question suddenly occurred to me.

If a mere Level 200 Salamander could do that, how far could Dohwa go?

I can't resist satisfying my curiosity.

I should have Dohwa try right away.

"Salamander, step aside for a moment."

"Yes, is something inconvenient…."

"It's nothing like that. Dohwa? Lightning Flash at that door!!!"

"Kkang!!!"

As the lizard moved aside,

Dohwa's pink ball of fur accelerated in an instant.

A moment later, a pink streak of light slammed into the door.

-Craaaaaack!!!!

"W-what!!!?"

The door flew wide open immediately.

No fewer than four doors had opened.

Technically, the fourth door hadn't opened even halfway.

But even that seemed unbelievable to Salamander.

The lizard's mouth fell open like a crocodile's.

"How can this be…? How can such a lowly yokai open more doors than I can…."

"Kyaeung~?"

"That's right, good job."

I didn't pay it much mind.

I simply picked up Dohwa, who wagged their tail as if asking whether they had done well, and walked on.

This was only natural for Dohwa, whose stats transcended the Tower.

"Kkang, kkang!!"

"Hmm? What is it, Dohwa?"

"Kyaeung~."

"You want me to try, too?"

But Dohwa looked like they wanted to see me do it.

So I casually placed my hand on the door as well.

Ding.

A clear notification window appeared before me…

[The enormous door assesses your strength.]

[Assessment complete. The door will open.]

Rumbleeeee—!!!!!

A tremendous roar rang out from every direction.

Thick dust filled the air, and stone chips flew everywhere.

The shaking was a bonus, as if an earthquake had struck the temple.

Dohwa and I slowly looked upward.

-Snicker.

"It seems like it's thanks to my traits, but are you satisfied, Dohwa?"

"Kyaeung~."

"There, there. Oh, Salamander. Come quickly."

I gave a rough laugh and turned around.

"Wh-wha… Whaaaa…?"

In Salamander's eyes, all ten doors stood open.

No, the wall itself had been blown completely open.

* * *

Salamander's mind completely broke.

-Gulp.

'That beast called Dohwa is strange enough.'

First, Dohwa.

They had opened three doors—

No, they had nearly opened four, when even Salamander itself could open only two.

That meant Dohwa was nearly twice as strong as Salamander.

It couldn't help being afraid.

And yet, even Dohwa was merely an ordinary mortal before that person.

'That person…. '

Salamander's gaze followed Hwi-min.

An initiate who had opened all ten doors and then walked on without the slightest reaction.

Seeing that calm response made the flames all over its body feel as though they were standing on end.

'If I hadn't sensed the dragon's aura, I might have ignored someone like that…!!'

In truth, Salamander had secretly looked down on Hwi-min.

It was the dragon that was frightening, not Hwi-min.

On top of that, Hwi-min looked shabby.

There had been a reason Salamander had spoken informally to Hwi-min at the start.

Salamander now bitterly regretted that behavior.

'If only I'd paid attention to that ring from the beginning… No, there's no point regretting what's past! I mustn't fall any further out of that person's favor!!'

"G-great one! I shall follow you!"

It hurried after Hwi-min.

Forcing an absolute powerhouse to use honorifics while speaking informally itself was a sin, and Salamander intended to atone for it with everything it had.

If it had originally planned merely to put on a show of respect,

now it would do so desperately, even at the cost of its life.

Thanks to that, Hwi-min climbed the Tower in exceptional comfort.

"If anything is inconvenient, please let me know! I shall adjust it immediately!!!"

Take Floor 22, for example.

It was a floor where Hwi-min had to gather spirit flowers from a snowy field filled with snow spirits.

Hwi-min never even had to set foot on the snow.

Salamander circled him, blocking the cold.

Thanks to that, not a single snow spirit came near,

"The snow flowers…."

"Why would you need to bother with those? Come, there is nothing worth seeing here, so let us hurry onward!"

Flowers that Hwi-min normally would have had to find by rolling around in the snow.

Salamander wouldn't even let Hwi-min collect them.

It was such a blatant free ride that even Hwi-min felt a little sorry.

'I've gone this far for that person. I wonder if they're feeling a little better?'

Of course, this was only natural from Salamander's perspective.

If Hwi-min had refused, Salamander would have been the one unable to sit still, but…

"Trait switch, Hyper-Adaptation."

"…Yes?"

"Salamander, stop wandering around and stand still for a moment."

Why, though?

-Sching.

Hwi-min raised his sword, his eyes gleaming.

Salamander screamed inwardly.

'Did I do something to offend that person…?'

'It isn't an aggressive monster, but I can't pass up a chance to farm.'

Of course, Hwi-min had no ulterior motive.

He was simply planning to slaughter every spirit and leave, in case an artifact dropped.

At Hwi-min's casual glance, Salamander trembled and prostrated itself on the ground.

Tears welled in its eyes,

but Hwi-min didn't see them.

-Ding.

[The trait 'Hyper-Adaptation+' activates.]

[Hyper-Adaptation+ (Mythic)]

You immediately acquire resistance when struck by an elemental attack.

(New!) You also acquire resistance when exposed to an elemental environment.

[You have acquired Minor Cold Resistance.]

"Spatial Slash!"

Slash—

The sword slashed upward toward the sky.

Before long, transparent sword strikes scattered through the air.

Their target was the snowflake-shaped spirits freely floating in the air.

The result was an overwhelming massacre.

"…G-gasp!!!"

'The spirits, all in one strike!?'

The snow spirits were sliced apart all at once.

Even spirits that fled after seeing their companions fall were neatly bisected by sword strikes that mysteriously changed direction to chase them down.

Normally, physical attacks didn't work on spirits.

But this happened thanks to the 'Myriad Severance Sword' trait, which could cut through anything.

Thanks to that, Salamander felt the fear of death for the first time since its birth.

'If those things were killed, then what about me…?'

And Salamander thought:

This wasn't Hwi-min showing off its ability.

It was an unspoken warning.

I could cut through an insignificant thing like you in a single stroke.

So behave yourself.

It was too frightened to speak properly.

'Of course that person is still offended by what happened earlier!! You stupid bastard, how dare you fail to know your place…. '

'Tsk, it didn't drop.'

Hwi-min, meanwhile, was merely a little disappointed that no artifact had appeared, but anyway.

Thanks to that, Hwi-min passed Floor 22 in comfort.

At the end of Floor 22, three portals glowing with clear light welcomed the three of them.

"You worked hard, Salamander. Thanks to you, Dohwa must have stayed warm, too."

"Kkang!!"

"It is my honor to have been able to help, however inadequately!!!"

And just as the rigorously disciplined Salamander bowed its head,

"Oh, right, Salamander. Come to think of it, there's something I'm curious about."

"Ask me anything!!! I shall answer as best I can!!!"

"All right, then."

Hwi-min, holding Dohwa,

asked casually.

Without much expectation, as if it were merely a passing question,

"In the third tier… are there any monsters in the temple that are absolutely impossible to kill? You know, something that would become legendary if you killed it."

'I can't resist farming achievements.'