Just as Roy rushed forward, intending to finish it off, the goblin gave a deep growl. It stomped off the ground and charged forward. Roy quickly slashed out, wounding it, but the goblin didn’t care. It didn’t stop. It couldn’t be stopped. The goblin crashed into Roy, sending him up into the air. Only after a second did he land on the ground with a thud.
You have been stunned for 1 second!
Roy was unable to move a muscle. He could only watch as the goblin pierced its sword into his chest. His eyes twitched from the pain. Come on! Come on! Just as the goblin was about to pierce his chest again, the stun was over and he rolled to the side. Roy jumped to his feet and created some distance.
Roaring in frustration, the goblin stomped off the ground and charged forward. Unwilling to fall victim to the same move twice, Roy jumped to the side, narrowly dodging the goblin. He spun around and plunged his sword into the goblin’s back, wounding it further.
Roy was now much more cautious than he was before. Even though he had superior stats, skills were still a threat to him. Thankfully, it looked like the goblin only had one skill. The goblin died less than a minute later. If he wasn’t so cautious, the fight would have ended sooner.
“Good job.” Jason walked up to Roy and patted him on the back. “That skill was called reckless charge. It makes the goblin unable to attack, but once it smashes into you, it will stun you for three seconds. You have a high tenacity, so the effect was reduced.”
“Reckless charge, huh? It caught me off guard.” Roy hadn’t expected the goblin to ignore his attacks and ram into him.
“By the way, did you figure out the cooldown of the skill?”
Roy recalled the fight. “Uhhh, fifteen seconds or so?”
“Oh, that’s actually right.” Jason was surprised. Looks like I still underestimated him. Jason gave a nod. “Generally, when fighting a monster for the first time, ascenders deal with it in a special way. You play it as cautious as you can while observing your opponent. Whenever they do something strange, you create as much distance as possible. There’s a lot of experimentation.”
“I see. That makes sense.” Roy made a mental note to be even more cautious when fighting a monster for the first time.
“Okay, let’s move onto the next one. Once you can kill an elite goblin in less than twenty seconds, we’ll head to the second floor.” Jason led Roy to the location of another goblin elite.
Chapter 21
It was easy to lose track of time in the tower; some floors had no day/night cycle, while others always had the sun out. Ascenders’ sleep cycles were all over the place. Over time, locations safe from monsters were found. Ascenders with no way to access floors with civilization used these safe areas to sleep.
After several days of training, Roy progressed to the fourth floor. In the ravine, Jason and Roy slept in a cave that was considered a safe area. A campfire in the center of the cave kept them warm as they slept. Roy slept in a sleeping bag he had in his inventory, while Jason slept with his back to the wall. Whenever there was a noise from outside, his eyes would snap open. Upon determining there was no danger, he instantly went back to sleep.
Roy tossed and turned in his sleeping bag. Unable to sleep, he opened his eyes and glanced over at Jason, asking in a low voice. “Are you awake?”
“I am now.” Jason responded without opening his eyes.
“Sorry.” Roy shut his eyes and tried to force himself to fall asleep. The cave fell silent save for the crackling of the fire.
Jason opened his eyes and inspected Roy. After a moment, he asked, “What is it?”
Roy turned to face Jason with a pondering expression. “Well, I was just thinking about the tower.”
“What about it?” Jason knew more about the tower than anybody else on the planet. He was the best person to ask, although Roy didn’t know this.
Roy sat up and leaned on his elbow. “Well, the tower is generally a rewarding place, right? I mean, it’s dangerous, but the rewards more than make up for it. I was just wondering why the tower is here? I mean, did it choose earth? Is it sentient?”
Jason fell silent as he gathered his thoughts. He recalled the white figure at the top of the tower, the one who granted him a wish. Jason looked up at the ceiling. “As for why the tower is here, no one really knows. But as for whether the tower is sentient… I believe it is.”
“I think so too!” Roy smiled for a second before it turned into a frown. “But why then are there monster waves? What’s the deal with that? Is the tower a friend or foe?”
Jason faced Roy. “I have a theory.”
“What is it?” Roy fully sat up, his expression earnest. After spending the past few days with Jason, Roy was filled with awe and respect for him. Jason was so knowledgeable and skilled, yet humble at the same time. An impressionable young boy like Roy was bound to look up to him.
Jason sighed. “Think of the monster waves as a timer. They progressively get stronger, until eventually they become so powerful that they cannot be stopped.”
“A timer, huh?” Roy thought aloud. “But why is there a timer?”
“I think it’s to prevent us from pillaging the tower indefinitely,” Jason stated firmly. This was his personal opinion, formed from his boundless experience ascending the tower.
“Huh…” Roy fell into his thoughts as he pondered Jason’s theory.
A few minutes passed before Jason stood up and stretched. “Ready to head to the sixth floor?”
“The sixth floor? Not the fifth?” Roy shot to his feet, ready to get started with another day of training.
Jason shook his head. “The fifth floor is basically just a slightly harder version of the fourth floor. There will be no point in training there. The sixth floor is different.”
“Okay, whatever you say.” Roy shrugged indifferently. He would do whatever Jason suggested. He stored away his sleeping bag and put on his equipment before following Jason. “What monsters are there? I’m tired of fighting goblins.”
“You’ll see.” Jason smirked.
“Better not be goblins,” Roy muttered under his breath. They began their journey to the sixth floor.
In another location of the tower, Victor drew his bow and fired off a power shot. The arrow moved so fast that ripples in the air were left in its wake. The arrow pierced directly through an orc, leaving a large hole in its chest. The orc grunted in pain as it dispersed into light.
-309
Victor walked up to the place the orc died and picked up his arrow. He clicked his tongue in frustration when he glanced at power shot’s experience. My skills take forever to level. Being a natural-born sure is boring. He had heard that one satisfaction of being an ascender was the feeling of happiness when skills leveled up. As a natural-born, however, his skills were at a high grade the moment he was born. They took much longer to level up, so there was no feeling of satisfaction.
Just as Victor was about to find another orc to kill, he froze. The cold sting of a blade rested against his throat. He slowly turned his head, only to relax. “Sis, don’t scare me like that.”
Behind Victor was the transparent figure of a slender black-haired teenage girl. His sister, Olivia. She deactivated the stealth skill, returning her body to normal. She slowly stepped around to Victor’s front, keeping her dagger on his neck the entire time. After looking him up and down, she sneered. “What have you been up to these days, Vic?”
Victor was calm even though a dagger was at his neck. “You know that, don’t you? Trying to please Father by undergoing his damned trial.”
“Is that right?” Olivia snorted. “Do you want to know how Father and Mother reacted when they heard you lost a duel between two low-tier guilds?”
Victor clenched his hands. Sure enough, they’re watching me. Victor used a finger to push the dagger away from his throat. “So they sent you here to reprimand me, is that it?”
“Maybe. It depends on your explanation. Mom and Dad aren’t so unreasonable.” Olivia played with
her dagger by flipping it in between her fingers, a habit of hers.
Victor stepped up to stand beside Olivia. “Tell them that I learned a valuable lesson. I was too arrogant before, but now I know never to underestimate anyone or anything.” Victor walked off, leaving his sister standing there with a thoughtful expression.
After a few moments, Olivia glanced down at her reflection on the dagger. “Oh, sweet little Victor. You’ve finally grown up a little, huh? I suppose I should go find the man who beat you and give him my gratitude. What was his name again? Jason?”
A few hours later, Jason and Roy appeared on the sixth floor. Roy immediately exclaimed. “What is that? It smells so good!”
Jason took in a deep breath through his nose as he glanced around. The sixth floor, huh? They stood on a small hill, overlooking a vast grassy plain filled with a variety of colorful flowers. The pleasing smell came from these flowers, which were unique to the tower. Scattered among the sea of flowers were rare plants called herbs. If mixed with other ingredients, they could be made into potions.
Suddenly, a small round creature rolled up to Roy’s feet. It looked up at him, giving him an adorable smile. Roy bent over and picked up the creature. “This is a slime? They’re much cuter than I thought!”
The small creature was indeed a slime. A slime was generally a transparent creature in a state of semi-liquid. There were hundreds if not thousands of different species of slimes, and the one in Roy’s hands was the most basic of them—a green slime. Much like its name, it was a bright green color.
“What a unique texture.” Roy commented as he playfully pulled and squished the slime in his hands. The slime let out a cute ‘mmm’. Roy was basically giving it a massage.
Jason walked up to Roy and whispered into his ear. “Y’know, the texture of a slime is eerily similar to that of a woman’s breast.”
“Uh.” Roy’s face turned bright red as he glanced down at the slime. The slime looked up at him, wondering why he stopped giving it a massage. Their eyes made contact. Roy promptly dropped the slime and coughed awkwardly. “Slimes are dangerous.”
Jason nearly fell to the ground from laughter.
Chapter 22
The sixth floor was bursting with teams farming for herbs. Unlike equipment, which lost value over the years due to supply slowly increasing over time, herbs never lost value. Herbalists turned them into potions, which would then be consumed by ascenders. The supply never reached the demand, so herbs were always in need.
The sixth floor was much more pleasing to farm on compared to the earlier floors. The scenery was beautiful, the monsters adorable, and the sky was clear and warm. Roy took everything in stride as they strolled along a dirt path through the grasslands. With his hands clasped behind his head, he turned to Jason. “You said I’ll be training here, right? What’s the plan?”
Jason glanced around the grasslands, inspecting the teams searching for herbs in the sea of flowers as he responded. “You’re going to be killing slimes.”
“Ah?” Roy recalled the cute beady eyes on the slime he picked up earlier. “Aren’t they too cute to kill?”
“I agree that they’re cute, but most of them are hostile, unlike the green slime near the portal. Don’t forget that they’re monsters.” Jason walked over to a green slime near the dirt path and picked it up.
“What are you going to do?” Roy was concerned Jason was going to force him to kill it.
“Nothing.” Jason held out the slime to Roy. “Do you know what type of monster a slime is?”
“Um, no.”
Jason pointed to a small congealed lump inside the transparent slime. “They’re elementals. And what do all elementals have?”
“I know this one.” Roy’s eyes lit up as he took a closer look at the lump. “Isn’t that a core?”
Jason tossed the slime over his back, where it promptly landed on the ground with a soft thud. Roy gave him a glare, to which Jason shrugged indifferently. “All elementals have a fatal weakness. Namely, their core. If you destroy the core, the elemental will fade from existence. Though keep in mind, high level elementals will generally hide their core and seek to protect it.”
“So, what does that have to do with my training?” Roy said as they continued to walk along the dirt path.
“The sixth floor is where things change dramatically.” Jason kept glancing around as he talked, as if he was searching for something. “The slimes here all cast spells, not skills. A fire slime will cast fire spells, a water slime will cast water spells, an earth sl-”
“I get the idea,” Roy interrupted with a roll of his eyes.
Jason coughed. “Anyway, your training is to try to kill slimes in a single hit. As you fight and dodge the spells they throw at you, you need to be able to accurately hit their core. As before, you aren’t allowed to use abilities.”
“Ah, I see. You want me to train accuracy and dodging?” Now that he knew what the next step was, he was getting excited.
“And to get familiar with fighting mages,” Jason added.
Jason recalled the location of the fire, earth, water, and air slimes. Around two hours later, they arrived at their destination. In the sea of flowers, a fire slime could be seen bouncing around, its body bright red.
Red Slime - Level 20
Health: 400/400
Jason crossed his arms and pointed with his chin. “Try it out.”
“Got it.” Roy pulled out his sword and cautiously approached the slime. Over the past few days, he had improved by leaps and bounds. He was no longer in the category of a newbie ascender. Even so, he approached the fire slime slowly. The memory of fighting the elite goblin was still fresh in his mind. He didn’t know what spells the fire slime had, so this fight would be an experiment.
As soon as Roy stepped within a certain radius of the slime, it faced him, let out a cute squeak, and spit out a fireball from its mouth. The ball of fire traveled faster than Roy expected. Rolling out of the way, he felt the back of his head heat up. Okay, it attacks from its mouth, but I can’t be certain so soon.
Roy kept his distance, waiting for the next fireball. After around five seconds, the slime jumped into the air while spitting out another ball of fire. Having adjusted to the speed, Roy stepped to the side, dodging the fireball by a small margin. About a five-second cooldown.
He tested the cooldown of the fireball a few more times and determined it to be exactly five seconds. Moving onto the next stage of the experiment, Roy rushed forward. When he was five feet away from the slime, it suddenly faced the sky and squeaked. A ring of fire extended outwards in every direction, moving half as fast as the fireball. As soon as Roy saw the unfamiliar movement, he jumped backwards, but it was useless. The ring of fire washed over him, dealing thirty damage. “Hot, hot, hot!”
He hastily checked if he was on fire, only to sigh in relief. I need to jump over the fire, not backwards. Instead of rushing up to finish the slime while its skill was on cooldown, he waited. Ten seconds later, another ring of fire rushed outward. With a simple leap, he jumped over it and rushed towards the slime.
After dodging another fireball, he slashed down with his sword. He tried aiming at the small lump inside of its body, but it was harder than he thought. The slime constantly moved and jiggled, causing the core to change positions. Instead of killing it in one shot, he dealt one hundred and sixty-two damage.
The fight was over quickly after that. Roy went all-in after determining that the fire slime’s only two skills were fireball and fire ring. The slime dispersed into light, dropping a few pieces of copper and a gooey lump of… something. Roy picked up the loot and inspected it.
(Basic) Fire Slime Core
An ingredient used in alchemy.
Storing away the loot, Roy hopped over to Jason and waited expectantly. Jason smiled brightly. “Great job. You basically did everything perfectly, except for the fact that you let the fire ring hit you.”
Roy scratched his cheek. “I suppose I should hav
e waited a split second to judge what was coming before reacting.”
Jason nodded as he praised inwardly. The best thing is that he can reflect over his battle himself. This skill is invaluable. Jason suddenly clapped his hands. “Okay, I’m going to grind my levels. Stay here and farm out the four slimes I mentioned earlier. If you have any trouble, contact me with the necklace.”
“Got it.” Roy rushed into the field of flowers, looking forward to testing out the other slimes. Every battle was a new experience, something he loved greatly.
Jason recalled the location of elite slimes and made his way over to them. He didn’t show it, but he was incredibly bored while he taught Roy. He desperately wanted to train his skills and level them up, but Roy was of higher priority. In the future, Jason knew he would be relying on Roy, which was why he was investing so much time in training him.
Towers of Heaven Page 12
