Vol. 1 - Ch. 9 - Floor of Trial

Much of the first floor was a simple structure of several halls connected by narrow corridors.Furthermore, Ash had yet to encounter any traps.

It was possible that he simply hadn't activated them, but perhaps the intention was to place as many monsters as possible rather than traps. Ash had come to this conclusion after the numerous attacks on him from groups of Goblins.

Nonetheless, Goblins were still Goblins.

Although it had been tedious, Ash proceeded further in, eventually reaching a wide hall with stairs leading up.

He peeked out from the corner and sneaked a peek at the room.

A row of warrior statues lined the walls.

In the center, a group of goblins was waiting for him.

There were 8 Fighters and 2 Archers.

Additionally, there was a Goblin with a small axe, wearing a helmet.

Ash had never seen this type of Goblin before.

Judging by its demeanor, he guessed that it was probably the leader.

(Should I start with the Archer or the leader... Standard practice says to go after the Archer first, but still... If I can get the leader first, I definitely should.)

He picked up a pebble that had fallen nearby and threw it over the Goblins' heads.

The pebble made a banging sound as it hit the wall in the far back.

All the Goblins turned toward the sound at once.

Ash used the chance to run out.

Immediately, he closed the gap with the leader.

The leader noticed him and turned around. Ash wasn't sure if it was because of sound or his murderous intent that had given him away.

As he turned around, the leader swung his small axe at Ash.

(It's the leader all right. It has good senses. Still, it's not a problem.)

Ash passed through the side of the leader, and using his full weight stabbed the stiletto into the Goblin's back.

Even before the leader could collapse, Ash turned his attention to his next target, the Archer.

He quickly felled the Archer just as he was preparing to shoot.

In the meantime, another arrow shot at Ash, but he managed to avoid it and close the distance.

He stabbed his dagger into the remaining Archer's brain, easily eliminating him.

Now, only the Fighters remained.

As Ash turned around energetically to face them, the Fighters had all turned their backs and were running away out of the hall.

"Oh, so they're running? Was it because I killed their leader?"

Ash felt a bit let down, but he was nonetheless happy that he'd spared some energy.

After waiting for the Gamal to gather the gems Ash began to ascend the stairs at the end of the hall. The staircase was made in the form of a spiral that circled alongside the circumference of the tower. Furthermore, it was also endless, most likely because of the scale of the tower itself.

"So this is the crystal the supervisor told me about." he muttered.

At the end of the stairs, Ash found a crystal on a waist-high stand.

It was about the size of a human head.

He put his palm on the crystal, and it emitted a faint red light for a moment.

When he checked his palm, he found a {2} painted on it in red light, but it quickly and soundlessly lost its color.

Ash figured that it was a system that remained hidden except when using the Lift Gate.

At any rate, this meant that the first floor had been conquered.

Ash wanted to challenge the second floor as soon as possible, but unfortunately for him, he still had to climb.

This time, however, it wasn't stairs, but a gentle slope. Ash walked along the pillared corridor stretching before him, allowing him to see the clear and bright sky outside, which was in complete contrast to the stark red walls inside.

He stood on the edge to try and look down. As he did, he saw the ground, which had completely receded into the distance. Straining his eyes to their utmost, he could somehow make out what appeared to be the supervisor and the other challengers, but he wasn't able to make out their expressions.

He was quite high up after all.

(I felt like I had climbed quite a bit, but it's shocking to see that it's this high on only the second floor. Just how high up is the 100th floor then? I might just get to see the whole world from it. I can't wait.)

Suddenly, Ash heard a howl coming from beyond the pillared corridor.

Followed by an erratic sound of footsteps.

It was clearly different from the footsteps of the Goblins.

Suddenly, a four-legged beast leaped out of the wall.

Its appearance was that of a wolf, but it was as tall as a human.

Fierce fangs overflowed from its slender, elongated mouth.

"A Direwolf!" Ash exclaimed.

The four-legged beast, the Direwolf, did not stop and pounced on him.

Ash immediately rolled to the left to escape.

A Direwolf's fangs were so destructive that they could chew through ordinary armor.

However, Direwolves weren't as agile as normal wolves, so it was easy to avoid their attacks.

"I'll close the distance and finish it in one go!" Ash exclaimed.

As he turned around, his gaze crossed with the red shimmering eyes of the Direwolf. The mouth of the enemy, with its blade-like fangs, opened wide, and a fireball shot out of it.

"No way!" Ash exclaimed.

He rolled across the floor again and managed to evade.

Immediately after, a fireball hit the spot where he had been standing earlier, creating a large scorch mark.

Ash regained his stance while glancing at the scene next to him.

He had fought Direwolves many times in the Towers of Trials he'd conquered, but this was his first time encountering a fire-breathing one.

Ash had thought that the Goblin's fire arrows were simply a coincidence, but given that even the Direwolf was using fire, it wasn't hard for him to figure out that the Red Tower was fire-themed, as its color suggested.

The Direwolf kicked the ground and pounced again.

(If I can't attack from here, then I guess I'll just wait for it!)

Ash took out his swordbreaker with his left hand, holding it in a reverse grip, with the comb part facing him. He circled to the right side of the approaching Direwolf and put the blade to its large mouth. He didn't swing his arm through the air but rushed forward as if pushing with his entire body. Embracing the feeling of the Direwolf's flesh being cut.

Due to the length of the blade, it couldn't cut the Direwolf in half, but it was enough to inflict a fatal wound.

When Ash turned around, the Direwolf was lying on the ground.

Eventually, its figure faded and disappeared like fog.

Staring at the two blue gems on the floor, Ash exhaled heavily.

Direwolves would often appear in the middle or upper floors of the Towers of Trials.

But here, it appeared as early as the second floor, and could even spit fireballs.

(The towers of Dural Island sure do live to their names. Nonetheless, I can still manage.) Ash thought.

As long as he wasn't attacked in excessive numbers, he would be able to ascend further without any major problems.

Suddenly, with the sound of slow footsteps, three Direwolves appeared from the back, and behind them, a group of five Goblins.

Ash couldn't help but blink, however, he quickly relaxed, the corners of his mouth rising in a grin.

"Haha... This is good. Now that's what I'm talking about!"

◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆ ◆

Ash placed his hand on the crystal, engraving the Mark of Completion on his hand and rested his back against a nearby wall.

He slumped down, relaxing his whole body.

"That was tough..." he muttered.

About half a day after entering the tower, Ash's fatigue was near its limit.

The cause was none other than the tower's structure.

On the first floor there had only been one road to take, however, as he ascended, the branches increased.

Furthermore, the branched off roads would often lead to dead ends where monsters were waiting. Making it quite the terrible experience.

Of course, the complexity of the paths wasn't the only thing that had increased. The monsters had gotten more annoying as well.

The most troublesome of them had been the Direwolf riding Goblins. Namely, the Riders. sᴇaʀᴄh thᴇ NʘvᴇlFire.nᴇt website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Their increased number of attacks reduced the gaps they showed and made them take longer to defeat.

Moreover, in the beginning, only one pair appeared, but as Ash progressed, the number increased, and eventually, every Goblin was riding a Direwolf.

It had been a tough road, but he had managed to get through it so far.

When he looked at his palm, he saw a {10} mark that was about to disappear.

"I was planning to get here faster, but I suppose I underestimated it a bit." Ash admitted.

He stood up groggily and turned his body to face the door of the 10th floor.

The tower supervisor had told him that this floor was special and that she'd explain it to him once he reached it.

Indeed, the 10th floor was different from the previous floors in terms of construction.

There were no narrow streets, only a wide-open space.

The walls were beautifully decorated in red and gold, creating a majestic atmosphere that made one forget that it was a den of monsters.

Above all, there was no gate that led to the next floor.

There were no monsters, and the place seemed to have only artistic value.

(Is there really a Lord here?)

Ash came to the wall directly in front of him with doubts.

Checking up close, there didn't seem to be any kind of hidden door.

(I really should go back and get the rundown from the supervisor first. I'm tired and all, so it'll be just perfect.)

Thinking that Ash turned around, however as he did, a blue shimmering hexagram appeared beneath his feet.

"What?"

Before he knew it, the view before him was stained black.

It carried a completely different air than before.

(I was teleported!)

A large flame lit up in the distance inside a goblet-shaped cup as tall as a person. It shimmered violently as if blown by the wind.

The flames revealed that Ash had found himself in a long, box-like space.

The area, albeit boxy, was wide, making it impossible to close the distance from one end to the other with a single jump.

The left and right walls were decorated with a total of four of the same cups as the one at the far end, two for each wall.

Looking back, Ash noticed yet another cup at the wall behind him, coming up to a total of 6 cups, including the innermost one.

He would have liked to see all the cups lit as the front was still quite dim, but unfortunately, there was no sign of that.

Suddenly, a large shadow appeared at one of the back corners.

The two red dots reflected in Ash's eyes slowly walked out to the light.

"A Direwolf. And quite the big one at that." Ash remarked.

Normal Direwolves looked like babies compared to this one.

(I guess he's the King of the Direwolves.)

"Are you the Lord?" Ash asked.

A roar came back as if to say yes.

"I guess that's a yes."

Everything about the monster before him told Ash that it was different from the previous monsters.

Ash pulled out his stiletto while keeping his stance low and looked at the Lord.

He wanted to at least get a glimpse at the Lord's face before going back.

However, right at that moment the Lord moved.

It was huge, so it was only natural that the distance it covered would be enormous as well, however, the scary thing was that despite its size it wasn't any slower than a regular Direwolf.

(I can kill him with this stiletto. Though I can't allow myself to get hit.) Ash thought.

The Lord jumped at him with its big mouth open.

Ash stayed there until right before the Lord reached him, then kicked the floor and dodged to the left.

Fangs so large they could be mistaken for dragon claws gouged out the floor where Ash had just stood.

The destructive power was immense.

If Ash had been there he would've been turned to minced meat.

Elevated by the chilling sensation running through his back, Ash kicked the ground hard once more.

With his left palm on the bottom of the handle, he aimed the stiletto at the Lord's side.

A dull sound rang out.

It was evident that the blade hadn't penetrated the monster's flesh.

The Lord, finally having recovered its balance after its rough landing, turned around and swung its left front leg.

Ash immediately retreated creating a great deal of distance between them.

He then looked towards his right hand, as it felt strangely light. As he did, his face stiffened.

"You've got to be kidding me..."

His main weapon, the stiletto, had shattered.