Vol. 1 - Ch. 18 - Fight! Red Tower 10th Floor [First Act]

The next day, as the sun began to set, Ash and Clara visited the square in front of the Red Tower.Unlike in the morning, there were only about 10 challengers waiting.

Perhaps because of this, the atmosphere was somewhat calm. 

The red-haired Milma, the tower's supervisor, walked up to them.

"Miss Clara, may I take a minute of your time?"

"O-Of course!"

Clara's face instantly became tense at the supervisor's attitude.

She could guess what they were going to talk about.

"I have a message from Master Venus. It said that if you do not manage to clear any of the towers' 10th Floor by sunset, you are to leave the island."

"O-Okay..."

"It's been a long time since I've last issued this warning. After all, most would have died before the deadline for clearing the 10th Floor came." The supervisor said with a carefree smile.

Clara, in turn, was as white as a ghost.

"I see you're enjoying this as usual." Ash muttered.

"Thank you for the compliment." the supervisor replied.

Ash couldn't even get angry given that the supervisor had seen right through his ploy.

While they were talking with the supervisor, Darrion and his team came to the square.

"Hey, newbie."

"What's the deal? Did you come to cheer us on?"

"Like I'd ever come to support you!" Darrion replied, his face unmistakably anger-stricken as he moved closer to Ash.

"I hope you haven't forgotten our bet. Don't you dare chicken out." Darrion said.

"Same goes for you."

"Naturally. Though with that woman around I'm pretty sure I won't have to do anything on my part." Darrion said.

He glared at Clara, causing her to shiver, but then Clara squeezed her hands together as if to hide her fear.

"I-I'll clear it this time!"

Hearing Clara's response Darrion showed an amused smile, as if he hadn't expected her to talk back.

However, that smile quickly vanished and Darrion's expression became grim.

"Let's see you try then. Though, it's impossible for someone like you." He said.

Clara looked straight back at him resolutely, but her body was terribly frightened.

If things were left as they were, she'd be rattled even before they challenged the Lord.

"Let's go, Clara. He's not the one we're fighting."

"O-Okay."

◆◆◆◆◆

"What was with his face?! You'd only see such ugly faces inside the tower! It's definitely not the face of a human!"

As soon as they arrived at the 10th Floor's hall, Clara started screaming in exasperation.

Ash understood where her frustration was coming from, but Clara's words were just so mean that he couldn't help but feel sorry for Darrion.

"I was worried that you'd be exhausted from this morning's hunting, but you seem to be doing fine." Ash said.

"Yea, I'm in perfect condition. Besides, unlike you Ash, I don't move around that much."

The thing Ash was concerned about was the amount of Mana Clara had left. However, judging by her complexion, she was doing just fine.

Suddenly, Clara looked intently at her arm where she was wearing a metal bracelet with the Frost Arrow Magic Stone embedded in it, which she had obtained yesterday.

"Are you sure I can have this? After all, you're the one that took down most of the monsters..." Clara muttered.

"We're a team. There's no need to even mention it. Besides, if you can use Offensive Magic then it'll be easier for you to deal with any small-fry that might come at you."

"B-But I'm not sure I'll be able to hit them..."

"Didn't you practice quite a lot? You'll be fine!"

During the morning hunt Clara had tried hitting enemies with Frost Arrow numerous times, and for a good chunk she had hit the targets. She was definitely not the athletic type, however, from what he'd seen up until now, Ash believed that she might have a natural talent for using Magic.

"But remember, don't shoot at the Lord no matter what. If he switches his target to you I won't be able to cover."

"G-Got it!"

"Perfect. Let's go then!"

They stepped onto the magic circle at the back of the hall together and moved to the room of trial.

As before, the moment they arrived they were met with a dark place.

It was so dark that it was almost impossible to make out anything.

"Was it always this dark?"

"Don't you remember?"

"No... It's been quite a while since I've last been here." Clara explained.

Immediately after that, the goblet in the back lit up, making the entire hall slightly brighter.

Following that, a huge shadow appeared in the far right corner.

It had a long mouth with sharp fangs and muscular limbs supported its majestic body.

It was the king of the Direwolves, a monster Clara had squared off against numerous times in the past.

The Lord finally made its appearance.

(Is it waiting for a moment to strike?)

Ash thought as he watched the Lord approach with a leisurely gait, grunting and groaning.

"Here it comes. Clara, stay as far away from it as possible and be careful not to draw its attention."

"O-Okay!"

"And no matter what, don't stand in front of it. Otherwise, you'll be playing dodgeball with the fireballs." Ash warned.

He pulled out his stiletto and braced himself.

The blue Attribute Stone they'd gotten yesterday was embedded in the stiletto's handle. Ash had wondered whether to strengthen the swordbreaker or the stiletto, but in the end, he'd decided to go with the stiletto, which would end up delivering the final blow.

Suddenly, Ash noticed the Lord opening its big mouth, and releasing a fireball as a welcoming gift.

However, thanks to there being a lot of distance between the two parties, Ash dodged it easily.

He glanced behind him and saw that Clara had also successfully avoided it, albeit, leaning slightly forward as if she was about to fall.

Suddenly, a sound, resembling the rumbling of the earth, reverberated.

Ash quickly returned his gaze forward, and found the Lord had closed in on him.

(It probably used the fireball as a distraction to cover the distance!)

Using the momentum, the Lord swung its front right foot, bringing its sharp black claws down.

Ash evaded by diving headfirst below the Lord's bosom, then spun around and rolled on the floor, swiftly repositioning himself.

The Lord couldn't move quickly right after the attack so Ash seized the opportunity to drive the stiletto deep into the heel of its front left foot.

The sensation, akin to piercing through soft soil, took Ash by surprise.

(Dural Island's weapons aren't half-bad. I couldn't really feel the difference against the weaker monsters, but these really are worlds apart. Maybe it's also because of the Attribute Stone, but no matter the case, this is way better than what I had before!)

While Ash was admiring the weapon, the Lord lashed out. Ash quickly pulled out the stiletto and escaped. Without a moment's pause, the Lord followed after him, trying to bite him off.

Ash ducked, spinning himself sideways, and poked the enemy in the left eye.

As he did, blood of the same color as the eyeball gushed out.

Ash wished he could've struck another blow, but the Lord suddenly burst into rage, leaving Ash with no choice but to retreat. The Lord likewise moved away and raised its face towards the ceiling.

(It's calling for reinforcements.) Ash thought.

The howl echoed throughout the hall.

When the echo eventually died down, normal-sized Direwolves popped up from all over the walls.

There were ten of them, but unlike last time, not all of them were aiming at Ash.

One of the Direwolves was heading towards Clara.

"Clara!"

"I-I'm fine!" Clara replied.

At the tip of her outstretched right palm light began to gather and converged to form an arrow of ice.

It was the Frost Arrow spell.

The Frost Arrow shot out like a bullet, hitting the head of the Direwolf running toward her and slaying it.

Clara, breathing a sigh of relief, pointed a peace sign at Ash.

(It seems I didn't need to worry.)

Ash ducked as a Direwolf came at him from behind and stabbed the stiletto into its head.

Following that, two more Direwolves jumped at him.

He swiftly pulled out his swordbreaker and gripped it tightly, slashing at both of them simultaneously.

(Who's next!)

The remaining six Direwolves retreated to the Lord's side and lined up side by side, preparing to release a wave of fireballs.

"Clara! Run to the right-hand side!" Ash shouted.

He then instantly ran towards the Lord and right before reaching it, suddenly changed direction to the right.

He slashed and slaughtered three of the Direwolves that were about to release a fireball. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the NʘvᴇlFɪre.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of nøvels early and in the highest quality.

Almost simultaneously, the remaining Direwolves released their fireballs, turning the hall red.

The fireballs, however, only ended up crashing into the back wall.

Afterwards the three remaining Direwolves approached.

With Ash's enhanced weapons, these Direwolves posed no real threat.

Ash easily eliminated the Direwolves and approached the Lord.

However, the Lord was further away than Ash expected, and he couldn't move to attack immediately.

Using the time it had opened up, the Lord let out another howl.

(I'd heard that it'd call in reinforcements a second time once it got weakened to some degree, but I didn't expect that we'd already be at that point. In any case, the plan remains the same. We just need to slaughter all the reinforcements!)

Is what Ash thought, however, after eliminating the new wave of ten Direwolves, the Lord called in another wave, and then yet another. Because of this Ash had no time to attack the Lord.

"Does this have no end?!" Clara exclaimed.

"Doesn't seem like it...!" Ash replied as he used his swordbreaker to cut a Direwolf in two, from top to bottom.

However, at the same time the Lord howled once more.

Almost no time had passed since its last howl, and there were still 8 Direwolves left from the previous wave.

With the new wave, the total number of Direwolves would jump up to 18.

Dealing with this many, even if they were small fry, was not easy.

Ash was attacked from all sides, receiving numerous cuts and deep scratches on both arms.

"Damn it!" he cursed.

The pain wasn't enough as to where he couldn't wield his weapons, but it was certainly there and was gnawing away at him.

Amidst Clara's worried cries Ash gritted his teeth and continued to slash and stab, bringing two Direwolves to their death.

However, he then noticed that there were fewer enemies attacking him than before. Looking around he saw that three Direwolves were heading towards Clara. Even though Clara knew this, she nevertheless decided to raise her staff and start casting Heal.

"I'm fine!"

"But-"

"Keep yourself safe!"

Clara finally took her right hand off the cane and slaughtered one Direwolf with a frost arrow.

Despite this, she would likely fail to kill the remaining two before they got to her.

(I guess I'll have to use that...)