[Welcome to the 2nd floor of the Tower][Trial: [Corruption] - Resist your opponents mental attacks]
[Please set difficulty:][Easy: Enemies at your level][Normal: Enemies 10 levels higher][Hard: Enemies 20 levels higher][Extreme: Enemies 30 levels higher][Maximum: Enemies 50 levels higher]
’Here we go again... Don’t tell me this is going to be the only format in the whole tower,’ Sora thought, weighing his options carefully.
His mental defense had improved significantly, boosted by the gains from the first floor. After leveling up four times and boosting his talent level, he knew he was stronger. But the abrupt increase left him without the time to push his mental power any further.
’My opponents scale with my level, so leveling up doesn’t give me any real advantage here. And to make it worse, I don’t even have an innate or supreme skill that could help me on this floor,’ he thought, frustrated at the choice he was about to make.
[You have chosen Normal difficulty]
[Your first opponent appears]
[Resist your opponent’s assault for 30 minutes]
Sora glanced around the strange space around him as a figure began to materialize before him.
[Level 124 Evil Spirit]
The name floating above the ghostly figure caught his eye. The spirit looked like a person made of mist, with no eyes, and it wore a floating white robe that seemed to move on its own.
The spirit raised one hand and snapped its fingers. Sora’s [Peak Meditate] skill was already active, so he braced himself as a heavy force slammed into his mental barrier.
’The trial wants me to resist, so I’ll focus on that,’ Sora thought, steadying himself.
The spirit’s attack grew denser, pushing harder on one point of his shield. The force was strong, but Sora noticed it stayed at the same level after a while. It wasn’t getting stronger, just steady and unending.
Under the constant pressure, something surprising happened: his [Peak Meditate] skill got better. The attack was sharpening his mental power, and small pieces of the spirit’s energy were being absorbed, making his mental defense stronger.
’This feeling is amazing,’ He thought, realizing the potential of such method to grow stronger.
Sora stayed focused, barely noticing the passing time until a sudden notification popped up.
[You have resisted for 30 minutes]
[Your second opponent appears]
Ignoring the notification, he watched as another Evil spirit appeared. Sora took a deep breath, readying himself for the additional pressure.
The second spirit snapped its fingers, launching a fresh wave of mental energy against Sora’s defenses.
’Thank god I chose the talent increase. Without it, my trial would be even more complicated,’ he thought, having trouble keeping his thoughts calm. He reinforced his defenses, using more Mental Power to resist the increased pressure. He could feel his mastery over [Peak Meditate] improving rapidly under the intense assault.
’I’m close to advancing this skill. If I can endure a few extra levels, I’ll reach the perfect stage of the skill,’ he mused, letting the challenge motivate him. The absence of the [Soul Link] with Kara, severed when he entered the tower, meant he initially had no way of quickly training his Mental Defense. But this new method of growth—through constant, focused pressure—was proving effective as well.
He hesitated, afraid he would not rank very high. ’Emily mentioned there are people specializing in mental skills. Compared to them, my ranking is guaranteed to be far from first place... But giving up after six rounds in normal mode? That’s hard to accept.’
’Forget it,’ he decided firmly. ’What’s there to be ashamed of? I’ll train ten times harder outside and make up for this loss. This isn’t running from a challenge—it’s making a strategic retreat.’
Even though Sora had been losing to stronger opponents frequently, he couldn’t shake the temptation of going for a high-risk, unknown-reward play. But this time, he forced himself to be practical.
Sora selected the [End Trial] option in the event panel, signaling his exit.
As his surroundings faded, the strange grin on the 7th monster taunted him. He shook his head, letting the trial end.
[You have survived 6 rounds in the 2nd floor trial, Solo mode, Normal difficulty.]
[Total points accumulated: 2,500 points.]
[Level up!]
[Remaining candidates in the 2nd floor trial: 1105]
[Floor 1: Rank 1/4320][Floor 2: Rank 95/3456]...[Floor 20: None]
’Damn! The amount of points is pitiful. The ranking however is not bad, but not exceptional either, considering there are still over a thousand candidates in the trial rooms... But almost a hundred managed to do better than me... With my years of meditation, that’s hard to digest.’
Feeling disappointment settle in, Sora sat down, took a deep breath, and resumed his favorite task between trials : crystallizing mana. He even had the leasure to meditate and try to push his skill to the next level. ’It’s not far, I can sense my mastery getting closer to a limit.’
After what seemed like an eternity, the familiar ping of a notification finally brought him back.
[The second trial is over. Players ranked below 2592 are eliminated. Please leave the tower after collecting your reward. Congratulations to all who remain. Please select your reward.]
[You chose Normal difficulty: Reward x1.]
[Reward Option 1: +1 Talent Level][Reward Option 2: +1 Growth Factor][Reward Option 3: +1 Soul Pearls]
He checked his updated rank: Rank 122/3456.
Sora sighed, ’These trials were supposed to balance with player levels, and I should’ve had an advantage over the higher-leveled players since the gap between higher levels is even higher. Yet more than a hundred did better than me in this field...’
He took a steadying breath and, without thinking too hard about it, selected his reward.
[You have chosen the +1 Talent Level reward!]
Sora’s thoughts were now calm as he started looking for ways and ideas to increase his mental power, and climb back up in the rankings.
He was aware of the existence of players specialized in PvP, Player versus player content, and he wanted to prepare against the hundreds of players who had the higher ground against him in mental battles.
Emily’s words rang in his mind. ’Floors Four, Eight, Twelve, Sixteen, and Twenty. Those are PvP floors. The trials there will involve all kinds of battles against other players.’