Chapter 146: Finishing the Floor (2/2)

The battle that ensued left Arthur exhausted and he had to construct multiple protection runes just to avoid being struck. In the end, he took one of them down while activating his Iron Skin skill to defend against the other one.

With only one of them left, Arthur managed to kill him off easily. His laborious breathing bespoke of how much he was on edge. Nonetheless, it was a rewarding experience in its might.

Arthur rested. This cycle repeated with three Enas the next round. The one after had a different monster, a giant serpent with a single horn. The horn was able to shoot magic attacks that made the serpent a formidable foe. The one after that had two horns and the one after, also the ninth monster had three.

Arthur used his legacy rune against the last monster for the briefest time because it was stronger than he had expected. He rested for another hour, waiting for the tenth monster of the first floor.

”Truly, this tower is for the strong.” Arthur sighed. ”Just the first floor and it's already this difficult.”

However, he knew it was only difficult for neo-rankers. If a rei-ranker faced these monsters, he could flatten them with his evolved body. After reading the standardized assessment for stats among awakeners, Arthur found out the usual range for every rank. It was the same Sier had mentioned in the fortress a while ago.

Until a hundred points, that was the range of neo-rankers. A person can evolve if he had a single stat that was maxed out. It could be any of the five stats with even mana being included.

Rei-rankers' stats lied between 100 and 300. The same case happened with evolving to the next rank, the Vetus. As for the Vetus rank, they lied between 300 and 600 stat points. The Deme-rank was somewhere between 600 and 1000. After that came the Astra-rank, lying between 1000 and 1500. The last rank, the Empyrean, was beyond that.

That doesn't mean that one rei-ranker equaled three neo-rankers, as there was also the matter of quality. Rei-rankers enjoyed the privilege of manablood, being able to show greater effect for the same amount of mana that the neo-rankers use.

The reason for this was because mana had gained a physical state in the world, becoming more able to alter it. For example, the amount of mana Arthur used to burn down the two Enas would be a lot less if he was a rei-ranker.

With each new rank, there would be an evolution of abilities, mana, as well as their state of existence. The last one was especially so for Arthur, who practiced the Art of Creation.

After the one hour, which Arthur spent fantasize about evolving, the last monster appeared. It was a 4 meters tall Orc, a pig head resting beneath a helmet. It wore steel armor but it made him look like a giant metal ball. The monster was so obese that it looked like a balloon that was about to explode.

With pale-pink skin, the Orc looked like a giant meatball. It trudged toward Arthur dragging along its giant chained metal ball while making snorting sounds as it breathed.

”You're a big fellow.” Arthur looked up at him in a stoic expression. ”I bet you're strong, too.” The Orc looked down on him. ”However, too bad you're the last monster I'll be facing.”

After practicing the Art of Creation, his Release rune's backlash became noticeably less. Furthermore, Arthur was becoming more proficient in controlling it.

Gold light surrounded Arthur's body. The Orc growled at him with its fangs protruding distinctly. Arthur was bored from all the waiting and he wanted to blow off some steam. Furthermore, he wanted to see how high he can rank on the first floor.

”I'm sorry, but die for my sake.” Arthur crouched down as the earth gave in underneath him. His eyes glowed golden as it saw the monster roar and pull the giant chain. Its weapon was like a giant military flail without its handle, making it a long-range weapon.

That's why Arthur gave it no time and closed the distance between the two. His dash forward created a whirling wind in the coliseum. Arthur flexed his arm as the monster threw the ball at him.

Arthur met the giant sphere of metal head-on and punched it. There was a deep ringing sound as the ball flew away faster than it came flying. Without stopping, Arthur used the opening he created as the Orc was surprised by his weapon's ineffectiveness to bridge the gap between them.

What followed was the one-sided beating of the poor giant orc.