Chapter 8 - Growth (1) (1/2)
Chapter 8: Growth (1)
「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 2 」
「 As a reward, you have received the item ‘Assassin’s Cloak(D).’ 」
「 As a reward, you have received the item ‘Obsidian Dagger(E+).’ 」
「 As a reward, you have received ‘2000 points.’ 」
「 As a bonus reward, you have received the skill ‘Pain Tolerance (D)’ 」
「 As a bonus reward, you have received ‘1000 points.’ 」
「 Please move to the waiting area. 」
My head was spinning.
I felt messages pop up, but I couldn’t tell for sure.
Accelerated regeneration wasn’t even working because the wounds were too severe.
I waved my hand to push the messages aside.
I could always look at the messages in the waiting area.
But not those.
The burning remnants of the orc corpses.
All of my attention was focused on the black fog emitting from their burning bodies.
I’d be losing out if I didn’t absorb all of them.
But I was at a point where it wouldn’t be unexpected for me to just pass out.
I had to take some emergency measures.
I slowly reached into my inventory to take out a potion.
「 Regeneration Potion 」
An item that heals small injuries when sprayed.
I took off the top and poured the potion onto my head.
Splash!
“Ahhhhggggh!”
The droplets of the potion dripping down my body left a trail of pain as they fell to the floor.
I assumed it was effective because I was slowly gaining my senses back.
All I need is to be able to move.
I’ll get out of the forest as soon as I absorb the spirits.
“Agggggghhhh……”
I dragged my body like a zombie to the fog.
I had to do this before I passed out….
「 You have absorbed the soul of the orc. 」
「 You have absorbed the soul of the orc. 」
「 You have absorbed the soul of the orc. 」
.
.
.
「 Number of souls in possession – 5/5 」
「 Proficiency increased by 42% 」
I turned around as soon as I finished absorbing them.
I could wait to convert them later.
Voom!
I collapsed into the blue portal that appeared where the chief once stood.
「 Moving to the waiting room. 」
I lost consciousness as a wave of relief flowed through my body.
***
“……”
I woke up on the waiting room floor.
I was still a bit dizzy when I woke up but I wasn’t mentally or physically tired.
I got up and examined my body.
All the injuries and burns I got fighting the orcs had disappeared.
But…
“I can’t use this shield anymore.”
The shield I was holding was nothing more than a piece of junk now.
It was broken and cracked beyond repair.
There was no way it could block anything in this state.
“Was the impact of the last attack too much…?”
The shield may have been able to block the guard orcs’ attacks, but it didn’t stand a chance against the chief’s magic.
‘At least it saved my life.’
It did its job before breaking down.
If I had taken that fireball directly, I might not be here right now.
I returned what was left of the shield to the inventory and opened my mouth.
“Trial.”
「 Floor 3 trial starting in – 23hrs 21min 」
‘Was I passed out for about an hour?’
Not as long as I thought.
I had pushed myself beyond my physical and mental limits, so it wasn’t that surprising.
“At least the waiting room is pretty effective.”
Even though my body’s still feeling hot from the phantom pains…
I got off pretty easy if you think about it.
If it was any more serious, I would have died without even absorbing the souls.
‘Ah, I did absorb those souls.’
「 Number of souls in possession – 5/5 」
“Wow, I didn’t miss a single soul.”
I thought I would have missed at least one or two of them…
I guess I should give myself a little more credit.
After checking out the souls, I caught up on all the other messages I missed.
All the messages about the heat and pain resistance, as well as all the reward messages.
I couldn’t help but smirk looking at the list of rewards.
I also had an insane amount of points.
“Inventory.”
An item I’d never seen was taking up the very first slot.
「 Assassin’s Cloak 」
「 Grade: D 」
「 Conceals all types of presence by -10% 」
「 A cloak specially designed for the assassination guild. 」
「 While agility is below 50, it increases by +5 」
「 While inserting mana, the user can increase their movement speed by 15% for 1 minute. 」
「 The active ability can be used again after a 24-hour cooldown. 」
“…”
I couldn’t believe what I was seeing.
Even at a glance, I could tell that it was overpowered.
“These rewards are insane….”
It gave me the assassination reward even though I didn’t assassinate the chief.
The default bonus was already amazing with the movement speed and presence erasure bonus.
That’s already good enough, but the active ability?
「 While inserting mana, the user can increase their movement speed by 15% for 1 minute. 」
“This is the craziest bonus.”
Even if the cooldown is a little long.
That wasn’t all though.
「 Obsidian Dagger 」
「 Grade: E+ 」
「 Reaction speed +5% 」
「 Attack speed +10% 」