Chapter 11 - Growth (4) (1/2)
Chapter 11: Growth (4)
「 Congratulations. You have overcome the Tower of Trials floor 3. 」
「 As a reward, you have received ‘Elixir of Steel.’ 」
「 As a reward, you have received ‘3,000 points.’ 」
「 As a bonus reward, you have received the skill ‘Hunter’s Daggermanship (E)’ 」
「 As a bonus reward, you have received ‘1,000 points.’ 」
「 Please move to the waiting area. 」
The familiar messages appeared as the doppelganger’s body disintegrated.
I let out a sigh of relief as my legs gave out and I fell to the floor.
Plop.
“Ahhhhhhh…”
My stamina drained by the accelerated regeneration.
The mana was needed to activate the cloak skill.
And the recoil from the tackle.
I was physically, mentally, and spiritually drained.
If anything had gone wrong, I could have been the one laying there.
I thought I had gotten a lot stronger but…
This difficulty wasn’t balanced at all.
‘I would have died if my innate ability wasn’t battle-oriented.’
Same with everyone else.
They probably only lasted as long as they did because they used to be hunters.
‘Most normal people probably died off…’
I would be in their shoes too if I hadn’t trained in different martial disciplines for the last 7 years.
But why…?
“…”
Rather than fear of increasing difficulty, a different emotion was starting to emerge.
The feeling of victory.
The same feeling that overwhelmed me on the 1st and 2nd floor.
Deciding to fight and then winning.
The feeling was enough to make you forget about the close encounters with death.
The feeling was more prominent than ever after clearing the 3rd floor.
I tried to suppress the feelings for a while but…
Badum. Badum.
The fact that I fought and achieved something…
Was that something that could make my heart beat this fast?
‘No way.’
This wasn’t something that a normal person would feel.
How could you be excited after you’ve almost died?
This was different from being relieved that you survived.
But…
Just knowing that fact didn’t make me any more normal.
Maybe it’s because the last 7 years of my life have been so stagnant.
Or was I this crazy from the start?
Either way…
This tower isn’t good news for me.
It tests me to my limit and provides a fair reward.
Unlike real life where my hard work amounted to nothing.
“Maybe that’s also just an excuse.”
No matter the reason, it was clear that I was abnormal.
But that was also one of the reasons that I survived.
I couldn’t deny that.
Those who were able to adapt survived and those who couldn’t… died.
‘That’s why the community members go down every floor.’
From that perspective, that wasn’t too bad.
I’d completely adapted to this new way of life.
But I heard hunters in my situation were in the most danger.
It’s easier to get addicted to the thrill of battle and go mad.
I heard this was more severe for people with growth-type innate abilities.
Then was it wrong to feel these feelings?
“…”
I didn’t know.
It was probably a good thing for now but…
Everything would change on the 5th floor.
There was a possibility of going back to Earth after that.
But for now.
“Let’s just focus on staying alive.”
That was more than enough to keep me busy for now.
I lifted myself up and walked toward the doppelganger.
I stuck my hands into the black mist.
「 You have absorbed the soul of the doppelganger. 」
「 Number of souls in possession – 1/5 」
「 Proficiency increased by 35% 」
My surprise at the proficiency increase didn’t last too long.
「 Innate ability ‘Necromancy’s’ proficiency reached 100%. 」
「 Innate ability ‘Necromancy’s’ ranked up. 」
“…?”
I really didn’t expect that to happen.
***
‘It’s going to rank up this suddenly?’
All I could do was stare blankly.
I didn’t understand why the proficiency increased by so much and the skill ranked up.
But…
I had a feeling why.
‘Maybe there’s a hidden bonus depending on the soul that I absorb.’
Like maybe the proficiency increases more if it’s stronger than me.
I’d heard some skills that worked like that.
The system was concise and didn’t always explain everything.
Of course, this wasn’t a bad thing for me…
“…I guess I just got lucky this time.”