Chapter 28 - Intrusion (1) (2/2)
But this unexpected achievement was a pleasant surprise.
‘The return stone was so worth it.’
The last three days had been great, and this was just the cherry on top.
I couldn’t stop smiling.
‘If I can start using this skill without having to say the skill name out loud…’
All of my interactions with other people were going to change drastically.
Of course—
‘That’s a story for after the 5th trial.’
Now, since I finished checking up on all that…
It was time to choose a weapon.
I’d been meaning to buy a new set since I sold my previous set back on Earth.
“Marketplace.”
Normally, I’d spend some time contemplating what items to get, but there were a couple I’d been eyeing for a while.
「 You have bought a Thunder Blade (C). 」
「 5,500 points deducted. 」
「 You have bought a Covert Hunter’s Shield (D+). 」
「 3,800 points deducted. 」
“This should be enough.”
「 Thunder Blade 」
「 Grade: C 」
「 Attack Speed: +12% 」
「 An azure blade that bears the thunder’s mana. Created by a blacksmith that worshipped the thunder. 」
「 Attacking with this weapon has a 10% chance to inflict an ‘electrocute’ effect. 」
「 Covert Hunter’s Shield 」
「 Grade: D+ 」
「 Movement Speed: +3% 」
「 Presence Concealment: +5% 」
「 A shield that can be attached to the arm. Created with a minuscule amount of mithril. 」
「 You can conceal your presence more easily and move faster. 」
The thunder blade had the on-attack effect even though it didn’t have a lot of bonus effects.
And the covert hunter’s shield was an attachment-type shield fit for my combat style.
I invested pretty heavily into the sword, so the shield was a little shabby but—
‘My fights usually revolve around the sword anyway.’
It shouldn’t be too big of a problem.
After making all of the necessary preparations, I checked the community one more time.
「 Floor 5 Community (443/691) 」
“There were over 1,000 people the last time I checked.”
I guess most people moved onto the 5th trial almost immediately.
Maybe some of them only just cleared the 4th trial and came up.
Although the chances were pretty slim.
I then briefly checked the leaderboard before taking a sigh of relief.
‘My ranking hasn’t changed.’
The most important part was that I was still a pioneer, but it would be a good idea to stay on the higher side just in case.
“I guess there’s no use delaying it any further.”
「 Do you accept the 5th floor trial? 」
「 Y/N 」
The waiting period was long gone.
I pressed ‘Y’ without hesitation and the usual blue portal appeared.
I put the repair box and the cleansing stone in my inventory and put on the new equipment.
I stepped into the portal to find myself transported to a drab cave.
「 Entering Tower of Trials floor 5. 」
「 Difficulty – Hard 」
「 The objective of the following trial is hunting.’ 」
「 We wish the challenger a satisfactory ending to their choice. 」
The objective soon followed.
「 The 5th floor trial is starting soon. 」
「 Remaining time – 1 day 」
「 Trial success condition – Kill the boss of the wolf cave, the werewolf, in the remaining time. 」
「 Trial fail condition – Challenger’s death or time out 」
「 Trial success reward – Barbaric Wolf’s Hairband (C-) 」
「 Trial fail penalty – Death 」
As soon as I finished reading the message, I heard growls begin to surround me.
Grrrr…
“This is a warm welcome.”
Muttering dully, I took a look at my surroundings.
It should have been too dark for me to see anything but…
Maybe it was due to my enhanced stats, but I could see the enemies as clear as day.
A wolf-like beast with brown, uneven fur, and scarlet eyes.
“Eye of truth.”
「 Crazy Wolf 」
「 Rank: E+ 」
「 A D-rank beast with a wolf-like outer appearance who usually hunts in packs. 」
「 Their jaw strength is powerful enough to cleanly sever an ordinary person’s arm. 」
It was a useful yet vicious description.
Sever an arm with a bite…
Although they might have a harder time with my arm with my tenacity stat.
It still wouldn’t hurt to be careful.
“Grrrr…!”
I squeezed the hilt of my new sword as three growling crazy wolves ran towards me.
“Kwaaar!”
And that was the last thing to come out of their mouths.
Stab, stab, stab!
I placed a hole in their necks simultaneously while dodging their claws.
Their corpses lost all strength and dropped to the floor.
Katang.
The fight was anticlimactic and didn’t raise any emotion in me.
Considering my stats, a D-rank monster wouldn’t really put up much of a fight.
“The sword feels pretty good, but the electrocute effect didn’t activate.”
The description said it had a 10% chance of activating, but it wasn’t as frequent as I had hoped.
Though I wasn’t disappointed.
~Grrr…
There were more practice dummies left in the cave.
And the echoing growls would lead me to them.
____
MC: rest is a luxury i can’t afford
Also MC: lemme buy that 50k shower rock