Chapter 5 (1/2)
Su-hyeun’s past life, Sung-in, excelled in every way.
Not only were his overall stats remarkable thanks to his regular exercises since his youth, but due to his mother’s influence, he knew the signs of his awakening and thus had received various training.
He understood the characteristics of the monsters, clearly knew their weaknesses, and came up with strategies to handle them.
Injuring the Mad Wolf and making use of the Vampire Wolves’ instinct to engage them in a fight was thanks to that.
Ugh, ugggh—
Even though blood was gushing out and life was slowly draining, Mad Wolf was still drooling and swallowing its saliva.
Its instinct for food was more of an obsession. It didn’t think of running away even though it was close to dying.
“But that was better for me.”
It wouldn’t be as knotty if it used its quick movement to escape and fought back.
Thankfully, it was an insane monster that lived up to its name. Its intelligence wasn’t that high.
Stab—
Su-hyeun’s sword penetrated deep into the Mad Wolf’s head through the eye on its forehead.
At that moment, the Mad Wolf, which was barely alive, died.
[You have gained 50 achievement points.]
[You have passed the first floor’s trial.]
[You have gained 300 achievement points.]
[All stats have been increased by 5 points.]
It was the end of the first floor.
Su-hyeun was wide-eyed.
“What a reward…”
300 achievement points.
All stats increased by five.
The reward exceeded his expectations.
Besides the achievement points, the reward was hard to accept as it was rare to be awarded an increase for all stats.
Plus, it was increased by 5 points for all.
No matter if this was a level 10 trial, the reward was beyond imagination.
“I knew the rewards would depend on the course of the trial and the performance, but…”
It did not occur to him that the difference would be this great.
Perhaps being rewarded with a stat increase for the first Vampire Wolf kill could be due to the time taken to finish it off.
Whatever the reason, it was satisfying for Su-hyeun.
If he were to be continuously rewarded in this way, he would be able to earn much more than he did in his previous life.
[You may use the first floor’s store.]
[Do you wish to advance to the next level?]
Another message appeared later on.
It was the message that Su-hyeun was waiting for.
At the store, one could use their achievement points to purchase various weapons, shields, armor, and other equipment.
Currently, Su-hyeun had a total of 380 achievement points.
It was quite a substantial amount of achievement points earned from the first floor. It was thanks to the fact that Su-hyeun managed to swiftly pass the trial that got him a higher amount of points.
“Store.”
Su-hyeun opened the store immediately.
Various categories appeared before him, such as equipment, consumer goods, medication, food, etc. As long as one had achievement points, he could do anything in this world.
Amongst them, there was only one that Su-hyeun was thinking of.
“Here it is.”
[Lowest grade mana catalyst: 300p]
The item that came into Su-hyeun’s view was a small bottle located in the consumer goods section.
The small bottle containing a violet-colored potion was the first item that Su-hyeun had wanted to purchase long ago.
“I thought it would only be available for purchase at the second level….”
It was thanks to the high achievement points he was rewarded that his plans were hastened.
“Purchase.”
[You have purchased the lowest grade mana catalyst.]
[You have used 300 achievement points.]
As soon as the purchase had been confirmed, the violet-colored potion appeared in Su-hyeun’s hand.
Su-hyeun opened the thumb-sized bottle cap and gulped the potion down.
Gulp—
The catalyst had no taste to it.
But a bitter aftertaste came later.
It was inevitable since the catalyst had been diluted in water.
“Pant—”
Su-hyeun threw the now empty bottle on the floor.
He flopped down to take a seat.
“Pant—”
Su-hyeun exhaled long and deep, focusing on the catalyst that was spreading throughout his body.
The magic factor also referred to the maximum amount of mana in his body.
If the magic level measures the power level, the magic factor would determine how much magic power could be released.
The awakener could never ignore neither the magic factor nor the magic level.
If the level was low, the overall power that could be released would be weak no matter how high the factor is; and if the factor was low, no matter how high the magic level is, only a small amount of magic power could be used.
“Firstly, mana’s maximum limit.”
Currently, his body wasn’t carrying any magic powers.
The mana catalyst acts as a stimulant that forces the awakener to have magic power.
Of course, if an average person were to drink a small amount like this, it wouldn’t make much of a difference….
Wiggle—
Since Su-hyeun had been dealing with magic for a long time, he reacted to the catalyst’s effect of magic awakening quite sensitively.
“It’s done.”
[Responding to magic power.]
[Your magic factor has been increased by 1 point.]
[Responding to magic power.]
[Your magic level has advanced by 1 level.]
***
One point.
It was slightly humiliating.
However, not many would be able to respond to magic power from the first floor. If it weren’t for this particular case, one would only encounter this on the third floor.
Initially, the first floor’s level 10 was only a trial testing on one’s physical abilities, and not related in any way to the magic power.
Whirl, whirl, whirl, whirl—
Su-hyeun sent magic power into the sword in his hands.
He felt the sword feeling better in his hands. But it was hard to have the magic power wrap around the sword itself.
“I can’t hold this out for too long….”
It might have been better to get items like a sword or armor than to raise his magic level and factor.
But Su-hyeun was considering the long run.
“I should get stronger on this floor while I can.”
The items couldn’t be taken out of the Tower of Trials anyway.
The only thing he could take out would be the body that he built.
“For the sake of the future….”
As the sword’s magic power ran out, Su-hyeun lowered it.
“As expected, magic power is most important.”
[Will you advance to the next floor?]
As if knowing that Su-hyeun has finished using the store, the system asked if he would like to advance to the next floor.
Would he?
Or would he stop here, and pause the trials temporarily?
Or…
“No.”
Su-hyeun expressed his refusal when the system asked if he would like to advance to the next floor.
Grrr—
Kyaaa—!
Su-hyeun heard the monsters growling in the Colosseum and said, “Call the next one out.”
No pain, no gain.
You must suffer the equivalent hardship before gaining something.
It was the principle that Su-hyeun had from his past life, and it was also the truth in this life.
Even if he couldn’t endure it, it was still a go.
There was no stopping.
“Before we advance, we should see it until the end, shouldn’t we?”
Act 3
In the Tower of Trials, there were some rules to adhere to get stronger.
—Choose the higher levels.
—Clear the higher floors.