Chapter 56

Chapter 56

Glop! Sploosh! Glop! Sploosh!

A massive blob of sky-blue slime jiggled its body around as it glided over to where I stood. It bounced around cheerfully, almost as if it were dancing. Agnes materialized next to me as her eyes widened in delight. She brought both hands to her mouth as if trying to contain her excitement.

«Oh, dear! It’s so cute!»

Swish!

I enveloped Europa with aura and sliced open the slime monster with a single stroke. Hmm, not bad, not bad at all. It truly is a fine blade.

“Let’s move on up, Agnes.”

«…»

“What’s wrong?”

«You’re just a lot more efficient than I thought you’d be.»

“Thanks for the compliment.” I began to fish out the loot from the remnants of the slime. The pool of gunk left behind a bunch of alchemy ingredients used to make coagulants. These were actually some pretty decent drops for such a low-level monster.

I finished storing the items and proceeded straight to the next floor.

⟬«System» The Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 2 Boss, [Puff Puff Poisonous Spore Mushroom] has appeared!⟭

Pschk!

Keeek!

A cloud of fungal spores erupted into the air and settled over the area. I didn’t bother to dodge the noxious dust as I calmly allowed the spores to drape over my body.

“Detoxify.”

After all, I needed to jumpstart my divine power skill levels.

“Now, onto the next level!”

⟬«System» The Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 3 Boss, [Ravenous Man-Eating Plant - Nepenthes] has appeared!⟭

Pow!

I tore apart the gigantic tulip and its tentacles in an instant.

“Hm, maybe they call it the “Skyscraper of Suffering” because of all the stairs. Eh, whatever.”

⟬«System» The Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 4 Boss, [Brutal Ogre] has appeared!⟭

Shwing!

“Ugh. This is my first time actually cutting into a warm-blooded creature. I guess I’d better get used to the sensation. Next.”

⟬«System» The Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 5 Boss, [Vengeful Skeleton Knight] has appeared!⟭

“Ooh, an undead monster. I can just off him by healing him. C’mere you... He’s avoiding me! I think he might be afraid of me because of the [Infamy in the Realm of the Undead] passive. Looks like I have no choice but to go to him. Now then, heal! Heal! Heal!”

Skreee!

“In the name of Lord Voice, rest in peace. Now then, onto the next floor!”

And that’s how things continued for a while. The so-called “boss monsters” just kept dying on me after a single blow. I ended up spending more time going up the stairs than I did taking care of the bosses.

Relatively speaking, the fifteenth floor managed to take up a bit more of my time than the others.

⟬«System» The Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 15 Boss, [Infinite Zombie Summoning Circle] has appeared!⟭

Uuuuurrrrgghh... Uuuuurrrrgghh...

“Let’s stay here awhile and train. I think I’ll be able to greatly enhance my healing skills here.”

«Who in the world uses healing skills as attacks?»

“What difference does it make? It’s the thought that counts. I’ll treat these zombies like my patients and heal them with a merciful heart.”

«Your expression says otherwise.»

“It’s because my patients keep running away. I wish I could turn off the Infamy passive skill. Hey, stop right there!”

Uuuuurrrrgghh!

I cast and cast away until the summoning circle eventually overloaded and burned out. Thanks to my efforts, I was able to successfully hit level 10 on my healing skill with no buffs whatsoever.

“I’m famished. Let’s grab a bite real quick.”

«How can you still have an appetite after that onslaught of zombies?»

The system’s built-in features minimized the mental impact I experienced during the tutorial phase, leaving me largely unaffected by the gruesome aftermath of my battles. Getting used to seeing these types of rather grisly scenes will enable me to maintain composure once the mental barrier has dissipated. Hopefully. The ability to stomach such repulsive sights will prove vital for survival in this realm. Since I couldn’t tell Agnes any of that, I just made up some vague excuse.

“There aren’t any zombies left now. It’s really convenient that the corpses disappear after a certain period of time.”

I plopped down on a decently dry patch of dirt and scarfed down my lunch. Lunch today consisted of a plain, dry chicken breast sandwich and sweet potato salad. The dry, flavorless combination of foods reminded me of a certain someone.

I wonder how our dry, stubborn protagonist is doing... No doubt, he’s caught up in some exasperatingly tedious situation again.

Like most main characters of tragic stories, Tez was probably in the process of accumulating a collection of hardships and sorrowful narratives, positioning himself as the brave young boy who triumphed over the adversities he encountered as he did in the original story. All probably amidst some mind-numbingly exhausting and banal situations.

I truly wished to help him, but there was nothing that I could do for him at this moment while bound to the tutorial’s restrictions. All I could do right now was wait patiently and make the most out of my current situation.

I brushed the crumbs off my lap and got up.

“Let’s go onto the next floor.”

✠

I continued to sweep through the bosses with ease.

It was a frightening pace, even by my standards. I covered twenty-five floors on my first day, twenty-two floors on the second, eighteen floors on my third, fifteen floors on the fourth day, ten floors on the fifth day, and seven floors on the sixth day. Finally, on the seventh day...

Skreee!

I successfully tore into the half-bird, half-human harpy’s wings as it hurtled downward from the sky. I took pity on the poor creature that was writhing at the center of the crater it created when it crash landed.

Shunk.

I swiftly thrust Europa into the harpy’s vital point and twisted it at a right angle, allowing it a quick death.

⟬«System» Congratulations! You’ve successfully defeated the Skyscraper of Suffering’s Floor 100 Boss, [Rampaging Harpy.]⟭

I was digging through the remnants of the monster like I usually do after a boss fight when a system message popped up.

⟬The Critic for Balance says you’re way too OP for blasting through 100 floors in one week!⟭

That’s nothing new, right?

⟬The Architect of the Skyscraper of Suffering says you’ve only seen the tutorial phase of the tower up until this point and that the real deal begins on floor 101.⟭

I see. Well, I look forward to the challenge. I made my way up the stone stairs onto the next floor. The tower’s structure was fairly straightforward. Flights of stone stairways wrapped around the edges of the tower. Going up each of these staircases would lead to a massive iron gate.

Getting past these doors would lead to a gym-sized hall. From what I’ve seen so far, the boss monster would always be waiting patiently at the center of the hall before passionately welcoming me, but this time, it was different. The 101st floor no longer followed this formula.

Chirp chirp chirp!

The iron doors swung open to reveal a lush forest. It was much too large to be mistaken for an indoor garden. Plus, you could see the open sky.

«It seems the floor shifts into a specific climate and environment starting with the 101st floor. Almost like a dungeon.»

“Oh, um, that’s nice. I haven’t had any sunlight in a while.”

«I was getting a bit worried that you were only gaining experience in rather sterile training grounds. This will be perfect to take your battle senses to the next level. You need to gain combat experience in a variety of environments and amongst irregular obstacles.»

The 101st-floor boss was a magma golem positioned atop a towering volcano. I had to hike up the mountain for some time before I could finally face the boss. Just like Lord Architect said, the difficulty level jumped quite a bit starting on this floor. I couldn’t just chop ‘em up like I did with the lower-level bosses.

Agnes jumped into drill instructor mode and began to coach me. «Widen your vision. You won’t be able to scan the area as well while you’re battling. You must identify the topography and layout of the land from different angles and determine where you’ll be at an advantage. Let’s jump right into the application stage. Use the different landmarks within the battlefield. Roundabout, indirect attacks will work better on cunning, nimble enemies. Alter the course of your whip by striking the surrounding terrain.»

Being the model student that I am, I followed Agnes’ guidance to the T. By the time I defeated the boss, I was exhausted and could barely stand up. I planted Europa into the now-cooled-off magma golem to stay on my feet.

«Good work, Ailette.»

“T-This guy was around A-class right?”

«That’s right.»

That meant this golem was somewhere around Ardiman’s level. I remember being able to almost one-shot Ardiman with an ultimate skill in Divine Advent mode back then... I was just now realizing how unfairly overpowered Divine Advent is.

But then again, the penalty for using it was pretty hefty as well. Defeating the boss monsters began to take longer and longer as I went up the floors to the point where I could only move up one or two floors a day.

After an entire month in the tower, I began to struggle with getting past even a single floor in a day. The seasons changed and I broke through the 200th floor. Things really began to slow down as I took several days to make it past each boss.

The intervals between each floor began to lengthen. A week, ten days, two weeks... Some even took me a whole month to break, but as the boss monsters became more and more formidable, I also grew more and more powerful to match these beasts. My power ranking within the universe steadily rose, especially thanks to my divine power skill proficiency.

The seasons cycled through and before I knew it, two years had passed. During the summer after my fifteenth birthday, on the day that I successfully conquered the 265th floor, I looked down at the small cut I received in battle with an amused look as I cast a healing skill.

⟬«System» Basic Skill [Heal] Lv.60 (+10) activated.⟭

Outstanding. I was a full-fledged healer now, equipped with advanced healing capabilities. They were all techniques and abilities that I gained through real combat experience that I could utilize in battle. My pendant vibrated.

«Your healing ability is in a league of its own. They far surpass your other skills. You have all those perished undead monsters to thank.»

“They died an honorable death.”

«No hard feelings, but can I tell you something?»

“Of course. What is there to hide between you and me?”

«Being a healer really doesn’t suit you. It’s really out of character. You’re much better suited to being a bruiser or a fighter.»

“Aw, come on. I thought I told you about this already. My goal is to become a ‘decent healer.’ That’s the whole reason I prioritized awakening my divine power before anything else.”

«Really? I’m not buying it.»

I beamed as I looked up at the 256th floor’s bright, blue sky. For some reason, I wanted to shout out to a certain someone.

Are you watching, you stubborn loser!? I leveled up my healing skills just for you!

Pleased with myself, I was grinning broadly when Agnes interrupted, “Well, never mind that.” She materialized before me with a radiant burst of holy light. Her face was all business, without a hint of her usual playfulness.

«I believe the time has now come, Ailette.»

“Yes.”

I also matched her solemnity and faced her. The progress I experienced was not limited to my divine powers. I actually experienced a significant change within myself today.

Agnes continued to speak with a previously unknown intensity. «I shall now once again ask you. Cadet Ailette, do you still wish to pursue the way of the Whip Sword?»

“Yes, Agnes.”

I’d finally achieved the bare minimum requirement as an aura expert to finally be able to learn the whip sword.

⟬«System» Your rank is increasing. Current Rank: 52nd (▲51)⟭

My ranking went up drastically as the burning sensation within my aura core subsided. It would seem that even the system has acknowledged me as a competent dual-ability user.

⟬«Tutorial Quest» Mandatory Transmigration Tutorial Period (For S-class transmigrators) complete.⟭

[«System Message» Quest Completion Pending: Tutorial Conclusion Required. Quest rewards on hold. Ensure that your ranking remains within the top 100 until the tutorial period concludes.⟭

This wasn’t all that bad. I needed this quest to progress so that I could check my power-level standing in this world.

I also have someone that I want to compare myself to.

Agnes smiled kindly and greeted me. «I welcome you to the way of the whip sword. You are now not only my trainee but my pupil.»

“I’ll do my best, master!”

I pulled out the training whip sword I’d been carrying around and lifted it. Agnes instructed me to temporarily halt my trek up the tower and ordered me to focus training on the whip sword, footwork, and aura channeling.

I followed along diligently and slowly but surely retrained on the basics to make the whip sword my own, as well as build up my aura.