Floor 11: The Two Doors (2)

Floor 11 was similar to Floors 1 and 2. Corridor-style passages, traps, and steadily strengthening enemies.

I was able to clear the floor without much difficulty. Unfortunately, though, I never found a hidden mission.

Even after combing every inch of the place in search of one, I couldn't find so much as a trace of it.

There were things that seemed suspicious, sure—

but I couldn't be certain of any of them.

'Well, it's possible this floor simply doesn't have a hidden mission.'

In exchange, my personal growth was undeniable.

I made the most of every minute I was given. I didn't care that leftover time would be converted into achievement points.

Part of it was the search for hidden missions, but mostly it was for my own combat technique.

Fighting opponents who wielded proper weapon arts, I could feel my axe skills sharpening in real time.

The party members on Floor 9 who said my axe work had no wasted motion—

they'd been wrong.

'They only saw it that way because none of them knew weapon arts. My fighting style was full of holes.'

For one, the arc of my axe between breaths was stiff and ungainly. Each movement carried far more wasted motion than it needed.

So, all in all, my impression of Floor 11 was... not bad.

'No—it was extremely satisfying.'

Since this was my personal floor, the quality of the opponents had risen considerably.

Granted, they were no match for someone who had gobbled up every hidden mission on the way here. Still, in the sense that they used their weapons systematically, there was plenty to learn.

'And it wasn't just orcs, either.'

All manner of races, all manner of weapons.

Otherkin I'd never seen before had appeared, too. Fighting with genuine composure for once, I gained a great deal.

Sometimes it felt less like a floor of the Tower and more like a training ground purpose-built for practice.

But there was one strange thing.

All throughout Floor 11, every enemy's notification window had the word 'Guardian' appended after its species name.

A guardian, by definition, is something that protects something else.

Which made me think it was connected to the hidden mission—or to the boss room.

But what stood before me were two doors.

Two doors, of all things...

'Was I wrong, then?'

I couldn't tell.

Maybe once I chose a door and walked through, something related to the Guardians would appear.

Come to think of it, something similar had happened on Floor 4...

Front and back, while rolling boulders came tumbling down. A phantom trap, built on choice.

This time, too, the choice I made would likely matter.

'Hmm...'

A black door and a red door.

Neither felt like it was merely colored.

The black door resembled the abyss of deep space, while the red door looked as though blood were running down it.

Both were doors I wanted nothing to do with.

But choose one I must.

All right—which door should it be?

'The easiest method, of course, is...'

...asking Dobby.

Dobby, the goblin saint.

Because I was far too strong, he'd been forcibly idle every single day. The only thing he'd done on Floor 11 was heal one wound—and a shallow scratch at that.

Glutton Dobby. It was finally time for him to earn his keep.

"Dobby, which door should we take?"

"Kkiik....."

Rarely did I see Dobby lost in thought like this.

Watching him deliberate, a faint unease began to creep over me. This had never happened before...

Sure enough, Dobby shook his head.

"Kkiik! Dobby doesn't know!"

"Uh... if you had to pick one of the two, which would you want to go through?"

"Kkiik! Dobby wants to go... nowhere!"

Well, that's a complete dead end.

The choice fell back into my hands. The red door or the black door—which one was the safer bet?

I slowly examined the two doors once more.

Hm... staring ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠at that lurid, blood-red door was giving me chills. A visceral, physical revulsion, you could call it?

Yeah. The black door seemed the better option compared to the red.

'The black door. Let's go with the black door.'

I didn't hesitate. It wasn't as if choosing the black door would kill me outright.

The Tower's notification itself had told me to pick one of the two doors.

Worst case, things just got harder, right?

And I'd cruised through Floor 11 anyway. A little difficulty wouldn't hurt.

I strode forward and pushed open the black door.

'Hmm...'

The first thing I noticed was that it had grown a little darker. The torchlight was dimmer here than it had been at the entrance before the door.

Barely enough to lend the place a gloomy atmosphere—certainly not enough to obstruct my vision.

Beyond the door was a large, circular chamber.

'Chamber' might be underselling it, though.'

A domed arena was probably the right way to describe it.

Dozens of holes had been bored into the arena walls, their purpose unclear.

All I could tell was that each one was wide enough to fit a person's upper body.

'Is water going to come pouring out of them or something?'

No way to know.

I gestured for Dobby to hang back, then began advancing cautiously.

The moment I reached the center of the arena, a strange sound started up along the walls.

Like an iron ball racing at high speed through a pipe.

On top of that, air pressure was fluctuating wildly around the perimeter of the arena.

'A trap-type room?'

That seemed the most likely.

Something would be fired through those walls. The shifting air pressure said as much.

And the holes were big. No tiny arrows would be coming out of those.

Cannon shot of some kind, most likely—

THOOM— before the thought even finished, something came hurtling in from my left.

I shifted my gaze toward the incoming object as I tensed my legs to evade.

'What the—?'

It looked like a cannonball, but...

Sharp spikes jutted out of it like a morningstar.

What? The question flashed through my mind. With spikes like that, it couldn't have rolled along the walls. Something—something was off.

Fortunately, it wasn't moving all that fast.

Two backward steps of my legs were enough ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠to dodge it comfortably.

'Huh?'

But in that instant, a blade shot out of the iron-studded cannonball.

Reflexively, I swung my axe up. CLANG! The blade that had burst from it went ricocheting off into the air.

A longsword with a hilt.

What had just flown at me was no mere cannonball.

The cannonball that had grazed past me came to a stop atop the longsword it had bounced off, rolling across the floor.

Soon the Tu'tuli Guardian rose to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠its feet and snatched up the longsword, and I got my first real look at it.

A protruding, bristly snout, and sharp spikes jutting back over its spine.

It was an otherkin that resembled an armadillo.

'Doesn't look all that strong, though?'

That last attack had probably been its signature move. The spikes on its back seemed useless in a one-on-one fight.

Well, maybe they could block a thin blade—but my weapon was an axe. Nothing was getting through that.

Besides, if it could launch itself like a bullet from a standstill the way it just had, there'd be no need for the holes in the first place.

My calculations were complete.

One opponent. Time to fight.

'Dual-wielding is new to me, so I'll start out a little careful... huh?'

And right then, the sound of an iron ball rolling along the wall reached me again.

It wasn't just one. By my ears, at least three.

No telling where they'd fly in from. For now, I coiled my leg muscles tight so I could dodge at any moment.

But no Tu'tuli Guardian came hurtling out this time.

The iron-ball rumble kept circling the arena walls, on and on.

'They're not going to charge in right away, it seems...'

It looked like they were lying in wait, biding their time for an opening mid-fight.

Sure enough, the first Tu'tuli Guardian raised its twin swords and rushed me.

Hm—maybe my experience up to now hadn't been wasted after all, because I could see exactly how this was going to play out.

The one that had emerged would fight defensively with its dual swords, doing nothing that cost it ground while trying to bait out an opening.

And the others would undoubtedly aim for that opening, launching themselves through the holes.

'Dual swords, huh...? Actually, that sounds like the perfect test for the axe technique I picked up earlier.'

I drew the dagger from my thigh with my left hand.

A combat style built on dagger and axe.

I'd forged it on my way through Floor 11.

Forged wasn't quite the word—it was closer to a kind of enlightenment.

At my core, the double-bladed axe suited me best. But the axe's weakness as a weapon was its relative lack of speed.

Especially in battle against multiple skilled opponents, its flexibility dropped off sharply.

'Granted, part of that is that I still haven't mastered the axe.'

But with a dagger in one hand, the whole dynamics of my weapon play changed. The dagger let me mix defense and offense in all sorts of ways.

And with the hand gripping the dagger, I could seize the axe's haft and swing two-handed again.

What do I mean by that? Like this.

A sword flies in from the right. I knock it aside with the axe, sweeping from inside to out.

Immediately after, a sword thrusts in from the left—I deflect it with the dagger.

Riding the rebound of that parry, my left hand grabs the axe haft. Two hands again, and the axe comes down.

"Kraagh... khaaagh!"

The axe buried itself in the Tu'tuli Guardian's right neck.

Without shifting my stance, I swung the dagger in my left hand.

The neck split along a thin, clean line.

And that was that. Before the Guardians circling the arena ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠walls could even react, I sent my opponent to the afterlife in a single breath.

'I expected as much, but these guys really are nothing special.'

Right after my epiphany on Floor 11, there hadn't been a single enemy strong enough to do me any good.

And that went for the Tu'tuli Guardians too.

After my axe skill climbed from Lv1 to Lv2, no amount of axe-swinging seemed inclined to raise it further.

Martial skill levels were probably just harder to grind than other skills.

'Presumably you'd need genuine insight into the weapon art itself...'

THOOM— THOOM— THOOM— THOOM—

The arrival of more Tu'tuli Guardians shattered my musings.

They came flying in from every direction.

I retreated three full strides—farther than before—and evaded. Perhaps sensing the distance, they didn't draw their swords to attack the way the first one had.

The Guardians that had popped out slowly raised their twin swords before me.

'The others look about the same level... This time, maybe I should put the Essence of Lightning to some use?'

Floor 11 had been all combat technique, all the time. I could see myself growing with my own eyes, and that made it fun—which only pushed me further.

Not that I'd completely forgotten the Essence of Lightning in the meantime.

I'd set it aside for combat technique, sure, but I'd sketched out plenty in my head.

The spatial leap I'd performed on Floor 9.

It was called a spatial leap, but really it was no different from moving as fast as lightning.

On Floor 9, all that mattered was arriving in front of the enemy at the right moment.

But could I use it continuously while cutting down opponents one after another? That was the question.

'Hm... why not. Let's try it.'

I drew up the Essence of Lightning.

Starting from my legs and spreading through my whole body, I had to maintain an even flow of mana. It couldn't pool in any one place.

...And now.

Exactly as the word promised, I kicked off the ground like lightning and tore forward.

Time slowed.

Within that slowed time, I alone was moving. Faster than ever before.

The Tu'tuli Guardians couldn't even react.

I twisted my body and brought the axe down. Before their pupils could contract, their faces were crushed in.

I moved again. This time the dagger found a throat. Then again—the axe swept horizontally.

It felt as though the world had frozen over, everything but me. An inexplicable euphoria rose up inside me.

And maybe it was that euphoria, because in an instant, my focus shattered.

'Damn it.'

It was far too late to reclaim concentration once broken. The mana wandering through my body refused to obey.

I couldn't control my speed or my direction. I slammed head-on into the last remaining Tu'tuli Guardian.

CRASH—!

A bomb went off beside my ear—that's what it sounded like, no exaggeration. A shockwave of pain surged through my entire body.

"Kkiik! Suyeok!"

A beat later, warmth spread through me. Something—some warm liquid—was soaking into my skin.

I couldn't tell. My head was foggy and dizzy.

"Kkiik! Wound Healing!"

With light suffused through radiance, I felt my body racing back to normal.

Hm...

As my vision brightened, the flattened Tu'tuli Guardian came into view.

No—could that even still be called a Tu'tuli Guardian?

It had burst apart where it stood. It seemed my speed had carried more force than its body could withstand.

'If I just toughen my body further, I bet I could use this offensively too?'

If I had to give it a name... body slam? Lightning slam?

God, no. Bad idea. My head was clearly still scrambled.

"Kkiik! Suyeok! You okay!"

"Ah—yeah. I'm fine."

I raised my sleeve, wiped the sticky Tu'tuli blood streaming down my face, and got to my feet.

And at that very moment, two more doors materialized across the arena.