The Tower - Skeleton Gladiators (1)

As time passed and April drew to a close, we were finally assigned a ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠club room.

The school buildings were so huge and so numerous that it barely felt like an elementary school, and the room allocated to us was far too big for just two people.

In truth, we still hadn't met the minimum headcount required to found a club, but maybe they thought it was better than leaving room for conflict, because our application was approved anyway.

That meant that if we wanted the club to survive, we'd eventually need to pad the numbers somehow, even if it meant adding ghost members later. But the principal gave us an absurdly generous grace period.

So generous, in fact, that it was seven years long. Even if one of us repeated a year, the club would still last until we graduated.

In other words, he was basically saying he didn't care whether we recruited more members or not.

"Wow! It's a hideout!"

Cheon Soyeon ran around the empty classroom in excitement.

Kim Dohwa, who had become our faculty advisor, said, "Since this is the Elixir Club, basic equipment for handling elixirs will be brought in, and we'll also be inviting an outside instructor to teach you the fundamentals of elixirs."

I could already produce elixirs at the level needed for Inception / Entry and 3rd-rate.

But if the school was bringing in an external lecturer, there was a chance I might learn how to make elixirs for 1st-rate, Peak / Peak Realm, maybe even Transcendental Peak.

After all, the instructor the school hired would almost certainly be one of the clan's pharmaceutical experts.

"And as for one of the club's goals, 'multidisciplinary martial arts,' the principal and I will be overseeing that ourselves. It's not hard to find experts in individual fields, but it's much harder to find someone who's broadly knowledgeable across many different fields."

Kim Dohwa sounded almost like she was making excuses, and I let out a quiet snort. Just as expected.

The club's goals were martial arts and elixirs.

From the principal's perspective, he probably wanted to get directly involved in teaching Cheon Soyeon, but he didn't have a proper justification yet, so he was planning to create one.

Whatever he thought privately, outwardly it only made sense that every student be given a fair chance.

All I'd done was dangle some bait in front of him so the club's approval would go smoothly.

Kim Dohwa sent me a data file.

"And this is the secret manual for throwing blade techniques you said you wanted to learn. Use it when you review later. Cheon Soyeon is a bit hopeless with machines, so help her when it's time to go over it."

"Wow! Thank you."

I probably felt like an extra tacked on after Cheon Soyeon, but maybe because our club only had two members, my requests were getting approved immediately.

"Normally, the first day of club activities would be spent learning the club's history and what kind of activities it does, but since this one was just founded, there's nothing to learn. So let's just train."

Ah. This might not be great.

After school, I trained with Siwoo again as usual.

"I think it may be about time to stop the cultivation method training for a while."

"Again? We only restarted it a few months ago."

At my complaint, Siwoo spoke in a soothing tone, as if calming me down.

"That simply means your talent in internal energy cultivation is that exceptional, young master. At least until Transcendental Peak, it is necessary to keep your body and internal energy in balance."

Ugh. I really needed to raise my realm quickly.

Internal energy training was my favorite kind of training because nothing else showed such obvious growth. It was a shame.

Still, I was only stopping the part where I expanded my dantian. I could keep training my control over internal energy, so as disappointing as it was, I'd just have to accept it.

"Are you enjoying school life?"

"Hard to say... I like that I'm learning a lot of different things, so it's not boring. But if you're asking whether it's fun? Not really."

Especially in the afternoon, most classes were basically just strength and stamina training, so there wasn't much difference between training at home and training at school.

The only real difference was ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠that the school's facilities were much better.

But for basic physical training, I didn't need facilities that fancy.

Training with Siwoo was more comfortable and more enjoyable.

Ah, though learning proper throwing blade techniques had definitely helped. My accuracy had improved dramatically.

I still missed my target two or three times out of ten, but compared to before, when I only landed one or two hits, it was a huge improvement.

Siwoo smiled faintly.

"I am glad to see that you seem to have adjusted well to school."

It seemed Siwoo and Kim Dohwa, my homeroom teacher, had been in regular contact, because Siwoo knew a lot about how I was doing at school.

For a moment, it felt like she'd become an overbearing parent, but apparently Kim Dohwa had actually been the one contacting her with questions related to my training.

"Now then, that will be all for today's training. Rest is just as important as practice."

That brought the day's schedule to an end.

Which meant it was about time to head back into the Tower.

I opened my eyes in the inn on the Tower 10th Floor and checked over my body.

"My mana's shrunk like crazy."

By feel alone, it seemed like it had dropped to barely a tenth of what it had been.

There was no helping it.

Accumulating internal energy was one thing, but expanding the dantian required actual physical time.

Still, I had elixirs, so getting enough internal energy for immediate martial use wasn't difficult.

At least until I could absorb my reincarnation avatar, I'd just have to endure the imbalance between body and internal energy.

The downside of that imbalance was that the higher your realm became, the harder it was to break through, and the easier it became to suffer Qi Deviation. But that wasn't really something to worry about at the level of 3rd-rate or 2nd-rate.

The most immediate problem I'd have to deal with was strain on my acupoints and meridians.

If I had to compare the imbalance between body and internal energy to something, it would be blood vessels and blood.

If your veins are narrow but your blood is thick and excessive, you can damage the vessels or develop arterial problems. The same applied here: trouble started when the body could no longer withstand the amount of internal energy flowing through it.

Though once you reached Transformation Realm and underwent physical reconstruction, people said it stopped mattering so much.

"Well then. Guess I'll become 2nd-rate first."

I pulled out an elixir and my sword from my inventory.

2nd-rate was the realm of reinforcing weapons and objects.

Honestly, more than a realm, it was closer to a sense for handling internal energy.

Even Cheon Soyeon, with her Heaven's Martial Body, had acknowledged my ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠feel for internal energy. So reaching 2nd-rate itself wasn't difficult.

"Ah, damn, I don't have enough internal energy."

The problem was that reinforcing my sword burned through it too quickly.

I swallowed an elixir and began regulating my breathing.

After circulating my energy through the night and expanding my dantian with Wind Mist Cultivation, my mana had somehow climbed to nearly 30.

Everything else was barely around 10, but mana stood out overwhelmingly.

"Huh? When did Intelligence get this high?"

Had my Intelligence gone up because studying under Liven had overworked my brain?

Did other stats not carry over while Intelligence did?

Or did it naturally expand through thought itself as I inhabited my avatars' bodies?

Multidimensional Avatar was my ability, but that didn't mean I understood everything about it.

Well, that was part of what made it fun to figure out.

At dawn, I stretched and headed outside the city to get used to my Tower avatar's body again.

It wasn't like I could swing a sword in the middle of the city.

By the time I'd warmed up against the blade cocks and goblins that came at me outside the walls, it was already time to meet Lee Suyoung.

When I reached the Climbers' Association, Lee Suyoung greeted me looking slightly haggard.

"You okay? Did something happen?"

"No, it's just... I think I overdid it yesterday and ended up sore all over. I was groaning all night, you know?"

For me, clearing the 14th floor felt like quite a while ago.

For Lee Suyoung, it had only been yesterday.

"Want to rest today?"

"No. I slept well, so I feel healthy now. If anything, I overslept, so my head hurts a little."

After joking like that, she leaned in and whispered,

"When I checked my status window this morning, my stats had suddenly gone up a lot. Why would that happen all of a sudden?"

She hadn't been in the Tower very long, but she also hadn't experienced much dramatic growth before now, so the sudden jump over the last day or two seemed to be making her uneasy.

"Ah, that's probably because we killed a lot of monsters yesterday."

"Monsters?"

Lee Suyoung looked puzzled.

She might find it unpleasant if she learned the truth, but if she kept climbing the Tower, she'd find out sooner or later anyway, so I decided to explain the growth mechanism of climbers.

"I'm sensitive to mana, so I noticed it. When you kill a monster, some of its mana disperses, and some of it gets absorbed by the climber who killed it."

"Like experience points in a game?"

I nodded.

Honestly, it felt less like experience points and more like killing a sacrifice and stealing its power, but I kept that part to myself. Saying it out loud would probably just make her feel bad.

"I see. So when Tower Returnees said they became stronger without even realizing it while climbing the Tower, this must've been why."

It seemed Lee Suyoung had watched interviews with Tower Returnees too.

Ah, right. Hadn't she said her mother worked for the WPTO?

Managing Tower Returnees was one of the WPTO's jobs, so it wasn't strange that she'd know about them.

"If you're feeling okay, want to head up right away?"

"Sounds good!"

Given how much she'd gone through yesterday, she could've taken a day off without issue, but she chose to keep climbing.

When we ascended to the Tower 15th Floor, we arrived in the arena of a crumbling colosseum.

There wasn't a single spectator in sight.

Only two gigantic skeleton gladiators, both well over two meters tall, stood side by side in the arena.

"So the Tower has finally granted our wish."

The skeleton gladiator holding a spear spoke calmly.

It looks undead, but it still has reason?

"Were you the ones who made a wish to the Tower?"

At my question, the spear-bearing gladiator answered,

"We were."

"What is your wish? All we know is that we're supposed to grant it and let you pass on."

The 15th floor quest was simple.

Grant their wish, and let them rest in peace.

Just like the 11th, 12th, and 14th floors.

"Our wish is simple. As gladiators, we wish to meet death at the end of a fair and honorable duel."

"Fair and honorable?"

"Yes. Fair and honorable. We were dragged into a vile match-fixing scheme and were denied a proper death. We did not die as warriors. Because of that, we cannot go to Valhalla."

Thanks to the translation function, it sounded like "Valhalla" to my ears, but what the skeleton had actually said was probably some different name for a heaven similar to it.

The wish of these two dead gladiators was for us to defeat them in a proper two-on-two fight.

Unlike the calm spear-wielding skeleton, the axe-bearing one shouted in a booming voice.

"We seek an honorable battle! If you are cowards who fear death, then begone!"

The spear gladiator nodded, apparently sharing the same opinion, then added in a calmer voice,

"Before we died, we stole the wealth and treasures of the colosseum's master and hid them away as part of our revenge. If you defeat us, you may take them."

At that, Lee Suyoung's eyes lit up.

"Treasures? But if we defeat you, won't you be gone before you can tell us where they are?"

"We can at least tell you the general location. They are hidden in one of the rooms once used by gladiators as a resting chamber."

Even while looking at us, the skeleton gladiators didn't attack. They just stood there, as if waiting to see what we would do.

Were they really going to wait until we were ready, all for the sake of a fair match?

I leaned toward Lee Suyoung and whispered, as if discussing battle plans.

"Even with only bones left, they're still that big. They must've been monsters when they were alive."

"Yeah. I don't think arrows will do much. And since they don't have eyes, Bitpung-i probably won't help either."

The skeleton gladiators were half-naked, but it didn't look like their clothing had just rotted away with time. It looked more like that had been their original attire.

And even their weapons, though lightly rusted, were clearly well made.

"What do you think? Want to do this?"

"Let's do it."

I drew my sword, and Lee Suyoung summoned her slimes.

The skeleton gladiator with the giant battle axe and the one with the spear both shifted into ready stances, preparing for battle.

And then, ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠without anyone giving a signal, the two skeleton gladiators and I charged at one another.

To be continued.