Chapter 31
Chapter 31
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Translator: Silver Dragon
Chapter: 31
Chapter Title: 1장 - 1 (3)
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Oheon slowly approached the skeleton.
The skeleton clutching the gnarled staff might suddenly hurl magic at me.
As I gazed at what looked like a mage skeleton, a similar type of monster popped into my head.
Goblin Shaman. It might use the same kind of magic as that one.
But my instincts told me the spell this skeleton was casting was at least stronger than the Goblin Shaman's energy orb.
Anyone who's played games knows that longer casting times mean more powerful magic.
With that thought, even the overwhelming confidence from my stats couldn't stop me from picking up my pace.
Just as I kept closing in on the ragged-robed mage skeleton...
Tzzzt, crash!
A sharp sound echoed, like transparent glass shattering.
At the same time, the skeleton, which had been focused solely on its ritual, whipped its head around and glared at me.
Its jawbones clacked together, spewing an unintelligible language of rage.
There had been a transparent barrier.
Yet I'd walked right through it without putting any real force into my steps, shattering the protection.
The moment its thin shield broke, confirming the skeleton's level, I thought the first floor really was boring after all.
Then the skeleton slammed its gnarled staff into the ground.
In an instant, its glowing red eyes deepened in intensity, and the ancient runes swirling around it spun even more fiercely.
After a very brief moment, the incomprehensible ancient runes seeped into the floor.
A magic circle etched itself into the ground with those runes, and its effects manifested immediately.
Necromancer? Wasn't it a mage?
As the system messages appeared, summoning circles popped up between me and it.
From them came the rattling of joints, and bones began rising from the circles.
It was summoning the exact same skeletons I'd taken down so far.
While I was grasping the situation, noises came from behind me too.
Responding to the necromancer's cry, the scattered bone fragments on the floor stirred all at once.
Like rewinding time, the bones found their places and reformed complete skeletons.
Before I knew it, all the skeletons I'd defeated had been restored.
The necromancer hadn't been slacking off. It had been preparing two spells at once, unable to focus on me.
In the end, the revival and summoning of the skeleton horde left me feeling surrounded on all sides.
I was perfectly encircled by a pack of about forty skeletons in an instant.
But the real problem was something else.
Among the newly summoned horde was another staff-wielding necromancer.
Two necromancers now...
If that one summoned more, and it kept chaining...
I immediately realized how serious this was.
No time for scouting or analysis—I had to wipe them out first before their numbers grew.
No time to hesitate. Oheon activated his skill without a second thought.
"[Domain]."
[Domain 2nd Grade]
Your domain expands, revealing all movements within range.
The expanded domain enveloped the skeletons, and their every move became visible to me.
Fortunately, the summoned skeletons were identical to the previous ones.
Which meant...
Grasp Complete was already in effect.
I clenched both fists, focusing on the demigod power surging through my body.
Golden energy began flowing from my fingertips.
Gazing at the underground chamber filled with my domain's power, I unleashed shockwaves in all directions.
Bam!
Krunch!
Bang!
Krunch!
Bam! Bang!!
Dozens of invisible shockwaves swept through the skeleton horde underground.
Bones shattered, skulls exploded—the sounds reverberated everywhere.
It was a continuous roar of destruction.
Before they could swing swords or nock arrows, they crumbled to bone dust and scattered across the floor.
In the wake of the dozens of shockwaves, only one remained standing unharmed.
A skeleton with one leg broken, barely shielding itself with a massive tower shield.
I approached it and casually kicked it away.
The heavy tower shield crumpled and flew back, shattering the skeleton behind it to pieces.
Oheon breathed a sigh of relief at the messages, retracted his domain, and thought.
Guess that's all the gimmicks on the first floor.
As I pondered the first floor's difficulty more, I took a moment to check my body.
A familiar yet intense change began surging through Oheon's body.
The third awakening.
My Agility and Stamina stats, which hadn't quite reached 30, finally broke through the wall with the experience from that battle.
I'd hit level 25.
But with only a minute until transfer, I finally checked the other system messages I'd missed amid the fighting.
Necromancer's core?
My first rare item.
And it gives a ton of EXP and gold.
This is way above normal rewards.
I was extremely satisfied with the fifth-stage rewards of the tower.
Massive EXP and gold that were hard to believe came from just the first floor.
Seeing the fifth-stage difficulty, I'd almost wanted to pick fourth stage for an easy clear reward instead. Too late now.
But looking at the EXP, gold, item, and title from the first floor, my choice was spot on.
Going for fifth stage was the right call. Even just the first floor's rewards built huge expectations.
I went to where the necromancer had stood and picked up the dropped core.
'So it gives a minute to grab the item. Makes sense.'
One minute was plenty to recover items.
Dozens of seconds passed.
In the blink of an eye, Oheon was transported to the intermediate layer.
The intermediate layer resembled a waiting room.
No dungeon vibe at all.
Straight ahead floated an option to forfeit the challenge and return to the original dimension.
No time limit on the choice, but it probably auto-returns after the event ends.
First, I focused on calming the awakening energy boiling inside me.
Once the intense changes finally subsided, the stat imbalance I'd had for hours was gone.
Oheon twisted and moved, feeling his improved Stamina and Agility.
His movements flowed like water, faster now, and his whole body felt more resilient.
Since he'd used Domain, he pulled out a mana potion and drank it.
I thoroughly prepared for the next floor.
I might not need all the items I'd bought from the shop, but they'd be huge help in key moments.
I checked the details on the new item and title.
Both the item and title exceeded expectations.
I immediately tested the title's effect.
Concentrating mana at my feet, I felt my body lightly lift into the air.
Float.
It settled back down in less than a second, but it was definite levitation.
I tried a few more times.
Jumping while releasing mana let me leap much higher and farther than usual.
Adding walking motions, I was actually kicking off the air to move.
Still clumsy like a double jump, but with practice, it'd skyrocket my aerial mobility.
And depending on how I used it, I could pull off insane maneuvers.
I thought about the title that granted this ability.
Titles, huh...
Titles didn't just give plain stats—they bestowed real abilities like skills.
Felt like special techniques.
My only previous title was [Path of Evil 2], evolved from [Path of Evil 1].
It had gotten me a special key, but I'd never used it even once.
This new title's effect was always active, so it was immediately tangible.
I pulled the necromancer's core from my inventory to inspect it.
Rare-grade item. My first rare.
Not only instant mana recovery, but a temporary Mana stat boost too.
And it wasn't even consumable.
Basically a superior mana potion with insane performance.
A satisfied smile crossed my face as I eyed the selection screen.
Huge rewards and new power.
Fifth stage's risks were beyond imagination, but the payoff was real.
Without hesitation, I chose to challenge the second floor.
The tower's second floor.
Like the first, a long corridor greeted me.
But the atmosphere was totally different.
Every wall, ceiling, and floor was made of transparent crystal.
Each step I took made the slick, flat crystal floor shimmer with iridescent light.
Unlike the first floor's darkness, this place blazed with blinding brilliance everywhere.
At the end of the beautiful vista stood another massive door blocking my path.
Dozens of sculptures etched into the crystal door depicted the second floor's monsters.
Oheon pushed open the artwork-like door and stepped inside.
As he entered, a massive second floor like a crystal palace revealed itself.
'More important than the monsters is figuring out the gimmick.'
The second floor's layout was unique.
Like a huge hill, the terrain sloped upward the deeper you went.
Terraced steps made it seem climbable without slipping if taken carefully.
At the top, a suspicious red crystal was embedded in the wall.
That's the key, probably.
Just as I wondered if reaching it would start the fight...
The red crystal began emitting an ominous blue energy in all directions.
The blue light seeped into the cave's crystal walls, and changes started from the ceiling.
Plip, plop.
The blue energy turned into small crystal shards, dropping one by one.
Each shard rapidly formed into a humanoid monster.
Golems? Crystal golems?
Dozens of human-sized crystal golems positioned themselves across the terraces.
Some were far larger than the standard ones.
All this happened faster than I could react.
Oheon reinforced his entire body with demigod power. He judged quickly.
Similar to the first floor. Got to destroy that red crystal first, clearly.
But I'd need to take down a few to analyze the fight?
Rushing the red crystal blindly might trigger some unknown gimmick.
I drew my sword from inventory and horizontally slashed the crystal golem right in front of me.
Boom!!
No sense of cutting life—just pulverizing stone as the golem shattered.
Good, no regeneration.
The golem's durability didn't exceed 20 stats.
As I gauged them bit by bit, I whipped my head around.
Whoosh!
Thud!
A small crystal shard flew at extreme speed and embedded in the wall.
'What the...'
A ranged-attacking golem?
I scanned the golems on the terraces again. None looked ready to launch anything.
Then... from the red crystal?
Mid-thought, the red crystal fired another small shard at me.
Already focused on it, I dodged far easier than before.
But the red crystal didn't stop—it released more blue energy.
That energy...
Raised the shattered golem back up.
Endless regeneration.
Unless I destroyed the red crystal, this fight wouldn't end.
Tricky situation, but not threatening yet.
Amid it all, a massive crystal golem I'd seen earlier blocked my path.
Its fist came flying with a heavy thud.
I calmly blocked with my sword.
Clang!
Considerable impact transmitted through.
Its stats were at least over 20.
The first monster I'd faced with stats above 20.
Of course, with my Strength past 30, it wasn't much of a threat.
I smashed it in one hit, but its presence alone pressured me.
Another shard incoming.
To break the red crystal, I'd have to fight through the golems like this.
Dealing with endlessly reviving golems would take too long. Inefficient.
Then it hit me.
'Just need to hit the red crystal?'
I stopped in place and activated my skill.
[Domain 2nd Grade]
Domain expands across 75m radius.
The 75-meter radius was covered by my domain, and I generated shockwaves at full power, blasting toward the red crystal.
Unlike my scattered shots before, this was overwhelming offense.
Invisible shockwaves leaped across multiple terraced levels, striking the red crystal dead-on.
Kaboom─!!!
The red crystal shattered, scattering fragments.
At the same moment, every surrounding crystal golem lost power and collapsed.
A barrage of system notifications rang out.