Chapter 19
Chapter 19
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 19
Chapter Title: Floor 10
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Today, heading toward the tower once more, I opened the door to the 10th floor without a moment's hesitation.
Even though it was a boss fight, I wasn't scared anymore.
After acquiring the Eye of Discernment skill, I'd grown so much stronger than before that there was no comparison.
[Entering Tower Floor 10 (EXTREME).]
The scenery before my eyes was completely different from floors 1 through 9.
No vast grasslands, no damp caves.
The stage for the 10th floor was a massive, crudely built circular arena of stone.
It reminded me of an ancient colosseum.
And in the center of the arena sat a single beast on a stone throne.
Its size was on another level from any orc I'd seen so far.
Scars covering its entire body, intimidating bone armor. And on its lap, a massive double-headed axe as big as a person's upper body.
It was clearly no ordinary orc.
I decided to name it the Orc Warlord.
The beast slowly raised its head. Red eyes pierced right through me.
I calmly spread both hands wide.
"Sand Mire."
The stone floor beneath my feet shattered, sand surging up.
I immediately cast Sand Totem.
This time, I made them bigger than usual—two-meter clones.
That thing looked like it could smash a normal totem with one swing.
The sand instantly coalesced into two clones identical to me.
I slipped my fingers into them, linking my consciousness. They opened their mouths in accordance with my will.
"This is our turf."
"Yeah, get lost."
My sand puppets, arms crossed arrogantly on either side, looked pretty badass.
But the Orc Warlord didn't even snort.
It simply rose silently from its throne and slung the massive axe over its shoulder.
"GRRROOOOAAAARRR!"
A roar that seemed to shake the entire building.
The moment it kicked off the ground, the whole arena trembled. Its charge was like a semi-truck barreling down on me.
I immediately sent my clones forward.
A head-on clash was out of the question.
The goal was to buy time.
But its speed far exceeded my expectations.
Before the clones could even react, the huge axe flashed through the air.
KRAK!
One clone's waist snapped clean in two. In a single blow.
"What kind of attack power is that…."
I maneuvered the remaining clone to flank it.
Targeting its side.
At the same time, I backpedaled while firing sand bullets.
Dozens of projectiles shot from the Sand Mire like a hail of arrows toward the Orc Warlord.
Shoooosh-!
The orc swung its axe like a giant shield, blocking the bullets without even glancing at the flanking clone.
CLANG CLANG CLANG!
Most of the bullets ricocheted off with the grating screech of metal on metal.
These were sand bullets that had shattered thick shields before.
And it was shrugging off dozens of them?
That weapon's no joke.
A few managed to embed in its armor, but they didn't dig in deep.
In the meantime, the flanking clone grabbed onto its leg and clung tight.
"Wor!"
The orc irritably swung its foot once.
The clone went flying like a soccer ball, smashing into the arena wall and shattering to pieces.
Both clones vanished pathetically in just a few seconds.
Sweat beading on my forehead, I dumped the emergency sand pouch I'd brought onto the floor.
Enough sand piled up in front of me for two totems.
I even scraped together the scattered sand from afar and resummoned the totems.
This time, I went all out and made four at once.
Fortunately, I still had plenty of mana left.
The four clones charged from all sides, latching onto its thick legs.
"You pig bastard…."
"…Not letting go."
My sand puppets shouted in different voices as they grappled it.
Even that beast couldn't shake off four at once. It swung its axe in place, smashing their heads one by one.
Seizing the opening, I prepared another volley of bullets.
But these weren't ordinary ones.
I channeled all the mana I'd gained from Eye of Discernment.
Gather every last drop of mana into a single shot.
I braced one arm with the other.
The maximum range I could turn my body into sand.
My entire right arm morphed into a thick, elongated bullet.
A spell I'd only theorized about, too scared to test it lest it wreck the school track.
I slowly spun the elongated bullet.
The projectile rotating above my arm exuded an overwhelming menace unlike any before.
Less a bullet, more like a stake or pile bunker.
The Orc Warlord seemed to sense the danger.
It thrashed wildly to shake off the clones clinging to it, roaring all the while.
The clones burst one by one, but I didn't care.
'Now.'
The instant it brought its axe down on the last clone.
Aiming for its exposed heart, I fired the bullet infused with everything I had.
BOOOOM-!
A thunderous boom shook the arena as a massive hole tore through the Orc Warlord's chest.
The beast's red eyes widened in disbelief.
The bullet kept going, slamming into the arena wall.
KABOOOM!
One side of the wall crumbled powerlessly.
"Krerrk…."
The Orc Warlord's massive body slowly toppled forward.
Dust billowed up, and the short but grueling battle ended.
"Haa…."
I collapsed right there, gasping for breath.
My mana was completely drained.
Then, a familiar yet ominous message appeared.
[The Orc Warlord remembers you.]
"Ah, shit. What the hell is this creepy message?"
I couldn't shake the uneasy feeling.
It felt like an ominous promise of a rematch.
Shaking it off, I headed to where the orc had fallen.
An item lay where the boss had dropped: the massive double-headed axe it wielded.
[Orc Warlord's Battle Axe]
[Grade: Unique]
[5% chance on attack to absorb 10% of damage dealt as health]
[+30 Strength]
"Health steal plus 30 stats? That's insane."
As expected of Unique grade—the options were top-tier.
"Hyup."
I lifted the axe with both hands.
Its hefty weight pressed down on my arms.
But thanks to my stacked all-stats bonuses, it wasn't too heavy to handle. My strength was sufficient.
Squeezing out what little mana I had left, I summoned one sand clone.
Then, I had the clone pick up the axe. It gripped it steadily without wobbling.
Good, at least it can wield it.
I controlled the clone to swing the axe.
Swoosh-
The sound cutting through the air was weighty, but that was it.
Even to my untrained eye, the motion was clumsy as hell.
The balance was all over the place, the attack path a mess.
Like a kid flailing an adult hammer.
"This won't work."
I let out a short sigh.
Clones only mimic my movements exactly. Their limit was my own knowledge and experience.
And I was a shut-in NEET who'd never properly held so much as a tool in my life.
Zero combat sense.
No way a clone I controlled could use an axe properly.
In the end, I had no choice but to give up.
"Can't be helped. Gotta sell this thing."
Above all, lugging around such a ridiculously huge axe would draw way too much aggro.
Climbing the tower quietly like now would be impossible.
"Haa… Gotta see that broker uncle again?"
I sighed, picturing the broker guy.
The thought of meeting that weird uncle again didn't sit right.
[Exit the Tower? Y/N]
I looked around.
Somewhere in this vast arena, there might be a hidden piece like on floor 5.
But I decided not to search anymore.
Another encounter with that mad wizard ripping my arm off? Pass.
Plus, even the Magic Gallery users didn't seem to know about a 10th-floor hidden piece.
I selected Y without hesitation.
Along with the familiar sensation of exiting the tower, a new window popped up before my eyes.
[Special reward for reaching Floor 10 has been granted!]
"Huh? There's something like this too?"
Seemed like they gave special rewards at 10-floor intervals. The content was straightforward.
[Reward: Gold Skillbook]
Gold grade? Not bad.
Others might beg for it, but to me with my Platinum skill, it was just meh.
"I could really use a decent attack move about now…."
I was starting to feel the limits of Sand Bullet.
Then, new notifications popped up one after another.
[First to clear EXTREME difficulty!]
[First clear bonus applied!]
[The skillbook's grade has increased!]
With a flash of light, the gold skillbook turned a dazzling platinum.
"Huh? This bonus applies here too?"
I hadn't expected first-clear bonuses on special rewards. My heart started pounding.
Which meant, maybe.
"Wha-wha-what?"
[Ranking 1st bonus applied!]
[The skillbook's grade has increased!]
My hunch was spot on.
The platinum skillbook now shone with an indescribable rainbow hue.
"No way…."
Even A-rank Refrigerator only had one.
A Rainbow-grade skill, the kind she said was one-of-a-kind.
And it'd dropped on floor 10.
With trembling hands, I aimed my phone at the floating skillbook.
I had to snapshot this historic moment.
Click, click.
"Posting proof of this will get me banned instantly… But they can't ban me anyway, right?"
No matter how much money or how good the gear, what's the point?
True value comes from social connections.
In other words, you gotta brag about your loot for it to be worth anything.
Already thrilled at the thought of the trolling.
After snapping the pics, I reverently reached for the rainbow skillbook.
The hand-feel was different, befitting its rainbow glow.
The texture at my fingertips was extraordinary.
The skillbook dissolved into sparkles and seeped into my body. Brimming with anticipation, I checked the skill info.
[Adaptive Skill: Erosion]
"Just the name alone screams quality…."
I grinned in satisfaction.