Chapter 36
Chapter 36
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Translator: penny
Chapter: 36
Chapter Title: Assassin
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The mana boost from eating Trent fruits apparently had a limit.
At some point, even after consuming the fruit and meditating, my mana pool stopped growing.
Still, thanks to steadily taking them for so long, it had more than doubled from before.
I wouldn't be running short on mana for a while now.
But it was also true that there was nothing more to gain from sticking around on the 16th floor.
[You have entered the 17th floor (EXTREME).]
Today, I decided to climb to a new floor.
Level-up was right around the corner now.
The humid jungle air welcomed me once again.
“Desertification.”
This time, I controlled the power.
Just enough sand to get what I needed.
Next, I pulled a mini clone out from inside my robe.
After observing the AI-equipped clone for a few days, I had formed one hypothesis.
The older the sand clone, the better its learning efficiency.
Even if I dismantled and remade a clone from sand, it didn't reset all its learned knowledge to zero.
But the ones that stayed intact longer seemed to get smarter, like they were.
To test the hypothesis, I'd kept one going without dismantling it for the past few days.
Which meant I'd been living without the tip of my pinky finger.
“Go, Super Unit!”
I still hadn't given it a name.
If I got attached, it'd be sad when I eventually melted it back into sand.
The mini clone—Super Unit—hopped off my shoulder.
The sand from the desertified surroundings stuck to Super Unit's body, rapidly bulking it up.
In an instant, Super Unit grew to my size.
I then started creating clones one by one.
These were for comparing against Super Unit.
I granted them artificial mana cores via the robe's effect.
Instead of toothpicks, I gave them spears made of sand.
The spears' durability was crap, but they were just for training anyway. If they broke, I'd make new ones.
“Once I make bank, should I get them each an item?”
Then I could have my own invincible sand legion.
A one-man army—sounded badass just thinking about it.
“…When I don't even have gear myself.”
I soon shook my head.
That would require a ton of money. A whole lot.
I couldn't even afford my own gear right now.
A sand legion was a distant dream.
“Alright, do your thing.”
I issued the clones a hunt command and stepped back.
The clones scattered in a group, rummaging through the underbrush.
Soon, a few lizardmen appeared.
A fight I could've cleaned up in seconds with a few sand bullets.
But I didn't.
“Gotta let them rack up experience.”
I was training them with a phone app that filtered harmful content, but videos were just videos.
These guys needed real combat.
The brutal, grueling kind I'd been through.
The clones charged at the lizardmen, swinging their spears.
Still clumsy, but definitely improved from before.
At least they weren't tripping over their own feet anymore. Progress.
I settled down at a spot far off.
Then closed my eyes and began meditating.
I left the clones' fight to them and focused on absorbing the ambient mana.
Clear your mind. Maximize the thick mana density inside the tower.
I sank deeper into concentration.
That's when it happened.
Even with my eyes closed, Insight Eye was still active.
If anything, blocking out normal vision sharpened my other senses.
Like turning on a thermal camera.
And that sharpened Insight Eye caught something.
Something streaking faintly through the air.
“Huh? What's that?”
It was hurtling toward me at tremendous speed.
I opened my eyes.
My normal vision saw nothing.
But I could sense its presence clearly.
Instinct told me: invisible enemy.
“What the—!”
I cut off meditation immediately and fired a few sand bullets into the air.
Pew!
The invisible foe dodged my attack effortlessly.
Must have solid agility stats.
The bullets sliced through empty air.
I didn't panic.
I'd half-expected something like this and prepared countermeasures.
“Heavenly Demon Supremacy.”
Everyone knew Heavenly Demon was short for genius mage of heaven.
Without hesitation, I stomped the ground hard.
At my will, the sand floor surged like a violent wave.
In the wake of the sand wave, the invisible enemy's movement hitched for a split second.
“Gotcha, you bastard.”
I didn't miss the opening.
I sprayed dozens of sand bullets in every direction, blanketing the area.
A net of bullets unfurling.
No agility could dodge this.
“Heavenly Demon Death Beam.”
Pew-pew-pew-pew!
Sure enough, I heard a few bullets pierce something.
A short scream followed, transparency shattering to reveal the enemy.
“A… person?”
No, not a person.
Pitch-black skin, sharply slitted eyes, long pointed ears.
A black armored assassin gripping sharp daggers in both hands.
Looking closer, it was an elf.
Black skin: dark elf.
“No one mentioned these things?”
I'd never seen this monster in the gallery or any guides.
“This is a pain in the ass….”
No telling how many more of these lurked around.
I immediately recalled all my scattered sand clones.
Super Unit climbed back onto my shoulder, shrunken down.
Without pause, I started sprinting across the tower.
More precisely, not sprinting.
The sand under my feet moved on its own, propelling me at ultra-high speed.
Landscapes whipped by like I was using shrinking-earth technique.
I bulldozed everything around me with desertification as I charged.
At the same time, I floated dozens of sand bullets around me, staying vigilant.
I picked off visible monsters as I pushed forward.
How long did I run?
Soon, the familiar clear alert popped up.
[Congratulations on clearing Tower 17th floor (EXTREME).]
Three skillbooks appeared before me.
“Nice, level-up time.”
I checked the skillbooks' colors eagerly.
Rainbow after so long?
But all three were the same color.
Silver. Silver. Silver. Triple.
“Ah….”
A sigh of disappointment escaped me.
Others might pray for this, but not me.
Three silvers or ten—I didn't care.
Bronze, bronze, gold would've been better.
I had my bonus, after all.
[The first clear bonus is applied!]
[The #1 ranking bonus is applied!]
Just as expected.
The silver skillbooks glowed.
Silver to gold, then to platinum.
“Ah, platinum's awkward to flex….”
People called platinum a jackpot, but I disagreed.
Not rainbow, and platinum was meh for gallery bragging.
Triple bronze-brown would've been better for posting….
“Think positive, positive.”
Yeah. Platinum definitely meant good effects.
How much honey had I sucked from Eye of Insight?
I casually picked the platinum skillbook.
Let's see. What skill?
[Active: Sand Barrier]
[Creates a sand barrier to protect the user.]
“Hmm… Defense skill? Not bad.”
Maybe because I'd nearly gotten shanked by that assassin?
Simple skill, but satisfying.
***
Back home, I booted up my computer right away.
I vented about today's encounter on the Mage Gallery.
[Title: Assassins on 17th floor for real?]
Author: Anon(P33.333)
Just ran into a dark elf
First I've heard of this guy
Invis ambush, nearly died fr.
> pkaetchu: That's a 30th floor mob lol. Why there?
> MagicIsFirepower: Extreme diff? You good?
> Fridge: Yeah. Dark elves infamous healer/mage killers. Lucky survival.
“Fair. Stealth dagger rush would one-shot most mages.”
> Anon(P33.333): Caught the faint mana flow even stealthed. Bad eyes would've been gg.
> Fridge: But seriously, not supposed to spawn there?
> pkaetchu: Tower noob-grading or smth?
> Fridge: Sounds plausible af.
They all left worried replies.
Then suggestions to try partying started trickling in.
> Dungbeetle: Time to recruit a party frfr.
> Fridge: Yeah. Grab one solo-climb incapable healer, way more stable.
> MagicIsFirepower: Healers all cowards tho, avoid tower unless desperate.
Their reactions sparked my curiosity about party play.
> Anon(A55.555): But I'm extreme, how's party diff adjust?
Dungbeetle replied to my question.
> Dungbeetle: Averages party members' diffs. Ex: you + hard user = bit harder than hard.
> Anon(A55.555): Rewards drop too?
> Fridge: Rewards by personal contribution. You'd get most as top dps. Less than solo extreme tho.
> Fridge: Standard is hard dps + easy support.
> Anon(A55.555): Hard support/healer = better rewards?
> MagicIsFirepower: Theory yes…. Practically no.
> Fridge: Support awakeners struggle on floor 1. No hard supports exist.
> Dungbeetle: Heard China has some A-rank supports.
> Fridge: They just toss bodies at it….
Chatting brought up a question.
> Anon(A55.555): Why not just all easy climbers? Safest.
> Dungbeetle: Easy can't keep up with tower power creep eventually, gets walled.
> Fridge: UK tried all-easy team, stalled at 20s, can't climb solo now.
> pkaetchu: Tried cheesing tower, backfired. Now bleeding cash hiring foreign hunters.
> MagicIsFirepower: Tldr: stable climb needs hard+easy balance.
I pondered their explanations but shook my head.
> Anon(A55.555): Nah, sticking to solo.
> Anon(A55.555): Mage-killer assassin scary, but got a defense skill just in time.
> Anon(A55.555): Said it before: higher diff = more gains. Won't stall here.
> pkaetchu: True noob energy.
> MagicIsFirepower: Haha yeah. Grow up healthy….
***
Next day, I headed back into the tower.
Before 18th floor, wanted to prep for assassins fully.
So, 17th floor again.
Not long after, mana vision caught something.
A dark elf in stealth, nocking an arrow from afar.
Shwick—!
A sharp whoosh as the arrow launched.
Ambush from nowhere.
But I didn't flinch.
“Sand Barrier.”
A massive sand wall erupted before me.
Arrow deflected easily.
But the skill had an issue.
“…This is way too big?”
A wall as tall as a building floor loomed in front of me.
Less defense skill, more construction tool.
“…Gotta build a sandcastle and upload it later.”
Come to think, I'd planned to at the beach but bailed.
Should go sometime. The beach….
“No, not the time for this.”
I slapped my cheek with a smack.
First, figure out how to tweak this skill.
Soon, a good idea hit.
I snapped my fingers.