Toward the 100th Floor (5)

I wanted to test my physical abilities, so I decided to have a race with the Blood Knight.

"To that wall over there."

The Blood Knight lined up beside me. "Ready... go!"

I kicked off the ground. Boom! The marble floor cratered deeply as my body launched into the air. Whoosh! Insane speed. The edges of my vision blurred and streaked backward.

'Am I faster than the Blood Knight now?' The sound of footsteps faded behind me. But as I reached the center...

Thud! Boom! Thud! Boom! Terrifying vibrations chased after me, and soon a red shadow flashed past on my side.

"Huh...?"

It was the Blood Knight. And he was even carrying his greatsword. He overtook me just like that.

"Was my initial burst just because I gave the start signal...?"

Right as I was about to lose, I muttered softly.

"Black Shift."

Black mist billowed up. In an instant, I appeared right in front of the finish line wall.

Tap. I touched the wall with my hand. The Blood Knight came to a halt behind me, belatedly.

...I knew it looked pathetic, but what could I do? I was the master, after all.

"Heh. I win, right?" I smirked smugly and shrugged.

That was when it happened.

Whiiiiiish! A massive gust of wind engulfed my vision.

"Whoa!" Crash! Something slammed into me, sending us tumbling across the floor.

I barely lifted my head. It was Geomrang. Tail wagging like a motor, it had mounted me. The guy who'd been watching our race from afar had chased us all the way to the wall.

It happened in a flash.

"Yeah... you're the fastest, huh." I barely pried Geomrang off and stood up.

To sum it up: Agility rankings were Geomrang first, Blood Knight second, and me dead last.

Next up, attack power? I went with the most brute-force method.

"Alright, take turns punching the wall."

The Blood Knight went first. Boom! The marble wall exploded, leaving a massive crater.

Just like last time. My turn next. I clenched my fist... and swung hard.

Boom! Debris flew everywhere. Not quite Blood Knight level, but it carved out a pretty big hole—big enough for a couple of grown men.

Finally, Geomrang. Grrr! It slashed at the wall. Scraaaape!

"Hmm..." Just three shallow scratches—no crater worthy of the name.

"So it was holding the sword in its mouth... to compensate for its attack power as a speed build?"

Probably all-in on speed. "Good job." I patted its tough fur.

Geomrang got excited again, bouncing around wildly. "Hey, easy...!"

I hadn't even ordered it to start in the race—it just got hyped and bolted on its own. Its command obedience was lower than the Blood Knight's.

"Sit."

It planted its butt on the floor. But I couldn't stop that thrashing tail. Thump thump thump!

"Hope the floors below don't think something's coming up..."

The Blood Knight was different. During our nap, it had handled the timer and neatly organized our stuff. Whether it was an intelligence gap from life carrying over to necromancy, or a difference in the Spirit Blood Tea Ritual infusion process, I couldn't say.

"Cute covers everything...?" I grinned at the panting, tail-wagging beast. An idea hit me for how to use it effectively.

"On to the next floor."

Creeeeak. The door to 87F opened.

A massive beehive-shaped monster hung from the ceiling. Holes riddled it, poised to unleash machine-gun barrages of poison stingers. Classic AoE ranged pattern boss.

"Death Mark."

I hopped onto Geomrang's back. "For a fast, disobedient ride, best to mount up and steer manually."

As soon as I climbed on, Geomrang bounced excitedly in place like crazy. Crash! Wobble!

"Geomrang, right!" My vision spun wildly. 'If I hadn't invested in physical stats, I'd be out cold already...'

A while back, staying on its back would've been impossible. But my body now adapted fully to the motion. And I had magic to control it.

Geomrang's body was spirit blood. Its blackish-red fur was congealed blood—a medium I could manipulate with my mana.

"Blood Command."

I spun mana through my dantian's circles and infused it. Full control and direction steering—that was the plan.

But then an idea struck.

"Applying what I did repairing the Blood Knight... make reins?"

As I infused mana and visualized the shape in my mind, the fur at Geomrang's scruff in my grip stretched long and hardened into form.

"Perfect!" I gripped the reins with both hands.

Kieeeek! The ceiling Hive Mother shrieked, writhing as if to fire its stingers.

"Blood Knight, aggro!"

The Blood Knight charged straight ahead with greatsword raised, drawing its attention. Seizing the gap, I yanked the reins.

"Left wall!"

Rawr! Geomrang scaled the wall. Whoosh! Gravity-defying speed. It weaved acrobatically through the raining stingers.

No verbal orders needed—the reins turned it precisely to my will. Even as my vision whirled, my SEN stat locked onto the monster without fail.

I fixed my gaze on the Hive Mother's swollen belly.

Flash! Flash! Every 13-second cooldown, Death Mark stacks landed.

Three lines drawn. As the fourth cooldown ticked...

"Blood Knight, fall back!"

I wrenched the reins hard, launching us into the air. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠The Blood Knight's greatsword grazed the Hive Mother's shell—just then.

Flash! The final line completed.

Thud! The massive beehive monster slammed to the floor. Green goo splattered everywhere, but Geomrang's agility kept us spotless.

Tap. Graceful landing.

"Nice. Teamwork's clicking now." I smiled, stroking Geomrang's fur.

This setup was perfect. Blood Knight as tank, Geomrang as hyper-mobile mount, me as ranged DPS. Hard to see where we'd get stuck.

Even if Death Mark failed or something pierced both Blood Knight's defense and Geomrang's evasion, no biggie.

I had an instakill if my scythe just touched them.

88F. 89F. 90F. 91F. Cleared them all without tension, same routine.

Not every monster needed four Death Mark stacks. Most lost 1v1 to the Blood Knight.

And finally, 91F.

"Finally, the second hill." I opened my stat allocation window and dumped one point each into STR, AGI, and SEN.

STR, AGI, SEN, INT—all at 79. Balanced.

"Hmm..." But it lacked the harmony and thrill I'd felt balancing STR/AGI/SEN at 74.

INT and MAG? Total letdowns. No intuitive feedback even as numbers rose or synced. Less zippy than physical stats.

But from now on, different story.

"Can cut Death Mark cooldown now." Magic cooldowns scaled inversely with INT.

So raising INT alongside would make it tangible. Keep growing, and I'd hit the final hill.

MAG hill. MAG climbed via stacking earring without direct investment—probably over 230 now. If full ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠charge (100%) was the cap, it'd catch up eventually, but still a distant peak.

"Time to post proof first." Mounted on Geomrang, I extended a hand and activated the holo-camera.

Click.

I hit refresh to check comments.

Shock at my actual all-stats balancing. And surprise at already using 2 circles.

After that, a nickname with huge reactions appeared.