Tower of Trials, 15th Floor

I'd originally planned to summon the sword spirit to fight this floor's boss, but I'd sent him off without thinking. ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠Well, as long as I had magic stones, I could resummon him as many times as needed, so it was fine either way. I stored Kaleon back in my inventory and flung open the boss room door.

The interior brightened the moment I entered as a challenger, and beyond it, the boss made its dramatic entrance, building the atmosphere. A loyal subordinate guarding the demon king's empty castle alone... some bullshit like that popped up in system messages one by one.

As I'd heard, the 14th floor boss was just one upper-rank demon, weaker than the gatekeeper. The mana I sensed from it was impressive, but compared to a Demon King-level threat, it was sorely lacking. I could probably take it barehanded, no weapons or armor, by chopping off its limbs one by one.

"Sigh, what a boss."

I sighed and pulled Kaleon out of my inventory again. Then I slotted in a magic stone and resummoned the sword spirit.

-Tssst... Mana coalesced into a ghostly form, soon taking the shape of a ragged middle-aged man who looked like a homeless bum. I'd wondered if resummoning would bring a different spirit, but no such luck. The resummoned spirit glared at me with bulging eyes. From his attitude, it seemed his memories carried over intact.

"You insolent brat... How dare you treat this elder like this. If not for this body, I'd have beaten some sense into that thick skull of yours!"

"Eyes front."

"Even if it's a body bound to a weapon, ordering the great sword master Kaleon around with a flick of your chin is... Gahk!"

The spirit was blabbering when he got smashed by the boss's magic attack and went tumbling.

"Grr... A mere demon dares! I was going to discipline this punk first, but you're asking for death!"

He staggered back up, grabbed the sword he was bound to, and strode toward the boss with dignified swagger. He'd once conquered the demon realm with swordsmanship alone, right? Let's see just how strong he really was.

-Thud thud thud! He kicked off the ground repeatedly, advancing. The weapon in his hand shimmered with faint mana. Using the sword's own mana as his own, huh. The total amount was a speck, like an ant's booger, but the density was insane.

"Watch closely! See the heights this Kaleon has reached as a swordsman!"

The spirit charged forward powerfully, deflecting the boss's attacks and closing the distance in a flash. Then he thrust the mana-infused sword forward. From that range, it shouldn't have reached.

But right after, the mana in the blade shot out like a beam, unleashing a slash.

"What the."

A ranged slash attack. It looked just like the auras I'd only heard about in stories.

So his boasts about his sword mastery weren't all hot air? Wielding an aura, one of the warrior's three divine arts?

The slash flew with tremendous momentum, slicing toward the boss's neck in its path—

-Whoosh.

—only to scatter like wind mid-flight and vanish.

"Damn, miscalculated..."

Right then, the unscathed boss smashed down on the spirit's crown.

-Boom!

"Ah, fuck, my fault for expecting anything."

I recovered the useless Kaleon and fought normally.

I smashed the 14th floor boss quickly and activated the transfer gate right away to head to the 15th floor. With the familiar churning sensation of the gate, a whole new world unfolded—just like always, completely different from the previous floor.

A clear blue sky contrasting the demon realm's red haze, packed with white, fluffy clouds—right underfoot.

"Huh, what the hell."

I hadn't checked the 15th floor's concept before jumping in, but seeing it now, there was no need. After the burning desert came the icy plains; crossing the demon realm theme brought me to the heavenly world. Clouds instead of ground, and far off, buildings like white stone temples.

"Heaven or the Heaven Realm, something like that."

I muttered and took in the surroundings for a bit when a system alert suddenly popped up in front of me.

One of those occasional red alerts. Right after, an odd sensation wrapped my body, and strength drained away. My head spun like seasickness, and let's check the stats...

All stats except max HP and MP had been halved. Serious debuff. Down to level 50 undergeared challenger stats. Considering I hit 50 on floor 3, that's a massive power drop. Of course, only the four base stats were cut; final attack/defense values weren't halved. Actually, this fits my level pretty well. My stats had been abnormally high before. Plus, skills and items were intact, so I'd still outclass a normal same-level challenger. And my level was higher than the average 15th floor challenger's anyway, so no big issue.

"This can't be normal, right?"

This worked for me because I was over-specced; a regular challenger would be screwed. Was it harsher on solo players? Or did I need to clear an early quest? Either way, I'd need to search for info... or not?

"Tch, actually, this might be fine?"

Lifting the debuff would make fights trivial unless it was a hidden boss like on 14. Maybe proceed like this for training. I could Mana Reinforcement if needed.

-Thud, thud, thud!

That was when it happened. A massive shape approached, shaking the ground—no, the clouds.

‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠

"Oh, early monster?"

Classic in debuff fields: fight a normal mob down-specced, then get a quest to restore stats. Or like the elves, force a loss and get NPC help. Personally, I'd prefer the latter—super strong enemy incoming.

-Thud!

The shaking stopped, and the close monster leaped high, revealing itself. The 15th floor's iconic first mob was enormous, pure white.

-Poof poof.

A Horned Rabbit.

The weakest Tower of Trials monster from floor 1's fields. So weak that newbies are told to skip it and hunt goblins instead. A rabbit with a small horn on its forehead: ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠the Horned Rabbit. And this one was like a scaled-up version...

Super cute.

"Piiing!"

It even made sounds the original rarely did, making it extra adorable. The squeak ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠was louder and a bit weird, but fuck, it was cute as hell proportional to its size. The massive cute Horned Rabbit squeaked "piing" and launched itself at me.

"Whoa."

-Wham!

Cute or not, a monster's a monster. I booted the Horned Rabbit away hard. No high expectations for a 15th floor starter, but it flew off pathetically light. My kick was strong, sure, but it was ridiculously light and airborne for its bulk. Like kicking a giant exercise ball? Nah, more fluffy.

Was its body made of clouds or something?

"Pyoopiing piing kyung!"

Kicked away and pissed, it screeched and bounced back raging. It leaped high, spun midair, balled up like cotton candy, and dove at me.

-Boom!

I sidestepped, and the impact spot sent clouds rippling wildly. The floor had felt soft before, but now it bounced like crazy.

"Kyung!"

The giant rabbit treated the clouds like a trampoline, boinging around and glaring at me. Oh yeah, I'd seen a community screenshot like this in the healing memes tab. I didn't click it much, but it might be secretly popular.

"Alright, let's see."

Simple pattern: jump and attack. Normal specs. Perfect to test Kaleon again. Not a boss this time, ideal to show his stuff.

Consumed a low-grade magic stone to resummon Kaleon's sword spirit.

"Goddamn it, this brat summoning me over and over... What the hell is this place now."

He grumbled immediately, then gawked at the heavenly surroundings. Then the giant Horned Rabbit dropped toward him.

"Piing pyoo piing!"

Not getting punked again, the spirit raised his sword into combat stance.

"Shit, another fight out of nowhere. Fine, this time I'll show you my true power!"

Seemed like he'd counter the diving rabbit. And then, the system message appeared.

Ah, summons get the debuff too. So the spirit weakens as well.

-Kwaang!