Tower of Trials 3rd Floor
I dodged the spear thrusting straight at my face from the front and swung my shield.
Thud! I followed up with my sword toward the staggering lizardman from the heavy impact. But even as it reeled, the lizardman precisely whipped its tail into my ankle. My balance crumbled, my attack missed, and in that gap, the lizardman's spear shaft smashed into me.
Crack! The shaft wasn't made of sturdy material, so the damage wasn't severe, but it nailed my temple perfectly, shaking my vision for a moment. Seizing the opening, the lizardman thrust its spear again. The shift from swing to stab was incredibly fast. I bashed the spearhead away with my shield and kicked out suddenly at the lizardman's knee.
Snap. Something broke with a crack, and as the lizardman stumbled, its slightly elevated neck dropped to the perfect height. I immediately stabbed my sword at its throat. But the lizardman dodged with a head tilt and countered by swinging its leg. Even with its knee joint wrecked, the whip-like low kick slamming my thigh packed serious power.
"Urk." I saw the leg coming but didn't know how to block or evade it, so I took it head-on. Annoying as hell. I dropped the sword I'd thrust out, grabbed the lizardman's shoulder, yanked it in, and smashed my shield into its face. Crack—a solid sound, but not a fatal blow. At the same time, the lizardman shortened its grip on the spear and thrust at my gut. No time to block. I'd been pounding its face with the shield up close, no angle to dodge.
"Tch." I shoved the lizardman back with all my strength and kicked off the ground to create distance. It had taken two shield hits to the face, but the lizardman still looked fresh.
The main monsters in the Tower of Trials 3rd Floor area are, as they appear, lizardmen. The vibe here is totally different from Floors 1 and 2—the whole map is a swamp claimed by the lizardman tribe. There aren't many safe zones, the village is tiny, the fields where monsters spawn are vast, but the enemies that pop up are few in number. And with fewer foes, each lizardman that shows has insanely high combat prowess.
Normally, you'd need a party of at least three to gang up on them, but as you can see, I'm in the middle of a one-on-one duel. Of course, my stats and gear overwhelmingly outclass other challengers on this floor, so struggling like this shouldn't even be possible.
"Tough bastard." I muttered under my breath, glancing down at the sword and shield in my hands.
These were junk items with performance less than half of what I usually used. Even challengers on Floor 1 of other towers wouldn't touch them unless desperate. Sure, they'd been reinforced to +5, but only with durability enchants, making them worse than basic shop gear in practice.
Right now, I'd swapped out every item that made up a chunk of my spec for total trash. After the crisis in the Floor 2 boss fight exposed my fundamental skill gap, I'd decided to handicap myself on purpose—lowering my specs to force raw ability fights.
If I equipped my real gear, I'd drop that lizardman in seconds. Even now, thanks to my disproportionately high level and passive skills for this floor, my overall spec is solid. By feel, my strength, speed, and durability outmatch it even in this state.
But I'm still struggling because the lizardman's close-quarters combat skill surpasses mine. The lizardmen, Floor 3's main monsters, are a warrior race where the entire tribe fights. They hone themselves in endless battles, revel in combat, and see dying in the fray as honor. Individuals are exceptionally skilled as a result.
I won't head to Floor 4 until I surpass these lizardmen purely on skill.
Kerruk! Kerruk! As I caught my breath, the lizardman croaked and beckoned me with a finger, like come at me. That fucking lizard-headed prick.
The lizardman tribe is a pure combat race, approaching fights with deadly seriousness. They respect warriors of other races and see giving your all against the strong as a virtue. For them to openly taunt like that means they view the opponent as weak fodder several levels below. In other words, that bastard saw me as lizard shit.
"Fine, you lizard fuck. You're dead." Objectively, my skill is below its level, but getting openly looked down on pisses me off naturally. I gritted my teeth, raised my sword and shield, and charged again.
I shoved a fistful of White Roll into my mouth, chewed it up, and chugged potions. The wounds on my arm and shoulder healed rapidly, and my HP in the status window filled to max.
Tough fight, but I won. Honestly, I don't feel like I outskilled it. From midway, it turned into a pure endurance match. Lizardmen, being reptiles, struggle with body temperature in long fights. Once it rises, their skin visibly heats up, and their movements slow noticeably.
This one held even until mid-fight, then slowed from overheating, handing me the flow. Basically, I won on spec again. Long way to go.
"Guess I am lizard shit, huh." I looked down at the lizardman's body dissolving into light.
On its fallen shoulder was a single white band painted like dye. Those bands denote rank among lizardmen. White means low-rank warrior. Even among them, band count subdivides, and this one had just one line. Excluding bandless scrubs or yellow-banded rejects not recognized as true warriors, it's the lowest formal rank. Like a private first class in the army.
And I couldn't beat even that on skill. Bruises the ego hard, but it means tons of room to grow. Don't get down.
I sorted my items, chewing and swallowing the remaining White Roll.
The village on Floor 3 is so small it's embarrassing to call it one. With the whole swamp as lizardman turf, human-safe spots are super limited by design. It has all the basics—shop for selling items, smithy for weapon upgrades and repairs. But NPCs are scarce, and the lodging is cramped and shitty.
"Whoa, you're back! Thought you were dead or something!" As I returned to the village, a man with a rugged beard waved and called out. Like Nora on Floor 2, an NPC with near-human reactions. His name's Winzer.
"No injuries? Looks like you dodged the lizardmen well—good thing!" The Floor 3 village is a temp camp set up by an exploration team investigating ruins in this swamp. Winzer's the leader, super knowledgeable on lizardmen, and feeds challengers info.
Pretty much all I know about lizardmen habits and ranks came from him.
"Anyway, rest up—you earned it!" Winzer slapped my back heartily. I ignored him and sat alone in a corner.
Like the shepherd girl's special quest on Floor 2, this guy gave me one too.
Find the Treasure of the Ruins - Exploration Leader Winzer
Description: The 12th Alkataya Ruins Exploration Team followed records from an artifact into lizardman territory. The artifact speaks of ruins where the "Artifact that Commands Lightning" sleeps. No one knows exactly what it is, but if the records hold, it's surely an amazing treasure.
Of course, the team, now isolated in lizardman lands, worries first about escaping alive, let alone the treasure. Team up with Leader Winzer to uncover the treasure's nature—it'll surely help you greatly.
Quest Objectives:
📍 1. Join the exploration team. (Complete)
📍 2. Explore the ruins.
📍 3. Identify the treasure.
The shepherd girl's quest reward was insane, so I'll clear this one too. Once done, Winzer'll probably turn into a normal NPC. No point getting attached by chatting. Better for my mental to ignore him now.
"So, have you checked out the ruins I mentioned? If you saw anything, tell me!" But damn, this guy talks a ton.