Defeat Event
I'd always loved chucking stones around as a kid. Not some prodigy baseball story or anything—just hurling them up at the sky felt fucking great, that's all. Even now, I can't really say why it was so satisfying. Maybe I wanted to knock on heaven's door with a pebble or some shit.
Anyway, that childhood habit of throwing stuff had become my biggest weapon by now.
-Thwack! The iron ball sliced through the air, veering sharply just before the elf knight's shield and slamming into his thigh. That made three hits already. The elf knight kept twisting his body and maneuvering his shield, desperately trying to block, but against my freely curving throws, he couldn't stop a single one. He just got pummeled unilaterally.
"Guh, urgh! You cowardly bastard!"
The elf knight yelled at me from a distance as I lobbed another ball. Guess he had nothing better to say.
"Raaargh!!"
After eating the fourth ball, he couldn't hold back his rage anymore. He thrust out his shield and charged like a mindless bull. Sure, his swordsmanship outclassed mine by miles, but in a dumb straight-line rush like that, technique meant jack shit. I dodged the charge, pulled an axe from my inventory, and swung hard for his side.
-Clang!
He deftly blocked with his shield again, but he couldn't handle the follow-up. I drew a one-handed sword from inventory, stepped inside his guard, and slashed for his neck.
-Clink!
The armor dulled the impact, but it definitely landed solid. I kicked off the ground to widen the gap again, this time pulling out a hand axe. The elf knight had adapted somewhat to my weapon-switching by now, bracing for a follow-up axe strike. But that was the wrong call.
I knew how to throw, but I wasn't playing goddamn baseball. Why the fuck would he assume iron balls were my only option, you smug prick?
-Whoosh, thud!
The hand axe I hurled with force smashed right into his already mangled nose bridge.
"Keurgh!"
No crit, but it was plenty lethal. His guard was wide open now.
Daggers, shortswords, longswords, greatswords, shields, short spears, long spears, blunts, axes, throws—those weren't even all my attack patterns. I'd trained dual-wielding too, so I could create new ones by gripping weapons two-handed. I could add more by throwing melee weapons in unique ways and trajectories. Mix in close-range brawling and grappling, plus a few hidden tricks I hadn't shown yet.
I'd been tense thinking he was too strong for Floor 7, a real asshole. But once we really got into it, I didn't let him land a single clean hit. I just steamrolled him. All that effort I'd piled up wasn't betraying me now.
I had won.
**
The tide had completely turned from the fight's early stages. The elf knight, who had toyed with me using superior skill, was now a battered mess, gasping for breath. I stood there spotless, without a scratch. The damage from his shield bash had fully healed via Combat Healing in the meantime—HP topped off at max.
Anyone could see the fight was decided, but the elf knight still burned with defiance, holding his stance.
"I... I am... Perit Betraa, the Seventh Seat of the Pendula Knights! I won't fall to some wicked human scum!"
"No, fuck, you jumped me first—who's the wicked human here?"
"You dare attack His Highness Eluryon and play innocent? Fitting for a human wielding dark powers—your face is as thick as they come!"
His legs were already trembling as he rambled. Tsk, were all high elves like this? Why the hell did he keep spouting crap about wicked humans and dark powers? If I were really some evil bastard, I'd have lopped off their heads and juggled them by now.
Maybe their hatred for humans was so deep they couldn't judge straight. Or maybe that prince whose shoulder I dislocated was this guy's berserk button.
Either way, joining the high elf camp was off the table now. Not because I'd beaten their asses—because I couldn't picture myself siding with these idiots. Just this brief exchange was already frustrating me to death. How the fuck could I ally with them?
"Fine, whatever. I don't give a shit anymore."
I raised my sword to finish the elf knight off. That's when it happened.
"!"
The prickling sensation unique to my Super Sense skill buzzed a warning at my temple.
-Thwip, catch!
I half-instinctively moved my hand and snatched an arrow out of the air. It had been aimed dead at my temple. What the hell? Where'd it come from? No enemies in sight. Had to be from way off, but in this dense forest? Possible?
-Screeeee!
A weird cry echoed from the arrow's direction. I'd heard it a few times during military service.
"An eagle?"
Then rustling came from all around as the underbrush parted, revealing the archer's owner and the source of the eagle cry at once.
"That's far enough, human intruder! To boldly enter our great forest alone!"
One male elf archer with a bow and a massive hawk. Two elf knights in similar armor to the one I'd dropped. And a high elf woman wielding a wooden staff, leading a shimmering halo of light. All had hostile nameplates overhead—orange for most, except one.
"Well done, Perit. You protected His Highness admirably."
One of the elf knights—a woman drawing a silver one-handed sword—had a pitch-black nameplate.
"Fuck."
Black wasn't just dark; it was pure void. Meant her level was leagues beyond mine. This goddamn Tower really wanted me dead.
**
A decently strong foe might've gotten me pumped—a prime growth opportunity. But not this. That jet-black nameplate over the elf woman's head looked like death incarnate. How big a level gap turned it solid black? Like 100 levels?
If I bolted without looking back, could I escape? Nah, the knight and prince I'd dropped were both fast as hell. Probably a high elf racial trait. Running was a lost cause, especially since I didn't know the terrain.
Fuck, what now? I gripped my sword tighter, carefully. Maybe a surprise attack could land one solid hit.
"I see that glint in your eye—you won't come quietly. Guess we'll talk after we subdue you?"
-Rumble!
Thunder cracked suddenly, and pure white light swirled around the elf woman's body. I knew that skill. The holy trinity of warrior-class actives: Mana Reinforcement. It explosively boosted all stats and attack power based on Intelligence. No challenger didn't know it.
Had I fucking warped from Floor 7 to 70? Why was an NPC slinging that around?
I eyed my inventory and cautiously swapped to full gear. Keeping my gaze locked on her silver sword, I inched my toes back.
"Where do you think you're—"
Fuck, I'm screwed. Her fingertip twitched, and in a blink, a blade was closing in.
-Shuruk!
Something pitch-black erupted from nowhere, coiling around the blade and halting it. What the hell now?
"That's enough."
A unfamiliar voice from behind made me whip around. There stood an elf I hadn't noticed—dark-skinned, one of Floor 7's three major powers. A dark elf woman.
"High elves are always like this, huh? Never admit fault—just draw steel the second they're pissed."
Her words hit home hard. The dark elf woman smirked and touched the ground. Her shadow bubbled and boiled, vomiting up shadowy figures—more dark elves with the same dusky skin.
"Pleased to meet you, nameless human swordsman. I've been watching your fight. Not bad at all."
"What?"
"Was gonna step in if that prick was about to win, but damn, you took him out."
She pointed at the high elf knight's wrecked face as she spoke.
"Still, thanks to her, I got a perfect dramatic entrance. Lucky break."
My head spun. Her words pieced it all together in a flash.
Fuck. This was a forced defeat event from the start? I'd fucked up by winning a fight I was supposed to lose!