Chapter 188: Tutorial 35th Floor (9)

Before engaging in battle, Idaltar’s eyes flushed red.

In that state, her muscle strength and tolerance to pain increases drastically.

Kwang!

She created a massive fissure by slamming her spear on the ground.

Let’s avoid battles of strength if I can.

I thought that technique was only something she could use when her emotions were in turmoil, but it turns out she

can use it whenever she pleases.

“Keruk, it’s on!”

Idtalar kicked off the ground with a shout.

A typical stab using the superior reach of the spear came at me.

I quickly lowered my body to evade the spearhead flying towards my throat.

With the aura-formed claws on my right hand, I intercepted the spear and closed the distance.

Along with a ‘voong’ sound, the spear brushed past my ear.

Some sparks flew and noise rang out from the aura’s collision with the spear.

Idtaltar took a step back and retracted her spear.

All the while, she kept me in check using her tail and spear shaft.

Kang! Kang! Kang! Kang!

My aura repeatedly clashed with her spear.

As if knowing I was aiming at her blind spots, Idaltar held me back using smaller quick attacks rather than a large

sweeping one.

Even so, I needed to focus on mitigating her attacks to my sides because of the difference in strength.

“I can feel 7 times the strength rising up!”

“Stop saying shit like that when we’re fighting!”

Just as Idaltar said those hair-raising words, I saw an opening.

“Opening!”

Idy’s spear and tail flew at me in unison.

The spear’s trajectory was hard to evade to one side.

It looked like a perilous situation, but in truth, it wasn’t.

Lizardmen support their body using their thick tails.

Their feet, optimized for movement by water, isn’t made for walking on two feet.

Therefore, tail attacks were only possible after lowering their center of gravity, or by shifting their

body weight completely

Instead of avoiding her attack, I closed in further.

I blocked by whipping the shaft away using the aura claw.

Instead of opting to block her tail attack, I went for a strike at Idaltar’s body.

The moment the aura claw penetrated her body.

Her body shifted into black smoke. Without a moment to be bewildered, I felt strong energy emanating from beyond

the smoke.

Kwang!

I was barely able to block the spear strike that pierced the smoke.

I purposely let the spear push me back while blocking.

“Keruk.”

Phoo.

Too close for comfort.

“It was my secret attack. Keruk. I didn’t think it would be blocked.”

I blocked it on an impulse.

What in the world is that skill?

It’s not a Cloning Technique or even an Illusory Technique.

She turned her body into smoke, and immediately after her main body appeared from behind the smoke.

I couldn’t understand the fundamentals behind it.

The skill I knew she had was turning her body into smoke to dodge an enemy’s attack.

Furthermore, she couldn’t move momentarily afterward, so she was open to attacks.

It wasn’t a ninja-decoy skill like the one I had just seen.

“Keruk, should we continue?”

“Sure.”

There were skills that I didn’t know that mixed in, but I didn’t feel the need to avoid combat.

Rather, the tension was multiplied and so was my joy.

As the fight went on, I took the upper hand.

It was due course.

Even if she was using skills that I wasn’t aware of, or even if my body wasn’t at the perfect standard, I knew her too

well.

Her speed, strength, techniques, skills, as well as her instincts in particular situations.

I knew everything.

So, it was hard for me to lose.

Kwang!

Idaltar barely blocked my attack with a swing of her spear.

Instead of being pushed back by the impact, she twirled her spear and went for another blow.

The spear flying at me was smothered with black energy.

It was just at the moment I was expecting it.

The blackened spear pierced an empty space.

Meanwhile, I snuck close to Idaltar and pierced her heart with my aura.

It was something I had been planning before the battle had even started.

And as expected, my plans succeeded.

The results were exactly as I had planned.

“Keruk.”

Idaltar fell, keruk-ing till the end.

Unlike me, who felt a bit empty, she seemed very pleased.

I opened my mouth with hopes that she wasn’t able to read my thoughts.

“You were great.”

Idaltar let out a grin and put up a thumb at my words.

And in the next moment, quietly passed away.

I was dumbstruck at her satisfaction and confidence.

I wondered if I would be able to do that when I died.

I didn’t think I could.

It was my third time seeing her corpse.

The difference was that her corpse didn’t disappear after her death.

I collapsed next to her corpse.

I wasn’t in shock from her third death.

I gifted her the thing she wanted the most.

A defeat after a close battle, and an honorable death to be recognized by the strong in her last moment.

To be fair, the battle was one-sided, but from her point of view, it would’ve been a very close and intense fight.

It was the death that every lizardmen would dream of.

It would be the same for Idaltar.

Obviously, this didn’t mean her complete death.

She won’t even remember it.

One could also see it as never having happened.

But Idaltar would’ve been fully satisfied just before her death.

At least, it would’ve been much more satisfying than being reset after sitting down and chatting until my eventual

departure.

It was even more so because, during the battle as well as just before her death, she will have felt the satisfaction of

being alive.

Even so, it was my personal opinion, as well as a decision I made.

I was sure she would prefer this.

I wasn’t all that different from her, so I could sympathize and understand her.

But while she would be pleased with the results of her third death, it wasn’t a pleasing conclusion for me.

My desire for strength increased evermore.

[Round 24, Day 5. 9h 55m]

I got up after checking the time.

My joints are aching because I’ve been sitting in the same spot for over 10 hours.

I was in the midst of a quiet, flourishing forest.

The scenery didn’t suit me

I started my mana training as soon as I entered the 12th floor.

I wanted to build up my mana as much as possible before being moved onto the 13th floor.

I’ve already the level and the basic stats that I aimed for on the party stage before coming to the 12th floor.

I thought the monsters in the forest would be a nuisance before I started training, but it wasn’t the case.

It may have been because of my mana, but there wasn’t an insect, let alone a fucking bird nearby.

Thanks to that, there was silence except for the wind and my breathing in the dense forest.

The sound of bugs in the grass would’ve been nice. Not having the sound was my one regret.

“Status Window.”

[Lee HoJae (Human)]

Lv. 8

Str: 16

Dex: 14

Sta: 19

Mana: 34

Skill: Battle Focus Lv. 30, Willpower Lv.7, Awakening Lv. 7, Dash Lv. 4, Covertness Lv. 19, Superhuman Senses

Lv. 1, Sensory Amplification Lv. 1, Senses Lv. 20 Ironwall Lv. 2, Natural Recovery Lv. 5, Super-Regeneration Lv.

5, Intermediate Swordsmanship Lv. 10, Intermediate Spearmanship Lv. 6, Intermediate Weaponry Lv. 10,

Intermediate Throwing Lv.1, Intermediate Brawling Lv. 14, Mana Circuit Lv. 21, Pain Tolerance Lv. 9, Hemmorage

Resistance Lv. 3, Paralysis Resistance Lv. 4, Curse Resistance Lv. 1, Great Magic Resistance Lv. 1

It was barely conceivable that I developed this much in just 3 days.

It was still lacking, but I was satisfied with this degree of growth for now.

My only regrets were that I wasn’t able to pick up any new skills in the lower levels.

As I peered at the status window and checked my growth, my body was moved to a new space.

The dark stone room was a direct contrast from the earlier dense forest.

The 13th floor stage.

As I proceeded, I was met with a wooden door.

A sign with a number 0 was written next to the door.

Once I opened the door passed the hallway, a wooden door with a 1 written on it appeared.

“Welcome.”

In room number one, a giant monk over 2 meters high was sitting in a lotus position.

“It’s been a while since I met a challenger. What do you wish to gain here?”

The comment was surprisingly friendly.

I remember it being something along the lines of arrogant human or other the last time I came to the 13th floor.

It was because the plot of the stage itself was to be victorious against the enraged monks carrying out the god’s will.

But since the plot was no longer applicable, they seemed amicable.

“A clue to further growth is enough.”

“Uhaha, that’s not easy to attain. At your level, who knows how many years it would take until you get a tiny clue.

You wouldn’t even know if it’s applicable to yourself even if you find one.”

“That’s for ordinary people. I really just need a small clue.”

For example, JuJi’s power filling this room maybe.

I could feel JuJi’s power here, who would be sitting on the 33rd room.

Surprisingly, this power wasn’t mana.

It probably wasn’t holy energy either.

Then what was the identity of the power encompassing this room?

If I can uncover this, I would be satisfied; at that point, I would have attained enough on this 13th floor stage.

“Uhahaha, you’re a confident challenger. You were probably able to attain your level precisely because of that

confidence.”

What a magnanimous monk.

Most monks like confident and enthusiastic people.

They were known to be indif We use cookies to enhance your visit to our site and to bring you advertisements that might interest you. Read our ferent to how others addressed them, which meant he could be as gutsy as he liked

Because they don’t really care about others’ attitude or tone, one did not have to worry and could speak as gutsy as

they want when talking to them.

“So, about that.”

“Mmm? What is it?”

“Since I don’t have much time, what’s the fastest way I can get the 33rd room?”

The monk chuckled at my words.

“There’s only one way to get to the next room. Uhahaha.”

It means there isn’t one. Fuck.

“Honestly, can’t I just run through really quick?”

“I can’t let you do that. I can only let you through once you pass the trial. Uhahaha.”

The 13th floor stage is rather long.

The last time I had a crack at this, it took me several days.

The difficulty far surpasses the level of the 13th floor, especially the rooms after the 15th one.

I couldn’t say how long it would take to get past the rooms at that point.

The time allocated to me on this 13th floor stage was just 13 hours.

I wasn’t sure if I could meet JuJi within that time frame and attain a meaningful clue.

“Ah, can’t you just let me through?”

“I can’t do that, Uhahahaha.”

There was a joking element to the monk’s laughter now.

Damn, I misspoke.

The thick-jawed monk had a clownish expression.

It was possible he would try and drag the fight on as long as possible.

“Uhahahaha.”

I confirmed that the monk had no intentions of letting me pass.

Since that was the case, I’ll break through with brute force, no questions asked

I kicked off from my spot and lunged at the monk.

My fist clashed with the monk’s fist.

< Tutorial 35th floor (9) > End

Gandara

[1] TL: It’s supposed to sound corny as

hell.

[2] There are many changes from the

previous terms in the references to Hojae’s status. There are other terms, but we will clarify as we run through it.

Sneak → Covertness.

Strengthened Senses → Superhuman Sense.

When referring to the tier of a combat skill (swordsmanship, throwing, etc.) it is changed from Basic, Midlevel, etc. → Beginner, Intermediate, Advanced.

Hand-to-Hand combat → Brawling

Bleeding Resistance → Bleed Resistance