VRMMO: Basic Attack Chapter 26 The Climb

A month after the launch of Everlasting World, more and more people sought to play the game as a continuous batch of new players started joining.

After watching the game's strikingly life-like introduction, these players would then start creating their game avatars before being sent into a random city or kingdom.

They could be sent to a poor city or a bustling one, or they could be sent to a lowly kingdom or a superior one.

Some lucky players might even be sent to Camelot. As the ruler of the West Continent, it was a given that the empire was bound to be the most populous region of Everlasting.

Of course, this was because the Eastern Continent was currently locked, remaining as a mysterious plot of land to the players. Otherwise, Camelot's title as the 'most-popular place' in-game could've been challenged.

Some rumors and gossip in the player-base community forums said that there are monsters in the obscure continent that are much stronger than the ones in the western continent.

Some say there are angels, great demons, and even dragons that were waiting to be discovered in that uncharted territory.

However, all of these were but mere speculations. Who knew if there were any truths behind these so-called legends and fables.

Anyway, at this moment, within Camelot's Training Hall, hundreds of players flocked in and out of the area.

Other than training and familiarizing themselves with their avatars, they also wanted to see the famous madman whose reputation had long since circulated around the empire.

However—

"Eh? Where's our mascot? He's not here? *Gasps* How could it be?!"

"Hmm, I don't see him anywhere. Isn't he supposed to be beating up wooden dummies as per his everyday schedule?"

"Apparently, everyone's been looking for him since this morning, yet no one has even seen a shadow of his figure."

"This is unfortunate. Watching the madman hitting a dummy has become one of my favorite past-times."

"Me too. This place feels empty without him..."

Unbeknownst to Sky, the players in the Training Hall were searching for him all over the place, some of them even looked for help in the forums, hoping to find out where the Training Hall's mascot was.

Sky didn't even know it but his arduous training had invigorated dozens of players, forcing themselves to train even harder.

When they were tired, they would go to the wooden dummy area and watch that figure sweating his heart out for hours and days.

The players who saw such sights would feel shame for not even being 1% as hardworking as the madman.

They would see him the moment they logged in, and they would see him the moment they logged out.

To be honest, the players didn't care for the reason behind his actions. Curious, indeed, but they didn't need to know.

He worked harder than anyone else, that was enough. Therefore, respect couldn't help but well up in the hearts of those who watched him.

While some mocked and sneered, most of the players had positive impressions towards Sky. They had already gotten used to the young man hitting the wooden dummies 24/7.

Therefore, they found it weirdly strange that he disappeared all of a sudden.

* * * * *

[You have entered the Tower of Trial's 1st Floor.]

[Godspeed, warrior.]

With a bright flash, Sky opened his eyes and saw darkness everywhere.

His eyes couldn't help but narrow as he tried to examine the place.

"This... this is a dark passage, like a corridor devoid of light?" he whispered as he gripped Forsaken's hilt.

Sky looked in the surrounding and surveyed the area, and found out that the floor wasn't that spacious.

Ten people wouldn't even seem to be able to stand together, shoulder to shoulder unless they squeezed amongst each other.

It was an ideal place for a frontal fight.

You can only forge ahead because if you backed down, you're dead.

Stonewalls that seemed impenetrable stood on both sides of the passageway, supported by multiple columns that towered up the ceiling.

Sky walked forward a few meters with his hand on the wall, blindly feeling his way through the passage. He rhythmed his breathing and controlled his senses. It didn't take long before his eyes, albeit slowly, started adapting to the darkness. Still, his vision couldn't reach very far due to the lack of light.

The passage was eerily calm that he could hear his own breathing and even heartbeat. At that moment—

Fwoosh!

Sky heard a familiar sound of something whizzing through the air. He instinctively ducked his head and saw an arrow fly past him.

A few strands of hair fell down his head, suggesting that he had barely dodged out of the way.

"Kukukuku-ku." Right then, Sky heard a sniveling sound. Glancing at the direction, he saw three small green figures a few feet away. Their faces were ugly and their skin shriveled. Two of them held crude, wooden sticks, and the last one held a bow with a quiver hanging behind him.

They were goblins.

____________________

[Goblin Archer]

Level: 5

Health: 100/100

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[Goblin]

Level: 3

Health: 60/60

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[Goblin]

Level: 3

Health: 60/60

____________________

"Kukuku." Three three ugly goblins seemed to sneer at Sky as ugly smirks crept up their lips.

The Goblin Archer drew another arrow from his quiver and notched it at his bow, immediately he pulled the bowstring. At the same time, the two stick-wielding goblins rushed towards Sky with fierce expressions.

Their blood-red eyes betrayed their urge to devour the human before them.

'I've become a target for these goblins?'

Seeing this scene, Sky didn't know where to laugh or cry.

Whoosh! an arrow was fired.

Sky's golden eyes were fixated onto the flying arrow as it traveled in the air. When it was just a few feet away, he raised his hand and swung his sword.

Crack!

The goblin archer was taken aback, however, Sky didn't let up as he moved forward and swung Forsaken towards the two rushing creatures.

[You have slain the enemy.]

[You have received 30 experience points.]

[You have received 26 experience points.]

[You have obtained: Worn Goblin Loincloth.]

[You have obtained 5 copper coins.]

Sky saw that the experience points he received were already halved by the great demon's curse, however, he didn't mind it since it was one of the prices he had to pay for obtaining a super-legendary sword.

Shocked at the death of its two partners, the goblin archer wasn't able to react before a jet-black sword hacked its body into two.

[You have slain the enemy.]

[You have received 54 experience points.]

[You have obtained: Smelly Goblin Loincloth.]

[You have cleared the 1st Floor.]

[Reward(s): Strength has increased by 1 point.]

'?! I got two of them?!' his face black, Sky didn't even glance at the two brown cloths that dropped on the ground as he looked at the few notification windows that popped up.

"That was the first floor?" he muttered as he shook his head, walking deeper into the pitch-black passageway.

A few seconds later, a familiar stairway that was made of stone appeared.

'I guess that's the way to the 2nd floor.' he thought as he started climbing up.

* * * * *

[You have entered the 2nd Floor.]

The place didn't change at all and remained to be a dark passage that was void of light.

Oh, and goblins were here too, like the previous floor. But this time, their numbers doubled. Six goblins, two had bow and arrows while the other four used fragile sticks.

However, that was not enough.

Clearly, even if the number of goblins was multiplied by ten, the result would still be the same.

[You have slain the enemy.]

[You have cleared the 2nd Floor.]

[Reward(s): Fighting Spirit has increased by 1 point.]

* * * * *

The 3rd Floor's monsters were the same.

Their number doubled that of the 2nd Floor and Goblin Warriors, with leather armors and iron swords, were present this time.

They seemed to be stronger than the stick-wielding goblins, however, not a single one of them could even survive a single slash from Forsaken.

The result—

[You have slain the enemy.]

[You have slain...]

[You have...]

[You...]

[...]

* * * * *

Time passed.

Sky, with unstoppable momentum, steamrolled the defenseless goblins up to the 10th Floor, which had more than 500 goblins.

They ranged from goblin warriors, shamans, and archers.

While the goblin shamans proved to be the most annoying to deal with amongst them all since they could cast buffs, debuffs, and curses, they still couldn't resist a single attack from Sky before perishing.

Like a tiger amongst a flock of sheep, Sky preyed upon the goblins, displaying strength beyond comprehension to that of his level and cleared the 10th floor with ease.

And now, after getting the clearing reward, he didn't hesitate climbing the stone stairway, towards the 11th floor.

* * * * *

[You have arrived at the 11th Floor.]

Woosh!

Clang!

With the distinct sound of air being sliced, the sound of metal clashing could be heard.

Sparks flew after every collision and briefly illuminated the pitch-black passageway. Sky struggled to see the enemy attackers and only saw the silhouette of the enemy barbarians.

There were five of them. Their coordinated attacks suggested that they somehow had the advantage of being able to see in the darkness as they relentlessly attacked Sky, bringing forth the battle to a stalemate.

The endless darkness engulfed his vision and sought to terrorize his confidence and will to battle. Due to the game's realism that made it hard to even distinguish it from reality, even a martial artist would feel fear at this point, much less a normal person.

However, Sky was different from your average martial artist, let alone a normal person.

Clang! Clang!

Swords clashed and sparks flashed.

While the darkness suppressed his eyesight, he was still able to see the vague silhouettes of the topless barbarians who all had robust physiques and wielded greatswords.

Furthermore, his hearing was enhanced due to his lack of vision, becoming more sensitive. This further enhanced his reaction speed and reflexes, displaying Sky's unparalleled senses.

While it seemed that the barbarians had finally put a stop on Sky's rampaging momentum, the death of one of them instantly collapsed the stalemate.

Forsaken shone with blue light as a familiar skill was used. Different from the previous times, the blue light illuminated the dark corridor as it left afterimages while traveling in the air.

It was «Chop».

With the use of sword energy and Forsaken's property to increase the level of all sword-related skills by 1, the skill was considerably strengthened!

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[Chop (Enhanced)]

Lv. 3 (9%)

Enhanced with sword energy. Deals 450% attack power to a single target. The skill will ignore 50% of the target's defense.

Sword Energy Cost: 100

Cooldown: 40 seconds.

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The targeted barbarian's expression turned to that of fear as he immediately tried to parry the skill with his greatsword.

Clang! C-crack!

The barbarian's weapon cracked and fragmented, as pieces of it fell down the ground.

However, the illuminated Forsaken didn't seem to want to stop as it continued to hack towards its target.

[You have dealt 1,375 damage to the target.]

With a resentful cry, the barbarian collapsed with a large gash on its neck.