Another month (in-game) passed by, and during this time, Sky's climbing speed within the Tower of Trials started slowing down.
It slowed down to the point that he couldn't even clear a floor even if he tried hard to for a whole day!
Sure, he saw the progress and improvement of the AI of the centaurs as he climbed through the floors, but that wasn't what slowed Sky's progress.
Instead, it was their numbers.
From the 37th floor onward, the number of the fierce centaurs exceeded 300! And their increase in number didn't stop!
Although the levels and attributes of these monsters were lowered and reduced to balance Sky's level, one of the Tower of Trial's features, their large health pool and shocking number finally brought Sky's speed to a halt.
Dealing with one centaur already took him a whole five minutes without interruption and at least ten minutes if under the attacks of other centaurs; how could he kill such a staggering number of centaurs with his current strength?
While Forsaken's passive skill «Divine Punishment» was extremely formidable against a crowd, dealing tens of thousands of damage to each one of them, its chance of activating was awfully rare, at least one-to-a-thousandth!
How could Everlasting World's Devs allow a continuous activation of «Divine Punishment»? That would basically break the game itself, whoever had such a skill would destroy the balance, of course, they had to nerf it hard.
While his stats saw a stable increase after clearing numerous floors, obviously, it wasn't enough for Sky to rampage towards the tower's peak.
He wasn't immortal. He couldn't breeze through their groups with ease. He had to struggle to kill even one, so how could he finish all of them?
In the end, even if Sky's combat prowess and control were out of this world, he was nonetheless restrained by this world instead.
At this moment—Tower of Trials 39th Floor.
"Lacerate!" using the newest skill that he received a few floors earlier, Sky shouted.
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[Lacerate (Enhanced)]
Lv. 2 (5%)
Enhanced with sword energy. Deals 150% attack power to a single target, applying the 'Fatal Wounds' effect for 30 seconds.
'Fatal Wounds' reduces healing effects from all sources by 50%.
Sword Energy Cost: 150
Cooldown: 180 seconds
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Forsaken turned into a black shadow and only its silhouette could be seen as it slashed towards the last centaur of the floor.
The speed was so fast it was as if the skill couldn't be dodged!
[Critical hit!]
[You have dealt 2,450 damage to the target. The 'Fatal Wounds' debuff has been applied.]
The large centaur roared as its chest bled profusely. However, its eyes were bloodshed as it seemed to ignore the pain it felt as its front legs and body rose.
«Brutal Smash». It was one of the skills that the centaurs in the upper 30+ floors had. The large ax of the centaur glowed with crimson light as it smashed down on Sky, intending to decimate him into smithereens.
Sky remained calm as he withdrew his arm after using Lacerate. Bending his knees a bit, he clenched his sword with two hands and swung it upwards.
"Chop!"
Whoosh!
The air seemed to split open as the sword traveled in the air while flashing with blue light.
Bang!
A loud sound exploded upon contact and Sky's foot caved in down the ground, web-like cracks could be seen below as he withstood the impact.
On the other hand, the centaur's ax was broken after the clash as both skills canceled each other. Both of them took slight damage but it seemed the centaur was on the losing end as it staggered a few feet backward.
'Kill!' Sky's eyes was that of absolute focus when he saw the opportunity. He dashed forward, his steps as fast as the wind as he made his way towards his target.
Inclining his right arm, which held Forsaken, he gathered momentum and stabbed forward mercilessly.
"Killing Cleave!"
The sword penetrated the centaur's chest and stabbed towards its heart!
[Critical hit!]
[You have dealt 4,445 damage to the target!]
[You have slain the enemy.]
[You have received 2,590 experience points.]
[Your level has risen.]
[You have obtained: 9 gold coins.]
[You have obtained: Centaur's Leather Gloves.]
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[Centaur's Leather Gloves]
Rating: Rare
Durability: 210/210
Defense: 80
• Strength and Dexterity +7.
• The weight of the weapon held becomes lighter.
User Restriction: More than 50 strength and dexterity.
----------
Since the centaurs themselves were weakened and their levels reduced to balance with Sky's, the equipment they dropped, of course, was weakened as well.
However, he nonetheless equipped the gloves since it was better than nothing.
Of course, what Sky was waiting for the most came after that.
[You have cleared the 39th Floor.]
"Finally!"
It was what he worked for.
[Reward(s): Strength, Agility, and Vitality have increased by 2 points. You have obtained « Fragmented Heroic Warrior's Stone (1/3)».]
"Haha... hahaha..." Plopping down the floor, Sky laughed as he lied down tiredly, extending his arms out. "Whoooohh... that was harder than I thought."
Recalling the crazy battle just now, he couldn't help but guffaw, his laughter filling the entire dark passageway.
It was thrilling and absolutely crazy!
'God I love this game!' he shouted in his heart.
The feeling he felt every time he battled in-game was even better than the exhilarating times he felt when hunting wild animals barehanded.
In this world, he could fight whenever he wanted!
In this world, he could battle strange creatures that didn't exist in reality, an opportunity that one couldn't experience in the real world even if one looked for it his whole life!
In this world, he was free!
"It took a whole month, but I cleared it in the end!" he chuckled as he calmed down his rapid breathing.
His perseverance stat, while still low compared to his other stats, worked like magic as he felt the changes in his stamina while he fought. It was thanks to this stat that he wasn't gasping for breath at this very moment.
Sitting up, he muttered under his breath after thinking for a while. "The 40th floor... I should start leveling first before I start climbing again. The enemies on the upper floors will definitely be harder to take-on than the centaurs."
After deciding that, he inhaled a breath of fresh air and started walking backward, towards the stairway which he ascended from earlier.
The corpses of the centaurs around started illuminating with white light and started to turn into bright particles. Eventually, these particles started rising up the air and disappeared above the lightless ceiling.
Sky has seen this scene countless times now so he simply ignored them and checked his status.
____________________
[STATUS]
Name: Sky
Level: 15
Class: None
World Reputation: 2,550
Title: [One who Challenges his Limits]
Coins: 8,863 gold - 23 silver - 95 copper
Health: 2,530/2,530
Mana: (Locked)
Sword Energy: 3/500
• Strength: 72 (+42) • Vitality: 67 (+35)
• Agility: 55 (+30) • Intelligence: 20 (+45)
• Dexterity: 49 (+37) • Fortitude: 84 (+5)
• Comprehension: 33 • Luck: 17 (+15)
• Fighting Spirit: 59 • Charisma 6 (+50)
• Charm: 6 (+80) • Perception: 20
• Perseverance: 35
Stat points: 340
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Skills:
[Intermediate Sword Mastery] (Lv. 8)
[Skeleton Summoning — Locked] (Lv. 2)
[Chop] (Lv. 2→3)
[Cooking] (Lv. 1)
[Keen Sensitivity]
[Killing Cleave] (Lv. 1→2)
[Lacerate] (Lv. 1→2)
____________________
Sky's smiled in satisfaction when he saw his improved stats. However, his wide smile became even bigger when he saw the number of free stat points he had.
It was a shocking 340 points!
'Hahahahahaha, should I add all these points into Strength?'
Sky shook his head and laughed. "Just jokin', of course, I'm just jokin'."
He had learned a few things after playing for a while now.
One of the few things he learned was that adding all the free stat points into one's strength wasn't a very good idea, especially with a big number at that.
'Glass cannon? I think that's what its called? Those who deals a lot of damage but gets killed in just a few hits.' he thought, remembering the term that his new student, Lee said.
His plan was to increase his level and obtain as many free stat points as possible and allocate them before climbing the tower again.
While his stats were high for his level, it was nonetheless his low level that restricted his abilities in the end.
'That kid, when's he gonna come back anyway?' Remembering Lee, who used the excuse of having a family meeting to get away from his inhumane training, Sky shook his head.
'I thought he wanted to get stronger? Doing 1,000 push-ups, sit-ups, and pull-ups a day is pretty easy already compared to what the old master made me do...'
Thinking of the time when he had to do push-ups until the old man said otherwise, with a boulder on his back and weights tied around his waist, he couldn't help but grit his teeth indignantly.
"To think that I had to it for an entire day every time he was in a bad mood, damn it." A few tears couldn't help but escape his eyes when he remembered those times.
"Positive thinking... positive thinking..." muttering the words that what has become his mantra for years now, Sky checked the other item he received for clearing the floor.
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[Fragmented Heroic Warrior's Stone (1/3)]
A mysterious stone with an obscure power buried inside.
Get all three stone fragments to unlock a hidden quest with a chance of receiving the hidden class 'Heroic Warrior'.
• Drops upon death.
Conditions of Use: Find all three fragments.
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"A hidden class?" Sky was taken aback when he saw the description of the black stone in his hand that was the size of an egg.
"Hidden classes are stronger than the normal ones." This was one of the few things he had also learned.
Through some mysterious methods and quests, one could change his class for a hidden class and obtain power far beyond the norm.
Staring at the black stone, Sky shook his head and stored it in his inventory. "No matter how strong this class is, it definitely can't compare to the one I'll be making when I complete the [Orb of Miracles] quest."