"Alright, is everyone ready?"
A blonde man in red robes asked a group of Paragons in the middle of the forest. All of them were wearing the same red robes, just like the man. Aside from that, they were also equipped with high-quality equipment, unlike someone that we know.
"Yes, sir!"
They shouted.
"Then let's go."
The man turned around and faced the Black Tower in front of him. The tower was too high that even if he looked up in the sky, he still couldn't see the tip of the Tower. With that, they all started walking toward the Tower. Suddenly, the ringleader stopped that alerted everyone.
"Did you hear that?"
"..."
But no one could hear anything. Suddenly, the floor started shaking. The blonde young adult ignited his hands with some kind of magic. That prompted other Players to prepare for battle.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
A dude suddenly appeared out of the woods, and Giant Bees came out afterward. He was being chased by these monsters. The dude, or rather, Kane, shouted at the red hooded people.
"Nice! Hey! Help me!"
The Party leader quickly waved his hand at his party members.
"Go, get inside! Don't waste your energy on that! Go! Go! Go!"
The high-leveled players ignored Kane and went inside the Tower.
CHING! CHING! CHING!
The Bees tried to impale Kane, but he easily dodged it by sidestepping to the left and right while going closer to the Tower.
As soon as all of his party members managed to enter the Tower, the Party Leader took at final stare at Kane before heading to the Tower and the door automatically closed.
'No! No! No!'
SLAM!
Kane banged himself to the door, but it didn't open. He tried to push, but it was just too heavy. A notification popped up.
[You need 100 STR to open this door.]
'What kind of shitty situation is this? Oh, I still have a lot of stat points!'
The main stats of every player in Arcadia were distributed in three categories. STR, AGI, and INT. Increasing STR would increase both the Player's HP and attack damage.
Increasing the AGI would increase the Player's movement speed, attack speed, stamina, and weight limit.
Increasing the INT would increase the Player's mana and the power of spells.
Every time a player levels up, they will be rewarded by 10 stat points that they could use to upgrade their stats. There were bonuses along the way when a player passed a certain amount of stats.
Luckily, Kane still hasn't used any of his stat points. Because of that, he could open the door. Or so he thought.
However, Kane was just level 7. Therefore, he only has 70 stats points. That was still far from 100 STR.
'Arrggghhh! I got chased by these bugs for nothing!'
BUZZ!
The buzzing sound came closer. The Giant Bee finally caught up to Kane. It rushed forward and stung Kane with its poisonous needle. But Kane crouched down.
The Bee continued moving forward and banged itself to the wall.
SLAM!
Unexpectedly, the Bee managed to open the gate. But as soon as it passed the borders, the monster disintegrated.
[You killed Giant Bee LVL 30]
[Level Up]
Kane250 is now LVL 8
'Well... okay... Free shit is free shit.'
Kane looked behind him and saw that the other bees started retreating. After seeing that the Bee disintegrated, Kane was skeptical about going inside the Tower as he might get dusted also.
He stepped his right leg first, but nothing happened. He moved his left leg and slowly walked forward, but nothing happened.
*CREAK*
The giant gate closed. The light coming from the outside immediately vanished that Kane was now stuck in a pitch-black room.
[You entered a new area – Wallace Tower Floor 1]
[Quest Activated: The Mysterious Tower (?)]
You have entered one of the five mysterious Towers of Miranda kingdom. Climb and investigate the tower to know its secrets.
Clear Conditions: ???
Rewards: ???
Failure Penalty: -2 Levels
'What's with these stupid details? It tells nothing about the mission except for me getting that minus 2 levels.'
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHH!!"
Kane suddenly crouched down upon hearing a scream. He tried to look around, by he couldn't see anything at all.
"HEEELPPPPP!!"
The voices kept on coming. Kane wasn't supposed to be afraid, but the darkness was making him mad.
Kane took out a small branch of wood from his inventory and lit it on fire. It lit up the entire room.
'Oh, nice.'
Kane looked around and realized that it was a large room wholly plated with some kind of metallic tiles. Some pillars were also seen supporting the high ceiling of the room. Aside from that, there were also a lot of giant mosquitoes and players staring at Kane.
They were all weirdly staring at Kane.
WHISH!
Seeing the light in Kane's hands, the monsters quickly stopped attacking the group and swarmed at Kane.
"Shit! Piss off! I'm not delicious!"
Kane ran away while shouting at the monsters that were chasing him like it ever mattered. The other players were left puzzled at the situation.
"Who's that guy?"
"Is he an idiot? Why would he light up the room?"
While all of them were murmuring with each other, the Party Leader was carefully looking at the running Kane. He approached his right-hand man, an overly-brawned man wielding a large axe.
"Look at him."
"Who? That guy with an assorted set?"
"Yeah. Look at him. The mosquitoes are not catching him at all."
"Now that I think about it, that was just his third lap, and he's still running. How much mana does this guy have?"
They thought it was a skill that Kane was using to run faster. However, his incredible speed actually came from one of his titles.
[Fastest Traveler on Arcadia]
Effect: passively increases movement speed by 50%
"BRRRRT... can everybody hear me?"
The red-cloaked players were suddenly hearing the words of their party leader in their heads. Their leader ordered all of them via telepathy.
"Everyone follow that guy. Kill the monsters behind him one by one. Watch him closely. He might be using an ability or an item to increase his movement speed. It will expire at some point. We need to kill as many as possible before he tires out!"
"Yes, sir!"
The ground started shaking as the mob of Paragons rushed toward the end of the monster swarm that was chasing Kane.
BOG!
"Ugh! Damn, it."
Kane suddenly banged himself on the wall. One of the Players saw it.
"Shit! His ability expired! Run!"
The players started running away. Kane was confused about what the guy was saying, but he didn't have time to think about it as an insect was about to attack him. He rolled away and continued running.
The Party Leader, who was still in the middle of the room with the axe-wielder, saw Kane back on track.
"No! He's back on his feet! Charge!"
"YAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
The players charged in once again.
THUD!
Kane stumbled on a dead player's body. He went face flat on the floor and also lost his torch in the process. The players saw it again.
"Holy shit! He's exhausted, get back!"
The players retreated once again. Kane stood up and continued running in the dark. The man beside the Party Leader got annoyed.
"This guy is annoying as hell. Is he trolling us? Hey, Xvin, I can't do this shit."
"I don't know, we already lost more than ten people on this Floor alone, and this is just the First floor. Having someone as bait is not a bad solution."
"Nah. I can do this shit. I'm going."
"No, wait! Don't waste your man—"
The man with the axe jumped high and then slammed the axe to the ground.
BAGUM!
A giant shockwave was formed and wiped out almost half of the mobs that were chasing Kane.
"I already killed most of them, even if that running idiot died. Don't get scared, just fight them!"
"Yes, sir!"
Thankfully, because of Kane, all monsters were in a single group that the axe-wielder managed to wipe almost half of them. However, the shockwave created a trail of fire on the ground that subtly brightened the room.
The monsters turned around to gaze at the light. But instead of the light, the players got the attention of the mosquitoes.
"YAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHH!!"
But the players were no longers afraid. They charged toward the mosquitoes, and they both groups clashed at each other.
TING! TING! TING!
KABOOM!
Because of that sudden battle, the light that was produced by the shockwave faded away. The room was back to being pitch-black.
However, there was still one guy going around the room. That guy kept on running in circles while shouting for help.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!! HEEELLLLPPPPPP MEEEEEEEE!!"
It was Kane. He was still running because he was unaware that the monsters were no longer chasing him. In between his path, Kane would encounter some Players and Monsters fighting in his way.
But with his incredible movement speed, he could easily dodge them. For the next few minutes, Kane finally became tired. He knew he can't do this forever. He kept on touching the walls for a new gate to escape, but there was no door.
'What is this?! Even the door that I came from was missing! I already went around.'
He couldn't find anything that he just kept on running while screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!"
Until... he's the only one screaming.
"AAAAAAAAAAAAaaaaaaahhhhhhh..."
Kane realized that the room became quiet. Suddenly, lights appeared from the ceiling. Kane was in the corner of the room, while all of the other players were staring at him.
"Ehem… Oh! You already cleared it! Congratula—"
BAGAM!
A wave of shockwave was hurled toward him. It was from the man with the axe.
"Why are you here?! Tell us about your purpose!"
"Purpose? What purpose aside clearing this Tower!?"
"You're not fooling me. Entering the Tower at the same time as our guild! Don't lie to me! You're here to ruin our run!"
The man leaped toward Kane and slammed his weapon at Kane's head.
BAAAAAAMMM!
The explosion released a smoke that covered the whole room. After it dissipated, the man was still standing in the middle while Kane was missing. He was on the far edge of the room after safely evading the attack.
"Huh? So, you managed to dodge that."
CHING!
A door appeared on the other edge of the room. The Party Leader shouted,
"The door to the next room is here. Let's get started."
The man with the axe grinned and asked their Party Leader.
"Xvin, what should I do with this guy?"
"Do what you want."
Kane observed that the other players were suddenly looting their dead companions and dead monsters. They also took out their pickaxe and started mining.
'So... they're just here for gathering resources...'
WHISH!
The man swung his axe at Kane, but he immediately sidestepped. The man was infuriated.
'What's with this slippery asshole?'
The man swung his axe at Kane multiple times, but Kane managed to evade them all.
'This guy... he's slow as fuc— Aagh!'
BAM!
Kane's back suddenly exploded. He didn't know what the hell happened.
Kane250 LVL 8 HP: [17/195]
[Kane250 – Status: Fractured]
'Shit! In just one fucking hit!!'
The man wielding an axe shouted.
"Hey! Xvin! Why did you intervene!?"
"We don't have time for you playing with that guy. That was just a warning shot, though."
Kane was bothered about how he nearly went down in one shot. Not only that, the guy even said that this was just a warning shot.
'How strong is this mofo?'
The axe wielder dashed toward Kane to deal the final blow.
Kane has been dodging all of the guy's attacks by just weaving away with the use of his movement speed. However, no matter how fast he was, he can no longer run because of his Fractured Status.
But Kane was always a critical thinker. He was a constant honor student that placed first in all his classes. Kane tried to think about what to do. He saw a shield from a fallen player far from his right, but it was still too far for him to reach.
The man raised his axe and then slammed it at Kane. Without any more skills to use, Kane was directly hit on his face. The floor shattered as soon as Kane slammed on it.
Seeing that he took a direct hit, the Party Leader called his companion back.
"Alright. Let's regroup."
The man pulled his axe from the rubble and walked away.
"Alright, I'm coming."
But the Party Leader had his mouth opened wide as a person stood up from the wreckage.
"Hey, behind yo—"
SLASH!
[CRITICAL HIT]
"Aaaaaaaaaghhhhhhhhhh!!"
The man screamed as a blade was struck on his neck. Kane was supposed to behead him, but Kane's attack damage was too low even if it was a Critical Hit.
'Fuck, he didn't die!'
"How... how are you... Ugh!!"
In the moment of desperation, Kane quickly spent all 70 of his stat points into STR. From his STR points of 10, it became 80, gaining him an additional 230 maximum HP, making it 425 HP.
Since Kane managed to reach the 50 STR threshold, he managed to get the bonus 200 HP, increasing his current HP up to 217/425. Luckily, the Axe only damaged him for 152, leaving him with 65 HP. With that, it also removed his FRACTURED status.
Quickly, Xvin pointed his finger at Kane's position. The ground that Kane was standing was suddenly glowing. Kane managed to jump away. He tried to slash the guy wielding an Axe, but that man rotated while swinging his Axe, forcing Kane to back out. Xvin yelled.
"He's just fast! Pure movement speed. But his attacks are slow. Just keep on spinning, he can't hit you!"
'Yes, because I'm level 8, you bitches. Fucking scumbags trying to fight with a newbie. This is bullying!'
As soon as Kane jumped back, the ground that he was standing glowed. Kane jumped away, but the floor that he was heading onto kept on glowing until it explodes.
He couldn't just run forever. For the first time ever, he admitted that two people in front of him might beat him. However, Kane had this notion in life. If you couldn't beat them, then just run away.
Kane stopped retreating and moved forward to the Axe User. Just as he expected, there were no traps in front of him. Xvin made a mistake by placing his traps behind Kane as he thought he'll keep running away from his friend.
But since Kane ran forward, all of his traps weren't activated. The Axe wielder ran toward Kane and pulled back his Axe to gain more momentum. Kane rolled over and took the shield that he saw on the ground.
You picked Happerion's shield – LVL 32
[Warning: Your level is to low to wield this weapon.]
You do not meet the required level to equip this item.
The item's skills and bonuses will be locked until you reached the required level.
'It's okay… I only need this shield itself.'
Because Kane's level was far too low, he couldn't equip the shield. All of the defense, armor, and skills that the shield was supposed to provide the Player was locked away. However, a shield was still a shield.
Kane dashed forward with the shield. The Axe was suddenly turned red and started flaming red. The man slammed it on Kane's shield, blowing him away.
KABOOM!
But the man was confused, as Kane was smiling while being blown away. Because of him, Kane was blasted away in the right direction, throwing him over the gate to the next room.
[You cleared Wallace Tower Floor 1]
[Kills: 0]
[Experience gained: 0]
[You entered a new area – Wallace Tower Floor 2]