When we entered the crimson tower, we were welcomed with the attacks of various crimson colored beasts.
If I count them, there are around 30 of them and when I see behind this group of crazy beasts, there stood a beast that spilling out stronger aura than the rest of the other beast which I assumed to be the leader.
But with Sil and Kirika collaboration, the fight ended in instant. When we finally cleared the floor, surprisingly I got a notification from the game system.
[Congratulation, you have cleared the first floor of Crimson Tower, you may choose one of the following reward]
- +1 Defense Attribute card
- +1 Power Attribute Card
- +1 Spirit Attribute Card
from the three choices, I already knew which one is important, that's why I immediately choose the +1 spirit card.
[You have received +1 Spirit Attribute Card]
I used it right away and then proceed to check my status.
[Status]
Name : Jin Konoe
Faction : Imperian
Level : 10 (47/100)
Power : 57 (22)
Defense : 166 (21)
Health : 90/90 (30/30)
Mana : 30/30
Spirit: 6/31
Rank : Unranked
Named Card : Silvanaz(Gold), Kirika(Silver/Gold)
Game Point : 2147
Life : 1
Artifact: Coldsteel Armor(30 Defense,15 Health), Glusteel Gauntlet(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Pants(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Helmet(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Boots(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Belt(15 Defense ,5 Health)D, Sun Sword(35 Power).
A/N : The number within (??) of power, defense, and health meant the original amount while the number beside it is the total of original attributes + artifacts.
I look at my spirit that have just got increased by 1. I couldn't but grin at that as any attribute point that I got is precious.
From there, we spent 3 hours to reached the final floor. In total there are 10 floors in this tower.
I got a lot of useful things from all the floor that I have cleared. If I have to list my gains then it should be like this.
- +1 Spirit Attribute Card (2nd Floor)
- +2 Spirit Attribute Card (3rd Floor)
- +2 Power Attribute Card (4th Floor)
- +2 All Attribute Card (5th Floor)
- Bronze Grade Growth Card 1x (6th Floor)
- 'Attribute Plunder' Skill Card (7th Floor)
- +8 Spirit Attribute Card (8th Floor)
- Random Faction Bronze Grade Skill Card (9th Floor)
[Status]
Name : Jin Konoe
Faction : Imperian
Level : 10 (47/100)
Power : 61 + 23 = 84 (26)
Defense : 168 + 23 = 191 (23)
Health : 92/92 + 23 = 115/115 (32/32)
Mana : 32/32
Spirit: 19/44
Rank : Unranked
Named Card : Silvanaz(Gold), Kirika(Silver/Gold)
Game Point : 3547
Life : 1
Universal Skill : Attribute Plunder(Passive) : 50% chance to plunder 1 random attribute from every player you kill.
Faction Skill : United We Stand : Grant +1 to Power, Defense, and Health for every 10 summoned soldiers. Grant +2 instead for every captain summoned, +4 for every summoned Commander, +6 for every summoned General, and +10 for every summoned Marshal. (Current bonus : 23 attributes l Limit :100)
Artifact : Coldsteel Armor(30 Defense,15 Health), Glusteel Gauntlet(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Pants(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Helmet(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Boots(25 Defense,10 Health), Glusteel Belt(15 Defense ,5 Health)D, Sun Sword(35 Power).
I was very happy with all of my gains from this tower, especially the attribute plunder and the faction skill.
After all I can get free attributes from the plunder skill by killing other players and three of my attributes will be increased by summoning more followers.
I can beat bronze followers easily with my current stats and even fight a silver follower equally.
Anyway after we reached the last floor of this tower, we were welcomed by a huge half naked man with a huge sword strapped on his back standing at the center of this floor.
"Gahahaha! Welcome to my tower of trials! How long has it been since I, Gotia the Giant got a challenger. Guhahahaha!" Gotia greeted us with a very loud and heartful laugh.
"Umm... So what kind of test do you have for me?" (Jin)
"It's a very simple test. I want you to fight me in a one to one fight. Since you're a rookie, I will restraint my power to half of my original prowess. If you want to subdue me then earn my respect first as a master." (Gotia)
Hearing his test, I couldn't help but grin as I am not the regular rookie his knew about. I can be considered as an irregular with my current strength that reached the Silver grade level.
Before I fight him, I checked Kirika status once again to compare our stats as she is the only silver card I have.
[Demon Blade Kirika]
Grade : Silver/Gold
Faction : Imperian
Rank : Commander
Cost : 15 Spirit
Power : 175
Defense : 135
Health : 110/110
Skill : Swirling Blade - Swing the naginata in circle with the user as the center to deal 200 % damage to the enemies around the user.
Additional Faction Skill : Summon 10 Onna Bugeisha(Iron) and 1 Shrine Maiden(Lead) when this card is summoned. Last until this card is unsummoned.
If I compare our current stats, then my defense stats already surpassed hers and my power is only short by 1 point.
After I have confirmed how much I have grown, I gained more confidence to fight him.
As I started to walked toward the center of this floor, Sil stopped me and gave some advice for me.
"Master, I know you have grown very strong compared to your peers right now, but remember do not get drown in your newly gained confidence. Remember that I always taught you to not underestimate anyone, and lastly please becareful, master. I will cheer you on with all of my heart" (Silvanaz)
"You really know me well, Sil. Thanks for the advice, I will do my best." (Jin)
Kirika also smiled at me but she didn't say anything except 'do your best, master. If you win, I will give you a reward later, of course together with Silva.' which made her received a jab from Sil that stood beside her.
I couldn't help but laugh at their antics and then I walked toward the center of this floor where Gotia is.
It was when I stood close to him that I realize how big he was. Gotia height is three times of mine and his body is twice as wide as my body, maybe even more.
His body is packed with bulging muscles that visible to the naked eye. He really looks like a giant.
"You are a very brave man to be able to stand before me without cowering. I like that eyes of yours, young man. You're craving for a fight as well, don't you? I can recognize it since I also the same as you." (Gotia)
"Stop talking already and let's start the fight." (Jin)
"Guhahaha! Interesting! You better give me a good fight young man! Let's start!" (Gotia)
Gotia took out his giant sword from his back but to my surprise there actually 2 swords strapped on his back.
Now each of his hand held one giant sword. I don't know how much strength do he have to wield that giant sword with only 1 hand and even dual wield it.
Each of his sword length are almost as tall as me which make him seems more intimidating.
I also took out my sword and held it with both of my hands tightly.
Honestly, I'm a little bit intimidated with his huge stature but I cannot show my weakness to him.
I have been practicing a lot with Sil, now it's time for me to test how much I have grown.
We spend a few seconds only looking at each other, and Gotia then made the first move by dashing toward me.
Although he has a huge body, his speed is not slow at all. Fortunately Sil is more faster than him in our training session so his speed didn't took me off guard at all.
Gotia brought his swords into horizontal scissor shape and tried to pincer attack me from both left and right.
Since I don't know our strength difference that clearly, I decided to not bare his attack upfront, instead I squat down to avoid his attack and start counter attacking him.
In that short time, I mustered all the strength I have and slashed Gotia abdomen.
Since I counter attacked him with a quick attack, Gotia didn't have anytime to avoid it and could only withhold my attack with his body.
Surprisingly the attack that I thought would be fatal turns out only gave Gotia a small scratched like wound.
It seems beside his strength, he have a very high defense as well. I quickly moved forward and initiate another attack to his knee.
Although Gotia has a high strength and defense, I'm still faster than him.
Gotia then initiate another attack and brought one of his sword from my left and attacked me.
I immediately squat down to avoid his attack, but before I could think about my next move, Gotia already have his other sword ready above me and swung it toward me.
I quickly blocked his attack by using my sword. As I don't want to brunt his full attack, I changed his attack direction to my left side.
Although I didn't face his full strength, his attack still able to numb my hand a little.
'Damnit, he's still this strong with only half of his stats? Is he really a silver card?' (Jin)
"Fight back young man! Show me your strength! Gahahahaha!" (Gotia)
After that Gotia attack keep coming without end and I keep dodging it with all of my abilities.
After a few minutes, I noticed some kind of pattern on his attack. Whenever he attacked me with his left sword horizontally, his next attack would always came from above.
Using that information, whenever he use that move, I easily dodged his first attack by squat down and then I dodge his second attack by moving to the left.
After that I quickly attacked him and moved away from him to avoid any of his counter.
When I looked at him again, I noticed that my attack only once again leave him with a shallow graze.
"Gahahaha!! This fight is getting more and more interesting. You are very strong for a rookie, but can you really defeat me?" (Gotia)
"Tch! You're so loud!"(Jin)
Not long after that, Gotia seems to realized my plan so he changed his attack pattern and then started to use more complicated attack.
Every time he attacked me, I could only dodge it or block it with my sword and change his attack direction as his attack is still to heavy for me.
As our fight keep going, I started to get the hang of his attack and start to counter attacked him after I blocked his attack.
Since I'm faster than him, I focused on dodging and sent a counter whenever I had the chance to do so.
I repeated that several times and after what I feel to be a very long time passed, Gotia skin is full of shallow sword wounds now.
But after fighting for that long, of course I grown tired and my response isn't as fast as before.
Before I knew it, I already spent all of my stamina and couldn't dodge his attack in time.
In panic, I blocked his attack with my sword to only end up being sent flying a few meters backward.
"Gah!" (Jin)
It too me a few seconds to process what had just happened, but in that short time, Gotia has already stood tall in front of me.
"Gahahaha! I can't believe you were able to last this long and even wound me this much as a rookie. You have done very well young man." (Gotia)
Unexpectedly Gotia didn't continue to attack me and instead scooch down in front of me and gave me a very satisfied smile.
"You have proven your worth to me and I already knowledge you. I look forward to serve you, master." (Gotia)
I was to tired to celebrate and the last thing that I remember before I lose my consciousness was the scene of Gotia turning into a card.
...
..
.
'What is this softness?' I thought
I opened my eyes only to see another pair of enchanting violet eyes looking back at me.
It seems I have been sleeping on top of Sil lap and I could only say that the softness was very pleasant.
I start to process my current situation and pieces of my memories start to go back to my mind.
"You did a great job, master." Sil said with a soft tone.