"Behind you!"
Dante's urgent warning cut through the chaos. Nathan ducked instinctively, the dire wolf's fangs snapping shut where his head had been moments earlier.
Dante's katana flashed upward in a swift arc. The wolf, mid-landing from its failed attack, was struck cleanly. Its head was severed, and blood sprayed onto the ground, pooling in a dark crimson stain.
There was no time to pause. Another wolf lunged at Dante, its claws extended, aiming directly for his chest.
But Dante had learned his lesson. He deflected the attack with a precise swing of his katana, the blade ringing sharply as it met the wolf's strike. The force sent the creature skidding backward, its claws raking the dirt as it regained balance.
"Ggrrr!" the wolf growled as it prepared to attack again, but just then,
"You think you're the only ones who can sneak up?" Nathan's voice came from behind the wolf.
Before the beast could react, Nathan's spear came down with lethal precision. The sharp tip pierced its skull, emerging cleanly from the other side. The wolf collapsed with a sickening crunch, lifeless.
Three more wolves charged Nathan, attacking from different angles. He moved swiftly, spinning his spear in a wide arc. The sweeping strike repelled two of them, but the third found an opening.
"Ughhh!"
The wolf's fangs sank into Nathan's shoulder. Before it could bite deeper, Dante appeared from the side, his katana slicing cleanly through the wolf's neck. Its headless body crumpled to the ground.
Blood sprayed onto Nathan, painting his body in a shade of dark red from neck to legs.
"Tsk," Nathan clicked his tongue in irritation as he wrenched the wolf's head from his shoulder.
Dante would have enjoyed watching Nathan's discomfort, but he knew better than to let his guard down. Without hesitation, he sprinted toward one of the two remaining wolves, who had turned to flee.
With urgency and resolve to demonstrate his growth, Dante reached for the second weapon strapped to his back—a pair of tomahawks. He had spent countless hours honing his skill with it, aiming to offset his limited long-range capabilities.
While his accuracy didn't yet rival Nathan's, it was sharp enough to strike a humanoid target from fifty meters away with precision.
With a sharp throw, the axe spun through the air, striking the wolf's hindquarters. The creature yelped, its legs giving out as it crashed to the ground. A second tomahawk soon followed, embedding itself squarely in the wolf's skull.
Dante turned to track the final wolf, only to find it lying lifeless. A red spear jutted from its body, glinting faintly under the fading light.
He looked around, spotting Nathan, blood-drenched and grinning as he walked toward him. The sight could have been called horrific. If not for being partied, Dante would have thought a demon had come to hunt him down.
"Not bad," Nathan quipped, his tone dripping with mockery. "But your throw is only a solid 6/10. Still far behind me."
Dante clenched his fists in frustration, his voice tight as he replied, "It's still a work in progress."
Dante clenched his fists. "It's a work in progress," he muttered.
Nathan ignored the comment, surveying the carnage around them. Blood and gore littered the ground, a gruesome testament to their battle.
After a moment of silent counting, he sighed. "That makes our kill count 94, despite being at it since morning."
Dante wiped blood from his face, shooting a glare at Nathan. "Whose idea was it to ditch strategy and fight head-on
Nathan raised an eyebrow, a playful grin on his face. "I don't know, somebody was yapping about wanting to become stronger… Oh wait, it was YOU!" He pointed at Dante, his tone shifting to a playful accusation.
Truth be told, they had both agreed to the plan, eager to improve purely on combat skills. The talk with Buer had made one thing very clear to them—against the global powers of the Tower, the Elites, the Toverians, and the Great Animions, both Nathan and Dante were nothing. Absolutely nothing.
Nathan and Dante had been hunting for six hours, taking only brief pauses, and had managed to kill 52 Dire wolves. While the number was certainly impressive, comparing it to the achievements of their peers made it feel almost laughable.
Buer's words echoed in Nathan's mind:
"You want to be a hero? a punisher? a judge? or whatever you want to become—nobody would give a damn about your dreams when you have no name, no title, or worth for people to acknowledge you. You both couldn't even be considered top 100 in your own batch of 18,230 people. What can you do to the people from the Elite families?"
Buer's voice dripped with mockery as he listed a few accomplishments of their batchmates:
"Taizen Walpurgis cleared the first floor in just 30 hours and 51 minutes after starting, which is the 34th quickest solo clear on the first floor. But even he can't change a damn thing about the problems faced by the weaklings, even if he wanted to."
" Clara Dawnstar..... "
"Kisara Irminsul, the young heiress of the Elven Sovereign Family of Irminsul, who also happens to be in your batch, has already gained a title by the tower. Apparently, she cleared an
" Ermac Stormdrake....."
.....
"Dennis Heimdall and Zatanna Asmodeus made a surprise team up on the first floor and have already cleared the second floor as well. They're forming a powerful party filled with nothing but talented geniuses from the 17 Elites."
.....
"That is not all. The son of Thoradiel, the Barbarian King, Valthor, had also gained an impressive title by killing an F+ rank beast without even awakening a core."
Buer's voice was filled with a sense of awe and respect as he continued, "Do you grasp the sheer absurdity of that achievement? He didn't even need to awaken a core to pull off something like that. A feat considered nearly impossible, yet he did it with the aid of his barbarian genes and his unyielding will."
He paused, letting the weight of his words sink in, before asking, "Do you know how many crazy people like them exist in the tower?"
His words contained a challenge that spoke volumes of their standing. In front of absurd geniuses and prodigies like them, who also had the backing of Kingdoms and Empires, what were they worth?
Dante clenched his teeth in frustration, 'It is always the same no matter the place,' he thought. While Nathan had different thoughts:
'I know I am worthless, I always have been, and I always lied to myself, to make me believe I was meant for greatness, but—'
Nathan's gaze fell on the frail girl who was gently humming a lullaby to make her brother fall asleep.
'I don't know about anything else but— I am kicking that bastard Arkheim's ass,' he resolved himself as he turned towards Buer.
"I don't care about how many sharks there are in this endless sea. Neither do I care how large or how many they are, but if they think they can trample on anyone weak and get away with it, I will prove them wrong." His voice was loud, clear, and unwavering. Nathan wanted to make a declaration—a bold statement directed to the entire Tower. His eyes burned with ferocity.
Dante and Buer were left speechless as Nathan declared, "I will rise above them."
******
By the end of the day, Nathan and Dante had slain a few more dire wolves, completing their first quest. The sky had long since darkened by the time they arrived at the Toverian Guild to claim their rewards.
They could have opted for the instant reward processing feature from the Tower, having their rewards teleported directly to them, much like purchasing an item from the
Instead, they chose to receive their rewards directly from the guild, hoping to find more quests to tackle while saving the extra cost.
In the past, they had been laid-back, thinking they had three months to complete the floor quest. But hearing about the feats of the top-tier ascenders in their batch ignited something within them. A seething fire, a desire to stand on equal footing with those who had already made their mark.
Their encounter with Aeryn had been a wake-up call. It had shown them the dark side of the Tower and given them a glimpse of what true power really meant.
Neither of them could be satisfied with where they stood now. Even as they received their reward from the representative, despite the impressive milestone of completing an
Hidden in their eyes was only a burning resolve, a desire to surpass those whose accomplishments had made their own feel insignificant.