[A guy who just entered the 8th floor somehow beat someone from the 20th floor… It really doesn't make any sense.]
“I know.”
Taesan was also surprised. Although Taesan was strong now, he thought the 15th Floor would be his limit, since the strength of opponents grew exponentially the higher the floor. But he was able to win against an Adventurer from the 20th Floor, more than twice the floor number.
“I probably could have gone further… but I should stop here.”
If the opponent had been a Monster without proper intelligence, it would have been easier. But the Shadow was an Adventurer who had been clearing Alone Mode. They were people who had run through this crazy place beyond the 10th Floor without any knowledge or information.
They had more information about this place than Taesan. They were not just strong, but they also responded quickly to Taesan's Skills with their accumulated knowledge and experience, so it was best to stop here. In any case, he was able to win against an Adventurer from the 20th Floor.
Soul Rank Ascension and the Victory Reward. The Difficult Foe Judgment. Combining this and that, he was able to become incredibly strong.
“Status Window.”
[Kang Taesan] [Level: 21] [Shield: 50/50] [Health: 835/835] [Mana: 215/215] [Strength: 332] [Intelligence: 170] [Agility: 268] [Attack Power + 24] [Defense Power + 29] [The target is in Optimal Condition.]
[Hah.]
The Ghost let out a hollow laugh.
[This growth makes no sense.]
“The rate of growth is no joke.”
The Acceleration is no joke. It was enough to make him feel sorry for comparing it to his experience in Easy Mode. At this rate, it wouldn't be long before he could catch up to Lee Tae-yeon's Stats.
Since she had avoided all the Trials, it wasn't impossible.
[This isn't a Trial that makes you this strong. Normally, it would have ended with you becoming moderately stronger… but it turned out like this because of your crazy Skill and Pride's whim.]
“By the way, it's quiet.”
The Trial was over. But the Reward had not yet been given. The power felt from the Altar was quietly trembling.
As if confused, a complex emotion could be seen beyond the power. After a short while, the System Window appeared.
[Pride's domain of interference has shrunk.]
The power trembled violently. Taesan could feel that the total amount of that power had decreased. It was a decline he hadn't felt from Rakiratas or Balthazar.
[His head must be a mess right now. Wondering whether to be happy or sad.]
The Ghost muttered with schadenfreude. He seemed to enjoy seeing a God's domain being chipped away.
[Pride gives you a Reward. You have received the [Ring of Proof].]
[You have cleared the Enhanced Trial. An additional Reward will follow.]
[You have obtained the Special Passive Skill [Proof of Limits].]
[Pride proposes an Apostle's Contract to you.]
“I decline.”
As always, he refused the Apostle's Contract. Then, the power beyond trembled. It was as if it was complaining.
But nothing more was seen. The power, which had been trembling as if grumbling, slowly disappeared.
[Pride looks forward to your next meeting.]
Taesan, who had been watching quietly, muttered.
“He's not hostile.”
He was a God who showed various emotions. Taesan thought he might suffer a disadvantage for refusing the Apostle's Contract, but there was no sign of that.
[Gods are proud beings, so if you were only moderately outstanding, that might have happened. But you've long since crossed that line. Besides, with Rakiratas and Balthazar keeping an eye on you, there are few Merciful Beings crazy enough to mess with you. At least, Pride isn't one of them.]
It seemed there was also a power struggle among the Gods. After organizing the information, Taesan began to check the rewards. His Stats had nearly doubled.
Normally, as the Ghost said, it wouldn't have been this much. Since the 8th Floor was his limit, he would have become moderately stronger. But thanks to Soul Rank Ascension and his Skills, he was able to reach the 20th Floor and achieve insane growth.
He checked the Trial's Reward.
[Ring of Proof] [Strength + 5] [Defense Power + 5] [A ring that can only be worn by one who has grasped their own strength. It seems a God has bestowed a speck of power upon it.]
“Not bad.”
Considering Taesan's current Stats, it was a little disappointing, but considering it was the basic reward, it was a good ring. Since both Strength and Defense Power were high stats, it was fine. Especially now, when his Defense Power was lacking, it certainly had value.
And the enhanced reward.
[Special Passive Skill: Proof of Limits] [Proficiency: 1%] [When facing an enemy of the same or similar class, All Stats increase. Action speed increases, and Health and Mana are continuously recovered.]
“The Special Skills are all similar.”
Rakiratas, the God of Conflict, gave a buff in sustained combat. Balthazar, the God of Victory, gave an increase in a specific Stat with each victory. The God of Trials, who gauges strength, had a fitting effect.
Considering the Skills from other Gods, this one should also be quite good. It meant gaining an advantage against an enemy that should normally be an even match, so it couldn't be bad. And Soul Rank Ascension.
It didn't just raise Stats, but also the Proficiency of Skills. Since all the opponents used Skills, he was able to gain a considerable amount. Thanks to that, the descriptions of a few skills changed.
[Special Active Skill: Deflection] [Mana Cost: 5] [Proficiency: 62%] [Deflect an attack to reduce Damage. It seems you can deflect attacks from all weapons. It seems you can also deflect Magic or Curses. It seems you can even deflect concepts.]
The sentence about deflecting concepts was added. Before, he wondered what it meant, but now he knew.
Concepts.
That was literally everything.
Presence. Mental Confusion. Pressure.
Intimidation.
The mental pressure felt when encountering something transcendent. It meant he could deflect that.
“Will it be useful?”
He wasn't sure how, but it wouldn't hurt to have it. It meant he had more cards to play. Deflection wasn't the only skill that changed.
[Special Active Skill: Counter] [Mana Cost: 5] [Proficiency: 20%] [Counterattack the enemy's attack. Deals greater Damage to the enemy. Counters even uncounterable attacks.]
Counter is a Skill that automatically moves the body to counterattack. However, against attacks the body cannot counter or avoid, it only activates halfway or not at all. It meant that the threshold had been extended a little.
Taesan had seen Counter used a few times in the previous world.
‘It literally defied the laws of physics.’
According to his memory, it was a pretty useful change. Besides that, other skills he hadn't paid attention to had also changed quite a bit.
[Special Passive Skill: Vision Expansion] [Proficiency: 42%] [You can gain a wide field of vision. It has deviated quite a bit from the human category.]
Perhaps because "slightly" had changed to "quite a bit," the range of his vision had subtly changed. He could see wider and farther than before.
[Special Passive Skill: Insight] [Proficiency: 43%] [You can grasp many things. It seems you can see through the weaknesses of living and non-living things. It seems you might be able to find Secret Rooms. Very occasionally, it informs you of important information.]
He could also grasp the weaknesses of non-living things. Considering the floors after the 10th, this was also a good change. Taesan, who was skimming through the skills, was surprised to see Composure.
“Why did this one go up so much?”
[Special Passive Skill: Composure] [Proficiency: 65%] [An unshakable mind. You do not panic even when a being beyond comprehension appears. You gain a bonus to Judgments. You will never be shaken, even in extreme situations.]
He remembered it being 38% before. It had risen by nearly 30 percent. The Ghost answered as if it were obvious.
[Gods are beings that attempt Judgments even if they don't see you directly and just use the Altar as a connection. You're unusual so there was no problem, but… it's natural for the Skill's own Proficiency to rise.]
“Hmm.”
Composure was a largely useless Skill for him, but it would be a different story if he got the Proficiency to 100%. It wasn't bad. The Proficiency for Sword of the Storm Scar was now 15%.
It had risen moderately.
“This should be fine.”
He could stop whenever he wanted. Since it started from the 1st Floor, it was good for slowly figuring things out. It was a Trial worth sharing on the community forums later.
Unlike other Gods, this one didn't just throw anything at him. Taesan's assessment of Pride rose in his mind. After that, it was smooth sailing.
The Monsters were already too easy, but after the Trial, his Stats had nearly doubled from when he first entered the floor. A rough block and a rough hit were enough to take them down.
“This is a bit disappointing.”
Taesan's Attack Power was currently quite low. It was high considering average strength, but it was unbalanced with his Stats. He wanted to quickly pass the 10th Floor and buy some Equipment.
Still, since his Level itself hadn't risen, he received all the Experience and was able to Level Up. While clearing the floor, he also found a Secret Room. As always, a Trap was waiting, but it wasn't a problem.
Piiing!
He failed to disarm it and an arrow flew at him, but he didn't even bat it away.
[Absolute Nullification of the First Attack activates.]
The arrow clattered to the ground. He continued to disarm the Trap to raise his proficiency and get a reward.
[Sturdy Ankle Guards] [Defense Power + 6] [Agility + 3] [Light and sturdy. It is difficult to find a flaw.]
A small increase in Defense Power. The Agility was a bonus. Taesan finished clearing the floor, but no other Altars or rooms were found.
“This place is done.”
He had found everything there was to find on the 8th Floor. Taesan entered the Boss Room.
“Kiaaak!”
[Marcanda Rutia has appeared.]
A red bird, twice his size, appears. It flaps its sharp beak and hard wings and attacks Taesan. Taesan moves his sword listlessly.
The sword presses down on the bird.
“Ki-ek.”
The bird flaps and struggles. It dodges here and there, trying to deal Damage somehow, but it was too slow for Taesan. As a result of blocking everything and attacking, he won without taking any damage.
[You have won against Marcanda Rutia.]
“I can't get used to this.”
It was too easy. It was so easy it made all his past struggles seem ridiculous.
[That's what happens when you perfectly clear a god's Trial. On the surface, there's nothing that can stop you. You roughly know, don't you? How this place is structured.]
“I do know.”
Secret Rooms. a god's Trial. Doors of completely different colors.
NPCs.
In Alone Mode, there are all sorts of beings. The difference was immense depending on what kind of relationship you formed with them and how you proceeded. Lee Tae-yeon was a prime example.
She had abandoned all the Trials and descended. From the outside, she looked strong enough, but according to the Hero, her level would not be satisfactory. In other words, the Ghost, who had descended to the 80th Floor, could be stronger than Lee Tae-yeon, who had cleared the tower.
But then, there was one problem.
“You went down to the 80th Floor, right? And you were particularly strong among them.”
[Right. I was careless often, that's why. But I was strong.]
The Ghost boasted. He was careless enough to lose his life in The Depths, but the very fact he made it that far proved his strength.
“Objectively speaking, do you think you could have cleared it?”
[Probably… I would have.]
The Ghost affirmed.
[But what's the point? Even if you clear it and get out of here, it's not a conquest. There's no reason to do it if you can't fulfill your wish.]
“Is that so.”
It became clear. Here, clearing and conquering were two completely separate things.
‘What's the difference?’
Whether it was meeting Gods and NPCs, or getting the Shopkeeper's permission, or if it was decided by the Labyrinth's magician, he still found it hard to understand the exact concept. But there was a being here who could give him an answer.
“What's the difference? Between clearing and conquering.”
[Uh…]
The Ghost hesitated.
[Actually, I don't really know either.]
“Then why didn't you clear it? You could have just gone down and tested it.”
[It was just… what should I call it. A kind of feeling? A revelation? There was something similar. The feeling that if I just kept going down like this, I wouldn't be able to fulfill my wish. In this place, those kinds of feelings tend to be quite accurate, so I searched through everything one by one.]
“Hmm.”
In the end, he couldn't know for now. For now, he planned to go down further and meet other NPCs to find out. Taesan checked the 8th Floor's Reward.
Marnius's Rune.
The effect is simple. It enchants a weapon with an attribute.