Chapter 19
“Transcendent-level Trial?”
There are four known trial levels in the Tower of Beginnings.
Low, Medium, High, and Top-tier.
That was supposed to be the end.
Could this be some difficulty level added during Second?
Wondering that, I opened the Second community forum and searched for “Transcendent-level Trial.”
[ No search results found ]
Not even in the community was there any mention of a Transcendent-level Trial.
It meant no other players besides me had ever encountered such a trial in Second.
Well… maybe someone else did but chose not to mention it, but…
‘Still, the condition to trigger this must be ridiculously hard.’
From what I could tell, the condition for the appearance of this Transcendent-level Trial was likely clearing Low, Medium, High, and Top-tier trials all with the highest possible grade in one go.
Even with two years of players strategizing and clearing trials, I doubted anyone else could realistically meet that.
Even for me, without item support, getting the highest grade in the Top-tier trial would’ve been close to impossible.
Anyway, putting that curiosity aside—
My answer to the system message was, of course:
“Of course.”
It was a yes.
[ You have challenged the Transcendent-level Trial. ]
The moment that message appeared,
At the far end of the room where the Top-tier trial had taken place, a new door appeared.
“Luke, ready?”
— Of course, Master.
After finishing my combat preparations,
I opened the door without hesitation.
Where I arrived was a room at least twice as large as the previous trial areas.
The high ceiling almost seemed to threaten me, as if saying, “For this trial, monsters this big will appear.”
Looking around,
[ Tower of Beginnings – Trial of Transcendence ]
[ The trial is starting. ]
[ Defeat all enemies in the trial. ]
With the system message, monsters started to appear.
Immediately, I grabbed the ‘Lightning-struck Branch’ and rushed toward the usual puddles of Water Slimes.
But…
“Guuuuh—”
“A Big Slime?”
The opponent wasn’t an ordinary Water Slime.
It was a Big Water Slime.
A water-attribute version of the Big Slime I had faced before as a boss monster.
Even with lightning magic from the Lightning-struck Branch, taking it down in one hit would be tough.
Looking around to confirm, my expression stiffened.
‘They’re all Big Slimes.’
Wind Slimes, Fire Slimes, Earth Slimes…
All the slime types from the Top-tier trial were appearing here as their upgraded Big Slime forms.
This wasn’t just an increase in variety—this was a huge difficulty jump.
Big Slimes were overwhelmingly stronger than normal slimes in every way.
So—
“Luke, Thunder Blade.”
— Yes, Master.
I pulled out a new weapon.
The rare-grade weapon with a level 400 requirement, Thunder Blade.
Its power would be greatly reduced because of my low level, but its innate lightning ability still applied.
Plus, thanks to my All Master class skill, the penalty from using an over-leveled weapon was reduced.
Zzzzt—!
The Big Water Slime was sliced in one blow.
Next, Big Wind Slime.
Though all slimes had become Big Slimes, my hunting order remained the same.
The only thing that changed—
Was the weapon in my hand.
[ Feather of the Volcano Bird ]
Fwoosh!
A flame-imbued arrow pierced through the Big Wind Slime’s core.
[ Hammer of the Waves ]
Splash!
Swinging a water-attribute hammer, I crushed the Big Earth Slime.
By targeting elemental weaknesses or weak points, this much was simple.
Moreover, thanks to the All Mastery passive that came with my class advancement, my attack power was much higher.
Big Slimes or not, every time I swung, they burst like balloons.
[ Oath of Unyielding Power ]
[ Frenzy Sword ]
[ Fang of the Ferocious Beast ]
Boom!
A hidden Transcendent-level trial in the Tower of Beginnings?
Despite its grand title, the trial wasn’t much different from the Top-tier trial.
The only real difference—
Was the size of the slimes being executed by my weapon.
Of course, the slimes did their best to remind me that this was a Transcendent-level trial, unleashing attacks fitting their size.
Area attacks difficult to dodge.
“Luke.”
— Yes, Master.
This time, I decided to try using items from Luke’s subspace in a new way.
Over-leveled gear would have reduced performance and short durations when used.
Until now, I only used them briefly as needed during fights.
But thinking about it…
Why not use them as single-use shields, like a ‘Shield’ spell?
With that in mind, I called out an armor’s name to Luke.
Then—
[ Armor of Vitege ]
( Non-tradable )
Type: Armor
Grade: Heroic
Requirement: Level 380+, Heavy Armor Mastery Lv.38+
Description: A pure white armor forged by the legendary blacksmith Vuland. Known to withstand even strikes from the holy sword Nagelring.
Dark flames swirled as the pure white armor equipped onto my body.
Immediately following—
Bang!
A mass of acidic slime struck me.
Yet I didn’t take a single step back.
Though the acid hissed, melting the ground around me, it didn’t inflict even the slightest damage to me.
The Armor of Vitege, after absorbing that one attack, disappeared—its job done.
Thus proving that First’s gear could indeed work as one-time shields.
Smiling at this discovery,
Boom!
“Guuuuuh—”
I blew away the last slime.
Transcendent-level trial?
With access to all the items that existed in First, none of this was a problem for me.
Transcendent? It’s really just a graduation test for the starting city.
“Wait… is it not over?”
Even after defeating the last slime, the trial didn’t end.
That’s when I noticed—
The remains of the defeated Big Slimes were gathering in the center of the room.
As expected—
The gathered remains formed into something far larger than any Big Slime.
“King Slime?”
King Slime.
No way a monster like that should appear in the starting city.
Despite being a slime, it had massive size, powerful acid, immense HP, and crazy regen.
This wasn’t even comparable to Big Slimes.
Still, it was the graduation test of the starting city.
And yet… a King Slime appeared.
I thought it was ridiculous, but—
“It’s still just a slime.”
Nothing changed.
I pulled out a new weapon.
Since King Slime’s entire body was liquid, its weakness would be lightning.
To hit the deeply buried core, I’d need a long piercing weapon like a spear.
Thus, the weapon I chose was—
[ Lightning that Summons Storms, Vajra ]
( Non-tradable )
Type: Spear
Grade: Mythic
Requirement: Level 1000+, Vajra’s Seal
Description: The spear of Indra, the thunder god symbolizing rain, storms, the sky, rainbows, and other natural phenomena.
A finishing-tier weapon—the thunder spear, Vajra.
Honestly, with this, weakness or penalties didn’t even matter.
Any monster grazed by this would vanish instantly.
Still, old habits from First die hard.
I liked targeting weaknesses properly.
Next—
[ Activating Black Flame Transformation ]
[ Borrowing power from the Black Flame Dragon, Lucnir Desperate Ignokturn ]
My body ignited in black flames.
My stats skyrocketed, slightly reducing Vajra’s level penalty.
“Guuuuh…”
Maybe sensing Vajra’s oppressive aura,
The King Slime—despite being a Transcendent trial boss—let out a deflating noise and oozed backward.
A bit pitiful.
But no helping it.
I pulled my right arm back and, using my practiced spear-throwing technique—
Swoosh!
I hurled Vajra.
The black storm of lightning it created as it flew was stunning.
If my favorite Astraphe felt like a magical lightning weapon, Vajra felt purely like a spear.
Vajra unleashed a lightning storm as it accelerated, covering the whole room in a tempest.
There was no need to aim for the King Slime’s core.
KABOOOOOM!!
King Slime was pulverized.
Vajra kept going, smashing into the far wall.
BOOOM!!
Even the reinforced stone and magic circle-protected wall was shattered.
The spear tore through, punching a hole leading outside.
Through the hole Vajra made, I could see a vast sky.
Looks like this trial area was way higher up than I thought.
Maybe the topmost area.
Either way, since Vajra was a bound item, I could retrieve it later.
Once its energy ran out, it would burn black and return to Luke’s subspace.
— I have recovered Vajra. No need to worry, Master.
“Thanks. Oh, about those monsters I just defeated… Can’t eat them now, right?”
— Their texture may suffer from being torn apart, but the remnants are still edible.
The once-enclosed room,
Now burning black,
Suddenly filled with chewing sounds as something began eating.
Naturally—
[ Luke has consumed King Slime. ]
[ Luke’s stats increased by 20. ]
It was King Slime.
As expected of King Slime.
Luke’s stats jumped by twenty.
The stronger Luke got, the more power I’d gain when borrowing his strength later.
And at the same time—
[ Trial Completed ]
[ Trial Grade: SSS ]
[ Clear Time: 2 minutes 59 seconds ]
The completion message appeared.
Thanks to throwing around top-tier gear like crazy, the clear time wasn’t much different from the Top-tier trial.
A sub-3-minute run.
But more importantly—
“Triple-S grade?!”
The clear grade.
SSS grade.
The highest known grade in the Tower of Beginnings was S+.
I had guessed that maybe the hidden trial after the Top-tier would be SS+ at best.
I never expected SSS.
“Wait, then… what’s the reward gonna be?”
Even I, who dominated First, had never seen an SSS grade.
I couldn’t even imagine what the reward would be.
And soon after—
[ You have completed all trials in the Tower of Beginnings. ]
With that message marking the end—
Ding!
The reward for clearing the Transcendent Graduation Test began to appear.
