Chapter 18
The Lower Trial
It was the same trial as in the First, so I knew the攻略 method inside and out.
Unlike back then, I now had plenty of items and skills to exploit the slimes’ weaknesses.
The lower trial was nothing more than a warm-up.
So, before anyone could focus their attention on me, I immediately entered the next trial.
[ Tower of Beginnings: Intermediate Trial ]
[ The trial begins. ]
[ Defeat all enemies in the trial. ]
The second trial.
The intermediate trial had begun.
Without hesitation, I charged forward and plunged my staff into the slime-filled pond, just as I did the first time.
[ Lightning ]
Crackle!
Rumble…
The trials were fundamentally built on the same base.
Just because it was intermediate difficulty didn’t mean the trial completely changed.
Instead, the enemies from the lower trial became stronger, and new enemies were added.
So the pond full of Water Slimes remained. I defeated them first using the same strategy.
Of course, with the increased difficulty, the strengthened Water Slimes withstood my magic a little longer.
Fizz…
But that was all.
Even if they held on for a few seconds more, there was no way they could resist me.
Given my Wisdom stat, my mana pool was one of the highest in the Starting City.
A few extra seconds of maintaining a 1-circle spell wouldn’t exhaust me.
After defeating all the Water Slimes…
“Guuu–”
A new presence appeared from behind me.
Another slime.
But this one felt different from the slimes so far.
Until now, all the slimes I’d faced had basically liquid forms.
‘Earth Slime.’
This Earth Slime had a form closer to solid.
As its name suggests, it was a slime made of dirt.
Because of that, it had high defense and, unlike other slimes, didn’t have any acid.
Instead, it attacked physically, creating solid spikes or bludgeoning with its body.
To fight it, I released my staff and spoke to Luke.
“Luke, give me a hammer.”
“Yes, Master.”
The staff in my hand vanished in black flames.
At the same time, black flames erupted from my empty hand, forming a hammer.
A heavy sensation filled my grip.
Without needing to look, I recognized the weapon just from the feel.
[ Stone Crusher ]
(Non-tradable)
Type: Hammer
Grade: Rare
Requirement: Level 20+, Strength 80+
Description: A sturdy stone hammer used in quarries known for their tough black stone.
A rare-grade hammer with a Level 20 restriction.
Although the strength requirement was disproportionately high for the level, my Strength stat was already over the top, and as an All Master, some stat restrictions didn’t apply to me.
I swung the hammer with full force at the Earth Slime.
The Earth Slime hardened its body to defend itself.
Crack!
But it couldn’t block the Stone Crusher.
Defense or not, the Stone Crusher shattered the Earth Slime completely.
The spikes it tried to counter with were smashed.
Even when multiple slimes clustered together to defend, they were flattened all the same.
The Stone Crusher was slow, but its attack power was unmatched.
As I kept crushing the slimes…
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: B+ ]
[ Clear Time: 55 seconds ]
Once again, I cleared the second trial with a top record.
When Mir first entered the Tower of Beginnings…
The user who had invited Mir to their party, “Seoul’s Best Sword,” didn’t think much of him at first.
“What, going solo?”
Of course, Mir had refused the party invite and went into the trial alone.
He looked like a mage, judging by the staff.
A mage going solo into a trial?
Suicide.
Seoul’s Best Sword watched the door, expecting Mir to fail and come back begging for a party spot.
Then:
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: C+ ]
[ Clear Time: 9 seconds ]
“Huh… Huh?”
An unbelievable result popped up.
Mir had cleared the first trial in under ten seconds.
And with the highest possible rank for the first trial, C+.
What the hell just happened?
Before Seoul’s Best Sword could process it, Mir entered the next trial.
A minute later:
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: B+ ]
[ Clear Time: 55 seconds ]
“What… what??”
Another ridiculous record.
The lower trial… sure, maybe understandable.
Some real-world pro athletes or ex-pro gamers could solo lower trials sometimes.
Though none had ever done it in under ten seconds with a C+ rank…
But this?
Clearing the intermediate trial in under a minute?
And with a B+ rank?
And then…
“He’s… entering the Advanced Trial next?”
The Advanced Trial was no joke.
It was a place where even top players, in the best Starting City gear and with complete攻略 knowledge, would struggle.
Even then, getting an A rank was rare.
“No way…”
Seoul’s Best Sword tried to deny reality.
Impossible.
No matter how skilled you were, soloing the Advanced Trial was a different beast.
He knew this well, having studied攻略 videos on NewTube in preparation for this moment.
And yet…
He couldn’t take his eyes off the door Mir had entered.
Then, soon after:
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: A+ ]
[ Clear Time: 1 minute 59 seconds ]
“No freaking way!”
Mir came out the door.
He’d cleared the Advanced Trial.
With an A+ rank.
In under two minutes.
Seoul’s Best Sword had no money or time for a second character, but he’d consumed countless Second-related攻略 videos.
And by those standards, someone capable of clearing the Advanced Trial at the highest rank was…
‘The big guilds would kill for him.’
The five giant Korean guilds would definitely be interested.
They even paid for intel like this.
A player of this caliber? The guilds would pay big.
With that in mind, Seoul’s Best Sword almost logged out to contact them, but…
“Oh my god…”
He couldn’t.
Mir was now entering the final trial: the Superior Trial.
Someone else could contact the guilds before him…
But he just couldn’t tear his eyes away.
Mir… was really going to attempt the Superior Trial… solo?
Would he clear it? Would he get the top rank again? How fast?
The curiosity was unbearable.
The lower trial had Water Slimes.
The intermediate had Water and Earth Slimes.
Then what about the Advanced Trial? Would they just keep adding more slime types?
‘No way.’
The Tower of Beginnings wasn’t that simple.
If it was, players wouldn’t fear this graduation exam so much.
Proof?
“Guuuuh!”
“Guuu!”
“Guu…”
Four types of slimes appeared in the Advanced Trial.
Water, Earth, plus Fire Slimes that breathed flames, and Wind Slimes that fired wind magic.
All four elemental slimes appeared.
And they were much stronger.
For example, the Water Slimes that couldn’t last ten seconds against my lightning magic earlier now needed double the time.
But that’s fine.
Unlike during the First, I now had攻略 knowledge, experience, stronger power, and better items.
More slimes didn’t mean more threat.
The result:
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: A+ ]
[ Clear Time: 1 minute 59 seconds ]
I cleared the Advanced Trial swiftly.
Naturally, I didn’t stop. I immediately opened the next door.
The Tower’s final difficulty.
The Superior Trial.
[ Tower of Beginnings: Superior Trial ]
[ The trial begins. ]
[ Defeat all enemies in the trial. ]
True to its name, the Superior Trial doubled everything.
Eight types of slimes appeared.
The total number easily exceeded a hundred.
Facing them, my movements didn’t waver.
[ Lightning ]
Crackle!!
First, I fried the Water Slimes with lightning.
I pushed more mana in to increase its power, electrocuting them instantly.
Next:
[ Owl Hunting Bow ]
I took out my bow and shot down the Wind Slimes preparing wind spells from afar.
Though distant, my arrow hit their cores perfectly.
This wasn’t just my skill or item help.
A key factor was my unique skill:
[ All Mastery (Lv 1) ]
The All Master’s exclusive skill encompassing all mastery skills in existence.
-
Replaces all equipment mastery skills, including weapons and armor.
-
Doubles the effect of all mastery skills.
The All Mastery skill.
Unlocked the moment I advanced to All Master.
An upgraded version of the Weapon Mastery skill I had as a Weapon Specialist during the First.
As the name implied, it covered all gear, not just weapons.
Thanks to this, my archery accuracy was drastically enhanced.
Hitting the fragile cores of Wind Slimes was child’s play.
[ Water Orb ]
“Aqua.”
Even my orbs benefitted.
The All Mastery replaced Mage-only “Orb Mastery,” boosting orb performance.
When I cast the 1-circle water spell, Aqua, the orb amplified the output massively.
Though Aqua just created water, thanks to the Water Orb, it produced a torrent.
Caught off guard, the Fire Slimes stiffened, unable to move.
Not instant death, but enough to finish them off later.
And I continued.
[ Stone Crusher ]
[ Exploding Dagger ]
[ Flowing Water Blade ]
Whoosh!
I kept swapping weapons and taking down slimes.
Why wasn’t I using Luke’s mythic, level-1000-restricted weapons?
Simple.
First, I didn’t need them to get the top rank.
Second, I wanted to test and refine my skills after two years of dormancy.
Before long…
[ Trial Cleared ]
[ Trial Rank: S+ ]
[ Clear Time: 2 minutes 35 seconds ]
I perfectly cleared the Superior Trial.
Got the highest possible S+ rank.
It didn’t even take three minutes.
The trials were over.
Though I technically had one trial attempt left, it was unnecessary now.
While waiting for rewards…
[ You have cleared the Lower, Intermediate, Advanced, and Superior Trials at the highest ranks. ]
[ You still have one attempt remaining. ]
[ Would you like to challenge the Tower of Beginnings’ hidden final difficulty: Transcendent Trial? ]
Even I, who thought I had完全攻略ed the Tower during the First, had never seen this difficulty before.
