111 – Those Who Climb The Tower
At that time, a few dozen days ago, when the ordinary students heard the news that the crazy wizard had embarked on a long business trip, they celebrated, saying, “We’re finally free from his clutches!”
There were students who were curious about what the Tower of Trials, which he had left behind as a substitute for his classes, actually did.
Bennett, the representative of the “Three Warriors” faction.
Gordius, the leader of the ‘Golden’ faction and a disciple of the Golden Towerism. Nickname: Goldie.
Envers Redburn, who came out of nowhere from the ‘Ordinary Students’ faction, or rather, from the leftovers.
The spiritual leader of the “Rose Banner” faction, the White Lotus Princess…and twenty loyal nobles who followed her. They were all in a frenzy.
Bennett asked politely.
“Wasn’t it decided that only one person from each faction would come and take a look?”
“I, I intended to come alone…”
As the White Lotus Princess hesitated, the members of the ‘Rose Banner’ who were standing behind her stood up like wildfire and inspired.
“So you’re saying you’re going to leave the princess alone right now! Do you even know what you’re doing! Boohoo!”
“We will not back down. For the sake of the one we serve, we have sworn an oath on our shields to clear any path!!”
“Our oath of loyalty takes precedence over any courtesy or law!”
These guys are crazy.
Bennett looked at the White Lotus Princess with a look of regret. Their excessive loyalty was not a matter of a day or two. The princess also nodded, thanking him for his concern. There was no one normal in that faction except for the princess.
Seeing their eye contact, the princess’s followers jumped up and blocked her way.
“Where are you looking!!”
From Noble mtl dot com
“I’m not looking anywhere.”
“You must have been looking at the princess’s broad mind, you shameless thing!”
“With Niole right next to me, why on earth would I be captivated by the princess’s broad mind?”
“…!!”
Bennett’s answer was met with a chorus of boos from the princess’s followers. When he noticed, Tara had slipped in between them and was spewing out insults like ‘Bennett, die!’
It seemed that the talk about her chest had made her a little angry.
The disciple of the Golden Towerism clicked his tongue as he watched the farce. Then he pointed to his wristwatch and said irritably.
“Do you know that the jewelry store lost 30 gold during the time you were making those jokes? I can’t stand it! If we’re just going to waste time like this, I’m going to──.”
“Here, 100 gold for you, Sir Gordius.”
“You can wait as long as you want, Princess. Please feel free to talk.”
He wasn’t right in the head either. Apparently, he had a dream of building a giant-rideable-moving-armor that was bigger than the academy’s dinosaur, and there was a rumor that he was saving on food expenses because the research costs were so high.
Bennett read through the sign that said “Instructions” and summarized it briefly.
“It says that you can go alone or in a team. It seems that you can enter the Tower of Trials by stepping on the magic circle and chanting the trigger word. However, when one team is using it⋯⋯other people cannot use it .”
“What kind of trial is it?”
“I heard that it’s supposed to test your combat abilities. The Tower of Trials has a regular 10 floors, and the breakthrough records are engraved on the dashboard next to it. And, to the students who break through the 10th floor⋯⋯it says that they will be granted a wish.”
“How much do you think a wish is worth? Bennett. Do you think this could be a moneymaker?”
Bennett thought back to the voucher for the purple magic tower wine that he was still cherishing in his arms. The crazy wizard was a man who could easily pay that much. If he could ask for a wish from such a person⋯⋯.
“If it were me, I wouldn’t sell it.”
“Interesting words. If someone as skilled as you judges it that way, then it must be a trial worth challenging. I’ll be the first to enter the ‘Tower of Trials’!”
“Boohoo! How can you say you’ll go in on your own when the princess is looking at you with such longing eyes!”
“…I don’t mind if you go in first.”While the princess’s team, who didn’t want to be a princess, and the Golden Tower Lord’s disciple, who didn’t want to be a Golden Tower Lord, were having a fight with 21,000 horses, Tara, who was holding Bennett by the collar and shaking him, said quietly.
“Didn’t he already go in? That, the duke’s son who’s so picky. Redburn.”
“…?!”
“H, he’s cutting in line!!”
“Then the next order will be decided peacefully with rock, paper, scissors…”
The students decided the order in front of the magic circle.
—- —-
10 minutes later.
Envers Redburn came out of the magic circle, pale and burned, and staggered out. The students waiting for their turn focused their attention on the center.
As he was ejected, letters began to appear slowly on the stone slab floating next to the magic circle.
1. Envers Redburn / Reached 3rd floor / Clear record 0 days 1 hour 32 minutes
“…So that’s how it’s displayed?”
“The flow of time inside and outside is different.”
“Get up, Envers Redburn, and quickly give us some helpful information! I’ll give you 10 gold.”
“…Isn’t that the gold I gave you?”
Envers Redburn, who had been groaning, barely regained his senses after taking a sip of water from his water bottle. And he frustrated about what happened inside.
“The 1st floor was a large circular space, and an orc came out. It wasn’t an ordinary one. The muscles were so big that it couldn’t be called an orc, and the ax was heavy. It was slow, so I was able to win.”
“Orc…”
“The 2nd floor was a forest, and an ogre came out. There were unloaded ballistae installed all over the forest. I… shamefully used a tool to catch it. If I had been a little stronger. No, if I hadn’t used too much strength on the orc.”
“…? You have to use a tool to catch an ogre, so what….”
Envers Redburn had a gloomy expression. How could he not be ashamed when he relied on something other than a one-on-one fight?
“And the 3rd floor is… a chain scythe, Jenny of the chain scythe…!”
“Chain, what?”
“I was embarrassed by the weapon I saw for the first time and lost my tempo. It was a weapon that connected a scythe to a chain, and it wrapped around my weapon and took it away. But it didn’t seem to be that strong. It multiplied its strength by using centrifugal force. If I fight again, I’ll be careful about the lower body this time⋯⋯.”
Envers Redburn, who was muttering while recalling the fight, took advantage of the students who were pondering the information he had released and jumped into the magic circle for a rematch.
“…!!”
“Hey, you bastard, how can you use it in a row by yourself!”
“Get the rope ready. Tie it up if it comes out again!”
10 minutes later again.
1. Envers Redburn / Reached 3rd floor / Clear record 0 days 1 hour 32 minutes
2. Envers Redburn / Reached 3rd floor / Clear record 0 days 1 hour 53 minutes
“…Ugh! I knew you’d aim for my ankles. But this time…!”
“Catch him!”
Envers Redburn was tied up tightly.
And while the commotion was going on, the Golden Tower Lord’s disciple dived into the magic circle.
“…!!”
Looking back, the first day was truly a time of savagery. It was the savagery itself that the one who came out of the magic circle had to be captured, and the one who came out first had to jump in.
Hearing the commotion and rumors, even ordinary students without factions gathered, and the front yard of the Tower of Trials became even more heated.
It was a tragedy caused by the limited time and the mindset that everyone other than oneself was a competitor. The classroom was filled with all sorts of schemes, betrayals, and machinations.
It was not Bennett, Snow White, or anyone else who settled such a chaotic situation, but Professor Alexon, who appeared in the classroom like a comet.
Alexon, who had heard the rumors, ran barefoot with the thought that he couldn’t let the students enjoy such a fun content alone.
Professor Alexon monopolized about 3 hours in real time.The students had to wait, sucking their thumbs like elementary school kids who had their arcade game taken away by their middle school brother, believing that someday law and order would blossom here.
1. Alexon / Reached 10th floor / Clear record 1 day 3 hours 10 minutes
2. Gordius / Reached 5th floor / Clear record 0 days 5 hours 25 minutes
3. Envers Redburn / Reached 3rd floor / Clear record 0 days 1 hour 32 minutes
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
—- —-
After that, an era of peace and order came.
Professor Alexon, who was blocked by the wall on the 10th floor, monopolized the dawn hours but distributed the rest of the time fairly. Students could get their hands on a challenge regardless of their ability.
Of course, there were also those who traded challenge rights. Students who preferred to play and eat rather than enjoy fighting or improve themselves sold their chances without hesitation.
Or, there were cases where they climbed the tower with their colleagues and lost interest at some point because they felt a ‘wall’. After about half of them dropped out, the students were largely divided as follows.
*The leading strategy team that strives to break through the next floor in the ranking.
“Bennett, how about recruiting one more party member? We seem to be lacking firepower.”
“Definitely. It takes too much magic to catch the ‘Sleeping Beauty’ on the 7th floor. A wizard who has trained in fire magic would be suitable.”
[Oh, in that case, I have a friend I know. Selvier, my roommate…]
*The pursuit team that follows behind based on the information grasped by the strategy team.
“My lady, according to the information I bought with money… It seems that there is a beggar on the 8th floor. Can’t we buy it with money?”
“…Have you heard anything about the fighting style or special strength…?”
“Oh, yes. Just a beggar.”
“Well, I don’t think it’s a good idea to spend so much money like that…”
*The challenge team that climbs the tower purely to improve their own / or their party’s abilities.
“I’ll fight Jay of Swordsmanship one-on-one, so don’t interfere.”
“Please, Envers. Why do you keep fighting every time you go up!”
“Hey, leave it alone. Just think of him as a ticket to Jay. Let’s check the tactics first. If Envers is cut in half by Jay, we’ll chew on the follow-up with an ice wall…”
And then. There were twisted students who were not included in any of these, who suddenly started appearing at some point.
“The boss on the 5th floor.”
“That, the guy named Jay of Swordsmanship?”
“That… Doesn’t it seem practical?”
“?”
The training team who were deeply impressed by the enemies appearing in the ‘Tower of Trials’…!
“Gun kata, it’s possible if you hold an artifact with a built-in magic missile in both hands. It shows enough ‘angle’⋯⋯!!”
“I’ve decided to train in swordsmanship from now on. I can’t forget that romance.”
“I, I like being beaten by the whip witch so much…. If I go up to the 4th floor again, I, I’ll be trampled on. I’m so happy.”
“Get a grip, you bastards!!”
The crazy wizard has unleashed poison on the academy.
—- —-
In the midst of that gap, Redburn’s illegitimate son, Envers, continued to train.
For him, who had never been properly cared for, grew up in a sunless closet, and received only the surname Redburn as a token of goodwill, force was both a means and a goal.
Get stronger. Become stronger, and prove to the brothers and family who despised him, the father who abandoned him like ‘You’re useless’, everyone. I was a useful person.
And I’ll make you regret it. For abandoning me, and for abandoning my mother.
With that in mind, he came to the academy. He had never missed a day of training. He just focused on getting stronger. He had no talent. Even though his palms were torn and bleeding, his skills hardly improved. Despite his strenuous efforts , he could barely stay in the middle to lower ranks.
To him, a shining star appeared.
In the round where the ‘Golden Tower’ faction declared that they would attack the tower with a force of numbers, and gathered as many academy students as possible to challenge it, Envers, who excited the tower with them,
Met a beggar in ragged clothes on the 8th floor.
He subdued the students who rushed at him with a single wooden stick. The movements were simple, but they were not simple. There were thousands of mysteries contained in a single gesture and step, and they produced amazing effects with minimal force.
Envers watched the beggar’s dance without being able to breathe.
After all the students except him were annihilated, Envers asked what it was, and the beggar said, This is a small boat floating on the vast sea of martial arts, and its name is Dog Beating Stick Technique.
He gave Envers a 3-second handicap, and Envers was hit in the head by a club that flew after three attacks and defenses, and was thrown out of the Tower of Trials.
Martial arts.
That was the moment when those two characters were left on his head like a stigma.