136 – Tower Of Trials 3Rd Floor_Eye For An Eye
[Walking in the rain without getting your clothes wet: Jenny’s 2nd phase opening pattern, survive for more than 10 minutes and clear the 3rd floor]
The young child who should have been playing in the playground ended up holding a weapon because there was something she wanted to protect in her young heart.
The incompetent adults didn’t stop her, not because they wanted to borrow her hand, but because the situation was so urgent, and also because they respected her will.
Even though she was just a child, she was already prepared to die.
She fought bravely and died as a warrior, fighting alongside the adults. She didn’t regret it.
However, if there was one thing she regretted after her death, it was her lost future. ‘If only I had a little more time…’
What kind of adult would I have become?
—- —-
The 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials was a desolate cityscape. It was filled with broken and collapsed buildings. It was a place where a war between superhumans had taken place, and so there were all sorts of traces of destruction left behind.
Asphalt melted by fire, frozen and broken outer walls, and soot from lightning strikes.
For those who didn’t know about the strange concept of modern superhumans, it was a landscape that they would have accepted as a large-scale magical battle. It wasn’t much different.
In the center of it all.
In the playground covered with sand, there was the sound of a swing creating.
A blonde girl was swinging on the swing. But if you looked closely, it was different. It wasn’t an ordinary swing.
It was made by wrapping a chain sickle around a steel structure protruding from the building debris. As soon as the outsider set foot in this place, the girl jumped off the makeshift swing and retrieved the chain sickle.
Clang!
And she began to accelerate by swinging it lightly. A whirlwind began to blow within a 5-meter radius.
Buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz, buzz──!
Amidst the noise that sounded like bees flying, the girl said this to the visitor.
“Nice to meet you. Brother. You’ve come all the way up to the 3rd floor of this tower. But this is as far as you go. I, Jenny of the Chain Sickle, will be your opponent.”
“Hiccup.”
“?”
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
Swish, swish, swish, swish, swish, swish!
“With cat feet, evasion, possible.”
“…!”
“Handstand, possible.”
“…!!!”
Luna was having fun. The 3rd floor was her favorite floor. Should I say it was fun to dodge, or should I say the rhythm was good?
She had tried many times, and she had also done various ‘play’ things that had nothing to do with shortening the clear time. Like trying to clear it without using her hands. Like trying to clear it wearing only panties.
The perfected skill was so fascinating that it made people’s eyes pop out, and Selvia was watching it with cheers while sitting on the building debris. She would occasionally make requests.
“Can you do it with your eyes closed?!”
“Possible.”
“Wow!!”
“No, really, how did you do it with your eyes closed?!”
Luna enjoyed it for about 3 more minutes, and then used the 5-hit strategy to defeat Jenny of the Chain Sickle. She had ten ways to clear Jenny prepared.
Envers asked Luna, who was stretching as if she was refreshed.
“Why do you… try so many different things?”
“Fun.”
“…You’re a strange one.”
Luna opened her eyes wide and looked at Envers, then stuck out her tongue. It meant that she was the only one who could do it.
There was a reason why the trio didn’t do the strategy they were told to do and were just playing around on the 3rd floor. It was because they were stuck at the point where they had to reveal Jenny’s true form.
They tried burning her, they tried taking turns stalling for time for about 3 hours, and they even tried disarming her by taking away both of her chain sickles, but the 2nd phase didn’t show any sign of appearing.
(Around this time, the crazy wizard was crying while biting a handkerchief, saying, ‘Please talk to me, you crazy bastards.’)
The only clue was time.
“Was the last word always the same…?””Yeah.”
“That’s right. ‘If only I had more time…’ is how she met her end. That’s why we had that three-hour battle, right? Even though it didn’t work.”
“Ugh, why did you make something like this! My head hurts.”
Selvia scratched her hair. Unlike the second floor, where the difficulty was high but the tasks were clearly defined, the third floor was driving her crazy because she didn’t know what to do.
She was starting to seriously consider just breaking through the next floor.
Envers crossed his arms and thought silently before coming up with an idea.
“How about we train?”
“What are you talking about?”
“She didn’t ask for time. So let’s give her time, two or three days. But it would be a problem if we just let that time pass by, so we’ll train.”
More time is better than time. Envers had simply declared that he would fill it with his body.
“…Are you joking?”
“I’m not joking. There is no end to the path of the warrior.”
“…Okay, Envers. Let’s say you’re right. Luna wouldn’t do something so simple and stupid, would she?”
“Hmm.”
Luna’s daily routine was playing in the Tower of Trials anyway. This time, she was excited at the thought of using her four legs to destroy Jenny’s pattern.
Selvia washed her face.
“…Oh, yeah. I’m going to go outside and rest for a while. You two figure it out and let me know.”
“See you later!”
“Bye.”
Selvia exited the third floor of the Tower of Trials. It was a refreshing change to leave the ruined city and see the scenery of the academy. She took a deep breath and decided to go back to the dormitory and rest for a while.
She had also planned to ask Niole about the mystery of the third floor. She wondered if he would be there, since he seemed to be busy lately.
The time outside was ten times slower than the time inside. If she closed her eyes for about an hour, she would be able to see the results of Luna and Envers’s meta training──.
“Wait a minute. If the time difference is ten times…”
Is this not telling me to wait inside for nothing?
“It’s telling me to wait outside?!”
Selvia found the answer in a moment of inspiration. The orthodox strategy was to subdue Jenny of the Sickle, spare her life, leave the tower, and then re-enter after a period of time.
The amount of time she had to wait could be obtained through dialogue with Jenny. There was a line scheduled for 20 hours from now, saying that her birthday had passed.
For those who hated dialogue too much, Jenny’s diary, which contained the same information, was placed inside a nearby ruined building.
In other words, if she waited outside, it would only take 2 hours…!
Selvia went back up to the magic circle to tell them about this amazing idea that would end their pointless waiting, but.
[You cannot enter because another player is already using it.]
“…!!”
It was too late.
* SYSTEM_INFO ———–
[Jenny of the Sickle]
Health: Normal
Magic: Not used
Strength: 1 / 10 (Lower than average student)
Agility: 4 / 10 (Upper middle student)
Intelligence: 2 / 10 (Lower middle student)
Trait: Growth
=＞ Evolves into [Awakened Jenny of the Sickle] with age.
※ —————————
—- —-
Inside the third floor of the Tower of Trials: 5 hours later.
Far from Jenny’s range of perception, Envers was refining the herbivores he had learned from the beggar, one by one. And next to him, Luna followed along, creaking.
“Like a hawk soaring through the sky, like this!”
“Like that.”
“Like a water bird catching a fish, like this!”
“Like that.”
Swish, whoosh──!
Pick, pick.
Unlike Envers, whose hands cut through the wind with a fierce sound, Luna’s fingertips only made a dull sound. It was strange to think about.Although I perfectly remember the herbivore itself, why can’t I do it like this?
If you say it’s because I’m a body, I understand, but then the logic is caught in another part. Then, what happened to the dance that avoided all kinds of attacks?
I have no way of finding out with my humble knowledge. However, the teacher might know…
Envers decided to ask the beggar about this strange phenomenon when he went up to the 8th floor with Luna. If she were a teacher, she would see through her strange temperament at once.
“It’s fun.”
“…That’s good.”
Regardless of the lack of achievement, Luna seemed interested in martial arts.
After teaching her everything he knew, Envers took a break, carefully finishing the final stretch. He lay down next to Luna on a fairly flat asphalt block.
He thought for a long time and said.
“I ask for your teaching.”
“What?”
“That, the dance. How … did you avoid the attack with your eyes closed? I can do other things with repetition and practice, but I can’t understand that.”
“Feel, gaze.”
Envers raised his upper body and looked down at Luna. She was lying down with her eyes closed lazily like a cat in the sun.
“What do you mean by feeling the gaze?”
“You, are looking. At my face.”
“…!!”
“Now the nape of the neck. Chest. Arm urgently. Face again.”
Envers was shocked. He looked closely, wondering if he had opened his squinting eyes, but he couldn’t see his pupils, and there was no movement to detect with his magic power.
Line of Sight Insight.
It’s an amazing skill. Envers immediately knelt down and prostrated himself. If you can read your opponent’s gaze without looking, its usefulness will be enormous.
“…Teach me!”
“For free?”
“If there is anything you want, I will get it for you.”
“Buy me food.”
Envers made a simple contract. When she wanted, Envers had to pay for her meals. Fortunately, Luna was the type to send messages.
Thus, the Line of Sight Insight temporary training center opened.
—- —-
Luna began her lecture by slowly circling around Envers, who was sitting cross-legged with his eyes closed.
“People, have. The sense of feeling a gaze. Everyone.”
“…Is that so?”
“Especially, contempt. Murderous intent. Bad things.”
From Noble mtl dot com
“…”
I remember. In the days when he was in the Redburn family and was in conflict with the illegitimate son, Envers could feel a tingling gaze without looking. That contempt and hatred.
If it was an extension of that, I could understand it to some extent. Envers roar. Luna seemed to understand that he understood and smiled satisfactorily.
The feeling that someone is looking at you. If you know that feeling, all that remains is repetitive training. The functions of the human body become more sensitive the more they are stimulated repeatedly.
“Repeat practice. Sensitize the senses.”
“…Tell me what I should do.”
“I, will look. Guess.”
“You mean guess where you are looking? Well, let’s try it⋯⋯.”
Envers concentrated. Now that his vision was blocked by his closed eyes, his other senses were definitely more sensitive.
Rustle. Rustle.
I could hear the sound of Luna circling around.
Should I call it a body odor? It smelled like grapes.
No, I shouldn’t concentrate on such things. Envers whipped himself and cleared his mind to feel the ‘gaze’.
Luna thought. Feedback must be certain. The more experience you gain in rough matching, the more it will only get in the way. So, it made sense to practice by looking at places that Envers would never expect.
Ziii. Luna sent her gaze.
“…”
“Do you feel it?”
“…Head? Head?”
“Waist.”
“???”
A wave of distractions rushed in at once. Envers gritted his teeth and concentrated. Now⋯⋯I’m training⋯⋯!Along with the training to sense gazes, he also had to practice emptying his mind.
“Leg, leg?”
“Left? Right?”
“…Right?”
“Idiot.”
His accuracy steadily increased.
“…Left ear?”
“Yes. Next.”
Envers had a disability in his magical abilities due to an accident when he was young, but the martial talent in his body remained intact. His talented body quickly developed his senses.
“Nape carotid artery.”
“Good. Take a short break.”
Rest, awaken the senses, and repeat. It would be a boring repetitive task for some, but not for them. About 15 hours had passed since the start of the training.
“Left… pinky.”
“This is the last one.”
Envers closed his eyes tightly and spat out the answer.
“It’s the coccyx.”
“Good job.”
Pat, pat.
Luna stroked Envers’ head and praised him. Envers relaxed and fell forward. He couldn’t fall backward. If the answer he had just given was wrong⋯⋯ he would have suffered social damage⋯⋯.
“Thaaank you…”
“V.”
He did it. A sense of accomplishment as if his blood was boiling tingled all over his body. He had gotten a little stronger.
The ability to read gazes would be a great help in many ways. He wasn’t confident that he could ‘dance’ as skillfully as Luna, but if he could follow even half of her, he would be able to dodge even a rapier that shot out like lightning.
Line of Sight Insight, acquired!
—- —-
Inside the Tower of Trials, 3rd floor: 25 hours have passed.
Luna and Envers took turns blindfolding each other and performing simple martial arts. The one with their eyes open would pretend to slash and stab with their fingers. Then the one with their eyes closed would read the gaze and dodge.
Poke.
“Ugh! No, that’s cheating! I clearly saw your cheek, not your side just now!!”
“You cheated earlier too.”
“That was because my gaze was inevitably drawn there… Ack!”
“You talk too much.”
While they were training to use Line of Sight Insight in actual combat, Envers, who had taken off his blindfold to switch roles, saw something unusual.
“…?”
“What’s wrong?”
“No, it’s Jenny. She seems to have grown a little?”
Jenny’s figure, which was far away, had gotten a little bigger. He thought it might be an illusion, but her head had definitely grown by about one head’s length.
They had observed Jenny’s 2nd phase at a point that was 5 hours later.
Bang, bang, bang, bang, bang, bang──!!
“I won’t lose to the hero anymore. Jenny of the Chain Scythe has awakened!!”
“As expected, it was the right thing to invest enough time.”
A large and menacing chain scythe swung through the air, tearing it apart. Envers and Luna looked at each other for a moment, and without a word, they both jumped into the storm.
“The one who can’t last 10 minutes buy the meal!”
“I’m ready to pay.”
Screeech──!!
Thud.
The match ended with Luna’s victory at the point where she had lasted 17 minutes.
Cleared the 3rd floor of the Tower of Trials──!
—- —-
[The whip comes back: Defeat the whip witch with the whip witch’s attack and clear the 4th floor]
The 4th floor of the Tower of Trials was easily cleared.
The whip witch had a gimmick where she would summon shadow demons by slashing the ground with her whip, but the difficulty level dropped dramatically when the enemy tower mage Selvia burned all the trash mobs that were generated.
Luna’s experience from her repeated tries made it possible to calculate the damage. If she hit the whip witch about ’30 Luna Kicks’, the whip witch would be in a dying state, so Envers would then return the attack to complete the challenge.
The standard 1-person strategy that the crazy wizard had come up with was as follows:The whip actually has the ability to reverse the shadow demons, so it parries all of the whip witch’s attacks and erases the approaching demons as the battle progresses.
Every time she counters and repels the whip witch’s attacks, the tattoo carved on her face diminishes by one stroke. And strangely enough, there was no shadow cast on her body.
From the following information, you realize that ‘Aha, the whip witch herself was born from the shadow demons from the whip!’ / If you successfully counterattack as many times as the number of tattoo strokes, the witch will return to the shadows and clear …but.
The gimmick has long since turned to ashes in front of the wide-area skill and precise damage calculation.
The story of the princess of the ruined country who had to turn her own shadow into a shadow demon was quietly buried.
⋯⋯⋯⋯.
In a rainy field, a man with a katana at his waist looks up at the sky.
The name of the katana is Gui-baek (Ghost Hundred), a cursed sword that once drawn, can only be sheathed after seeing blood. In the world, such a weapon is called a demonic sword.
The 5th floor was a boundary.
Unlike the previous floors where amazing ideas, proper execution of gimmicks, storytelling, and tricks worked, there was nothing on the vast field of the 5th floor.
There was just an enemy.
What was required was skill. His swordsmanship was fast and strong. If you couldn’t handle it, you would die. Many students were broken here. They gave up climbing or increased their numbers.
They chose to go up after making sacrifices.
[Light’s Sealing Sword: Clear the 5th floor without letting Jay draw his sword]
However── Even that is not allowed for those who face the challenge. You have to defeat him by competing in each other’s martial arts.
And the party faces ‘Jay of Swordsmanship’──.