[Welco to the Tower of Trials, 1st Floor.]
Broken found himself in a circular room, standing right at the center. All around him, massive doors lood in every direction. He spun slowly, taking in his surroundings.
"Cecilia?" he called.
"Yes, Master..." Her voice echoed faintly, as if drifting into his ears from a distance.
[All passive skills have been disabled.]
[All active skills have been disabled.]
[All equipnt has been disabled.]
[All inventory item usage has been disabled.]
[Please choose your weapon to complete the challenge on the first floor.]
Monts later, several weapons appeared floating in front of Broken-A sword, a spear, daggers, a greatsword, and more. The selection was surprisingly complete.
"Pick a weapon?"
So, he'd have to fight using just one of these weapons, with no equipnt or skills to rely on? Interesting.
[There will be waves of monsters coming to attack. Defeat as many monsters as possible within the ti limit of 30 minutes.]
Alright... this could be fun.
It seed the trials in this tower could be interesting, and he hoped the rewards would be worth it, too.
In the next 30 minutes, he'd have to confront whatever monsters appeared, ard only with a basic weapon. It was a clear test of his pure skill with any weapon he chose.
After a brief mont of thought, he decided to go with the weapon he used most often.
"A spear?"
He picked up the spear. It was a simple black tal spear with a sharp tip-nothing special about it, no skills or enhancents embedded in the weapon itself.
"Master..." Cecilia's voice echoed softly. "If you lose and die within the 30-minute limit, normal death penalties will apply to you as a player."
"That makes curious. What about native Yunateans who attempt these trials? Isn't it dangerous for them?"
"There are personalized adjustnts made for each specific challenger."
"Interesting. I wonder if I can invite others to try these trials as well."
Once Broken felt ready for the challenge and had familiarized himself with the spear, he settled into a combat stance, prepared for battle.
"Please start the challenge."
[Challenge of the First Floor: Trial of Weapon Mastery begins.]
[Ti limit: 30 minutes.]
A rumbling roar echoed from one of the doors, and soon a massive boar charged directly at him. From another direction, a large, sinuous snake slithered swiftly his way, while yet another path revealed a ghostly figure floating toward him, launching spirit balls in his direction.
Their levels were all above 180.
"Oh really, three monsters at once? Alright then, bring it on!"
Broken sprang into action, sprinting to draw the boar's attention while dodging the ghost's magic attacks.
This was going to be tricky-no skills allowed at all.
He sidestepped, jumped, ducked, and when the boar charged close, he slid low and drove the spear into its neck, dealing a solid hit. Quickly, he struck again before turning to leap away just as the massive snake lunged at him.
Damn! This isn't going to be easy.
The monster waves didn't stop there. A few minutes later, after finally defeating the three monsters, another wave approached-this ti with enemies at level 190.
Oh, so the level goes up with each wave?
Broken could feel the stark difference in difficulty without his usual arsenal of skills and equipnt. He was so used to relying on his skill sets and powerful gear that, here, ard only with this simple spear, he felt almost clumsy. Several tis, he barely dodged what could have been fatal hits from the monsters.
Thirty minutes stretched into what felt like an eternity of grueling combat. In the end, he barely managed to survive three waves by the ti the countdown hit zero.
[Ti's up. Calculating score.]
Panting heavily, Broken collapsed to the floor. "Damn!" For the first ti, he felt truly powerless without his broken arsenal.
[Score achieved: B]
[If you're willing to accept this score, you may proceed to the next floor. If not, you can repeat the challenge.]
"Only B?"
He supposed it was a fair score, considering how poorly he'd perford. He was still unaccustod to fighting with only a spear. Usually, he could summon Gaia and rely on every protection skill he had.
But battling without any defense or safeguards was an entirely different experience. One fatal blow, and he'd be dead.
Still, he found this challenge strangely compelling. He was intrigued by the idea of pushing himself to achieve the highest possible score on each floor. Why not? It was only 30 minutes per attempt, and he had plenty of ti.
"What's the maximum score, Cecilia?"
"It's S, Master."
Alright. He stood up again, bracing himself ntally. He still had ti for another two or
three rounds. He'd try again.
"Let's go again!"
[Score achieved: B]
Broken collapsed to the floor, frustrated. "Still a B? Damn it!"
"Master, this challenge does require ti to master," Cecilia's voice echoed gently. "But I can
say you made more progress than before."
"I know, but it's still not enough."
He pushed himself back up. "One more try!"
[Score achieved: A]
This ti, Broken lay sprawled on the floor, utterly exhausted, his hands trembling. "Damn, that was... actually fun. But I'm still not satisfied with this score."
Finally, he dragged himself to his feet. "Alright, let's leave it here for now. I'll be back for
another round later."
***
Broken returned into his study, and he spotted Freya sitting comfortably, waving at him with
a bright smile.
"Hi, Broken..."
"Hi..." he replied slowly, making his way to his chair and settling in.
"So, have you explored the pocket dinsion? What's it like? Can I visit too?"
He nodded, then explained, "Yes, you can, but not just yet. I'll need to get an extra key to
allow anyone else access. For now, I only have one."
"Oh, sounds intriguing... is it nice?"
"Yes, it is. I took so videos and photos; I'll send them to you."
"No, not yet. It would just make want it too badly. Just make sure you get those extra keys,
okay?" she said with a grin.
Broken chuckled and nodded.
Freya then stood and walked over to his desk.
"I have so interesting news for you," she said. "An invitation from the kingdom has arrived. They're planning a celebration in the capital for the big victory of the Moonlight Fae expedition. And I'm certain that all the mbers of the Ass Guild will be in the capital at the
sa ti."
Broken nodded slowly, understanding the real intent behind her words.
"Can you help invite Booba, Rember, PussyCat, and Forev for that day, too?"
"Of course... anyone else?"
"Tora and Toya?"
"Oh, I'm sure they'd be interested as well," she said, grinning. "So, is that day finally
coming?"
Broken took a slow breath, then nodded with determination. "Yes. I'm planning to officially announce the formation of my new guild on that day, too."
Freya clapped her hands slowly. "I'm sure they're going to be thrilled to hear about this! Have
you settled on a na for the guild?"
"Yes, you don't need to worry about that. I'm pretty good at coming up with nas," he
replied confidently.
She raised an eyebrow, unconvinced. "Sohow, I seriously doubt that. What kind of nas
have you thought of?"
"Well, I've got a few ideas... The Sovereign, The Supremacy, The Invincible, The Broken, or maybe sothing similar. I'm still mulling it over."
"I think you should consider another na!"
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