Re-Awakening: Cannon Fodder With Strongest Talent Chapter 165: New Enemy, Fifth Floor

Arriving at floor 5, Ethan muttered "Finally."

The beasts in front of him were actually of a different species. After four floors of identical firefly encounters, the tower had finally introduced variety to its challenges.

A sleek, muscular panther crouched in the arena’s center, its midnight-black fur rippling with contained energy. The creature radiated Mid-Platinum rank power that made the air itself thick with barely restrained violence.

Ethan smiled happily as he read the talent’s na. "Super-sonic. B- Rank."

The panther in front of him was going to boost his Speed talent to C rank. The evolutionary advancent would transform his already impressive velocity into sothing even more terrifying.

"Perfect specin for advancent," he said with genuine appreciation. "Mid-Platinum rank with exactly the talent I need most."

As soon as the challenge tir reached zero, the panther moved.

It was rapid!

Ethan’s eyes barely caught its initial movent as the creature beca a blur of motion that defied visual tracking. Super-sonic capability ant a velocity that challenged the limits of perception itself.

But his own Speed talent activated in response, D-grade enhancent allowing him to see the panther more clearly now. Enhanced reflexes transford impossible movent into rely extrely fast motion.

The creature circled him with grace, testing his defensive capabilities while maintaining montum that would make striking back incredibly difficult. Its intelligence was obvious—this wasn’t mindless aggression but calculated hunting.

Ethan didn’t waste ti trying to match its speed directly. Instead, he imdiately used his other talents to limit the space the panther could utilize.

"Less space, less use of speed," he reasoned while activating multiple enhancent abilities.

Fire walls erupted in a circle around their combat zone, C grade Fla Mastery creating barriers of superheated plasma that would incinerate anything attempting passage. The thermal walls stretched fifteen ters high while maintaining perfect stability.

Crystal formations erupted like additional walls, D grade crystal manipulation creating maze-like obstacles that forced the panther into predictable movent routes. Sharp edges and narrow passages eliminated its ability to maintain maximum velocity.

The arena transford from an open combat space into a confined hunting ground where speed advantages beca liabilities rather than assets. Environntal control trumped individual enhancent when properly applied.

Ethan made a conscious decision regarding his approach. "I’ll handle this alone. Rambo isn’t needed—I need to get stronger myself, too. Can’t rely on my companion forever."

The Blood Dragon chirped with understanding, settling onto a crystal outcropping to observe rather than participate. SSS-rank intelligence recognized the wisdom in independent capability developnt.

The panther’s frustration beca obvious as its movent options diminished. Super-sonic speed ant nothing when forced into narrow corridors filled with razor-sharp crystal edges and superheated barriers.

SNARL! HISS! PROWL!

It attempted to leap over the fire walls, but Ethan’s Wind talent created atmospheric pressure that slamd the creature back toward the crystal maze.

CRASH! SCRAPE! REBOUND!

The panther struck crystal formations with bone-jarring impacts, its enhanced durability preventing serious injury but eliminating the graceful mobility that defined its hunting style.

Water streams erupted from hidden positions, pressurized liquid creating additional obstacles while steam generation from fire-water interaction reduced visibility for the creature’s enhanced senses.

"With so many hazards along the arena, this panther will have difficulty using his speed talent," Ethan noted with satisfaction as he manoeuvred through his own obstacle course with perfect knowledge of safe passages.

The panther found itself trapped within a constantly shifting maze where every advantage had been neutralised through Ethan’s use of his diverse talents.

Its desperation grew obvious as speed proved useless against comprehensive environntal control. Super-sonic movent required space and clear sight lines—neither available within Ethan’s constructed killzone.

The Noon Sword blazed with fire and solar energy as he positioned for final engagent.

Ethan’s incredible agility carried him through crystal passages the panther couldn’t navigate, while fire immunity made fire barriers irrelevant to his movent.

ROAR! CHARGE! DESPERATION!

The creature abandoned stealth for direct assault, its Mid-Platinum strength creating shockwaves as it smashed through crystal barriers with raw force.

But the obstacles had served their purpose—channelling the panther into optimal striking range while eliminating its primary advantage entirely.

SLASH! DISCHARGE! VICTORY!

Solar energy mixed with fire and wind erupted as the Noon Sword connected with exposed flesh, the powerful sword proving decisive against mid-platinum constitution weakened by repeated crystal impacts.

THUD! STILLNESS! TRIUMPH!

The Void Stalker Panther collapsed among the cooling remains of Ethan’s environntal constructs, its Super-sonic talent ready for consumption while Mid-Platinum enhancent promised substantial attributes.

[You have completed the Fifth Floor.]

[Record broken.]

[...]

Reading through the notifications that had beco normal to see, Ethan smiled before walking towards the panther to extract its core.

Slash!

With one slash of his sword, the chest cavity split cleanly, revealing a decently large core inside. The Mid-Platinum essence blazed with contained power that made the surrounding air shimr with energy.

Ethan grabbed the core and consud it imdiately, feeling the familiar surge of enhancent flowing through his body.

< 10 Agility>

The core’s power integrated smoothly with his enhanced constitution, adding another layer of speed capability to his already impressive velocity. But the real prize lay in the creature’s body itself.

Ethan then devoured the panther’s remains.

< 15 Agility>

The evolutionary advancent from D grade Speed to C grade Super Sonic represented a qualitative breakthrough that transcended normal limitations. His movent capabilities had evolved beyond simple enhanced agility into sothing approaching teleportation through physical space.

C grade Super Sonic ant he could now break sound barriers casually while maintaining perfect control over direction and montum. His enhanced reflexes would allow navigation through obstacles at velocities that made the environnt appear frozen in ti.

"Super Sonic at C grade," Ethan said with deep satisfaction. "Combined with equipnt bonuses, my speed now approaches whole new levels."

The new transformation provided additional versatility for situations requiring stealth or specialized movent capabilities. Mid-Platinum Void Stalker form would grant access to enhanced senses and predatory instincts.

[Reward: Light Boots (Tier 6)]

[Light Boots]

[Tier: 6]

[Details: Featherweight construction that reduces fall damage by 90%. When equipped: 60 Agility. Contains accumulated energy that can be activated to boost speed imnsely once per day before requiring 24 hours to recharge.]

The boots materialized through dinsional transport, their construction appearing almost ethereal despite obvious durability. The footwear had no weight; it seed to be crafted from air itself, while runic inscriptions promised enhancent beyond normal equipnt.

"Sixty agility points plus daily speed burst," Ethan observed as he secured the boots. "My total agility enhancent is now 90 points from equipnt alone."

His base agility had climbed substantially through core consumption and talent evolution, but the equipnt bonuses pushed his total capabilities into territory that challenged physical laws. Combined movent speed would approach instantaneous travel across reasonable distances.

"Fall damage reduction becos relevant at these velocity levels," he continued with appreciation. "High-speed combat creates impact scenarios that could challenge even enhanced durability."

Rambo chirped with obvious approval from his perch, the Blood Dragon’s ancient intelligence recognizing the significance of comprehensive capability enhancent. Speed, defense, and burst potential all improved through single equipnt acquisition.

"Five floors completed with record-breaking performance," Ethan announced with growing confidence. "Solo victory proves individual growth beyond partnership dependence."

His decision to fight alone had validated the importance of independent capability developnt. While Rambo’s contributions were invaluable, relying solely on partnership advantages would limit his personal evolution.

He had to improve his own strength, and for that he also needed to have so ti fighting alone.

As for later floors, he was most definitely going to fight with Rambo by his side. He would be foolish not to get the help of the blood dragon with the SSS-Rank talent.

"Ready for floor six," he said with anticipation. "Ti to discover what challenges await at higher difficulty levels."

The tower’s testing had provided exactly what he’d hoped, advancent materials that pushed multiple capabilities simultaneously while proving his readiness for reaching higher floors.

[Floor 6 Challenge Available]

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Staring at his own status before entering the next floor made him smile. His attributes had reached impressive heights through the tower’s advancent opportunities, with equipnt bonuses pushing his capabilities well beyond normal Mid-Platinum rankers.

His skills were all improving, although these skills weren’t high rank, they were decent enough for the current challenges. The mastery progression had accelerated significantly during his tower ascent.

"Basic Footwork at fifteen percent Apprentice mastery," he noted with satisfaction. "Swordsmanship finally reached Apprentice mastery, and Mana Control approaches ten percent mastery."

In this world, skills were divided into both ranks and mastery levels. The ranking determined the fundantal power ceiling while mastery indicated how efficiently soone could utilize that potential.

His skills, whilst approaching higher mastery levels, had relatively low ranks compared to what existed in the broader realm. For example, his footwork was only at the Basic rank, whilst there were two ranks above that classification.

After Basic ca the Mid rank, and after Mid ca Advanced. Those three were the current ranks he knew about, though he suspected even higher classifications existed.

"Higher floors could offer technique scrolls or direct knowledge transfer...hopefully I can start getting so of those."