Episode 3 – King's Road (3)

There were four ways to get items or relics in the Dark Tower. 

–One, you could get them as a reward from clearing a trial. 

–Two, you can find them by going to a specific location, particularly Hidden Pieces like Holy swords. 

–Three, you could craft them yourself or have an experienced crafter make it for you in exchange of coins. 

–And lastly, you can simply defeat an enemy or a monster and pick up their equipments. Although that completely depends on the type of monsters you were fighting. 

Magic Beasts that were unintelligible and simply followed their instincts such as the Horned Wolves and the Black Mambas, didn't drop any items when they died. However, their horns and fangs can be used as crafting material. 

On the other hand, Intelligent Magic Beasts like Gobins and Orcs carried around items that can be used by players. However, it should be noted that intelligent were more powerful and more troublesome to deal with than unintelligent Magic Beasts. 

The Dark Knights was an anomaly. When they were slain, they turned into black mist and vanished, leaving behind their armour and equipment. 

Jaehyuk looked around the cavern-like passageway filled with black armour and shields. Are those things usable equipments? 

Since they were left behind, they could be considered loot, right? 

He approached one of the armour scattered around the place and picked it up then a mini-system interface appeared. 

[Item: Black Knight's Breastplate] 

Rarity: B 

Type: Armour

Defense +50 

Demonic armour made from the extremely powerful magic of the underworld. Provides resistance against physical damage and all types of magical attacks including curses. 

Jaehyuk opened his eyes very wide. 

Not only did the demon knights leave behind items, those items also had a rarity of B-rank! Let's not include the ridiculous buffs he just saw. 

'Resistance against physical damage and all types of magical attacks even curses?! Is this some kind of joke? What kind of overpowered item is this?!' 

Despite being a B-ranked item, it possessed buffs that rivaled those of some powerful items and heroic relics. Jaehyuk suddenly realised something ominous. 

'Hold on a minute, wasn't it stated that Dark Knights were just foot soldiers for Great Lords of the underworld? Yet they possess item with a rarity of B-rank.' 

Does that mean the Demonic species of the lowest rank had a danger rating around B-rank, the same as the Dragonic species? 

If that was the case, wouldn't that mean ordinary beginners that was just entering the Tower for the first time will be completely helpless against these Demon Knights?

Jaehyuk came to a frightening conclusion. If the Dark Knights which were said to be puppets were this strong, how strong was the entity who was pulling the strings? 

His body began to tremble. He was not trembling out of fright but out of excitement.

'It will definitely be strong.' 

If the boss monster was strong, wouldn't that mean the rewards for defeating such an opponent will be great. 

Besides, he was looking for a strong opponent to test his skills anyways. 

Grin—

A smile began to form on his face without his knowledge. Maybe this little trip of his will be worthwhile after all. 

Jaehyuk put on the armour over his shirt and summoned the status window.

He summoned his status window and his information flowed into his head. He only looked at his basic stats. 

[Strength: 60 (+35) ] 

[Agility: 65 ] 

[Physique: 62 (+50) ] 

[Magic Power: 21 ] 

'My physique really did increase.' 

Jaehyuk smiled. His overall body defence has now entered three digits. However,

"Can't I really do anything about this armour?"

It would be embarrassing if he had to walk around with such a clumsy armour. It was then as if sensing his thoughts.

Swoosh!

The armour began to readjust itself until it became fitted. Now it looked like a black armoured shirt.

"Amazing. So it's also an artifact that readjusts depending on the user."

Only rare items possessed such a property.

'Is there anything else that I can take with me?'

Despite undergoing 99 regressions, he didn't lose his human desires. One of them happened to be greed. 

Jaehyuk looked all over the place for anything useful and eventually found the knight swords laying around. 

Since the swords were wielded by demons, they ought to be pretty strong. Maybe even better than the sword he was currently holding. 

Even if he didn't like wielding longswords, he can sell them and get a hand full of coins in return. B-Rank artifacts cost around 100,000 coins and above so he could make huge amount of coins if he sold all these swords. 

Jaehyuk picked up a sword and tried to check its information. 

"?" 

But as soon as he did, the sword instantly dissolved into smoke and vanished without leaving a trace. 

"What?" 

Jaehyuk picked up another sword and the same process repeated itself. It scattered upon contact and vanished. The process only took a few seconds. 

[This item cannot be equipped.] 

A system interface appeared, carrying a message. It looks like he couldn't carry those swords. 

'I really can't take them with me? Why?' 

Jaehyuk looked like he has been terribly wronged. After all, he killed them so he deserves ownership of the loot, right? And yet... he couldn't even have something so simple. 

Jaehyuk cursed the Tower before calming down. It was regrettable but there was nothing he could do. 

He dusted his hands and then entered the bend the knights came through. When he saw another ridiculously long passage, he released a heavy sigh. 

"Me and my trouble luck!" 

* * * 

Time slowly ticked by and five hours already passed. 

During those five hours, Jaehyuk had come across a total of three different demons in this dungeon. 

Dark Knights, Shadow Reapers and Speedrunners. 

Swish! 

The cloaked mass of darkness carrying a scythe phased the cavern wall and disappeared from his vision. 

Jae-hyuk didn't panic and just expanded his senses to the fullest and scanned the entire passage. Even the slightest movement such as droplets of water falling from the ceiling was not unnoticed. 

Drop, drop! 

'It's coming from behind.' 

He swiftly moved the blade towards a particular direction. 

Puok! 

The sword accurately stabbed into the Reaper that appeared from the cavern walls behind him.

"Krrrrr—!" 

Once the demon was pierced, it let a strange cry and turned into a wisp of black smoke just like the rest. Where did they go when they were killed anyways? Hell? 

Thud! 

[You have defeated the Black Reaper.] 

'Was that the last one?' 

Jae-hyuk looked around the passage and realised he was finally alone. He took this moment to catch his breath. 

[You have entered an exhausted state.] 

"Hah... Hah... I just need.. a minute." 

Jae-hyuk's breathing became rough as he leaned his back against the wall and sat down on the floor. 

It was only natural that he would become exhausted when he fought for five hours straight without rest. He had to travel down an seemingly endless path while fighting against various demons. 

Each demon cannot be defeated the same method. The Knights required strength. Reapers required senses. And finally, Speedrunners required speed to counter. 

The situation has become so dangerous to the point that a single mistake could cost him his life. If he was any ordinary player, he would have already been overwhelmed. 

Jae-hyuk used the mana circulation technique to absorb the mana in the surroundings. It was a mana circulation technique he learnt from his master. 

"How funny... even when you are here... You're still helping me." 

Jaehyuk laughed and mumbled to himself. Nobody was here to hear his rumbling apart from himself. 

There are three main components of a player's body. Namely; the Mana Core, Mana Channels and Mana Veins. 

The [Mana Core] is the vessel or engine that generates mana and stores it inside the body. The [Mana Channels] distributes mana to the various parts of the body. And finally, the [Mana Veins] absorbs mana from the surroundings. 

Mage-type players usually have better Mana viens than Warrior-type players. Meaning, they possess a greater talent in conjuring magic. The same can be said for Warrior-type players who have better Mana Channels, leading to a greater talent in body augmentation.

Both of them have their strengths and weaknesses. Mage-type players can't perform what a Warrior-type can do easily and vice-versa. 

Although the difference between the two types becomes non-existent once the player becomes stronger, reaching the level of a Ranker. 

Anyways, the mana circulation technique [Rapid Rotation] can allow one to absorb mana while moving or in combat. The mana is absorbed by the [Mana Viens] and diluted before being transferred to the [Core]. It was a simple yet complex process. 

According to his master, it is a basic technique that every monster learn subconsciously. Well, it was mostly because the existence of monsters are completely made of mana. 

Meaning, they only require mana as a source of nourishment. 

At first, it was difficult to use due to his bad mana control. However after his 99 regressions, his mana control has reached a point where it can be called nothing but unparalleled so it was now as easy as breathing. 

'If I didn't have this... I wouldn't have been able to come this far. No... If I didn't know this technique, I wouldn't have been able to become the War god during the last turns.' 

Jaehyuk slowly closed his eyes and was about to drift into unconsciousness... However, 

Swish! 

Jae-hyuk opened his eyes and swung the suppressing iron sword in his right hand. 

Clang!! 

The clash of two blades echoed and sparks flew into the air. The intruder flew back a few meters. 

Jaehyuk glared at the hideous-looking demon that just attacked him. 

Speedrunners. A reptilian-looking with green skin and retractable sharp blades in their arms. 

They are lesser demons with teleportation-like movement. Not that it can teleport, but it can move so fast that gives the Illusion of teleportation.

According to the book of Demonism, it was said they endured the harsh conditions of the Dark World for long time and obtained that level of speed as a result of evolution. 

Grrr— 

The ugly-looking bastard growled at him and summoned back his arm blade. 

Swish— 

Literally in an instant, the speedrunner disappeared from view and was already behind Jaehyuk's back, swinging down the arm blade. 

Unfortunately, Jaehyuk already predicted its atttack patten and jumped over its head with a high backflip. 

"Dismantle." 

Slash!! 

The suppressing iron sword was swung downwards and divided the demon with a clean cut. 

Thud! 

When it collapsed on the ground, its torn body slowly turned into a wisp of smoke before disappearing completely. 

"Bloody bastards, they won't even give me time to rest!" 

Clank, Clank, Clank! 

As if to mock him, countless Dark Knights arrived before him holding their swords and shields, ready for another round of combat. 

"You got to be kidding..." 

Before he could even finish, the Dark Knights leaped towards him at once. It was an endless cycle of torture. 

* * * 

After a while, pieces of heavy armour filled the entire passage like trash. It took Jaehyuk two days to kill them all. 

[You have slain all the Dark Knights.] 

[You have slain all the Dark Reapers.] 

[You have slain all the Speedrunners.] 

[Points will be added during final results.] 

"Huh? Isn't that weird?" 

Among the list of notifications, Jaehyuk didn't see any notification about his stats increasing. 

Once a significant opponent was slain, a player would be able to increase his stats. Yet every slaying all the demons, he didn't feel any stronger. Why? Wait, could it be... 

Jae-hyuk hurriedly summoned his status window and was devastated by what he found. 

[Player Information] 

[Name: Kim Jaehyuk] 

[Divine Status: *Sealed*] 

[Age: 20] 

[Attributes: Merciless, Tenacity] 

[Personal Skills: Returner Clockwatch, Piercing the Sky Swordsmanship, Sword Training, Wind Gale, Magic Eyes, Heightened Senses, Physical Resistance.] 

[Strength: 60 (+35) ] 

[Agility: 65 ] 

[Physique: 62 (+50) ] 

[Magic Power: 21 ] 

"My stats... None of them fucking increased!!" 

Apart from the buff of the newly acquired defence item, his overall stats hadn't increased. From beginning to end, his stats did not increase. 

Why? What's going? 

This was too much. First, he couldn't pick up swords dropped by the Dark Knights. That was reasonable to an extent. But this too? 

Was this one of the restrictions of the dungeon? Would one of his skills be restricted next when he was in a tough position? 

He didn't understand what was going on anymore. He felt like someone had just punched him in the gut and stole all his lunch money. 

[You have been mentally exhausted.] 

[Attribute 'Merciless' has activated.] 

[All negative thoughts has been cleared. You can think more calmly now.] 

Jae-hyuk suddenly felt all the negative feelings slowly disappear as if being washed away. 

'Was I that mentally exhausted? Thankfully, my attritude activated just on time.' 

Fighting doesn't only exhaust the body, it also exhausts the mind which could cause one to break down or make irrational decisions. Jae-hyuk was lucky enough to possess an attribute that cleared mental exhaustion. 

Jae-hyuk looked at the far end of the passage and saw something there. 

'Finally.' 

After two whole days, he finally located the boss room of the dungeon. 

Step— Step— 

He approached the boss room. Normally, he would have rested a little before continuing, but he had already regained all his strength so rest was not required anymore. 

After passing through the long passage, he saw a large door in the distance. An old door that looked around 10 metres tall. 

Jae-hyuk arrived infront of it and looked at the paintings drawn over the giant door. It was strange to say the least. There was two actors on the painting. 

On one side, there was countless horrific entities from the Lovecraftian. And on the other side, there was the drawings of countless stars and giants 

Was this the events of the Holy War that happened 10,000 years old? A fight between the races. 

'How interesting.' 

Jaehyuk wanted to learn more. But he had more bigger fishes to fry at the moment. He had business with the boss monster behind these doors. 

'I already wasted enough time. I can't afford to wait here any longer.' 

Jaehyuk grabbed the door handles and gave it a good push. 

Creaaaakkk!!! 

The large door made a eye-piercing 'creaking' sound as it opened wide and revealed the interior of the boss room.