CHAPTER 16: Tower of Insanity (Part 5)

Suddenly the both of them were teleported inside of a small wooden shack with a fireplace. Outside the window, snow mountains surrounded the shack. The frigid ice protruding on the ground can be seen outside. Snow is covering the ground as everywhere Isaac sees is just the color of white.

"Congratulations on defeating the Goblin King and the Alpha Werewolf" the rough disembodied voice said with outany emotions

"Survive for 7 days to reach floor 21" it continued

"This shack will be destroyed if we stayed here, we should kill off the wave of monsters first" Kyle spoke out as he summoned a winter coat for the both of them. Throwing the coat to Isaac before the both of them silently wore it. This is not the time to be fighting and bickering with each other.

Both Isaac and Kyle know this so they choose to ignore what happened on the last floor and focus only on surviving. Both of them go outside to see the large expanse covered with ice and snow. The cold frigid wind can send shivers to their body. The sound of boots crunching into the snow as they walk is the only thing that can be heard. Both of them surveyed the area for any signs of life but there isn't anything in sight.

Suddenly, roars bellowed all across the snow and mountains. White yeti, the size of an elephant while being bipedal with arms larger than a trunk of a tree suddenly appeared out of the snow. Their white fur and large horns can be clearly seen.

"Yeti, or as people called snow ogre. Large and strong while fast enough to run with speed faster than the cheetah on earth. They have a lot of health but has almost no protective capabilities since their fur only helps them from getting warm" Kyle muttered to Isaac as he opened his palms

"Chaos Magic: Dark Beam 5x" 5 violet beams crashes towards the yeti, penetrating and mutilating its body as it roared in pain once more before collapsing. Blood drips to the snow and coloring it red. The blood on the snow was absorbed once again by Isaac as a familiar red mist is starting to form.

Another yeti, burst through from the snow. With its fist crashing towards Isaac. Isaac jumped sideways before slashing the knee caps of the yeti as it falls to its knees before a spear was lodged between its eyebrows. Blood was splattered all around its body but the mist absorbed it. This is the passive side of Absorb blood which stores any blood collected to form a red mist around Isaac, so when Isaac is injured. Isaac can heal without needing to look for blood. It's a very useful and convenient spell for Isaac who is easily injured and reckless when using spells and arts.

The carcass of the yeti slumps to the snow as Kyle removed his spear from its head. Kyle calmly gazed around the piles of snow before slamming the end of the spear to the ground which generated a small vibration. The yeti roared in pain before revealing themselves. 10 yetis surrounded them as they burst through the snow. It seems that yetis like to dig in the snow and hide while waiting for an ambush. They use their sensitive ears to listen to the faint sounds and vibrations when someone is near but their weakness is that if they hear a high pitch noise or a strong vibration they will be momentarily stunned and dazed. Pain in their ears would follow and force them out of the snow they are hiding in. Since this is a secret Kyle only knows in his previous life. This caused some of the challengers their life, being surrounded by 10 of them would guarantee death.

Now, the fumbling and wriggling yetis are easy picking to both Isaac and Kyle.

"Chaos Magic: Dark Beam 10x"

"Blood Magic: Blood Spike 5x"

Just like that, all of the carcasses are mutilated with some of them pierced by the blood spike while others have a large hole in their head. After absorbing all of the blood, the mist surrounding Isaac started to get redder than before. The mist can be a visual indication of how much healing it can do, the lighter the color of red is, the weaker the healing is. A small wound or misaligned bones would be healed while the crimson red mist would heal Isaac even if his arms are blown off, it can regenerate easily. Still, the amount needed to do that would be the blood of all people in 100 people or 50 orc blood and in this case. All of the blood of 70 to 100 yeti's blood would suffice even if his chest would be sliced open or if even his heart would be destroyed. He can still heal it perfectly without any side effects. As long as he remained conscious.

Once again, Kyle slams the end of his spear to the ground to forcefully reveal the yeti. 20 yetis roared in pain before revealing themselves. This continued for a whole day, using Kyle's spear he continued on hitting the ground to reveal the yetis before killing them. After it was done. 300 yeti carcasses littered the snowy plains. The smell of blood is starting to be nauseating and the snow is fully covered by the blood. Piles of carcasses surrounded the tired and fatigue Isaac and Kyle. Their robes are full of blood and their weapons are dripping with flesh and blood of the yetis. Sitting in one of the piles of carcasses, Kyle sighed before summoning a glass full of water and drinking it. He noticed the gaze of Isaac as he also summoned another glass full of water for him before manipulating it. It slowly floats towards Isaac as he grabbed it before drinking it.

"Why are you so enraged when I used a forbidden art?" Isaac gazed at the setting sun as it sinks to the horizon while the color of orange covered the sky. There are clouds everywhere with the remaining sunlight covering the land by the sun before it sets. The stretch of the snow-covered land with blood coloring it red added by the orange sky was a beautiful sight to behold for Isaac.

"Because you reminded me of my past and regrets" Kyle sighed before taking in the view. It was not a beautiful sight for Kyle. It just reminded him of what he was before. The constant battle and death by day and the uneasiness and fear before the night. The sunset was not the start for resting but the start of a grueling battle once more. In the darkness, many enemies lay and wait. Waiting for their preys to sleep and rest.

"I was someone who pursued nothing but strength, i sacrificed everything i can to achieve my goal but did you know what happens? I live a life full of regret and hate. It was crushing my soul that death seems to be more comforting" tears slowly came down towards Kyle's cheek as he wiped it off before gazing at the setting sun. The painful past he wouldn't want to remember surfaced.

"Tell me, is it true that you are reincarnated?" Kyle's body shook before trembling as he grips his arms to stop himself from conforming it. Isaac stared at Kyle without emotions such as pity or sadness but he can feel a great amount of pain and sorrow coming from Kyle.

"If it's true, you should forget it. What you regretted before, you can change it now" Kyle narrowed his eyes towards Isaac before smiling.

"One of the things i regretted was trying to fight alone. I can see that you also pursue strength above nothing else but you will be the same as me. Living a life of regret"

"So don't be reckless, you can rely on me and our future companions. Sacrificing everything is a wrong path to take" Kyle continued, Isaac stared at him before smiling as he nodded.

"I see, i guess having a companion isn't so bad" Isaac said as he returned towards the shack. Kyle stared at his back before smiling once again.

"Still, i don't care if i regret my way of living since getting stronger at all cost is my way of living. "Isaac said without turning back. Kyle didn't think that it was easy to change anyone's way of living that even in his last life, he still continued until today. Isaac may change in the future and he will be there at that time. The only thing Kyle can do is stop him from sacrificing something he would regret as a companion and a friend. Still, maybe it's time for himself to change.

'I really shouldn't get stuck by the past, i really can't believe Isaac would teach me that' Kyle chuckled, as he gazed at the surrounding area. The sky seems more beautiful now than ever before. While the warmth of the sun is still lingering even if it was setting.

"Yes Sir!" a certain high schooler is being trained by a red knight. While using a wooden sword, they sparred for hours. He parried the attacks while counterattacking as the other knights tried fighting him one by one. In the end, he was so tired as he lays to the ground while panting.

"Touka right?" a beautiful blonde girl wearing white priest robes. A dashing smile on her face with gentle eyes. Touka nodded as she gave him a glass full of cold water. Sitting up, Touka grabbed the water before drinking it. His black ruffled hair and his charming face were one of the things he's proud of. He flashed a bright smile to her but the blonde girl blushed before running away.

"Being handsome really is awesome" he chuckled before going to his room. After a day of sparring and training, the knights allowed them to rest for the night. This gave him some time to write his diaries.

"That was Isaac right? i'm worried about what happened to him" Touka said with a smile. They were childhood friends and headed to school together before his family returned to their country. They were always together, fighting bullies and serving justice. He chuckled from remembering those times. He gripped his hands to form a fist with a determined expression on his face.

'Now that I can do something to serve justice, i will become someone who is gentle and kind to everyone while fighting for the weak. I'll always remember our promise. To fight for the weak and never kill. Right Isaac?' he smiled before going to bed as the sun is setting.

It was already the third day, the shack was fully destroyed by the serpents and yetis. Serpents were pierced and slashed into pieces while the yetis were killed by magic spells of both Isaac and Kyle. Once again the snowy plains were covered with carcasses and blood. The red mist around Isaac was nearing the color of black by the amount of blood is absorbed. They are currently exploring and hunting for the poison serpent. Kyle said that it was hiding in one of the caves near the snowy mountains as they traveled towards there.

The cave is larger than two trucks on top of each other and the smell of putrid rotting flesh is seeping to the outside. Bones littered the opening of the cave as the green liquid is oozing from its walls. The sound of something humungous breathing slowly and rhythmically can be heard from outside the cave.

"If we didn't know where to find it. It wouldn't reveal itself even if it's already the last day meaning it's a secret boss that is not meant to be fought with. That guy really is stingy when it comes to ocular skill" Kyle almost cracked his neck when he gazed towards the tip of the mountain.

"What should we do?" Isaac asked

"Don't worry, we might have to fight it but it will be surely weakened" Kyle raised his hands to make a thumbs-up as he summoned boxes full of explosives. He smirked before throwing a couple of boxes towards Isaac.

"Dig a small hole in the entrance of the cave and hide it. I will enter silently and slowly start digging on the walls to insert the explosives so an avalanche would occur. It would weaken the serpent for us to fight it." Isaac nodded as he started digging using the shovel that Kyle provided him as Kyle entered the cave. He dug a total of 6 holes before inserting the explosives just enough to hide it. Seeing that Kyle returned, it seems that he was successful. Kyle summoned 2 pairs of ice axe before throwing it to Isaac.

"Now we will climb the surroundings of the cave opening and insert some explosives in ti" Kyle started using the ice axe to slowly climb as Isaac wondered how to use it. Seeing this, Kyle sighed and decided that he will just do it by himself.

After planting 8 explosives surrounding the cave. Kyle headed back down before gazing inside the dark cave.

"Chaos Magic: Dark Beam 20x" 20 flashes of violet light crashed towards the inside of the cave as something large hisses loudly that the mountain shakes briefly. Quickly, Kyle summoned the same scroll that he uses when fighting the alpha werewolf. A large green-scaled serpent slithers slowly as the mountain shakes by every move of its body. Kyle activated the scroll as it glowed with the color of red together with the explosive they planted. There was a bit of a delay as Kyle started dashing away from the cave. Seeing this, Isaac followed him as he glanced behind himself only to see the large head of a green serpent.

"Don't look!" Kyle shouted as Isaac gazed at Kyle. Wondering why he shouted that. Then a large explosion shook the ground and snow. The shockwave pushed him away as he falls to the ground. Just from the sound and the force of shaking of the ground, the explosion can probably destroy a castle to bits. Looking back, the mountain was destroyed with large piles of snow and debris covered the cave and everything around it while scorching the entrance. The serpent is probably dead and buried by now. Contrary to his belief, a hissing sound emanated from the piles of snow. A large green serpent standing over 20 meters looked down at them full of burned makes and wounds that the blood is covering every part of its body. Still, the size of the serpent is no laughing matter even if it's injured. It's hissed loudly as it echoed through the mountains.

"Shit, this is gonna be harder than i thought" Kyle smiled as he wielded the spear with a serious expression on his face. The fight will be to see who will survive the longest, will the overbearing strength and size of the serpent added by its poisonous spit defeat the both of them or can they outlast it and kill it. Isaac wondered if he can survive a single hit from it.

"Also, don't look at its eyes. It can petrify you. The poison is also deadly so be careful not to get hit by it" Kyle informed. Isaac nodded as the both of them readied themselves to fight this gigantic serpent.