Chapter 15: M.A.

"Doing a renovation, I see," Mykel said as he leaned on the door and watched the people renovating and repairing the damages in the tavern.

Garci turned around and he looked surprised when he saw Mykel. "Ah! You're still here?! Please come inside! I will make you something," he said as he waved at Mykel.

"Just give me a bottle of vodka and a glass with ice," Mykel said as he walked past the worker then sat down at the counter.

Garci watched the worker as he served the drink to Mykel. "Hey! Watch out with that thing! It's an antic that has been passed down from generation to generation," he said as he pointed at the wooden fan on the ceiling.

"You decided to use the money to renovate the tavern?" Mykel asked and drank the vodka while he was watching the worker tear the ceiling.

"I have planned on renovating this place but since there weren't many customers lately, I don't have the money to do that. It was all thanks to you for giving me the money so I can fulfill my dream," Garci said as he leaned on the counter. "Also, thank you for suggesting me to go on a vacation. If you didn't tell me that, me and my family might be in danger," he said as he looked at Mykel seriously.

"Hmm," Mykel just hummed and enjoyed his drink.

"I was thinking on closing this place for good since I didn't make any profit," Garci said as he wiped the counter.

"Is that so?" Mykel asked as he lit his cigarette.

"But not anymore! I still have the money that could provide for my family for years," Garci replied with a huge grin on his face. "Anyway, is there anything you need? At least let me repay you for what you did for me and my family," he continued as he leaned toward Mykel.

"Just let me drink here for free, that should be enough," Mykel said as he stared at Garci from the corner of his eyes.

"Is that it? Alright! You can drink anything in here for free for a lifetime!" Garci said as he spread his arms and looked at the bottles on the walls.

Mykel just scoffed and then his phone vibrates.

Jeanne messaged him and asked his location because she couldn't sleep and wanted to go to the tower. Mykel replied and gave her the location of the tavern.

"Sorry that I disturb your drinking time," Jeanne said as she walked next to Mykel in her armor.

"It's fine, I'm also planning on going to the tower since I have something to do there," Mykel said with a cigarette in his mouth and his right hand in his pocket with the Azazel Key in his hand.

They went inside the tower after the same guy allowed them to enter the tower.

"You can handle this on your own now, right?" Mykel asked as he looked at Jeanne unsheathed the sword.

"Yes, I can handle the goblins on my own, but if you want to gain level, you can hunt some of them," Jeanne answered as she looked around the trees.

Mykel scoffed and looked at the trees with his hands in his pockets. "I can't level up on this floor," he replied as he walked toward the field.

Jeanne easily killed a goblin even though she was surrounded by so many of them. She started to feel comfortable with the sword and get used to the weight of the armor on her body. Mykel just watched her from the side as he looked at the information about the Azazel tower from the command system.

An hour had passed and Jeanne cleared the first floor on her own and that wasn't possible for anyone with her level to achieve what she just achieved. Her level rose to level 5 as Mykel expected, and she attained [Strength], [Dexterity], and [Stamina] which was normal for Awakeners to get those basic skills.

"I'm done here, should we go back now since I have reached level 5?" Jeanne asked as she sheathed the sword.

I'm staying, you should go back now since the second floor is too hard for you right now, especially with how low your basic skills are," Mykel said as he fixed his gloves. "You should get the basic skills to level 3 until you can solo the second floor since your Sword-Rookie gave you an extra level," he explained as he looked at Jeanne.

"I see, well then, I should go back home now. Be careful out there, Mykel, and thank you for everything," Jeanne said shyly.

Mykel just smirked and shook her helmet then walked past her and entered the portal to the second floor.

The second floor's monster was still goblin but they were bigger and stronger which was the peak evolution of a goblin. The terrain was similar to the first floor but it was bigger and there was a village full of goblins.

Mykel grabbed a few stones on the ground and put them in his pockets, he then walked to the village where a bunch of goblins was guarding the village with swords and spears in their hands. He grabbed one of the stones and threw it right on the goblin's head and it exploded as soon as the stone hit his face.

Mykel emptied his pockets which were full of rocks as all the goblins charged in his direction. He punched them and made a hole in their body and face like it was nothing to him. His kicks were enough to break the goblin's skull and bones, and it was too easy for him that he cleared the second floor in less than ten minutes.

[You have attained a new skill!]

[Open your status screen to check it out!]

[You have attained a new skill!]

[Open your status screen to check it out!]

"Two skills at the same time?" Mykel said to himself as he opened his status screen.

[Might (Passive): Allow the User to maximize the effect of all the skills when the User is in a fit condition. (Current level is 1. Maximize all the skills effect by 10% automatically disabled if User stamina is below 90%.)]

[Fighter-Rookie (Passive): When the User is empty-handed, adds the basic skills [Strength], [Dexterity], [Agility], and [Stamina] by 1. Reduce the stamina usage when empty-handed by 10%]

"Perfect, now let's go to the third floor," Mykel said as he closed his status screen.

Mykel went to the third floor and fought the demon kobolds, it wasn't that different from the previous floor. He cleared it in less than ten minutes and went straight to the fourth floor where he had to face demon orcs.

[You are the first to clear the fourth floor]

[Please enter your name]

Mykel looked at the notification in front of him after defeating the demon orcs. He realized that he was the first one to clear the fourth floor and the system asked his name to be put on the system leaderboard.

[Is M.A. the name you want to put on the leaderboard?]

[Yes.] [No.]

"Yes," Mykel said as he tap on the screen.

[The Trickster is amazed by your achievement]

[100 Arcana Coin has been gifted!]

[The God of Trident acknowledged your strength]

[100 Arcana Coin has been gifted!]

...

...

...

"Seriously? You guys gave me that much for something trivial like this?" Mykel asked as he looked at dozens of notifications in front of him.

[The God of War like your confidence]

[The Scythe God is waiting patiently with a grin on his face]

Mykel scoffed as he lit his cigarette and entered the fifth floor.

[Your first trial is beginning]

[The servants of the first demon lord Drazgikath of Azazel have been waiting for this moment]

A swamp forest with nothing but dead trees and mud all over the place, the place was quite cold because of the cold wind that struck Mykel's face. He walked to the center of the area and suddenly the ground trembled heavily that some of the trees started to collapse.

A demon orc lord with two massive giant swords in his hands walked through the trees. He was as tall as the highest tree in the area but before he could reach where Mykel at, two demon orc generals walked from the sides.

Mykel cracked his neck and knuckles then he immediately ran toward the orc lord. The orc lord roared and broke the trees in front of him with his swords but Mykel couldn't care less about it and kept running.

Mykel jumped as high as the orc lord's head the moment he was in the range of the orc lord. He flew as the orc lord swung his swords down vertically. Mykel spun his body and used the back of his left heel and shattered the swords into pieces. He was still in the air and flew toward the orc lord, the moment he was right in front of the orc lord's face he used his right shin to hit the orc lord's nose.

*Crack!*

*Splat!*

Mykel landed as the orc lord's head flew away and flattened the trees that it hit.

[You are the first to clear the fifth floor]

[Please enter your name]

[The Goddess of Love is looking at you while biting her lips]

[500 Arcana Coin has been gifted!]

[The Goddess of Pleasure is staring at you up close]

[500 Arcana Coin has been gifted!]

...

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...

Mykel just furrowed his forehead and stared at all the notifications with disgust.