Leveling Up With Skills - Chapter 292: Projection of Will (3)

“I make simple equipment that anyone can use. A blacksmith of the labyrinth who anyone can seek out. That is the position the magician has assigned to me.”

‘Clang.’

Haphran struck the hammer. A clear, sharp sound rang out.

“But I am not the only blacksmith here. The labyrinth is a place where gods have settled. The rewards given to adventurers are treasures that cannot be made or seen outside. Many blacksmiths headed for the labyrinth.”

And most of them disappeared without a trace.

The labyrinth does not allow ordinary adventurers. The same goes for blacksmiths. Unless one possessed talent at Haphran’s level, they were not accepted.

“The ‘Deep Layer’. At its entrance exists a mad dwarf.”

“Do you mean I should find him?”

“He’s different from me. He creates strange equipment.”

Haphran continued.

“That guy is obsessed with making weapons that surpass mortality, and he went mad because of it. He’s no sane blacksmith. When it comes to handling normal materials, he’s third-rate. But… when it comes to handling something like what you possess, he’s first-rate.”

Haphran frowned.

“He’ll gladly accept the will that tries to consume you. He’s already broken and mad, so he’ll be able to create what you want. The problem is… that he’s also mentally shattered.”

Haphran clicked his tongue, as if just remembering it annoyed him. His expression was one of irritation.

“Most of the labyrinth is already ruined, but that guy is particularly worse. …No, wait. For you, it might not be a problem.”

Haphran looked at Taesan with a curious expression before speaking.

“He will be able to handle it.”

“The Deep Layer, huh.”

What once seemed distant now felt close. Taesan inserted a fragment of his will.

“Alright. Then when should I come back?”

“That’s hard to say.”

Haphran touched the materials with an ambiguous expression.

“There’s too much. And it’s too varied. The equipment you want isn’t easy to make. It could take as much time as it took for you to create the ring.”

“Is that so?”

It meant it would take quite a while, but Taesan’s face didn’t look bad.

He knew from experience that the longer it took to create equipment, the higher its quality.

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

“Take it easy and wait. I’ll be quite busy.”

Haphran began sorting the materials with an enthusiastic look.

Taesan descended into the labyrinth once again. He reached the staircase leading to the 64th floor.

And as space split apart, the Demon God appeared.

She looked at Taesan and spoke.

[The meddler already told you, but I should let you know as well. The 64th floor. At its end, the ‘Guide’s Leadership’ awaits you.]

“That’s faster than I expected.”

[There’s no choice. You’ve grown too strong too quickly.]

A 64th-floor adventurer facing the Deep Layer, or the 74th floor. Even in the long history of the labyrinth, it had never happened.

[Then do your best to win.]

“Thank you.”

[And the power you’ve obtained….]

The Demon God trailed off. Her expression, as she looked at Taesan, held something ambiguous.

[No. It doesn’t matter for now.]

“Are you talking about my ‘Will’?”

[Yes. It’s undoubtedly a strong and powerful force, but it will be difficult for you to control right now. Its light will shine only after you descend deep enough into the Deep Layer.]

The Demon God began to fade into the darkness.

[Let’s talk about that later. For now, come down. I’ll be waiting in the abyss.]

Taesan nodded.

After the Demon left, he descended the staircase.

[64th Floor Quest Start.]

[Defeat the boss of the 64th floor and pass through.]

[Reward: The Broken One – Baharam’s Helm]

[Hidden Reward: ???]

The 64th floor’s monster was a giant slime.

Upon entering the room, the path to retreat was closed. Then, the slime, which filled the room, began to approach slowly.

Before being crushed by the slime, the objective was to defeat it. That was what this floor was about.

For Taesan, it was no problem.

Far stronger than the floor, he didn’t even need to use his skills. With just a few swings of his sword, he could defeat the slime.

As he cleared the floor, he checked the new skills he had obtained.

[Special Passive Skill: Last Opportunity]

[Mastery: 1%]

[When struck by a fatal attack, you will block it once. This can only be used once per opponent and has a cooldown of one hour after use.]’

“Oh?”

Taesan’s eyes gleamed.

He had somewhat guessed from the skill’s name, but he hadn’t expected it to be this powerful.

This was similar to the ‘Endurance’ skill.

Of course, its value as a standalone skill was lower than Endurance. Endurance ignored the opponent’s attack and allowed for a wide range of responses since no damage was taken for a set time.

In comparison, Last Opportunity only blocked the attack. Since one’s action would be fixed as defense, it seemed difficult to react immediately.

The guarantee of blocking an attack, however, could still be used strategically, though it wasn’t as absolute as Endurance.

Nonetheless, it was a safety net that could save one’s life. Its value was unparalleled compared to other skills.

Considering he obtained it from merely blocking a single attack, it was too good.

But he could understand why.

‘[The opponent is @!##[system protected] @#!.]’

It was the system window that appeared when he met Haphran’s world.

A collapsing system window. It was the first since the Apostle of the Old God. The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

“An existence beyond mortal limits.”

An entity that had touched upon transcendence.

When facing such beings, it seemed the labyrinth’s system couldn’t accurately display them, resulting in errors.

Blocking the strike of an existence that had surpassed mortality while still in a mortal body was certainly no small feat.

And with that, he had something new to confirm.

Which of the two—’Endurance’ or ‘Last Opportunity’—would activate first?

Taesan moved to the next room. Without touching the advancing slime, he allowed himself to be slowly compressed.

‘Gulurk.’

[Your First Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
[Your Second Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
[Your Third Absolute Attack Nullification has been activated.]
[You received 1043 damage.]

The damage trickled in slowly. Taesan didn’t move.

If he was on the verge of death, ‘Endurance’ would activate. Since ‘Endurance’ had no cooldown when triggered by different opponents, it wasn’t a problem.

His health dropped steadily, falling into three digits.

At the brink of death, Taesan’s body moved.

It wasn’t a conscious action. It was closer to an automatic response.

He gathered strength in his entire body. His legs and arms moved forcefully to push away.

‘Thud!’

The slime bounced back.

‘It activates before ‘Endurance’.’

If that was the case, this was an unexpected gain. It was like having two extra lives. Even the ghost let out a stunned remark.

[This doesn’t even make sense.]

For Taesan, who already had ‘Endurance’, the skill’s value was relatively lower. But for other adventurers, it was hard to find a skill more useful.

The labyrinth demanded life-threatening challenges. Skills that added safety to those challenges were highly valuable, and ‘Last Opportunity’ was the best among them.

Having confirmed it, Taesan defeated the slime and recovered his health.

Now, it was time to confirm the other skill.

[Special Passive Skill: Word of Command]
[Mastery: 1%]
[Manifestation of Will. By speaking words imbued with Will, you can declare commands that influence the world.]

‘Word of Command.’ A conceptual skill gained through the projection of Will.

Taesan moved to the next room. As the slime charged toward him, he spoke, Will imbued in his words.

“Stop.”

‘Thud.’

The slowly advancing slime froze in place.

It creaked as if the order from Taesan’s Will clashed with its own, leaving it unable to do anything.

“At least the headache is better.”

Perhaps because he had acquired a clear skill, the pain was more manageable. It wasn’t something he couldn’t use a few times now.

Taesan watched the slime, which was still creaking, and spoke again.

“Burn.”

With the command, the slime ignited in flames.

The fire devoured the slime voraciously. The headache intensified, but Taesan endured the pain and stared at the burning slime.

The slime burned and eventually disappeared.

[You have defeated the Gatekeeper Slime.]

“The damage itself is impressive.”

The slime had a large amount of health.

Defeating it this way showed that the power of Will was somewhat proportional to Taesan’s attack power.

[It’s similar to Draconic Speech.]

The ghost murmured. It was akin to the ‘Draconic Speech’, magic used by a race entirely different from the God of Magic. Words that could overturn the heavens and earth.

It wasn’t bad. The only problem was the headache. The stronger the influence, the worse the pain.

Taesan calmed the headache and conducted several experiments.

He found that using ‘Word of Command’ on himself reduced the pain.

Additionally, he realized he could now control things he had partially abandoned.

“Move.”

‘Clatter!’

Arrows sprang forward, targeting the slime.

These were arrows imbued with a Will of their own. When he first obtained them, they were decent, but at some point, he stopped using them.

The reason was simple: the damage was too low.

The arrows required a certain level of ‘Rank’ to unleash their true power. The threshold for their use was incredibly high. Even as a much stronger Taesan, he couldn’t extract meaningful damage.

Their autonomy, which allowed them to move without his attention, meant he couldn’t exert his influence over them either. Against strong enemies, they were nothing more than a nuisance.

But now, with the power of Will, things were different.

[Arrows with Will of Their Own]
[Arrows that move on their own to protect their master. They act autonomously but cannot move beyond a certain range.]
[Current Master: Kang Taesan]
[Current Attack Power: 521]

Perhaps because he was directly controlling them through Will, their attack power had significantly increased. Their speed and impact had also visibly improved.

‘These arrows were originally something only transcendent beings could use.’

Arrows requiring the level of control achieved through Will. If left to act autonomously, their attack power would drop dramatically to double digits.

Taesan used the arrows to crush the slime. His head throbbed for a moment.

He retracted the arrows.

“They’re useful, but…”

It was still difficult to control.

Even though acquiring ‘Word of Command’ reduced the headache, it was not insignificant.

Now Taesan understood why the Demon had said it wouldn’t matter much yet. His current capabilities weren’t enough to wield it properly.

‘But.’

As he grew stronger and his Rank increased, its value would rise even more.

It was a sufficiently useful ability.

Having confirmed everything, Taesan resumed clearing the labyrinth.

He passed through secret rooms, collecting rewards. The reward was a black magic-enhancing robe, something to offer to the Demon.

Taesan advanced until he reached the boss.

The boss was a slime covered with sharp spikes. Taesan raised his hand.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

[You activated Addition.]

‘Crunch’.

The slime was crushed.

After a few more swings of his sword, the slime was completely destroyed.

[64th Floor Cleared.]

The floor was cleared.

But Taesan didn’t lower his sword.

‘[You have summoned the Superior Elemental of Varied Colors: Varkaza.]’
‘[You have summoned the Spirit King of Wind: Minerva.]’

“Hello!”

‘[It’s been a while, Master. If even Minerva was summoned, it means an enemy has appeared, correct?]’

“Yeah.”

Taesan answered briefly. Varkaza, anticipating the battle ahead, spoke excitedly.

‘[Who is it? Is it another one related to the Old God?]’

“You’ll find out soon.”

‘[Hmm?]’

Varkaza stiffened.

Minerva’s face was the same. She murmured bitterly.

“…Huh?”

Taesan looked at the staircase leading to the 65th floor.

‘Boom!’

A massive tremor echoed.

The sound, like an earthquake, grew closer.

‘Clang.’

With the sound of steel, it revealed itself.

A being clad in dark iron armor, towering over Taesan, appeared.

On his back rested a massive greatsword as large as Taesan’s body.

What Taesan felt was overwhelming heaviness.

The presence alone silenced everything around.

And power.

Taesan had only seen such power once before.

The Fire Spirit King. And Ambresia.

The ‘Guide of Sin’. Their leadership.

The ghost spoke.

[The first opponent is you? That’s fitting.]

The knight said nothing.

He simply raised his greatsword and pointed it at Taesan.

[The Iron Wall that Guards the World. Shaman has appeared.]