Chapter 87
“Should I take all of those roots?”
[Just cut and take them. They’re large, but you have an inventory, so it shouldn’t be a problem.] Taesan prepared himself. Simultaneously, the forest began to move with a loud noise.
WHOOM!
The ground crumbled, and the roots rose. The surrounding trees swayed and struck at Taesan.
Taesan stomped the ground, trampled over the roots, leaped through the air, and landed atop the chaotic mass.
CRACKLE!
The chaotic mass swayed, and its branches began to curve. Pulled to their limits like a slingshot, they whipped through the air with a sonic boom.
CRASH!
Taesan kicked off again, creating distance. The collision with the branches caused the air itself to tear, echoing beyond the forest.
Strong. A hit would bruise, indicating its power. Taesan landed a bit away.
[You’ve activated Breathless Attack.] BOOM!
The other trees did not stand idly. They moved their branches and roots, attempting to entangle Taesan.
[You’ve activated Repulsion.] The skill spread an intangible force around him, Repulsion.
However, the roots only hesitated briefly, not stopping their assault on Taesan.
Realizing Repulsion had limited effect, Taesan changed tactics. He grasped his sword and focused all his mind.
[You’ve activated Mental Acceleration.] Time around the world seemed to slow.
He kicked a root aiming for his left foot, dodged a branch trying to pierce his head, and moved his hands. Branches and roots attempting to capture his arms were cut down in droves.
Despite the unstable footing due to the crumbling ground, Taesan had Forced Action.
A skill that allowed some movement even in restricted situations, which proved somewhat effective here.
He kept slashing and slashing. Unable to bear it, a tree attempted to crush Taesan entirely but was swiftly dissected by his fierce sword movements.
Amidst the battle, Taesan coldly surveyed everything around him.
‘No ashen energy…?’
He hadn’t found it yet, or perhaps it wasn’t visible, unlike with the cliff.
‘Maybe it’s hidden inside the tree.’
Regardless, the goal was to cut down the chaotic mass. After shaking off all attacks aimed at him, Taesan charged towards the chaotic mass.
It tensed its branches again, then exploded.
WHOOSH!
A tingling sonic boom hit Taesan. He grimaced and retreated.
It wasn’t an attack judgment but a pushing one, so attack nullification didn’t trigger, making approach exceedingly tricky.
Then, change the approach. Make the opponent initiate a physical attack.
Taesan targeted the surrounding trees.
The trees tried to push Taesan away with their roots and branches, but such minor attacks couldn’t stop him. In an instant, the trees began to fall apart.
WHOOSH!
The chaotic mass attempted to blast the air to repel him, but not being directly in front and somewhat distanced, Taesan could withstand it.
In a blink, trees were cut down. The small forest noticeably thinned.
‘How will it react?’
It wouldn’t just move on command. Considering the cliff intensified its attack as Taesan approached, it likely had its own will.
And Taesan’s guess was correct.
The chaotic mass continued to tense and lash out into the air, but Taesan effortlessly continued his assault on the trees. After a few more futile attempts, the chaotic mass began to move with a loud noise.
Its branches converged into a massive spike and thrust at Taesan.
Taesan quickly turned and blocked with his sword, but the force pushed him back.
Realizing its attack had an effect, the chaotic mass continued to gather its branches for attacks.
That’s what Taesan wanted.
GROAN.
The moment the branches formed to shoot again, Taesan stomped the ground. He charged towards the shooting branches.
[Your first Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.] The branches returned to their pre-shoot state. The chaotic mass was visibly confused, even to Taesan. It quickly recovered and shot again, but the same result ensued.
[Your second Absolute Attack Nullification has activated.] Taesan pulled his sword back. The chaotic mass was split in half and fell.
[Your Spirit Ascension has activated. ???’s proficiency has increased by 1%.] “So it was inside after all.”
As the chaotic mass fell, the movement of the trees also ceased. Taesan stored the roots of the chaotic mass in his inventory.
“Not too difficult.”
[As I said, there shouldn’t be much difficulty at your level. But it might be better to return quickly.] “Seems so.”
Taesan looked up at the sky.
To the star, a being like Taesan would seem very small and weak. That’s why it probably didn’t pay much attention.
The sandstorm and the cliff alone show it. They naturally targeted Taesan without any deep malice.
But now, it was different.
In this ashen space, a clear intent to kill was directed at Taesan.
GROAN…
A colossal sound emanates from the world itself. An overwhelming sensation begins to engulf Taesan.
It was clear.
If he continued here, he would die in this place.
“See you next time.”
Taesan waved his hand. He stepped through the split space.
After a brief moment, he returned to the familiar labyrinth.
“You’re back?”
Halfran greeted Taesan. Taesan opened his inventory.
[Sub-quest completed]
[Root of Chaos] [From a doomed world. Alone, it amounts to nothing. Planted in the right environment, it might grow.] Taesan handed the Root of Chaos to Halfran. Halfran accepted it with a look of longing.
“To me, it looks like an ordinary root.”
“To you, maybe. You’re not from that world. But for me, it’s different. …It’s been a long time since I could make something enjoyable.”
With flickering eyes, Halfran said,
“So, what do you want?”
“What can you make?”
“If it’s wearable, I can make anything.”
It was as if he was saying to ask for anything.
Taesan fell into thought.
He didn’t know the exact level of the item that would be made, but it was bound to be a superior piece of equipment. Meaning, he would likely wear it for a long time. Thus, if he obtained another piece of equipment for the same part later, he might not use it at all.
It wasn’t a loss, but it felt like one.
‘I had a similar experience in the previous world.’
In a game, he chose equipment from a quest, only to find a better piece in the very next dungeon for the same part.
Having had that experience quite often, he instinctively felt averse.
After pondering, Taesan made his decision.
“Can it be mixed with the weapon I have?”
“It’s possible.”
Taesan asked in surprise.
“Really?”
“Of course. If I couldn’t do that, I wouldn’t deserve to be called a blacksmith.”
Halfran spoke plainly. Taesan, having asked without much expectation, felt like he had gained something.
Then, there was only one choice.
“Is that okay?”
[It’s fine with me. It’s yours, after all. You can do as you like.] He had the ghost’s approval. Taesan drew his sword.
“Then, mix it with this.”
[Relic of Carbert: The Sword Imbued with Ancestral Blood] [A relic from a now-doomed world. It has claimed the lives of numerous royals.] [Attack Power + 20] [Extra +10 attack power against noble bloodline enemies] Carbert’s sword. A sword given by the ghost as a quest clear reward. Planning not to change it anytime soon, he intended to use it.
Receiving the sword, Halfran gave the ghost a curious look.
“Is that okay?”
[Yes, go ahead. Do as you like.] “If you say so…”
Halfran nodded.
“I’ll do it.”
“Do I need to leave the weapon with you?”
“No need. I’ll create it here with the root and combine it later. You can keep it.”
“How long will it take?”
“About… two days, I guess.”
Two days. Long enough, yet short enough.
“Then, I’ll come back in two days.”
“Take your time.”
Halfran, looking happy, fondled the root as he saw Taesan off.
[What will you do?] “Since there’s time left, I’ll go as far down as I can.”
Two days were more than enough to reach the 20th floor.
Taesan descended to the 17th floor.
The 17th floor was home to the Dullahan. A headless knight, and according to Eun Taeyeon, it was here she nearly died.
‘Come to think of it.’
Recalling, she mentioned nearly dying on every floor. She said each level posed a risk of death.
Musing over trivial memories, he descended. The Dullahan was definitely a strong monster, but as always, it was meaningless. He easily cleared the secret room and sorted out the boss room.
The reward was an earring, armor, and shield.
The shield was of no use to him, but the earrings and armor were quite useful.
[Blood Mist Earrings] [Strength + 10] [Agility + 10] [Defense + 5] [Earrings abandoned in the blood mist. No one knows who the owner was.] Exchanging the Mana 10 earrings. With high intelligence and mastery of magic, running out of mana wasn’t a problem anymore, so it wasn’t very valuable.
[Lava Dew Leather Armor] [Defense + 20] [Slightly increases the success rate of burn status checks.] [Armor dipped in dew that forms under lava. Has resistance to flames.] Likewise, it was better than what he was wearing, so he switched to it.
After finishing the 17th floor, he moved to the 18th. He met a dwarf, sold the unnecessary equipment, and went down.
“Take care.”
The dwarf said plainly. Even though he knew Taesan had met the blacksmith, he said nothing. They didn’t seem to get along.
The 18th floor was similar to the 3rd. Skeleton mages and skeleton knights crowded the area. Naturally, they posed no challenge to Taesan, who dealt with them and descended.
He obtained a staff, shield, and ring.
[Super Ring] [Attack Power + 5] [Defense + 5] [Strength + 5] [Super-ring] “What’s this?”
[…I’m not sure.] Despite the mysterious description, the effects were good. He replaced the Mana 5 ring with this one.
His level, which had not increased much, finally rose after descending through these floors, reaching level 42.
[Taesan Kang] [Level: 42] [Shield: 183/183] [Health: 2160/2160] [Mana: 475/475] [Strength: 677] [Intelligence: 459] [Agility: 597] [Attack Power + 79] [Defense + 93] [The subject is in peak condition.] The Hongyeong ring increases strength, intelligence, and agility by 3%. Thus, his strength increased by 20, intelligence by 13, and agility by 17. A satisfying improvement.
The 19th floor.
Here, Spirit Ascension began to trigger slightly. It meant his level was starting to catch up.
The 19th floor’s monster was the Lich. A monster that used various magics, slightly tricky, but he quickly overpowered it with his stat advantage. Unfortunately, either because it was a general monster or because the magic of the dead was entirely separate, he didn’t acquire any magic.
And finally, he found the altar of a god.
[You have discovered Lucifer’s Altar.]