I locked the door to my apartment and pulled the blinds shut, plunging the room into a comfortable, quiet darkness. The silence of the empty room was exactly what I needed to focus. The Chunin Exams were a couple months away, but approaching very quickly. So, my main priority right now was leveling up as fast as I could.
But before I opened the Gate, I had some serious housekeeping to do.
I had 111 stat points available to distribute and needed to be well-rounded enough for whatever this Tower threw at me. I also knew from fighting the Hedgehogs and the Red Tiger that speed was becoming the absolute deciding factor in higher-tier fights.
"System, allocate 102 points evenly across all six stats—that's 17 points each. And dump the remaining 9 points straight into [DEX]."
[ALLOCATING POINTS...]
[STATS UPDATED]:
HP: 4,980 / 4,980
CP: 5,680 / 5,680
[STATS]:
STR: 209 (Base 209)
CON: 249 (Base 219 + 20 Passive + 10 Gear)
DEX: 223 (Base 208 + 15 Gear)
INT: 284 (Base 264 + 20 Passive)
WIS: 229 (Base 199 + 10 Passive + 20 Gear)
CHA: 227 (Base 207 + 20 Passive)
A rush of cold, hyper-focused clarity washed over my brain, followed by a surge of raw physical density that made my muscles completely lock up for a second before relaxing. It felt like the world had slowed down by a fraction.
I quickly checked my Shadow Army parameters to see how the massive boost to my Intelligence stat affected my legion.
[SHADOW ARMY STATUS]
Storage Capacity: 142 Slots
Active Deployment: 71 Soldiers
Seventy-one active soldiers at once, I nodded, highly satisfied. That's a small army. More than enough to overrun a fortress.
Next, I needed supplies. I opened the System Shop and navigated to the consumables tab.
[Rare Chakra Potion (Blue)] x10: Restores 15-20% CP. (50,000 Ryo)
[Rare Health Potion (Green)] x10: Restores 15-20% HP. (50,000 Ryo)
[Rare Strength Potion (Red)] x10: Restores 15-20% Stamina/Fatigue. (50,000 Ryo)
[Rare Elixir (Purple)] x10: Cures and grants temporary resistance to poisons and debuffs. (50,000 Ryo)
[TOTAL COST: 200,000 Ryo]
[RYO BALANCE: 21,039,675 Ryo → 20,839,675 Ryo]
With my stats optimized and my inventory fully stocked, I pulled the [Key to the Tower of Trials] from my inventory.
I activated it and a warped, swirling vertical portal ripped open in the center of my room.
As I stepped toward it, a massive wall of blue text suddenly blocked my vision.
[SYSTEM EXPLANATION: THE TOWER OF TRIALS]
Structure: A 100-floor Gauntlet designed as the ultimate test of endurance.
Floor Bosses: Powerful Mini-Bosses that rule over specific biomes. Defeating them yields guaranteed high-tier loot, including potions, crafting materials, and unique Quest Scrolls.
Tower Completion: Clearing the Tower Boss Floor permanently unlocks 5 new Towers.
Safe Zones: Designated rest areas exist on certain Floors. Safe Zones instantly restore HP, CP, and Stamina, and clear all debuffs.
Extraction: Upon reaching a Safe Zone, the Player may choose to leave the Tower with all accumulated loot.
Note: Leaving voids the rest of the Tower, permanently closing the Gate without granting the Completion Bonus.
Tower Ryo Calculation: The Player will receive a 5,000 Ryo bonus for every regular floor cleared. For Mini-Boss floors, the payout is calculated by performance: ((HP% x 50 Ryo) x 3.5 Flat Rank Bonus) = Total Ryo Earned. For Tower Bosses, the payout calculation will be similar, but the rank bonus will vary based on the rank of the tower.
Okay, so it's a marathon, I analyzed. Pace myself, utilize the Safe Zones, and farm the Mini-Bosses. Simple eno—
A harsh, red warning suddenly overwrote the blue text.
[SYSTEM WARNING: LIMIT BREAKER PENALTY IN EFFECT]
Notice: Because this is the Player's first Tower of Trials, generated via the Limit Breaker Quest, the 'Safe Zone Extraction' feature has been DISABLED. Additionally, Shadow Extraction of certain monsters may not be possible in this tower.
Objective: You must reach Floor 100 and defeat the Tower Boss. There is no retreat.
I stopped dead in my tracks, staring at the glowing red text.
Ah, I realized. So that's why the System basically screamed at me not to use this key when I was under-leveled. It's basically clear or die.
I took a deep breath, letting my new stats settle my nerves.
Fuck it dude. No pressure, no diamonds, right? Let's climb, I thought as I stepped through the portal.
Floor 1: The Gatekeeper
I materialized in a massive, dimly lit antechamber made of ancient, cracked stone. Before I could even take another step, massive iron doors on the far side of the room glowed with purple runes.
A colossal, heavily armored Undead Knight rose from the floor, wielding a broadsword the size of a surfboard.
[ENEMY DETECTED: Tower Gatekeeper]
Damn already?Can't I even take another breath first?
I didn't even summon my army. I activated [Dash], blurring across the stone floor. The Knight swung its massive sword, a devastating horizontal arc that would have cleaved me in half a week ago. But with my newly boosted Dexterity sitting comfortably over 220, it looked like the monster was moving underwater.
I slid smoothly under the rusted blade, popped up inside its guard, and drove [Knight Killer] straight through the rusted visor of its helmet, shattering the glowing blue soul-fire inside.
The armor immediately collapsed into a pile of scrap.
[FLOOR 1 CLEARED]
[XP GAINED]
[RYO EARNED: +5,000 Ryo]
[20,839,675 Ryo → 20,844,675 Ryo]
That's it? I questioned, kicking the rusted helmet aside. That wasn't as tough as I thought. I might clear this thing in a few hours if this is the level of strength being displayed.
I didn't.
I laughed arrogantly. This is gonna be easy!
It wasn't.
Floors 2 - 12: The Catacombs
The next dozen floors established the grim reality of the Tower.
The biome shifted into an endless, claustrophobic labyrinth of catacombs. The air was stale, smelling intensely of bone dust and ancient decay.
"COME FORTH!"
I kept a rotating guard of twenty shadow infantry around me, led by the Lizardman Commander, to conserve my chakra. We fought through swarms of standard Skeleton Warriors and heavily armored Bone Golems that acted as massive tanks, requiring my shadows to focus their strikes just to chip them down.
In the narrow, spiraling passageways, Bone Serpents slithered out of the darkness, trying to crush us in skeletal coils. It was a grueling descent, but relying on my infantry allowed me to cruise through the first stretch without burning through my stamina.
[FLOORS 2-12 CLEARED: 11 Floors x 5,000 Ryo = +55,000 Ryo]
[20,844,675 Ryo → 20,899,675 Ryo]
Floor 13: The First Safe Zone
I pushed open the heavy stone doors to Floor 13, half-expecting another ambush.
Instead, the grim catacombs temporarily gave way to a warm, magically lit cavern. It looked like a cozy, permanent campsite, complete with a crackling fire and soft bedrolls.
Damn, I must have died, I thought. I'm clearly hallucinating.
[SAFE ZONE REACHED]
[ACTIVATING TOWER RECOVERY PROTOCOL...]
As soon as I stepped foot inside the room, a warm light washed over me. The minor aches in my muscles faded instantly. My breathing steadied as my Stamina gauge refilled, and my Chakra coils pulsed as they were instantly topped off.
I let out a long, highly relieved exhale, walking over to the fire and sitting heavily on a log. I opened my inventory, slotting my newly purchased potions into my quick-access mental slots.
Thirteen floors down without breaking that much of a sweat, I smiled, stretching my legs. I'm making great progress.
Floors 14 - 24: The Catacombs Deepen
My arrogance was quickly checked the moment I stepped onto Floor 14. The traps and enemies escalated drastically.
The catacombs grew darker, and the straightforward skeleton grunts were replaced by Ghouls—fast, agile flesh-eaters that constantly ambushed me from the ceiling. Whenever their filthy claws landed a scratch, a stinging numbness spread through my veins.
[WARNING: Paralysis Poison Detected!]
I'm glad I bought these, I gritted my teeth, downing an Elixir to instantly purge the debuff before carving the Ghoul to pieces.
And then there were the traps. On Floor 18, I almost lost a hand to a Mimic monster disguised as an intricately carved wooden chest. The damn thing grew teeth the second I reached for the latch. From that point on, my shadows opened and analyzed everything for me. I also had to stay hyper-vigilant for Gargoyles—motionless statues that violently animated the second I turned my back on them.
The grind began to wear on me. Even with the occasional level-ups restoring my physical HP and Stamina, you can't put a stat bar on mental exhaustion. The sensory overload of monitoring my shadows, the constant adrenaline spikes from jump-scares, and the paranoia of checking every single shadow for an ambush was frying my nervous system.
By the time I reached the massive, blood-stained double doors of Floor 25, the sheer psychological attrition had firmly set in.
[FLOORS 14-24 CLEARED: 11 Floors x 5,000 Ryo = +55,000 Ryo]
[20,899,675 Ryo → 20,954,675 Ryo]
Floor 25: The First Mini-Boss
I pushed the heavy doors open, stepping into a massive, circular charnel house. The stench of rotting meat was overpowering.
In the center of the room stood the first Mini-Boss.
[FLOOR BOSS DETECTED: The Flesh Amalgamation]
It was a grotesque, towering abomination crafted from dozens of stitched-together corpses. It had four massive, mismatched arms wielding rusted butcher cleavers, and a bloated, durable torso that looked like it could absorb a cannonball.
Ughhhhhhh!
"Take its legs!" I barked.
My soldiers surged forward, but the Amalgamation was deceptively fast. It spun, its four cleavers creating a whirlwind of rusted steel that instantly shredded five of my infantry.
I cursed, activating [Dash] to flank it while it was distracted. I threw three kunai at its back, but the beast abruptly twisted its torso 180 degrees—bones snapping sickeningly—and backhanded me with a massive, bloated fist.
I crossed my arms to block, but the sheer force sent me skidding backward across the stone floor, my boots kicking up sparks.
[-18% HP]
Tough bastard, I winced, shaking out my throbbing arms. I need more speed to get inside that blender of blades.
I channeled pure chakra into my legs, pushing my [Dash] to its absolute limit, willing my body to move faster than ever before.
[SKILL EVOLUTION TRIGGERED!]
[DASH (LEVEL 1) → SPRINT (LEVEL 2)]
Effect: Increases movement speed by 50%.
Cost: 50 CP per activation.
The world blurred as I exploded forward, leaving a faint afterimage behind. The Amalgamation swung a cleaver, but I was already past it. I vaulted off its massive knee, scaled its bloated chest, and drove both of my daggers deep into its central, stitched-together head.
I channeled my chakra down my arms. "Wind Style: Vacuum Wave!"
Instead of exhaling the wind, I released the compressed blades directly from my hands through the daggers. The localized vortex of wind shredded the abomination's core from the inside out.
The beast shrieked from its many mouths before collapsing into a mountain of rotting flesh.
[BOSS DEFEATED]
[XP GAINED]
[XP GAINED]
[XP GAINED]
[NEW LEVEL: 134]
[FULL RECOVERY ACTIVATED]
[RYO EARNED: (82% HP x 50 Ryo) x 3.5 Rank Bonus = +14,350 Ryo]
[FLOOR 25 CLEAR BONUS: +5,000 Ryo]
[TOTAL RYO THIS FLOOR: 19,350 Ryo]
[20,954,675 Ryo → 20,974,025 Ryo]
Floor 26: The Second Safe Zone
I staggered past the rotting corpse and pushed open the heavy iron doors to Floor 26.
The biome shift was instantaneous. The horrific stench of death vanished, replaced by the crisp, clean scent of pine and burning wood. I was standing in another warm, magically lit campsite.
[SAFE ZONE REACHED]
[ACTIVATING TOWER RECOVERY PROTOCOL...]
I let out a massive sigh of relief.
Even though the [FULL RECOVERY] from hitting Level 134 had already erased the throbbing pain in my arms and refilled everything, the stress of those catacombs was immeasurable.
I walked over to the crackling fire, taking a moment to sit and collect my thoughts. I checked my inventory to ensure my potion stock was still healthy, and reviewed my newly boosted stats.
A quarter of the way there, I thought, gripping my daggers as I stood back up and looked at the heavy wooden doors on the far side of the room.
Empowered by my new levels and mentally refreshed, I readied myself to push through the doors to Floor 27.