CHAPTER 142.

Frei found Amber’s information kind of weird, after all, there was a lot. It was as if she had been in there for multiple days, and the time she caught her writing the letters would appear at light speed. Something was definitely odd; well aside from Amber’s handwriting which seemed to have an almost by-the-book quality to it.

So she decided to research some more about the 101st floor and so on. Because it was the place where Amber was, even if it was hard to believe. Her master would never lie to her after all, though some mercenaries did think she was joking the other day.

“Floors below the 100th floor? You must be joking.”

“Barely any mercenaries have reached that point and now you’re trying to tell me that there is more? Ridiculous.”

“It’s but an urban legend, please don’t go down that direction miss.”

…

Though she didn’t really give up, and the next day she continued on asking various people as she traveled through the makeshift village. Because that’s what it was. It had food vendors, and even smiths, and other mercenaries that offered various services.

“Hm… I’ve heard you’ve been asking around.” The old man ruffled his beard. “But unfortunately, I have no information to offer you. Not anything that’s not a legend.”

“A legend?” Frei raised her brow, that was her first time hearing about that.

He nodded. “That’s right. The legend says that only those that buy from my shop⁠—”

“Do ya want to die?” Frei asked coldly.

The old man laughed. “Of course not, but missy you don’t fit the legend. It is said that only those that have transcended humanity can access what lies beyond the 100th floor.”

“I see.” Frei calmed. It made sense to her. “Anything else? Like time warping?”

“No?” He tilted his head confused. “Where would you get that idea anyway?”

Frei shrugged and walked away, waving at the old smith man.

“Just a hunch, I’ll leave ya now. Bye bye.”

The man chuckled and waved back.

That was a step in the right direction. But there was only one way to prove the feeling she had.

Frei took out the notebook and began to write to Amber.

* * *

Amber stared at the notification, cautious excitement filling her being. Right now, she didn’t know what to expect, or what was about to come. But if it was an item the Shattered Tower deemed she urgently needed, then it was most definitely going to be interesting.

The notification blinked and then, with a small flash of light, an item floated down. She couldn’t tell what it was at first glance, but soon she made out its shape. A rod, no larger than a baton, one that was jet black. Her first reaction was confusion, her second was using Appraisal on it as an unexpected result came.

[Relic Grade ⁠— Omnipresent Baton of the Shattered Tower ⁠— Ancient Quality.

This baton was created for the challengers of the Shattered Tower to help them navigate through it. Only those that have been acknowledged by the tower may use it. This baton only works within the boundaries of the tower.

Ability: Omnipresent ⁠— Teleport to any floor that you have cleared in the Shattered Tower.

Floors available: 1 to 102.]

“Oh.”

It wasn’t what she expected. And while she hadn’t “cleared” most floors, the tower basically said she had cleared all floors between 1 to 102. Which meant she had access to all of them.

“Interesting.”

It wasn’t a disappointing item, not at all, and it was in fact useful. Amber didn’t know if it was truly urgent, but at the very least it was something she actually liked having. If something happened on the surface, she could be there in no time.

After all, if she had to exit the tower, she would need to go up floor by floor until she got back just like Val’leri’s tower. But with this, she didn’t need to worry about any of that, instead all she had to worry about was growing stronger.

She grinned, grabbing onto the baton, and made a rather rash decision.

“Why not don’t we test it out? Just a bit.”

* * *

Vallis couldn’t believe it.

He backed off, his body bleeding all over. The room was boiling, lava was flowing from the ceiling. And ahead laid a blazing inferno that burned his skin with its mere presence.

It was impossible.

“How can a solo mercenary survive this…” he muttered.

No, even a group couldn’t survive the boss of the 60th floor. Because it was simply too strong for normal people. Nobody’s resistance was high enough to deal with this, and yet this was what the Fallen Tower deemed to be fair. But how was any of this fair? Anyone without 5th Rank Resistances was doomed.

Just like him.

And yet a group already defeated this boss a few days ago… He couldn’t believe it.

Vallis staggered, holding his staff as he raised it, sweat dripping down his head. And ahead, on the pools of lava he saw a figure swim through them, slithering with undulating movements. It was the boss.

“I’m not going to die here…” He gritted his teeth. “Even if I have to be bedridden for months I won’t die here.”

Vallis drank three High Quality mana potions as the recoil hit him, and then he prepared to use his strongest skill a second time. The first had almost killed the boss and made it enter its second life, and now, he was going to finish it off.

His mana accumulated as the fiery serpent came towards him. And he waited. He waited as the serpent loomed closer and closer, he waited as it came out of the lava and stared at him dead in the eyes, and he waited as it coiled back…

And then the serpent struck.

Now⁠—

He launched a wave of water, one that immediately exploded upon the serpent, like a dam breaking. He grinned as he heard a shriek and the temperature of the room cooled. It had worked⁠—

And a notification came.

[The Guardian of Fire enters a frenzy…]

In a single moment, the water was vaporized as lava exploded in all directions, and Vallis paled as he fell to the ground. The serpent rose, regenerating all of its injuries as it loomed over him, its slithering tongue moved in a way that almost seemed mocking.

It let out a deep hiss and Vallis cursed his luck as he stared death right at the eyes, before the serpent lunged.

And⁠— its head went flying with a splatter of blood.

He blinked as he saw a woman standing in front of him, sighing.

“It died in a single swing, really?”

What?

Vallis paused as the magical magma in the room evaporated, and then the Guardian of Fire hit the ground with a dull sound. He looked at it, and saw it missing its head.

What the fuck…?

“Well, at least I made it in time,” the warrior said, shrugging before turning to him. “Oh, you have a curse, here.”

She flicked her hand and suddenly he felt a lot lighter, then the woman took out a black baton as she stared at it.

“Oh huh, floor 70 looks interesting.”

“Wait what?”

But before she even registered his question, she left. And Vallis was just left staring at the spot, the encounter had been so fast that it felt like a fever dream and yet…

He stared at the dead guardian and at the notification from it.

It had happened.

He continued to stare, his thoughts in disarray, and it wasn’t until a minute in that he came to realization. One he didn’t want to believe, but one that he couldn’t dismiss.

Did he perhaps encounter a guardian angel?

* * *

“Again!”

Christa called to her party members and the two mages blasted the colossal beast. The four-legged and twisted amalgamation that was the monster went flying towards the wall. And Christa couldn’t help but frown, because it was still alive.

They had been fighting this boss for three days straight now, and everyone was damn tired of it. It wasn’t the boss of the 70th floor for no reason. And it wasn’t showing signs of slowing down.

“We must conserve our stamina,” she called.

Even though she was a healer she was also the commander of their small group of two warriors and two mages. And for good reason, because she was never wrong, her instincts were never wrong, and right now she had a feeling that the monster was about to enter what would be considered its hyper-aggressive state. One of many to come.

“Its going to do something, prepare!”

Christa called and everyone went on guard. Now it was time for it to enter a frenzy, or for it to put everything into one last attack. She focused and foresaw each possible scenario with her decades of experience, and then she braced herself, preparing to make whatever calls were needed.

Unauthorized tale usage: if you spot this story on Amazon, report the violation.

This is just the start…

She was nervous, but she was ready for anything. This was just the first of many such moments, that was just how durable this boss was. Christa’s eyes narrowed, and a moment later danger came⁠— the boss monster appeared in front of her, and her eyes widened in horror. This single hit was going to kill her, she was sure of it⁠—

Shit.

And the monster slashed and with the motion its claw went flying.

It failed to strike her as she blinked at the strands of brown hair in her vision.

The boss monster roared and the warrior that had appeared out of nowhere slashed two more times, tearing through the monster as if it was made out of paper. It screeched as everyone stared and she just snorted.

“Alright, you can die now, battery⁠—”

The boss exploded⁠— thousands of curses tore through the monster as everyone just stared. And a moment later, the kill notification came, awing Christa.

Just like that it was dead.

Just like that the boss monster that had terrorized them for three days had died. The same monster that wasn’t showing signs of slowing down and showed no signs of actual damage…

It was unbelievable.

Christa stared. Who is this warrior? She looked at her weapon and for a moment she was awed.

The magical energy emanating from it was impossibly high. What kind of treasure was that? It was unlike anything she had seen before.

The warrior turned, “Try to not get yourself killed, next time I won’t be around.”

“Right… where did you even come from?”

As far as she was aware there were no mercenaries or groups that were as high as hers in the Fallen Tower.

“Oh, I teleported here from the 60th floor,” she said simply.

But everyone paused in confusion.

“You can do that…?” Christa asked what everyone had in mind.

“Well I can.” She shrugged in response. “I got an item as a reward from the tower itself that allows me to do so.”

“You what?!” Her warrior companion freaked out.

Christa’s eyes went wide. “That makes no sense. Should you even share that?”

“I don’t care,” she said simply. “Anyway, I'm gonna go now, see ya.”

With those words she lifted her hand into the air as a baton appeared, and she vanished. All while everyone stared at the spot. Christa just paused.

She really just killed the boss and left…

* * *

All over the Fallen Tower, mercenaries were saved by a brown haired warrior; some cursed her existence over kill stealing, some thanked her profoundly, and a select few saw her as the angel of the tower.

And from it a rumor was eventually born as everyone shared their incredibly similar stories.

Amber, the subject of the rumor, and currently in the 102nd floor, laughed as she stared at the level up notifications.

[You have reached level 212. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

…

[You have reached level 215. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

She had gotten 4 levels from murdering bosses all around the tower using the baton, it was great. And she got to save people as well? What more could she ask for? Sure it didn’t push her limits, but at the same time, it made her feel near omnipotent. That said, she knew she couldn’t do this forever. Nor was it right to do. If people got used to being saved, then they would stop trying⁠— at least that’s what she thought.

So, now it was time to move on and continue with her climb, but first she opened her notebook to see if there were any updates, and to her surprise there were.

“Amber, I have a theory; I think time is warped beyond the 100th floor. Write down every time you think an hour has passed. And I’ll corroborate how much time has passed, that way we can figure out the ratio of displacement.”

Amber blinked. “Oh huh…”

She didn’t expect that, but she decided to do as Frei indicated. Then, after writing down her start note, she headed to the next floor, all while starting to feel even more excited.

If time is warped, then doesn’t that mean I can thoroughly push myself without a care in the world?

She grinned as she stepped onto the teleporter to the 103rd floor. In the end, there was only one way to find out.

With a pulse of green, she was teleported.

[Floor 103.]

Amber found herself standing in the middle of a colosseum, except there were no spectators. And at her feet, there was a stone plate.

“Firepower and consistency required.”

That was all it said.

She blinked as she saw a goblin like monster rise from one of the stands, and with a bow and arrow in hand, it shot a deadly bolt of stone that Amber barely dodged.

The ground behind her exploded and she blinked.

“I don’t need firepower for this though?”

She teleported to the goblin as the monster’s eyes went wide with surprise. Just like before, she could feel a faint Essence from it.

[Lesser Rulobin. Lvl. 220]

Amber grinned as she gripped her sword and slashed. But she found herself slashing empty air as she stood in the center of the arena once more.

“What⁠—”

And an arrow pierced through her chest, as she blinked from surprise.

“No way, right?”

Amber tried to kill the monster the same way again, only to find herself having the same result. And at that moment she realized that by firepower it meant it literally. But she didn’t feel discouraged by it, instead she grinned as she made a bow out of curses.

It was the perfect environment to train her Accursed Creation skill, and also polish her curse creation abilities.

* * *

During the days she passed in the colosseum Amber found out a shocking reality. An entire day equaled six hours in the real world. At least roughly. That meant that a week in the real world was close to a month here. Though it also meant that she had only spent about a week in the 102nd floor and not multiple like she imagined.

But the realization motivated to train even harder in the 103rd floor as she began to blast every monster that appeared with laser like precision and more importantly⁠— power. And as the days passed, she got even better. Until the two week mark.

Amber unleashed an arrow that hit the monster in the distance only for a rippling explosion to go off. One that almost rivaled Primordial Blazing Bolt in power.

[Accursed Creation has leveled up from 4th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

…

[Accursed Creation has leveled up from 4th Rank level 9 to 4th Rank level 10.]

Every increment in power seemed to come with the skill leveling up, but also it came with her understanding of curses deepening.

And Amber could feel it, she was close.

She stared at the regenerating part of the colosseum and grinned.

Just one more day.

* * *

Amber aimed the arrow as she took a deep breath, well over half of her mana going into it.

This is it.

She breathed, and focused.

This is what I wanted.

Amber looked on as dozens of goblins fired arrows at her, and she unleashed the fiery bolt at her hands.

It streaked and a moment later, it hit⁠— consuming half of the colosseum in a single moment as debris and dust exploded in all directions, and along with it, two notifications came.

[New General Skill! You have created Cursed Blazing Bolt ⁠— level 1.

Thanks to your fixation you have replicated a Primordial Skill! You can now consume your own mana to create a bolt of cursed energy, its strength scales linearly to the mana consumed.]

There it is…

Amber felt glad, and then there was the other notification that made her feel even happier.

[⁠Cursed Creation has reached 5th Rank — level 1.

You’ve grown at utilizing curses in your day to day. And now your mastery over curses has reached a new peak, allowing you to project them to the outside world, giving them solid shapes. Now, these are incredibly durable and last for a long time.

You may use Primordial Power to ignore the cooldown of this skill once, this includes the ranks of the skill. You may use Primordial Power or Mana thereafter to trigger the skill.

2nd Rank ⁠— Curses can now be more tightly packed in the same area, by about 1.5 times.

3rd Rank ⁠— For the first hour, the curses within the construct will replenish themselves automatically.

4th Rank ⁠— Constructs can be detonated, unleashing all their stored curses at once]

5th Rank ⁠— Once a day you can make a construct permanent.

She grinned at that, and it was because of what the 5th Rank represented.

“Now, I’ll be able to place runes on my bones.”

She couldn’t use ink, and carving her bones wouldn’t work. However, making the runes out of a solid material such as curses, would. And now, she was finally able to make her fixtures permanent.

She made a rune on her hand, it was the precision rune, a stick that started thick but slowly thinned out.

“This is going to be fun.”

She squashed it on her hand. The schematics still had a lot of revisions left, plus she had to test some things, but her insane plan was looking more and more like reality by the second.

Amber looked towards the collapsing colosseum, the floor had been cleared, and with it some of her skills had leveled up.

[Accursed Battery has leveled up from 5th Rank level 2 to 5th Rank level 4.]

[Accursed Rage Synergy has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 4th Rank level 3.]

[Inexorable Manipulation has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 5.]

And she had also leveled up twice from blasting the monsters all over and over again.

[You have reached level 216. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

[You have reached level 217. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

“I’m getting quite close to my next Core Skill,” she commented.

Amber was quite excited about that. Well, if she was honest she was excited for a lot of things. For instance, the floors that awaited her.

She chuckled and pressed on, moving to the teleporter room.

Amber grinned.

Soon, she would grow stronger.

Soon, she would deal with the Demon of Genesis.

And soon, she would get her Class Advancement.

A moment later, she was teleported to the next floor.

[Floor 104.]

* * *

Days passed as Amber continued to go through the floors and level up her skills. And by the time she finished the 105th floor, almost all of her skills had leveled up only once.

[Quick Dash has leveled up from 5th Rank level 3 to 5th Rank level 4.]

[Accursed Creation has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 2.]

[Inexorable Momentum has leveled up from 5th Rank level 3 to 5th Rank level 3.]

[Inexorable Body has leveled up from 5th Rank level 3 to 4th Rank level 4.]

…

[Crimson Fervor has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 2 to 3rd Rank level 3.]

[Crimson Fuel has leveled up from 3rd Rank level 2 to 3rd Rank level 3.]

…

[Toxin Resistance has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 2.]

Sure, they had literally only moved a single level, but for good reason. Because she had focused on getting her last two remaining 4th Rank skills into 5th Rank, and the effects were nothing short of amazing.

She grinned looking at the new notifications she had just gotten.

[Accursed Reignition has reached 5th Rank ⁠— level 1.]

You’ve grown adept at inflicting curses upon your enemies. However, not every enemy bears their curses forever. Now, you can reignite said curses upon your target. This skill can be used every 3 hours. The higher the skill level the lower its cooldown.

You may use Primordial Power to ignore the cooldown of this skill once, this includes the ranks of the skill. You may use Primordial Power or Mana thereafter to trigger the skill.

2nd Rank ⁠— Curses can now be reignited even if they are still present in the target, multiplying the amount of curses on the target by 1.5 times.

3rd Rank ⁠— Reignited curses come back with twice the intensity, if 2nd Rank is used this effect does not apply.

4th Rank ⁠— If the target is killed by the reignition, the same curses can be reignited on a different target.

5th Rank ⁠— Reignited Curses now linger two times longer on the target.]

With the 5th Rank, the timer on her ability to self enhance her strength basically doubled, and then there was Accursed Strength, the skill that allowed her to do that, and the skill that had reached 5th Rank.

[Accursed Strength has reached 5th Rank ⁠— level 1.

You’ve grown adept at using your curses, at consuming them and even grown somewhat used at having them be extinguished and out of your grasp. Now your curses affect your strength, starting at 50% bonus and scaling up or weakening depending on your status to them.

You may use Primordial Power to ignore the cooldown of this skill once, this includes the ranks of the skill. You may use Primordial Power or Mana thereafter to trigger the skill.

2nd Rank ⁠— You’ve gained an instinctual gauge to what your current strength bonus is.

3rd Rank ⁠— Once every six hours, you can flare extinguished curses, causing them to come back with four times the intensity.

4th Rank ⁠— Once a week this skill can enter overdrive doubling the base effect of the skill.

5th Rank ⁠— Once a month this skill can enter a frenzy and suppress the skills of opponents that are the same category and are one rank below.]

It was a curbstomp skill rank.

And it was something that greatly excited her, because it meant that she was starting to reach the same heights as the healer of the Saints of Truth. It felt as if she had just opened a new door.

[You have reached level 218. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

…

[You have reached level 220. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

And now, she was even closer to her level 225 Core Skill.

Amber felt great as she stepped onto the teleporter. Then a moment later, with a flash of green light, she found herself on the next floor.

[Floor 106.]

But along with it, an unexpected notification came. But it was one that greatly excited her, and one that she instantly accepted.

[For your extraordinary performance, the Shattered Tower grants you the opportunity to take an item from the first floor of its treasury.

Would you like to go to the treasury now?]

“Fucking, yes.”

And a moment later, her surroundings changed.