CHAPTER 141.

Since when can monsters use Essence?

Amber frowned as she dashed out of the way, and the attack shattered the spot where she had just been standing⁠— no, it shredded it. Thousands of stone fragments went into the air only to be slashed by the air itself. It was a wind-based Essence.

She looked over at the bird monster. Its silver plumage seemed to be in the middle of being replaced by white; as if it was shedding a coat in a new one. And in between its feathers, there were pulses of blue and lines. It’s appearance was not one she had seen in her life, with an elongated black beak and white eyes. There was even a majestic feeling to it. In fact, it was unlike anything she had seen in Vir.

Amber thought back on the notifications she had seen about the tower; it was supposed to have 100 floors, but now she was in number 101. Ignoring how that came to be, there was also the fact that the tower had found a “fair” fight for her in the form of this monster ⁠— the Fledgling White Starling ⁠— a monster that could use Essence.

Now the question is, is this a monster that exists in the wild or something just meant to challenge me? Amber wondered as she barely dodged another attack, nearly losing a limb. If it only exists in this place, I’d be rather upset.

That said, there was no way for her to get an answer to that. Nor could she afford to keep on thinking about the origins of the monster, because⁠—

She was blasted by a gust of wind as her armor was shredded, and she hit the wall in a bleeding mess as she coughed.

The monster got stronger. She smiled. She had decided to test the waters first and figure out some stuff, and one of the things she noted is that the monster seemed to build momentum the more time that passed. Just like me.

Amber got up from her spot as the bird squeaked and rushed at her, and she brandished her sword. Right now, she only had a baseline on its magical power ⁠— if Essence could be called that ⁠— but what about physical?

She rushed at the Fledgling White Starling and the monster moved its talons to meet her. Amber slashed as she triggered Silver Flame Edge on Cursewelder and went for it, but immediately paused⁠—

She slashed at the talon, Cursewelder did not cut all the way through and got jammed instead. The other talon swept through her face, tearing apart half of her head and decapitated her⁠—

Amber got out of the way as the Curse of Foresight basically saved her from reliving one of the worst experiences of her life. The two talons swept over her, only taking part of her hair as she slashed upwards, cleaving into the monster, causing it to screech in anger as its blood splattered.

She slid under the sharp feathers of the bird’s tail and backed off as she frowned. Curse of Foresight was something she was still getting used to, by all measures it should’ve been broken and yet⁠—

If I lose concentration even a bit it stops working. It would also warn her of dangerous attacks, but that was about it. It was basically a second Sharp Instincts. But it was by all accounts incredibly strong. Still, to think it's so physically tough as well.

Amber pushed God’s Physique further, increasing her physical strength. Then she raised her sword as she teleported away with Quick Dash and then⁠— she stabbed herself. Strength immediately coursed through her veins as the Fledgling White Starling screeched.

She immediately went flying, cuts appearing all over her body as her blood dripped onto the edge of Cursewelder, triggering Blood Enhancement from Droz’gad and sharpening the edge of the sword.

Amber healed in no time and she stabbed herself again, feeling a rise of excitement and then, she felt ready. The monster immediately sent another gust of wind, and this time she lost an arm and a leg, her blood splattering in all directions as her vision momentarily darkened. But that was nothing more than a setback as she…

Teleported.

Amber appeared looming over the Essence using bird and slashed. It flipped and tried to block with its talons but the blade went right through, cleaving through its digits and into its belly as it let out a deep screech. Amber grinned as she bathed in the blood of her enemy, and then she consumed.

The blood burned, causing the bird to send a gust of wind in all directions ⁠— one that tore through her body but was immediately healed from the vitality she was taking. And she didn’t stop there as she gathered her mana into Cursewelder, triggering Droz’gad’s Resource Drinker ⁠— allowing it to empower whatever resource she injected into it.

And she immediately filled it to the brim with mana as she condensed it all into a purple ember at the tip of her sword. One she swung into the monster, causing a rippling explosion of curses as a loud shriek echoed.

Amber grinned as a flaming talon struck her, sending her crashing into a wall in the distance.

“This is it,” she said, getting up. “This is what I wanted. A challenge.”

A chuckle left her as she dashed towards the scorched and flaming bird, most of its feathers having already been combusted. And Amber decided to spare no effort in killing it with mana, since her overreliance of Essence was sure to ruin her some day.

She arrived before the bird and swung⁠—

“Battery.”

The bird burst⁠— blood rippled across the room as the ground was torn apart by a myriad of curses. And Amber didn’t stop there as she used the Essence skill from her class to reset the cooldown of the skill⁠—

She blocked and whispered, using Accursed Battery a second time.

In an instant the bird was blasted, but she didn’t stop there as she raised her sword and stabbed.

“Abyssal Blast.”

Abyssal Channel immediately was consumed and caused a rippling explosion of the Curse of the Abyss, exacerbating all of the curses present on the Fledgling White Starling. She chuckled as she dashed towards the reeling and shrieking bird.

It didn’t stand a chance.

Or so she thought. Her eyes widened as she raised her sword.

“Fuck.”

The premonition of the future came, but when she teleported away, she found herself in the exact same spot in the air; foreign Essence enveloping the spot where she was, and a moment later the monster squeaked.

Her ear-drums shattered and the entire room exploded with cuts, she was sent into the wall as the Cursewelder went flying along with her arm. Amber hit the ground, missing all of her limbs as she coughed.

She triggered the 2nd Rank of Accursed Recovery ⁠— previously Recovery of Curses ⁠— and immediately healed from her bad condition as the flames enveloping the monster dissipated. And it immediately turned towards her.

Amber dashed for her sword and⁠ a gust of wind slapped her before she could reach it. This time it didn’t cut anything, but rather exert an incredible amount of force as every bone on her body shattered. She felt dizzy for a moment, her Essence circulation being temporarily cut off before she raised her head and danger engulfed her.

She saw the Fledgling White Starling glowing in a blinding blue light that enveloped the entire room in danger. It was most definitely its strongest attack and it was about to go off. One that was sure to kill her according to her senses.

Amber teleported, barely managing to reach Cursewelder in time before the monster detonated.

And she swung.

The entire room went white as everything was shattered, and with it a loud screech came as the bird exploded with blood, cuts filled its body as it hit the back wall. And Amber, panted, sweat trailing down her forehead.

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[All-protective Demon enters its 6 days 23 hours and 59 minutes cooldown…]

She had barely managed to use Drozgad’s Curse of Deflection, deflecting the attack onto the bird. She was the only untouched thing in the room, the rest was a mess. Little rock remained, instead replaced by an overtly smooth floor belonging to the tower⁠. The entire boss fight setting had been obliterated.

And in the distance, Amber saw the Fledgling White Starling, sprawled on the ground and gasping from air.

I underestimated it.

Amber teleported at its wake, the monster could only look up, and for a moment she didn’t know what to say. Or if there was anything to say. But soon, she found the right words to describe her feelings.

“If it hadn’t been for the sword I got recently, you would’ve won,” she said after a moment. “And while, I don’t know if you exist in the wild, I can only hope I can encounter you when I’m stronger.”

She sighed.

“Because there is no doubt in my mind that you would be stronger than me.”

Finally, she swung decapitating the bird in a moment.

[You have defeated a [Fledgling White Starling. Lvl. 289].]

For defeating an enemy 80 levels above your own, you have received bonus experience!

[You have reached level 210. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

[You have reached level 211. 15 stat points awarded.]

+5 Vitality +5 Strength +5 Dexterity.]

It was a short fight, but it was one that had pushed her more than any other recently. She closed her eyes for a moment before turning around and looking at the barren room.

“To think that a monster wielding Essence could do this…”

The attack had been extraordinary to say the least. Nothing remained of the original stone, only bits and pieces here and there, and this went on for well over two hundred meters. It wasn’t until after two teleports that Amber found the ground of the tower again, and with it the entrance to the next floor. One that had a stone plate with carvings on it.

“Only those that have transcended the limits of humanity may venture beyond this point. This is not a challenge but a warning. This floor was only but a glimpse of what is to come.

Those that wish for riches and power, will find them here, however those that do not have them in the first place shall perish on the way.”

Amber read the carvings and couldn’t help but take out her notebook to write to Frei; mainly wondering about rumors about the floor below 100; relaying that she is now on the 101th floor.

She took out a map, and sure enough it relayed that information, but it’s floor count still said 100.

Amber wasn’t as deluded enough as to imagine the tower had made new floors just for her, especially not with the warning. These floors were made for people like her in mind.

For people like Ishtar.

One of his journals existed in this tower, and now she could see exactly the reason for why it hadn’t been found.

“Now the question is, how many more floors are there?” she wondered.

The tower was meant to push her limits, and while she hoped she could see the end of it, the main thing and main priority still remained the same. Growing stronger.

Amber took a look at her core that was on the verge of leveling up, for now that was her next upgrade. That said, she had a feeling that this level up would be different from the ones she had experienced previously. All due to the fact that the core of her existence had changed completely.

Still… Amber stared at the open door to the next floor. Another bloodied fight awaits me… maybe I should rest⁠— wait, am I growing lazy?

Maybe it was the fatigue from the Sacred Forest but she absolutely didn’t want to have another fight like the last one. That said, in Val’leri’s tower she would’ve just marched on.

She frowned for a moment before groaning.

“Fuck it.”

With that, she stepped into the room as it began to pulse in a green light, and this time there was only a single notification, one that came along with the teleportation.

[Floor 102.]

That was the entire notification.

Amber found herself in total darkness, one that seemed to be endless and also one that couldn’t be penetrated by her senses. Instead, she could only see and sense about two meters in all directions. Which wasn’t all too great.

She frowned and walked forward, before⁠ spikes shot at her. She barely dodged them as she blinked⁠. They impaled⁠— no, shattered the wall behind her. But she didn’t let that bother her as she reached a wall, one with another stone plate.

“Acute senses required. Proceed into the labyrinth with caution.”

“Interesting.”

And a moment later, three stakes hit her side. Impaling her against the other extreme of the room as all her bones cracked. Amber groaned before taking them out. All-seeing Eye detected them, but unless she teleported out of the way there was not enough time to dodge.

Then there was Sharp Instincts, and it’s ability to foresee any trap⁠— that skill was completely ineffective.

While she could dodge out of the way, Amber smiled.

“So a room to get better senses?”

She liked the change of pace.

And she immediately stepped forward into the labyrinth, doing her damn best to dodge all of the traps but getting caught in about half of them.

Soon, Amber found herself getting pierced, having half of her body squashed, falling into acid pits and more. All while she grasped at straws at trying to sense things that weren’t there, but soon with the aid of Essence she began to feel them.

But it was also not something Amber wanted, while training her Essence was ideal she wanted to do more.

And that was why she forced herself to try to do the same with mana, repeating the process all over again as she found herself impaled and in deep pain even more times than before.

In the end, if the tower was going to offer her the chance to train, she was going to take it and do her damn best job at it.

* * *

Amber spent what felt like days stumbling in the darkness, slowly decreasing the frequency of the attacks received as she used mana in her own brain. And eventually, the frequency dropped to nothing.

She side-stepped, stakes grazing her cheeks, and then she slid as a metal wire passed overhead, slashing only her hair. Before she swung her hand to the side⁠, shattering a wall that threatened to squash her. All of the traps suddenly became futile as she walked through the darkness, and as she bent her body and well over twenty spikes missed, a notification came.

One that she didn’t expect.

[New General Skill! You have created Mana Sense Acceleration ⁠— level 1.

Here it is, your own creation! You have learned to accelerate all your senses with your mana at the cost of incredible concentration. This acceleration applies to relevant skills.]

Amber smiled. “So it got turned into a skill.”

That only meant one thing and one thing only⁠—

Multiple spikes hit her and impaled her into the wall with a loud boom, as she lost concentration, but the pain was trivial compared to what she was thinking.

⁠⁠—it means that all of the Essence skills I'm trying to replicate can be turned into skills within the System.

And while she had a feeling that this was the case, having complete confirmation about it was another thing. It greatly excited her.

No.

It made her thrilled and happy to live.

Amber chuckled as she undug herself out of the wall and began her path of dodging through all the traps of the labyrinth once more.

* * *

Amber arrived at the end, bleeding and limping from poison before she stepped a final trap, one that almost squished her whole.

And when she did, she fell to the ground panting, along with a deluge of notifications in her vision.

Sharp Instincts that had been stuck at 5th Rank level 1 all this time, had leveled up⁠— a lot.

[Sharp Instincts has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 2.]

…

[Sharp Instincts has leveled up from 5th Rank level 5 to 5th Rank level 6.]

And her resistances did not go untouched either. Toxin Resistance reached 5th Rank.

[Toxin Resistance has reached 5th Rank ⁠— level 1.

You’ve lived an unfortunate life where poisons seek you⁠— except you’re actively looking for them. Please stop. Poisons and other toxins are considerably less effective on you now

2nd Rank ⁠— All toxins are 30% less effective on you, this is stacked with the main effect of the skill

3rd Rank ⁠— Toxins will be cleansed out of your body within one hour.

4th Rank ⁠— You can now sense toxins and how strong they are.

5th Rank ⁠— Toxins can now be sensed from a distance.

It was great, before she could only tell food was poisoned if it was right in front of her, but now she just needed to be in the same room.

[Elemental Resistance has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 4.]

[Physical Resistance has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 4.]

[Magical Resistance has leveled up from 5th Rank level 1 to 5th Rank level 4.]

Amber smiled. “I talked about wanting to train my skills, and now I’ll finally have a chance to do so.”

She let herself collapse on the ground, she had decided to shut of all of the curses in her body hence her condition; though it had helped her greatly in sensing danger.

That said…

She frowned.

It really feels like I’ve been here for literal weeks.

Amber opened her notebook, only about a day had passed in reality based on Frei’s writing, so what gives?

Well, maybe her training had been that intense, she didn’t really have a way of knowing. Frei was still looking into the whole deal with the 101th floor and beyond.

She shook her head and decided to lay there for a few hours before continuing to the next floor through the darkness, but as she reached the entrance a notification came. One that she didn’t expect in the slightest.

[For your extraordinary performance, the Shattered Tower grants you an item that you urgently need…]