CHAPTER 5.
Unfortunately, the Primordial Spirit had denied her request. And so, she had no choice but to keep on her mission to descend the tower.
Though in her resting times, she thought about the life she had left behind. Now that she had learned that her return would take a very long time, she focused on ruminating. Amber was sure that people wouldn’t miss her too much, she did have best friends in the past but they kind of drifted away after she moved for college. She assumed she was a distant memory for them. All of her thoughts helped her move on from things and to some extent it helped her feel liberated.
However, when she wasn’t resting she was fighting.
Amber screamed, her body filled to the brim with strength as she took down a gigantic spider. Her sword pierced through a gigantic tarantula with blue limbs. Then, using all of her strength she used Heavy Swing, still holding her sword. Her Cursed Momentum had reached its peak, and with her inhuman strength she swung the spider against the wall.
The sword carried its momentum and cut through its hard body all at once, coming out of the other side as its acidic blood spewed into the surroundings from receiving a fatal injury.
And a moment later, it died.
[You have defeated a [Sapphire Ardrid. Lvl. 32].]
And the rest of her notifications came. To her surprise, Heavy Swing had leveled up after all this time.
[Heavy Swing has ranked up. Heavy Swing is now 2nd Rank level 1.]
[General Weapon Mastery has leveled up from level 9 to 10.]
[Cursed Momentum has leveled up from level 3 to 4.]
[Berserker’s Body has leveled up from level 2 to 3.]
[Toxin Resistance has leveled up from level 2 to 5.]
[Body Bash has leveled up from level 8 to 9.]
[Keen Senses has leveled up from level 7 to 8.]
[You have reached level 29. 5 stat points awarded.]
[You have reached level 30. 5 stat points awarded.]
[New Core Skill! For reaching level 30 as a Cursed Berserker you have learned Cursed Stomp — level 1.
Discombobulate your enemy and inflict them with the curse you bear! Destroy them and make them suffer! This skill uses mana.]
Amber was slightly off-put by the barrage of notifications but she was glad to see so many of her skills leveling up. Not only that but she had gotten a new Core Skill, though it seemed to use mana so she decided to put two points on Wisdom and Intelligence from one of her level ups just in case. Then, she tilted her head.
“Second Rank…?” She took a breath from tiredness. “What does that mean?”
“It means a qualitative change,” a voice replied.
Amber turned only to see the Primordial Spirit standing at the doorway looking at her and clapping his hands.
“Excellent fight, by the way. Though you may want to get all of that blood off you as soon as possible.”
She looked down at herself, her exposed skin was sizzling though the blood didn’t seem to actually corrode her clothes for whatever reason. A stinging pain was present all over her body, as well. In the end, Amber just shook her head and sat down on the ground, her body aching from the fight.
“I’ll be okay, it’s a good way to level my Toxin Resistance.”
Her response seemed to get a laugh from the Primordial Spirit, but she didn’t care and instead decided to ask him a question.
“What is a qualitative change in this case? For Heavy Swing I mean.”
He shook his head. “You should’ve gotten a notification about it.”
Amber blinked and realized that— indeed she had missed a notification amongst the deluge of messages. One she quickly read.
[Heavy Swing has reached 2nd Rank — level 1.
You’ve grown used to swinging down your deadly heavy rock upon your foes! And now, you swing even harder, armed or unarmed.
2nd Rank — Cooldown is halved and the swing strikes 30% harder.]
“Oh that is nice.” She paused for a moment before hearing a skittering sound behind her. She turned only to see another Sapphire Spider skittering towards her.
[Sapphire Ardrid. Lvl. 32]
Her fight versus the earlier one was tiresome and it was the first time fighting the monster, but Cursed Momentum was still very much active and fully stacked. She also wanted to test the newly improved Heavy Swing that she had been given.
“You should probably back off and recover first,” the Primordial Spirit advised.
Amber immediately shook her head. “This is the perfect chance to test Heavy Swing.” She got up from her resting spot with a smile.. “And the perfect target too.”
The spirit sighed and she charged as the monster shrieked. It immediately tried to shoot acid at her but she deftly evaded and then paused— there was a skill to test too. She had a vague idea of how to use it, and it felt weird— almost like shifting her weight but different. And yet it was like she was guided to it.
Amber stomped, she felt a drain on her small mana pool and the ground shattered— the spider nearly tripped and she saw opportunity. She charged, and raised her sword upon the fallen monster—
Heavy Swing—
It cleaved through two legs as the monster screeched, falling once more to the ground. Amber carried the slash and twirled before using her skill again—
A Heavy Slash enhanced hit struck the Sapphire Spider’s thorax, cleaving it in two before Amber followed up with a flurry of swings, most enhanced with Heavy Swing at this point as the monster kept on fruitlessly screeching in pain. Its blood spraying everywhere as toxic fumes spread into the room.
But she didn’t care and with a final swing, she split the head of the monster.
[You have defeated a [Sapphire Ardrid. Lvl. 32].]
[Cursed Stomp has leveled up from level 1 to 2.]
[You have reached level 31. 5 stat points awarded.]
She blinked, panting from exhaustion. The two fights had exhausted her a lot and yet—
“That was infinitely easier.” She was in disbelief. The halved cooldown was a quantitative change for her. And Cursed Stomp had greatly aided her in stunning the monster too. In the end, she couldn’t help but smile wildly. “This is just great.”
The Primordial Spirit nodded at her. “You don’t cease to impress me.”
“Thanks for the compliment.”
“Yeah.” The spirit nodded. “But seriously speaking, do heed my advice about the blood. Or at least prepare yourself to need to wash it as soon as possible. That acid gets stronger the longer it stays on your body.”
Amber frowned, he felt a bit like a buzz-kill but ultimately she decided to heed the Primordial Spirit’s advice.
* * *
[Toxin Resistance has leveled up from level 5 to 6.]
The Primordial Spirit seemed to visit her whenever it felt like it, though it happened once a day at the bare minimum. Plus she could ask him very important questions.
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“Do you mind?” Amber asked with annoyance standing next to the canals of water. “At least turn around so I can wash myself.”
“What makes you think I’d care about such things— especially you, a mortal.”
She continued to stare at him until he turned around, mumbling something about her being strange. And finally, she felt okay enough to begin taking a bath. Though as she did so she made sure to question the Primordial Spirit.
“What’s so rare about my class anyway? I understand that Warriors aren’t as popular but the System said it was once a century.”
“Well, most people aren’t insane enough to fight while bearing a curse,” the Primordial Spirit shrugged, looking at the hallway in front of her.. “Not only that, but most people aren’t insane enough to get the Berserker class to begin with. Not everyone is a battle maniac.”
Amber scoffed. “I’m not a battle-maniac, I just like pushing my limits. If knitting pushes my limits in a more fulfilling way then you’ll see me knitting.”
“So you’re going to be a Knitting Hero of Vir? As an elderly lady?” the spirit asked, evidently amused.
“Yes,” Amber answered simply.
He shook his head with a chuckle. “Anyway, to answer your question. It’s a simple one really. The System sees potential within you. Such classes are only offered to those with potential. Those that may change the world of Vir, perhaps they’ll usher a new era, perhaps they’ll bring an age of darkness, or perhaps they’ll topple us in power. Your feats aren’t extraordinary yet, but the System is sure they will be. And for what it’s worth: I’m sure they’ll be extraordinary too.”
Amber blinked, surprised at what the spirit thought.
“That or you’ll die in the process,” he added and she snorted.
* * *
“So instead of cutting yourself, you’re burning yourself,” the spirit commented standing at the entrance of the floor.
“Well, as much as I’d like to rush down the floors, I should probably use this chance to get stronger— ouch.” Amber winced, lifting one of her bare feet from the burning ground of the floor.
“You know, in all my time alive I've seen maybe less than ten people that are as insane as you. Didn’t you say you enjoyed pushing your limits?” He raised his brow. “Are you sure it’s that?”
She nodded. “Right now I’m also testing my pain tolerance, after a certain point it just becomes like a cold feeling; it's uncomfortable but I can almost forget it’s there.” She thought for a second. “I think that’s kind of interesting.”
The spirit seemed to pause. “Right…”
* * *
Amber had acquired two more resistances from her exploits and training, Elemental Resistance and Physical Resistance. Though the Primordial Spirit did tell her she was missing Magical Resistance — apparently Elemental Resistance seemed to help with magic but not completely. It wasn’t something she fully understood, but even then, she was proud of her current status.
[Name: Amber | Level: 31
Class: Cursed Berserker | Unspent Stat Points: 0
Stats:
Vitality: 83
Strength: 66
Dexterity: 57
Endurance: 46
Intelligence: 22
Wisdom: 22
Free Core Skill Slots: 4 | Core Skills:
[Heavy Swing - 2nd Rank Lvl. 1], [Body Bash - Lvl. 9], [General Weapon Mastery - Lvl. 10], [Cursed Momentum - Lvl. 4], [Berserker’s Body - Lvl. 3], [Cursed Stomp. - Lvl. 2]
General Skills:
[Supernatural Nullification], [Identify - Lvl. 1], [Toxin Resistance - Lvl. 6], [Elemental Resistance - Lvl. 3], [Physical Resistance - Lvl. 3], [Keen Senses - Lvl. 8], [Quick Recovery - Lvl. 8].]
Finally, with a smile she stood before the stairs of the next floor, ready to descend. The current floor she was in had had the two Sapphire Spiders, for some reason the floor only held two spiders.
“I don’t really get it, you don’t want to help me but follow me around?”
“Well, life as a god is quite boring, so I hope that answers the question.” He shrugged.
“I guess.” Amber too shrugged.
She was slightly annoyed about not getting help, however, she had actually grown to enjoy the Primordial Spirit’s presence. He was fun, eccentric but fun. She didn’t know how much she missed socializing until now.
“Oh, by the way what would you do if I jumped out the window?” she asked.
The Primordial Spirit paused. “I’d drag you back in of course. Thinking you can leave my tower in such a way without my permission?” he scoffed.
“Maybe,” she replied tentatively.
The Primordial Spirit snorted.
Amber smiled. The Primordial Spirit was nice and almost a friend, while she wanted to tease him she kept it at that. And so, she descended the steps to the next floor.
The floor wasn’t visible until a couple of steps in, and it didn’t seem to have windows or much light. Instead, she saw a dark chamber with shallow moats, almost as they were there for decoration. At the center, there was a large platform of stone with two bridges for access, and standing right in the middle was a two meter tall knight.
[Knight of all Mortals. Lvl. 40]
It was almost ten levels higher than her.
“And so you’ve arrived at a lesser boss, isn’t that fun?”
Amber stared at it for a moment before smiling. “That it is. Though I’m not stupid, I’ll certainly run if I’m outclassed.”
“So you do have a brain,” the Primordial Spirit commented as Amber continued going down.
The stairs ended at the bridge, and the passage to the next floor was evidently at the other bridge. The setup would’ve been a bit bothersome if the arena wasn’t almost the diameter of a football field. And so she chose to not worry about the water being potentially acid.
Amber reached the foot of the bridge as the Knight of all Mortals seemed to almost lay dormant, waiting for its next opponent. She eyed the sword it held, it resembled hers except its blade was a pitch black.
“An upgrade?” she wondered out loud.
The Primordial Spirit sighed, pinching the bridge of his nose. “You know, the weapons were cursed so people wouldn’t steal them, but here you are taking them and tossing them around as if they were trash. They are quite high quality, you know?”
“They aren’t trash, it’s just that my sling was worn down and I couldn’t take them with me,” Amber explained, hefting her sword over her shoulder. “That said, this one is the most useful, but I do test others to see if there are better ones.”
With that, she began to step towards the slumbering monster. All she had now was her main sword and a dagger as backup. The Primordial Spirit didn’t give a response as it also followed along. Finally, when she was about two-thirds through the bridge, runes began to light up on the knight’s armor. They started at each of its extremities, slowly rising up with a harrowing red color before they reached its head, where two orbs began to glow.
Amber readied herself, but the monster simply raised its sword and stood on guard. She stared at it for a moment, befuddled before it clicked. It was a knight. Whether it was waiting for her to step into the ring or attack, she didn’t know. But she charged forward with a smile, wielding her sword. The Knight of all Mortals too charged in kind.
They immediately clashed swords and Amber gritted her teeth as she was pushed back. She was clearly outmatched when it came to strength even with the slight boost that Cursed Momentum provided right now, but she was faster than it, and she also had other things. She raised her foot and— stomped.
Cursed Stomp broke the ground and the knight faltered, she deflected the sword away and immediately twirled, starting a sword strike. She used Heavy Swing and the knight got hit on the clavicle— a heavy clank resounded as the monster was sent stumbling multiple steps back.
“You know, the floors of your tower don’t really make sense to me, why was there a level 100 monster randomly— why is there a lesser boss now after who knows how many floors?” Amber asked, charging forward.
She immediately slashed with Heavy Slash as the monster didn’t seem to recover its poise but it— parried. Amber was thrown off balance and a slash came her way, one she barely dodged by falling and rolling away from the knight.
“Well each Primordial Spirit designs their tower in a way that is perfect for their needs. You should know my needs by now.”
“Entertainment?” Amber asked as she clashed swords with the knight again.
“If this was a game you would’ve won with a perfect score,” the spirit said with a pleased tone. “The floors in this tower are erratic because it’s fun. At first it looks normal but the higher you go the weirder it gets; luckily for you, you are descending. The level 100 Waragon was just the start of what I’m talking about.”
She scoffed as Cursed Momentum ticked, granting her an increase in strength. She wasn’t pushed as far now, and she could see a gash on the metal armor. It seemed that thankfully, she wasn’t going to need to wield the sword by its blade. Which made her smile. Then, she tried to push the knight with all her strength as the monster in turn too pushed.
Amber immediately stepped to the side and the monster ended up stumbling forward, then she struck its head with a Heavy Swing charged slice— the head of the monster flew across the room and for a moment, she relaxed. It should’ve been dead— her eyes widened as a sweeping strike came for her head, one which she quickly ducked under.
She ended up having to block and continuously back off from the headless monster.
“Piece of advice, not all monsters are the same. Some may not even have an actual weak-point,” The Primordial Spirit said before chuckling. “You can guess what this one is.”
She didn’t answer as she used Cursed Stomp on the beast again. The knight immediately was thrown off, scratches appeared all over its armor this time around and she used it as a window of opportunity. She used Heavy Swing, hitting the monster on the sword arm. Her sword cleaved right through its wrist as the sword clattered to the ground. Then she followed up with a plethora of Heavy Swing enhanced attacks. The monster was forced to back off as it kept having to block her swipes but she didn’t stop, the sword constantly tearing through its armor.
“Interesting, but it’s not a lesser boss for nothing.”
On cue with the spirit’s words, the monster tried to lunge towards her but Amber managed to back off in time, and then the monster started to punch. She had to duck and attack in a much more passive manner, and this continued as she slowly managed to wear down the knight. More and more shallow gashes appearing all over the monster until its runes began to glow brighter— it caught her sword and pulled.
Amber held onto it and the monster threw her across the room. She immediately hit the wall. The shock made her cough as her insides rearranged. The now half-stacked Cursed Momentum helping her to not sustain heavier damage. She fell hitting the water — that thankfully was actual water — and the knight jumped down, following after her.
Amber hurriedly grabbed her sword again and this time, decided to change the way she used it, deciding to trust General Weapon Mastery she grabbed the secondary-guard and the blade, almost like a staff. Making sure she could easily manipulate it, she used the blade of the sword to block the knight’s attacks, sometimes she stabbed and sometimes she swung, puncturing the knight with the guard.
The battle dragged on as Amber accrued some punches and bruises from the fight but as Cursed Momentum built up, the more she pushed back until finally it reached its highest point and Amber knew it was over. She immediately backed off and regripped her sword in a normal way, then uncaring for what the knight might do, she rushed. Slicing using Heavy Swing.
The knight blocked with its forearms and— they were sheared right through. Amber smiled and carried the momentum from the previous swing into another Heavy Swing laced swipe, cleaving through its arms. Then its torso was torn apart with the subsequent swings as the monster finally fell over.
Dying for good, heralding the start of a barrage of notifications.
[You have defeated a [Knight of all Mortals. Lvl. 40].]
[General Weapon Mastery has ranked up. General Weapon Mastery is now 2nd Rank level 1.]
[General Weapon Mastery has reached 2nd Rank — level 1.
You’ve grown used to wielding the weapons you come across! And now, you can do it better. What? It’s a mastery skill.
2nd Rank — Weapons feel 30% lighter in your hands .]
Amber blinked. The description was amusing to her, but the 2nd Rank effect seemed underwhelming except upon thinking about it, it was actually quite great. That meant she’d have even faster strikes with her swords or even be able to wield a gigantic greatsword without as much effort in the future.
With a smile she continued down her notifications, also leaving the water and moving towards the sword the knight had.
[Heavy Swing has leveled up from 2nd Rank level 1 to 2nd Rank level 2.]
[Cursed Momentum has leveled up from level 4 to 5.]
[Berserker’s Body has leveled up from level 3 to 4.]
[Cursed Stomp has leveled up from level 2 to 3.]
[You have reached level 32. 5 stat points awarded.]
…
[You have reached level 35. 5 stat points awarded.]
New Core Skill. Amber smiled as she grabbed the sword. And a new sword.
[New Core Skill! For reaching level 35 as a Cursed Berserker you have learned Curse Battery — level 1.
You passively store the curses affecting you, and you can unleash thirty minutes worth of them upon touching an enemy. You store 3 minutes per hour.]
“Battery?” she asked out loud.
“I figured I should give you something related to your world,” the Primordial Spirit said with a smile. “Don’t worry, the skill is actually better than the one it could have been.”
And Amber paused, looking at the smiling spirit. Her mind whirled in confusion, before she remembered what he had said when they first met. He was a god. She was stunned for a second before she nodded.
“Thank you.”
“You’re welcome—” And the Primordial Spirit stopped and then looked straight at the ground.
Amber briefly felt confused before the spirit spoke once more.
“People have stepped into the tower,” he said, his tone hard to read. “Intruders.”