The new floor had met Robert with a huge red filter that changed the tone of everything to confirm that it was indeed a hell, and not just another stage of the Tower. The choice was quite obvious as there were barely any objects around. The desolated rocky plain was covered with a thin layer of red sand, rarely hiding multiple cracks on the surface. However, the mist was coping with the latter task, obstructing the sight of anything that further than twenty meters away. Consisting of flaming particles that were constantly floating in the air, it abruptly increased its thickness near the edge of the visible circle as if forming a wall.
Such an oddly sudden change in the density of the haze looked completely unnatural. Especially when Rob felt the strong and hot wind that started to blow with a different frequency and force, blowing sand into his eyes, but not even shaking a hazy dome that covered him from all sides. The sole exception that managed to penetrate this System-made veil were three bright red circles, sending its light from above. Only the light as from Robert’s senses the heat was coming from the winds and ground itself, warming his bare feet.
It really looks like the System doesn’t wish to spend resources to support a proper render distance, thus using an artificial mist to limit the sight… Okay, and where are the demons?
Checking his surroundings and noting the same picture everywhere, Robert simply started to walk. The short test confirmed his suspicion that he would lose 2 experience points per minute, no matter how hungry or thirsty he was. It was just an excuse to make his life harder. For now, his stock was enough to last for many hours, but without knowing the spawn rate of the demonic creatures and their strength, he wasn’t going to spend even a single point. Still, Rob could plan his attribute’s investments in the future.
It created a feeling of anticipation. To finally make a proper build. To grow in power. To directly increase his strength using the easiest, but simultaneously the bloodiest way Robert knew – through the killing. To turn into a real "murderhobo" as if he wasn’t already the one, paving his way through the multiple living beings. Not that it scared him after all his life experience. Therefore, Rob divided into his Status screen, while sparing only rare glances to the surroundings. There wasn’t much to think about, but there was nothing to do in the completely bare place.
Apart from…
Stretching his arm, Rob created a long road with a mace before activating his newly acquired skill that replaced his self-created combination of runes. Or at least he tried as there was no effect despite his mental effort. It made him stop in his tracks and focus harder, sending a clear mental command… only to get nothing in return.
Are you kidding me? What the heck, System? I am not shouting the activation command aloud like a dumb idiot! The hell! It is my steel! My skill! And you are going to obey my will!
Turning motionless, Robert turned his senses inward. The feeling of gaseous mana that filled whole his body together with any steel construct he created once again returned the confidence in his control over his single element. The control, which wanted to expand over the new skill. Focusing on his senses, Rob silently muttered the command with only his lips.
“Energy Blast.”
The immediate reaction didn’t make him happy at all. Partly it was because he wanted to do it with just his mind. To rule over his own ability by his own wish, and not through obeying the rules from the machine. To grasp it completely, so he could integrate it into his fighting skills. The other part of his mind was too preoccupied with the process, attempting to understand the mechanism of the creation. Not even checking the effect of the skill, Rob repeated it again and again, concentrating on the ethereal feelings from the activation.
The instant of the trigger caused a real chain of changes. The collapse of the mana-fueled matter as if it was sucked from the inside. During the tiny fraction of this already almost non-existent duration there was only a dot akin to the smallest possible black hole. Then it exploded, sending a devastating wave of focused energy in the form of a small clot. It was almost like a ball of fire, but instead of flaming red, it was snow white. Opening his eyes, Robert noticed how the projectile pierced the haze, leaving a longing hole in its body. Only in a few seconds, it had patched itself, but Rob still managed to notice how the ball dispersed in the air, not traveling too far.
Sending a few more ranged attacks, he confirmed his assumption – the projectile indeed started to lose the energy relevantly fast as if it was emanating it constantly until the whole charge was used. Therefore, when Rob used a much bigger construct to produce the energy ball, it lasted much longer. On the other hand, casting the skill without increasing the weight caused much less effect. Not only did it barely reach a two-meter mark in comparison to at least thirty in the first test, but also it was completely unfocused, almost copying a wave.
Still, it can have its own usage in a battle… But need to learn to do it myself.
It took around thirty minutes to find a test target for the skill. The human-sized arachnid dived out from the haze without any warning. The moment its eight-legged figure emerged in front of Robert, the demon produced a shrilling scream as if finally announcing its appearance. Making another cracking sound, it didn’t even pause before lunging itself onto Robert. He only managed to catch the huge torso with an enormous mouth and two long mantis arms that were growing from the back, when the need to save his life exceeded his curiosity. The huge thick shield covered his body from tip to toe right before the impact threw Rob backward.
The grinding sound of metal resounded in the surroundings when the natural blades failed to pierce the steel, alas barely. Robert still felt through his control over the construct how deep were the cuts in his hastily made metal wall. However, there was no fear or even anxiety in his mind. The summoned creation was repaired an instant later after being damaged. The next hit Rob met head-on, closing the distance. Bashing with his shield and forcefully blocking the attacks from the creature, he planted his steel construct into the ugly face of the arachnid. There was a tiny pause before his next actions as if he was making something idiotic.
“Energy Blast!”
To put it mildly, the effect was noticeable. The sudden disintegration of his shield created a fist-sized projectile that burned a hole in the demon’s body from a single hit and went even further into the haze. The creature collapsed a moment later. It looked almost like the threads that supported its life were all cut in a single motion, instantly killing it. However, Rob wasn’t better. To his utter surprise and shock, the aftereffect from the collapsing matter somehow went through his whole body, hitting his inner organs from the inside. It wasn’t so critical that his regeneration couldn’t fix in a minute, but the suddenness and painfulness of the event had put him out of balance.
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System, that was mean not explain the skill in detail… Crap, it hurts. Yep, not using a bigger version until my body can handle it. Need to find a safe amount that I can use without restraints… And learn to do it myself.
Spitting out the blood, Robert slowly rose from the ground, watching how the demon’s body was disappearing into nothingness. The System-made monster had a wide maw with sharp curved teeth, barbed skin with multiple tiny red needles, four big round eyes, and enormously long upper limbs that were simply implanted from the mantis. Moreover, the creature easily reached Rob’s waist level, was strong enough to push him backward, and had enough power to cut his steel. Together with its terrifying appearance, such combat power made the demon quite a foe.
This is a joke. 50 CP? Only 50 CP? That is clearly not 50!
As always, there was no answer to such unfairness. It seemed the Tower itself wanted to make him fail desperately, again and again bending the rules just for the sake of crushing the entity, which wasn’t under its complete control. Obviously, Robert had a different opinion on this subject. Not that it could influence something. Even this spawn rate from this singular case meant that he needed to spend 60 experience points in waiting only to gain 50. Therefore, his decision to wait before using available EP appeared to be correct. And, in such conditions, it might be possible that he wouldn’t have any ability to plan anything perfectly and would need just to raise his Combat Power as quickly as he could.
Still, I can try to work with my attributes to find a good balance between Reaction, Coordination, Perception, and Intelligence… and yeah, I finally have access to a magic plastic surgeon, and zero chance that I willingly will spend there even a single point. Not with such a System. This Tower doesn’t deserve my pretty face it seems… Most likely Toughness is a way to go for me. It’s the only possibility to use Energy Blast to fullness. Yeah, let’s try it again.
Continuing his aimless walk, Robert focused on the feeling of the skill. It was awfully hard to activate the effect by himself, but at least it didn’t take long to understand how to localize the steel that was meant to be fuel for the creation of destructive projectiles. Similar to weight control, it depended on visualization and willpower. And taking into account his ability to sense all his steel at any point as he literally conjured it all the time by a part of his mind, it wasn’t too hard to extend such ability even further. However, the manual usage of the skill without System’s help was beyond his capabilities… for now.
Rob knew that he would get there eventually. It took him not even months, but a few years of practice to grow his conjuring mastery to his current level where the steel was like an obedient machine with artificial intelligence that learned all his wishes up to the ability to predict them and was ready to execute them at once. The death of Wepwakor took off the veil that covered his senses from mana, increasing the precision and flexibility of the magic skill even more. It already went beyond being just an additional limb, helping him to feel his own body to a huge extent. And Robert wanted to go further on this road, having enough patience to repeat the same actions thousands of times until they became as simple as breathing. There were so many options, and so many ways how to progress, but it was too early to plan as each of them demanded much more from him.
As always, one step at a time, Rob… Right after you kill another ugly bastard.
The new demon looked like an ostrich with bat wings and a huge beak. The muscular legs had several curvy claws that were sharp enough to leave marks on the stone plain. Instead of a regular tail, the creature had something akin small scythe on the endpoint. Quite tall, its tiny violet eyes were at the same level as Rob’s. However, what made the thing look really disgusting was its oily skin with multiple blisters of different sizes, to which a chaotic net of horrible scars was added, replacing the decorative pattern for the demon.
The first thing that the demon made was to roar with a surprisingly loud voice, which completely didn’t match with a walking bird. The primal cry of anger could easily be made by a huge predator from the dinosaur’s era, so distal, terrifying, and primal it was. Then the creature jumped, rising high into the air. Robert barely managed to step to the side, while covering himself with a shield, when the demon landed with a shockwave. Cracking the surface of the stone on the impact, the enemy created a burst of air and flame that attacked the surroundings. Luckily for Robert, the mixture of sand, wind, and fire failed to penetrate his steel. On the other hand, he had to hide from it, losing the demon from the sight. And the latter immediately used it.
The strike with a beak was lighting fast. Piercing through the air at insane speed, the hellish ostrich pecked Rob at his helmet, almost tearing the piece of metal as if it was something like bread, which hungry bird wanted to swallow in one bite. The hit dropped Robert to the ground in a dazed state. He physically felt the dent on his helmet from the strike of the glowing beak. And the creature was already towering above him, reading for another hit. Summoning a conic construct to redirect the hit, Rob simultaneously rolled to the side, before pushing himself upwards. Following the very same motion and ignoring the ground-shattering strike from the demon, he swung with a conjured mace.
The spiked ball crushed into the leg of the ostrich, breaking the bone. The creature only started to fall after failing to catch its balance, when a sudden flame burst turned it into the jump, sending it high into the air. The problem was that even before the demon reached the highest point, Robert knew where it would land. Therefore, he acted. Not having enough time to leave his spot and not betting on the toughness of his shield, Rob decided to create a dozen long spikes, catching the enemy before it would squash him. Not stopping on it, he shouted another command.
“Energy Blast!”
The activation of the skill was a fraction of a moment before the heavy butt of the demonical animal was going to meet his shouting face. Piercing through the spikes, the ostrich still continued its fall under the effect of System-given ability. The enemy was already dead, being penetrated by several long metal improvised spears, but only Rob’s own skill managed to kill the inertia saving his lips from the potential kiss. The blast energy from the inside of the body disintegrated half of the demon while sending the rest part in the form of a horrible unidentified mass into the surroundings. Rob, on the other hand, was pressed against the ground, feeling like his own guts were being put into a shredder.
It took him at least ten minutes and a few bloody vomits before he tried to sit. By this point the System had already cleared everything, leaving only viscera on his naked body. However, despite the pitiful state, Robert was boiling from inside, barely holding himself from yelling at the whole world and specifically the being, which was the authority of the Tower. He was on the brink of going into a raging and mindless state in an attempt to unleash his thirst for aimless destruction. The anger was so overwhelming that only his willpower kept him in check.
50 CP, while the thing has fucking skill for pecking and jumping? System, our hate will be forever mutual without any possibility of treating these sick relationships. Given the opportunity, I will kill you. I will destroy the Tower. Even if there is no way to do it, I will find how to hurt you badly, you stupid piece of shit!... Okay, calm down, Rob. You will get your revenge. For now, be careful and do not underestimate the demons. It seems their 50 CP is fake as this Hell. So, once again, be effective. Learn the skill. Fight. Survive. Everything as always. I have around 50 hours to find the solution if the spawn rate doesn’t increase to supply the usage. Go!