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“ROAR!”
A gigantic, three-headed, blazing wolf-like monster roared, towering over four meters tall. The behemoth easily dwarfed all monsters within this S-Rank Dungeon within the Tower’s First Floor.
With its three heads, it constantly unleashed explosive fireballs at his foe, a single, petite rabbit girl with pointy ears and short brown hair. Her golden eyes shone brightly as they turned orange-colored, and her aura of Ki and Mana combining quickly blazed, generating flames of her own.
BOOM! BOOM! BOOM!
She used this powerful aura to enhance her physical body, moving rapidly with her rabbit foot, which allowed her to give potent hops from one place to another. The wolf chased her, rushing towards her and swinging its giant claws.
“You’re even using your claws?!”
She evaded the deadly claws with blazing speed, and then swung her huge hammer against the monster’s paw, crushing its fingers and shattering its claws.
CRASH!
The three-headed wolf gave out a scream of agony, quickly stepping back in pain and confusion. Its blazing aura released several fireballs within the cave interior, which the girl rapidly started to gather into her aura.
“{Blazing Ki Aura: Fire Absorption}!”
FLUOSH!
The flames gathered around her body and fused with her Aura, empowering her even more and helping her leap towards her foe’s head as she released a blast of fire from beneath her.
“Gotcha!”
She swung her hammer at the three-headed monstrosity, crushing its third, middle head with a single strike, blood splattering everywhere.
CRASH!
The monster agonized; one of its heads died, yet the others remained alive. Their jaws opened, trying to tear the girl apart with deadly attacks.
“{Body Reinforcement}!”
Her body suddenly increased its durability and defense, and the jaws of the monster ended up being unable to pierce through her black-scale dragon armor or her powerful, tough skin.
As the fangs tried to tear through, she used this opportunity to finish the monster off, imbuing Ki and Mana into her hammer and suddenly transforming it.
“{Shapesmithing Arts}: {Spear Form}!”
Her hammer absorbed her energies and transformed its shape into a sharp, silver-colored spear overflowing with crimson flames, which she used to pierce one of the wolve's throats and then retrieve it to destroy the other.
CLASH! CLASH!
She quickly leaped away as she saw the monster’s two lasting heads bleed out and die, its giant body finally collapsing over the floor, spreading flames and blood across the room.
“Hahh… I-I did it!”
The girl celebrated with a smile, looking at the system notification, showcasing she had gained several levels! And with each level, she felt her body and her internal core grow stronger, more refined, and reinforced, with Ki overflowing through her body.
The clapping of someone behind her resonated as the young woman quickly ran towards the origin of the clapping, finding a gorgeous silver-haired woman whose body seemed completely made of golden light.
“Well done, Peperina,” she said. “You’ve grown considerably stronger this week. I think you’re probably at an even higher level than most of the S-ranks in my world, surprisingly enough. This method seemed to also work well.”
“Bing Xue! Thank you so much for helping me so far. I never thought I would ever complete so many dungeons in just a week.” Peperina laughed. “I feel so strong... So confident! The more I leveled up, the more my body became tougher. And I was even able to awaken Papa’s powers from his bloodline.”
“Yes, you’ve worked well. The power of cultivation can also awaken bloodlines; no matter how thin the blood might be, with enough cultivation, you can force its powers to come out eventually.” Bing Xue nodded with a smile. “It worked well that your level wasn’t high; like this, your cultivation was able to begin right away and grow at the same time as you leveled up. People whose level was already very high from the beginning have slower growth compared to yours. You’re catching up to my other disciples very quickly, Peperina.”
“I never imagined that being leveled would help me grow faster than stronger people.” Peperina laughed. “And father’s powers... So this is Shapesmithing? And also the Fire Element! I have fully awakened both.”
“Yes, the bloodline abilities of your father are Fire Control, Absorption, and also Shapesmithing,” Bing Xue said. “They were the powers and abilities of your father’s tribe, the Blazer, right?”
“Yeah, usually Dad suppresses his fire powers because they can be dangerous, but when he goes to the smithy, he unleashes them. I always admired that and always wished I could one day use them,” sighed Peperina. “But the first time I used something similar, I panicked, and I was unable to contain them. I was afraid of the harm I could bring others. And because of that, I didn’t like fighting or anything related to that.”
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“Well, after over a week of fighting, do you feel better?” Bing Xue asked. “I know the act of taking another life is harsh, even for animals or monsters. But it is a necessary thing to do to become strong. Monsters and beasts are also creatures that could threaten innocents, so taking care of their populations so they do not overflow cities or villages is a necessary task.”
“I do feel better, and yeah, I understand that as well.” Peperina smiled. “Though I have only tapped into the surface of these powers... But to further advance, I think I need to climb the tower as well. I want to go to the second floor, where the tribe of my mother originated from. I want to find them, my long-lost family, and then talk to mom about how I met them and if they ever remember her anymore.”
“I see.” Bing Xue smiled. “You’ve become strong enough and have a good reason, so I suppose I can bring you along. I was going to climb to the second floor as of now.”
“Eh?! Really? Can I come?” The little rabbit wondered.
“You could, but aren’t you tired? You should rest for a day at least,” said Bing Xue.
"Nah, I’m fine, really! Your Ki cultivation techniques always keep my little body strong and refreshed,” Peperina nodded with a confident smile. "So, can I join? Pretty please? I’ll behave and try to be of help, of course!”
“Oh well, you said you took a two-week vacation in the adventurer guild, right? I suppose you can join then. You’re strong enough to protect yourself,” Bing Xue smiled.
“Ahh, right, my job... I’ve been considering quitting it now,” Peperina said. “I want to grow stronger and explore the tower. Find my mother’s family, and then climb even higher where the Blazer Dwarves Tribes live. I want to meet my people and learn about their cultures."
“Well said, a very good decision, and also a very hard decision,” said Bing Xue with a nod. “It is also perhaps a very noble reason to become stronger, one I approve of very much. Let’s go then, dear. I’ll bring you along.”
“A-Are we going together alone by any chance?” Peperina wondered as she stored the monster’s corpse inside her storage ring.
“Oh, of course not. Urbosa and Merkite, my wives, are coming along,” said Bing Xue. “They also have many things to do on the second floor. Also, I am bringing along someone from my world, a young human man named Seth. I will tell you more about him as we go.”
“Ah, alright!” Peperina nodded, masking her slight disappointment that she wouldn’t get to spend alone time with the real Bing Xue and not just a Doppelganger, a projection made out of her powers.
The two made their way out of the dungeon, finding hundreds of monster corpses, most of which were creatures between Levels 600 and 800, which Peperina had singlehandedly defeated.
Indeed, she had become very strong, and with her, Bing Xue was able to further perfect her own techniques and cultivation and growth formations, allowing her to further synchronize Level Growth and Cultivation Growth.
Eventually, she wants to perfect it to the point that even Leveling Up itself can be hastened through Cultivation and not just the other way around. Perhaps back in Murim, power was something that could be obtained over many years—hundreds, sometimes thousands of years.
However, right now, that wasn’t the case anymore. With threats and worlds colliding together thanks to the Tower, an endless downpour of monsters, dungeons, players, and malicious gods constantly appeared, making the Tower an even more dangerous place than even Murim.
If they don’t grow strong enough,
.
.
.
(Bing Xue’s POV)
We arrived on the first floor without any problems, moving towards the village where we met with Estrella, Umbra, and Leviathan. Why is he here from all places? Is a giant body not really hard to discern? The people of the village are panicking already.
RUMBLE!
His enormous divine body made the skies rumble, golden and black lightning surging everywhere; his serpentine body seemed to move across the clouds freely, although he had a slightly worried expression on his face.
“Leviathan! Why have you descended from your Divine Realm again? I told you that your very presence can cause natural disasters, and you haven’t even mastered your Divine Powers enough to hold them back.”
“I'm very sorry, Master Bing Xue! I was just too worried, and when I heard that you were coming back, I had to come talk to you personally!”
“What? What’s wrong?”
As I asked him, Estrella broke her silence.
“I can’t believe you chose that disgusting multi-headed serpent as the new god of our world! Just what is wrong with your head, master?!” The pesky girl complained. “I would have rather had the entire world destroyed than Leviathan becoming the new God!”
“Sister, I think you’re being too harsh,” sighed Umbra. “Besides the two of us, Leviathan was the most ancient living being and also the strongest. He was there even before we were born, based on the people’s beliefs and faith. He’s technically our elder, you know?”
“Shut up! He’s dumber than the two of us, so I am not going to call him a wise elder or something; he’s a rabid beast that once ate my divine spirits and tried to eat me when I went to reprimand him!” said Estrella.
“Huh, I had no idea there was this drama between the old gods and Leviathan.” Urbosa smiled with a slightly mocking expression. “I’m glad that Leviathan has become the new god now.”
“Yeah~ honestly, I wouldn’t have been able to accept having this type of person as a goddess…” sighed Merkite, crossing her arms.
“What an annoying little twat.”
“Indeed.”
The two were poking Estrella’s face with their fingers, annoying the very annoying girl.
“H-Hey, stop it! I tried being a good goddess!” She was about to cry already.
Damn, I never knew those two had this side to them; they’re definitely even better now.
“Hah, please forgive my sister; she’s always this way, even though she said she was trying to improve,” said Umbra. “Just yesterday she said she loved me and wanted to make things right again, but she’s too prideful, so she has to act like this, or she will feel embarrassed about opening up and being more honest.”
“W-What?! Umbra, why did you say that?!” Estrella cried.
I see, so she’s actually trying to improve; that’s nice.
It’s good that she’s trying to love her brother now; it would have been nicer if she tried when she was alive.
She’s now something like a minor god tied to me as a summons, unfortunately.
Now, let’s talk with the real god here.
“Um, are those two the old gods?!” Leviathan wondered. “I-I thought you had killed them before, Master Bing Xue-”
“I was able to revive them as Divine Spirit Familiars,” I answered. “Now, Leviathan, let’s get to the point. I am in quite a hurry to go to the second floor, so tell me what’s wrong. I can’t sense anything threatening right now, though. I hope this is not for something minimal.”
“I-It’s not, look! I was sent this…”
Leviathan suddenly gave me a blue-colored jewel, and when I grabbed it, a projection was created.
FLUOSH!
And it showed several figures—divine beings, gods, perhaps, or their avatars.
“This is a message to the goddess known as Bing Xue, who had slain the two gods of Floor 1.”
“We represent the gods of the Fourth Order.”
“And we want to offer you a new opportunity.”
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image [https://cdn.scribblehub.com/avatar/s/9/ava_37531_1704863501.jpg]