The Moderator swiftly arrived in front of Jose who's leaving. "Yo, young man. That was really entertaining. You really reminded me of somebody, ya know that?"

"Um… no… I do not know…"

"Hah, you're a funny guy, anyway! You entertained me, and it's only right that I give you appropriate rewards for it. Firstly, your Key of Ascension."

The Moderator then handed a phantom-like silver glowing key to Jose. "You're such a good fighter. Now, for another reward." He then handed Jose a small pouch with three coins inside that is bigger than Salapi coins by half in diameter. "These funds will help you in your climb. Also, may I ask a question?"

"Yes... You may."

"Are you related to Antonio?"

"Um… That… is my adoptive grandfather."

This made the Moderator really happy as he burst into a big smile. "Wow! I never could've believed, did Antonio trained you to do all those things?"

"Yes… He taught me Kali, Shunpo… Everything, most that I know about combat."

"Oh, really?!"

"Yes. But… Please, can I go on my way?"

"Oh yeah, sure!" The Moderator stepped aside with a creepy smile. As much as he wants to discuss with Jose, he knows he can't force him now that he's done with the trial, but he can contact him anytime he wanted anyways.

As Jose left, the Moderator then walked towards Zero. Looking down as he refused to squat down like Jose.

"Hey there, Prince Zero." Again with the creepy smile.

"What do you need from me, Moderator?" Zero answered with his eyes closed, accepting his defeat as he focused on absorbing mana from the atmosphere and healing himself.

"Until when are you going to muck up here? Other climbers also needs this platform for the trial."

"Cant they wait for a bit while? I'm such a mess right now…"

"I understand, but you know... I really enjoyed your fight against Jose, it's been so long since the last one I've enjoyed such fight. And as a reward, I will be granting you a Key of Ascension, here..." He then materialized one on his hand and reached down to Zero. "Take it."

The latter finally opened his eyes and a expression of shock appeared on his slightly swollen face. "Why…?" He questioned.

"Because I enjoyed your fight, that's all, are you not gon' be thankful for it?"

"Fine… Thank you, Moderator."

"Hah!" The Moderator then healed him in an instant and reached out his hand to help him get up.

"Wow! This cutscene is so great!" Rumi is getting overly excited amongst the crowd.

Yohan then added, "Top-tier cutscene for a supposedly procedurally generated content."

"True, true." Yuuki also joined in.

After being healed, Zero coated his body with lightning in an instant, leaving swiftly as he felt shamed after the fight with Jose who's also nowhere in sight by now, disappearing as quickly as he arrived there as soon as the people shift their focus from him to the Moderator and Zero.

The Moderator then now went back on top of the tree and began thinking of whose fight are on now, contemplating amongst the many climbers who will be next in the trial. Still high on adrenaline from the spectacle he witnessed earlier, he picked out the most interesting people amongst the crowd, after one, two, five fights, he was bored once again.

"Really…? No one's going to be somewhat entertaining?" He complained softly. He began contemplating again. He had already picked out the most interesting climbers out here and their numbers are now thinning out. And yet, these three folks stick out like sore thumbs, he guessed they are most likely a group. But the thing is, they all wore such fabulous and precious items all here in floor 1. While yes items and equipment does help climbers, it's not really such a necessity in such low of a floor, even in higher floors, all you really need is your weapon, since armor is somewhat negligible by then because you're significantly stronger.

The genuine version of this novel can be found on another site. Support the author by reading it there.

Yes he did encountered some climbers who rely on some items to cover their weaknesses but not to this extent, where their whole body was adorned with items except this one person with a katana on his waist and black windbreaker.

The Moderator then began thinking to himself. "Is this guy from a Shogunato?" Shogunato is a Domain—which is a collection of floors with the same theme—and the home of the Katana wielding swordsmen known as Kenshi alongside with Shinobi villages and Onmyodo Clans. The Domain's pinnacle is the floor 191 home of the series of Legendary Katana Techniques and human or dwarf blacksmiths alike. Both races of the floor have given rise to many of the renowned Legendary Blacksmiths of the tower, since this floor is also one of the few dwellings of dwarves due to the abundance of crafting materials in this floor.

"You!" He pointed at Yuuki, who then answered with a confused tone, "Me?"

"That's right, you! Come up here! For the trial!"

"Um… okay…" Yuuki looked back to the two with an awkward smile before dashing forward and arriving onto the dueling platform in a swift manner.

'[Tenth Form: Shadow Step]'

"I am here, Moderator! So… Who's gonna be my enemy?"

The Moderator's eyes then began sweeping through the small crowd once again, but there really is no one else, his eyes laid on Yohan, but since these two are most likely companions, one of them will forfeit for the other and it will be no fun.

As if a stroke of luck is blessed upon him, four people had arrived. Cloaked in dark robes, these four people went along with the crowd, he randomly picked one of them for trial. "You!" He pointed, "Come up here!'

Without getting any response, that one he pointed at immediately went towards the dueling platform, he wasn't as fast, but he's optimistic that there is something good about him, and he is quite sure that this person is a Magic User.

The climbers out there have no idea who these two people are, but since they too are awaiting their turns, they will wait and watch the spectacles for a while.

That person took off his hood and looked at Yuuki with fierce eyes, which the latter just shrugs off with a brief, friendly smile.

The Moderator shouted, "Begin!" But both never launched any attacks yet, instead just standing there awkwardly, even though the Moderator already deployed a barrier around.

Yuuki examined his opponent deeply, he may not look like it but he is quite good at guessing an opponent's skill level and power.

"Nah… this guy's nothing special," he whispered softly while shaking his head, as if disappointed.

"Hey." The man called out. "What's the matter? Disappointed? I'm not good enough?"

"I'll be serious blud, you're not good enough to fight me. I won't even have fun beating you up." Yuuki responded with a smile.

The man then caressed his chin, "Okay… but I will try to be entertaining for you."

"Sure!" Yuuki shouted as he dashed forward, drawing his sword in a swift manner.

He arrived on the man's right side and swung diagonally to the left. "A barrier…?" Yuuki exclaimed.

The man opened his palm and Yuuki was blasted away with a powerful burst of wind, which he blocked with his sword.

"That's kind of rude, we haven't even introduced ourselves yet." The man said jokingly.

"Oh, yeah! Where are my manners, right? You can call me Hero, if that satisfies you."

Some climbers began laughing at him introducing himself and the robed man also cannot help but let out a small chuckle. "Pfft…"

Yuuki raised his brows, "Why? Is that a bullshit thing to say?"

"No, no, not really, you do you. It's just that… It's kinda childish, you see…"

"How so?"

"Well, as climbers, we only ever really fight for ourselves, so it is kind of childish to refer to yourself as Hero, since we are not concerned with non-climbers anyway, but if we're making up names, just call me... Gale, yeah, Gale."

"Well… I still want to be called that." Yuuki smiled, dashing forward after and swung horizontally, but there is that barrier still, which deflected his attacks. But still, he just chuckled. "Heh!" An aura made of pure mana flowed through the blade like blue flames as he pulled up his deflected weapon and swung down with great force one more time.

'[Second Form: Slash]!'

As he swung, the flame-like aura of the blade shot outward as a long line, slashing the barrier in half like butter.

This made Gale swallow his dry saliva as he dodged to the side. 'What the hell was that? Is that his strongest attack?!' He thought to himself, scared of such a degree of power that is capable of annihilating his barriers instantly, which are powerful enough for him to be hailed as a prodigy and was further strength after training extensively since childhood.

A barrier which even his other three companions can't easily break through without really putting substantial effort. If this is not his opponent's most powerful attack, he don't know if he will be able to fight back at all, he really need to take this joker seriously.

Due to being momentarily terrified, he forgot to counter attack despite his opponent being open and instead, Gale landed quite a distance away, he can't let this guy near him.

"Ahh… I see, you're a wind mage! Am I right?!" Yuuki shouted as he pulled back up his sword, still looking lively despite presumably using his best attack in one go that seemed to use large amounts of mana.

But Gale never answered, still shocked of such thing. If he had seen Jose and Zero's battle earlier, he would've been less shocked to see this man's display of power, but since he didn't, this fear he's been feeling is the result of not having witnessed such display of power, far beyond what his opponent is showing right now.

Even the Moderator was extremely baffled by it, a power in caliber of the previous two, and moreover, it seems to be just a simple attack for this 'Hero' guy. "Is that… Everlasting Sword?" He exclaimed.