Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 4

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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Chapter 4. The Tower – Tutorial (3)

I created a new clone and entered Tower Floor 4.
Ten seconds had elapsed—my body lay sprawled on the ground, and the goblin that had killed me was entranced by my one-handed sword, swinging it gleefully through the air while abandoning its own dull hand axe. The creature had no idea what it held.
What was a one-handed sword to me was a greatsword to a goblin the size of a child.
The moment the goblin became so absorbed in my blade that it turned its back to me, I seized the hand axe from the ground without hesitation and brought it down upon the creature’s skull with the same force it had used against me.
“Crunch!”
Crack!
The goblin died without so much as a whimper, just as I had.
I collected the goblin’s mana stone and weapons.
One dull dagger and two hand axes.
Including the hand axe I’d looted from the previous floor, that made three axes in total.
I overlapped the three axe heads and wrapped the blades loosely with the leather skirt the goblin had been wearing, then stuffed them haphazardly into my right cargo pants pocket.
The hand axes were small enough that all three heads fit comfortably in the pocket despite their bulk.
The handles struck my thigh with each step and clattered annoyingly, but it was bearable.
Since I still wasn’t comfortable using the inventory, I kept the axes accessible in my pocket so I could draw and throw them at any moment.
“Tch, this weight limit is irritating.”
The one-handed sword exceeded 500 grams and wouldn’t fit in the inventory.
Fortunately, the dagger was lighter and fit inside.
I placed my hand on the crystal and ascended to the next floor—Floor 5.

* * *

Upon arriving at Floor 5, I found a narrow corridor stretching straight ahead—a stark contrast to the open chamber below.

[Reach the end of the path.]

The quest on Tower Floor 5 was to reach the end of the path.
Based on what I knew, it wasn’t particularly long.
At most around 1000 meters?
According to what I’d read from Tower returnees online, the path would be blocked by walls at 200-meter intervals, with doors to proceed to the next section.
I walked forward as The Tower directed.
Of course, simply walking wasn’t the end—there was a goblin in front of that door.
“Just one goblin.”
At least what I’d read online seemed accurate.
One goblin three times per section, two goblins once, and three goblins at the end—a consecutive combat training exercise.
Tower Floor 1 was ability training, Floor 2 was practice killing living creatures, Floor 3 was proper combat training, and Floor 4 was one-versus-many training.
Now I understood why people called this a tutorial section.
“Krraaagh!”
The goblin shrieked and rushed at me.
Still, it seemed my meaningless death had at least reduced my tension somewhat.
I lowered my body, thrust my shield forward to block the goblin’s hand axe, and knocked it away with the shield.
As the goblin’s body tilted, I immediately swung my sword and severed its torso.
I picked up the hand axe and magic stone, then crossed through the door and continued down the path.
One-on-one combat with goblins was no longer difficult.
After passing through the third section that way, I reached two goblins at the 800-meter mark.
I considered throwing my hand axe but decided against it.
Throwing the axe before the goblins could react to create a one-on-one situation would be convenient, but it wouldn’t be good practice.
Three-on-one was out of the question, but two-on-one was something I should attempt.
Fortunately, the passage wasn’t very wide, so as long as I stayed alert, I wouldn’t be caught from behind.
I struck the goblin rushing from the left with my shield in a powerful pushing motion while swinging my Celadon Sword in an arc toward the right goblin.
The right goblin panicked and retreated, and the sword tip only grazed its arm slightly.
I didn’t miss the opening as the left goblin I’d pushed hard fell on its rear, immediately closing in on the right goblin, thrusting my shield forward to block its axe.
Then I swung my sword and severed the right goblin’s neck.
This time I didn’t completely sever it either, but the right goblin expired.
I immediately turned and swung my sword at the goblin rising to its feet.
“Phew! Good. As long as I don’t get too tense, this should work.”
I’d hunted down both goblins simultaneously.
As long as I didn’t get excessively tense, I could definitely win against anything on Floor 10 or below.
I stripped the weapons and magic stones, wrapped them in the goblin’s leather skirt, and packed them into my bag.
I was collecting the unused weapons and magic stones to sell them.
According to Tower returnees, magic stones could be exchanged for Shop Points through the Tower Shop window, and monster weapons or materials could be sold in the city on the Common Floor.
Using the Tower Shop only required points, but food, clothing, and shelter in the city required a common currency called ‘Credits’.
“Hmm, it has quite a bit of weight to it.”
It wasn’t heavy. Just three hand axes and two short swords added to my load.
Each piece felt under 500 grams, so….
“Ah, I just need to transfer it to my main body.”
Whether time flowed within the inventory or not, I couldn’t say, but time didn’t pass in my main body, and the space was spacious enough—perfect for storing items.
Of course, the passage connecting to my main body was cramped with a 500-gram limit.
I suspected there would be a way to expand the inventory capacity later.
Then I could use it more comfortably.
I shuttled back and forth between my main body and my clone, moving miscellaneous supplies.
After that, I passed through the door and arrived at the crystal guarded by the last three goblins.
The moment I arrived, I hurled my hand axe before the goblins could react.
The first hand axe I threw embedded itself deeply in the left goblin’s thigh, and the next one struck the center of the right goblin’s brow.
“Damn, I was aiming for the center with both of those.”
It seemed I had no talent for throwing.
I’d even practiced full-draw archery a few times back then.
The third hand axe flew true toward the center goblin, but it batted my axe away.
While it stumbled from the effort, I slashed the center goblin, and blocked the left goblin’s axe swing with my shield.
“Kiiieeeek!”
“Wow! Dual axes! That’s awesome!”
The left goblin pulled out the axe I’d gifted it and wielded both axes in both hands.
I blocked with my shield while swinging my sword.
This was my first time facing an opponent with dual weapons, and it was quite troublesome.
It swung wildly with openings visible, but I wasn’t skilled enough with the blade to capitalize on them.
However, thanks to the severe bleeding from its injured leg, it exhausted itself before long, and finishing off the tired goblin was easy.
After farming the weapons and magic stones, I sat down to rest briefly, then placed my hand on the crystal and ascended to the next floor.

* * *

Floor 6 had an environment similar to Floor 5. However….

[Navigate through the maze.]

From this point forward, it was a maze.
Naturally, I had no idea how to solve it.
“It’s a shame there’s no thread.”
In Greek and Roman mythology, the labyrinth of Crete was navigated using thread to retrace one’s steps, after all.
Though in my case, I wasn’t retracing my path—I had to pass through it—so thread would be pointless anyway.
I pulled out a notebook and pen from my bag, sketched a rough map, and moved forward slowly.
I used each line drawn in the notebook as one unit, marking a new line on the page every ten steps I took.
Whenever I encountered a fork in the path, I marked it in my notebook, and on the wall in the direction I chose, I left a mark using the blood stained on my leather skirt—blood I’d wiped from the blade after killing goblins.
The blue stood out nicely.
When choosing a direction, I used the right-hand rule, always selecting the rightmost path.
The right-hand rule was a method for navigating mazes: no matter how complex the maze’s structure, if an exit existed, it would ultimately connect to a single surface, so by keeping one hand on the wall and walking, you’d eventually emerge.
“Are there no monsters in the maze?”
I’d barely finished muttering this when I encountered a Horned Rabbit at a corner ahead.
The Horned Rabbit naturally charged at me, and I blocked its headbutt with my shield.
Unable to land its charge, the Horned Rabbit stumbled upon impact, and I cut it down without hesitation.
After encountering six Horned Rabbits and two goblins, I reached the exit approximately three hours later.
“Three hours—so it wasn’t such a massive maze after all.”
I ascended to the next floor.

* * *

Tower Floor 7 was wider and had shorter passages. Roughly five hundred meters, perhaps?

[Break through the trap-filled path and reach the end.]

So it was a trap corridor after all. With no monsters around, I should have expected as much.
On the internet, Tower returnees commonly complained about trap corridors across social media and community forums alike.
I carefully took a step forward. As I advanced slowly, I heard a mechanical whirring sound—’zing~!’
I raised my shield toward the hole where the sound originated.
Thwack!
An arrow embedded itself in my shield. The impact transmitted through the shield was quite powerful.
It had at least the force of a hand axe wielded by a goblin.
“So arrows shoot out from these holes depending on where you step. At this speed, I think just running through would be faster?”
Having made my decision, I bolted forward without hesitation.
Zing~! Zing~! Zing-zing-zing-zing~!
Multiple mechanical sounds triggered at once, and arrows flew toward where I had been standing.
“Argh!”
Whoosh! There were holes behind me too!
An arrow struck my shoulder and sent me tumbling forward. I pushed myself up and shielded my head with my shield, sensing an ominous mechanical sound from above—from the ceiling.
Pah-pah-pah-pah-pah!
A barrage of arrows rained down on my head. With each arrow that embedded itself, my shield grew heavier.
“Ugh!”
Arrows from the left diagonal struck my forearm and buttocks, while arrows from the right diagonal hit my ribs and thigh.
I gritted my teeth and kept running.
Following the direction of the sounds, I either blocked arrows with my shield or simply took them with my body, ultimately traversing the 500-meter corridor.
“Damn it, is this really meant to be passable? What kind of arrow rain is this?”
I muttered complaints under my breath, but I had to admit it.
I had been rather reckless.
If I had walked slowly, one step at a time, and responded to the traps properly, I would have taken only a few arrows. Instead, I looked like a porcupine.
Still, thanks to my shield, I managed to protect vital areas like my head and heart that would have meant instant death if struck.
At this rate, I’d die from blood loss or metal poisoning.
Without hesitation, I opened my ability window and selected [Absorption].

* * *

As my consciousness returned to my main body, the guidance text in the ability window greeted me.

[Obtained 120 Avatar Points from Avatar Absorption.]
[Multidimensional Avatar level has increased. Now Level 7.]
[Obtained 2000 Avatar Points from Multidimensional Avatar level up.]
[Current Avatar Points: 2230.]

Did reaching Floor 7 mean my level became 7?
No, when I checked my status window, my Strength, which had been 8 before I knew it, had increased to 9, and the Jade Sword’s level had risen to 7.
The ability of [Multidimensional Avatar] also seemed to work on a system where the level increased as much as the clones I’d grown and absorbed.
Probably because I was still in the early stages and had no immediate use for Avatar Points, the growth rate appeared to be accelerating.
Once my level increased further and Avatar Points found a use, I suspected the leveling would slow considerably.
Honestly, at this point, there was no real difference between being level 1 or level 7.
“But why did my Strength increase?”
I couldn’t figure out why my Strength had gone up.
It was my lowest stat, and I hadn’t even done any strength training,
“Oh, so absorption doesn’t have penalties like death does.”
Unlike when I died and the slot turned gray and deactivated temporarily, absorption allowed me to create a new clone and enter immediately, and time didn’t pass.
The arrows that had been embedded all over my body were pushed out of the new clone and fell to the ground.
I checked the ability window to see if consecutive absorption was possible, but absorption was grayed out and deactivated.
“Damn, so I can’t use the tactic of deliberately taking damage and repeatedly healing in combat.”
I thought it would be useful during fights.
Grumbling to myself, I climbed to the next floor.

(Continued in the next chapter)

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This chapter was translated by Lunox Novels. To support us and help keep this series going, visit our website: LunoxScans.com
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