Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 65

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

Chapter 65. The Tower – Orc Warlord (1)

I activated the Appraisal skill, and the results appeared immediately.

[Wind Spirit Orb: Spirit Slot +1, Ability ‘Blade Wind’ now usable]

“This has nothing to do with dark magic at all.”
I’d thought it was some kind of inner core, but it turned out to be a magical artifact.
Or rather, it was something that deserved to be called an artifact, an out-of-place object, or an ancient relic—more than just a magical tool.
I’d assumed that Goblin was approaching first-class mastery, but it seemed he was using Blade Wind through sheer item power.
Slightly disappointing. Well, that’s Goblins for you.
“What kind of item is it? I need to make a report myself, so would you mind sharing? I’ll pay an information fee, if not the full price of the item.”
At the General’s request, I placed it in my inventory and answered.
“It’s called a Wind Spirit Orb. It simply grants the ability to use a technique called Blade Wind.”
“Hmm… so The Tower’s abilities can discern such things. Usually, even appraisal specialists need to examine an item for at least several months just to guess its rough purpose.”
Wasn’t that rather incompetent?
Couldn’t you figure out how mana should flow into something just by handling it casually?
“Could you perhaps appraise that metal scrap as well?”
“Each appraisal consumes Credits.”
When I showed reluctance, the General pulled 100,000 Credits from his pocket and tossed them to me.
“Will this be enough?”
“Yes, that’s more than sufficient.”
An appraisal costs 10 points, which converts to 10,000 Credits.
I immediately purchased an appraisal scroll for the General—that great man thinking of his country, not a fool—and appraised the item.

[Fragment of Zathakart’s Descent Rune: A component of the sorcery required for the Descent Rune technique.]

“The Ritual of Bi-Kang-Hohn-Moon?”
My murmur caused the General’s expression to stiffen visibly.
“What, what did you say? The Ritual of Bi-Kang-Hohn-Moon?”
“Do you know what it is?”
“I’m no mage, but I know it well enough. It’s the name of a terrible, sinister forbidden spell—one that allows that wicked dark sorcerer I mentioned earlier to be resurrected time and again. This is grave indeed.”
Dark magic, you say? There was something oddly compelling about it. Something that stirred my curiosity.
He muttered to himself for a moment, then splashed water on his face to clear his mind before speaking.
“Yes, you’ve not only protected the City but also provided invaluable information and handed over evidence. I must reward you. Is there anything you need? I’ll select magical artifacts from what I currently possess—one each for you. They may not rank among treasures, but they’re the sort used by generals themselves, so they’ll prove useful.”
At his words, we huddled together briefly to confer.
Since he was offering not just one but one for each of us, we needed to think carefully.
“Do you have any magical artifacts related to holy power?”
“I do. There’s one for combat priests and one for holy knights—which would you prefer?”
Diana answered without hesitation at his question.
“The combat priest version, please!”
It seemed she’d decided to take the priest version since I would be teaching her martial arts for combat.
He called someone from outside and had them bring a sun-shaped pendant.
“I’m a summoner, so I need a means to protect myself.”
“I don’t have summoner-specific equipment, but I do have a protective magical artifact that high-ranking visitors occasionally use. The mana stone consumption is no joke, but while it’s active, you could take a leisurely nap in the middle of a battlefield.”
The General handed Lee Su-young a thick, ornate bracelet roughly ten centimeters wide.
“I’m a martial artist. A sword would be most welcome.”
As it happened, my sword had been shattered.
I could always purchase another, but wouldn’t a superior blade be preferable?
At my words, the General pondered briefly, then retrieved a sword that appeared crude yet emanated an extraordinary aura.
“It’s a precious blade. You’ve been of particular service, so I’m adding extra value to its worth. I do hope you’ll use it well.”
I’d need to have this appraised later.
“Thank you.”
Upon receiving the sword, I attempted to place it in my inventory, but it wouldn’t fit—the blade weighed over a kilogram.
It was indeed a longsword, roughly twenty-five centimeters longer than my previous one.
Though its length and weight classified it as a two-handed sword, my refined inner strength allowed me to wield it comfortably with a single hand.
After securing the sword to my belt, I prepared to return to the 10th Floor.
“Would you not consider remaining here and becoming a Knight Commander?”
At the General’s suggestion, I smiled and shook my head.
“No. I’m a climber, so I must ascend The Tower.”
Personally, I was intrigued by this resurrected dark sorcerer and the sinister forbidden magic, but I had no intention of squandering months here.
If time were separated by dimension like a multidimensional avatar, it might be different, but spending time here meant time flowing on Earth as well.
Since this is Floor 18, spending five days and twelve hours here would mean one day passing on Earth.
Given that there’s roughly a ten percent time difference per floor, the higher I climb, the slower Earth’s time will flow.
“I see. It would have been wonderful to have skilled individuals like yourselves alongside us. What a pity. Then I wish you safe travels.”
With those final words, we received heavy pouches of mana stones collected by the soldiers and headed toward the City Wall where the Crystal/Safe Zone that brought us to Floor 18 awaited.
“Then we’ll meet again on Floor 20.”
“Sounds good. I’ll see you on the 20th Floor.”
We made our way back to the 10th Floor, our residential level.

* * *

Upon returning to the 10th Floor, I stretched as the familiar plaza came into view.
“Phew! Climbing four floors in a single day is mentally exhausting, even if the body can handle it.”
The Tower provided potions that recovered stamina, so physical fatigue was manageable.
Besides, whenever I created a new clone, my physical exhaustion would reset entirely.
But mental fatigue was another matter entirely.
The 15th, 16th, and 17th Floors didn’t take long, but the 18th Floor consumed so much time that it amplified the overall strain.
Checking my avatar slot, I’d spent roughly nine hours climbing The Tower, yet the clock tower on the 10th Floor showed only 2 p.m.
Since I’d started climbing before 10 a.m., only about four hours had passed on the 10th Floor’s time scale.
This confirmed what I’d read in the Community—that time flowed roughly ten percent slower with each ascending floor.
“You worked hard, oppa.”
“You did too, Su-young. You must be exhausted. Want to call it a day? Or should I teach you some basic martial arts?”
Since the 19th Floor was a personal quest, learning self-defense seemed worthwhile.
“Of course I want to learn martial arts!”
Lee Su-young, with her ambitious nature, naturally chose martial arts.
“Swordsmanship and footwork won’t help immediately, so let’s start with cultivation techniques first. Expanding your inner energy reserves opens up possibilities beyond just martial arts. After that, we’ll move on to unarmed combat.”
I taught Lee Su-young the Cyan Wood Cultivation. Her progress was slow enough that she wouldn’t master the Cyan Wood Strike in a single day, so I decided to teach that next time.
Teaching proved more difficult than I’d anticipated.
Why couldn’t she grasp this? Was it because her meridians had hardened with age? No, that didn’t make sense.
If that were true, my Tower clone should have struggled with circulating inner energy too.
I wondered if Siu felt this same frustration when teaching me.
What I’d intended as a two-hour lesson stretched on until sunset and nearly midnight before her cultivation training finally reached a stopping point.

* * *

After a brief sleep, I woke at dawn as habit dictated and trained in the cultivation method and swordsmanship until morning arrived.
In my reincarnation clone’s body, early sleeping and early rising had become second nature, maintaining the Military lifestyle pattern from those days.
Normally, people could sleep in after a month of discharge, but Siu woke me at 6 AM and put me to bed at 9 PM, so I couldn’t escape the habits ingrained in my body.
Though she was lenient now that I’d entered Elementary School and allowed me to sleep slightly later, whenever I pushed my body to its limits in training, I naturally fell asleep early without Siu’s intervention.
After showering and having breakfast, I headed straight to the Crystal in the center of the City to challenge Floor 19.
Since Floor 19 was a personal Quest anyway, Lee Su-young and I agreed to rest thoroughly and challenge it at our own convenient times.
People grow tired from running constantly.
You cannot forge a fine blade by mindlessly striking heated iron.
Only by cooling the struck steel with water or oil does a true blade come into being.
Besides, we each had lodgings to cancel or items to dispose of that we couldn’t carry past Floor 20.
As for me, I had rested sufficiently in both my main body and reincarnation clone, so there was no need to rest in my Tower clone’s body—I decided to challenge Floor 19 immediately.
Of course, before challenging it, I decided to appraise what I’d obtained yesterday.
I’d already appraised the Wind Spirit’s orb, so I moved on to the Vampire’s ability stone and the Red Goblin’s ability stone from Floor 16, as well as the staves of the Goblin Shaman who had cursed me.
There were twenty-three staves in total.
Thanks to me thriftily collecting what Diana had discarded as unnecessary.
All of it was money, yet she just threw it away. I wonder if she doesn’t know the value of money, or if she has some obsessive-compulsive disorder.

[Blood Manipulation: Control blood.]
[Regeneration: Restore wounds.]

I didn’t bother appraising the staves since they were curse staves anyway.
“Regeneration appeals to me.”
The ability stone vanished as Regeneration filled my ability list.
Blood Manipulation wouldn’t be bad to learn, but I didn’t need it immediately, so I decided to learn it later if I had the opportunity.
For now, it was best to focus on mastering martial arts, and I’d already decided that magic would be next.
“Ah, right. I need to buy one more sword.”
The sword I’d obtained as a reward from Floor 18 only showed the description “a fine blade mixed with mithril” when appraised, so in case this sword broke, I’d purchased about two one-handed swords with shorter blades.
Since they had to fit in my inventory, they were naturally one-handed swords with shorter blades.
After finishing my preparations, I went to the center of the City, placed my hand on the Crystal, and headed to Floor 19.

* * *

Upon arriving at Floor 19, a vast Grassland greeted me.

[Grant death to the Cursed Orc Warlord Kagul.]

Upon the Grassland stood a colossal Orc Warrior, nearly three meters tall, leaning wearily upon a massive greatsword.
From what I knew, Orcs typically stood around two meters in height, so this one appeared almost gigantic—as if afflicted by some form of giantism.
The air surrounding the Orc Warrior reeked of thick blood and rotting corpses.
Befitting such a stench of death, skeletal remains and decomposing bodies lay scattered around the enormous creature.
“A human? So The Tower has sent me another wretched sacrifice for my desire.”
The Orc Warrior spoke in a weary voice and drew his greatsword.
Unlike the Goblins, this Orc before me appeared to possess intelligence.
I had never heard of an intelligent Orc before.
The Orc Warrior issued a quiet warning.
“Flee now if you wish to escape. I am cursed—a being who has lost all reason and can only slash at whatever appears before my eyes. Run while you still possess your sanity.”
As the Orc Warrior spoke, his eyes darkened to black.
His use of “again” suggested The Tower had sent climbers before him countless times.
But I had no intention of fleeing.
As I silently drew my sword, the Orc Warrior seemed pleased by my resolve and offered a faint smile.
“Warrior, I pray you survive and grant me the mercy of an end.”
The cursed Orc Warrior Kagul completely lost his reason, emanating a sinister killing intent.
“Raaaaaahhhhh!!”
The Orc Warrior, now devoid of reason, lifted his greatsword—which appeared larger than my own body—with ease and charged toward me.

(To be continued in the next chapter)

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