Climbing the Tower with Multidimensional Avatars - Chapter 66

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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 66. The Tower – Orc Warrior (2)

The brutishly massive greatsword wielded by the Orc Warrior appeared to be roughly thirty centimeters wide and two centimeters thick—something that could hardly be called a blade in the conventional sense.
What else could I call it? It was simply a thick iron plate with a sharpened edge and a handle attached.
Whoosh!
As the sword swung, the sound wasn’t that of a blade cutting through air, but of something colossal being thrust forward.
The problem was that despite wielding such an unwieldy weapon, the Orc Warrior’s speed was far from sluggish.
“Ugh!”
Yes, I finally understood what to call that greatsword.
It wasn’t a blade at all—it was a mass weapon!
Each time the Orc Warrior’s sword swung, vortices spiraled around the massive blade, shaking my body with their force.
Under normal circumstances, no amount of weight being swung would shake me, but when employing lightness of step, the situation was entirely different.
The essence of lightness of step rested on three principles.
First, acceleration gained through the release of inner energy.
Second, the dispersal of one’s center of gravity.
And finally, using inner energy to lighten the body itself.
Using inner energy didn’t actually eliminate one’s weight—rather, it created a kind of buoyancy effect, which was the fundamental concept.
Masters of lightness of step maintained their balance through precise control of tempo and center of gravity, but I was no such master; I was heavily influenced by my surroundings.
I had no choice but to abandon lightness of step and instead increase my speed by reinforcing my leg strength.
Lightness of step had been convenient because my body felt weightless, but this would have to do.
Despite appearing to have lost all reason, the Orc Warrior targeted me with precision, swinging its blade with both speed and accuracy.
Because the sword was so heavy, its trajectory had to be simple, but that very simplicity made it all the more elegant and threatening.
Compared to the Red Goblin, which had merely swung its strength wildly without control, the Orc Warrior was a refined and seasoned swordmaster—a true warrior.
“Wait, it really has lost its reason?!”
I could sense mana flowing through the blade, which meant the Orc Warrior was definitely reinforcing that crude greatsword with magical power.
I dared not approach recklessly and continued evading the Orc Warrior’s strikes.
The difficulty had suddenly spiked like this?
Was this truly an opponent suited to my level?
No, The Tower would never send a climber before an enemy they couldn’t defeat.
If The Tower were sadistic, it wouldn’t have provided various facilities, nor would it allow climbers to exit Outside the Tower whenever they wished.
Therefore, there had to be a way for me to defeat the enemy before me.
I simply hadn’t found that method yet.
Then I would have to find it.
I retrieved a hand axe from my inventory and hurled it at the Orc Warrior’s brow.
The Orc Warrior raised its sword and blocked the hand axe with the broad flat of its blade.
The hand axe I’d thrown possessed speed and force that a creature of that caliber could easily evade.
Yet the Orc Warrior deliberately raised its sword to block it.
Reason. Yes, the key to victory lay in the Orc Warrior’s reason.
His swordsmanship was so refined that watching him wield his blade made it impossible to believe he’d lost his reason, yet the Orc Warrior was indeed losing his sanity to the curse.
The terrifying swordplay and reflexes he displayed now were merely the culmination of a lifetime spent honing his craft, etching it into his very body—he possessed no reason left to judge whether my attacks posed a genuine threat.
Realizing this truth, I grasped just how formidable a warrior the Orc before me truly was.
Looking at the scattered bones and corpses surrounding us, I could surmise how long he’d been suffering under this curse.
The Orc Warrior’s body was certainly not in normal condition right now.
Perhaps the climber he’d mentioned seeing before was someone who’d ascended far higher than I had.
The mere fact that such a warrior stood before me, challenging only the 19th Floor, spoke volumes about how weakened he’d become.
I hurled my hand axe at the Orc Warrior’s head once more.
Again, he raised his blade to block it as if the motion were carved into his body, and I seized the opening to dash forward.
The Orc Warrior deftly twisted his grip and slashed his greatsword diagonally at me.
I dropped my body low to barely evade, then attempted to cut at the Orc Warrior’s torso, but he used the recoil from his own swing to kick me away.
I blocked his kick with my blade, yet despite his bare feet, the impact felt like being struck by a vehicle.
“Ugh, my arm.”
I panicked, fearing my sword might be warped, but fortunately I’d channeled my inner force into it in time, or perhaps it was truly a legendary blade—it remained pristine.
Thank the heavens. A kick like that would normally fold an ordinary sword in half.
This time, the Orc Warrior roared and charged at me.
“Grraaaaaaah!”
I threw my hand axe again to gauge his response.
The Orc Warrior reacted to the seemingly insignificant axe and swung his blade to deflect it.
During the brief moment his momentum faltered, I surged forward again.
He reacted once more, and using the recoil of his swing, he spun half a rotation and slashed his greatsword with the intent to cut through both the ground and me.
I rolled to the side to evade the greatsword, then immediately threw another hand axe.
Again, the Orc Warrior pulled his blade back toward his body to block.
Before he could intercept the first axe, I threw a second one and charged in immediately after.
Having blocked the first axe, the Orc Warrior instinctively prioritized threats and ignored the second axe, instead swinging his greatsword at me.
I pushed back the Orc Warrior’s greatsword with my mithril blade, dispersing the force as much as possible to deflect it.
“Nnngh!”
Against the Orc Warrior’s mountain-like strength, merely deflecting his blade made my arm muscles feel as though they’d tear apart.
As I blocked and redirected his strike, the second hand axe I’d thrown embedded itself in his left shoulder.
But it wasn’t deep.
The Orc Warrior had instinctively reinforced his entire body with mana, using his muscles to absorb the blow.
“Damn it all, this monster bastard!”
I cursed and swung my blade.
While he was momentarily staggered by the minor wound, I slashed at the Orc Warrior’s leg.
I cut his right thigh with full force, and his muscle felt like steel.
Still, unlike the axe, the wound was quite deep.
The instant I thought this, the Orc Warrior kicked me away.
Crack!
I instinctively blocked with my left arm, but a sound I shouldn’t have heard came from my limb, followed by excruciating pain.
My left arm shattered, and I flew through the air like a kicked soccer ball.
I barely managed to execute a falling technique and rolled safely across the ground, tears streaming down my face from the sharp pain radiating through my left arm.
The impact was far more devastating and severe than when the Chimera’s tail had struck me—I clenched my teeth so hard my gums bled as I activated Regeneration.
Crack—!
My inner energy drained away as my left arm rapidly restored itself to its original state.
The skill consumed far more energy than I’d anticipated; simply recovering my left arm left my dantian completely depleted.
My level was still too low, making the efficiency poor, but with continued use, I’d eventually be able to regenerate my body using far less mana.
I hastily purchased a mana recovery potion and drank it down.
In the Galactic Martial Arts World, I would have needed to meditate to refill my dantian, but here in The Tower, a single mana recovery potion was enough to restore it considerably.
Come to think of it, some of the expensive medicinal elixirs had effects similar to mana recovery potions—maybe I should try making something like that through Club activities?
I took a deep breath, letting idle thoughts distract me from the pain for a moment.
While I recovered, the Orc Warrior showed no intention of giving me a reprieve, charging toward me at full speed.
“If you’re going to come at me like that, don’t complain when I kick you like a soccer ball.”
My calculations showed I had a decent chance of winning.
I smiled bitterly and fastened the shackles onto my left arm.
The pair designed for my left arm had been destroyed by the Chimera, but using the right arm pair on my left arm posed no problems.
What I regretted was that my combat suit had been reduced to tatters on the 18th Floor.
If I’d known this would happen, I wouldn’t have worried about Siu’s nagging about wasteful spending and would have just bought a new combat suit before coming.
But there was no point dwelling on what I didn’t have. Even if I bought one now, there was no time to put it on.
As the Orc Warrior charged forward with a massive sword swinging horizontally, I used lightness of step to leap high and evade, then immediately stepped on his greatsword and activated Thousand Pound Hammer.
Thousand Pound Hammer was a martial art that made the body heavy, the opposite of lightness of step which made it light.
It didn’t actually add weight—rather, it converted potential energy into kinetic energy. In simple terms, it was like how a scale would register more than your actual weight when you jumped on it; the technique maximized this principle using inner energy.
Masters of Thousand Pound Hammer could deliver tremendous impact with just small steps, without needing to jump high at all.
As I mounted his sword and pressed down, the Orc Warrior couldn’t withstand the weight and drove his greatsword into the ground.
I grew dizzy trying to maintain balance on the swinging blade, but I succeeded.
I stomped with True Foot, transmitting the impact through his arm.
If he’d retained his reason, he would have released the sword momentarily when the impact hit, then gripped it again—but the Orc Warrior, having lost his sanity, never released his blade, bound by instinct.
In that moment, I truly felt respect for what a great warrior he was.
I threw a hand axe toward the Orc Warrior.
He tried to raise his greatsword to block the incoming axe, but I stomped with True Foot again, numbing his arm.
Thwack—!
This time the hand axe embedded itself deeply in his right shoulder, thanks to the internal force I’d channeled into it.
I’d aimed for the center of his forehead, but when he couldn’t block it with his sword, he instinctively tried to dodge—yet because I was standing on his blade, his movements were sluggish, and the axe struck his shoulder instead.
“Grraaaaaaah!”
Despite the axe being buried deep in his right shoulder, the Orc Warrior unleashed his monstrous strength and swung his greatsword with me still standing on it.
I quickly regained my balance and leaped down from the blade.
He’d swung with full force including my weight, but as I descended, the Orc General’s stance became severely unbalanced.
I seized the opening and rushed forward, slashing across the abdomen of the Orc Warrior Kagul.
Even with his stance broken and his right leg deeply wounded, the great Orc Warrior’s instincts drove him to counter, kicking out at me without hesitation.
I’d already experienced his kicks before.
That’s precisely why I’d equipped the shackles on my left arm.
I channeled my inner force into the shackles to block the Orc Warrior’s kick, then unleashed every ounce of my strength to swing my blade with all my might.
The special metal mithril mixed into the steel allowed my inner force to flow through it perfectly, and the blade carved through muscle as hard as steel, reaching deep into the vital organs.
The moment my sword severed the critical organs, the shackles bearing the brunt of the Orc Warrior’s kick crumpled and shattered without mercy.
My left arm, unable to fully absorb the impact of the kick, was crushed once more into fragments.
At the same time, I was driven into the ground, rolling across the earth as bruises bloomed across my entire body.
“Cough! Spit! Ugh!”
I desperately cut the cord binding the shackles to my arm so I could begin regeneration.
With the metal plate bent and my left arm shattered to pieces, I couldn’t regenerate while wearing them.
The shackles fell away, and I expended mana to regenerate my arm.
“Argh! This pain is unbearable.”
That Red Goblin seemed to barely feel pain at all—how did it endure such agony?
Did that Goblin perhaps possess some kind of pain resistance?
The Orc Warrior, his vital organs severed, clutched at the wound across his abdomen and remained still before speaking.
“So it is. Have I been defeated? Has death finally come for me?”
As the fatal wound took hold, the curse seemed to release its grip—the blackened whites of his eyes returned to their natural color, and reason flickered back into his gaze.
“Young human warrior. Draw your blade.”
Even facing certain death, the Orc Warrior gripped his wound with one hand while raising his massive sword with the other.
There was not a trace of fear in his eyes.
All that remained was an unwavering resolve and an indomitable will to fight.
I could not allow such a great warrior’s final moment to end in mere words.
I drank a mana recovery potion, steadied my stance, and drew my blade.
Kagul seemed pleased by my response, his face breaking into a radiant smile.
“Let us dance one final time with all our spirit and passion.”

(To be 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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