I raised my head and looked once more at the message in front of me.
[ The 10th floor clear reward will be issued. ]
At that moment, two skill cards slowly appeared before me.
One was brown, and the other was silver.
In other words, a Bronze and a Silver card.
What hunters climbing the Tower looked forward to the most were the rewards given every five floors.
I was no different.
Especially since, if I obtained a skill this time, I could fill one more slot of my Memorize skill. Naturally, I was looking forward to it.
Of course, my lips twisted into a crooked curve.
“Seriously? It’s the 10th floor, and it’s only a damn Silver?”
A breath full of emptiness leaked out of me.
This wasn’t even an ordinary floor, but the 10th floor, and the reward I got was only Silver grade at best.
I grumbled that if it was going to be like this, they should have just given me a pile of magic stones instead.
At that instant.
Ding—
A system window suddenly appeared, and a new notification came into view.
[ The system is reevaluating your new record achievement. ]
[ An additional effect is activated as a reward for achieving a new 10th floor record. ]
[ The reward grade increases! ]
“Oh right, the record break.”
An exclamation naturally slipped out.
The cards floating before my eyes began to rotate, each taking on a new color.
Bronze became Silver, and Silver became Gold.
There was no need to choose carefully. It was obvious.
The skill that came from the Gold card on the 5th floor last time was Lightning Bolt.
It was a common skill, but when combined with my lightning, it created tremendous synergy.
Then what about this time?
Without hesitation, I reached toward the Gold card on the right.
The moment my fingertips touched the card, it spun rapidly, then scattered light and came to a stop.
And the name of the skill engraved on the card was reflected clearly in my eyes.
[ Quake ]
“…Quake? Earthquake? No, vibration?”
Tilting my head slightly, I held the card and read through the skill’s detailed explanation.
[ Skill Description: Generates a powerful vibrational wave in the medium at the designated coordinates, causing cracks and destruction. The range and power of the vibration increase in proportion to the caster’s mana output. ]
After reading the entire detailed explanation, I frowned and stared blankly into the air.
Quake.
A skill that caused vibrations.
I had at least hoped it would be a skill related to lightning.
“…It’s a bust.”
Disappointment washed over me.
If used, the ground would tremble and split, so it could be utilized as an attack skill.
But could it really create synergy with my lightning?
For now, no suitable picture came to mind.
I couldn’t imagine at all what kind of synergy it would produce.
The only thing I could think of was shaking the ground to throw off an enemy’s balance, then sniping them with Lightning Bolt.
“Hmmmm.”
Thinking of it that way, it did seem like it had enough utility value.
But the tempo and everything else—could I really call it efficient?
Feeling frustrated, I briefly considered asking the Gallery.
How should I use this skill, would it be useful, and was there some advantage I was overlooking?
But I abandoned the thought and shook my head.
“If I ask, they’ll just chew me out again. They’ll definitely go on and on calling me a dumbass.”
It was nice to get scolded and receive advice, but that got old fast.
Didn’t they say seeing once was better than hearing a hundred times?
In the end, you had to use a skill yourself to know its true value.
As it happened, this place was empty, and there was still plenty of time left.
Was there any place more perfect than this to test a new skill?
I stood in the very center of the arena.
And thought for a moment.
Using it on the ground was too obvious.
In the end, vibration meant shaking something and creating waves.
Did I have to use it on the ground?
What would happen if I used it somewhere else? That thought suddenly occurred to me.
“Now that I think about it, if I make vibrations ring out in midair… it might be useful.”
I had nothing to lose anyway, so I decided to just try it.
If it was possible, it would mean I had gained an unpredictable attack.
I closed my eyes and focused on my mana core.
Then I drew mana into my right hand and stared at a point in the air ten meters ahead.
I quietly spoke the incantation.
“Quake.”
That was the moment.
At the point I had specified, the air rippled as if space itself were twisting.
It warped and distorted, creating an abnormal phenomenon.
And then something beyond my expectations occurred.
Kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiik!!!!
The sound struck my ears.
A chilling noise, like metal grinding against metal after colliding, assaulted my ears.
“Aaagh!!!!”
I hurriedly covered my ears with both hands and collapsed to the floor.
The vibration that had erupted in midair had become a high-frequency sound and struck my ears.
A ringing filled my head, and intense dizziness and nausea surged over me.
My vision kept shaking and spinning.
Even the walls of the arena looked doubled.
Only after quite some time did the abnormal phenomenon gradually subside.
Panting, I braced myself against the floor and barely raised my upper body.
It still felt like everything was swaying a little, but there was one thing I absolutely had to say.
“Insane.”
I had only thought to try creating a vibration, but I never expected something like this to happen.
Could armor block this phenomenon?
Could it be protected against with mana?
In other words, I had obtained the ultimate CC skill that couldn’t be blocked by defense.
‘…Goddamn.’
The place where I activated it had been ten meters away.
And yet, this was how much it affected me.
If a monster had been standing at close range?
I didn’t know for sure, but it was obvious it would produce an enormous effect.
At minimum, a stun. Then I could just use another skill in that opening, and it was over.
Just imagining it sent a shiver through my entire body.
And then I thought.
Ah, isn’t this tremendous discovery far too precious for me to know alone?
Still unsteady on my feet, I pulled up the Gallery.
Then I began writing a post.
Title: I pulled the Quake skill
Author: Baek Ubin
[ Got Quake as my 10th floor reward.
I just designated it in midair and fired it, and it made this crazy high-frequency sound lol
This seems pretty usable. What do you think? ]
The moment I posted it, comments began pouring in like crazy, as if they had been waiting.
ㄴ ?
ㄴ ??????
ㄴ What did this lady just see?
ㄴ Huh?
ㄴ What are you talking about? You used what in midair?
ㄴ Are you insane?
A parade of question marks continued. And so did the bewilderment.
The people who would normally just roast me all reacted as if they were equally flustered.
Watching their reactions, I tilted my head.
“…? What’s with them? Did I write something wrong?”
Honestly, I had just been trying to brag a little.
As I was feeling puzzled, I saw a new post and clicked on it. The author was Archmage.
Title: I cannot tell whether he is stupid, brave, or a genius
Author: Archmage
[ What in the world is this, how did you do that
Normally, Quake is used on a material medium to amplify vibration
So people usually use it on the ground to create a pseudo-earthquake
But he is truly a madman, a complete lunatic
He manifested magic using air as the medium instead of matter lol ]
…Mm, I really didn’t understand a single word of that.
Really. I truly couldn’t understand it.
ㄴ How the hell did he set coordinates in midair lol
ㄴ Ah, he must’ve done it with Memorize, yeah
“…Mm.”
ㄴ Nope.
“Umm….”
ㄴ ???
ㄴ ????? Is he actually crazy?
ㄴ I told you, he’s insane lol Not only did he instantly calculate the x, y, z coordinates in midair and insert mana into them, he even made high frequency with it lol
ㄴ Are you saying he has truly reached the state of selflessness?
ㄴ How the hell did he do it?
They were serious.
They were truly serious and solemnly discussing how I had managed to accomplish it.
Ah, what a beautiful forum of discussion this was.
Was this not the true positive function of the Gallery?
They were engaged in a heated debate about how casting magic in midair required extremely high-dimensional mana control and calculation ability, treating me like a monster.
But I really couldn’t understand what any of that meant.
I simply blinked.
Coordinates? Axis calculations? Why would I do that?
All I had done was look at the air in front of me and think, ‘It’d be nice if Quake happened there.’
And then I had spoken the incantation.
Mm, why was that?
No matter how much I thought about it, I couldn’t find an answer.
Maybe it was because I was a natural type.
Or because I had learned the Legia Cultivation Method, which was effective for natural types.
Perhaps that was why I could intuitively sense even the atmosphere.
Honestly, even as I thought it, I wondered what the hell that even meant.
“No, what does it matter in the first place? I did it, so that’s that. Why can’t they?”
I burst into a small laugh.
And then I thought. Ah, this was it.
This was exactly what I had wanted!
Thinking that, I wrote one more post in the Gallery. Very happily.
Title: What are coordinates
Author: Baek Ubin
[ It worked when I just did it lol Is that hard? lol ]
And then I turned off the Gallery.
It was an extremely pleasant day. Ahahahaha.
“Mwahahahaha!”