Chapter 147
Kallias had clearly entered through the 1st floor.
However, the place he emerged from underground was some distance away from Agathod.
Perhaps because it was old, a portion of the stairs leading up to the surface had collapsed.
Thanks to that, there was sand everywhere, so rather than finding stairs, he had to make them.
He created ice stairs down the slope and climbed straight up, only to emerge a bit away, which was why he had met Filo and Aldu doing business near Agathod.
"I see. So Filo struggled on the 24th floor, and Aldu on the 30th."
The 20th floor was a place to train the Body among Mind, Energy, and Body, and the 30th floor was a place to deeply train Energy and Body.
'I thought being a Dragonkin he'd pass the 20th floor easily, but that's unexpected.'
Aldu was also a bit unexpected.
He thought he'd at least pass the 30th floor, but perhaps the tower's difficulty was harder than expected.
'That could be true, but...'
It was simply that their level was just that.
Honestly, even getting close to the 30th floor could be considered a decent level of skill.
It meant they possessed abilities slightly superior to ordinary captain-level knights.
Considering the continent's political situation and the date, their level was by no means low.
It was just the appropriate level.
For this time period, Kallias had actually achieved tremendous rapid growth.
'Well, I didn't expect to convince Titeo this quickly either.'
Even when departing from Carpe originally, he had planned for quite a long period.
Three years until Master.
He intended to roam the continent, build his strength, reach his limits, and then challenge.
However, after gaining Yo-power, his thoughts changed somewhat.
The profound principles of Geumjanggi and Pianhua, the realizations extracted from the Golden Lion, Luidren.
And after establishing the hypothesis of a technique that combined Yo-power and Dragon power into Divine power contained in a single sword strike, he eventually filled it with conviction.
Originally, Pianhua was a technique that repelled two techniques and then unified them.
He thought Manhwabongyuk could sufficiently handle that, and therefore believed he could contain all of it in a single sword strike.
'It's probably greatly influenced by intuition.'
The thought that this was possible.
In other words, it was because intuition arose like twilight smoke.
Of course, just because it was possible didn't mean he could try it carelessly.
Through several attempts, Kallias gradually gained conviction in his thoughts.
And finally.
The technique that had only existed in his head was perfectly reproduced at his fingertips.
It was the result born from the interlocking and merging of the sword's profound principles he had realized over time.
Kallias took great pride in his newly created technique and the new realm he had achieved.
He was someone who could only survive miserably by relying on his past life's knowledge.
For such a person to not gnaw away at the arrangement of settings he had created like a rat, but to achieve a realm and power on his own.
There was no way he wouldn't be proud.
'Of course, it's still unstable though.'
Judging by the amount of contained energy, Divine power was the most abundant.
However, when it came to purity or total amount of power, that was different.
The most domineering Dragon power was meager in capacity but had the strongest momentum.
It was a power difficult to control.
Unlike Dragon power, Yo-power, the power of fairies, did not have strong momentum.
Rather, it was supple.
However, because of that, there was an unpredictable aspect to it.
To use an analogy. Like an ignorantly strong guy and one who seems to obediently follow but suddenly jumps out to play pranks?
A power that endlessly explodes force and reaches the extreme of being ever-changing.
Divine power wrapping around and controlling and coaxing those two was the Remnant Ash.
The energy that only Kallias in this world could create.
From the desire for it to be a remnant that would remain forever, he called it Remnant Ash.
It also fit well because it seemed like ashes scattering in the wind.
Remnant Ash was powerful.
However, there were many problems with using it at the present stage.
'Remnant Ash is powerful, but difficult to handle.'
Kallias had never seen a more powerful energy. It was a power he had that much confidence in, but the time he could maintain it was extremely short.
'If the balance of Remnant Ash is not right, the number of times it can be used is only once.'
It would be about a hidden technique that could only be used once in battle.
Pahwaro in the Remnant Ash state.
'No, it's hard to call it Pahwaro.'
The form was similar, but it was swordsmanship that couldn't fully be called Pahwaro.
It was a completely different technique even compared to the Pahwaro that Stella had used a thousand years ago.
If he were to give it a new name...
Jaeyuhwa
A flower dyed in ash-gray.
In his current state, using Jaeyuhwa would only be possible once.
If he were to use it more than that, the Three Elements inherent in Manhwabongyuk, which was already unstable, could run wild.
Moreover, the Mind and Body, which were the most deficient among Mind, Energy, and Body, wouldn't be able to endure it either.
With his current mental strength, Jaeyuhwa was only possible once for Kallias.
Of course, if he further developed and controlled Dragon power and Yo-power, the story would be different.
It meant it was a technique that had just broken through its limits and had many restrictions in various ways.
"Kallis, so you're saying you haven't even entered a floor yet?"
At Filo's voice, Kallias, having finished his thoughts, nodded.
"I broke through the 1st floor, gained a realization, and entered a nearby cave to review it. Thanks to that, I achieved great results."
"Ooh... that's something to celebrate!"
Aldu rejoiced as if it were his own affair and stroked his beard, while Filo tilted his head and scratched it.
"I don't see much difference to me?"
To Filo's eyes, Kallias's energy didn't seem much different from before.
Rather, his presence seemed even smaller.
'Looks weaker.'
He looked even weaker than before.
When he first appeared, Filo wondered if he had gotten hurt somewhere.
But to say he got stronger...
It was content that was difficult to easily believe.
"He is one who is approaching Master. As he accumulates experience, he is becoming more like nature. That's why we can't feel his energy well."
"I-is that so?!"
Thinking of it that way, it was quite impressive.
When Filo sent him a respectful gaze, Kallias chuckled and passed by them.
"Where are you going?"
"Agathod. Since I've come, shouldn't I at least receive the tower's trial?"
"Should I give you one of these?"
Filo offered meat wrapped in leaves. Kallias's gaze alternated between the meat and Filo's tail.
"Is it your tail?"
"Yeah. I cured it with salt, so it's quite tasty. I won't charge you money!"
It seemed like he was being generous, but Kallias felt a bit uncomfortable.
His epithet was Filo the Tail Cutter.
Tails do grow back.
Not all Dragonkin were like that, but he heard Filo's tail had excellent regenerative power. To the point where he wondered if it was a special trait.
'Useless trait...'
Thinking that far, Kallias accepted Filo's tail meat and put it away.
He had no intention of eating it, but refusing wouldn't look good either.
Filo grinned as if satisfied, and Aldu laughed heartily while stroking his beard.
"If you're going to climb, shall I take a look at your sword?"
"Hmm. Then this."
Kallias handed over the Predation Sword.
Since all its teeth had fallen out from fighting Bladi, leaving it to Aldu, a dwarf, would mean the maintenance would be neat.
If left alone, it would return to its original state once it drank blood, but Aldu might be able to make it more useful.
"Oh, this is no ordinary sword."
It seemed he recognized the Half-Demon Sword.
It was a half demon sword, but a demon sword was still a demon sword.
However, Aldu didn't seem to mind. The handling of demon swords naturally varied according to each denomination's doctrine.
Kallias headed straight for the tower.
"Since you're going up, conquer it!"
Receiving Filo's send-off, he once again threw open the doors of Agathod.
"For now..."
He would go up to the 60th floor without stopping.
Originally, the tower generally relied on wooden dolls.
And the level of the dolls increased as the floors went up, which was why the tower had no choice but to spend a lot of money.
'That's not my concern up to that point.'
Anyway, the wooden dolls were on the side of helping challengers train.
And Kallias would use them to...
'Grow the Iron Lord.'
All the knights belonging to the sword.
Could grow, after all.
* * *
A few days later.
"Haha! Hahahaha!!"
40th floor.
The Empire's Spear candidate who had spent most of his time there was filled with ecstasy.
The 40th floor's trial was Mind.
Awakening the mind image, that is, imbuing will into a weapon.
It was no different from a path bringing one one step closer to Master, having trained Mind.
Luteon had accomplished that.
His face was incomparably bright, as if his efforts all this time had been rewarded.
"I can finally imbue my will into the spear."
"Yes. It's all thanks to the Floor Master."
Luteon expressed his gratitude to the 40th floor's Floor Master and bowed his head.
"It's thanks to your outstanding talent. Giving thanks to God is enough."
The Floor Master also praised his hard work.
No one had passed the 40th floor's trial in such a short time.
He too had lived with the title of genius since childhood, but he realized his talent was far lacking compared to Luteon.
Less than a month.
Because he had never seen a young man who awakened Mind in such a short period.
"From the 41st floor, trials to train the mind will simply be given. It shouldn't be difficult for you."
The difficulty started from the 50th floor.
From then on, trials to balance Mind, Energy, and Body would be given in earnest.
After experiencing all of that, the 60th floor.
A floor that could only be passed by becoming a Master.
"I'm sorry to keep asking, but has a black-haired young man around my age really not come in the past month?"
"Yes. I haven't seen a young man with the appearance you describe in these past few years."
Clench.
Fist-clenching Luteon was ecstatic.
As expected, that guy can't beat me.
No matter how much he boasts, a dull talent like him is just that even if he grows. There's nothing a guy with a shabby sword can do.
This tower climb had quite a lot of meaning for Luteon.
Doubt about himself.
It was also to shake off the uncertainty about the path he walked.
The foundation of its beginning was jealousy.
And inferiority complex, but now it was done.
'I've surpassed it.'
That guy is no longer my match.
I am going to a higher place.
Shoulder to shoulder with the Empire's Spears.
'And...'
If that happens, to the Saintess.
He would finally be able to stand proudly.
"Hmm? What does that mean..."
The face of the Floor Master handling the crystal orb, a communication artifact, was strange.
He was mumbling something, but it wasn't a part Luteon would be interested in.
Rather, eavesdropping would be rude, so it would be better to leave quickly.
Just as he was about to open the door.
Boom!
[Bow your heads.]
[Our Lord marches forth.]
Two black knights at the forefront.
Behind them, knights armed in steel appeared one after another.
Knights poured out in numbers that could hardly be insufficient even if called an army.
Luteon and the Floor Master, dumbfounded and frozen, had their faces contorted.
'They're strong.'
The overall level of the knights was also high.
But the two at the forefront were especially strong.
Strong enough to have a splendid duel even if Luteon fought them himself.
'What are they. These.'
When he was wondering about their identity.
Someone was slowly walking through the center where the black knights lined up left and right.
At his appearance, Luteon's face began to distort greatly.
A man with ash-gray eyes and a calm face, his black hair fluttering.
The master whom the one-against-a-hundred knights all prostrated themselves before and sent their faith.
He was someone Luteon knew well.
"Kallias!!"
Luteon charged straight out.
Having broken through the 40th floor, he was in a more grown state than before.
His feet trampling the ground were light, and his hand gripping the spear was impossibly heavy.
No questions asked.
At Luteon's aggressiveness of thrusting the spear first, the Floor Master gasped.
However, Kallias was calm.
Luteon's single spear thrust.
The momentum of his thrust was like a dragon, and the will contained within it was beyond full.
However.
Whoosh! His spear failed to pierce Kallias. The spear that pierced the void only created a futile sound of splitting the air.
Kallias's massive palm slapped Luteon's cheek.
Slap!!
Whack! Boom!!
Slapped across the cheek and slammed into the wall, Luteon shuddered from the impact.