Ascension Through Skills

[Now this guy, who just entered the 8th floor, somehow managed to win against someone who was on the 20th floor... what an absurd occurrence.]

“Indeed.”

Taesan was also surprised. While he was currently strong, he had assumed his limit would be around the 15th floor, given that each floor exponentially increased in difficulty.

However, he was able to win against an adventurer from the 20th floor, which was more than twice as difficult.

“I might have been able to go further… but I guess I should stop here.”

He might have had an easier time if the opponent were a monster with no real intellect.

But the shadow was an adventurer who had broken through Solo Mode.

They were the ones who had broken past the 10th floor of this crazy place without any knowledge or information.

They would have more information about this place than Taesan.

They were not only strong but also quickly responded to Taesan’s skills with their accumulated knowledge and experience, so it was better to stop here.

Regardless, he achieved victory against enemies up to the 20th-floor adventurer. With the Soul Ascension, victory rewards, and enemy judgments, he became incredibly powerful when all these were combined.

“Status window.”

[Kang Taesan] [Level: 21] [Shield: 50/50] [Health: 835/835] [Mana: 215/215] [Strength: 332] [Intelligence: 170] [Agility: 268] [Attack + 24] [Defense + 29] [The target is in the best condition.] [Huh.]

The ghost laughed hollowly.

[What an absurd growth.]

“The growth rate is no joke.”

The acceleration was no joke, either.

Comparing it to the growth rate in Easy Mode, he almost felt ashamed.

He might soon catch up with Lee Taeyeon’s stats at this speed. She avoided all the trials, so it wasn’t impossible.

[The trial wasn't supposed to make you this strong. You would normally become just strong enough... but due to your crazy skill and Oman's capriciousness, you've become like this.]

“Anyway, it’s quiet.”

The trial had ended.

But the reward hadn’t arrived yet.

The power from the altar was subtly shaking. It appeared the god was dealing with a complex emotion as if it was confused.

After a moment, a system message appeared.

[Oman's influence range has diminished.]

The power was shaking subtly. Taesan could feel that the total amount of power had decreased. It was a decrease he hadn’t felt from Lakiratas or Balthasar.

[Your mind must be complicated right now. Whether to be happy or sad.]

The ghost mumbled as if it found the situation amusing. He seemed to enjoy seeing the deity having its domain reduced.

[Oman rewards you. You've received [Ring of Proof].] [You've cleared the enhanced trial. Additional rewards follow.] [You've acquired a special continuously active skill, [Proof of Limits].] [Oman offers you the Apostle's Pact.]

“I decline.”

As always, he refused the Apostle’s Pact. At this, the power beyond shuddered. It seemed like it was grumbling.

But nothing more was seen. The trembling power, as if it were sulking, slowly disappeared.

[Oman promises the next encounter.]

Taesan, who had been quietly observing, murmured.

“They’re not hostile, at least.”

This god showed a variety of emotions. He thought refusing the Apostle’s Pact might disadvantage him, but there were no such signs.

[Gods have strong pride, so if you had clumsily excelled, maybe. But you've far exceeded that line. Plus, you're a crazy transcendent being that even Lakiratas and Balthasar are wary of. At least Oman isn't one of those.]

It seemed that there were power struggles among the gods as well.

Taesan, who had sorted out the information, started checking his rewards.

His stats had about doubled.

Originally, as the ghost said, it wouldn’t have been this much. As the 8th floor was the limit, he would have just gotten appropriately stronger.

But due to the Soul Ascension and his other skills, he managed to reach the 20th floor and achieved crazy growth.

He checked the rewards of the trial.

[Ring of Proof] [Strength + 5] [Defense + 5] [A ring that can only be worn by those who understand their own strength. It seems that the god has granted a speck of power.]

“Not bad.”

Considering his current stats, it was a bit disappointing, but thinking of it as the basic reward, it was a good ring. Both strength and defense had high values, so it was okay.

Especially now, given his lack of defense, it had value, if not a lot.

And now for the enhanced trial reward.

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Proof of Limits] [Proficiency: 1%] [All stats increase when facing an opponent of the same or similar level. Action speed increases, and health and mana continuously recover.]

“All special skills seem to be similar.”

Lakiratas, the god of struggle, offered a buff during continuous battles. Balthasar, the god of victory, increased specific stats with each victory.

The god of the strength test provided an appropriate effect.

Considering the skills of other gods, this was also quite a good skill. It meant that he’d have an advantage against opponents who should be evenly matched, which wouldn’t be bad.

And then there was Soul Ascension. It didn’t just increase stats; it also increased the proficiency of skills. Since all opponents used skills, it was quite beneficial.

Thanks to this, the contents of a few skills have changed.

[Special Activation Skill: Flow] [Mana Consumption: 5] [Proficiency: 62%] [Distorts an attack to reduce damage. It seems that it can dodge attacks from all weapons. It seems like it can also dodge magic and curses. It seems like it can even dodge concepts.]

A sentence about dodging concepts was added. He wasn’t sure what it meant before, but now he knew.

Concepts.

It was literally everything.

Presence. Mental confusion. Pressure. Oppression.

The mental pressure felt when encountering something transcendent.

It meant that he could dodge that.

“Will it be useful?”

Whether it will be useful or not, having it won’t hurt. It simply meant having more options.

But Flow wasn’t the only skill that had changed.

[Special Activation Skill: Counter] [Mana Consumption: 5] [Proficiency: 20%] [Retaliates against the enemy's attack. Deals more damage to the enemy. Counterattacks even when it's not possible to retaliate.]

Counter was a skill that automatically moved the body to retaliate.

However, it only half-activated or didn’t activate at all for attacks that the body couldn’t retaliate against or avoid.

This simply meant extending that threshold a bit. Taesan had seen Counter used several times in the previous world.

‘It literally defies the laws of physics.’

From what he remembered, it was quite a useful change. Many other skills that he had ignored also underwent significant changes.

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Enhanced Vision] [Proficiency: 42%] [You can obtain a wide field of view. It's quite beyond human categories.]

Whether it was because ‘slightly’ had changed to ‘quite,’ his range of view subtly changed. He could see more widely and further than before.

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Insight] [Proficiency: 43%] [You can comprehend many things. It seems that you can perceive the weaknesses of both living and non-living entities. It seems you can even find hidden passages. It occasionally gives you important information.]

He could now also perceive the weaknesses of non-living entities. Considering the floors beyond the 11th, this was a good change.

Taesan, who was casually looking through the skills, was surprised when he saw Calmness.

“Why did this increase so much?”

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Calmness] [Proficiency: 65%] [It's an unwavering mind. Even when a presence beyond cognition appears, it doesn't panic. It gains adjustments in judgments. It never wavers, even in extreme situations.]

From what he remembered, it used to be 38%. It had nearly increased by 30%. The ghost answered as if it were natural.

[Even if the gods do not see directly and use the link called an altar, judgments are attempted. You were unique, so there was no problem... The proficiency of the skill itself deserves to rise.]

“Hmm.”

Calmness was not a particularly useful skill for him. Still, if he could max out its proficiency to 100%, the story would be different. It wasn’t bad.

The proficiency of the Storm Scar Sword was now 15%. It was a moderate increase.

“This should be fine.”

He could stop whenever he wanted. Starting from the 1st floor, it was good to slowly understand things.

It was a trial worthy of being shared with the Community later. Unlike other gods, Oman didn’t just throw anything haphazardly at him. The evaluation of this trial rose in Taesan’s heart.

After that, it was a breeze.

The monsters, which were already too easy, had about twice the stats compared to when he first entered the floor due to the trial. If he roughly blocked and roughly hit, they collapsed.

“It’s a bit regrettable like this.”

Taesan’s current attack power was relatively low.

Considering his average strength, it was on the high side but unbalanced compared to his stats.

He wanted to quickly pass the 10th floor and buy equipment.

But since his level hadn’t increased, he was able to gain all the experience and level up.

While he was breaking through the floors, he found another secret room. As always, traps were waiting, but there were no problems.

Peew!

Even though the trap disarmament failed and an arrow flew at him, he didn’t even bother to block it.

[The first attack is absolutely nullified.]

The arrow dropped to the ground. He continues to disarm the traps, raising his proficiency and gaining rewards.

[Sturdy Ankle Guard] [Defense + 6] [Agility + 3] [Light and robust. It's hard to find any shortcomings.]

A minor increase in defense. The agility was a bonus.

Taesan cleared the floor, but no other altars or rooms were found.

“This is the end of this place.”

He had found everything there was to find on the 8th floor.

Taesan entered the boss’s room.

“Screech!”

[Markanda Rutia has appeared.]

A red bird, twice as large as the normal monsters appeared. It flapped its sharp beak and tough wings to attack Taesan.

Taesan swung his sword lazily.

The sword crushed the bird.

“Screech.”

The bird flapped around in a struggle. It tried to dodge and somehow deal damage, but it was too slow for Taesan. Having blocked all its attacks and then countering them, he emerged victorious without a scratch.

[You have won against Markanda Rutia.]

“This isn’t even a challenge.”

It was too easy.

The struggles he had faced until now seemed laughable.

[That's what happens when you perfectly clear a god's trial. There's nothing on the surface to stop you. You roughly know, right? How this place is structured.]

“I do know, indeed.”

Hidden rooms. The trials of the gods. Doors of completely different colors. NPCs.

In the Solo Mode, there were a variety of existences. The relationship formed with them and the manner in which progress was made could cause a significant difference.

A prime example was Lee Taeyeon.

She had abandoned all the trials and descended. She appeared strong from the outside, but listening to the warrior’s words, her level wouldn’t fill a castle.

In other words, a ghost who descended to the 80th floor could be stronger than Lee Taeyeon, who had cleared the whole thing.

But then there was one problem.

“You went down to the 80th floor, right? And you were especially strong.”

[Right. I was often negligent, that's why. But I was strong.]

The ghost smirked. Lacking caution to the point of losing his life on the lower floors, yet going down to that level alone proved his strength.

“Objectively thinking, do you think you could have cleared it?”

[Maybe... I could have.]

The ghost agreed.

[But what's the point of that? Clearing it and coming out of here isn't a victory. There's no reason to do so without fulfilling the wish.]

“I see.”

It was confirmed.

Clearing and conquering the labyrinth were completely separate things.

‘What’s the difference?’

Whether it was a meeting with the god and NPCs, the permission of the shopkeeper, or even the decision of the dungeon’s wizard, the precise concept was still hard to understand. But there was a being here who could provide an answer.

“What’s the difference? Between clearing and conquering.”

[Uh...]

The ghost hesitated.

[Actually, I'm not sure either.]

“So why didn’t you clear it? You could have just gone down and tested it.”

[Well, it was like... a sort of intuition? Revelation? Something like that. I had a feeling that I wouldn't be able to fulfill my wish just by descending. These intuitive feelings tend to be quite accurate here, so I investigated them one by one.]

“Hmm.”

There was no way to know for now.

He was planning to go down further and find out from other NPCs.

Taesan checked the reward for the 8th floor.

The Rune of Marnius. The effect was simple.

It gave attributes to weapons.

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