To make the duel into a training ground, a few conditions were needed. His opponent must not die, and at the same time, he must ensure his safety. So, in the past, he chose the method of knocking his opponent out repeatedly. But he didn’t have to do that anymore.
‘Force Shield.’
A sphere-shaped shield was formed around Yoon-seok. As a result, questions arose in his foe’s eyes. It was before their swords even collided, so why was he already in defense mode? It was enough to suspect something amiss, and that was doubled because he was holding a metal lump in his hand instead of a sword. Of course, regardless of his thoughts, Yoon-seok moved his arms up and down rapidly.
「Muscle strength increases by 0.025%.」
Should he upgrade it to Rank A? The 100th increase rate rapidly halved. It meant that he needed 400,000 reps before the rank would increase. Well, it was still a bearable number.
「Muscle strength increases by 0.025%.」
Yoon-seok’s eyes glinted as he looked at the phrases appearing one after another. But did he have a strange misunderstanding when he witnessed this? At the same time, Sand Beckyria, his opponent, seemed alarmed.
“…”
A defense skill was activated right away, and his repetitive and bizarre actions were conducted as if he was in a hurry. At first, he stood frozen for a while because of the unexpected situation, but the moment he met Yoon-seok’s eyes, he instantly came back to his senses.
‘I’m sure something bad is about to happen….’
He had gone through something similar before. His opponent was a wizard that used a lethal spell that had a long casting time within a defensive skill. Of course, unlike then, the metal he held didn’t seem to hold magic. He didn’t know what it was, but it was reasonable to assume he was filling a certain condition to activate a skill.
Clang! Clang!
Sand Beckyria didn’t hesitate any further to rush in, hitting the protective membrane with his sword. But the more he struggled…
「Proficiency of Force Shield increases by 0.5%.」
「Proficiency of Force Shield increases by 0.9%.」
The more the glint in his opponent’s eyes brightened. As a result, his belief solidified.
‘As expected, my prediction was right.’
Would he break the shield first? Or would his foe’s skill be completed first?
“Weapon Enchant.”
“Strength Booster.”
“Elemental Sword.”
“Moonlight Aura.”
Sand Beckyria quickly chanted the commands, activating the trump cards he normally saved for last. On top of that, when he activated his Unique Skill {Chivalry} that could increase buffs by several times, an explosive aura was spread around his sword.
Booooooooooom!
Sand Beckyria clenched his teeth and struck with all his might.
「Proficiency of Force Shield increases by 18%.」
The shield did not break. And at that moment, the glint in his opponent’s eyes flashed once again, filling with joy.
‘Damn it. It’s going to be completed soon.’
He had no clue what it was; that was why he was growing more anxious.
Clench.
Sand Beckyria put more strength into his grasp. And he struck, struck, and struck the shield-like there was no tomorrow. Thanks to that, he lost a lot of magic, but it wasn’t time to worry about that. He had to break the shield. With that thought, he swung as if he were crazy.
‘Huh…?’
Sand Beckyria suddenly felt strange. He didn’t know what he was preparing for, but it should’ve already been completed for some time.
‘Why isn’t anything happening?’
He asked himself, and at that moment.
Slash.
The shield broke. Though instead of breaking, it appeared as the shield disappeared. But there was no time to care about that. Glad that the shield had disappeared, Sand Beckyria swung his sword and stabbed Yoon-seok’s body from all directions.
「Durability stats increases by 0.5%.」
「Durability stats increases by 0.7%.」
「Durability stats increases by 1.8%.」
What was this? Looking at the strange sight of his sliced flesh and bone recovering instantaneously, Sand Beckyria stiffened.
‘Is this person immortal…?’
He was more curious about something else. This guy…why was he doing that in the midst of all this?
“…?”
Yoon-seok tilted his head. As he wondered why his durability had stopped rising, he found his foe had lowered his sword and was standing stunned.
Whoosh! Whoosh!
Why? Yoon-seok didn’t stop lifting the dumbbell as he thought about it step by step. At first, he only planned to increase the proficiency of Force Shield, but after checking the opponent’s skills, he thought he could just endure it with his bare body. None of the opponent’s skills had divine attributes or the ability to remove healing effects, so his magic recovery speed could easily outpace him.
As a result, his durability and stamina began to grow rapidly. But why did he stop now…? Yoon-seok smacked his lips and turned to his opponent. Looking at the face that had completely lost its fighting spirit, he knew why.
‘I should just give up on raising my durability.’
Inevitably, Yoon-seok decided to focus only on building his strength. It was a pity that he couldn’t use this session more efficiently, but it would be funny to ask him to continue attacking.
Time continued to pass. Sand Beckyria, who had been staring at Yoon-seok for a long time, trembled and finally spoke up.
“What are you doing….?”
“…?”
“I’m asking, what are you doing right now?!”
For Yoon-seok, it was a question that made his head tilt. Couldn’t he tell?
“I’m doing weight training.”
Yoon-seok answered briefly. Maybe Seheranbad didn’t have such exercise equipment.
“Hahaha… keuhahahaha!”
Meanwhile, Sand Beckyria, who heard the answer, laughed and gasped like a crazy person. He did know. Although the shape was different, it was very familiar to him, who had received intense training as a knight. However, this was the Tower’s duel arena. Why was he working out here?
It didn’t make sense because the system’s stats didn’t require this kind of exercise. But now he knew.
“…So, the purpose was to play a prank on me.”
Sand Beckyria suddenly stopped laughing, clenched his teeth, and forced out the words. Before he knew it, his eyes were red, filled with anger. Only then did Yoon-seok realize how his current behavior was seen, but before he could explain…
Whikkkk!
It was too late. Having lost his fighting spirit, he let his anger take over and began attacking Yoon-seok like a rabid dog. Sadly, it was what Yoon-seok wanted.
「Durability stats increases by 2.5%.」
「Durability stats increases by 1.7%.」
「Durability stats increases by 0.8%.”」
Yoon-seok, who was going to briefly explain the power of Transcendence, closed his mouth. Since he was a recreated being, he wasn’t worried that the information would spread. But then, the man stopped.
「Rank of Durability (B) has increased.」
The rank-up finally appeared.
“…Smiling? Great. I, Sand Beckyria, will see how long you can continue smiling!”
Sand Beckyria lashed out even more with his sword. In the end, Yoon-seok didn’t make any excuses.
“Don’t underestimate a knight’s will. No matter how much a person like you can fool around, do you think I’ll be defeated? I’ll at least make you use your sword!”
His will was remarkable. Even though he attacked Yoon-seok recklessly, he rested for a while when he used up his magic, attacked again, and repeated that process all day long. He didn’t hope to win; he just wanted to show his unbreakable will even if he died. It was a very good situation for Yoon-seok.
Well, it was a bit disappointing that his determination was getting lighter day by day.
“Looking at your nature, you have strength, but you lack dignity.”
On the first day, he was busy criticizing Yoon-seok.
“Why do you do this when you have the ability? Is there a reason why?!”
From the second day, he kept asking why.
“Damn it. At least say something!”
On the third day, he shouted as if he was frustrated to see Yoon-seok not answering.
“…”
From the fourth day, he repeatedly rested and rushed like a machine without saying anything. And now that it had been more than a week, he began to speak again.
“Stop… please stop…”
The spite and anger in his eyes faded.
“Isn’t this enough? Stop it and kill me now…”
Yoon-seok also felt heavy at his desperate voice. But he must use everything he could to become stronger. Yoon-seok, who had a clear goal, had no choice but to turn a blind eye to his desperate eyes.
“Give me three more days, just three more days.”
It wasn’t a lie. In three more days, his strength would reach A+. If it had been the way it was, he should have already reached it, but the increase had noticeably reduced as the rank rose. If it became A+, he would have to buy another bracelet or increase the weight of the dumbbell, so he had to go back to the waiting room anyway.
“You’re worse than the devil….”
Sand Beckyria held his sword in reverse.
Plork!
Without hesitation, he stabbed it deep into his heart. Yoon-seok approached him as he collapsed. For the first time in a week, he put the dumbbell down and held out his hand. Was it because of his superhuman abilities? Fortunately, even though his heart was run through, he was still barely alive.
“…”
When he breathed healing Skywrath energy into his body, his eyes soon opened. But did he notice that this energy flowing through his blood vessels was healing the injury? His eyes shook as he looked at Yoon-seok.
“N-no…”
“Please wait for three days.”
“Ah, ah…”
“…I’m sorry.”
Afraid that he might try something else again, Yoon-seok took away his weapon and threw it far away. But he was worried over nothing. As if he even lost the will to move, he sat leaning against the outer wall of the stadium.
「Rank of Muscle Strength (A) has increased.」
Again, time passed, and they reached the end of the promised three days. Yoon-seok drew his sword and gave him the peace that he wanted.
「Your purchase has arrived.」
「Please check the lower part of the description.」
Returning to the waiting room, Yoon-seok roughly checked the rewards he earned from the duel and purchased new items for weight training. Then, he immediately chose to challenge the next floor.
「Get ready. The duel will begin soon.」
Why didn’t he properly consume AP this time? It was simple; it was still too early to raise skills or stats outside of Transcendence. Therefore, it would be better for him to collect as much as possible and decide where to use it at once. In addition, 18.75 million AP were needed to upgrade b Divine Ultimatum} to Rank S, so no matter what choice he made, he wanted to collect that first.
「Countdown is starting.」
When his vision returned, Yoon-seok was back at the arena again.
「START!」
“Meow!”
A beast-man, appointed as his dueling opponent on the 16th floor, rushed in at lightning speed.
Whip!
Their weapon was a claw on top of the gloves they wore. Judging from the short whipping sound of the air tearing, his fists were incredibly swift. Was it because of that? He moved his body without realizing it and avoided it.
「Agility stats increases by 0.01%.」
Yoon-seok changed his plan. Wait, his agility increased just from avoiding once? He didn’t know if this was how agility worked or if it was because his opponent was that good, but it seemed like he had agility training this time.
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