Ascension Through Skills

“I create ordinary equipment that anyone can use. I am the blacksmith of the labyrinth, accessible to everyone. That is the position given to me by the mage.”

Clang.

Hafran struck the hammer. A clear sound echoed.

“But I am not the only blacksmith here. The labyrinth is a place where gods reside. The rewards given to adventurers are treasures that cannot be made or seen outside. Numerous blacksmiths have headed to the labyrinth.”

And most of them disappeared without a trace.

The labyrinth did not permit ordinary adventurers. The same went for blacksmiths. Only those with talents at Hafran’s level were accepted.

“In the depths, there is a mad dwarf residing at the entrance.”

“Should I go to him?”

“He is a being who makes unconventional equipment, unlike me.”

“He is obsessed with creating weapons that surpass mortality, to the point of madness. He is not a proper blacksmith. He is third-rate when it comes to handling normal materials. But… he is first-rate when it comes to handling things like what you have.”

Hafran frowned.

“He will gladly accept the will that tries to consume him. Since he is already mad and broken, he will be able to make what you want. The problem is, he is also mentally deranged…”

Hafran clicked his tongue. His expression seemed irritated just by recalling the memory.

“Most of the labyrinth is already broken, but he is particularly worse… No, you might be fine.”

Hafran looked at Taesan with a peculiar expression and spoke.

“If it’s him, he will be able to handle it.”

“The depths, huh.”

What had once seemed distant was now right in front of him. Taesan placed a fragment of will into his mind.

“Alright. When should I come back then?”

“That, I can’t say for sure.”

Hafran fiddled with the materials with a vague expression.

“There are too many. And they are diverse. The equipment you want is not easy to make. It might take as long as it took you to make the ring.”

“Is that so?”

Even though it seemed like it would take a long time, Taesan didn’t appear displeased.

From his experience, the longer it took to make equipment, the higher its quality.

“Then I’ll see you next time.”

“Wait patiently. It’s going to be a busy time.”

Hafran organized the materials with a face full of enthusiasm.

Taesan descended the labyrinth again. He arrived at the stairs leading to the 64th floor.

The space split open as the demon god appeared.

The demon god, who was looking at Taesan, opened her mouth.

[Even though the meddler already told you, I still have to inform you. The 64th floor. The top leaders of the Guides are waiting at the end.]

“It’s faster than I thought.”

[It can’t be helped. You have grown too strong too quickly.]

It was unprecedented in the long history of the labyrinth for an adventurer on the 64th floor to face those who reached the 74th floor.

[Do your best to win.]

“Thank you.”

[And the power you have obtained…]

The demon’s words trailed off. There was something ambiguous in the demon’s expression as she looked at Taesan.

[No. It might not matter now.]

“Are you talking about the will?”

[Yes. It is undoubtedly a powerful and formidable force, but it will be difficult for you to handle it right now. It will shine once you have descended far enough into the depths.]

The demon god began to hide in the darkness.

[Let's talk about it again later. Keep descending. I will be waiting for you in the deep.]

Taesan nodded.

After the demon god left, he descended the stairs.

[Quest for the 64th floor starts.]

[Defeat the boss of the 64th floor and pass.]

[Reward: Broken One. Helm of Bahalam.]

[Secret Reward: ???]

The monster on the 64th floor was a massive slime.

Once you passed through the corridor and reached the room, the returning corridor closed. Then the slime that filled the room slowly approached.

Before being crushed by the slime, you must defeat it. That was the nature of the floor.

For Taesan, it was not a problem. With strength far superior to the floor’s level, he could defeat the slime with just a few swings of his sword without even using his skills.

As he cleared the floor, he checked the new skills he had obtained.

system-start

[Special Continuous Action Skill: Last Chance]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[When you receive a fatal attack, it will block the attack once. It can only be used once against the same opponent and has a cooldown of one hour after use.]

system_end

“Ho?”

Taesan’s eyes sparkled.

He had somewhat anticipated it from the skill’s name, but he hadn’t expected it to be this level of a skill.

This was a skill similar to Endure.

Of course, in terms of standalone value, it was lower than Endure. Endure ignored the opponent’s attack and transformed, making it so he wouldn’t take any damage at all for a certain period, giving him a very wide range of responses.

On the other hand, Last Chance had the part where it blocked the attack. Since his action was fixed as defense, it looked difficult to act immediately.

The certainty of blocking also had its own applications, but it wasn’t as absolute as Endure, which completely ignored it.

However, it was still a safety net-like skill that could save his life. Its value was incomparable to other skills.

For a skill obtained by blocking a single hit, it was extremely good.

But it was understandable.

[The opponent is @!## @#!.]

It was the system window that appeared when he encountered Hafran’s world.

A collapsing system window. It was the first time since the Apostle of the High God. The reason wasn’t hard to guess.

‘A being that has transcended mortality.’

A being that has dipped into transcendence.

When dealing with such beings, the labyrinth’s system couldn’t properly express it, leading to errors.

Blocking the strike of a being that had transcended mortality with a mortal body was undoubtedly significant.

And this led to something to confirm.

Endure and Last Chance. Which of the two would activate first?

Taesan moved to the next room. He started to be slowly crushed without touching the approaching slime.

Squelch.

[Your First Attack Nullification has activated.]

[Your Second Attack Nullification has activated.]

[Your Third Attack Nullification has activated.]

[You took 1043 damage.]

The damage came in slowly. Taesan didn’t move.

Endure would activate in a life-threatening crisis anyway. And since Endure didn’t have a cooldown if the activation target was different, there was no problem.

His health slowly decreased, falling to triple digits.

At the moment of near-death, Taesan’s body moved.

There was no will of Taesan in it. It was close to an automatic movement.

He put strength into his whole body. He moved his legs and arms to push roughly.

Bang!

The slime was flung away.

‘It activates before Endure.’

This was an unexpected gain. It was like having two extra lives. Even the ghost exclaimed.

[This doesn't make sense.]

For Taesan, who had Endure, it was relatively less valuable, but for other adventurers, it was a skill difficult to find one better than.

The labyrinth was a place where one had to risk their life in challenges. Skills that added safety to that challenge had high value, and Last Chance was the best among them.

Having understood this, Taesan defeated the slime and recovered his health.

The confirmation was done. Now it was time to check the other one.

[Special Continuous Action Skill: Word of Command]

[Proficiency: 1%]

[Materialization of will. By uttering words infused with will, you can make a declaration that affects the world.]

Word of Command. The concept skill’s proficiency had increased and this was a skill obtained through the Projection of Will.

Taesan moved to the next room. He spoke with will to the slime running towards him.

“Stop.”

Boom.

The approaching slime stopped instantly.

The slime creaked. It looked like it couldn’t do anything as Taesan’s command and its own will clashed.

“My headache has lessened.”

It was less than before, probably because he had obtained a concrete skill. At least it wasn’t a pain that would prevent him from using it more than once or twice.

Taesan, watching the creaking slime, opened his mouth again.

“Burn.”

With the declaration, the slime started to burn.

The flames greedily devoured the slime. The headache worsened. Taesan endured the pain and watched the burning slime.

The slime burned and eventually disappeared.

[You have defeated the slime guarding the door.]

“The damage itself is fine.”

The slime’s health was quite high.

The fact that he could defeat it like this meant that the power used by will was somewhat proportional to Taesan’s attack power.

[It's closer to Dragon Speech.]

The ghost murmured. Dragon Speech, the language used by a species that wielded a different kind of magic from the god of magic, a single word could overturn the heavens and earth.

It wasn’t bad. The problem was the headache. The stronger the influence exerted, the worse the pain.

Taesan calmed his headache and experimented with various things.

As a result, he found out that using Word of Command on himself caused less headache.

And now he could utilize things he had half-abandoned.

“Move.”

Clatter!

Arrows leaped out and attacked the slime.

Arrows with their own will. They weren’t bad when he first obtained them, but at some point, he stopped using them.

The reason was simple. The damage was too insufficient.

The arrows required the wielder’s authority, and the required authority’s standard was extremely high. Even Taesan, who had become considerably strong, couldn’t draw meaningful damage from them.

And having a will of their own meant that Taesan didn’t need to worry about them, but it also meant that he couldn’t exert any influence over them.

It wasn’t bothersome enough to use against strong enemies, so Taesan hadn’t utilized it much until now.

However, things were different now that he had gained willpower.

[Arrows with a Will of Their Own]

[Arrows that move on their own to protect their master. They move with a will of their own and cannot go beyond a certain range.]

[Current Master: Kang Taesan]

[Current Attack Power: 521]

Perhaps because he was directly controlling them with his will, their attack power had increased significantly. Their speed and power had also noticeably risen.

‘They were arrows that could only be used by someone at the level of a transcendent.’

Arrows that could only be used if one could control them with willpower. If left to the arrows’ own will, their attack power would drop drastically to two digits.

As Taesan used the arrows to defeat the slime, his head throbbed momentarily.

Taesan retrieved the arrows.

“They are usable, but…”

It was still difficult to handle them.

Even though he had learned the Word of Command and the headaches had lessened, they were still at an unbearable level.

Now he understood why the demon had said it wouldn’t matter much right now. Taesan’s abilities were still insufficient to handle it.

‘But.’

The stronger he became and the higher his rank, the more valuable it would be.

It was definitely a usable ability.

With the confirmation done, Taesan resumed his progress through the labyrinth.

He cleared a secret room and collected the reward. The reward was a black magic-enhancing robe, an item to offer to the demon as a tribute.

Taesan moved forward and reached the boss.

The boss was a slime with sharp spikes. Taesan raised his hand.

“Let’s finish this quickly.”

[You have activated Addition.]

Crunch.

The slime was crushed.

After a few more swings of his sword, the slime was completely destroyed.

[64th Floor Clear.]

Floor cleared.

However, Taesan didn’t lower his sword.

[You have summoned the highest-grade spirit of multiple colors, Barkaza.]

[You have summoned the King of Wind Spirits, Minerva.]

“Hello!”

[Long time no see, master. Summoning even Lady Minerva means an enemy has appeared, right?]

“Yes.”

Taesan replied curtly. Barkaza spoke in an excited tone, anticipating the upcoming battle.

[Who is it? Another being related to the High God?]

“You’ll find out soon.”

[Hmm?]

Barkaza, who had been curious, stiffened.

Minerva’s face mirrored his concern. She murmured in a hesitant voice.

“What the…?”

Taesan looked at the stairs leading to the 65th floor.

Boom!

A massive rumbling sounded.

The noise, as if an earthquake had occurred, was slowly approaching.

Clang.

With the sound of iron, it appeared.

Covered in dark purple armor, a figure that looked gigantic next to Taesan appeared.

On its back was a greatsword as big as Taesan’s torso.

What could be felt was overwhelming heaviness.

Its mere presence silenced everyone around it.

And strength.

Taesan had seen a being with such strength before.

The King of Fire Spirits. And Ambracia.

The Guides of Sin. Its upper echelon.

The ghost spoke.

[Is it you first? Appropriate.]

The knight said nothing.

It simply raised its greatsword and pointed it at Taesan.

[The Iron Wall that Protects the World, Shaman has appeared.]

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