“Congratulations to participant Thor for conquering the twenty-second floor with an SSSS rating, earning the reward [Magic Mirror]!”
Mike was taking a break when the previous SSSS-level personal reward arrived.
SS-grade special item- [Magic Mirror]
[Magic Mirror]: After reflecting an item, the mirror creates a highly realistic counterfeit, indistinguishable from the original but without any actual effect.
Note: Limited to three uses per day, cannot create counterfeits of items with too high a tier.
Mike suddenly had a bold idea. What if he used this mirror to reflect money? Wouldn’t he become rich?
But then he reconsidered. This seemed unlikely because Mike currently didn’t lack cash, and Lord merits were quite special. They belonged to the Lord tier of items, so clearly, it wouldn’t work.
Stowing away the Magic Mirror, Mike stretched and began considering his next move.
“The twenty-third floor…”
Glancing at the strategy guide, Mike decided to temporarily abandon it.
The twenty-third, twenty-fourth, twenty-fifth, and twenty-sixth floors were interconnected, with the instance content being a massive maze.
“With only three hours left, clearing it is out of the question.”
Based on Mike’s experience, such interconnected floors usually had complex backstories, likely requiring six hours to fully explore.
“Time to grind levels.”
With no other choice, Mike opted for the twenty-second floor.
The monsters on the twenty-second floor scaled with the challenger’s level, capped at level 299.
With Mike’s newly comprehended Shadow element skill, this floor was a leveling paradise for him!
With nearly three hours left, Mike needed to level up quickly for his duel with Calderon.
Replaying such floors wouldn’t yield any rewards. fгeewebnovёl.com
Mike was in it for the experience, not the rewards.
Moreover, in the heat of battle, Mike felt himself becoming increasingly proficient with his new skill.
The more familiar he became, the more he recognized its shortcomings, and the clearer his ideas for improvement became.
However, he was still missing something to fuse another element into it!
It was like watching a Japanese adult film, always obscured by a thin layer of mosaic, unable to see the full picture, causing frustration.
“The pressure is still too low.”
Mike had comprehended this skill in a state of flow, driven by the need to clear the twenty- second floor.
Now, the twenty-second floor posed no challenge to him.
Finding that state again seemed highly unlikely.
Mike didn’t force himself; such things couldn’t be forced.
Mike ran the twenty-second floor four times in a row, spending two and a half hours in total.
His level increased to 284, and he opened his attribute panel:
ID: Thor
Talent: Eye of Truth (SSS-grade)
Level: 284
Job: Stormwalker Magus (Lightning-Wind-Fire-Nature) SSS-grade
Second Job: Tidewalker Magus (Shadow-Water) SSS-grade
Health: 6,254,800/6,254,800
Mana: 12,378,900/12,378,900
Strength: 68,581 (+12,141)
Intelligence: 145,716 (+10,577)
Spirit: 127,891 (+8,641)
Agility: 50,749 (+10,034)
Constitution: 49,467 (+11,571)
Luck: 17
Equipment: Force of Nature, Nightmare’s Breeze, Thunderclap Hammer, etc.
Skills: All Things Grow, Mirror Shadow, etc.
Status: Blessing of Thor’s Sea, Sea God’s Curse II, etc.
Due to the second job template and the bonuses from three class changes, Mike’s attribute gains from leveling were enormous.
Each level he gained was equivalent to several, even ten levels for an ordinary person!
At just under level 300, his lowest base attribute was nearly fifty thousand.
His Intelligence attribute had soared past 150,000.
Aside from Lightning skills, Mike’s other skills still relied on his attributes to deal high damage.
Mike didn’t push to level 300 in one go; the remaining time wasn’t enough to gain 16 levels, so he left it for tomorrow.
Closing the attribute panel, Mike looked at the remaining thirty minutes, already having a
plan.
Summoning the core crystal of truth, Mike input a new floor number:
Fourteenth floor!
A flash of lightning, and Mike returned to the fourteenth floor, once again standing before the Slaughter Stele.
The Slaughter Stele stored the projections of top human warriors from past generations.
The projections had no talents but had other attribute bonuses, and their combat styles and habits closely resembled the originals.
Mike wasn’t looking for just anyone; he was looking for-Calderon!
Since he was going to duel Calderon, practicing against Calderon’s projection first was a good
idea.
“The problem is, what’s Calderon’s ID…”
Mike didn’t know Calderon’s ID in the Tower of Truth.
He scanned the inscriptions on the stele and soon found a clue.
“Challenge [I Want to Be the First] (Lv.101), gain 27% Exploration Rate.”
No doubt, this ID had to be Calderon.
Mike didn’t even need the Eye of Truth’s prompt and selected it directly.
Before entering the slaughter space, Mike set some conditions.
“Level limit: 101”
“Attribute limit: 100%”
This way, Mike would be fighting Calderon’s projection on equal terms.
Entering the slaughter space, Mike heard a cold snort.
“I Want to Be the First Ultimate Lord.”
It was typical Calderon.
That comment was quite provocative.
A blade flashed, and Mike’s eyes widened.
Calderon was using a blade!
This detail had never been mentioned before!
Since Calderon’s escape plan began, he had always fought with his fists. Why was his level 101
projection using a blade?
Clang-
Mike lost the initiative but didn’t panic, countering with his hammer.
Soon, Mike gained the upper hand, suppressing Calderon’s projection and winning easily.
Mike shook his head; a projection was still just a projection.
Combat talent could only be mechanically copied, not dynamically applied.
Exiting the slaughter space, Mike challenged Calderon again.
This time, he lowered his level and attributes, increasing the difficulty!
Level 100, 99% attributes!
Fight again, win again!
Again!
Level 90, 90% attributes!
Again…
Half an hour flew by.
Mike finally managed to win against the projection with level 80 and 45% attributes.
Any lower, and his win rate would drop below 90%, so he didn’t try.
With the last bit of time exhausted, Mike left the Tower of Truth and returned to Earth.
“Good morning, Shadow Nine!”
Mike looked at the rising sun outside the window, full of energy.
The young man smiled slightly, “Ready to go hammer Calderon together?”
