With one hour of rest, Arthur managed to replenish his mana and ease any fatigue he had from the earlier fight. He had to admit that it was a boring wait, but it was crucial for his growth.
This time, Arthur didn't need to say anything for the tower to send in the next monster. As he expected, it was a different type of monster.
Two sickles like arms made clanking noises as they walked toward Arthur. With its head as wide as a watermelon, the next monster made its way into the ring.
Its name was Ena, a monster that was too hideous for one to look at. It didn't have any fur but, unlike ogres or humans, its skin was shriveled and wrinkled.
It walked on all four with its arms being scythe-like bones used for fighting. The body was skinny like you'd expect from a starving person with bones outlined clearly.
"Scheee!" The monster screeched as its red, beady eyes glared at Arthur. It revealed its fangs that were as long as a person's finger.
Arthur saw the monster's eyes dart all over the place, examining the surrounding. He knew this monster, an Ena, wasn't that strong. However, it was agile and nimble with a speed that made up for its strength. Furthermore, its arms were sharper than most blades used by neo-rankers.
With a low growl, the Ena darted to the side instead of confronting Arthur directly. Arthur hadn't met a mid-tier monster faster than this one except for future Kira.
Its legs, the most muscular part of its body, carried it forward with such speed that Arthur barely had time to use the protection rune before it sliced at him.
The monster's arm was flung away by the impact after striking Arthur's protection and it screeched loudly before making another attempt to flee. However, Arthur used the Weaken rune on it and its speed got slower than earlier.
Arthur tried to catch up to it with his speed, but it was hard to do so without activating his legacy rune or wear his artifacts. Even with his agility stat being maxed out for the neo-rank, he still failed to gain an advantage over the Ena.
This was the reason this monster, despite its weakness, was one of the hardest to fight against in the neo-rank. The value of its scythe as weapons made the monster the target of many, but its speed deterred most.
Arthur tried to think of a way to take it down before he settled on the most efficient one. He can lure it to attack him using his Iron Skin skill, but he decided against it. Not to mention that skills required more mana than runes, there was no reason to let this monster strike him.
Arthur threw his hand as the fire came to life like a raging dragon, surrounding him and the Ena in a circle. The Ena screeched and stopped before he was burned but Arthur had already appeared by his side. He didn't want to waste mana by trying to hit the monster directly and decided to corner it using his rune.
Arthur's hand turned monstrous as he clawed at the monster's back, ripping it in half. The might of a D-rank skill proved itself as the monster's skin and flesh was torn threw before it through itself across the fire, trying to flee.
The fire began eating away at the desperate Ena and its screeches started dying down. Before long, it died from either the flames or bleeding to death.
Arthur watched as the monster disappeared and sighed. He needed to rest more before he can face another one. He knew it was still manageable but he hated the boredom in-between.
[You have leveled up.]
The message's timely appearance made a grin break on Arthur's face. With this, he had three more legacy points to spend. He longed for the day he would grow stronger instantly by using them, but he knew that he needed to save some for rainy days.
After another hour, the next gate opened revealing two Enas. Arthur felt a headache coming even though the monsters were the same as the previous one individually.
Instead of burning everything down with his rune, as he had planned, Arthur decided to face them head-on. The sole reason for this was to sharpen his battle-sense and get more experienced at facing two monsters with high-speed.
The battle that ensued left Arthur exhausted and he had to construct multiple protection runes just to avoid being struck. In the end, he took one of them down while activating his Iron Skin skill to defend against the other one.
With only one of them left, Arthur managed to kill him off easily. His laborious breathing bespoke of how much he was on edge. Nonetheless, it was a rewarding experience in its might.
Arthur rested. This cycle repeated with three Enas the next round. The one after had a different monster, a giant serpent with a single horn. The horn was able to shoot magic attacks that made the serpent a formidable foe. The one after that had two horns and the one after, also the ninth monster had three.
Arthur used his legacy rune against the last monster for the briefest time because it was stronger than he had expected. He rested for another hour, waiting for the tenth monster of the first floor.
"Truly, this tower is for the strong." Arthur sighed. "Just the first floor and it's already this difficult."
However, he knew it was only difficult for neo-rankers. If a rei-ranker faced these monsters, he could flatten them with his evolved body. After reading the standardized assessment for stats among awakeners, Arthur found out the usual range for every rank. It was the same Sier had mentioned in the fortress a while ago.
Until a hundred points, that was the range of neo-rankers. A person can evolve if he had a single stat that was maxed out. It could be any of the five stats with even mana being included.
Rei-rankers' stats lied between 100 and 300. The same case happened with evolving to the next rank, the Vetus. As for the Vetus rank, they lied between 300 and 600 stat points. The Deme-rank was somewhere between 600 and 1000. After that came the Astra-rank, lying between 1000 and 1500. The last rank, the Empyrean, was beyond that.
That doesn't mean that one rei-ranker equaled three neo-rankers, as there was also the matter of quality. Rei-rankers enjoyed the privilege of manablood, being able to show greater effect for the same amount of mana that the neo-rankers use.
The reason for this was because mana had gained a physical state in the world, becoming more able to alter it. For example, the amount of mana Arthur used to burn down the two Enas would be a lot less if he was a rei-ranker.
With each new rank, there would be an evolution of abilities, mana, as well as their state of existence. The last one was especially so for Arthur, who practiced the Art of Creation.
After the one hour, which Arthur spent fantasize about evolving, the last monster appeared. It was a 4 meters tall Orc, a pig head resting beneath a helmet. It wore steel armor but it made him look like a giant metal ball. The monster was so obese that it looked like a balloon that was about to explode.
With pale-pink skin, the Orc looked like a giant meatball. It trudged toward Arthur dragging along its giant chained metal ball while making snorting sounds as it breathed.
"You're a big fellow." Arthur looked up at him in a stoic expression. "I bet you're strong, too." The Orc looked down on him. "However, too bad you're the last monster I'll be facing."
After practicing the Art of Creation, his Release rune's backlash became noticeably less. Furthermore, Arthur was becoming more proficient in controlling it.
Gold light surrounded Arthur's body. The Orc growled at him with its fangs protruding distinctly. Arthur was bored from all the waiting and he wanted to blow off some steam. Furthermore, he wanted to see how high he can rank on the first floor.
"I'm sorry, but die for my sake." Arthur crouched down as the earth gave in underneath him. His eyes glowed golden as it saw the monster roar and pull the giant chain. Its weapon was like a giant military flail without its handle, making it a long-range weapon.
That's why Arthur gave it no time and closed the distance between the two. His dash forward created a whirling wind in the coliseum. Arthur flexed his arm as the monster threw the ball at him.
Arthur met the giant sphere of metal head-on and punched it. There was a deep ringing sound as the ball flew away faster than it came flying. Without stopping, Arthur used the opening he created as the Orc was surprised by his weapon's ineffectiveness to bridge the gap between them.
What followed was the one-sided beating of the poor giant orc.