Chapter 38 – The Tower of Trials that Pierces the Heavens - Strawberry Lilies

「Fu!」

――Dogo!

『Gugya! ?』

「Tei! !」

――Baki!

『Gyaaasu!』

「Toriaa! !」

――Dogooon! !

『『Gyaaaa! ?』』

Green… The Mini Goblins keep coming out of the forest one after the other. I blow them away with the Flaming Demon’s Red Gold Club.

I think this weapon is very useful. You can blow them all up at once, and it’s good for relieving stress.

By the way, though, even if the Mini Goblins go as close to humanoid as possible, I don’t mind killing them. They will kill any enemy that comes at them. No mercy. If Suzu attacked me, I’d die (mentally).

「――《Flaming Strike》!」

――Boou… !

What had been a distorted crimson pattern turned blood red. Flames run from the top of it as if to swallow it.

「Let’s start with that!」

――Bagon! !

『Gyāāaaaa …… ―― !』

「….. Ho- Homeru~n… ?」

No, no, no! You’re flying too fast, no matter how you look at it! That Mini Goblin was on fire and flew far away from here…

I don’t think I was that strong… I mean…

「Aaaaaa ――― ! ! ! ! ! !」

『『『『『Gya! ?』』』』』

I noticed… No, I remembered.

Come to think of it, I haven’t looked at my status lately…

Let’s get through this for now.

The nice thing about weapon skills is that you have multiple ways to attack.

For example, 《Water Blade》. This is a skill that covers the sword with water. The attack method is to either slash directly or let the water blade fly.

《Spirit Blade》. There are countless ways you can do this. Because the effect changes depending on the spirit being seized. Really… Skills are so interesting… ! !

… Well, what I’m trying to say is that there is also 《Flaming Strike》.

「Waaaaa! !」

I thrust the red gold club, which was burning and turning bright red, into the ground.

――Bikibiki… Biki… Bikibikibiki…

Crimson cracks appeared on the ground around the spot where I thrust it.

――Dogooooooon! ! ! ! !

『Gya―― ?』

Before one of the Mini Goblins could utter a word, it was cut off. Then, my vision was filled with burning flames in two colors, red and orange.

「Aa…」

Silence.

The whole area had turned black. Of course, it was because of the fire.
The Mini-Goblins, as well as the plants and trees that had grown around the area, were all reduced to ashes.

「L- Let’s look at the status…」

I whistle poorly and look at the status screen.

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

【Name】 Ayane LV. 11→16

【Race】 Human

【Job】 Blacksmith LV. 4→5

HP: 980/1500→1750

MP: 350/1000→1250

STR: 30

VIT: 10

DEF: 10

AGI: 18

INT: 10

DEX: 30

MND: 10

【Skill】 《Smithing LV. 6→7》 《Swordsmanship LV. 7→9》 《Physical Enhancement LV. 5→8》 《Mining LV. 5》 《Lumbering LV. 2》 《Woodworking LV. 5》 《Appraisal LV. 5》 《Alchemy LV. 2→6》 《Alchemy Smithing LV. 3→6》

SP:25→50

【Eqiupment】 Leaf Wolf Set, Homurakazezanmaru, Reizanmaru

【Title】 『Someone Who Has Defeated the Leaf Wolf』

◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇

Why didn’t I get a notification… Ro… U…… Then

AaaaaaaaaAA! !

I turned off my notifications because they sounded so loud at the time! ! No wonder I didn’t notice anything. Well, I wasn’t really paying attention to it.

Get yourself together.

「Let’s go to the tower! !」

Ayane headed in the direction of the tower, doing her best to go through the black landscape around her.

「………. I can only do blacksmithing and such, so I’ll come back when the time comes」

Ayane’s words were blown away by the wind and disappeared.

―――――

――

「I’m He… eeereee! !」

Surrounded by the forest, it stands quietly… A really big tower. It wasn’t exactly standing quietly at all.

There were no ornate decorations, and there was only a single gatekeeper standing at what looked like the entrance. Naturally, the gate was incredibly large, and so was the gatekeeper.

「E- Excuse me」

「……」

「I want to enter here…」

「Show………. Power…」

「Eh?」

「This is the Tower of Trials. If you wish to enter, show me your power」

「Eeeeeeeeeeh! ? ! ?」

I arrived at a place called the Tower of Trials, not the tower where the monsters live.

I thought for sure it was a ruin!

「Ke, 《Appraisal》!」

▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲▲

【Name】 Tower of Trials: Gatekeeper LV. 99

【Weakness】 ? ? ?

【Attribute Weakness】 ? ? ?

【Description】 The Guardian of the entrance to the Tower of Trials, which has existed for tens of thousands of years. He measures the strength of those who challenge the Tower of Trials, and judges whether they pass or fail. He has never been killed before.

HP: ? ? ?

▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼▼

L- Level 99…

Ah, but I don’t have to kill the gatekeeper. I just have to show my capabilities, not to defeat them.

Well, I’ve got to do my best. I’ve come all this way!

I prepared myself and readied my Reizanmaru. This is a boss battle.

The gatekeeper was a very large man, three times my height. A weapon used by someone like that…

「《Summon・First Weapon》」

What was summoned was a large shield and a large sword about two meters long.

They’re huge! !