Ascension Through Skills

The Second Floor(4)

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

Unlike the tower shield, the rusty sword was a one-handed weapon. So, with his other hand, Tae-san grabbed the goblin’s shield. 

“Keek!”

The goblin was desperately trying to protect its body with a shield, but Tae-san was more powerful than the monster. Its shield was helplessly pulled and its body was finally exposed. Tae-san swung his rusty sword.

[9 damage was dealt to the goblin holding the shield]

[8 damage was dealt to the goblin holding the shield]

“Keek! Kik!”

The goblin was limping.

[You have defeated the goblin holding the shield]

Tae-san took care of the first two and only two were left. However, one of them was practically rubbing itself on the floor because of the fire. So, technically there was only a single goblin left.

“Keek! Kik!”

[The goblin with the shield has been overpowered by you. Its actions has been restricted] 

The goblin with the short sword retreated with an uneasy face. As Tae-san approached, he clenched his teeth and swung his sword. The blade reached the goblin’s neck and gashed through the skin.

[9 damage was dealt to the goblin holding a short sword]

“Keek!”

He pulls his sword back to swing his sword for another slash. 

[9 damage was dealt to the goblin holding a short sword]

[You have defeated the goblin holding a short sword]

Now there was only one goblin left.

Slowly, Tae-san was approaching the goblin screaming with the fire burning it.

      ***

“Keek!”

Soon the goblin turned into his reward after hunting it.

[You have won against the goblin with a bow]

He won. Tae-san, sat down in a full swing. By massaging his whole body, and pressing his numbing muscles, he began to relax himself.

‘It was manageable.’

The battle was not easy. He used two of his paralyzing arrows and used up all his physical strength.

But it wasn’t enough to risk his life.

Though strength and mana were consumed quite a bit, it would be recovered thanks to his victory rewards.  He didn’t use any skills except the Slowed Breathing Attack and the Wand of Flames. So, it was much easier than he had expected. 

As his progress got a bit farther, the number of goblins would increase and as the time passes by his equipment would get more advanced. But as a result raising his stats would get harder. 

Tae-san began to check his rewards.

His level didn’t rise.  But looking at the stats he could assume that by clearing up one more room, he would be able to level up. 

[Your Soul Raiser has been activated]

[Intelligence is permanently increased by 1]

‘As expected.’

The same message appeared four times. Tae-san murmured looking at the system window.

Still, the increase in intelligence was not bad. He obtained various bonuses for his mental judgment, and the mana consumption was also reduced. This was very important to him as there would be many opportunities for him to use skills that consume mana in the future. 

And the proficiency level also increased steadily, and finally, the contents of some of his skills had changed.

[Active Skill: Securing Visibility]

[Proficiency: 20%]

[The user will be able to view a very wide range. A range that is outside human capabilities]

Usually, the changes begin to occur when the proficiency reaches 20%.

This is when Securing Visibility brang out changes that are out of the range of human possibilities. 

In fact, 270° of field view on both sides of Tae-san was perfect for him. But what if he started seeing things he had never seen originally. 

Perhaps even a little hidden object that he couldn’t see before could change his game. 

It was a good change.

On the second floor, there was an infamous female goblin. She was known to be agile, steady in hiding and attacking from behind. Even if by little, a good field view could always be a good advantage for him. 

Detection had also changed.

[Active Skill: Detection]

[Proficiency: 24%]

[The user would be able to perceive better. You would be able to see through the weaknesses of living beings. You would be able to detect hidden rooms easier. Occasionally, important information may be given to you.]

‘This is good.’

Tae-san mumbled. Though the changes in Securing Visibility are good, the Detection is much better.

And not only that on rare occasions, the skill would provide him with important information. 

That one sentence was of tremendous value here.

As much as luck is necessary to survive the labyrinth can be artificially arranged. This skill now holds the same value as Endurance, when activated. 

As the proficiency of the Detection rose quite slowly, he thought he would only be able to get it when he crossed at least the fifth floor. But to his surprise it increased much faster. For him this was a happy miscalculation. 

And now it was time for him to look at the rewards.

Goblins did not give meat and leather, but had a certain chance to drop the equipment they were holding.

A short sword and a small shield were placed in front of Tae-san.

‘It’s time to change it.’

A player changes their equipment every time they climbed to the next floor. Tae-san began to check his gains.

***

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]: Don’t take it.]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: Hmm……but I like it… How can I not?]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]: Lee Tae-yeon on one hand is a scardy cat while on the other hand you are not scared of anything. Both of you are a problem. Let me give you an example. Just imagine, missing an opportunity because you are scared of enduring what’s next? Got it!] 

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: Yes. So how did you do it?]

[Kang Tae-san[Solo]: If you want it you should take it.]

[Kang Jun-hyuk[Solo]: What the… Oh.]

[Kang Tae-san [Solo]: It’s simple. Either take it now or later search for it. It’s either one or the other. If you’re confident, just accept the quest.]

                  ***

Firstly, he checked the short sword. The information window of the short sword appeared.

[Rusted Short sword]

[Attack Power + 1]

[The user would be able to use it just fine.]

The attack power of this sword was the same as his rusty sword. But short sword was meant for much faster attack, so it would mean it’s performance would be superior.  But that was not the case.

Even if they were different from other monsters, the goblins still used weapons. And that advantage alone was worth more than the attack speed when fighting holding the same weapon.

It’s not a bad weapon and could be used for dual wielding. Tae-san picked up the short sword and put it into his inventory and continued checking the small shield.

[Wooden Shield]

[Defense +3]

[The structure is not big. Attacks can be prevented, most of the time. But the probability of breaking it if the attack is too strong is high.]

The performance itself was inferior to that of the Tower Shield. It had a low defense of 2 and had no attack power. However, Tae-san was in deep thought.

‘From here on, the tower shield won’t be very useful.’

Unlike Big Rat, the goblins usually teamed up to attack and were very swift. They put pressure on a player by attacking non-stop. Tower shields usually had the advantage in one on one fights but they were not suitable for defending against many attacks at the same time.

And the fact was the tower shield had to be lifted up by two hands, so weapons couldn’t be held at the same time.

Besides, it was too big. It was large enough to cover Tae-san’s whole body, so it restricted his view.

Rather than avoiding attacks in areas that would be attacked, it mostly focused on blocking attacks from all sides. That was a major flaw for him right now.

So Tae-san had to make a decision. He put the tower shield into his inventory and took out his rusty sword.

He took the shield on his right hand while the sword on his left hand. Usually, it would have been the opposite, but Tae-san was left-handed, so this position was quite comfortable.

His defense was lowered by 2. However, this was the best setting for when dealing with the goblins.

A sword and a shield.

It was a combination he was using for quite some time.

Right now, the obtained gold was 200. Each goblin was worth about 50 gold. It wasn’t that bad.

Tae-san, who was now ready, headed for the passage.

***

The goblins found in the next room were one with a bow, one with a spear, one with a short sword. And there was only one guy with a long sword. There was a slight change from before, but Tae-san’s behavior did not change much.

Tae-san rushed towards the goblins.

“Keek!”

“Kaak!”

Blocking the attacks with the shield, Tae-san thrusted his sword swiftly.

It was much more stable than when he was using the tower shield. Though he took some minor damage, it was still manageable. He was at a level where minor damages he was dealt with recovered very quickly. 

[8 damage was dealt to the goblin with a short sword]

[You have killed the goblin with a short sword]

“Kaaak…”

The goblin collapsed. Seeing his comrade die in front it, the eyes of the goblin with the bow turned red. And suddenly, the goblin with the longsword stopped. But Tae-san wasn’t going to, he kept on with his attacks.

“Keeeek!”

He struck the goblin’s arm with the wooden shield. He raised his hand holding his weapon, he jabbed it into the goblin’s body. 

[You have killed the goblin with a longsword]

“Kik!”

“Keek!”

The spear pierced towards Tae-san. And Tae-san blocked it out with his sword. He blocked the flying arrow with his shield. The goblin holding a spear, screamed and tried to attack Tae-san. 

He could see the goblin’s hand, it was holding the spear very clumsily. He looked like a monster who had lost all his reasoning. 

But Tae-san was still alert. He blocked the spear with his shield and raised his sword to stab the goblin. The spear was flying through the air.

“Kaak! Kaak!’

Tae-san had pierced the goblin who had lost its spear.

[You have defeated the goblin who has lost its spear]

The system window responded quickly. The only one left was the goblin with a bow. He desperately shot an arrow towards Tae-san, but he roughly deflected it with his sword. An archer without any assistance wasn’t that scary.

“Kaak! Kaak!”

Tae-san headed towards the shaking goblin. He lowered his sword and pierced the monster.

[You have defeated the goblin with a bow]

[You have levelled up]

[The user is in the best condition]

[Health has increased by 10 as a reward for levelling up.]

[Strength has been permanently increased by 1 as a reward for levelling up. Agility has been permanently increased by 2. Intelligence has been permanently increased by 1.]

His level was rising little by little, but this balanced state was perfect for him.

This time Soul Raiser didn’t level up.  Four windows appeared stating his rise in Intelligence by 1 

“Status window.”

[Kang Tae-san]

[Level: 4]

[Stamina: 165/165]

[Mana: 15/15]

[Strength: 18]

[Intelligence: 24]

[Agility: 32]

[Attack +3]

[Defense +5]

[The user is in the best condition]

He laughed. He looked at his stats and remembered his past. 

[Kang Tae-san]

[Level: 57]

[Stamina: 1021/1021]

[Mana: 820/820]

[Strength: 105]

[Intelligence: 100]

[Agility: 98]

[Attack power + 49]

[Defense +58]

His level was now at 4. However, Agility had already reached one-third of what he had reached in the past. And this wasn’t even the 10th or 20th floor. 

It was just the 2nd floor.

Looking at the difference in growth, he couldn’t help but laugh even more.

Lee Tae-yeon’s stats, though it was overwhelming, weren’t that great.

She must have been average among the Solo mode players. So she must have also missed a lot of opportunities. 

Before he didn’t know much because no one other than her had survived. 

Tae-san, who was checking the status window, quickly checked his equipment.

“Please let it be longsword this time”

There was a goblin holding a longsword. Since the short sword’s attack power was 1, the longsword would likely have the attack power of 2.

He got two arrows, one bow and a longsword.

“Yes!”

Tae-san quickly checked.

[Rusted Longsword]

[Attack +2]

[The user can use it somehow]

“Good.”