Ascension Through Skills

Chapter 27

The God of Struggle and Death(1)

TL: handCream

PR: Kasaix

The Longsword had an attack power of 1. Though it looked very shabby, it still was of great value.

In the labyrinth, all additional attack power was calculated as a total sum thanks to his passive skill.

If the attack power was increased by 1, the damage done that used to be 8 became 9, and so on.

When the basic damage was so low, depending on the difference between attack power of 1 or 2, it was determined whether the target should be hit another time.

Right now, the number of his other stats were much more important. And the sword was enough. But there were more rewards left. Tae-san’s pupils dilated after checking the bow.

[Bow]

[Attack +1]

[Accuracy +40%]

[The user can use it well]

“This is good, too.”

The bow he was using now had no attack power, so he was relying only on the attack power of the arrows.

Due to Ahirak Weapons Techniques, the bow did moderate amount of damage, but its performance would have been very poor without it.

The accuracy rate was also very low at 20%, so he had to put a lot of effort into using arrows.

Two birds with one stone. Tae-san happily arranged his new bow.

‘Let’s continue.’

He put the rusty sword into his inventory and held the rusty longsword.

He felt stronger at once. As a matter of fact, when he changed to a shield and sword to handle Goblins, he won without using any skills. He knew he could win once again.

After finishing cleaning up, Tae-san headed back to the aisle.

Similar to before, he opened the door a little to check the inside.

“Huh?”

Tae-san entered the room. There was no goblin inside. But it wasn’t just an empty room.

There was an altar of a God in the room.

[You have discovered the Altar of Lakiratas]

     ***

[First Discovery Bonus]

[Intelligence has been permanently increased by 1. Mana has been permanently increased by 2.]

Intelligence and Mana, the increase was great for him. Tae-san looked at the altar. It was a circular altar that was placed in the middle of the room.

The hideously stained with blood and sharply standing decorations gave an idea of the nature of the altar’s owner.

The Gods of the Labyrinth had multiple personalities.

Some gods were friendly to the player while some of them were hostile. Some consider the players an object to be ridiculed, while there were gods who showed compassion.

However, Lee Tae-yeon said that most Gods considered players as a play thing…

Lakiratas.

It was the name of God in the system window. Tae-san fumbled over his memory and remembered what god he was.

‘The God of Struggle and Death.’

He didn’t know more than that. Lee Tae-yeon was an object of ridicule for the gods, so she did not want to know much about them either. Tae-san put his hand on the altar.

[The Altar of Lakiratas]

[An altar made by those who serve Lakiratas. It is a passage connected to God. Lakiratas can exert influence through this place.]

An Altar of those who worship God. Whenever Lee Tae-yeon arrived at such a place, she said she usually received a quest. The blood mist spread through the room scared, terror sinking into the minds.

A huge presence was felt beyond the altar. It was stronger and heavier than the monsters he had encountered.

If this is what he felt through the aisle, most players would go crazy as soon as they encountered the scene in person.

“Is this what a God feels like?”

Things like Gods only exist in the Solo Mode. Lakiratas was one of those Gods. Suddenly, a quest window appeared.

[Sub-quest begins]

[Lakiratas wants to test you. The one who came to his altar. If you accept it, the ordeal will come to you. If you win, you’ll be rewarded.]

[Reward: Lakiratas will decide it according to your performance.]

Usually when a player arrived at the altar, they were given a challenge, the ordeal of God. Lee Tae-yeon also found the altar of Lakiratas on the second floor and received a quest.

But she didn’t accept it.

Lee Tae-yeon instinctively felt that the ordeal was not something she could handle. She ran out of the room in a hurry. So there was no information at all about what the ordeal was or what kind it was.

Tae-san thought he could be the first one to accept it.

“Ordeal and Reward.”

After risking his life to break through the secret room, he obtained the wand of flames.

He blocked Einzhar’s blow and obtained the Ahirak Weapons Technique.

The moment he accomplished the impossible, he was rewarded what was beyond his imagination.

This system also existed in the Easy Mode, but the Solo Mode takes it to a whole different level.

He had no intention of running away. Tae-san accepted the sub quest.

[Sub-quest begins]

[Lakiratas is happy with your choice]

The blood mist that filled the room gathered in front of the altar. The fog gathered to form a foot. Climbing up the feet, knees were formed, and then the thighs. Then came the chest, belly, and head, resulting in a human form.

But that was not the end. The fog gathered once again around the human-like form.

Suddenly the fog disappeared, and a blood-red armor became visible.

Blood-red armor was worn by the humanoid creature.

And the remaining fog engulfed and formed into a sword.

[You have encountered a servant of Lakiratas [Fake].]

[Trial of Lakiratas: Win against the servant of Lakiratas [Fake].]

***

Tae-san looked closely at the servant of Lakiratas.

The knight wore armor that seemed to be worn by mediaeval knights. The armor was tightly wrapped around all parts of his limbs, and the head was also completely protected by the helmet. No matter how much he observed the knight, it was hard to find a clear gap.

The blood-red knight picked up the sword and pointed to Tae-san. He could tell just by looking at the posture without fighting.

It was infinitely stronger than a goblin.

Tae-san lifted his shield and sword.

The knight, who was looking at Tae-san for a while, rolled his feet.

Whoosh!

He was running towards Tae-san at a speed that seemed like he wasn’t wearing any armor in the first place! But Tae-san didn’t panic. There were countless times where it was not always as it seemed. He brought his sword towards an angle where the sword was raised.

Clang!

It was Tae-san who was pushed back. Feeling the tingling sensation, he frowned.

[25 damage was dealt to you]

“Ha.”

He couldn’t help but laugh at the ridiculous damage. Even if it was blocked, the shield was meaningless in front of the damage done. Tae-san stepped back and widened the distance. He put the shield back and took out the rusty sword.

‘It’s been a long time since I last used this.’

Whoosh!

The knight kicked his feet again. The weight of the kick was felt through vibration. The knight slashed his sword roughly towards the side.

Tae-san swung the sword against him.

There was a sound of iron clashing. It was again Tae-san who was pushed away.

With the incoming attacks, Tae-san realized the knight was stronger. The servant of Lakiratas had a strength superior to him. Though it wasn’t that high, still if they continued to fight head-on, Tae-san would definitely lose. 

This was the major difference he realized.

Then, what about Agility? Tae-san turned around and started to run away. The knight followed.

Clang! Clang!

Tae-san noticed that the knight, when chasing him, made a lot of metal clashing noises.

Agility was his advantage. The distance between him and the knight was getting farther away. Though it wasn’t a big difference, it wasn’t a small difference either.

Even if the opponent had an upper hand in strength and he had an upper hand in Agility. Tae-san, who was running away, suddenly turned around. He ran towards the knight and immediately swung his sword and slashed it.

The knight who was chasing hurriedly raised his sword.

Clang!

Two swords struck again. Both of their hands were locked together. However, Tae-san had two swords. With his free left hand, he stabbed the knight in the side.

Kakk!

[6 damage was dealt to the Servant of Lakiratas [Fake].]

His armor had a gap. He didn’t take much damage because he was wearing the armor, but it’s enough.

Tae-san began to push the sword in. He stabbed him in the waist with his left hand. This time the servant took 5 damage.

But the knight didn’t just stand still, using his strength, he removed the sword. Then he drew his sword diagonally across Tae-san.

Instead of blocking, he continued to dig into the wound. Getting right under the opponent’s hand, he then avoided the attack.

This left no room for Tae-san to wield his sword, but he had Ahirak Weapons Techniques. So he quickly retracted his sword and swung his fist.

[4 damage was dealt to the Servant of Lakiratas [Fake].]

It was a good choice to buy the fighter’s gloves. If he had hit the armor with his bare hands, a greater damage would have been dealt to Tae-san.

The knight tried to widen the distance to swing his sword, but Tae-san followed him closely.

Desperate and in confusion, the knight tried to swing his sword but Tae-san grabbed his wrist. He continued his attacks by hitting the knight’s leg, then his neck and it was lastly followed by a punch on the shoulders. 4, 3, 4 damage. A total of 11 damages were dealt.

‘I have to do this.’

Tae-san cleared through all the 100 floors of the labyrinth. Although it was in Easy Mode, the experience he got was good enough.

How to deal with an enemy whose strength was superior to yours?

How to deal with enemies with superior agility?

He knew all the ways to deal with them all.

Though the strength of the knight was superior to him, he was superior in Agility. So all he needed to do was to create a situation where the knight wouldn’t be able to use his strength properly. 

As strength was mostly about physical strength, he would have had greater damage than he could manage. 

So he was now using the tactics he enjoyed using in the past.

He was attached to the knight who was staggering and was being pushed back.

The knight gave up on wielding his sword and tried to kick Tae-san with his knee.

Tae-san blocked the knight with his feet.

Even if strength has the upper hand, it doesn’t create much difference. If he continues to accelerate his actions properly, he could overpower the knight.

‘It’s easier than I thought.’

Tae-san thought while swinging his fist. Obviously, it was a matter of course.

And this was just the second floor. No matter how much difficult the Solo Mode was, the labyrinth itself didn’t match the players with enemies that were impossible to defeat.

The Servant of Lakiratas [Fake] couldn’t be considered his enemy because they didn’t have the appropriate intelligence and sense. The knight was balanced in stats to a certain extent.

The players with low stats could win by pulling out all their best methods and barely win. 

That’s probably what Lakiratas wanted.

However, Tae-san’s slats were not low.

Compared to the Servant of Lakiratas, he wasn’t inferior in any sense. As he had received multiple additional rewards after his increase in levels.

It would have been difficult for players who had just entered the labyrinth. But Tae-san had already once cleared the labyrinth, so he was rapidly growing. He had a perfect grasp of how to respond, so it’s easy to injure him.

But there was someone who didn’t like it.

[Lakiratas seems to be a little flustered]

Although his servant was a difficult existence for the players to deal with. Tae-san was fighting perfectly and without much damage except at the beginning.

It would be an admirable scene in the eyes of any God.

But for Lakiratas, the God of Struggle and Death. 

He didn’t want a one-sided fight. He wanted to see a fierce battle in which the less skilled would win by squeezing out their resourcefulness, skills and wisdom. It was a realm of overwhelm and deceit.

Lakiratas made a decision after much consideration.

To return what he took.