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SERIES: Regression of the Cursed Blacksmith
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Chapter 29 - Conquering the Tower of Growth
Before defeating the Geumgang Anglerfish,
Choi Hyun had been incredibly busy.
[ Super Focus has been activated. ]
[ Nimble Feet has been activated. ]
[ Nameless Footwork has been activated. ]
Whenever the Geumgang Anglerfish charged, he dodged.
[ Deft Hands has been activated. ]
[ Nameless Swordsmanship has been activated. ]
[ Ultra Strong Strike has been activated. ]
[ Back Attack has been activated. ]
[ Critical has been activated. ]
Then he would immediately get behind it and land an Ultra Strong Strike.
Clang, clang, clang!
[ Repair complete. ]
Before the next attack came, he would hammer away at the Dark Sword, repairing it.
He had been maintaining this gruesome pattern for about 11 hours.
A tedious and long time.
It was physically exhausting.
But he endured it all.
He gritted his teeth and held on, somehow managing to land effective blows on the creature.
He was confident of victory.
After all, about six hours into this pattern, he had seen the Geumgang-agwi's seemingly impenetrable scales begin to crack and break off in large chunks.
And so, after nearly 11 hours of a desperate struggle.
“Gyaaaaaaak!!”
[ Over 60% of the Geumgang-agwi's scales have been destroyed. ]
[ The Geumgang-agwi uses “Hungry and Hurting.” ]
Just as the Dark Swordsman had started using Ultra Strong Strike in phase 2, this creature, too, revealed its second phase.
A second phase he was seeing for the first time in 11 long hours.
The second phase was simple.
Enraged by the prolonged battle of attrition, the Geumgang Anglerfish put away its bell and drastically increased its attack tempo.
This meant he had to focus even more.
But Choi Hyun welcomed it.
“The long pauses between its attacks were annoying. This is actually better.”
A faster tempo was good.
It meant he could hit it more often.
And his prediction was spot on.
“Kwaaaaaak!”
Kwang!!
“Kwaaaaaak!”
Kwang!!
The Geumgang Anglerfish’s mouth never reached Choi Hyun.
Even if it was the final boss of the Tower of Growth, a creature no one had ever seen before, to Choi Hyun, who had returned from the brink of annihilation, the Geumgang Anglerfish was nothing more than a goldfish in a tank.
He continued to strike it at a much faster pace for some time.
Choi Hyun slammed the Dark Sword into the Geumgang-agwi once more, and at that moment.
Crack!
For the first time, he heard a different kind of impact sound from the creature.
The sound of something shattering.
Simultaneously, the Geumgang Anglerfish failed to retreat into the water and was instead flung far away as if it had been slammed down, flopping on the ground.
“Oh!”
Choi Hyun’s eyes lit up.
Now!
This was the golden opportunity!
With the creature out of the water, he no longer had to wait and could beat it to his heart's content.
Choi Hyun raised his Dark Sword and charged at the beast.
[ Deft Hands has been activated. ]
[ Nameless Swordsmanship has been activated. ]
[ Ultra Strong Strike has been activated. ]
[ Critical has been activated. ]
Thwack! Thwack! Thwack! Thwack!
Sword strikes rained down like a torrential downpour on the Geumgang Anglerfish.
However, due to it's unique defense, the Dark Sword’s attacks felt more like from a club than a blade.
It didn't matter.
Whether with a sword or a club, the end result—which was killing the beast—would be the same.
He continued to relentlessly beat the Geumgang Anglerfish, which was unable to return to the water.
“Geueooooo!”
The creature’s body convulsed as if seizing up, and then its life was extinguished.
[ You have defeated the Geumgang Anglerfish. ]
[ You have cleared the 50th floor. ]
[ You have leveled up. ]
[ You have acquired 1 bonus stat point. ]
[ Heavenly Martial Body has been activated. ]
[ Strength, Stamina, Mana, and Sense stats each increase by 1. ]
[ You are the first person to successfully conquer the Tower of Growth. ]
[ The Tower sincerely congratulates you on your success. ]
[ The Tower is beginning to calculate your achievements. ]
[ You are the first person to successfully conquer the Tower of Growth. ]
[ For achieving this great feat, the system gifts you 4 bonus stat points. ]
There was a flood of notifications.
First, the basic rewards.
But it was a great feat.
The first one he’d achieved since regressing, he thought.
Thanks to it, he gained 4 bonus stat points.
And then.
[ A marvelous display of movement. ]
[ You were not hit a single time while conquering the Tower of Growth. ]
[ You have acquired the item, “Hidden Shadow Step.” ]
An additional item acquired.
To be precise, it was a skill page.
A smile spread across his lips.
“Yes, I knew this would happen.”
He had successfully cleared a 50-floor tower without taking a single hit.
This was an achievement among achievements.
Though it was a hidden piece that was undiscovered in his past life, a hidden condition like this was something any veteran Hunter would have attempted.
“Judging by the name, it seems to be a footwork skill. I’ll have to check it later.”
More notifications followed.
[ You have successfully overcome the worst trial existing in the Tower of Growth. ]
[ Furthermore, with an unyielding spirit, you have succeeded in defeating a nigh-impossible foe. ]
[ The Tower highly values your resilient spirit and grants you a formidable mentality that cannot be broken by anything. ]
[ You have acquired the trait, “Supreme Mind.” ]
“Huh?”
He was so surprised that he spoke aloud.
“This thing drops here?”
Supreme Mind.
“Jigo” for short.
It was an absolute mental immunity skill that only the top of the top among defensive classes could ever hope to obtain.
The effect was simple.
It granted absolute immunity to any and all types of mental attacks.
“This was something only Delman, the Monk Master, had. I can’t believe it’s a reward from the Tower of Growth.”
He let out a dry laugh.
It was a complete windfall he hadn't anticipated at all.
“This changes my plans again…”
Just then.
[ You have acquired the trait, “Qualification of the Beyond.” ]
One more notification.
He thought it was over, but there was one more left.
And that notification was a reward, a trait no less.
“Just how many traits do you get for clearing one tower?”
Traits were rare.
In terms of value, they were far more prioritizable than items or skills.
Was it finally over now?
[ The Tower once again congratulates you on your conquest. ]
[ May you continue to strive for an infinite and brilliant tomorrow. ]
Zzzing-
Now, it was truly the end.
Along with a farewell-like notification, a portal leading outside materialized before his eyes.
He could guess what the situation outside was like.
Reporters and all sorts of people were probably camped out, waiting for him.
He was already smiling at the thought of giving the interviews.
It wasn't because he was an attention seeker.
It was because humanity's plan truly began with the conquest of the Tower of Growth.
Now, before leaving the tower, it was time to check his rewards.
He could do it outside, but there was no reason to postpone it.
It was the golden rule to check your rewards as soon as you got them, if you had the time.
First, he took a quick look at his status window.
[ Choi Hyun ]
- Lv : 30
- Class : Blacksmith
- Traits : <Demon's Eye> <Repair> <Curse of Memory> <Nameless Art> <Cheonmu Body> <Material> <Supreme Mind> <Qualification of the Beyond>
- Strength : 35
- Stamina : 35
- Mana : 35
- Sense : 35
- Dexterity : 73
- Unallocated Stat Points : 5
A smile formed on his face.
He was already level 30.
To enter at level 1 and leave at level 30.
It truly was the Tower of Growth, as it's name suggested.
Of course, reaching level 30 didn't grant him anything extra.
The next repair skill required 100 Dexterity.
With that in mind, he invested all his bonus stat points into Dexterity.
Next, he checked the information on his new acquisitions one by one.
He started with the Hidden Shadow Step skill page.
[ Hidden Shadow Step ]
- Type : Item
# A secret manual containing a legendary footwork technique that can only be obtained in the Tower of Growth.
# Named for its quiet and efficient movements, which make the user seem to move as one with the shadows.
As expected, it was a footwork technique.
Though it was called a secret manual, it was just a single skill page filled with an unknown language, but that didn't matter.
He immediately tore the skill page and used it.
[ You have learned the skill, “Hidden Shadow Step.” ]
[ The skill, “Hidden Shadow Step” and the skill, “Understanding of Martial Arts” resonate and influence each other. ]
[ The skill, “Hidden Shadow Step” and the trait, “Nameless Art” resonate and influence each other. ]
He had learned Hidden Shadow Step.
Simultaneously, Understanding of Martial Arts reacted to it, and Nameless Art, which contained Nameless Footwork, also reacted, creating a resonance in return.
Hidden Shadow Step would now be influenced by them, creating a greater synergy.
He then checked the information of the newly learned skill.
[ Hidden Shadow Step (潛影步) ]
- Type : Skill
# A legendary martial art said to have been created by a master of footwork.
# Named for its quiet and efficient movements, which make the user seem to move as one with the shadows.
# Your movements become silent and traceless, allowing you to preemptively occupy advantageous positions, such as an opponent's blind spot.
The information was brief.
But what it contained was nothing short of incredible.
Choi Hyun, more than anyone, knew just how terrifying a footwork skill could be.
“They used to say having one proper footwork skill is better than any end-game armor.”
No matter how high your defense was, it was useless against a stronger attack.
But if you could dodge it in the first place, none of that mattered.
That was why a decent footwork skill page could be sold for whatever price the seller named.
Next, he checked the information for Supreme Mind.
[ Supreme Mind ]
- Type : Trait
# A supremely powerful mind granted to the one who conquered the Tower of Growth.
# Possesses absolute immunity to all types of mental attacks.
The description was short.
But it was short and powerful.
So much so that no other explanation was needed.
He couldn't help but smile.
He had already been planning various countermeasures for mental attacks, and this had just saved him a lot of trouble.
He didn't think that it was an excessive reward.
After all, throughout all of history, he was the only one to have ever conquered the Tower of Growth.
Finally, he checked the last trait.
[ Qualification of the Beyond ]
- Type : Trait
# A very special qualification granted only to the one who conquered the Tower of Growth.
“Hmm.”
“What is this now?”
He had never seen this, even in his past life.
Because no one in his past life had ever conquered the Tower of Growth.
“Well, I’ll find out when the time comes.”
The check was complete.
But the finale still remained.
Choi Hyun’s gaze shifted elsewhere.
There lay the spoils left behind after the Geumgang Anglerfish disappeared.
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