Chapter 316: Struggle to Level

———Lerim———

<9: 47 am>

“*Yawn*” I let out a yawn as I am sitting here without any company. It’s still early in the morning, so that is only to be expected. Be it the other adventurers or anyone wanting to make a request, they will take a while to come here.

At a time like this I just doomscroll to waste some time. Let’s see how many cities have fallen at this point. No idea what it looks like in other countries but here it is getting quite ridiculous. There are even more reports on it and I don’t really know when it’ll stop. I just know that at some point a truly massive scale conflict is going to appear. As to when and where? No idea, not in my purview, so that’s not something I need to stress myself over.

Looking around, just some staff members going about setting things up or standing idly. Anyone calling themselves adventurers would probably want to sleep maybe a little bit longer and have a big serving of breakfast to refresh themselves for the dangers ahead. Even if they’re only going for twenty floors there is always a chance of being struck in the back at the most inopportune time. They always want to treat themselves before going down there.

For someone like me, there isn’t much for me to do inside there. Even if I go over a hundred floors my current grinding process is quite slow. There’s always a plateau at some point, a bottleneck that needs something to surpass it. All it leveling up, breakthrough, or whatever else, it’s a somewhat invisible force that might not even exist for some people. At the very least, from what Karra had said in passing, it seems like whatever the Eclipse did, it smoothen that process for everyone. This might be the era with the highest number of powerhouses outside of certain eras.

“Didn’t expect you to be prancing around like this, but perhaps that is the life of someone who is very much a creature of habit.” Someone suddenly spoke up in the empty lobby with a voice I recognized.

“W-Why are you here?” I can’t help but be confused, seeing the white-haired woman who seems to show up at random, and yet one would always be shocked at her sudden presence.

“Just checking up on you. You are a pretty interesting piece on the board. It’d be a shame if you’re permanently removed from the board.” She explained. Does she need to say it in such a roundabout way?

“Okay? So what, you think I’m going to die in a few days?” I asked, confused as to what other purpose she could have.

“From the current estimation, no. I do think you might want to train up a bit. I can tell that you’re stuck right now.” She can tell that right away? Scary.

…Hold on, why is everyone so calm right now? Did they not notice this woman appearing out of nowhere? What’s happening?

“I casted an illusion spell just to make sure they don’t notice anything amiss. It would be inconvenient to talk here otherwise.” She explained before I even got to ask her about it. “Anyway, I think I should crack up your level at least a little bit. I think people are more determined to grow stronger now more than ever, so you need to widen the gap.”

“...Okay? So what am I supposed to do?” I don’t think she’s going to let me refuse, so I should just play along with her and get this over with quickly.

“Come outside first, then we can talk.” She said before walking away and seemed to phased through the unopened door. What the hell is she doing?

I quietly followed her outside, she was standing there and stared at me with a smirk.

*Zoom*

“Whoa!” Completely unannounced teleportation… It’s hard to not get startled despite this not being the first time I’ve experienced it… Where the hell are we? Why is it so cold? Why is the sky so dark?

We stood atop of something that is colored light gray. I can’t make out the environment around us at all.

“Alright then, let’s quickly prepare.” She said while the middle part of this area suddenly lifted up to show… A storage area? “Put your bag in there, away from any danger, we wouldn’t want a space bag like that to burst, do we?”

“Certainly not.” I said while doing just as she asked. It’s quite convenient for me to have this built in… I just realized, we’re on a platform high in the sky!? It’s massive, but I know for a fact that I would not want to even entertain the idea of jumping off.

“Now then, let’s truly begin.” She said while drawing out a thin sword with a weird guard as the risen section came back down, securing the item deep into the ground that wouldn’t be so much as grazed by any attacks in the upcoming battle. It’s a duel between two swordswomen, it seems. I don’t even know how in the world this is supposed to help me train more than usual.

*Dash* *Clash*

Immediately, she closed the distance between us. The pressure from her sword swing is completely at odds with the thin blade and her slim arms. Unlike with that mousegirl it’s not as if her weapon is particularly giant.

“Hmm… A simple swing that could cut a mountain in half, is it?” Wiina gave her assessment just from a single interaction. “Definitely impressive, but it can go higher.”

*Push* *Clang* *Leap*

She then pushed me back suddenly before jumping away to give me some breathing room. She held her sword up and it began gathering energy, causing me to feel a chill down my spine at the terrible premonition.

*Swing* *Blast* *Evade*

…That was truly terrifying. She swung down her sword and a beam of energy was launched towards me at a speed I never really dealt with before. I barely avoid it, knowing full well that heading it head on would be asking for death.

*Sizz* *Blast* *Blast* *Blast* *Blast*

“Huh!?” She then suddenly began throwing out a bunch of fireballs at me, not giving me more than a few seconds to contemplate what happened with that attack. Those are massive balls of flame, and they clearly are powerful projectiles that I don’t fully understand its making.

*Leap* *Boom* *Leap* *Boom* *Leap* *Boom*

I jump out of the way of these attacks, making sure to keep retreating and retreating until all of the attacks are over, and if she keeps pelting fireballs at me, then something really needs to change with my approach.

*Leap* *Swing* *Slide*

I managed to get close to her to attack, but she quickly slid out of the way. It does at least accomplish the immediate goal of making her stop casting those fireballs.

*Shine*

Suddenly two large gates of light appeared behind her as she continued moving away from me. What is it this time?

*Shine* *Clack* *Launch* *Evade*

Suddenly two golden chains came out of the portals, these things aiming right at me and forcing me to dodge before even making sense of them.

*Swing* *Leap* *Swing* *Strike* *Dash*

These two chains can move freely and try to hit and restrain me at any chance it gets. I can only begin running and jumping away, repelling it momentarily by hitting the head of these chains.

*Clang* *Evade* *Leap* *Evade*

These things are relentless! And from what I felt from my sword touching the two long chains, it’s clear that getting directly struck by them would hurt badly.

*Slash* *Strike* *Leap* *Evade*

Unfortunately, no matter how much I hit them, they don’t break or slow down at all. This type of spell should weaken when damaged, and only constant mana input can keep their effectiveness at maximum. Considering that Wiina seems to have what feels like a limitless supply of mana, she doesn’t have to worry about the construct’s integrity. Looks like I need to try something else aside from being completely on the defensive.

*Leap* *Shine* *Swerng* *Block*

I jumped towards Wiina and erect a spherical barrier around me as she commanded the two chains to intercept me, causing them to bounce off and I landed close to her, slowly approaching while pumping mana to keep up the barrier. The barrages of attack from the chains seem to intensify in terms of speed and force, but because I keep pumping mana into it, the barrier will not fall unless I demand it.

*Crackle* *BOOM*

I overcharged the barrier and quickly changed its shape to concentrate right in front of me, and therefore right in Wiina’s face. I let the faulty spell loose as it exploded right in her face and also sent me flying by the pressure of the explosion as well.

“Haaa…” That actually expends a good deal of mana from me, and I can feel a bit of backlash from the spell overclocking. Unfortunately, I can’t let my guard down even with a ‘successful’ attack like that. This isn’t a fight that can be won so easily, if that’s even a possibility.

Wiina then casually walks forward, not a single speck on her as she recalls the spell and holds her sword up.

*Dash* *Clash* *Clang*

Her fighting style is even more aggressive this time around, swinging the sword from multiple angles and spinning and jumping around quite often to make her movement more chaotic. It’s hard to follow with how smooth and unnatural her movements are, comparable to fight choreography in animations where they seem to have extreme reflex and ability to change their trajectory at a fly in a way that no normal human could’ve done. It’s not something I’m incapable of, but at the speed and frequency at which she did it I would’ve slipped up multiple times by now.

*Clash* *Clang* *Block* *Evade* *Swing* *Parry*

My arms and legs are having a hard time keeping up at this higher frequency, I can’t even afford to run away. There isn’t enough space between us for me to muster up a sprint or a leap without getting caught. The sounds of metal clashing are starting to get more and more grating with how often they were bashed into each other. There are even sparks flying off as they hit each other, just going to show how much force both of us use in each swing.

*Clash* *Block* *Parry* *Clang* *Clash*

It’s starting to become a rhythm that never seems to end. I can’t find an opening to attack her or retreat. This is getting more and more tiring as seconds become minutes!

“Come on! Put more passion into it!” Wiina said out loud as the following swing had even more power put into it. This is getting quite dire, but there’s nothing for me to do but to power through!

*Dash*

———Karra———

<2: 32 pm>

*Clash* *Block* *Parry*

Emmie’s strikes were easily intercepted despite her rising tempo. Despite the scythe’s mighty appearance and scythe standing in sharp contrast to the simple bamboo sword, the one holding the scythe is at a clear disadvantage. The gap in power is still that of a drop of water against the ocean. It certainly feels jarring to see Emmie being the one on the back-foot, but it’s not the first time she unflinchingly walks towards her own defeat. Either way, this is training, so it’s nothing worth fussing over too much anyway.

*Block* *Parry* *Clash*

We can tell the power is leaking through each exchange, and it’s a good thing that Emmie’s weapon will naturally repair itself. Even if our weapons are made by an amazing blacksmith with what seems to be a forgotten ancient method, if it doesn’t repair itself somehow then we’d probably have a lot less inclination to use it. The idea of those amazing artifacts not being in the best condition at the worst possible times is quite scary.

Even then, nothing can quite compare to a weapon forged from or bound to the soul. Its shape, its weight, its abilities, all obediently follow the will of its master. No need for a replacement at all.

At some point we need to update our equipment. Probably not in a few years with the current power level, but not needing to worry about it is quite nice.