Chapter 217 : Chapter 217
Chapter 217 - Tower of Causalitas (5)
The fourth floor was a rather childish space.
They were mobilizing all sorts of means to stimulate my desires, and the best among them was the use of the scents of various foods.
'This time, the spicy scent I feel is the smell of seasoned chicken.'
Unfortunately, it was not to my taste. From the perspective of the Abyss, it might have selected food considering various pieces of information including my origins, but the real me was not a twenty-something from Earth, but a middle-aged man from the Kalia Continent.
"How strange! I surely must have picked and chosen the foods you all go crazy for."
Of course, even if they had chosen correctly, as long as I was concentrating on my mana breathing technique, I would not be disturbed by such minor appetites.
"Phew."
I just exhaled a deep breath and circulated the mana within my body.
"Tch! You are quite something."
What followed this time was a platter of golden-brown grilled tripe, and the scent of beer wafting with a sizzling sound. This one was a bit strong. If I had not been in the middle of refining my mana breathing technique, I might have swallowed my saliva once. Since even that would result in a quest failure judgment, the fourth floor was truly a cruel place.
"Phew."
At the same reaction, the fairy fiend's voice was in a gloomy mode again.
"Even for a light eater, it is impossible to be like this!"
Even after that, there were all sorts of attempts to deceive my sense of smell and hearing, but they were all in vain. What was more likely to torment me was the desire for sleep.
Since the fatigue accumulated by repeating numerous failures on the second and third floors came rushing in as soon as I reached the fourth floor, the sleep-inducing scent being emitted from all over could be called a fairly plausible attempt.
'If it had been 96 hours instead of 48 hours...'
It might have become considerably difficult.
However, 48 hours was an amount of time that could be sufficiently endured through the mana breathing technique.
"Open your eyes! Since you keep your eyes closed like that, I cannot distinguish what your state is."
Of course, I only exhaled a light breath without any answer. And the sleep-inducing scent became denser as time went by.
Moment by moment, extreme fatigue also rushed in, but more quickly than that, my mana breathing technique was returning my body's condition to its original state.
The Abyss must have caught on to this immediately, as the quality of the sleep-inducing scent changed at some point.
'It is a strange scent.'
And all sorts of erotic voices began to be heard in my ears.
"Shall I tell you something interesting? Whatever you imagine at this moment, it will become reality and appear as a phantom."
If not for the mana breathing technique, I might have snorted in disbelief. It was to the point that I could not believe this was really a quest happening in the Abyss.
"If I were you, I would just give up on this turn. You have continuous opportunities even if you fail anyway! So please, imagine something!"
It was plausible logic.
However, the moment one falls into delusion, the waves of emotion become uncontrollable.
If I maintained this momentum, I would be able to break through the fourth-floor quest in one go.
"Phew."
In that way, time continued to flow and all 48 hours passed.
[You have cleared the quest.]
[A portion of the karma accumulated by the twisted law of causality is dissipated.]
[The connection between Earth and the Abyss has almost returned to its previous state.]
***
The fairy, Alicia. She stared at me for a long time, letting out hollow laughs as if she were dejected.
"I am sorry for not living up to your expectations."
"This is really unbelievable."
"Anyway, is our relationship over here?"
Since the fairy only acts as a guide until just before the final floor.
"I never thought you would leave so quickly."
"Why? Did I look pathetic to you?"
"Because you were so arrogant from the beginning. In fact, one of the virtues you should learn in this tower is humility."
"Humility... it seems I will be leaving without learning it until the end."
"Again! You are doing it again! Do you not know that the fifth floor still remains?"
The fairy fiend pouted and continued her words.
"The person who climbed the tower before you... he was not as outstanding as you, but he was still someone with the ability to turn the world upside down."
"So?"
"A person like that has been staying on the fifth floor for four thousand years now. Do you feel nothing after hearing this?"
"Well. He is he, and I am I."
"Tch."
"What is the theme of the fifth floor?"
"The impossible. That is the theme."
"There is no way."
"You will find out once you go there."
The fairy fiend must have been threatening me because she did not get what she wanted. Because the Abyss never gives an impossible mission.
***
Lena. This blonde woman from a place called Lepnia met me without even knowing how much time had passed since she came to the fifth floor.
"Four thousand years?"
"According to the fairy fiend, it has been about that long."
At my words, Lena laughed like a madman while looking at the sky, as if it were absurd.
"What is so funny?"
"Because my situation suddenly became pathetic. It is the first time I realized my magic was at such a miserable level."
As it turned out, this woman was a mage.
"The fairy fiend said the theme of the fifth floor is the impossible. What on earth is the quest?"
"Rising to the level of the unique one."
"The level of the unique one?"
"What kind of person are you? The atmosphere does not seem to be magic."
"I handle the sword."
"The sword does not quite suit you either, but anyway, it is for the better. Since there will be no reason to compete with me."
"Do not beat around the bush and speak properly. How can one escape from this tower?"
"You said you handle the sword? Then you just have to become the best swordsman."
"I am already that."
"That is only applicable in the world where you lived. I told you just now. You have to rise to the level of the unique one. What that means is..."
It meant proving that I was at the only and best level among all dimensions connected to the Abyss. In my case, it meant I had to be the best among all humans who handle the sword.
"But why did you not even know that four thousand years had passed since you came here?"
Of course, it would not be strange for the sense of time to become dull after about four thousand years. However, Lena was not at that level. It was a feeling that reminded me of the Rabbit tribe's memory, as if all her memories had been erased.
"Because the memory is erased every time I fail the quest."
As expected, that was it. Lena continued her words.
"In this place, you can leave to perform the quest at any time. You can also challenge it as many times as you want even if you fail. However, you lose the memory of the quest."
"You said you are a mage, so you must have dueled the best mage."
"I am guessing so too, but I have no memory."
"Is it not possible to train sufficiently before leaving for the quest?"
"It would have been good if I did, but I must have foolishly kept leaving just to do the quest. The time I have trained has a considerable discrepancy from four thousand years. Since I lost all my memories, there was no helping it. By the way, is that four thousand years certain?"
"That is what I heard."
As it turned out, most of the four thousand years were spent repeating the quest. If she had trained during that long time, she would have risen to a much higher realm. If she had a genius talent, she would have been able to handle even an average Dragon.
"I do not even remember where I went and what I did with whom. So I cannot even grasp how much training I need to do."
After arriving on the fifth floor, I could understand to some extent the meaning of the words the fairy fiend had said. The level of the unique class, where only one person exists in all dimensions. It might be an eternally impossible task unless one has a unique talent. Of course, this was not applicable to me. I made a proposal to Lena.
"I will provide you with a reference point."
"A reference point?"
"I am saying I will duel you. You said you do not lose memories from when it is not a quest, right?"
"That is true."
"If you are a mage of the unique class across all dimensions, you will not fall significantly behind even compared to my current self, so it could be a good reference point."
At my words, Lena shook her head as if it were absurd.
"Those words just now mean that you are stronger than me, let alone a mage of the unique class."
"Generally, the sword is superior to magic."
"The joke has gone too far."
"If you do not want to duel me, you can quit. And this proposal will be the last."
"What do you mean?"
"It means I am going to leave to clear this tower immediately."
Training is good, but unless a considerable amount of time is spent, it is impossible to peel away a layer from the current level.
After experiencing the third floor, there was one conclusion I could draw.
My sword was now almost touching the pinnacle. General training no longer carried great meaning.
"Fine. I will accept your proposal. However, I also have something to propose."
"Speak."
"It is that if you similarly lose to me, I want you to devote yourself to training. Using me as a reference point."
I nodded. In fact, this duel had its own meaning for me as well. Lena the mage. She might not compare to a Red Dragon, but she was clearly at the best level among all the mages I had met after reincarnation. This was true even if I included Rosie, who was a Hatchling.
I stood before Lena and held up the Holy Sword Bastian.
"I will make you take back the words that the sword is superior to magic."
"Then shall we begin immediately?"
"As you wish."
I widened the distance from Lena slightly. In fact, for a swordsman, keeping a distance from a mage was a fatal taboo. However, I thought the balance would be right only if I started with a slight handicap.
"You know that is a suicidal act."
Of course, death did not exist in this tower.
CRACKLE!
From the start, Lena was pouring in a considerable amount of mana. It was lightning magic.
Thunderbolts poured down like a shower and pressed upon the space. It was a much faster and more fierce attack than I had thought. I held Bastian vertically and narrowed the distance with Lena.
SWOOSH!
The sword qi emitted by the Holy Sword collided with Lena's lightning attacks from all directions, creating a violent roar. Instantly, Lena's eyes grew wide.
SWOOSH!
And when I scattered the sword qi once more, she had no choice but to surround herself with a barrier. A sturdy and hard spherical shield was created, and the sword qi dissipated before it. Even this much was impressive, but she immediately launched a counterattack.
BANG!
This time, a massive pillar of lightning stretched out from her. In terms of power, it was at a level close to half of the Hellfire I tasted on the third floor.
'Quite impressive.'
But it meant that I could easily neutralize it.
SWOOSH!
The Holy Sword sliced through space and created a collision with Lena's attack. The lightning pillar she fired was cut exactly in half, and the distance between us narrowed. I infused mana into the Holy Sword. Then, I fired the Holy Sword toward the barrier she had created. It was natural for the barrier to explode.
CRACK!
CRACKLE!
The problem was that her mental state was also exploding along with it.