Josh had promised Liam that his sacrifice had served a purpose. His gains had been phenomenal! He had successfully…given up on learning this troublesome skill. At least, he had some inspiration during the training. 

He was now on Floor 18, equipped with a brand new D-Rank club that he had borrowed from Draconic. Whether it would be sufficient to destroy his enemies would remain to be seen, especially on Hellish. 

[Mission: Destroy 30 Iron Golems!] 

On any other Floor, this would be the easiest mission. Here, it would be relatively harsh. Just the atmosphere was a straight giveaway at how peculiar this place was. The flat ground was a dull gray, and so was the sky. 

It felt as if the Tower had been extra lazy on that one. In the distance, he could see a mound, nothing else. He cautiously approached it, knowing full well what was to come. When he was about 10 meters away from it, the thing rose up. 

<Sturdy Iron Golem Lv 18> Its name was blue! This was an elite enemy! 

The 10 meters tall creature looked like a big lump of iron and lacked any refinement. It reminded him of an elemental. The monster didn't waste any time and angrily slammed its arm, trying to squash him! 

Okay, to be fair, it was hard to confirm whether it was angry or not. The monster had no face, wasn't producing any sound whatsoever and its body language was less expressive than a rock. 

CLANG!

CLANG! 

CLANG! 

Yes, that's how the fight went! Josh was dodging and the creature kept relentlessly hammering, trying to take him down. The thing was relatively fast, but its repertoire of moves was slightly lacking. It included Slam, Slam, and Slam— Yes, that was it!

It also had a ground shock wave ability, but it was useless as a simple jump would bring one to safety.

Anyway, it was time to bring the pain— not that it could feel any. Josh readied himself. He avoided the arm of the creature with the agility of a dolphin and counterattacked heavily! BAM!

It was a given for the enemy to shatter in a thousand pieces, only rubble remaining of its broken body…Or not. Not only did the creature not show any sign of damage, but it swung its other arm too! 

Thus resumed a game of Wack-A-Josh with the poor golem having lots of trouble. No matter how hard it tried, it couldn't seem to hit him. Still, the D-Ranked Club had failed him completely. What now? 

Josh couldn't help but look at the ground in disappointment. Normally he would have been able to use the enemy to create a hole in the ground. This way, he could have somehow managed to immobilize the opponent completely. Sadly, with the floor being iron-hard, this seemed impossible. 

What is one supposed to do against a seemingly invincible enemy? Normally that would be to beg for forgiveness, but there would be none here. Josh had somehow predicted it would end up like this. Raw attack power was his current weakness. 

It was time to bring out the big guns! He waited for the creature to slam its fist downward to invoke his secret weapon.

"All-Powerful Fabled Legendary Mythical World-Devouring Godly Pseudo-Pet Rat I choose you! Show it our wrath!" 

It spawned and received the impact head-on, yet it remained fine. This new plan required exact positioning. He waited for the enemy to attack again and turned the rat onto its back. 

Then happened a scene that would have deserved to be rendered in slow motion for sure. Josh got out of the way and watched it all happen. The fist of the creature collided perfectly with the teeth of the rat. Bam! 

One would have expected the teeth to explode, but instead, it's the fist that chipped. There was only one slight issue. The area of damage was so small! How long would it take for the monster to fall?! 

That, too, was disappointing. The creature didn't even notice that it was 'hurt.' Still, Josh wouldn't give up that easily. He picked up the rat then he started using it as an instrument of doom. 

He made sure to stick to the creature's back and sides as he relentlessly slammed the rat teeth first onto its metallic body. It went a little bit like this: 

Clang! Clang! Clang! 

CLANG! 

Clang! Clang! Clang! 

CLANG! 

Clang! Clang! Clang! 

He couldn't help but chuckle to himself imagining this fight as an audiobook: Him just screaming the name of his attack like a dumbass, then only clanging sounds. Well, all until it finally stopped with a big CLANG as the monster toppled over. 

That took him so long that he had lost track of time. But probably near a day. At least, now it was time for the rewards! +25 XP….Yes, that was it. How sad! He still had 29 Golems to kill too. 

It would be amazing if he could increase the pet's size to deal more damage at once. Sadly, the rat couldn't use the Big Chungus set. Josh still had one last measure. He kept roaming until he found an enemy and another. 

He got both to follow him and made it so they would hit each other while trying to kill him. He even shouted explosively as if a sports announcer to make the ambiance right. 

"On the left, we have Big Iron the Chunky! Weighs a shitload, is fast, aggressive, and handsome! On the right, we have The Literal Iron Man! Look at this toned body without any fat! Please cheer for the fighters! May the best golem win!" 

Thus started an exemplary match. Of course, they kept trying to hit the referee, but it couldn't be helped. They were clearly beginners, after all. Before long, punches started flying very violently. 

CLANG! 

"Oh! Chunky Boy lands a direct hit on Literal Iron Man! Who would have expected such a clean punch?! But, has it had any effect on the opponent? Sadly, the answer seems to be no!" 

Literal Iron Man didn't seem to be angry in the least about being attacked. Josh kept making them hit one another, but there was no result whatsoever. How regrettable! In simple terms, their actual damage was great, but their resistance was over 9000! 

It just so happened that a human was a weak sack of flesh that could get wrecked way too easily. For a usual party, it wouldn't be that bad. The enemies were easy to aggro, and it was all about having enough firepower to pierce their armors. 

Since that plan too had failed, there was one last thing that Josh wanted to try! He summoned his noble steed that appeared along with the mysterious black portal effect.

"Alright, go beat them up!" Josh ordered.

The poor Nightmare had no choice but to head to the battlefield…where it proved to be totally useless. To be fair, one couldn't expect a horse to win a fight against a heavyweight metal golem. 

"Alright, come back. We will ride to battle instead!" Nightmare hurriedly retreated with relief. Yet, it began showing an expression of doubt (it was a long face). Why was its master holding a rat like that?! 

Josh hopped onto its back with the spider set equipped. "Alright, we go in, I strike, and then we run away. Hit and run, got it?" Nightmare neighed in agreement. 

"CHARRGEEE!" Josh grandly shouted. 

Nightmare began galloping as fast as it could, akin to a flying shadow. They approached their target with incredible momentum. That's when Josh's body was propelled in the air right unto the golem's faceless head, sticking to it. 

Whoosh! 

CLANG! 

CRACK! 

It was a performance worthy of a show! There was part of the golem that was falling apart! It had been damaged enough to be noticeable! Sadly, it was only a fist-size hole in the iron surface. It was a laughable result.

The two of them kept repeating the same maneuver until finally, both golems fell down. It took so long that it wasn't viable for he would run out of lifespan. 

His solo Climb of the Tower would stop now. It was over, all over. It was time to give up. If he couldn't get a skill soon it would really be over.  It was time to retreat his tail behind between his legs. 

Josh took out his Dimensional Belt. Would it work here? He willed to use it. That is when appeared a status message in front of him. 

[Would you like to use the Dimensional Belt to escape this realm? The item will be unusable for a while.] 

"Hell yeah!"

He for sure wouldn't try to fight the Boss here. It would be so troublesome and time-consuming. Who knew how long it would take? He'd rather come back with a party in the worst-case scenario. 

That is how he disappeared from the Tower in a flash of purple light. As he appeared, a young man nearby couldn't help but rub his eyes stupefied. He kept looking at Josh and at the Tower. He pointed at him, uttering: 

"Hey, that light was purple, right?!" 

"What light? The teleportation one is red. Are you alright?" Josh confidently answered. That sent the man wondering about his own physical well-being. Was he tired? Was he sick? 

Josh left happily, knowing he had probably convinced someone to go to the doctor for a checkup. This couldn't be wrong, right? That is when his UW started beeping. It was someone calling him on his NakamaPower App, but it was an unknown ID. 

At first, he ignored it, but then the caller seemed extremely insistent. Josh reluctantly answered. Worst case, he could always take revenge afterward. Was torture too much a punishment for a telemarketer? 

"Hello, who's this." Josh tentatively asked. 

"You need to hurry up and come to Metropolis-D! There is an issue with D-23! The tremors are getting worse and worse! I'll be waiting for you at the MTA!" On that note, a panicked Markus (?) hung up. 

Oh well. Josh navigated his contact list and clicked on EDM Taxi. Ring! Ring! Ring! But, there was no answer. Josh could only sigh. Kasha was probably in the Tower or something…

Creator's Thought

The last time I had been stopped so abruptly from Climbing was against the rats. But, this time what I had to learn was more tricky. Well, I wouldn't have much time to ponder about it with the events about to happen. But worse of all: my personal taxi was busy!