Chapter 20

Tutorial 1st Floor (Part 1)

[Now, now . Calm down . This will all come back to help you later . . . ]

[Madness, really . . . This is madness . . . ]

***

[Welcome to Tutorial Floor 2, Hell Difficulty . ]

The 2nd floor was quite similar as the 1st floor in terms of looks .

A straight, dark corridor made of stone .

Only diffference would be, that the ceiling is slightly lower than the 1st floor .

Unlike the similarity between the 1st and 2nd floor, I have become quite different .

It's not just the change in stats and skills, but my looks aswell .

I no longer wear the t-shirt I wore at home, but a leather armour which I bought using the points from the 1st floor .

It was a light armour, so that it won't weigh me down .

Ofcourse, I can't rely much on this armour in terms of defense .

My reaction to the traps are still evasion and parrying with sword and shield .

I believe it would be unwise to rely on the ability of my equipments so soon .

Thanks to the points from the additional reward, I could have been able to buy a full plated heavy armour if I wanted to .

But, relying on the armour's defense would hamper the growth of my skills .

Therefore, I purposely chose the thin, light armour .

It was reinforced with a steel plate on the chest, to prevent any accidents which may injure my heart .

Other equipments would be the thick leather bands around my wrists and ankles .

After the increase in my stats, I was unable to adjust to the changes, resulting in injuring my wrists and feet from running or swinging the sword too fast .

It was to protect my muscles from these situations .

Lastly, I checked the numbers and variety of potions which were bought with Kirikiri's advices .

Now, let's start .

I walked at a moderate pace .

Forcing fast progress was dangerous .

An unexpected attack from an unexpected source was what made Hell difficulty truly a nightmare in the Tutorial .

But it wasn't necessary to progress slowly either .

It wasn't the same as when I made it through the 1st floor with tensions high, guards up all the time .

I was different now from back then .

I could take tension better now .

My physical capabilities and my reflexes have increased dramatically aswell .

This wasn't just for boast, or saying I could let my guard down .

I've assessed my strengths and weaknesses and subsequently am confident on making statements like these .

That wasn't all .

There was support from the Sprint skill and the Wind Spirit's blessing .

I found out that there were two buffs from the Wind Spirit's blessings .

First, +10 to Dexterity .

And the wind spirit's blessing itself .

I was able to find out what these effects were during the time I waited for the 2nd attempt in the waiting room .

To explain simply, it was similar to the Sprint skill .

When my movement speed exceeds a certain threshhold, my body becomes faster and lighter .

It was difficult to notice because of the similarity with my sprint skill and the increase in dexterity .

But, as I kept on with my training, I have felt something different .

It wasn't just the strength and speed of the run, but the weight of the body lightened aswell .

It was as if a mysterious magic was aiding my movement .

Allowing movements that would normally seem impossible, like the movements seen from an elf in a fantasy book or movie .

That was the effect that the Wind Spirit's blessing had .

And it's performance was quite astonishing .

I may not have the exact details of it's effect unlike in a game, but as long as this skill was in effect, my ability to dodge would increase substantially .

The freedom of movement it allowed was out of this world, even if it didn't increase the speed by much .

Therefore, for the last few days I have tried to find the minimum speed at which this skill activates .

I wasn't sure of the exact speed, but it's alittle faster than a brisk walk .

As long as I maintained this speed when travelling, most traps wouldn't pose a problem .

Especially if it's the normal arrow traps like the ones on the 1st floor .

I don't even need Battle Concentration for that .

Ping-

As if reading my mind, I could hear an arrow being released .

It was coming from the ceiling straight ahead .

Tung!

I blocked it with my shield cleanly .

And

Shook- Shook-

I rolled forward as I lower my back to dodge the two arrows from ahead .

The two arrows that came after the first did not make any noises .

I continued to dodge the arrows as I watch them fly by with my eyes .

Arrows of this speed could never hit me, as long as I watch out for the ones from my blind spots .

Tang .

I decided to parry one of the oncoming arrows with my sword, as dodging them was child's play at this point .

It would be dangerous if I were to fail, but whenever there was a chance, I tried to improve my swordsmanship skill .

Pang-

A loud sound came with the arrows that were just fired .

And it happened to be coming at the very same path of the arrow I just parried .

Annoying .

The centre of my balance was currently shifted because of the sword strike I just made .

[Battle Concentration]

The arrows seemed to travel slowly, as my conciousness accelerated greatly from my skill .

First I dodged the arrow that was coming toward my ankle and let through the arrow which was flying past my cheek .

Then I looked ahead again .

Weird .

That arrow was too big .

And it's too fast aswell .

Among all the arrows in this slow world, that arrow flew towards me with considerable speed .

Damn it . I couldn't dodge this .

It's difficult to let it slide past my shield too .

This wasn't the time to have an adventure .

If I failed to parry that arrow, my life would be in danger .

In the slow world created by Battle Concentration, the arrows weren't the only thing that's slowed .

Even my body cannot keep up with my conciousness, and move at a snail's pace .

The only thing which it enhanced were my conciousness and awareness .

Thankfully, I was able to raise my shield and recover into a proper stance to receive it .

But still .

That arrow was too weird .

I adjusted the placement of my shield .

And .

BANG!

Even though I managed to block the arrow, the shock from the impact was significant .

I rolled backward in order to absorb the impact as much as possible .

But, the arrow managed to pierce my left arm, not to mention the shield, completely .

Uaaaaaaah! Damn it .

It seemed like the arrow shattered through my bone aswell .

If the arrow wasn't blocked by my arm, it would definitely have gone through the shield and into my chest .

It was a good decision to place my arm in it's path .

If I didn't have much knowledge on how to block aswell, it's possible that the arrow would have gone through my arm aswell and hit me in the chest .

I mean, how was this considered an arrow?

It's more like a ballista's bolt .

Ping ping-

Shit, that wasn't the end .

I could hear the noises from behind me .

It seems the Battle Concentration skill was canceled when I got hit by that arrow .

I tried to dodge by rolling in the air, but managed to get hit in the ankle .

It stung pretty badly .

Thankfully, there weren't any more which was coming toward me .

First, I checked my ankle .

It seemed like what was on it wasn't an arrow, but a needle .

Poison sting?

I quickly reminded myself of Kirikiri's advices .

There must be something on the needle which causes some sort of status effect .

That must be for certain .

First, I carefully pulled the needle out of my ankle .

Then I checked my body for any reaction .

Since it's a needle, I would assume that it was dipped in poison . . .

But I can't be certain .

I can't drink the potion with just an assumption aswell .

I simply sit next to the wall, with my inventory open .

Damn it .

The arrow in my left arm was bothering me .

The left arm's in a critical state aswell .

The tip of the arrow shattered right through the muscle and bone of my arm .

I wasn't even sure if I would even be able to tell the what the symptoms with this pain coming from my arm .

I was getting worried .

I tried to focus on the ankle, trying my best to ignore the pain from the arm .

Whoo .

I could feel myself sweating now .

I'm not sure if it's because of the intense exercise I hade, or the arrow in my arm, or because of the sting I had on the ankle .

After a while, I could feel pulsating pain on my ankle .

The pain radiated slowly, then began to feel hot as if it was burned .

I think it was poison .

It's not going to instantly kill me right?

As I waited alittle longer, I could feel my ankle becoming paralysed .

Let's wait, just a little more .

The paralysis began to come up my leg, the head started to feel hot, and headache was starting .

Afterward it was a stomachache .

It was poison for sure .

I took out an antidote from my inventory .

There should be many types of poison out there . . .

I was curious as to whether there was only 1 type of poison in the Tutorial or whether the antidote potion removed all different types of poison .

Let's ask Kirikiri about that one day .

Trying to open the potion with one arm was quite the struggle .

I barely managed to take the cork out, and put the potion next to my mouth .

There was a rotten smell inside the potion .

Was this really a potion?

This better not actually be poison that was slyly written as an antidote .

Wow .

This being the first time I was poisoned, I was getting quite startled .

I could feel pain from throughout my body, not to mention the heat and paralysis as well .

All these symptoms . . .

Um . . .

Wait a minute . . .

It's not so bad actually .

Shall we wait alittle more?