Grinding (5)

So all I got from defeating the knight was a skill that defended against attacks on my mind?

Does this even make sense? Why would I get this reward from the knight? Nothing in what he did correlated to this reward.

The wolf gave me potions that could increase my strength, agility, and endurance. At the same time, it also gave me skills that made sense.

The 'Wolf Dash' was a skill that the would itself could use, so therefore it was one of the rewards. The same is true for the regeneration skill, as the wolf could also regenerate.

But 'Mental Resistance'? Was it a skill that the knight had?

That would be ironic because it seemed to be bound by an unseen force every time it made a successful attack.

It felt like this skill was something that the knight should have had.

I laid down on the soft grass because my head was starting to hurt.

Either way, this was the only reward I got, and it seemed like there was no other reward to obtain.

[Floor Cleared!]

[The biggest contributors to clearing the floor]

1st place: Kim Taeho

2nd place: Kim Hanja

3rd place: Lee Min-ho

The announcement appeared to indicate that the floor had been cleared. And obviously, I was in first place.

[Congratulations for clearing the floor!]

[Your rewards]:

- Weapon Selection

- Elixir selection

- Mana stone [D]

- Amulet: Aegis of the Last Stand

- Random skill [B]

The rewards appeared again, but I tried to ignore them, as I would only be able to obtain them after leaving the floor.

There was a slight chance that maybe my skill wouldn't activate. Technically, I had obtained all the rewards possible. I had gotten all the rewards from the wolf, and now I had also gotten the reward from the optional boss.

But my thoughts were quickly shut down.

[You will be returned to earth]

[Perfect clear was not achieved]

[Skill activation]

- Perfect Clear [X]

[Returning to the moment you first entered this floor]

*****

I stood up to see the same field as before. 

"I still have a long way to go". I said with a disappointing tone.

Now that I had gotten all the rewards, there was something else I had to test.

When I killed the wolf, the rewards that I would get were some potions and skills.

But just like how I could drink the mana potion multiple times, there was a chance that I could do the same with the strength, agility, and endurance potions.

With that in mind, after the angel dropped the weapons, I entered the forest to kill as many of the monsters as possible.

When I saw that there were few monsters remaining, I walked back to the field and waited.

[Announcement: 500 monsters have been killed!]

[Announcement: A special monster will spawn in the field!]

[Announcement: Monsters will not appear until the special monster has been defeated!]

Ripple! 

I used the 'Wolf Dash' skill to immediately kill it, and I clicked on the 'Elixir of Agility'.

After I drank the potion, I felt faster than before, and I knew that it worked just like the mana potion.

I looked at my status window,

Name: Taeho Kim] [Level: 13]

[Age: 21]

[Stats]

Endurance: 54.6 (39)

Agility: 61.6 (44) 

Strength: 54.6 (39)

Magic: 0 +

Mana: 25 +

[Stat points: 12]

It still increased my stats by 5! And now there were two things I could do right now.

One, regress back to kill the wolf again. Or two, fight the knight again and see if I get another reward.

I decided that two was the better option to check if other rewards were possible.

I walked into the forest, killing as many monsters as possible.

After enough goblins, the announcement appeared again.

[Floor Cleared!]

[Optional Boss Challenge]

[Yes] or [No]

I clicked on [Yes].

[You have chosen to challenge the optional boss.]

- Teleporting to location

After entering the ruined old throne room, I decided that I would be the first to attack.

I used my 'wolf dash' skill, and he parried with the same movement.

After crashing into the wall, my regeneration skill would activate, and after I returned to my peak state,

I would use the 'wolf dash' skill again. I repeated this cycle until his sword broke again.

[You have cleared the challenge!]

- Returning back to the floor

The same aura and pressure appeared again, but I knew that this was just a facade.

He wouldn't be able to do anything to me, as I would teleport back to the floor.

"Stop acting; you have already lost".

'It was just intimidation, nothing else'.

I don't know if it was because I was closer to him, but the knight suddenly vanished from his spot with a speed that I had never seen before.

It was like he teleported; one moment he was a few paces away, and the next he was right in front of me.

I saw his armored fist hurtling towards my face.

I had barely any time to react as I tried to reflexively block with my sword.

But at that moment, my surroundings disappeared and were replaced with the familiar grassy field.

I was still in the motion of pulling up my sword, so I must have looked like an idiot.

"Shit!"

He scared the shit out of me. Was it really because I was closer to him this time?

Or was it because I taunted him?

Either way, that son of a b*tch scared the shit out of me.

I put my hand to my heart, as I could feel it beating violently from the scare that I got.

[Congratulations for clearing the optional boss!]

[Reward]

- Mental Resistance[B]

When I saw that I had the same skill, I knew that it was pointless to fight the knight. I would only get this reward each time.

But why couldn't this skill be the one that calmed my mind? If I had the skill that could make me calm in any situation,

The knight wouldn't have jump-scared me like he did.

When the announcement appears that I have cleared the optional boss,

It's always like the limiter on him is unsealed, and he gets way stronger. The pressure that I wouldn't feel before would amplify multiple times.

It felt like the tower was deliberately making him weaker.

When I drank the strength potion, my strength increased. The next time I met the knight, it felt like his strength had also increased.

That's why, when I crashed into the wall, I got severely injured because of my low endurance stat.

Indirectly, my increase in strength caused me to get severely injured.

But why was the tower sealing his strength?

Well, obviously, because I wasn't strong enough, and it would be like sending me to my death.

But why couldn't they just get an enemy that was around my strength? Instead of a super strong opponent, just to limit his strength.

The announcements appeared again with the same rewards.

You will be returned to earth.

[Perfect clear was not achieved.]

[Skill activation]

- Perfect Clear [X]

[Returning to the moment you first entered this floor]