Floor Of Tests.

A few moments after Erik was enshrouded by the light, he finally opened his eyes and found himself lying in a field of tall golden grass. Getting up slowly while rubbing his head, Erik looked up into the sky and thought, 'Am I out of the tower? Was everything a dream or was it just that easy?'

Even as he slowly regained his bearings, he felt his hand hit the grip of something on the ground next to him. It had to be something incredibly heavy just from the fact that it didn't even budge when hit.

Erik looked down to see a large broadsword made out of some kind of strange black metal. There were long white bandages wrapped around its massive hilt, making it look like it could be swung around by said bandages if one had enough strength. Thinking about how it could have gotten here, he suddenly remembered the conditions of the test Headon gave him.

"Survive for five minutes or Kill all of the eels and you will pass. If you kill all of the eels, I will give you an extra reward..."

'So this sword must be the reward that freaky rabbit what was talking about.'

As he finally got up, Erik stretched to make sure he was in his best possible condition. Even with the injuries he sustained in the last test, he was sure that they wouldn't impede him too much in this round so he didn't think too much of them.

When he grabbed the sword with one hand, Erik was surprised at the fact that he could barely lift it even with his enhanced strength. Holding it with both hands was much easier but he also found it slightly annoying. After all, he preferred fighting with his bare hands.

Erik swung the sword and wasn't surprised that the swing was slow. The Shinsu in the surroundings wasn't as concentrated as it was in the test before but it still had enough resistance to slow down the sword itself.

What Erik was wondering about right now though, wasn't the fact that his swing was slowed, but the fact that he swung the sword...perfectly. He swung it like he was a man that lived and breathed the way of the sword.

'I don't remember being a swordsman in my past life. I was good with a knife, but not that good. Come to think of it, it was the same situation with my hand to hand fighting. It's leagues above what I was capable of before. Berserker shouldn't be the cause of this. Eternal Evolution is constantly active but it's impossible that I would instantly evolve into a damn sword master just by touching a sword. The only culprit left is that skill called Peak Human Condition. Again, come to think of it, didn't its description say "Etc." at the end? So-'

As Erik was trying to get to the bottom of this predicament, a booming voice suddenly rang out from a strange golden object which got his attention.

"MIC TEST! MIC TEST! ONE, TWO, THREE! ONE, TWO...ALRIGHT! HELLO EVERYONE! TO ALL THE REGULARS WHO HAVE MADE IT TO THE TOWER, WE SINCERELY WELCOME YOU TO THE SECOND FLOOR, EVANKHELL'S FLOOR, ALSO CALLED THE FLOOR OF TESTS!"

Erik sighed as he thought, 'Seems I was right, I haven't made it out of this damned tower. It hasn't even been that long and we already have another test...Tch! What a bother...'

"I WILL NOW EXPLAIN TO YOU THE RULES OF THE FIRST TEST! THEY'RE VERY SIMPLE. THIS IS A DEATHMATCH AND THEY ARE 200 REGULARS HERE. YOU HAVE 30 MINUTES TO WHITTLE THAT NUMBER DOWN AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE! THE SURVIVORS WILL PASS! BEGIN!"

BOOM! POW! SHWINGGG!

Explosions, gunshots, the sounds of metal weapons being unsheathed rang out all across the plains as soon as the director said to begin. Erik was hoping it would be a more slow-paced test so that he could figure out some more things about the skills he gained but it seemed that he would have to save those thoughts for later.

"Urgh, the director never said to kill each other like animals but, I can't say I disagree with such a method. It may not be the smartest, but it's the quickest."

"Damn right it's the quickest! Now die!"

A lizardman holding a spear suddenly appeared out of the bushes and lunged at Erik with impressive speed.

'I got him!'

The lizardman was sure that his spear would stab Erik because he had been stalking him since he entered the floor. He was sure that Erik would be caught off guard by his sudden attack.

Erik just slightly moved his head to the side, causing the spear to miss completely, and ducked under it with his grip tightening on his sword.

SLICE! ARGHHH!

The lizardman's green-colored blood splattered across Erik's face as he was cut in half at his waist. Fear appeared on the lizardman's face as quickly tried to use his claws to crawl away but Erik suddenly appeared above his top half and stabbed him, lodging the sword in his back.

"Where are going, lizard? If you're prepared to take a life then shouldn't you be prepared for yours to be taken? Don't tell me you were trying to escape?"

"P-please man, spare my l-life and I will s-serve you!"

BOOM!

The lizard's head exploded as Erik delivered a finishing punch to it, causing all its brain matter to be splattered across the ground. It was a gruesome sight, but Erik only wiped the lizard's blood and flesh off his face as if nothing happened.

"Serve me? What a joke. I could've used you for information but you were already too close to death. Sigh, maybe if you didn't attack me first, you would have survived a few minutes longer. Other than that though, I swung that sword even better than the last time..."

Black mist emerged from the lizardman's body and entered Erik's, once again strengthening him.

"Hm, it isn't as much as those eels gave me so im guessing the amount I gain is proportionate to the foe I killed. But didn't it say that I would get stronger from those who died around m-"

As if answering Erik's question, the black mist suddenly came through the bushes from all directions and entered his body. This was the power of those who had already been killed by others. Berserker was a skill that thrived in wars and conflict.

Even if the user's comrade died, it would add to their power.

Like a double-edged sword, someone with the skill Berserker would be an irreplaceable ally but if they ever need an extra bit of power, that ally could quickly turn into an enemy.

Erik gained a drastic power up from all those deaths and right now, not even he could tell how much stronger he had gotten. His only way to measure was...

"This sword now feels much lighter. Now I can hold it in one hand and fight freely with my other limbs. Hmm, I need to find a way to store this sword so that I wouldn't have to hold it all the time."

With that, Erik quickly sprinted away in a blur, heading to the closest sounds of battle he heard. He wanted to finish this test as quickly as possible so that he could have some time to himself. After all, all these new things were still a lot to take in.

POW!

A man had just died from a bullet to the head. The one who had just killed him stood above him all bloodied and battered with two pistols in his hands.

"You were a great fighter, man. If we had met under different circumstances, then-"

SLASH!

"What, why is my head flying so...high...w-without...my...b-body..."

[130 regulars left, 25 minutes remaining.]

Erik had quickly killed the gunman and was mowing through everyone he saw. He already gave up on getting information on the tower from the ones he would kill as he decided that the survivors would more knowledgeable. So, he only had one objective, to complete this test.

SLICE! SHWINGG! BOOM!

[115 regulars left, 20 minutes remaining]

SLASH! STAB!

[90 regulars left, 10 minutes remaining]

ARGHH! NO! PLEASE! SPARE MY DAUGH-

[4 regulars left, 5 minutes remaining]

Erik walked out of a set of bushes into a clearing consisting of 3 hooded people who he figured were the closest to him in kill count. Just from the way they fought, he could tell that they were different from the rest of the common rabble. Well, except one of them who was staring at him with yellow eyes.

'The two short ones are girls and the tall one is some kind of masked man. But why are those two carrying the yellow-eyed girl with them? Is she some sort of princess and they're her guards?'

She was the weakest and didn't seem different from a young girl who he had killed just a few moments ago. But, he didn't drop his guard. She could be someone who mastered the art of assassination and just wanted to appear ordinary in hopes of tricking the opponent.

As Erik continued walking towards them with his sword on his shoulder, the other girl who was protecting the yellow-eyed one, stepped forward and stared at him with her hands on her hips. She was trying to see how powerful Erik was.

A small smirk then appeared on her lips as she said, "Hehe, you look exactly like I imagined; a monster who would kill everyone he comes across. I respect that. Why don't you join our team?"