Ascension Through Skills
Chapter 395: Floor 79, The Floor Of Struggle (1)

[Congratulations.]

As soon as Taesan returned to the labyrinth, a voice spoke to him. Taesan immediately recognized whose voice it was.

“The Witch.”

The Green Witch. She was the one speaking to Taesan.

[To think you’ve already reached the same level as me… You’re unbelievably fast. It’s not bad for me, but… I can’t help but feel a little melancholy.]

Through her contract with Taesan, the witch shared his vision. As Taesan grew stronger, gained new powers, and fought tougher enemies, he drew closer to fulfilling her goals. His strength was not a bad thing for her.

However, she had remained stagnant as an immortal for her entire life.

Literally an immeasurable span of time. Yet Taesan had reached the level of an immortal in a mere speck of time. It wasn’t something she could wholeheartedly celebrate.

[Still… it’s not a bad thing. The stronger you become, the closer we might get to discovering the path to transcendence.]

Her voice carried a tinge of excitement.

[What will happen to you, I wonder? Will you stop like me at immortality? Or will you, like the gods, continue advancing and reach transcendence? I’ll keep watching.]

With those words, the witch’s voice faded away.

The witch sought to discover the path to becoming a transcendent. That’s why she had made a contract with Taesan.

But Taesan was walking a path that was neither that of an ordinary immortal nor a transcendent.

Taesan himself wasn’t sure whether he could help the witch.

He opened the community. The survivors who had returned to the labyrinth were noisily chatting.

[Oliver Khan [Hard]: How’s the situation in Asia and Europe?] [Daniel Darmon [Hard]: We’re fine. It was tough joining forces with the Africa side, but there were no major problems.] [Kim Hwiyeon [Hard]: We’re fine too. If there were issues, well… Taesan was there.] [Amelia Aerin [Solo]: I felt something dreadful even across the sea. Are you sure you were fine?] [Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: We’re fine. There weren’t too many casualties, and it was within expectations. No big issues.]

Lee Taeyeon left a calm response. Amelia, finding this unusual, asked curiously.

[Amelia Aerin [Solo]: Something feels different about you. Did something happen?] [Kang Junhyeok [Solo]: After the quests were finished, something changed. Did Taesan-hyung say anything to you?]

Since Amelia, Kang Junhyeok, and Lee Taeyeon were all in Solo Mode, they often talked. It seemed they immediately noticed the change in Lee Taeyeon.

[Lee Taeyeon [Solo]: Well, something like that happened.]

Lee Taeyeon brushed it off casually. Though Amelia seemed curious, she didn’t press further.

Lee Taeyeon had regained memories of her past life.

From now on, she would traverse the labyrinth with a different speed and method.

After briefly glancing at the community, Taesan began checking his points.

5,800 points. A tremendous amount. The natural use was skill proficiency, but he pondered how to spend them.

“I can’t use them on soul skills, as expected.”

They also didn’t work well on skills above a certain level.

He considered using them for magic or dark magic, but as his repertoire of those grew, their efficiency diminished.

After some thought, Taesan made a decision.

“I’ll save them for later.”

There was no need to use the points immediately. He could hold onto them for now and apply them to appropriate skills when the time came.

There were several skills he planned to acquire: advanced magic. And soon, with the Lemegeton, he would be able to make direct contracts with demons. It seemed best to use the points on skills gained there.

Having made his decision, Taesan moved.

He was still on the 78th floor, in the Library of All Things.

He headed deeper into the library.

The first to notice him was the library’s administrator, Jorge. Sensing Taesan, Jorge closed the book he was reading.

“You’ve been gone for quite a while. Where did you go?”

Saying this, Jorge looked at Taesan.

Then he fell silent.

He stared at Taesan for a moment, his expression growing tense.

“…You’ve reached it?”

“Indeed.”

“What in the world…”

Cracks spread across Jorge’s face.

“How did you reach it so quickly…”

He groaned.

As the administrator of the Library of All Things, Jorge had amassed an unimaginable amount of knowledge. But even he was left stunned by the level Taesan had reached.

“This is absurd.”

In the end, that was all he could say. A flicker of greed and desire crossed Jorge’s face.

He was the administrator of the library. As an apostle of the god of knowledge, he sought endless understanding.

Taesan’s existence ignited Jorge’s thirst for knowledge.

But Jorge could do nothing more. He lacked the authority to act further.

In the end, he could only swallow his frustration.

“This is one of the rare moments I find myself resenting Lord Metis. What will you do? Will you descend further, or stay here for a while?”

“I plan to stay here a bit longer.”

“Do as you wish.”

Even as he spoke, Jorge didn’t take his eyes off Taesan.

It was a gaze that suggested he intended to observe everything about Taesan while he was here. Taesan ignored it and sought out Ainzhar.

“Ooooh!”

Upon seeing Taesan, Ainzhar exclaimed.

“You’ve achieved it. I could see the potential, but how did you manage it so quickly?”

“I used some shortcuts.”

He had reached his position not through his own strength, but through faith. It could be considered a shortcut. Ainzhar understood what Taesan meant and laughed heartily.

“Is there such a thing as shortcuts when it comes to reaching a goal? It’s merely a difference in the path taken. You’ve earned your strength fair and square. Congratulations.”

“Thank you.”

Taesan expressed his gratitude and drew his sword.

“In that case, may I request a duel?”

“I’d be delighted!”

Ainzhar laughed heartily and unsheathed his sword.

Another duel began.

Taesan had faced Ainzhar in numerous duels before, and in every one, Ainzhar had not fought seriously.

He hadn’t used proper swordsmanship and had shown only basic movements. Yet even so, Taesan hadn’t been able to land a single hit on him. That was how great their disparity was.

But not anymore.

Clang!

Their swords clashed. Despite the overwhelming force of Ainzhar’s attacks, Taesan didn’t retreat a single step.

[You have activated Decarabia’s Twisted Vegetation.]

The dark magic he had continually used.

But its power now was on a completely different level.

Boom!

Roots surged and shook the library. If Jorge hadn’t deployed a barrier, part of the library would have been destroyed.

All the roots that pierced through the world were summoned.

Matching the Golden Aura, Ainzhar swung his sword.

Crack!

The roots were sliced apart by the golden sword strikes.

However, the golden light surrounding Ainzhar noticeably diminished.

“This is fun!”

Ainzhar’s eyes gleamed.

“There’s no need to hold back anymore!”

Ainzhar stomped forward.

In an instant, he appeared before Taesan. Even the current Taesan couldn’t fully see his speed.

But it wasn’t to the point of being unmanageable.

Taesan swung his sword.

[You have activated Strong Blow.]

Clang!

Taesan’s body slid backward.

However, he took no damage. This meant he had successfully blocked Ainzhar’s full-force attack.

‘He’s incredibly strong.’

Ainzhar was a monster.

Now that Taesan had ascended to immortality, he could clearly tell. Out of a hundred battles, he would lose ninety-nine times against such strength.

But he could win that one remaining time.

Currently, he was on the same level as Ainzhar.

With variables like boundary skills, divine techniques, and top-tier abilities, victory wasn’t impossible.

Taesan stomped the ground and sharply thrust his sword at Ainzhar.

Boom!

The duel lasted about half a day before it concluded. Ainzhar wore a deeply satisfied expression.

“Well done. It’s been a long time since I’ve been able to stretch like this.”

After a short rest, Taesan sought Levynenoff. Now that he had ascended to immortality, he wondered if he could interfere with her.

However, it was still impossible. Ainzhar clicked his tongue regretfully.

“It seems you’ll need to reach the 84th floor first. I’m counting on you, Taesan.”

“Understood.”

With his conversation with Ainzhar concluded, Taesan had also accumulated enough knowledge.

There was no longer any reason to remain in the Library of All Things.

He headed toward the passage to the 79th floor. Jorge was waiting there.

“So you’ve decided to descend.”

Taesan nodded. Jorge activated his power.

[Floor 78 cleared.] [Your level has increased.] [Your level has increased.] [Your level has increased.] [You have obtained the Book of Knowledge.] [You have obtained ???.]

“Status window.”

[Level: 161] [Shield: 19,100/19,100] [Health: 200,277/200,277] [Mana: 20,341/20,341] [Dark Magic: 2,218/2,218] [Strength: 37,845] [Agility: 37,985] [Intelligence: 33,941] [Attack Power + 10,125] [Defense + 6,752] [The target is in optimal condition.] [What kind of stats are these?]

The ghost let out a hollow laugh. Even those who cleared the labyrinth under normal circumstances wouldn’t likely match Taesan’s current stats.

Taesan checked the rewards he had obtained.

[Book of Knowledge.] [Contains a fragment of the knowledge from the Library of All Things.]

“A simplified version of the Library of All Things?”

He opened the book and flipped through its pages, but they seemed endless. Even with reconnaissance and focused detection, he couldn’t see its limits.

The Library of All Things was literally an infinite library. Even Jorge hadn’t read all its books. It was no surprise that even a fragment seemed boundless.

He planned to read it little by little whenever time allowed.

[You have used ???.] [You have obtained the Sword of All Things.] [Sword of All Things.] [Strength + 300] [Agility + 300] [Intelligence + 300] [Mana + 200] [Magic + 75] [Attack Power + 750] [Dark Magic + 10] [Magic Attack + 10] [A sword imbued with countless elements of the universe. The power contained within it is beyond what the user can fully wield.]

It was literally a weapon that boosted overall stats. Fortunately, Taesan used both magic and dark magic, making it a perfect fit for him.

After organizing his rewards, Taesan descended the stairs.

[Quest for Floor 79 begins.] [Prove your strength in the Domain of Struggle.] [Reward: Ring of the Victorious Struggler.] [Secret Reward: ???]

Floor 79.

Floor 80 was now within sight. As Taesan prepared to descend deeper into the labyrinth, the ground of the labyrinth trembled.

This had happened several times before, so Taesan calmly waited.

Before long, Balbabamba appeared.

Balbabamba said nothing.

He simply stood there silently. Taesan didn’t speak to him either.

[You.]

After a while, Balbabamba opened his mouth.

[You truly give me a headache.]

His voice carried a deep fatigue.