Ascension Through Skills
chapter-20

The knight charged in like a storm, and Taesan barely managed to block the swinging sword.

Clang!

The moment their swords clashed, the knight’s wrist trembled. His sword slid down Taesan’s blade, aiming to slice off his wrist.

Taesan tried desperately to increase the distance, but the weapon wouldn’t fall away, as if it was glued.

“Ugh!”

[You've taken 20 damage.]

His forearm was cut. As Taesan swung his sword wildly to shake his opponent off, he checked the condition of his arm.

‘There’s no problem.’

Neither the muscle nor the bone was damaged. The wound stung, but it would not affect the battle.

‘What the hell is this?’

He was dumbfounded.

What on earth was that? It was clearly a technique, the swordsmanship of a systematically trained knight.

Taesan had never seen such a technique before. Most of the players had called their combat experience as a weapon technique. Still, they didn’t have anything as high-dimensional as the knight before him.

That same thing was true for Taesan.

Every technique he used was a swordsmanship that followed no pattern and was honed in real combat. His movement was based on experience. He could not grasp a method to deal with a type that he was facing for the first time.

The knight swung his sword, and Taesan roughly clashed with it. The sound of their swords clashing resonated loudly through the room.

The knight pushed forward as Taesan tried to flow the direction of the force to counter, but he was easily suppressed and kicked away.

[You've taken 11 damage.]

“Whoa.”

Taesan’s admiration was growing.

The weapon in his hands was uncontrollable. He had experienced many battles and had not been particularly impressed with any techniques until now, but his thinking was now changing.

The fact that such a thing was possible when a skill was honed to its extreme was something he had never known. The knight in front of him seemed to be an opponent he couldn’t beat with his sword, no matter how many times their swords clashed.

“I want to learn that,” Taesan muttered.

His eyes were filled with greed.

All actions in the labyrinth were evaluated, and if they exceeded a certain level, it would be expressed as a skill.

The swordsmanship in front of him had crossed that line. It was certainly a skill and at least an advanced one.

He wanted to learn it.

If he learned that swordsmanship, he could break through the many difficulties he had anticipated ahead.

Even though he planned to acquire many skills, swordsmanship wasn’t one of them. Just like a never-satisfied Scrooge, he eyed the knight with greed.

Feeling that deep longing and desire, the knight retreated momentarily.

“Your swordsmanship is superior. I admit that,” Taesan said.

He was a player, one who had overcome the labyrinth.

“But that’s not all there is to it.”

He had skills.

Until now, the knight had been attacking continuously, and Taesan had been retreating. It was natural, given the clear difference in their swordsmanship.

But this time, Taesan charged. In his hand, he held a red staff instead of a sword.

[You have activated Fireball]

A flaming red sphere flew out of his staff. Taesan then immediately switched his weapon back to a sword and followed right behind the fireball as he rushed toward the knight. The knight then swung his sword down.

Woosh.

His fireball was sliced away by the sword and disappeared. Taking advantage of that moment, Taesan swung the sword in his left hand.

[6 Damage to the Servant of Lakiratas] [You have activated Breathless Attack. You gain freedom of breathing for the next 10 seconds]

He immediately followed with a stab from his right-hand sword, inflicting the same 6 damage.

The knight, who had regained his stance, thrust his sword forward. Taesan didn’t block it but instead rushed toward the sword. His head would have been pierced through if he had stayed where he was.

[You have activated Flow. The next attack is manipulated.]

As the sword neared Taesan’s head, its trajectory was twisted, and forcibly tried to strike him from a different angle.

The bewildered knight desperately pulled his sword, but it wouldn’t obey.

The sword grazed Taesan’s shoulder.

[15 Damage to you]

Dragged by the uncontrollable sword, the knight was pulled out of position. Taesan furiously swung his sword at the knight, who was now completely defenseless.

[6 Damage to the Servant of Lakiratas] [5 Damage to the Servant of Lakiratas] [....]

In less than two seconds, he had struck six times. Thanks to the Breathless Attack, he could attack without needing to pace himself.

Vroom!

The knight tried to shake Taesan off and launched a high kick at him. Taesan calmly retreated from the knee that was flying toward him with a gust of wind.

In his hand, he held a red staff.

[You have activated Fireball]

A red sphere formed in midair. The knight tried to block it, but he was too close this time.

[13 Damage to the Servant of Lakiratas] [Checking for Burn Damage……] [Judgment Successful! The servant of Lakiratas is under Burn status.]

‘Good.’

He wasn’t sure how it would turn out due to the armor, but he succeeded in causing a burn on his first attempt. The knight began to take continuous damage.

Clang!

The knight had not yet lost his target. He charged towards Taesan, brandishing his sword. His momentum was like a bull’s. If he were to collide head-on, Taesan wouldn’t stand a chance.

But he had no intention of taking it.

[You have activated Parry. The next attack is parried]

The sword was forcefully changed from its course. The knight seemed to be determined not to fall for it this time, exerting even more force, essentially using all his strength. The power contained in the sword was enough to wipe out Taesan’s remaining health in one blow.

But it missed.

The sword skimmed past Taesan’s chest.

[11 Damage to you]

Skills were the ultimate power in the labyrinth.

Parrying was a technique that manipulated the opponent’s attack.

Even if Ainzhar struck a mountain-crushing blow, it would be deflected. Unless countered by a higher-level skill, there was no way to block its effects.

The sword twisted, and the knight’s body was exposed once more as Taesan moved his sword.

[You have activated Breathless Attack. You gain freedom of breath for the next 12 seconds]

6, 6, 5, 5, 6.

[You have attacked your opponent in succession. You have acquired the special activation skill [Sequential Attack]]

A long damage window as long as the skill acquisition window appeared.

‘When will he die?’

A humanoid shouldn’t have higher health than a Giant Rat. However, the knight showed no signs of dying.

Taesan had almost used up all of his mana.

Though intelligence reduced the amount of mana consumed, at a stat value in the twenties, its effects were not substantial. His remaining mana was barely 5, enough for just one or two more skills.

And Taesan’s remaining health was 71.

There was no place to retreat. Taesan pressed on further and stabbed with his sword.

[5 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant]

The knight raised his sword, knelt, and aimed a downward blow at Taesan.

[You have activated Counter. You retaliate against the opponent's next attack]

Taesan’s body moved automatically as he dodged the downward thrust at the pommel. He moved his sword toward the direction of the knight’s body, moving both hands to strike the knight’s neck one after another.

[22 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant] [21 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant]

Yet his enemy still didn’t die. The knight kicked Taesan away.

“Ugh!”

Taesan gritted his teeth, enduring it. He would be done if he was thrown off this time. He forcibly tensed his stomach and managed to not get pushed back as a result.

Taesan wildly brandished his sword. The knight’s armor began to show scratches.

The knight didn’t remain still either. His sword drew a diagonal line that Taesan had to bend over to dodge. He crouched enough to touch the ground, and using that force, he stabbed under the knight’s neck. The helmet broke.

A pale face was revealed.

It was a handsome face, but there was no time to calmly appreciate it.

Taesan swung his sword towards the head. The knight also counterattacked, stabbing Taesan’s stomach.

With his remaining sword, Taesan managed to fend off the blow.

Due to a lack of strength, he couldn’t completely deflect it, but he managed to slightly move it from its target.

[32 Damage to you] [15 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant]

Taesan struck the neck again as the knight counterattacked.

This time, he didn’t dodge.

The sword pierced through Taesan’s chest.

[65 Damage to you] [Endurance has been activated. An attack leading to death has been invalidated. All damage becomes zero for 1 second.]

Endurance.

Invalidation of all damage. This was the end.

[16 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant] [15 Damage to Lakiratas's Servant]

The knight’s armor shattered in an instant as life returned to his face. The servant, having regained his senses, smiled faintly at Taesan. Taesan’s mouth felt dry.

[It was a good fight, brave one.]

Taesan felt that the knight said that to him.

The form of the knight dispersed into mist and rose to the ceiling of the labyrinth. Eventually, the scenery of the labyrinth returned to its original state.

[You have defeated Lakiratas' Servant] [Lakiratas is greatly satisfied]

“Satisfaction, my ass.”

Taesan clicked his tongue. The knight who had regained his senses was really strong. He was out of mana, and his health was critically low.

“Since when do quests suddenly change? Isn’t this cheating?”

Lee Taeyeon had said that all the gods were shameless. He felt that he could now understand that sentiment a bit. Taesan checked the system window he had minimized earlier with some trepidation.

[You have defeated Lakiratas' Servant] [You received a large amount of experience] [Your health has recovered by 30] [You have gained 253 gold] [You have won against an enemy that was difficult to defeat alone. Your strength permanently increases by 2. Your agility permanently increases by 2. Your mana permanently increases by 2.] [Your Soul Ascension has been activated. Your strength permanently increases by 4. Your agility permanently increases by 3.] [Your level has increased] [You are in the best condition] [Your health has increased by 25 as a reward for leveling up] [As a reward for leveling up, your strength permanently increases by 3, your agility permanently increases by 3, your mana permanently increases by 3, and your health permanently increases by 5.]

“Huh.”

Taesan chuckled hollowly. The increase in his stats was outrageous.

“At a simple calculation, 17 just for the stats? 30 for health and 5 for mana? This is no joke.”

This clearly indicated the kind of opponent that the Servant of Lakiratas was. Taesan would not be surprised if this opponent showed up as a boss on the 15th floor or above in Normal Mode. His experience bar was empty, but he had leveled up instantly.

“Status window.”

[Kang Taesan] [Level: 6] [Health: 190/190] [Mana: 22/22] [Strength: 27] [Intelligence: 25] [Agility: 40] [Attack Power + 5] [Defense + 2] [The target is in the best condition.]

His stats had skyrocketed. He chuckled at the staggering increase in numbers, momentarily forgetting his anger.

“Equipment… none.”

Regret washed over Taesan’s face. The weapons and armor used by the knight were both items of overwhelming quality. He had anticipated this since quest monsters usually didn’t drop equipment, but that didn’t make it any less disappointing.

A reward to ease that regret was waiting for him.

[You have passed Lakiratas' trial. Based on Lakiratas's evaluation, you are given a reward.] [Lakiratas is greatly satisfied with your struggle. Lakiratas wishes to grant you a worthy reward.]

“Satisfaction, my ass.”

Changing the quest content all of a sudden, where does that happen? He could have easily died if he had made a slight mistake.

A grudge against Lakiratas was born in Taesan’s heart. Lakiratas, oblivious to this, began the process of dispensing the rewards.

[Lakiratas's influence area has shrunk.] [Lakiratas grants you a reward. You have received [Lakiratas's Ritual Dagger].] [You have cleared an enhanced trial. Additional rewards are given.] [You have acquired the special constant activation skill [Mark of Struggle].] [Lakiratas offers you the Apostle's Contract.]