Ascension Through Skills
chapter-287

［Special Continuous Action Skill: Balancing］ ［Proficiency: 1%］ ［This skill ensures that the body does not lose balance in any situation.］

The effect was simple. As described, it kept the body balanced. While it didn’t defy physical laws, it provided stability in any situation, ensuring that combat was not hindered.

For now, this was all, but as proficiency increased, the effect would be on a different level.

It was also a skill that greatly contributed to Taesan’s survival until the end.

‘By the way, Soul Ascension is not activating.’

Although the reward was to be settled after clearing the trial, Soul Ascension was a power he possessed. It should have activated when he defeated an enemy, regardless of the trial.

It wasn’t strange that it didn’t activate. The strength of each ant was not that significant.

As Taesan stepped forward to move on, he heard a noise.

The noise was approaching Taesan.

Taesan clicked his tongue.

Dozens of ants appeared, clashing their jaws. They spotted Taesan and rushed at him, their red legs moving swiftly.

At first, Taesan responded with Frozen World. Though it consumed quite a bit of mana as an intermediate magic, his high intelligence and mana allowed him to use it dozens of times without issue, enabling him to break through.

He also summoned Minerva and Barkaza to advance with him.

But as Taesan observed the approaching ants, he realized something.

Breaking through with force was impossible.

If it were just a few hundred, it wouldn’t be a problem. But this was different.

It was literally uncountable.

It far exceeded thousands. No matter how many he defeated, they kept coming. Fighting all of them was a waste of time.

Since Soul Ascension wasn’t activating, there was no need to persist.

Taesan chose to break through, unsummoning Minerva and Barkaza, and started running.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

Taesan initiated a Forced Duel with the foremost ant and struck it down. The ant screamed as it was slammed into the ground.

“Kiiik!”

It didn’t die, but he didn’t intend to kill it in the first place. Taesan passed the ants. They tried to attack him with their jaws and legs, but all were nullified by Forced Duel.

“Kieek!”

“Kiiiiek!”

The ants cried as they charged.

They were quite fast. Despite Taesan running quickly, their cries did not fade easily.

“Kiiiiek!”

The ants howled fiercely.

The howls echoed throughout the entire space.

Taesan clicked his tongue as he ran.

“Again.”

“Kiiiik!”

Uncountable ants moved their legs, crawling on the walls and colliding with each other as they charged towards Taesan.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

Kwajik.

He swiftly crushed the ants he dueled with and broke through the waves of ants.

“Kiiiik!”

The ants were pushed back by Forced Duel. He continued to run without any obstruction.

But the wave of ants didn’t end.

No matter how far he went, all he could see were ants.

‘How many are there?’

He saw several split paths. Taesan used a skill.

[You have activated Reconnaissance.] [A vessel leading to the inferior vena cava.] [A vessel leading to the apex.]

The destination mentioned in the quest conditions was getting closer.

Taesan ran towards the apex.

He kept activating Forced Duel as he advanced. After running for about ten minutes, he finally saw spaces filled with red mucus.

Finally out of the wave of ants, Taesan sprinted forward.

The ants screamed and chased after him.

Taesan muttered in a weary voice.

“How many are there?”

There were easily over a thousand. It might have even reached tens of thousands. Escaping itself was a torment.

He activated Invisibility at intervals, but it was meaningless. Since the vessels were filled with ants, he was physically bumped into, revealing his presence.

Taesan pondered. If an ordinary adventurer had been here, could they have passed through like he did?

The answer was no.

Without Forced Duel, it was impossible to fight this many ants. Even Taesan, who was much stronger than a typical adventurer, struggled. An ordinary adventurer could only choose to flee.

Besides, they wouldn’t have had Reconnaissance. Taesan could immediately find the path to the apex by activating Reconnaissance, but they couldn’t. They would likely get lost and fall in this maze-like place.

Taesan finally realized.

Clearing this place wasn’t about breaking through with force like he did.

One had to find a way to avoid the ants’ attention or their attacks, whether by reaching the stomach or brain.

And slowly advance towards the apex to defeat the parasite at the heart. That was the strategy for an ordinary adventurer.

‘So this is the deeper layer.’

“Kirik!”

The ants’ cries were heard again. Hundreds of ants started charging towards Taesan.

Taesan started running again, activating Forced Duel. As he ignored all attacks and advanced, the ghost muttered.

[This really is a ridiculous skill.]

The ghost had felt this before, but seeing Taesan clear the deeper layer made it hit home even more.

Forced Duel was a skill that changed the paradigm of clearing layers.

In the deeper layers, there were many fights where one had to defeat countless monsters, not just one. Forced Duel allowed one to clear all such layers without any problem.

If not for Forced Duel, even Taesan wouldn’t have dreamed of breaking through this way.

No, this trial wouldn’t have been given in the first place.

‘Was the condition to fight a single monster among many?’

The ghost recalled. To fulfill that condition, Taesan had prepared paralysis arrows to paralyze all but one and then continued the battle.

‘It’s surprisingly simple compared to its performance.’

He had practically gotten it for free. The ghost also realized why Taesan had obtained Forced Duel back then.

‘It would be too difficult to get it later.’

After a certain floor, most monsters resisted paralysis arrows. On many floors, multiple monsters didn’t even appear, and even if they did, it was challenging to meet the conditions for Forced Duel.

One had to obtain it in the early stages, and Taesan had done so.

‘But it’s understandable.’

It was a matter of the skill’s acquisition conditions.

Many monsters interfere except for one monster and win the battle. This type of experiment was something that players descending to the deeper layers did not do. Taesan accomplished it from the lower layers and earned the reward.

The labyrinth did not simply look at force alone.

It considered various factors such as strategy and tactics. One such example was a skill.

“Kiiik!”

The ants screamed. Taesan pressed harder with his foot.

Since earlier, he had been feeling a tremendous force. And the closer Taesan got, the more intense it became.

The passage widened, revealing a vast space.

Taesan laughed hollowly at the unfolding scenery.

“What is this now?”

The space was roughly the size of a large baseball stadium. Ants were crawling everywhere inside.

It wasn’t in the hundreds.

It far exceeded thousands.

It was a volume that could make one dizzy, but the ghost was calm.

[There are fewer than expected. Are they still in the process of hatching?]

Taesan realized from the ghost’s words. There was one ant with wings in the center of the other ants.

That ant, twice the size of the others, was white. Numerous ants were rubbing their bodies against the winged ant.

[The queen ant that eats the innards has appeared.]

Taesan knew immediately. The monster he had to capture was that white queen ant.

Taesan stared at the queen ant, and the queen ant recognized Taesan as well.

The queen ant let out a rough scream.

“Kiiiiik!”

Then the ants started to rampage. They rushed at Taesan as if to protect their queen from the intruder.

Thousands of ants charged.

It was like a wave.

Taesan calmly raised his sword and pointed it at the queen ant.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

The ants rushing towards Taesan scattered. He put more strength into his steps.

[You have activated Acceleration.]

He sprinted towards the queen ant at high speed. The queen ant spread its wings and screamed wildly.

Taesan’s sword brushed past the spot where the queen ant was.

When he looked up, the queen ant was flapping its wings and ascending.

The ceiling of the baseball stadium-sized space was incredibly high. The ascending queen ant was still visible to Taesan, but to an ordinary person, it would appear as a mere dot.

The queen ant flew to a place out of reach.

“Kiiik!”

“Kiiiik!”

Thousands of ants extended their jaws. But they couldn’t touch Taesan.

Due to the effect of Forced Duel, the ants couldn’t attack Taesan except for the queen ant.

Taesan quietly looked up at the sky.

“Kirrk. Kirrk.”

The queen ant cried from above. It was a sound full of ridicule, as if asking if he could reach her up there.

Taesan strengthened his stance.

[You have activated the Wings of a Perfect Fairy.] [You have activated Leap.]

His body soared into the sky with wings.

The queen ant, which had appeared very small, grew large in an instant. Startled by Taesan who had chased it to its chin, the queen ant hurriedly flapped its wings.

He moved the fairy wings to chase the queen ant and clenched his fist.

[You have activated Mephisto’s Black Lightning.]

The pitch-black lightning pierced through the queen ant’s body. The queen ant momentarily flinched, and Taesan closed in.

The queen ant, barely recovering from its stiffness, twisted its body.

Taesan raised his sword.

Kwajik.

“Kiek!”

The queen ant’s leg was severed. It screamed and flew away.

As Taesan tried to activate Mephisto’s Black Lightning again, the queen ant cried out.

“Kiiiiiiik!”

A powerful will filled the space.

Taesan could tell the queen ant was calling for something.

The worker ants, which had been wandering around, stopped moving.

“Kiiiiik!”

The ants cried out and began to rise.

They climbed the walls, bumping into each other, and started to form a tower. Taesan glanced sideways. The worker ants outside were also flooding inside.

“Kiiiik!”

“Kiiiiik!”

The ants filled the space.

Without a gap, densely, perfectly.

The queen ant was no longer visible.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

He activated Forced Duel on a nearby worker ant to buy himself some time to think.

“Smart.”

Realizing that the queen ant could only target him, it changed its strategy. It filled the space with worker ants to avoid his attacks.

It was simple but effective. Forced Duel could only be used when the opponent was visible. Blocking the path and hiding meant he had to search for her one by one.

But was that possible?

Taesan expanded his senses. The ants were constantly trying to come in from outside.

Tens of thousands of ants.

With so many, even magic or black magic would have limited effect. Even if he cleared them once, new worker ants would fill the place.

It might be possible if he combined Apostle Transformation, but it would take a very long time. And he couldn’t afford to use Apostle Transformation before meeting the parasite.

‘What should I do?’

Thinking of a strategy, Taesan recalled one thing.

How does the queen ant control the worker ants?

The answer was clear. It spread its will through its cries. The will in the queen’s cry was so intense that even Taesan could feel it.

And Taesan had a skill to read wills.

The worker ants had no will.

They followed the queen ant’s orders.

Among these countless lives, only the queen ant and Taesan had a will.

Taesan closed his eyes.

He focused his mind and expanded his senses.

He read the will embedded within the countless lives.

Soon, Taesan found the moving will at the end of the space.

As Taesan identified the queen ant’s position and was about to charge, he hesitated.

‘Will.’

The queen ant controlled the worker ants with its will.

He had already grasped the manifestation and wave structure of its will by observing it once.

Taesan could also manipulate will to influence his surroundings.

Then.

“Ki, Kii?”

The worker ants, which had been pushing their jaws towards Taesan, hesitated for a moment. Taesan focused his mind. He imbued his will with power and spread it in all directions.

“Kiiiii!”

The worker ants were in agony. Two conflicting wills were tearing at their minds. The queen ant, which had been slinking away, once again exerted its will to control the worker ants.

Taesan responded to this. Mimicking the manifestation of the queen ant’s will, he too exerted his will.

The two wills clashed and shattered.

“Kiiiii!”

The worker ants that had been trying to attack Taesan fell into confusion and stumbled.

[You have activated Amon’s Black Spike.]

A blackened spike appeared in Taesan’s hand.

As the duration of Forced Duel ended, Taesan struck the spike at the ant in front of him.

Boom!

An explosion occurred. With a deafening roar, the surrounding ants were sent flying.

Normally, the worker ants would quickly fill the empty space, but without orders, they were flustered and confused. Taesan immediately kicked off.

He moved his wings and chased the entity with the will. The queen ant, startled by Taesan’s precise tracking, moved among the worker ants in a panic, but it was no longer of any use.

[You have activated Forced Duel.]

He thrust his sword.

“Kiiiii!”

The sword pierced the queen ant’s abdomen. As the queen ant screamed, Taesan climbed on top of it and muttered.

“Fall.”

[You have activated Landing.]

With the queen ant pinned beneath him, his body fell. The queen ant flapped its wings and moved its legs wildly, but all were subdued.

“Kiiiik!”

Boom!

The queen ant, which had been flying in the sky, crashed to the ground.

Taesan moved his sword.

Finally, the worker ants, realizing their queen was in danger, desperately tried to protect her. They pushed their jaws and swung their legs.

But as soon as they touched Taesan, they were all repelled.

It was the effect of Forced Duel.

“Kiek! Kiek!”

The queen ant’s combat power itself was not that great. It was no stronger than a single worker ant, so it was easily defeated.

[You have defeated the queen ant that eats innards.] [Rewards will be settled after clearing the trial.] [Your Soul Ascension has activated. Your health has permanently increased by 1030, strength by 204, and agility by 255.] [Your Soul Ascension has activated. ??? proficiency has increased by 1%.]

The increase was smaller than expected. It was only natural, considering the queen ant’s individual strength was not that great.

And with the increase in ??? proficiency, something in his senses changed.

He couldn’t pinpoint what exactly had changed. His physical strength remained the same, and his aura was unchanged.

But he could do more than before.

Taesan pulled his sword from the queen ant.

The worker ants were bewildered by the death of their queen.

With no one to give them orders, they were confused.

Watching the worker ants blankly, Taesan exerted his will.

The confused worker ants gradually calmed down.

“Kiii……”

The worker ants lost interest in Taesan and began to leave. The ghost asked in surprise.

[Did you control them?]

“Control? Not really. I imitated.”

He remembered the way the queen manifested her will and mimicked it.

Taesan pressed his forehead. His head throbbed.

Enduring the pain, Taesan opened the skill window.

[Concept Skill: Will ??? Attack] [Proficiency: 60%] [The power of will ??? descends. You can see and feel the will of all things and adjust your own will accordingly. You can project your will onto the world. You have obtained ???.]

“Just as expected.”

The proficiency of the concept skill had reached 60%.

And a new phrase appeared: “You can project your will onto the world.”

[Huh... So it’s like that. It’s not just the realm of the sword.]

The ghost admired the skill. Taesan, having read the skill window for a moment, moved on.

Beyond the vast space, there was another narrow passage.

Taesan passed through it.

At the end of the short passage, he saw a heart.

A small heart within the giant’s heart.

Considering the size of the giant, it was small. The heart, much larger than an ordinary building, had marks of being gnawed at here and there. Nearly half of the heart had been eaten away, and it had stopped beating.

Blood vessels were flowing between the heart chambers.

And among them, he saw wriggling centipedes.

[The centipede that eats the heart has appeared.]