It’s always a good thing when your level rises significantly.
The higher my level gets, the more assistants I can make, and the higher my success rate in crafting becomes.
Besides, as my level rises, can’t I also raise the level of my assistants together?
In effect, by leveling up myself, it’s as if every assistant here levels up too.
So, yes, that’s definitely a good thing.
“Manager’s authority?”
But I have no idea why.
Still, even if I keep tilting my head in confusion now, I won’t figure anything out.
I decided to ask the two statues about it once I leave the Tower, and immediately moved on to the next floor.
[The Trial of the Eighth Floor begins.]
[8th Floor: Troll Marsh]
“Oh, Troll!” A familiar name reached my ears.
Trolls were staple Monsters that often appeared in games.
The terrain was a marsh.
The soggy, muddy ground felt quite annoying as it squelched underfoot.
And not long after, trolls appeared in the distance.
“Food, all.”
“Iron?”
“Food that can’t be eaten.”
“For now, let’s try eating.”
The Monsters spoke awkwardly, stringing words together.
Their bodies were bigger than a human’s, with rugged appearances.
Their skin was thick and gnarled like tree bark, and their arms were abnormally long.
But, more dangerous than their threatening looks—
‘Regeneration.’
Regeneration.
Troll regeneration is famous.
Even if an arm is severed, it grows back.
A pierced abdomen?
It regenerates.
Even with half their neck cut off, they don’t die and just heal right back up.
To deal with that you need fire.
“Combat 20! Can you enchant?”
“Of course.”
“Fwoosh!”
Flames flowed from Combat 20’s staff and imbued the weapons of the assistants.
A fire attribute enchantment spell.
To maintain enchantments on so many weapons at once, Combat 20 couldn’t cast any other spells in the meantime.
But instead, my assistants could now face the trolls with their weapons wreathed in flame.
“Slaash!”
The assistants’ attacks cut into the trolls.
Normally, trolls heal even shallow wounds in an instant but the fire-enchanted weapons burned the wounds as they struck.
So even their famed regeneration couldn’t do anything.
Still, the terrain was too troublesome.
A marsh, of all things.
Somehow, the trolls moved about freely as if it were flat land, but we couldn’t do the same.
Even our cavalry couldn’t move properly on the marshy ground due to their heavy weight.
But that didn’t matter.
Even without the cavalry, my assistants were strong.
Combat 2 quickly drew their bowstring, “Thunk!”
Not only was it fire-enchanted, but Combat 2’s bow was made from the SS-Class Material ‘Bow of the Divine King’s Golden Feather’ acquired in Egypt, imbued with the power of the sun.
When such arrows struck vital spots like the heart or head—
“Grrrrk—.”
“Thud.”
The trolls collapsed helplessly.
Trolls, known for their overwhelming regeneration and difficulty to defeat, were dropping with a single arrow.
And not just Combat 2.
All the Combat Team members newly equipped with L-rank Equipment were showing astonishing combat strength.
Even those who hadn’t yet received L-rank Equipment were working hard to earn their achievements and receive it in the next awards ceremony.
They were all remarkable, but the most outstanding was Combat 1.
“I’ll finish this quickly, Master.”
With each swing of the sword and each burst of Attack Aura, trolls were cleaved in half.
It wasn’t just that Durandal was powerful.
Combat 1’s strength using Durandal had grown beyond expectations.
‘Even if their skills improved, is it really to this degree?’
On top of that, whatever footwork they were using, they dashed swiftly even across the marsh, facing the trolls head-on.
Thanks to that, the trolls—among the strongest Monsters encountered so far were taken care of in an instant.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have overcome the Trial of the Eighth Floor, ‘Troll Marsh’.]
[Strategy Rating: SSS]
[As a reward, you receive ‘Giant Troll’s Heart’.]
[With the Eighth Floor Trial cleared, the Tower weakens.]
The next trial was the same.
[The Trial of the Ninth Floor begins.]
[9th Floor: Ogre Mountain Range]
“Ogre?”
Somehow, it felt like the Monster difficulty spiked starting from the Eighth Floor.
Ogres, all of a sudden.
Ogres are the sort of monsters that even appear in high-level Gates.
There weren’t that many ogres here, perhaps for balance.
[Twin Head Ogre]
There it was.
An ogre with two heads, exuding a clear boss aura in the back.
That one looked strong enough to be the Boss Monster of a Gate.
With ogres appearing, I thought this battle would be tough.
That’s what I thought, but—
“Slash”
“Boom!”
“Thud, thunk!”
“Crash!”
“Uh……”
I was mistaken.
With the Combat Team further strengthened by the additional L-rank Equipment—
Plus the addition of the Production Team and Mining Team, the fighting power of my assistants was even greater than I’d imagined.
They didn’t even seem to break a sweat against the ogre horde.
If anything, it was the ogres who seemed flustered.
“Ugh?”
“Graaaah! That hurts! These guys, they’re strong!”
To think an ogre would say something so weak.
It hit me again just how strong my assistants were.
And before long—
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have overcome the Trial of the Ninth Floor, ‘Ogre Mountain Range’.]
[Strategy Rating: SSS]
[As a reward, you receive ‘Twin Head Ogre’s Tendon’.]
[With the Ninth Floor Trial cleared, the Tower weakens.]
The Ninth Floor Trial was over.
I had made it up to the Ninth Floor too easily, so I steeled myself again.
It was just like when I reached the Fourth Floor.
The first four floors were so easy that I didn’t worry, even when facing sub-Boss Monster-level trials.
But the next floor—the Tenth Floor—wasn’t a sub-boss.
It was the real Boss Monster-level trial.
“Everyone ready?”
So before ascending to the Tenth Floor, I thoroughly checked on my assistants.
Checked if the sword blades were still sharp.
Checked the armor seams.
Made sure the level caps had increased to match my level.
Only after confirming everything did I set foot on the stairs to the Tenth Floor.
“Whew!”
I was mentally prepared.
Still, I couldn’t help but get tense as I recalled the Orc Invasion of the Fifth Floor.
But with determination, I calmly climbed the stairs.
“A cavern?”
A vast open space appeared.
Maybe this was what it would feel like to dig into the heart of a great mountain and step inside.
Fortunately, faint sunlight filtered in from the pointed ceiling above, so visibility was fine.
Then came the trial message.
[The Trial of the Ninth Floor begins.]
[9th Floor: Sealed Minotaur]
“Minotaur?”
From the name, it looked like this trial was to face the Minotaur trapped in this enormous cavern.
As soon as the message faded, a Minotaur appeared in the dim sunlight.
Minotaurs are Monsters I know.
A creature with the head of a bull and the body of a man.
They often appear in labyrinth-type Gates, and are strong Monsters.
But since they’re usually only below Rank 7, I figured a Minotaur wouldn’t be too tough.
But—
“Groan.”
The Minotaur emerging into the faint sunlight looked nothing like I imagined.
It wasn’t the reasonably sized Minotaur you’d see in Rank 7 Gates.
It had to be at least 6 meters tall.
Thick, gleaming horns crowned its head, and its body bulged with explosive muscles.
It gripped a massive double-bladed axe in both hands.
The axe was so huge that even Combat 5 might not be able to block it.
That was definitely not a Rank 7 Minotaur.
It had to be something more.
At least a Rank 8 Monster or higher.
That Minotaur—
“Muuoooo!”
Let out a thundering roar and charged at us.
The feeling was completely different from the Orc Invasion of the Fifth Floor.
Back then, the intimidation came from the sheer number of orcs.
Now, it was just one thing.
The oppressive force from that single Minotaur was enough to make me gulp.
There may be only one, but as a seasoned Hunter, I could tell.
That single Minotaur’s might surpassed the power of the hundreds of orcs on the Fifth Floor.
“Begin combat!”
At my command, the whole team charged.
First, with Combat 5 at the center, the Production Team raised their shields to block the Minotaur’s charge.
But with the Minotaur being 6 meters tall, there was no way the Combat Team could stop it head-on.
Combat 5 stood at the front, at least.
“Bang!”
And managed to block the Minotaur’s attack brilliantly.
The Production Team braced behind, keeping Combat 5 from being pushed back.
‘Do I need to make another cannon?’ That thought crossed my mind.
Against such a giant Minotaur, a cannon might be necessary.
Honestly, no matter how strong our Combat Team was, could we even land a meaningful blow on something that big?
“Thud!”
…Or so I thought.
Combat 4’s spear pierced deep into the Minotaur’s knee.
“Muuoooo!”
The Minotaur roared in pain at the sudden attack.
Then Combat 4 twisted and pulled out the spear, badly damaging the knee joint.
Next—
“Bang!”
Seizing the opening, Combat 7 and 8 rushed in and smashed the Minotaur’s joints with their greatsword and axe.
Naturally, the Minotaur was forced to one knee.
At the same time, Combat 19 lashed a whip around one of the Minotaur’s ankles.
“Crack!”
The Combat Team members gathered at Combat 19’s side, pooled their strength, and pulled on the whip.
“Muuooo!”
The Minotaur lost its balance and crashed to the ground.
A chill settled beneath the Minotaur as it tried to stand.
Combat 4 used magic to freeze the Minotaur’s body to the ground.
In that instant—
My assistants launched a full assault.
“Thud, thunk!”
“Slash!”
“Splat!”
The Mining Team stabbed repeatedly into the Minotaur as if mining for resources.
The Production Team pinned it down with shields, keeping it from getting up.
The Combat Team slashed their weapons, severing tendons, smashing joints, and stabbing vital points.
“Uh…?”
Compared to the Fifth Floor, my Combat Team was so much stronger.
They had L-rank Equipment now, and there were even new recruits.
Plus, with the Production Team and Mining Team along, my assistants’ combat power must have been much higher.
“This much…?”
But I hadn’t expected it would be to this extent.
Back on the Fifth Floor, I struggled, making cannons, firing shells, barely managing to finish the trial by taking down orcs.
But on this floor, I didn’t have to do anything.
No orders or commands were needed.
Just by standing back and watching, my assistants soundly defeated the Minotaur.
In the end, Combat 1 finished it off with a blast of celestial Attack Aura, ending the Minotaur’s life.
[Your level has increased.]
[Your level has increased.]
[You have overcome the Tenth Floor Trial: ‘Sealed Minotaur’.]
[Strategy Rating: SSS]
[As a reward, you receive ‘Sealed Minotaur’s Horn’.]
[With the Tenth Floor Trial cleared, the Tower weakens.]
The Tenth Floor Trial, which had been hyped up as a Boss Monster-level challenge, was conquered in the blink of an eye.
“Is this for real?”
Thanks to my powerful assistants, I cleared the Tenth Floor Trial so quickly, all I could do was stare dumbfounded at the fallen Minotaur on the ground.