WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

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Chapter 23: Tower of Trials Floor 3

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I swung my shield as I dodged the spear thrust coming straight at me.

-Bang!

The heavy blow made the Lizardman stagger, and I followed up with a swing of my sword.

Even as it stumbled, though, the Lizardman accurately whipped its tail into my ankle.

My balance gave out, making my attack miss. In that opening, the Lizardman recovered its stance and smacked me with the shaft of its spear.

-Smack!

The spear shaft was not made of particularly hard material, so it did not do much damage, but it struck my temple cleanly and made my vision swim for a moment.

Taking advantage of that opening, the Lizardman thrust its spear again. It switched from a swing to a thrust incredibly quickly.

I knocked away the spearhead with my shield, then suddenly kicked out and drove my foot into the Lizardman's knee.

-Crack.

Something snapped. The Lizardman staggered, and its neck, which had been slightly too high, dropped to the perfect height.

I immediately thrust my sword at its neck. The Lizardman dodged with a tilt of its head, then swung its leg at me instead.

Its knee joint was already wrecked, but the low kick that came whipping in like a lash and struck my thigh still packed quite a punch.

“Ghk.”

I saw the kick coming, but I had no idea how to block or dodge it, so I took it head-on. Fucking irritating.

I let go of my outstretched sword, grabbed the Lizardman's shoulder and pulled it toward me, then smashed its face with my shield.

-Smack!

It was a solid hit, but not a critical one. At the same time, the Lizardman choked up on the spear and thrust at my stomach.

The timing was bad for a block. I had just smacked it in the face with my shield, so there was no angle to dodge at this range.

“Tch.”

I shoved the Lizardman away with all my strength, then kicked off the ground and opened up some distance.

It had taken my shield to the face twice, yet the Lizardman still looked full of energy.

* * *

The main monsters on the third floor of the Tower of Trials were Lizardmen, just as they looked.

The third floor had a completely different atmosphere from the first two. The entire map was a swamp occupied by a Lizardman tribe.

There were not many safe zones, and the village was tiny. The monster fields were huge, but there were not many enemies roaming them.

Since there were fewer of them, each Lizardman that appeared had incredibly high combat ability.

They were monsters that normally required a party of at least three people to gang up on them, but as you could see, I was currently fighting one-on-one.

Of course, my stats and equipment were overwhelmingly stronger than those of other Challengers on the same floor, so normally, I should not have struggled like this.

“It’s rough.”

I muttered quietly as I looked down at the sword and shield in my hands.

[+5 Worn Steel Straight Sword]

Attack Power +25 (Slashing)

Critical Damage: x1.8

Durability 250/250

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 0

[+5 Dirty Round Shield]

Defense +15

Toughness +3

Durability 300/300

Enhancement Attempts Remaining: 0

Compared to the items I usually used, these pieces of junk did not even have a quarter of their performance.

Even first-floor Challengers from other Towers would not use equipment like this unless they were really desperate.

They had been enhanced to +5, but all their enhancements were [Durability], so their actual performance was worse than store-bought gear.

At the moment, I had replaced every item that had made up a major part of my build with junk.

After the crisis during the second-floor boss fight, I had realized I fundamentally lacked skill.

To make up for that, I was deliberately lowering my specs and fighting under self-imposed restrictions.

If I equipped my original items right now, I could take down a Lizardman like that in an instant.

Even so, thanks to my unusually high level and passive skills for this floor, my specs were still pretty high.

It felt like my strength, speed, and ability to take hits were all superior to that Lizardman's, even in this state.

The reason I was still struggling was because its close-combat skill was better than mine.

The Lizardmen, the third floor's main monsters, were a combat race whose entire tribe consisted of warriors.

They honed themselves through endless combat, actively enjoyed fighting, and considered dying in battle an honor.

Because of that, every single one of them was an excellent fighter.

I had no intention of advancing to the fourth floor until I surpassed the Lizardmen here in skill.

-Keruk! Keruk!

As I caught my breath for a moment, the Lizardman croaked and curled its fingers at me, as if telling me to come at it.

That fucking lizard-headed bastard, seriously.

The Lizardman tribe really was a combat race, just as I said. They were said to be extremely serious when it came to fighting.

Even against other races, they respected warriors and considered it a virtue to face the strong with everything they had.

For people like that to openly tell someone to come at them meant they considered their opponent far beneath them.

In other words, that bastard thought I was a fucking scrub.

“Fine, you lizard bastard. You’re dead.”

Objectively speaking, it was true that my skill was below that guy's, but anyone would get pissed if they were openly looked down on.

Grinding my teeth, I raised my sword and shield and charged again.

* * *

I tore off a large handful of White Roll, stuffed it into my mouth, and chewed as I gulped down potions.

The wounds on my arms and shoulder quickly closed, and the HP displayed in my Status Window recovered to its maximum.

I had a hard time, but I won in the end.

Honestly, I did not think I had surpassed it in skill. From the middle onward, it had turned into a battle of endurance.

Maybe because they were reptiles, Lizardmen tended to have trouble regulating their body temperature in prolonged fights.

As their body temperature rose, their skin heated up enough to show visibly, and their movements noticeably slowed.

This Lizardman had fought me evenly until the middle, but its movements grew sluggish from overheating, and the momentum shifted to me.

In the end, this was no different from winning with my specs again. I still had a long way to go.

“I really am a fucking scrub.”

I looked down at the Lizardman's corpse as it slowly turned to light and disappeared.

One White Stripe, as if it had been painted on, ran across the fallen Lizardman's shoulder.

That stripe supposedly represented rank among the Lizardmen. A White Stripe meant a Low-Ranking Warrior.

Even among Low-Ranking Warriors, they were divided further by the number of stripes, and this one only had one.

Excluding Lizardmen with no stripe at all and those with yellow stripes who had not been recognized as formal warriors, it was the lowest rank.

In military terms, it was roughly a private first class. I had not even been able to beat a guy like that through skill alone.

It hurt my pride quite a bit, but having a long way to go also meant I had plenty of room to grow. No need to get too discouraged.

As I sorted through the items, I chewed and swallowed the rest of the White Roll.

* * *

The village on the third floor was so small it was embarrassing to even call it a village.

Since the entire swamp was Lizardman territory, there were extremely limited places where humans could live.

It did have everything it needed, like a shop where I could sell items and a blacksmith where I could enhance and repair weapons.

Still, there were very few Non-Player Characters, and the available lodgings were cramped and awful.

“Oh, you’re back! I thought you were dead!”

When I returned to the village, a man with an impressive rough beard waved and called out to me.

Like Nora from the second floor, he was a Non-Player Character who reacted almost like a real person. His name was Windsor.

“Are you hurt anywhere? Looks like you avoided the Lizardmen pretty well. That’s a relief.”

The village on the third floor was set up as a temporary camp established by an expedition sent to explore ruins in this swamp.

Windsor was the leader of that camp. He was well-informed about Lizardman ecology and served the role of giving Challengers all kinds of information.

Almost everything I knew about Lizardman habits and ranks had come from this man.

“Anyway, get some rest now. You’ve worked hard!”

Windsor said that as he patted my back hard. I ignored him and went to sit alone in a corner.

Just as the Shepherd Girl on the second floor had given me a special quest, this guy had given me one too.

[In Search of the Ruins' Treasure - Expedition Leader Windsor]

Description: The 12th Alcataia Ruins Expedition Team entered Lizardman territory after following information recorded in an artifact.

The artifact spoke of ruins where the ‘Armament that Rules Lightning’ lies dormant.

No one knows exactly what it is, but if the artifact's records are accurate, it must be an incredible treasure.

Of course, isolated in Lizardman territory, the expedition team must worry not about treasure, but whether they can even leave this place alive.

Work together with Expedition Leader Windsor to discover the true nature of the ruins' treasure. It will surely be of great help to you.

[Quest Objectives]

1. Join the expedition team (Completed).

2. Explore the ruins.

3. Discover the true nature of the treasure.

The reward for the quest from the Shepherd Girl had been incredible, so of course I intended to clear this one too.

Once I cleared this quest, Windsor would probably become an ordinary Non-Player Character as well.

If that happened, there was no point talking to him and getting attached.

For the sake of my mental health, it would be better to just ignore him for now.

“By the way, have you been near the ruins I mentioned? If you’ve seen anything, make sure you tell me!”

This bastard talked way too fucking much.

Footnotes:

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