WeTried Translations

Translator/Editor: Irevi

Discord: https://dsc.gg/wetried

◈ Alone Against the Tower ◈

Chapter 84: Wall

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Most of the eighth floor's subquests were related to combat.

They involved using force at sites where the three major factions, the Dark Elves, High Elves, and Kingdom Army, clashed directly or indirectly.

I rejoined the Reconnaissance Team and, following the standard quest objectives, wreaked havoc everywhere.

Bang!

The iron ball I threw smashed the head of a Quadrupedal Golem, revealing the Mage hiding inside.

This Quadrupedal Golem was one of the Kingdom Army's special weapons, an unusual Golem operated by a spellcaster sitting inside it.

It was supposedly used to gather various kinds of information through real-time control, but it looked incredibly inefficient.

“W-What...? Who are you? Why are you attacking us?!”

The human Mage formed a Fireball in their right hand and questioned me.

From their perspective, this had to be a very confusing situation.

They had infiltrated the Dark Elf faction to scout it, only to be attacked by some random human.

“Can't you see this?”

I pointed at the epaulet fastened to my shoulder. It bore the emblem of the Dark Elf Reconnaissance Team.

Once the Mage recognized the emblem, their eyes widened in shock. Apparently, they were surprised to see a human siding with the Dark Elves.

But human or not, if they brought a weapon into someone else's territory, of course they would be attacked.

“T-That... My God, you're siding with the Dark Elves. You filthy little mercenary!”

Fwoosh!

“I had no intention of engaging in combat, but I can't let a traitor to humanity like you go!”

To that Mage, I must have looked like a mercenary blinded by money and willing to side with another race.

Well, that wasn't too far from the truth right now.

The Fireball the Mage had summoned flew toward me. The amount of mana I could feel from it was... nothing special.

Boom!

I casually swatted the Fireball away. As expected, this one was only at the level of a regular mob.

The Non-Player Characters I had encountered until now had simply been unusually strong. Kingdom Army Non-Player Characters had been weak from the start.

“W-What...? Are you really human...?”

I took out the Mithril Wand from my inventory and struck the Mage on the head.

Clang!

The Mage put up some sort of defense, but the Mithril Wand ignored it and knocked them unconscious.

I left the unconscious Mage where they fell, crushed the Quadrupedal Golem, pulled out its core, and brought it to the Reconnaissance Team.

“I see. So this is the humans' new weapon... Thank you so much. You've done it again!”

“Yeah.”

“Are you leaving already today? Don't be like that. At least join us for a meal once in a while.”

Ignoring the Dark Elf scout's invitation, I returned alone to my lodgings again.

* * *

The armed clashes between the three major factions grew more frequent, and the NPCs at the center of each faction became increasingly busy.

Eleanor, who was acting in place of the queen, whose illness had not fully cleared even after taking the elixir, was no exception.

“My dear, haven't you been running around too busily lately? I'm grateful for your help, but shouldn't you take it a little easier?”

“No.”

“My dear, you seem to be in a bad mood. You want to spend time with me too, don't you? I know it all!”

Thanks to that, I did not have many chances to brush Eleanor off when she approached me like this.

“What do you know? Forget it and do your work.”

Eleanor seemed to notice the change in my attitude, but handling the immediate situation was more urgent.

There were rumors that the queen's prolonged illness was because her long-lived body was finally nearing the end of its lifespan.

If that was true, Eleanor would only grow busier as time passed and the atmosphere drew closer to war.

That worked out very well for me.

“Phew...”

I opened the densely packed quest window and headed out to fight again.

* * *

Once I decided to push ahead, the quests progressed far faster than I had expected.

It was only natural. Unless they were elite Non-Player Characters or Hidden Bosses, nothing could stop me.

Quest rewards continued to pile up in my inventory, while my level and specs gradually rose as I gained experience.

The levels of [Sprint] and [Weakness Insight], which I had obtained after clearing the seventh floor, had also increased considerably. My overall combat ability improved significantly.

But there was no progress at all in the most important area, mana control.

Far from awakening Mana Enhancement on my own, it became harder by the day to control the mana that fluctuated more and more anxiously.

It had already been several weeks since I began using the Pendant whenever I had time to activate Mana Enhancement and tried to make that sensation familiar to my body.

Was it too greedy to try learning a top-tier skill used only by Rankers on the eighth floor?

“I think I'm starting to understand the principle, but...”

When I moved mana while meditating, I could sense a certain pathway distinct from blood vessels or the nervous system.

According to the self-proclaimed Orthodox Mages on the Community, these were mana circuits possessed by all living beings.

When I activated Mana Enhancement through the Pendant, I could feel mana flowing in through those circuits.

The mana that flowed in was then released again, and that released mana wrapped around my body.

This was the source of the rumbling thunder when Mana Enhancement activated, as well as the defensive power it provided.

The mana released through the circuits made the air tremble and wrapped thickly around my body, functioning like armor.

“The mana flowing in must be the mana stored in the Pendant.”

If so, the method for using Mana Enhancement on my own was extremely simple. I only needed to circulate mana through those circuits.

But it was far too difficult to make mana travel properly through pathways as complicated as a maze.

My mana was always moving violently in an unsettled state, and I could not control it properly.

It would not be difficult if I merely had to pour mana into my muscles or a particular part of my body.

“Phew... Fuck...”

In truth, I had known for a long time why I could not properly control my mana.

Because mana responded to will and the heart.

Because my will and heart contradicted each other. Because my heart was wavering.

But what else was I supposed to do?

As of today, I had cleared almost every subquest. Chapter 2 of Dark Elf's Letter was also nearing its end.

Which meant the day Eleanor became an empty shell again was not far away.

* * *

I completed the final remaining subquest and finished Chapter 2 of the Faction Quest.

All that remained was to receive the reward. As I prepared for the eighth-floor boss battle, I looked through the Community alone in my lodgings.

The boss on this floor was an enhanced version of the Tree Golem I had seen near the start of the eighth floor, a special Golem-type enemy with no separate core.

The standard strategy was a ranged bombardment using fire magic.

Apparently, if a party was centered around Mages, it could be cleared with ten people or fewer because of how strongly the matchup favored them.

The only attribute attack I could use was the lightning attribute of [Lightning Charge], so there was not much useful information for me.

Most of its basic patterns were simple apart from binding targets with tree roots, so it seemed like it would be easy to clear.

Knock, knock.

After I closed the Community window, someone knocked at the door.

I already knew it was Eleanor from her distinctive presence. The door opened immediately after the knock.

“Just as I thought, you were still awake. I'm glad I made time, even if I had to force it.”

Unbothered by my unenthusiastic response, Eleanor strode inside and sat on the edge of my bed.

“I was quite disappointed that, despite you coming to visit me for once, we could hardly spend any time together.”

“Is that so.”

“I came to talk for a moment, and to deliver something the Reconnaissance Team asked me to give you.”

Eleanor held a pair of gloves in her hands. They appeared to be the final reward for Chapter 2 of the Faction Quest.

The moment I received them, the Non-Player Characters here would become empty shells again. It was earlier than expected, but it did not matter.

“My dear, you have seemed troubled lately. Is it still difficult for you to tell me why?”

I nodded. There was no way I could talk about the Tower of Trials or Non-Player Characters.

“Ah, I'm not trying to pressure you. It's just... you look like you're suffering greatly.”

“Do I?”

“You do. If it is a worry you cannot easily tell anyone about, I suppose that is only natural.”

Eleanor smiled bitterly. Then, perhaps realizing that she was disturbing me, she immediately rose from the bed.

“But just because it is difficult to say does not mean you should keep enduring it. Even if you speak to a wall, you might feel a little better.”

With those words, Eleanor handed me the quest reward gloves.

The moment I took them, a system message appeared, announcing that the quest was complete.

At the same time, the intense presence I had felt from Eleanor began to fade.

“Hehe, it is a good night.”

The liveliness faded from Eleanor's expression as she spoke words that did not fit the situation.

Just as on the seventh floor, she had returned to being an ordinary Non-Player Character.

She had said that talking to a wall might make me feel better.

“It is all because of you fucking empty shells...”

I spat out whatever came to mind at Eleanor, who could not understand a single word I said.

It did not make me feel any better.

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