Ascension Through Skills

The proficiency of the conceptual skill exceeded 40%.

Subsequently, a specific word was added to the name of the skill.

However, its meaning remained entirely unclear.

“Raising the proficiency should solve it.”

There was, however, a more crucial aspect to consider.

As proficiency increased, it became possible to adjust one’s will within it.

Indeed, as his proficiency grew, Taesan began to experience a peculiar sensation. He had a rough idea of how to use it, but predicting its effects was challenging.

Therefore, he decided to conduct an experiment.

The monster on level 38 was a knight wielding a spear, which charged at Taesan.

Taesan observed the monster and amplified his newly acquired sensation.

The sensation enveloped the knight.

In that moment, the knight flinched, then raised his spear defensively, as if anticipating Taesan’s charge.

“Is this it?”

Taesan murmured, enhancing the sensation once more.

As he directed it towards the knight, the knight quickly retreated. Observing the knight’s continuous reactions to his actions, Taesan understood the skill’s capability.

The ability of the newly acquired conceptual skill was to manipulate will as one desired, exactly as described.

When Taesan projected his will to attack, the monster moved to block without Taesan making a physical move.

The knight persisted in charging with the spear, but each time Taesan directed his will to pressure the knight, the knight was rendered helpless and pushed back against the wall.

A thought crossed Taesan’s mind.

“Conceptual skills are about tuning will.”

Twisted Soul Ascension tuned the soul.

And the three proofs materialized and disseminated what one had cultivated independently.

What was cultivated was not only the soul but also a form of will.

Having concluded his thoughts, Taesan activated the three skills simultaneously. At that moment, a physical pressure radiated in all directions, a force potent enough to crush the weak.

Taesan then fine-tuned the force emanating from him.

The force materialized and surged forward.

Kwoooong!

The knight was hurled into the wall with a heavy crash. He seemed to have absorbed a significant impact, struggling to regain his balance.

“Could this be something akin to spiritual influence?”

Using willpower to attack the opponent, a concept familiar from martial arts s I’ve read on Earth. It felt somewhat similar.

“This is quite impressive.”

[It appears to be more than just 'quite impressive.']

Merely through the manipulation of will, a monster on the 38th floor was controlled without much resistance.

Of course, this was facilitated by the vast disparity in strength between him and the monster. It was probable that this technique wouldn’t inflict significant damage on much stronger adversaries.

However, if the tuning of Twisted Soul Ascension and the mastery over the conceptual skill improve in the future, and Taesan grew stronger, enhancing the influence of the three proofs, the potential outcomes were unpredictable.

The only drawback was the fatigue from tuning Twisted Soul Ascension. Yet, this fatigue was less severe than before, as he had grown accustomed to it after several uses.

The evolution of the conceptual skill was gratifying.

Now, it was time to experiment with magic.

[You have activated Frost Arrow.]

Crackle.

A rush of cold air filled the room, markedly different from before. Its mere presence was enough to chill the skin and freeze the lungs.

Barely managing to regain his footing, the knight charged forward, sword in hand, but Taesan unleashed a Frost Arrow.

Crrraaack!

The Frost Arrow, colliding with the knight’s sword, sent it flying and pierced through the knight’s body.

[736 damage dealt to the spear-wielding white knight.]

A massive hole was blasted through the armor.

Around that hole, the armor began to freeze slowly, and the knight’s movements grew sluggish. Eventually, the knight was completely encased in ice.

Taesan nodded in approval.

The God of Magic had enhanced his magic proficiency. Furthermore, thanks to the robe, his magic stat had increased by 40.

This not only significantly enhanced the damage of his magic but also led to notable improvements in all aspects, including power and speed.

Of course, that alone couldn’t fully account for this power.

The proficiency of Frost Arrow had also surpassed 40% after repeated use.

[Basic Magic: Frost Arrow] [Mana Consumption: 6] [Proficiency: 41%] [Fires a Frost Arrow. The less immune the enemy, the greater the damage. Attempts to inflict the status abnormality [Frostbite] on the target. The intense cold freezes everything it touches.]

“It took quite a while.”

Frost Arrow was the spell Taesan used most frequently among the magics he had learned. It’s difficult to identify any drawbacks in a spell that performs above average in every situation.

Yet, it had only just now surpassed 40% proficiency. It was indeed notorious for its slow proficiency gain.

But the power it demonstrated was worth the effort. The knight on the 38th floor was frozen solid by a single Frost Arrow, rendered completely helpless.

“With this, I could probably descend to the 50th floor using only magic.”

This seemed entirely feasible, assuming there were no interruptions from trials or Guides.

Crackle.

The knight barely managed to break free from the ice.

Taesan casually waved his hand at the staggering knight.

[You have activated Grain Dispersal.]

A basic magic that released numerous ice grains. Until now, it was a spell that hindered the opponent’s movement with minor damage, but it hadn’t shown much effectiveness.

Crackle!

However, with increased proficiency and the acquisition of new items, the situation had changed. The knight, ensnared by the grains, couldn’t break free.

Crash! Crash!

Taesan approached the knight, who was frantically trying to break through the grains.

There was still more to test.

[You have activated Tracking.]

Beep.

A faint magical energy formed on the knight’s chest.

At the same time, the grains scattered around homed in on the magical energy.

Crackle!

The knight’s body shook violently, hit directly by numerous grains and seeming about to fall at any moment.

Taesan’s eyes shone as he observed the unfolding events.

“This is pretty good.”

[Basic Magic: Tracking]] [Mana Consumption: 40] [Proficiency: 1%] [Designates a specific part of the target. Thereafter, attacks launched by magic spells will head towards the designated location according to the user's will.]

Marking allowed the user to designate their location for linking with special magics like random blinks, making it a skill that could be combined.

However, Tracking was much more convenient for using attack magic as it allowed for designation from a distance away from the opponent.

[You have activated Frost Arrow.]

Crackle.

Taesan fired Frost Arrows to both sides. Initially heading in completely different directions from the knight, the Frost Arrows suddenly changed trajectory and pierced through the knight.

The knight could no longer withstand the assault and fell.

[You have defeated the spear-wielding white knight.]

It was an overall satisfying change. There was a sense of accomplishment from the effort put into defeating the monster.

But the best was still the intermediate magic ‘Frozen World’ skill.

[Intermediate Magic: Frozen World] [Mana Consumption: 30] [Proficiency: 1%] [Summons cold that freezes everything. It's not yet able to unleash its full power.]

The first intermediate magic that he had obtained.

Its power was enough to instantly freeze the tentacles of a monster that even Taesan couldn’t underestimate.

Yet, it was not at full power. It was a skill that excited Taesan about how strong it would become as the proficiency increased.

However, the mana consumption was incredibly high. Even Taesan, who had never suffered from mana shortage, would have to worry about running out of mana if he used Frozen World a few times.

But it was a powerful skill that could bring a significant variable to future battles.

Thinking of variables naturally led Taesan to ponder another skill.

[Special Continuous Activation Skill: Twisted Soul Tuning] [Proficiency: 4%] [Twisted beings can twist and control their soul ascension. By bearing a great burden, one can control the ascension of the soul within themselves.]

This skill was acquired through soul ascension by defeating divine monsters. The proficiency increased again after defeating the monster from Bahuliya.

“It’s a decent skill.”

Without this skill, victory would have been much harder.

It twisted and defended against the monster’s attack through the ascension. Without this skill, victory would have been nearly impossible.

But the burden was significant.

The exhaustion and fatigue that enveloped his entire body at that time were not something Taesan could underestimate. Although the burden had slightly decreased when used again, the fatigue still hit hard.

[You're lucky that's all there is to it. Normally, mortals are not permitted such abilities.]

The ghost spoke.

[Even apostles can't twist or tune their ranks. Only transcendents and immortals can. A weak person would have been crushed by their soul ascension the moment they tried.]

“That serious, huh?”

[That's the level. Touching the rank.]

It was a skill that needed to be used cautiously. But as long as he stayed within the line, it was undoubtedly a useful skill.

Having checked everything roughly, Taesan once again broke through the passage.

“I do need to go down now.”

Recently, due to clearing the trials of the gods and returning to Earth, among other things, he hadn’t properly conquered the floors. It had been quite some time since he entered the 30th floor series, yet he was still on the 38th floor.

While he had gained a lot, the feeling of stagnation compared to before was unavoidable.

Therefore, he planned to focus on breaking through the floors for the time being.

Taesan swung his sword towards the approaching monster. The knight crashed to the floor.

Taesan effortlessly shattered the floor beneath him.

As usual, the monsters posed no challenge. With each floor he conquered, he found himself rewarded in unexpected ways.

[The effect of the Second Saint of the Demon God has been activated. Your magical energy has increased by 2.]

Humans on Earth had tapped into new sources of magical energy. As they grew stronger, so did Taesan, benefitting from their gains.

[The Authority of the Apostle has been activated. The proficiency of Ability Sword has increased by 1%.]

“Doing well.”

His stats improved without any effort on his part. Few things were as satisfying as this.

[The proficiency of Divine Power has increased by 1%.]

“I don’t really need this.”

Muttering to himself, Taesan moved forward.

He discovered a secret room and claimed its reward—a pair of shoes. They weren’t an upgrade over his current gear, so he stored them in his inventory.

[The effect of the Adventurer Title has been activated. The reward of the secret room is doubled.]

“Ah-ha.”

The quantity of shoes doubled.

With a chuckle, Taesan placed both pairs in his inventory.

Continuing his journey, Taesan soon came face to face with the boss.

The boss, a knight armed with two spears, faced him. Taesan extended his hand towards the swirling spears.

Snatch.

He caught both spears effortlessly.

With a swift kick, Taesan sent the knight flying into a wall. Approaching the downed knight, Taesan drove his sword into the knight’s chest and unleashed a barrage of Frost Arrows.

The knight was defeated just like that.

[Spell Necklace] [Magic +15] [Intelligence +20] [A necklace favored by a great magician. This specially enchanted necklace can hold spells.] [A magic spell can be stored and used at will. However, too powerful spells cannot be stored.]

It was a unique necklace with a spell storage feature. He attempted to store an intermediate spell as a test, but it was rejected due to the limitation.

Still, since the magic stat was higher than his current necklace, Taesan decided to switch to the new one.

Then came the secret reward.

[You used ???] [You obtained the Simpleton's Ring.] [Simpleton's Ring] [Strength +40] [Agility +40] [Intelligence +40] [A ring crafted by a blacksmith who had an aversion to complex designs. A more skilled artisan might have achieved greater effects, but the blacksmith was content with this result.]

The blue ring he had been wearing increased all stats by 15. Given that this new piece of equipment was an upgrade, Taesan opted to switch rings.

With this, the 38th floor was conquered.

Without delay, Taesan proceeded downward.

The challenge of the 39th floor awaited.

[39th Floor Quest Start.] [Defeat the boss of the 39th floor to proceed.] [Reward: Rune of Lightning] [Secret Reward: ???]