Tower

In front of Leif stood a massive pair of doors. Leif took a sip of the red potion and immediately felt refreshed. He only had one mouthful of the potion left.

Leif's c.h.e.s.t, which had not stopped emitting a white glow for the entire battle, finally stopped glowing.

I wonder how much I leveled up from that battle?

Leif checked his TowerCard to check what level he was.

Name: Leif Ryner

Level: 20

Age: 17

Weight: 160lbs

Height: 5'11"

Gender: Male

HP:553/553

AP:2/416

(57) unused ability points!

VIT:53 END:45

AGI:51 STR:39

DEX:40 INT:52

WIS:15 RES:17

DEF:24 LUC:19

Active Skills: Lightning Bolt (fires a bolt of lightning with the size depending on the amount of anime injected),

Passive Skills: Focus (able to gather anima faster and with more precision), Stab (increases the effectiveness of stabbing), Dodge (increases the effectiveness of dodging), Dagger Mastery (increases the power of daggers)

MONSTERS DISCOVERED:

Imp - Imps have greyish-red, extremely tough skin. The skin is rough and scaly to the touch. Imp's stand about four feet tall. They have long rounded ears and an oversized head. It has a scorpion-like tail with a stinger at the end. They have two large talons on each of their feet that they use to rip their prey open. At the end of their short arms are long, razor-sharp claws. They rarely travel in groups. (Levels range from 1-12)

Killed: 305

Winged Imp - Winged Imps have the same features as normal Imps with the exception of a pair of large wings on their backs which make them more agile. (Levels range from 6-17)

Killed: 32

Giant Scarver - Giant Scarvers are large furry carnivorous rodents with a mouthful of razor-sharp teeth. (Levels range from 1-9)

Killed: 36

Scarver Wolf - Scarver wolves are massive Scarvers with a huge mouth full of long razor-sharp teeth and extremely powerful legs. (Levels range from 5-15)

Killed: 2

FEATS:

Tower-Walker - Survived your first encounter with a monster and killed it. (gain +1 to all stats when equipped)

Imp Slayer - Killed over 100 Imps. (Increased damaged to Imps)

Level 20! I gained 9 levels from that fight and all my stats have increased a lot as well.

Leif looked toward the massive doors and wavered slightly.

Hopefully, there will be an exit ahead, but I don't think it'll be that easy. This Tower has a way of making you think you're about to get out and then taking it away from you. I hope I am strong enough to face whatever is behind these doors.

Leif pushed on the doors, but they wouldn't budge. Leif then pushed on the doors with his entire strength and veins began popping out all over his arms and legs. The doors creaked but still didn't move.

Alright, I guess I need more strength to push these open. I'll take a few of my points and add them into strength and see if that makes a difference.

Leif added five points into his strength stat and his muscles became denser, bursting with power.

Leif tried to push the doors open again. This time they creaked louder and moved ever so slightly inward before Leif stopped pushing.

Still not enough strength.

Leif put ten points into the strength stat this time, totaling 15 points, and threw his body against the doors, shoving with everything he had. His muscles swelled as he pushed, and a loud creaking could be heard as the doors moved forward slowly. Finally, Leif had pushed the doors open enough that he could fit his body through the crack.

Through the doors was another massive room, although this one was nearly empty. At the far back of the chamber was a large, black, metal throne. Atop the throne sat a monster that looked similar to an Imp, but about three times the size of a normal Imp.

Leif took a closer look at the monster.

Aside from a few features it almost looked somewhat human. It had a bulky, muscular body and a redder skin tone compared to the ashen red of other Imps. There were four large horns on its head, two of the horns curved upward from its forehead and the other two curved outward from the side of the monster's head. A massive set of wings protruded from its back, spikes covering the majority them.

Leif's eyes shifted to the hands of the monster.

In one of the hands stood a lengthy halberd with a blade curved out one side and an ax head on the other. Both sides of the halberd converged together into a sharp, deadly point. At the bottom of the halberd was another sharp spike. The head of the halberd seemed to give off a multicolored glow when looked at from different angles.

Leif stared at the weapon for a few moments before shifting his eyes back to the beast.

The monster had its eyes closed and looked to be asleep or maybe it was just uninterested with him. Leif concluded that as long as the monster wasn't interested with him and didn't attack him, then Leif had time to prepare.

Leif moved to the ground slowly, watching the monster, and sat down on the ground cross-legged. He began restoring his anima little by little while keeping a close eye on the beast.

After a few hours, Leif had completely restored his anima.

I should use all of my points and increase my battle prowess as much as I can for this fight. This monster looks like it leagues about anything else I've fought.

Leif decided to split his points between vitality, agility, intelligence, and dexterity, with the major of the points going toward vitality and agility.

Vitality meant more health which in turn meant more survivability, and agility meant being able to dodge more which also meant more survivability.

Leif then decided to equip the Imp Slayer title as well because even though it was giant, it was still an Imp so hopefully, it would help him.

Leif slowly got to his feet and began to walk toward the throne. Leif got closer and closer, but the monster still didn't open its eyes or move. He made it to the center of the room and stopped.

Better not push my luck. I'll use lightning from here and get the jump on him before he even attacks.

Leif raised his hand out in front of his body and aimed it at the huge Imp. As soon as Leif's hand was in position the Imp's eyes flashed open. Its eyes were a blazing red that seemed to pierce right through Leif's soul.

Leif froze in place.

The Imp stood up slowly in a domineering way, emitting an unexplainable pressure.

Shit! I gotta move!

Leif finally regained his senses and fired a lightning bolt at the giant Imp, using half of his anima to overcharge it.

ZWOOH! KABOOM!

The biggest lightning bolt he had shot before only used 62 of his anima. This one was using 208, three times the amount of his biggest ever lightning bolt.

The shockwave from the massive explosion knocked Leif backward onto the ground.

I definitely can't use this attack when I'm close to a monster or I'll end up hurting myself too.

Smoke and dust covered the room making it hard to see what happened.

Leif jumped to his feet and stared into the cloud of smoke, waiting to see if he had killed the monster.

Before the dust could settle a dark figure flashed through the smoke straight toward Leif. The figure stabbed its weapon through the air with extreme speed aiming for Leif's c.h.e.s.t.

Leif sidestepped the incoming attack, using his dagger to block part of it. As soon as the attack connected with his dagger he was sent flying backward through the air.

As he flew through the air he managed to twist and contort himself allowing him to land on his feet.

Leif turned and looked at the figure across from him and discovered that it was the giant Imp, or at least what remained of it.

The right side of the Imp's face was distorted in a mangled mess and its scorched right arm hung motionless at its side. As the monster limped forward, Leif could see much of its body was burnt and still smoking.

Damn! This thing is still this strong after taking a direct hit from my lightning bolt.

Just then the Imp leapt up, using its wings to boost itself higher into the air, and shot down straight at Leif with its halberd aimed directly for Leif's head.

Leif dodged the thrust using his dagger to redirect the attack away from him.

CRASH!

The ground a few steps away from Leif exploded.

Before Leif could counterattack, the monster swung its halberd horizontally using its long reach to take Leif by surprise.

Leif reflexively leaned backward, throwing his body toward the ground to avoid the incoming blow.

As the blade of the halberd made its way above Leif it suddenly changed trajectories, heading straight down for him.

Unable to dodge the attack heading for him Leif threw his dagger up to receive the blow and tensed his body up.

BOOM!

Taking the full force of the blow his body had created a crater in the ground below him. Leif spurted blood from his mouth and tried to get up but to no avail. A broken dagger laid on the ground next to his mangled torn arm. The beast stood above him, glaring down at him with a raging fire in the one eye it had left. Blood leaked from Leif's mouth as he realized he had no other options.

The Imp raised its halberd and swung it down at Leif with a slight smirk on its face.

Leif raised his left hand into the air above him.

ZWOOH! KABOOM!

Leif was sent soaring backward until he eventually hit the hall wall leaving a human-sized crater in it. He tumbled down from the wall unconscious and hit the ground.

Awhile later Leif woke up covered in blood and in agonizing pain.

His entire body felt broken and he could barely muster the strength to move as he reached into his bag, using his fingers to feel for the bottle of red liquid. He slowly moved the potion to his mouth using his teeth to pry off the cork and guzzled down the remaining liquid.

Moments later his body was almost completely healed by the miracle potion.

Leif heaved himself to his feet and assessed his body, testing each limb and ensuring their function.

I'm so glad I got this potion in my Tower kit. If not for it I would be dead a hundred times over. It's unfortunate that it's all gone now.

Leif surveyed the area around him and eventually found the Imp or at least what was left of it. All that remained was a burnt torso and a pair of legs as the Imp's upper body had been reduced to ash. On the ground, a few steps from the corpse was the Imp's halberd completely unscathed.

This must be made out of some insanely high-quality materials if it survived my lightning blast without so much as a scratch on it.

Leif reached down and picked up the halberd.

The weapon was quite a bit heavier than what Leif had expected.

Using both hands Leif swung the halberd to the side but the weight of it pulled him along with it, throwing him off balance.

If I want to use this weapon, I'm going to need a bit more strength to properly wield it. I wonder if I leveled up at all after killing that giant Imp.

Leif checked his TowerCard and found out that he had leveled up twice from the boss and choose to pile the six points he received into strength. He also learned that the monster he had killed was called a High Imp.

Leif held the halberd in both hands and attempted to swing it again. At the end of its arc, he pulled it back up successfully ready to swing again.

Well, I can't swing it with one hand but it's a huge upgrade from a broken dagger.

Leif smiled as he admired his new weapon before realizing that he still had to find the exit to this place. He looked over the room to find no other doors or hallways leading away from it. The only thing in the room was the black throne.

Leif went over to the throne and inspected it carefully discovering nothing until he made is way around to the back of the throne.

On the back of the throne was a faint, glowing white circle made of the strange symbols Leif had seen twice before, once in the starting room of the labyrinth and also on his c.h.e.s.t where the TowerCard came from.

Leif reached his hand out to touch the circle of symbols and as his hand met the stone the white light grew brighter. With every passing second, the light grew more intensive until Leif could no longer see anything but white.

Gradually, the light faded away revealing an unfamiliar place and Leif realized he was no longer in the throne room. He was in the center of a well-lit room, to his rear was a wooden door, and to his front, there was a woman standing behind a counter. Surrounding the woman were random supplies and equipment like a store.

The woman tilted her head and smiled at Leif before beckoning him over.