Overgeared

by Park Saenal

  ‘I think that guy called Gyuratan is very cunning.’ Grid recalled the great demon and shook his head. ‘But it isn’t a problem for me to worry about.’

  This was a matter within the empire. He had no choice but to hope that Mercedes overcame the crisis. The moment that Grid turned his back to Titan…

  “Overgeared King.”

  Grid was approached by a suspicious figure in a hat and forsythia-colored robes. Thanks to his high insight stat, Grid became alert. “You know me? Who are you?”

  The person took off their hat. Then the color of the name was revealed, showing he was an NPC. “I am Raji, a magician of the Tower of Eternity. The owner of the tower, Goldhit, is looking forward to your visit. I hope Your Majesty will respond to the invitation.”

  ‘The Tower of Eternity?’

  Grid could use the Magic Missile and Magic Detection which had been given to him by Braham. Additionally, he had the potential to learn Fireball if he increased his intelligence. However, he wasn’t a magician. He had never heard of the Tower of Eternity.

  ‘What is the Tower of Eternity?’ Grid’s kneejerk reaction was to ask this, but he judged that it wouldn’t be good to expose his lack of knowledge to a stranger. In such a situation, he relied on Lauel.

  -Lauel.

  -Yes, Your Majesty, a reply came as soon as Grid sent a whisper. It seemed that Lauel had been waiting since Grid infiltrated the empire alone.

  -What is the Tower of Eternity?

  -A magic tower belonging to the Saharan Empire. It is rumored that the emperor relies on the Tower of Eternity as well as the Tower of the Sun. The master of the tower, Goldhit, is one of the ten great magicians on the continent.

  ‘Isn’t this huge?’ Grid was startled.

  -Then why do they want to see me?

  -Huh? Have you been discovered in the empire? Are you currently in danger?

  -No. I quietly handled my work and left Titan. Then a magician was waiting for me. He knew my identity and invited me.

  What? They came to invite Grid instead of arresting him?

  -Invite… no, maybe not. Lauel’s voice was excited. -It is true that the magicians of the Tower of Eternity are part of the empire’s forces, but that is only a story for wartime. Usually, the Tower of Eternity is an institution that is secluded from the world and is unlikely to be involved in the empire’s political situation.

  -Then it is a pure invitation?

  -Yes. Please accept the invitation. The Tower of Eternity is famous as a place to give hidden quests. There are many magicians lining up to be invited to the Tower of Eternity.

  ‘This…’

  There was a reason for Lauel’s excitement. The giddy Grid was about to respond to Raji’s invitation straight away only to stop. There was a part that was suspicious.

  -By the way. The magician called Goldhit knows that I am a king yet they didn’t invite me in person. Instead, they sent their man? Isn’t it polite to come personally?

  This wasn’t a sensitive reaction but a common sense one. It was clear that the person named Goldhit was making fun of the Overgeared Kingdom. With his status, Grid couldn’t just overlook it.

  Lauel explained, -Goldhit isn’t an opponent to discuss manners with. The masters of the Tower of Eternity and the Tower of the Sun are the magicians of the king. Goldhit would be over 120 years old this year. They have been the strongest magician for more than a century. If Emperor Juander wants to see Goldhit, he has to come to the Tower of Eternity.

  ‘A person who can make the emperor move directly?’

  Grid’s expectations gradually grew. Why would the master of a tower famous for giving hidden quests want to meet Grid?

  ‘Will I get a huge hidden quest?’

  In the end…

  “I understand. I will accept the invitation.” Grid nodded to the waiting magician, Raji.

  ***

  The 80th floor of the Tower of Eternity…

  There was only one person who could climb to the top of the tower, which was so high that all of Titan could be seen at a glance. Goldhit was a great magician who boasted unique strength among the 10 great magicians. People said that if she pursued power, she would be a person of authority right now.

  In fact, many people believed that she could’ve built a huge magical nation comparable to the Saharan Empire. Goldhit was that great of a figure. However, she had little influence on Satisfy’s present worldview because she secluded herself from the world. Unless they were high-level magicians, normal players would never see the name ‘Goldhit.’

  “I wasn’t fully trained in Teacher Braham’s enhancement magic.”

  Braham’s fourth disciple was a genius. It was said that there were no magicians more talented than her on the entire continent. However, that was a story among ordinary people. Her talent was mere dust before Braham’s talent, and she couldn’t follow her mentor’s teachings.

  Goldhit was resentful that she was his student. She became aware of the existence of enhancement magic, but she was frustrated because she couldn’t receive the important magical theory. Just a little…

  If she could really understand the theory behind enhancement magic, she could strengthen her talent and awaken as a legend. For Goldhit who had spent many years grumbling about reality, Grid’s appearance was like a ray of light. Goldhit didn’t know how excited she became when Grid assimilated with Braham’s soul and learned the enhancement magic. Now, finally…

  “The opportunity has come.” Goldhit looked at Grid in the crystal sphere and smiled. “Magic Detection.”

  Shaaaaaaah-

  The master-level detection wrapped around the Tower of Eternity. Simultaneously, all of Goldhit’s nerves were focused on feeling Grid’s mana.

  “Come on, show me Braham’s reinforcement magic. Yohohoho…”

  ***

  ‘Thunder stone?’

  After Grid was guided by Raji to the Tower of Eternity, he spotted an extra large stone at the top of the tower. It was a transparent stone containing a huge thunderbolt. This made it seem like an enlarged thunder stone was decorating the top of the tower.

  ‘I don’t know what it means. In the first place, how did the thunder stone get that big?’

  Grid was feeling doubtful when he heard Raji’s voice, “You have to go up alone from the 10th floor to the 20th floor. It is a field to test whether you deserve to be a guest of the tower and is part of the tower’s history. I hope that Your Majesty isn’t offended.”

  Inviting a guest only to test them? Grid felt somewhat uncomfortable, but it was difficult to say anything if it was a tradition of the tower. Then he quickly noticed, ‘This test should be a quest.’

  As such, his expectations rose further. Grid followed Raji and reached the 10th floor of the tower. Raji then politely said goodbye and withdrew. “Good luck.”

  Simultaneously…

  [A quest has been created.]

  [The Tower of Eternity]

  [★ Hidden Quest ★

  The Tower of Eternity is the tallest tower in history. Not just anyone can access it.

  Your mind will gain enlightenment every time you climb a floor that contains the essence of knowledge and wisdom.

  Quest Clear Conditions: Break through the gateways to climb the tower. Currently, you can break through up to the 20th floor.

  Quest Clear Compensation: Every time you climb a floor in the tower, your intelligence will permanently increase by 2.

  Quest Failure: Return to the 10th floor.]

  “Amazing!” Grid was forced to cheer.

  Every time he climbed a tower floor, he would permanently get 2 intelligence stats. The reward was beyond imagination.

  ‘It is intelligence.’

  If Grid were an ordinary blacksmith, it would be a rather useless reward.

  However, Grid was Pagma’s Descendant and Braham’s disciple. His skills consumed a lot of mana and he had the potential to acquire all of Braham’s enhancement magic. As such, the intelligence sta
t was important to him. It was true that his priorities were strength and stamina, but it was a bit tricky that a fixed number of stat points were forcibly invested in intelligence every time he leveled up. How happy was he to get a chance to raise his intelligence stat?

  ‘I can go up to the 20th floor, so this is 20 intelligence points?’

  The excited Grid opened the firmly closed door on the 10th floor. There was a circular arena inside. Unlike what he could see from the outside, the inside of the 10th floor was very large. It was bigger than the training grounds which could fit hundreds of the Overgeared soldiers.

  [The Tower of Eternity’s Guardian has appeared!]

  Kwaaaaah!

  The guardian’s identity was a golem. The enemy who had just appeared seemed to make the entire tower shake as it instantly struck at Grid. It was very big. However, due to the golem’s very slow nature, Grid wasn’t burdened. He avoided the golem’s attack and swung the Enlightenment Sword.

  Jeeeeeong!

  It was a powerful blow! The gray golem’s thick waist was hit with the Enlightenment Sword. However…

  [You have dealt 1 damage to the target.]

  “Full physical resistance?”

  The golem was fine. It ignored Grid’s consecutive attacks like they were mosquitoes flying about and just waved its arms.

  Kung! Kwang!

  The golem’s arms hit the ground instead of Grid, but this alone was a threat to him. The massive weight behind the attack caused Grid’s balance to collapse. Goldhit smiled as she watched Grid’s crisis through the crystal ball.

  ‘The tower’s guardians can only be handled with magic. In the end, you will have to use magic. Come on. Use the sweet enhancement magic and let me get a glimpse of the glory.’

  The moment that Goldhit was becoming desperate…

  Peng!

  Kwarururung!

  Inside the crystal ball, many flames flared up in succession and swallowed up the guardian. This was the power of the ‘fire emission’ attached to the Enlightenment Sword. The flames dealt 5,000 fire damage to the target.

  “…????” Goldhit was stunned.

  Chapter 800

  Chapter 800

  ‘That magic sword can wreak so much havoc alone?’

  A magic sword could only be created by combining the strengths of a magician and a blacksmith. A blacksmith or magician could sometimes produce it alone, but this was a very rare occurrence. Goldhit had experience with producing magic battle gear with blacksmiths.

  ‘It is difficult to produce such a magic weapon alone.’

  There were three types of magic weapons.

  First, a magic battle gear imbued with complete magic. In this case, it was possible to consume the user’s mana when the magic was used.

  Second, there was magic battle gear enhanced with magic. It increased the magic power of the wearer.

  Third, there was magic battle gear containing a pure attribute. It consumed the wearer’s mana while having a certain probability of releasing fire, ice, electricity, etc. It wasn’t very powerful despite being able to express the pure power of an attribute.

  The current sword Grid was using was the third type. But the user’s mana wasn’t consumed. The atmospheric mana was used every time flames were released. Thus, the user wasn’t tired and the power of the flames were huge. It was a weapon that would appear in legends.

  ‘A legendary sword…!’

  Goldhit recalled that Grid was Pagma’s Descendant. All her nerves were concentrated on Grid’s long sword. It wasn’t made out of an ordinary material.

  ‘Demonic energy? Don’t tell me?’

  The story that Grid defeated the Great Demon Belial was already well known. Goldhit could easily guess what type of material the sword was made out of.

  ‘A by-product of Belial!’

  Definitely. This sword would be worshipped as a legendary sword later on. In addition, it was likely that Grid had made it directly. Goldhit got goosebumps. How many years had it been since she felt such admiration? Looking back on faint memories, it seemed to happen half a century ago.

  A dark smile appeared on Goldhit’s face. Her impression of Grid changed. He wasn’t just the beneficiary of enhancement magic. She accepted him as a greater person.

  ‘In fact, it was like this from the beginning.’

  The other person was a legend, the hero of a nation, a person who built a new kingdom and a hero of heroes. Now that her narrow-mindedness due to her obsession with enhancement magic was released, Goldhit had genuine respect for Grid.

  ‘A hero that transcends the era… It is right to greet him politely.’

  But.

  ‘Don’t forget my original purpose.’

  Respect and purpose are separate things. She felt respect but she needed to do what she had to do. Goldhit needed to encourage Grid to use enhancement magic. She checked on Grid on the 16th floor and pulled out her trump card.

  “Let’s try the lilith guardian.”

  ***

  [You have dealt 1 damage to the target.]

  [You have dealt 1…]

  [The Sword Born from Enlightenment and Strong Desires has emitted flames. It deals 5,000 fixed fire damage to the target.]

  The Enlightenment Sword had ‘a certain chance to release large flames with every attack.’ Based on Grid’s experience, the probability was around 30%. As the number of attacks increased, the probability of releasing flames would increase exponentially.

  It had a very good compatible with the Alex’s Quick Gloves which raised Grid’s basic attack speed.

  The power was very low compared to the black flames and it was often useless against enemies with high fire resistance because it had a pure fire attribute. But it was useful in situations like now. It was sometimes more capable that the black flames which was separated as physical attacks.

  ‘There are many item options remaining.’

  A huge smile! Wasn’t this huge luck? Grid smiled as he saw that his intelligence stat had increased by 12 points and ascended to the 16th floor. Grid was able to handle all the guardians while climbing up here and didn’t feel any great tension. Of course, this didn’t mean he wasn’t vigilant.

  ‘Isn’t this different?’

  Snap!

  He opened the door to the 16th floor without a hitch and looked at the features of the waiting guardian. The physique was very small. It was the level of a normal adult male so there wasn’t any big pressure. However, it was less likely for monsters on the higher floors to be weaker than monsters on the lower floor. It was ridiculous to judge the outward appearance.

  ‘It reminds me of Braham’s golems…’

  He recalled the golem invasion of Reinhardt years ago. The humanoid golems with small physiques had caused the most casualties. Their strength that was incomparable to ordinary golems was still vivid in his memories.

  ‘Doesn’t this golem look similar? Am I mistaken?’

  [Lilith Guardian]

  Grid looked at the name and appearance of the monster before trying to grasp the type of metal that the body was made out of.

  “Kuk!”

  He reflexively raised his sword. It was because the guardian narrowed the distance with footwork reminiscent of Yangban Garam’s Shunpo and suddenly appeared in front of Grid’s nose.

  Peeeeeong!

  Shockwaves occurred the moment the Enlightenment Sword collided with the guardian’s fist. One of the inner walls and a part of the ceiling collapsed. Grid ignored the rain of stones and fought back, hitting the guardian before using the moment to raise his sword. He linked attacks without stopping. He judged that the act of opening the distance against the guardian would be bad. Grid kept wielding the sword and didn’t give the guardian a break.

  Kaang! Kakakang!

  Every time Grid hit the guardian, it suffered one damage. Like the previous guardians, this one was resistant to physical attacks. There was no defense against a man who cut and stabbed and who wasn’t afraid of being hit. I
t punched with its right fist when Grid slashed and responded with a left fist when Grid stabbed in the centre.

  [You have suffered 1,900 damage.]

  [You have suffered 1,780 damage.]

  [You have suffered 1,910 damage.]

  The damage that Grid received accumulated. Despite the outward appearance, Grid was being one-sidedly struck. Yet he wasn’t irritated and waited for the release of the flames.

  Peeng!

  Finally, the Enlightenment Sword burned red.

  However.

  [You have dealt 1,660 damage to the target!]

  ‘What? Why is its fire resistance so high?’

  The guardian’s health gauge only got a small scratch. The total health was also high. It was difficult to tell how long it would take to die if Grid only relied on the release of flames that dealt a small amount of damage. Maybe Grid’s stamina would be depleted quicker than it took for the guardian to die.

  Jjeejeeeong!

  The guardian ignored the Enlightenment Sword, jumped into the air and kicked out. Grid’s vision filled with the crumbling ceiling as he flew back.

  And.

  “Yohohoho… Is it hard to hold on?”

  Goldhit on the 80th floor clearly saw Grid’s shaky eyes.

  In fact, at first she had chills. She had been amazed beyond admiration when she saw Grid respond to the guardian’s first space jump using the magic Blink. She knew that Pagma’s Descendant was a blacksmith and swordsman. She never dreamt that Grid would show such strength and agility.

  Yes, Grid was much more outstanding than rumoured. Maybe the empire had underestimated him.

  ‘But.’

  Resistance was a factor that neutralized strength. In order for Grid to defeat the guardian with excellent fire resistance, he had to discard the sword and bring out magic. Goldhit’s expectations reached the peak. She hoped that Grid in the crystal ball would used the enhancement magic she wanted. She still didn’t know. Grid was an expert at destroying common sense.

  ***

  Peok!

  Kwajajak!

  ‘It isn’t painful.’

  Grid desperately felt Khan’s presence every time he was hit by the guardians’ punches and kicks. It was because the work Khan left behind was protecting Grid. Valhalla emitted a little bit of smoke every time the guardian hit Grid. Only Grid knew what it was the precursor of.