NOVEL NEXT Chapter 164: Back to Clearing
The thought of sitting here with all of this around me is nice, but it definitely won't be something I can do forever. It kind of feels like there should be a message behind all of this as well.
Why else would I be seeing all of this in here? It feels like a sudden change out of nowhere but maybe I'm just thinking about it too much.
I need to get back to clearing the floors for the time being since I'm trying to wipe out this damn tower already.
Within an instant I jump up from my bed and look down at my arms to see that the outfit from before is still there. I was wearing a completely different outfit from before and it was the exact one I saw in the painting.
Seems I got the clothes I wanted without thinking about it but it is quite a weird feeling to wake up to the sight of them suddenly. They were on me in the abyss too so I guess I'm just overthinking it a bit.
I stood left the makeshift tent and took a few glances at everything outside. It was still quite peaceful out here with no signs of anything or anyone in sight.
With that in mind I decide to make my way for another door instead of wasting anymore time on this floor. Eventually finding myself back on the path of clearing floors.
A lot of people would be shocked by the fact that I cleared this whole tower by myself but they don't know a thing about me. They don't know how strong I really am or what I'm capable of doing.
People will always look down on me, no matter how many accomplishments I have. My image is already tarnished permanently because people think that trash like me shouldn't exist.
I say f*ck it. I'm working my ass off to protect everyone to the best of my abilities and they all still give me this shit.
With the last of my thoughts passing for the moment by grind continues. Clearing floor after floor after floor.
More and more time felt like it was passing by within this tower. Taking me longer and longer to complete the floors.
[2 Months Pass.]
I've been losing track in here so easily lately that I don't know how much time has truly passed. It isn't good that I lost track...
I'm making everyone wait longer and longer for me to return instead of finishing up in this damn tower already. How am I supposed to go about this?
[135].
I've cleared over a hundred floors now with no end in sight, how many more floors await me? This tower is starting to feel endless with the amount of floors it has.
The same pattern is all I've been dealing with from the start. Kill, climb, kill, climb. That's all I've been experiencing for over a hundred something floors now.
It doesn't stop.
"Gahhhh! What the fuck!!" I shout with frustration in my voice.
The current floor I stood on felt as if I was standing on clouds themselves, way up in the skies. Shit, the whole place looks like it too.
My frustration is starting to show more as well. I look around for another enemy or door to go through.
Tower insanity. I'm sure it is a real thing that people experience... Surely it has to be.
I don't know how to fix it in the slightest so all that can be done is clearing the tower... I just need to clear the tower and everything will be just fine.
Clear. Clear. Clear. That's the way to go about it no matter what. That is all I need to do to keep moving forward.
I force myself to go forward while looking for another door, the mental drain showing itself even more. My body is also starting to feel exhausted since I haven't taken a break in a while.
"The Dragon has arrived! The dragon has arrived!" A voice begins to shout repeatedly.
Wait, something is on this floor? I wasn't expecting to encounter anything here since it felt like a peaceful floor.
Seems like I'll be fighting once again after thinking I'd get to have a break finally. It sounds pretty annoying so far so I don't know what to make of it.
I look around for the source of this voice until something finally appears in the far right side of the floor. It was floating up in the sky as it looked down at me.
A strange being wearing a full set of knight armor with its face completely covered by a helmet, wings on its back, and a giant sword within its hand.
Why does it have a voice like that and then it is wearing a full suit of knight armor? Something isn't adding up here, is it a puppet by chance?
I haven't really seen an enemy that was a being controlled like a puppet before.
"I take it you are the one I'm fighting here?" I question with a serious tone.
The knight doesn't even really move its head, not even to face me. "Of course a fight is what the dragon wants. Oh, how stupid of me. I should have known." A voice answers with a goofy tone.
A very non serious type of person is speaking to me and it is not coming from that knight. It is being controlled like a puppet just I have no clue where from.
At least that'll make for a unique fight after everything I dealt with in all the other floors. There hasn't been anything unique in quite some time which gets old fast.
There's also been a lot of quiet bosses throughout the climb that don't say a damn thing to me. We just fight, I kill them, and I move on.
That's literally been the pattern for each floor that I climbed.
"I know that voice isn't coming from the knight. Can you at least have the decency to show yourself?" I ask while looking around.
After a few moments go by I can see a small little goblin like man appear. He also seems to be capable of flying up in the air and he is wearing an obviously oversized wizard robe.
Big green eyes, a stupid wooden staff in his hand, and even a wizard hat.
It is almost like this guy is wearing some sort of Halloween costume, how cute. The voice does match the appearance though so I can't complain there.
"Happy now? Perhaps a dragon can talk before a battle?" He questions with a curious look in his eyes.
"Sure. I'll talk." I respond with a bit of an irritated tone.
I'll never understand why some of them want to talk, what will it matter after I kill you and move onto the next floor? Nothing will even mean anything at that point.
He floats down to the ground, along with the knight. He doesn't seem to move from the spot in the slightest though.
As soon as he hit the floor he just stayed there.
"Obviously you are intent on clearing the tower which is great, but what exactly do you think will happen once you clear it?" He asks with a serious tone.
"The tower will disappear and I'll probably have to move onto another damn tower." I respond almost immediately.
"Tsk. Tsk. The tower will disappear, but don't you want to gain something from all this?" He questions.
"People surviving as I grow stronger feels like a pretty big gain to me." I answer, once again without wasting a second.
I've already thought about these types of questions on my own so I don't really have much of an issue answering them. The goal of clearing the tower is to get stronger while making sure no one else has to die.
It would've been nice to have the girls with me through this all but I also think it is better off that I did it alone.
This asshole probably expects a garbage response from me but he won't get one. I figured out how I wanted to go about this awhile ago.
I've had so much time to think as I was killing monsters, people, and whatever else you want to consider to be in this tower.
"At least you seem like a good person, that makes me feel a lot better. Dragons aren't always nice, some are actually pretty damn evil." He said with a bit of relief in his voice.
The goblin looking man has deemed me to be a good person... How interesting this floor has been. I'd like to just be done with this already so I can finish my job and move on.
"Is there anything else to this conversation?" I ask while staring at the goblin thing.
"Hmm. I don't think so. We can finish this off with a fight I suppose." He responds with a bit of disappointment.