I will be the Strongest

Chapter 24

"Put your hand on my shoulder."

"Sorry...?"

"I'm going to need to use this hand now, and you need to maintain physical contact with me for my ability to work."

"Oh, I see... sorry..."

The man stood up with Hye’s hand on him and, hesitantly, placed one of his hands on Hye’s shoulder.

"What are you planning to do?" asked Samantha. "With this ability, it seems totally possible to pass by these creatures unnoticed."

"Well, I’m afraid not..."

The many eyes of each creature constantly shifted, as if they were searching for something. Their sharp fangs slightly open, ready to strike if needed. Meanwhile, without lowering their guard, their legs moved slowly, almost imperceptibly.

"Just like the giants, it seems these spiders are stronger than me. So, they may not be able to see us, but they can definitely sense our presence."

"Stronger than you... if the giants were stronger than you, how did you kill them so quickly? Another ability...?"

"Not exactly."

His fist opened, and in his palm appeared a small black hilt. The blade extended slowly, its edge glowing with light produced by flames.

"A weapon...?" Samantha frowned, tugging at her ear. "When did you buy something like that? And how much did it cost?!"

"I didn’t buy it."

"Didn’t buy it..?"

"No, I got it as a reward from the system."

"...Is that even possible?"

"Well, I got it, so... But I don’t know about the others."

"A weapon as a reward?!" the man questioned, his eyes fixed on the blade’s gleam. "Has something like that ever been recorded...?"

With slow steps, the three cautiously approached the creatures. The passage was so large, yet it was almost completely blocked by their bodies.

"But to kill the giants..." Samantha said. "Does this dagger have any special ability?"

"The enemies are poisoned when struck by it. Actually, it was incredibly lucky that, out of so many possibilities, the giants’ weak spot turned out to be poison."

"Poison...? But giants aren’t weak to poison. In fact, it's said that their resistance is actually quite high."

"Really...?"

Hye looked at the sword for a brief moment. A poison strong enough to kill those creatures in an instant... Was it always this powerful? Or had something changed...? Initially, the blade didn’t seem so bright, and the green stripes barely showed along its edge, but... when did that change? The last time he stopped to look at it, it was already like this, and that was... after the dungeon with the lamias?

As he pondered, Hye didn’t notice that he wasn’t the only one with eyes fixed on that dagger.

"And now? What are you going to do...?"

Moving his blade quickly in various directions, Hye aimed at as many monsters as possible. However, unlike expected, the creatures’ resistance was too great, probably due to the shells covering their bodies, causing all the cuts to be extremely superficial. Nevertheless, it was enough for the dagger’s effect to activate.

[The enemy has been poisoned by the venomous dagger]

[The enemy has been poisoned by the venomous dagger]

[The enemy has been poisoned by the venomous dagger] . . .

"This is... incredible. These spiders likely have venom too, along with high tolerance, but they didn’t even have time to react. That dagger..."

Samantha looked at the weapon in Hye’s hand. For an instant, when the blade pierced the creature’s shell and hit its flesh, strangely, for some reason, it glowed slightly brighter than usual.

"That dagger..." she thought. "Is that its reaction when poisoning enemies, or..."

"You."

"Huh?"

"Yes, I’m talking to you. Create another flame and light the way ahead."

"Oh, y-yes..." trembling, the man looked ahead. Only a few moments had passed, yet the putrid smell of blood spread through the humid air, as if creeping into his nostrils. And so many... so many bodies lay scattered along the path they had crossed. "Sorry, I’ll do it now."

The flame was created, illuminating the path, and in a much more open space than the tunnel they had been in, two new passages were found.

"Wait." Samantha said, stopping the walk toward the tunnels. "Let’s stay here a bit longer. In five minutes or so, I should be able to move normally, and then we can continue."

As time passed and Samantha felt her strength returning more quickly, nothing had changed in her body, but something appeared before Hye’s eyes.

[Warning!]

[You have been poisoned!]

"Huh? Poison... again? But from where...?"

[The Poison Resistance ability has been activated]

[Your body has been detoxified]

Time seemed to be passing so quickly that, to him, it felt like he was jumping from one moment to the next. Yet now, strangely, something remained unchanged—the green lines and the glow before his eyes... drawing his attention... pulling him in like a trance...

"Hey! Are you listening to me? Wake up, we’re leaving."

The man stood up abruptly. His eyes reddened, his body trembling, and a cold sweat covered him.

"Y-yes, I’m coming. Sorry, I’m coming now..."

Approaching Hye was a constant hesitation, yet upon touching him, strangely, a feeling of comfort consumed him. A warm and soothing calm. Was it due to his ability or... one of the dagger’s effects...?

"Which of the two paths should we take?"

"You can choose," the man replied, a seemingly sincere smile on his face. "I’ll go wherever you decide."

"This is tricky..." Samantha said, analyzing both entrances. "It’s not like we can know what’s in each passage, it’s just a game of chance. It could be an empty path or one similar to what we’ve just been through."

"So? Should we just pick one?"

"No..." her eyes wandered, stopping on the flame at the center of the place. "Can you also take this flame and reuse it?"

"Yes, should I throw it into one of the passages?"

"Yeah, do that. Then create another and throw it into the other."

After taking the flame in his hands, the man tossed it into the first passage, revealing a clear path, with no signs of monsters. But in the second passage, when the flame was thrown, it didn’t get far; it was destroyed upon hitting the body of one of the spiders infesting that area.

Without a doubt and without the need for any further discussion, the path had been chosen. But before walking toward the entrance, Hye briefly looked one last time at the path beside him.

[The Invisibility Steps ability has been deactivated]

[Congratulations]

[Level One of the Second Floor of the Tower of Six has been successfully completed]

[Complete the mission for Level Two to proceed]