Avery’s voice resounded throughout the place, but none of them spoke to deny his words. After all, they weren’t sure what he had experienced inside as the challenges could change depending on the person who had entered.

Nevertheless, the seniors in his Academy started comforting him as they quickly called for the medical practitioners to treat him.

“It seemed that you gained a decent reward on the fourth floor… That must be Frosted Saint Wine, right?” Abel, Avery’s Senior in the Academy, said as he assisted his junior to be brought to the infirmary.

“Oh? You know about this wine, Senior?” Avery’s previous disappointment was turned into curiosity as he thought that this was an unimportant wine when he got it a while ago.

“Let’s talk about it later… There are many people listening to us here.” Senior Abel said with a soft voice.

This had certainly caught Vale’s attention as he decided to listen to their conversion secretly.

With his current Magic Zone, even if he hadn’t consumed his third Darkness Possession Potion yet, he was confident that no one would be able to notice his actions.

Soon, he heard something interesting.

The reason why Avery took so much time on the fourth floor was due to his real intentions for participating in the competition.

It was none other than to use the power of the Ascension Tower to call a being in another realm to become his Summon!

Vale gently nodded at this as he thought that this was certainly a good idea…

“Interesting… Should I try that as well?” Vale thought to himself.

They were allowed to enter the Tower with five Mystical Items after all.

The rule stated that he had to wear or equip them before entering the Tower. Since he could change what he’d carry, it must also be a good idea to try doing the ritual.

“Then, I’ll bring the Grimoire, the Stormbringer, the Obsidian Amulet… Including my coat and pants, that would be a total of five Mystical Items.” Vale thought to himself.

However, he could still bring out other items through Yvaine’s help, but he decided not to rely on this trick since that might be grounds for disqualification if they learned about it.

Anyway, the fourth student had soon entered the Tower.

He came from the Alchemy Arts Academy, and no one was really expecting from him. After all, they were known for their intelligence and craftsmanship and not for their fighting prowess. 𝙖.𝒄𝙢

As expected, he only cleared the second floor and decided to come out. He didn’t even bother entering the third floor since he didn’t want to get hurt.

Then, the next student to enter was Susan from the Elemental Arts Academy.

As a genius student who had learned Fire and Water Spells, it was quite expected that she would be able to breeze through the first and second floors within 4 minutes.

She was doing this quickly since if every one of them could only reach the fourth floor, the winners would be judged depending on how fast they cleared the floor.

In her mind, the highest floor they could probably reach was the fifth floor. What she wanted to do was quickly reach this floor and stay there for the longest time. Of course, if she could clear it, then that would be the best, but her hopes weren’t that high.

***

Susan calmed her breathing before ascending to the third floor.

“This was quite unexpected.” She muttered.

The third floor had a complex Formation Art challenge.

Breaking the formation required precision and knowledge, as a single mistake could lead to dire consequences. The Formation Art had the potential to become more intricate or even turn against her, posing a threat to her life.

Fortunately, Susan’s dedication to her studies paid off.

During her second year at the Academy, she delved deep into the intricacies of Formation Arts, receiving special lessons from the esteemed Professors. Armed with this knowledge, Susan approached the challenge with determination and patience.

It took her several minutes of careful analysis and strategic thinking, but Susan successfully deciphered the Formation Art and broke its hold.

As a reward, she received a Level 2 Formation Node on the treasure chest at the bottom of the stairs leading to the fourth floor.

Though not as valuable as what her family possessed, she accepted it graciously, knowing its worth was about 7 to 10 thousand zen on the outside.

Since Susan barely spent her Elemental Energy, she ventured into the fourth floor without hesitation.

“So it’s a battle again… Come at me!” Susan muttered as she saw two wooden golems wielding heavy maces as their weapons.

“I’ll end this quickly…”

Since no one was watching, she didn’t mind attacking with her most potent spell immediately.

It was one of her Fusion Spells!

Susan fused the powers of Fire Ball and Fire Blast!

The result was the summoning of three Flaming Sparrows, ethereal creatures wreathed in flames. The Flaming Sparrows swiftly launched themselves at one of the wooden golems, unleashing fiery devastation upon impact.

Boom! Boom! Boom!

In an instant, one of the wooden golems was reduced to splinters, consumed by the searing flames of the Flaming Sparrows.

With only one golem left, Susan’s task became significantly easier. She deftly evaded its swings, retaliating with her elemental spells. The battle raged on, but Susan’s mastery over fire magic proved to be the deciding factor.

In less than 8 minutes, Susan emerged victorious, the remaining wooden golem reduced to a pile of charred debris.

She stood amidst the aftermath, her chest heaving with exertion and a triumphant smile adorning her face. She had overcome the challenges of the fourth floor with skill and finesse, proving her worth as an elemental mage from the Elemental Arts Academy.

“Headmaster said she’d recommend me to the Order of the Lore Hunters if I cleared the fifth floor… Perhaps I could really do it?” Susan thought to herself as she drank the Arcane Energy Potion that she got from the first floor. It only recovered about 25% of her energy, but she was already satisfied with that. After all, if it was more potent than that, there would certainly be a side effect.

She couldn’t deal with any side effects right now as it could affect her battle performance.

She then took the reward on the fourth floor, which was a scroll containing a summoning circle, and she kept it inside her coat before ascending to the fifth floor with a hint of nervousness.

After all, Avery only lasted a few seconds inside this place.

“W-what…”

As soon as she entered, she immediately realized why Avery found this difficult to pass through…

The sight before Susan was truly unsettling.

Standing before her was a creature that seemed straight out of nightmares—a demonic being with a goat head, wielding a massive sword. Its imposing figure sent shivers down her spine, and she couldn’t help but wonder if Avery had encountered the same terrifying entity.

“Oh, my goddess…”

Susan knew that this creature was out of her league! This was indeed unfair!

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