On the default difficulty setting, mobs of F-Rank: Tier 3 goblin scouts appeared on the first floor of the Lumus Tower.
As for the floor boss, a more robust and skilled, F-Rank: Tier 2 goblin soldier awaited ascenders in the boss chamber.
One peculiarity of the lower floors was that the number of ascenders on the floor, determined the number of monsters in the boss chamber.
Unless an ascender went on a solo run, the number of floor bosses would be half that of the ascenders that enter the chamber.
Rgraar!
Rgraar!
As the number of red dots increased, the sounds accompanying them grew louder.
Before long, dozens of armed goblins flooded the hallway.
‘Oh? So they became part of the mob too...’
Ari anticipated stronger and larger mobs on Hell difficulty; however, he did not anticipate nearly half of the goblin forces to be comprised of goblin soldiers.
<Observe>
[Goblin Soldier]
[Monster Rank: E-Tier 2]
‘If they’re here, then what is waiting for me in the boss chamber?’
Ari could hazard a guess, but he chose not to dwell on it too much.
Changing the difficulty of the tower had already altered so much, and this was only the first floor.
He decided to take things as they came and enjoy the moment-to-moment stuff.
His advantages did not suddenly disappear with the upgrade in difficulty, it only made things more challenging.
Excitement filled his chest.
The goblins had standard weapons one would expect of their kind.
For the scouts, daggers with bows and arrows.
The goblin soldiers had short swords and crude shields.
Ari lunged back to gain some distance, setting more magic mines ahead of him.
The hallway was wide enough for a party of five ascenders to move comfortably, so Ari prepared to use his go-to mob control method.
When Ari reached ten meters, dozens of arrows descended upon him.
Ting-Ting-Ting
Ting-Ting-Ting
Ari deflected the first wave of arrows, then expertly dodged the second wave with nimble footwork.
Rgaar!
Rgaar!
Enraged that their arrows failed to hit their mark, the goblin scouts charged towards him with their daggers.
As for the goblin soldiers, they remained stationary, assessing Ari’s actions.
Crackle
Buzzzzt!
Two magic mines activated, electrocuting ten scouts.
[You have gained 50 AP]
Ari determined that Shock Mines would be more effective given the enclosed space, and it allowed him to add a knock-on effect with an additional spell: Lightning Chain
Buzz Zap! Zap!
Lightning arced from one goblin to the next, electrocuting the surrounding scouts.
[You have gained 50 AP]
The remaining scouts halted their charge to avoid getting caught by the lightning.
Ari advanced through the chaos, unaffected by the arcs of lightning.
His max-level affinity provided him a degree of protection against the elements, allowing him to slip through the scouts perception and strike while they were distracted.
Slash
Ari decapitated three scouts in quick succession, then moved onto the fourth.
Doof!
One of the goblin soldiers rushed in and raised their shield to block his strike.
Five soldiers pounced on him immediately, swinging their swords downwards.
‘Clever bastards, this is what they were waiting for!’
They chose the perfect time to attack, believing that Ari would not have enough time to move his sword to block.
Even if he managed to make it in time, one of their swords was bound to land a clean hit.
Once wounded, the others would likely pounce on him too.
It would have been a solid strategy if Ari had been a regular F-Rank ascender; however, what the goblins failed to take into consideration was that they too were defenceless in their current position.
Ari took half a step back to remain within striking range.
Flash!
Ari used Lightning Slash on their exposed abdomens, slicing them cleanly.
‘Tsk!’
Ari leapt back, setting two additional mines below the falling goblin soldiers.
Ari felt it immediately. The wounds he inflicted were not shallow; however, given the circumstances, anything less than a fatal wound was considered a failure.
‘If I had a lower-ranked sword I would’ve been in trouble...’
As E-Rank: Tier 2 monsters, anyone in a lower tier or class would find it difficult to pierce their robust bodies, much less those an entire rank below them.
For now, Ari had to rely on his gear to make up the difference in rank.
However, it only provided him with a window of opportunity, his skill and experience would have to do the rest.
Ari activated Boost and Accelerate, then waited for the soldiers to land on the mines.
Crackle
Buzzzzt!
Ari dashed towards the five electrocuted goblins and used Lightning Slash to decapitate them one after another.
Twenty goblins remained. More than half of them were goblin soldiers.
He set mines at the centre of the group, then used Lightning Chain on the goblins ahead of him.
Buzz Zap! Zap!
Ari charged through the goblins, using Lightning Slash to decapitate soldiers, and regular slashes to decapitate scouts.
The goblins at the centre grew restless and began moving; however...
Crackle
Buzzzzt!
When the mines triggered, Ari used Blink to appear behind the group at the far end of the hallway.
<Lightning Chain>
Boost amplified the mines and both Lightning Chains, allowing the arcs of lightning to extend beyond their normal range, effectively creating an inescapable prison of lightning.
Ari followed the trails of lightning, swinging his sword at the stunned goblins to separate their heads from their shoulders.
Crackle
As the final arc of lightning dissipated, silence filled the hallway.
Ari used Detect immediately.
No red dots appeared.
Ari sighed in relief and opened his profile.
He lost track of the notifications as he massacred the goblins, so he was curious as to the amount of AP gained from the first floor mob.
[Name: Ari Haynes]
[Age: 19]
[Synchronised Form: Human-Transcender]
[Potential: Unknown]
[Rank: F– Third Class]
[Ascension Points: 435]
[Coins: 0]
‘Not bad for the first floor.’
Ari selected the stats panel and chose Strength as his first stat to upgrade.
[Use 50 AP to upgrade Strength to LV-2?]
[Yes/No]
‘That’s quite steep.’
He selected [Yes] and continued upgrading.
[Use 100 AP to upgrade Strength to LV-3?]
[Yes/No]
‘Damn, it goes up by 50 AP per level?’
Ari upgraded all stats to LV-2, with the exception of Strength, which he upgrade to LV-3.
‘Alright, let’s finish off the remaining mobs on this floor and farm more AP.’