The second floor began a while later. Should I call it a second challenge? I’m not really moving to another floor, I’m just waiting for the next wave of monsters. While asking myself these pointless questions, I lost my concentration for a moment and was almost pierced by an arrow right through the middle of my stomach. I build several layers of ice in front of me; the arrow breaks the first two and then loses its momentum.

  Archers now? That’s quite strange. In this world of magic, archery is more like a hobby or a separate sport. There are some people who fight using bows, but they are technologically modified to be useful. If you can construct a massive arrow made of mana and launch it directly, using a normal bow makes no sense.

  This time four arrows come flying. I stop two with more constructs, and the next ones I strike with my swords. The force of the impact leaves my weapons vibrating slightly. The thirty monsters appear from the same place the others came from—five of them carry bows, and twenty-five seem focused on close combat.

  The werewolves in the back simply raise their large bows, draw the strings, and a pure mana arrow forms instantly. Some add their affinity along the way, while others simply fire raw mana.

  I can feel several enchantments on those bows. I don’t know exactly what they are, but I can guess based on what I’ve seen at the academy: a support system to help create mana arrows and enhance their power. One assists with formation and draws in ambient mana toward the construct, and the other increases power and penetration.

  There are many types of enchanted bows with different effects. I’ve never looked into them any further because I have no intention of using such an object for combat—though if I ever wanted to practice archery as a hobby…

  I push those useless thoughts aside and keep fighting, finishing off the close-combat monsters while dodging the occasional arrow. I use the bodies of their companions to block the archers’ line of sight. They’re smart enough to avoid firing when their allies are in the way, but sometimes I fail, and a fast arrow shoots straight at me.

  Eventually I kill the last close-combat fighter. The moment that happens, a ridiculous number of arrows rain down in my direction. They’re constructing and firing them as fast as they can. Without the gravity around me slowing them down, this would be an enormous problem.

  Each arrow carries the power and speed of a ruby-rank monster. One grazes my arm and almost destroys it—my defenses hold for a moment, but it’s barely enough. I manage to close the distance; the arrows within ten meters are extremely dangerous. One small mistake and I’d turn into Swiss cheese.

  “Congratulations on clearing the second wave, challenger!” The omnipresent voice echoes in my mind after I slay the last one. It was easy to annihilate them once they were within sword range—their defenses and mobility were nothing compared to their offense.

  “The next wave will begin soon. You will be notified when the time comes.” The same message repeats. I lie down and calmly close my eyes. I’m not worried about falling asleep—the notification should still appear, and my mind will wake up instantly.

  Thankfully, I didn’t fall asleep before the next message arrived. It announces the start of the next wave, and I spring to my feet.

  Just like the previous round, they attack from long range. This time, three arrows fly at me. I feel five of the monsters split off from the group. Are they trying to flank me? At first I’m not too worried, but then their movement speed suddenly explodes forward, and I struggle to keep track of their positions while evading the arrows at the same time.

  The close-combat fighters are another nuisance. There are forty in total: ten archers, twenty-five melee fighters, and five assassins—at least, that’s what they seem to be. When I saw them from afar, I couldn’t detect anything at all. They were perfectly camouflaged within the terrain; without my Personal World, it would’ve been impossible to track them.

  In this round, I start getting wounded over and over again. It’s almost impossible to keep up with so many arrows while being chased at the same time. I have to move constantly from side to side to avoid being surrounded by all these werewolves. The assassins are another headache—their weapons are coated with some kind of poison, and they have a skill that gives them explosive bursts of speed.

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  As time passes, I start taking fewer wounds. I manage to take down some of the assassins and several of the melee fighters. I eliminate all the nearby close-combat fighters; the assassins were the most troublesome. Their defenses are low, but their agility makes them extremely difficult targets—they can even deflect some of my sword strikes.

  If before it was hard to break past the ten-meter mark, now I’m stuck at almost twenty-two meters without being able to advance. The arrows arrive at precisely the right moments to stop my approach. I have to twist my body, predict the next shots, and position myself at the exact right spot. One miscalculation, and at least one of those arrows will hit me.

  “Damn it.” That’s all I can say. I don’t see a way to get close without using a skill. I only have two choices: use long-range attacks or teleport behind them. The only other option would be to keep dodging until they run out of stamina or mana.

  My thoughts are interrupted by an arrow I don’t have time to dodge. I already had gravity mana charged for my next movement, and with no other option, I release it directly at the arrow. The gravity weakens slightly as it travels outward, but only barely—it manages to deflect the arrow just enough for it to merely graze my abdomen.

  How could I be so stupid? I can use gravity like this. All this time, I’ve used it to make things heavier, trap objects or people, and enhance my body with gravity bursts. But I can also use it differently: I can condense it in specific points and expel it like my ice or lightning affinity.

  Gravity is incredibly versatile in that sense. I can use it to repel everything from a single point—or do the opposite and pull everything toward a constructed vortex.

  I try the same technique on the next arrow, but I misjudge the distance. The arrow ignores most of the spell’s power. My arm is blasted away, completely destroyed. I begin reconstructing it immediately while dodging every possible attack, retreating several meters in the process.

  Once I gain some distance, I have more room to maneuver. My new idea starts working. I can deflect some arrows just enough to avoid fatal damage. If I don’t use the correct amount of mana, the arrows simply punch through due to their power. I have to calculate both timing and output perfectly.

  Little by little, I get used to it. My mana reserves are enormous, and this method barely drains them—honestly, I could keep this up for a very long time. I have no idea how much time has passed since my first attempt, but I’m already nearing the ten-meter mark.

  The werewolves have run out of mana and are panting heavily in front of me. I end their suffering as quickly as possible. I don’t want my precious training partners to suffer.

  I collapse onto the ground, utterly exhausted. My mind has taken the greatest toll. Thundersnow is a skill that enhances both my mental and physical processing. At the same time, it keeps me calm in any situation and allows me to ignore most pain. Even with such a powerful rank IV skill, my brain feels completely burned out from the continuous strain.

  “Congratulations on clearing the third wave, challenger!” The same notification appears in my mind. I ignore it as I try to rest as much as possible.

  I’ve realized that my repulsion technique won’t be effective against close-range attacks. It requires far too much control and precision. I could deflect an opponent’s strikes—but only if I cast it in time without losing focus. In high-speed combat, where a single mistake can cost me my head, it would be nearly useless.

  At medium and long range, however, it’s a different story. Until now, I’ve often used ice mana to form barriers whose purpose was to stop enemy attacks or delay them long enough. This new gravity-based technique is far superior. If I can deflect their attacks directly, I won’t need to block them at all. Another option is to trap the attack inside a gravitational vortex and reposition myself at the same time.

  Both options are extremely useful for long-range defense. Another advantage is that gravity affinity has no elemental weaknesses like my ice mana, which can easily melt against magma or fire. The only drawback is its mana consumption, which is significantly higher than that of ice walls.

  “I just need to know when to use each one. It’ll depend on my reading of the opponent’s spell.” The words slip from my mouth in a whisper. Everything depends on me and my ability to understand the power flowing through each attack.

  The next notification arrives after a deserved rest, and I prepare for the next round.

  The fourth wave only increased in numbers. This time there were fifty small problems—and one gigantic problem. The number only increased by ten monsters, but the difficulty jumped several levels.

  My theory proves mostly correct. I’m able to deflect some melee attacks, but due to the speed of the fight and the sheer number of monsters, I can’t do much more and am injured almost immediately.

  The long-range attacks are easier to deal with. I just need to keep gravity bursts ready, just like I do with Gravity Burst itself. Even the principle behind the skill is very similar, and I don’t have to strain myself as much as I imagined.

  I kill them all before exhaustion sets in. I can continue training in this place, but I don’t want to drag things out too long. I want to enter the top three—only then will I obtain the best rewards.

  “The fifth wave of monsters is beginning.” The notification pulls me from my thoughts. Are there fewer? For now, I can only count sixteen—but one of them looks different. It’s big. Very big. I prepare every skill within my body. This won’t be easy at all.