Chapter 5: Chapter 4 – The Ultimate Survival Skill

Joe hesitated while his finger hovered over the confirmation button, the pressure causing beads of sweat to appear on his forehead. In the moment of excitement, Joe had gone straight to the purchase button, assured he had found the solution he was looking for. He had even checked the price. At only 75,000 points, it was an absolute steal compared to the other skills available.

However, just as he was about to confirm the purchase, doubts began to spread through his mind. Could this be true? A resurrection skill to return to a prearranged spawn point was practically the perfect Skill to survive an apocalyptic death tower, equal to or better than even a gold-graded skill. But as he took a moment to think about it, he began to hesitate. Did such a skill exist? If it did, how was the price so far below the other skills he had found? Perhaps Respawn meant something entirely different? The worst outcome would be for Joe to base his decision on a poor assumption. Just because Respawn was the term used for resurrection in games didn't mean the Skill offered in the shop was identical. 

'Wait a minute..could it be?' A sudden burst of inspiration gave Joe an idea. He returned to the menu and tried to search for skills with the word 'respawn.' He squeezed his fists in anticipation. The panel flickered until it finally updated. Looking at the results made Joe want to jump for joy. There were a few results, such as [Respawning Chains] for 300,000 points, but not one result was the unranked [Respawn]skill. 

'How could the search function not include it?' Joe muttered. He tried again with some of the other unranked skills in case it was related to the 'Unranked' grade in general. However, the search function worked perfectly. All unranked skills appeared within the search list. Joe's heart began to palpitate faster. This didn't mean that the Skill was a guaranteed resurrection skill, but it was enough for him to take the bet. He could only assume that the Skill had been mistakenly placed there or was a reward for the lucky few who bothered to search. It was a far-fetched idea, but what choice did he have. A bronze skill would give him a 10%-20% chance of survival at most. Even if he survived the Tower, the next stop would be the Demon hordes. It was too unrealistic to somehow survive with a skill like [Augmented Recovery]. The fact that the Heavens were even conscripting Motals made the situation as clear as day. Heaven was losing. 

A moment later, Joe had returned to the unranked section and confirmed his purchase. He was again inundated with a burst of energy that flooded his Spirit. This time, however, the process took significantly longer. Pain coursed through his body. Ideas and concepts way beyond his comprehension flooded his mind. It felt like his mind and body were being ripped apart to cram in so much knowledge. The process took only 5 minutes but felt like a lifetime. Joe hung in the white space, sweat and tears pouring down his face. The process made him wish for death, if only to escape the pain. It wasn't until another few minutes passed that he could pull himself together. He wanted to take a moment to absorb what he had learned, but a look at the timer showed only 2 minutes remaining.

With his remaining strength, Joe instructed the system to search for a well-balanced sword with good durability and length for under 4000 points. The system responded to his request and had soon returned a few viable entries. He scanned the list before settling on a [Basic Longsword] for 3500 points. Without even waiting for the sword to materialize, he quickly adjusted his search to buy a standard scabbard and basic leather armor using the rest of his points. He promptly grabbed all his items with barely a minute remaining, just as the timer hit zero.

'Duration in the store has reached the allotted time limit. Thank you for your visit.' 

With the final notice from the system, darkness encompassed him once again. Joe smiled, realizing he had done everything he could to increase his chances of success. 

"Hey, move out of the way." The sudden sound brought Joe out of his stupor. He looked around, noticing the statues and features of the now all too familiar hall. He couldn't wait to inspect his new items and skills. He just hoped he hadn't made a horrible mistake with his selection. 

"You listening?" Before identifying the source, Joe soon found himself being shoved out of the way by a man with stocky shoulders. The man's strength must have been nearing the late teens as the force pushed him back several meters. Even the man himself seemed shocked at his own strength. Before Joe could respond, he gave Joe a smirk before walking up and touching the altar and disappearing behind the white barrier. 

Joe wanted to punch the guy in the face but had more important matters to attend to. Taking his items, he quickly found an empty spot nearby. He placed his things on the ground before grabbing his new sword. The grip was black and made of leather, giving it a solid grip, and the pommel was a circular sphere polished to perfection. Joe slowly pulled the blade out of the sheath. The metal was a brilliant sheen of silver. Joe touched the edge, causing a drop of blood to fall from his finger. 'Sharp! 'he thought, happy that the weapon didn't only look good but was practical as well. 

Standing up, Joe executed a ready position. The knowledge flowed instinctively into his mind. The sword had a nice balance allowing him to perform a few decent moves then and there. His actions garnered a few glances but were hardly the most impressive display. As he completed a final thrust, he took a moment to assess his performance. 'Hmm, the knowledge is there, but my footwork and hand-eye coordination need work.' Knowing something and doing it were two entirely separate things. Joe would need to practice if he wanted to take full advantage of the potential of his Skill. 

Happy with his purchase, he strapped the sword around his waist and moved on to the leather armor. He wasn't sure what material it was made from, but it was solid to the touch. Joe quickly put it on. He struggled a little with all the clasps and buckles but finally got it to fit. The armor provided decent protection to his torso and shoulders but wouldn't do much for his arms or lower body. It was brown and had a decent design finish but would hardly turn heads. 

Done with his items, Joe moved on to his skills. 'If only there were a way to inspect my skills.' As if responding to his will, a screen box appeared in front of him

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Skills (2/3):

1. Sword Mastery (Unranked) - Learn to cleave mountains and part seas - Mastery: Basic
2. Respawn (Unranked) - If at first, you don't succeed, try, try, try again - Mastery: Basic

'It worked!' The screen stated his two purchased skills. He attempted calling out each Skill in the hopes of getting a step-by-step instruction manual from the system. Unfortunately, things were never that simple. The only two takeaways he could infer was that each Skill came with a mastery level that would likely increase as he improved. Second, the number of skills looked to be capped at three. 'Damn, did I make a mistake purchasing sword mastery? Should I have saved up my points for a better skill?' Joe couldn't help but lament at the thought that he had already managed to mess up his build. "The Angel mentioned the 4th floor. Surely there must be a way to replace or increase the number of skills." he comforted himself. 

'As for mastery level. Does this mean each Skill is capable of evolving as the level improves? I wonder how many levels there are?'. Joe couldn't help but consider what a higher mastered skill could do.

Joe closed the screen and turned his attention to his newly purchased [Respawn] skill. He couldn't wait to validate what the Skill did. He paused, taking a deep breath before allowing his mind to focus on the Skill. As before, concepts and ideas came to him instinctively. It was as if the information was locked in the corner of his mind waiting to be released. Joe soon found his heart palpitating rapidly as the knowledge about the Skill flowed through his mind. 'Yes!!'. Joe could barely keep from jumping up and yelling at the ceiling. 

Skills like [Respawn] or [Flames of Purgatory]worked similarly to spells. To activate a skill requires two parts. The first was Spiritual Energy. It was the energy that powered the Skill and was, for all intents and purposes, like mana. The second was the skill sigil. The Skill Sigil was an intricate array carved onto his Soul after purchasing the Skill. It acted like a spell formula or formation that somehow converted the energy into producing the desired effect, like a computer program designed to carry out a specific task. 

It was necessary to manipulate spiritual energy and direct it into the imprinted skill sigil to activate the Skill. The Sigil would convert one's spiritual energy into whatever the Skill was designed to do. Whether that was to create and manipulate flames or, in the case of Joe, make a predesignated respawn point so that his body would be respawned if he died.

Joe wanted to cry tears of happiness, knowing that his gamble had paid off. He had placed all his chips on this one hand, giving himself a mere 20% chance of success. "Lady luck has finally come my way!" He quickly ran to a corner of the less occupied hall than elsewhere. Kneeling and placing his hand on the ground, he let the energy flowing around his body slowly circulate. His spiritual energy control was horrendous, but it was enough to get the job done. He then directed the energy straight toward the Respawn Skill Sigil on his Soul. Power entered the Sigil causing his hands to glow. Suddenly, the Skill activated and a highly intricate multi-layered formation formed on the floor around him, similar to when the Heavens transferred him. The inscriptions were a complex mesh of shapes and words Joe didn't recognize, but each gave off an ethereal blue glow. A few moments later, the Skill finished, and the formation disappeared without a trace. Joe knew that the Skill had done its job. Should he die, his body should respawn at this exact location.

With the process finished, he stood up. A sense of relief washed over him. The knowledge that he was no longer in immediate danger of dying at any given notice lifted a massive weight off his shoulders. A new level of clarity settled over his mind. He was now ready to face whatever the future held.

With his skills and items taken care of, he now needed a plan to tackle the Tower. 'Okay. I need to find a group. There's no way I can go solo with just a sword and a basic skill.' Standing up, Joe surveyed the hall. He couldn't help but stare wide-eyed at the transformation everyone had undergone. Most had completed their purchases from the Divine Shop at this point. The result was that the hall had turned into a veritable mishmash of individuals wearing all kinds of outfits and sporting what must have been a whole armory of weapons. Many were rocking leather armor sets straight out of a fantasy novel. The individuals sprinkled through the crowd wearing valiant-looking metal chest plates were most impressive. Some even sported an entire set of what looked like knight's armor. Others had gone in a different direction, wearing a simple silk or cotton robe that looked like it came straight out of ancient Asia. Joe would have regarded their choices as foolish due to the lack of protection a robe offered had it not been for the glimmering sigils embedded into the cloth. Joe couldn't help but click his tongue. 'Damn! I should have checked for any magical or bonus type armor.'

The weapon choices were largely swords, spears, shields, and bows. However, he saw a couple of magical staves that gave off an eerie glow of power. The most impressive weapon was one guy who wielded a gigantic two-handed sword covered in sigils that pulsed continuously with a light hue. 

Joe noticed that a few groups had begun to form near the entrance to the gates. The largest next to the blue gate suggests they planned to go for the least difficult floor. A smaller group had organized by the red portal. What shocked Joe was that he counted 20 individuals by the black gate. Did they want to take the risk of challenging the Impossible level floor? He could only presume they must have received a massive fortune of DP (divine points) to give them the confidence to take such a risk. Even though Joe had obtained a decent Skill, he still lacked any actual capability to fight. After all, what good would sword mastery do against a dragon?

He considered choosing the red gate for a moment before discarding the thought. He wasn't ready, nor did he understand what benefits there would be for picking a more challenging difficulty. The Angel had either forgotten to mention it or chose to exclude it from its speech. He would stick to the blue floors until he was ready. With his direction set, he grabbed his pack and began his march over to the blue gate.

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