The Multi-dimensional Training Ground was perfect for accumulating combat experience, but unfortunately, battles there didn’t seem to translate into growth for summoned beings.

“As I suspected, I don’t believe I can break through my wall through combat here.”

That came straight from Lea herself.

She could now see a ceiling she felt confident she could shatter.

Her proficiency against griffins was improving, but her actual skill level wasn’t growing.

Was climbing the Tower truly the only way to guarantee a level-up?

That was why he immediately resumed the assault on the 32nd floor.

[You have entered the 32nd floor of Tower 25.]

= Objective: Slay 40 Griffins

= Time Limit: 4:00:00

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (40)

# First Clear Reward: 32 Magic Stones

# Amazing Achievement Condition: First attempt, clear within 20 minutes

# Amazing Achievement Reward: 1 Random Box

The 32nd and 33rd floors simply increased the griffin count to 40 and 50 respectively.

Griffins were the first flying monsters superhumans ever encountered, and their power was incomparable to minotaurs—so even this numerical increase alone was enough to give many superhumans trouble.

But what about himself?

They came in swarms? All the better!

“Lea, let’s move out!”

“As you command!”

Once again, he handed Lea a Monster Lure Scroll and dispatched her.

Without the lure scroll, griffins struggled to cluster tightly, which reduced the efficiency of the meteor shower.

{I’m halfway there now. Keep going.}

Just like on the 31st floor, he sent Lea to the far edge of the map.

The 40 griffins drawn by the lure scroll’s aggro began swarming around Lea like a hive of bees.

Still, having thoroughly assessed Lea’s skills in the Multi-dimensional Training Ground, he wasn’t particularly worried.

When fighting defensively rather than going for kills, Lea could effortlessly block coordinated attacks from 30 monsters at once.

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (40)

He had asked her to focus on defense.

She seemed to have taken it as an absolute order to uphold—the griffin count remained unchanged.

It was like sending a soldier off for a week of training and getting back a disciplined elite.

Perhaps because of that, he felt more confident entrusting her with operations.

The griffins, frustrated that all 40 of them couldn’t take down a single Lea, gradually tightened their flight radius.

Shin Jungho watched the scene quietly from the map until…

…the moment he judged their concentration couldn’t be any more focused, he activated Meteor Summoning.

{Lea! Maya! Here it comes!}

The instant a massive black hole opened above the griffins, he unsummoned Lea.

And immediately—the meteor bombardment rained down!

Kwagwagwagwagwagwagwagwang!

The meteor sizes were just right, and their density was perfect.

How perfect, you ask?

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (5)

A mere five griffins remained.

{Maya, please!}

All that was left was for Maya, standing by nearby, to clean up.

After a barrage of offensive magic—Torrential Whirlwind, Blade Storm, and more—unleashed from the front…

[You have cleared the 32nd floor of Tower 25.]

[32 Magic Stones have been awarded.]

[Automatic return in 10 seconds.]

The 32nd floor clear proceeded smoothly.

After returning from the Tower, it was time to check the Random Box.

“Lea, would you like to open it as a commemoration of your return?”

“If my Lord commands it, I could open it on your behalf. However, the Random Box is entirely your reward. I believe that laying hands on such a treasure would be an act of disloyalty on my part.”

Something about…

It had become less fun.

Shin Jungho decided he’d handle reward draws himself from now on.

Pang!

[You have obtained 1 Skill Reset Ticket.]

Oh?

Such a precious item came from this?

The fastest clear reward for the 60th floor was the Skill Reset Ring.

The fact that such a reward appeared on the 60th floor showed just how valuable the ability to recharge skill usage counts was in Tower climbing.

Though it was a one-time consumable item, having it versus not having it made a world of difference.

Even just in the griffin section of the 30th floors, having a Skill Reset Ticket meant he could unleash meteor showers a whopping 6 times.

That would make it possible to clear any floor even without Monster Lure Scrolls.

Of course, it would only work once.

“It seems the fortune from last time has carried over. I sincerely congratulate my Lord on his acquisition.”

“It seems Your Highness’s luck with treasure has returned. Surely even greater rewards await you on the remaining floors.”

Understated as they were, receiving congratulations always felt good.

That aside, he still had two uses of Meteor Summoning remaining, and he debated whether to push for additional floor clears.

Using the Monster Lure Scroll and Skill Reset Ticket separately would guarantee two more floor clears.

But if his luck turned sour like on the 31st floor, he might have to burn both items at once.

Better to play it safe, right?

While Shin Jungho was lost in thought, Lea was also looking down at her own hands, replaying the moment of battle.

It was definitely… different from the Multi-dimensional Training Ground.

The battlefield, the monsters—everything was identical.

Yet she felt that if she kept fighting like this, some kind of revelation would come.

But.

That was woefully insufficient against ‘merely’ 40 griffins.

Having made up her mind, Lea made a request to Shin Jungho.

“My Lord, I have something to ask.”

“What is it?”

“Could we re-attempt the 32nd floor?”

Shin Jungho assumed Lea wanted to fight the griffins without meteors.

With only two Tower Entry Tickets remaining, he still decided to grant her wish—Lea’s growth would make future climbs easier.

“Sure, let’s do that. I don’t need to use Meteor Summoning, right?”

“No, I ask that you use Meteor Summoning as well.”

“Excuse me?”

Lea answered with eyes full of resolve.

“Please rain meteors down above my head.”

Was she serious?

“…Won’t you die?”

“I’ve come to realize that if I cannot block even the lightest meteor my Lord drops, then my growth ends here.”

That was… quite an unusual revelation?

Of course, if only fingernail-sized pebbles fell from Copios Crumble, she could certainly block them.

But anything adult-sized or larger would be too much even for Lea to withstand…?

Lea bowed her head deeply and made her request again.

“Please grant me this.”

Shin Jungho turned to Maya for her opinion.

“What do you think, Maya?”

Maya smiled gently as she always did and expressed her thoughts.

“Though it is a somewhat dangerous challenge, I believe Sir Lea’s reasoning holds merit. Growth cannot be achieved without pain—please consider Sir Lea’s earnest devotion.”

No growth without pain, huh.

Right—perhaps he’d been underestimating them because of their youthful appearances.

They might actually be older than him…

Above all, no one knew themselves better than they did.

“Alright, let’s do it.”

Lea replied with a bright smile.

“Thank you, my Lord!”

Shin Jungho used a Tower Entry Ticket to re-enter the 32nd floor.

“Move out.”

“My Lord, please retreat as far back as possible.”

Lea dashed forward without a Monster Lure Scroll.

Shin Jungho followed slowly behind her with Maya.

To prepare for any contingency, he needed to close the distance enough to observe Lea’s fight in detail.

The griffins whose aggro was drawn to Lea began diving at her one by one. Lea blocked those attacks with her Dragon Scale Shield, threatening them with her sword as she pressed deeper inside.

Before long, all 40 griffins’ aggro was locked onto Lea.

Shin Jungho reached a point beyond the griffins’ aggro threshold and confirmed Lea’s position.

She was barely blocking the griffins’ indiscriminate bombardment from the sky, yet when their eyes met, she gave a firm nod.

Alright… here it comes!

“Meteor Summoning!”

Please let them be small!

A large black hole opened above Lea’s head.

Judging by its spacious width, at least concentrated bombardment was avoided.

But what about the size?

Syusyusyusyusyusyusyuk!

Stones roughly the size of cemetery headstones appeared.

Kwagwagwagwagwagwang!

The meteor bombardment shook heaven and earth.

Good lord, my ears!

No matter how small they were, seeing them up close was merciless!

“Haaaaah!”

Lea must have activated Dragon’s Tenacity—she stood rigid without so much as a foot shifting, weathering the shockwaves of the meteors.

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (31)

Since the aggro wasn’t concentrated and the meteor shower’s range was wide, the griffin count didn’t decrease by much.

“My Looord! One more time, please!”

Lea shouted from the distance.

She was far enough that he couldn’t properly see how injured she was.

Still, she had said she could do it—he needed to trust her.

“Meteor Summoning!”

Guooooooo-

A fairly large hole opened again this time.

But the meteor sizes were…

Massive ones the size of a full-grown adult.

Just as Shin Jungho judged this was too dangerous and reached for Summon Release…

“I can do it!”

Her cry made him hesitate for a moment.

And in that fleeting moment.

One massive meteor plummeted directly above Lea’s head.

Lea…

…in that instant, kicked off the ground and leapt into the sky.

She swung her gleaming white sword in a wide arc.

The meteor, cleanly bisected, grazed past Lea on both sides before crashing into the ground.

Kwang! Kwang!

The other meteors slammed into the ground, detonating in thunderous explosions.

Kwang! Kwagwang! Kwaang! Kwaang! Kwaang!

The eruptions bursting from the ground felt like a colossal fireworks display.

As if celebrating Lea’s true limit break as she floated serenely in the air.

# Remaining Monsters: Griffin (23)

Once again, the griffin count didn’t decrease by much.

But that no longer mattered.

Seugeok!

As each griffin swooped in…

Seugeok!

…the white blade bisected them…

Seugeok!

…steadily whittling down their numbers.

[You have cleared the 32nd floor of Tower 25.]

Shin Jungho returned to reality immediately upon the clear.

“My Lord. Thanks to your immense help, I have finally surpassed my previous limits and reached the realm of Swordmaster!”

Lea had… changed.

Her teenage girl appearance had completely vanished.

In its place stood a mature woman in her mid-twenties.

An edge far sharper than before, the steadfastness of an emperor’s imperial guard knight, and the ruthlessness of a veteran forged through countless battlefields—all these qualities emanated from her subtly but unmistakably.

First, he needed to treat her injuries.

Hwaak-

“Thank you.”

Even her gratitude had become understated.

So what exactly was this realm of Swordmaster that Lea spoke of?

“To put it simply, a strategic weapon capable of single-handedly facing an army of ten thousand. However, even that cannot transcend the limits of a human being.”

Listening to her explanation, it didn’t sound like the asymmetrical strategic nuclear weapon described in various fantasy novels.

Most importantly, she had only just entered the initial stages of Swordmaster.

Perhaps a level where she could handle three to five of her former Sword Expert selves simultaneously?

She was faster, stronger, and sharper.

But that didn’t mean she could slice through every monster with a single stroke.

Still, one thing was certain.

There likely wasn’t a superhuman on Earth—or inside the Tower—who could defeat Lea as she was now.

She had already been that extraordinary when she was a Sword Expert.

Who could possibly stand against Lea now that she’d become a Swordmaster?

Hmm…

An even bigger…

…meteor, perhaps?