Prestige Grinding : I Can Reset My Level

Sora frowned at the rewards, sensing the increasing complexity of the choices.

'What kind of rewards are these? Challenge Tokens and Ignore Challenge Tokens… These two must be connected somehow. Maybe it's a way for players to take each other's rewards, giving an edge to the powerful and high-level players. The Ignore Challenge Token might help players who are weaker in duels.'

He understood that he couldn't beat every player who might challenge him. However, he didn't yet know if such challenges were mandatory or what consequences they had, leaving him hesitant to engage in challenges for now.

When he examined the last option, his frown deepened. This reward seemed designed for the more dangerous PvP trials ahead, giving extra chances to players confident they wouldn't need the other rewards.

Weighing his options carefully, Sora made his choice.

Sora's eyes widened as he realized the implications of the token. 'Don't tell me players who fail a trial can challenge those who succeed. That's so unfair!'

He glanced at Emily and Kara, who were slowly fading from view, and gave them a quick wave as they disappeared.

Without hesitation, Sora accepted all the friend requests and summoned his familiars. Checking Hiyoko's progress, he smiled, pleased with her improvements. Netsu, however, seemed downcast after several battles where his contribution had felt insignificant.

Using the time he had before entering the next floor, Sora focused on [Condensing] and [Crystallizing] his mana, pushing his limits and refining his power until the last possible moment.

The 9th trial began with Sora selecting extreme difficulty, aware that his opponents would use elemental attacks. Protected by the tower's barrier, his enemies were untouchable, and his task was purely to survive their assault.

Relying on his exceptional elemental resistance, Sora easily cleared the first ten rounds. By the 11th round, he summoned his [Elemental Nexus], eager to test its potential.

The [Elemental Nexus] proved to be an ideal tool for countering his enemies' elemental attacks, allowing him to manipulate and turn them to his advantage once released. However, his confidence was shaken in the 16th round when he encountered an enemy specializing in the [Spatial Element].

Unlike the basic elements, the [Spatial Element] overwhelmed his resistance and defenses, leaving Sora struggling for survival. His lack of understanding and weak resistance to this element made him suffer severe injuries. Sure that each elemental body would prove ineffective against this unique and unpredictable power, he relied on his [Adaptative Regeneration] to recover from the damage.

Desperation pushed him to think creatively. Guided by [Mana Customization], he shaped the [Elemental Nexus] around his hand like a glove and achieved some success in defending himself. Using more energy, he succeeded in forming a small shield from the [Elemental Nexus], which he used to block the unending [Spatial Element] attacks.

When the 17th wave arrived, featuring a group of three enemies controlling familiar elements, Sora sighed in relief. Though exhausted, he pushed through to the final wave, surviving against the combined might of the five basic elements in the 20th round before exiting the trial.

After a while, he checked the ranking.

Surprised to see himself ranked third, Sora frowned. 'Maybe an elemental race player or an Elemental Specialist took the top two spots… Damn it, I thought this trial would let me claim another first place.'

He dismissed the disappointment, focusing instead on the five levels he had gained. The surge in power was undeniable, and he used the remaining time in the waiting room to refine his strength further, accumulating different forms of mana and honing his abilities to the limit.

Sora stepped onto the 10th floor, only to be greeted by an unexpected announcement.

Looking around, Sora saw hundreds of players gathered, but silent. A strange phenomenon prevented anyone from speaking, casting a strange silence over the crowd.

Across the room, Sora noticed over a hundred players staring intently at the survivors, himself included. 'They must be the ones eliminated,' he thought, scanning the crowd for familiar faces.

Sora quickly spotted several he recognized: Kim Dong, Brodus, Sollmunn, the Dark Elf specialized in Telekinesis, and others he had encountered in earlier trials.

Turning his attention to his side, he was relieved to see many humans among the qualified players. The Elemental Race had also performed exceptionally well, gathering in significant numbers. However, he noticed only one qualified Orc, some Dwarves and a pair of Werewolves among the survivors, which made him glance back at the challengers.

The overwhelming majority of Dwarves, Orcs, and Werewolves among the eliminated was striking. Many of them had been stronger than him back when he was level 133.

'This tower isn't ruthless after all,' he mused. 'Talented players can be eliminated because of a single weakness… But the tower still leaves a backdoor for their return.'

'Lower level players like me will eventually be doomed in direct confrontations though. This feels unfair.' He thought. Looking at the crowd of potential challengers, Sora shook his head. 'It's shameful but I'm not confident in winning if I were to accept a challenge. There's no need to stay here!'

Without hesitation, he tried to activate the [Ignore Challenge Token] and prepared to move on.n/ô/vel/b//jn dot c//om

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...

After several failed attempts to leave the [Challenge Room], Sora sulked in frustration.

Bored, he scanned the room and spotted Kara and Emily on the winners' side, waving enthusiastically at him. He waved back, their presence a welcome relief.

'We're almost halfway to the top, Sora,' Kara's voice echoed in his mind through their [Soul Link].

Following a brief exchange with Kara, Sora received a challenge notification from a level 169 Werewolf. Activating his token, he chose to ignore it, and remained in the Challenge Room, watching as the battles unfolded.

The Tower seemed determined to make these fights a public spectacle. Because Sora didn't particularly enjoy remaining idle, he took the opportunity to analyze the combat styles and weaknesses of the fighters.

Finally, after what felt like an eternity, he was permitted to leave the [Challenge Room] and move on to the next trial.

As Sora finished reading the notifications, he was stunned. 'This is… heaven! This Tower is fair!'

For a while, he had been deeply frustrated. Despite his overwhelming talent, his low level and lack of proficiency in certain areas had often left him struggling. On the 8th floor, he had been outmatched and even bullied by other players, forced to rely on Kara's help and the support of allies just to make it through.

His competitive spirit had been pushed to its limits ever since entering the tower. Seeing dozens of players ahead of him in some trials had only fueled his dissatisfaction.

'I'm not the fastest, I'm far from having the best mental defense and there are too many things I'm not proficient at.' He thought.

He was no longer content with simply being good at things he tried. 'It's not enough.'

Now, with five years ahead of him, he finally had the chance to bridge that gap. Taking a deep breath to calm himself, Sora began organizing his thoughts, reviewing his strengths and weaknesses to make the most of this extraordinary opportunity.

[Prestige] was his innate skill, though he had no idea if he could further develop it.

He had absorbed all the [Soul Power] contained in his [Soul Pearls], reaching a [Soul Level] of 1000, and had reserved 200 Soul Pearls in case he needed to craft specific items beyond his bow and sledgehammer.

[Mana Evolution] had refined his mana to such an extent that his regular mana now matched the strength of his [Condensed] mana from around level 120. He was beginning to see the potential here, realizing that with more focus on evolving his mana and perfecting his [Crystallized] and [Condensed] forms, he could push himself to new heights.

He needed only a few minutes of focused thought to create a new skill tailored to his needs. From conversations with Kara, he'd noticed that this wasn't common—it seemed to be tied to his high talent level and peerless mana control and understanding.

It was also the key to working on the elements. He had access to the Dark and Light elements for a while, but he hadn't bothered learning them—barely having basic mastery over them. With [Elemental Nexus] and his new [Spatial Element], he already had enough on his plate.

[Eternal Body Craft] was his other Supreme Skill, and the key to his overwhelming power. Combining it with [Mana Evolution] had been the key to reaching his current maximum potential.

When considering his weaknesses, Sora acknowledged that he had many.

His mental power was an area where he was vulnerable, and he knew it. He wanted to develop a Supreme Skill focused on mental power, something that could be used for attack and defense. Without it, it would be impossible to overwhelm all opponents.

The amount of low-level skills he had was also holding him back, and he wanted a way to improve his fighting style and develop variations to defeat all kinds of opponents.