SSS Ranked Awakening: All My Skills Are at Level 100

Chapter 568: The First Tower Key

Leon kept his chained arm tucked close to his body and relied on one-handed swordwork.

The first sentinel opened with a heavy punch. He slipped past it and cut across the construct’s neck, but the blade only gouged a shallow line into the bronze.

The material was not truly resisting him by its ordinary grade. Adaptive Tower reinforcement thickened at the point of impact, scaling the sentinel’s defense against the strength behind his cut.

The second sentinel came in from his left.

Its approach forced Leon closer to the pit.

Rather than retreat, he moved inside the first construct’s reach.

A bronze fist crashed into his conscious armor. The impact drove a thick jolt through his ribs, but it also left the first sentinel standing directly between Leon and the other one.

The second construct threw its punch.

Leon ducked.

The blow struck its companion in the head and knocked it sideways.

Before the damaged sentinel could recover, Leon drove his sword into the groove at its neck joint.

The first construct dropped.

The remaining sentinel reached for the bronze band around Leon’s wrist.

His instincts guided him under its arms. Leon cut through the rear of one knee, brought the construct down, then thrust his sword into the opening beneath its helmet.

The second sentinel went still.

Leon pulled his blade free and kept moving down the passage.

The chain became heavier as he approached the Key Chamber. The trial was increasing its pressure for the final guardian. Suppression continued grinding through his energy channels, and his left hand felt like a cold, useless weight hanging from his wrist.

At last, the corridor opened into a chamber.

The room was wide with a low ceiling. A bronze key floated over a pedestal on the far side.

A guardian blocked the way.

It stood a full head and shoulders taller than Leon and wore heavy bronze armor from helmet to boots. In one hand, it carried a shield nearly as broad as a door.

Its other hand gripped a long staff tipped with a curved hook.

Leon looked from the hook to the chain on his wrist.

A message appeared.

[Mandatory Guardian: Bronze Tollkeeper]

The construct’s own movement and gathered force reached the upper range of Ethereal Initiate. That alone would not have troubled Leon. The danger came from its connection to the calibrated burden wrapped around his wrist.

The construct raised its shield and started forward.

Its hooked staff swept for Leon’s chain.

Leon moved to avoid it.

Before finishing the swing, the Tollkeeper changed the angle. The hook missed his leg, slid beneath the chain, and twisted.

The bronze links drew tight.

Then the guardian pulled.

The force used the calibrated burden against Leon’s restrained arm and dragged him across the floor. He brought his sword up, but the shield reached him first.

Its edge smashed into his armored forearm.

His conscious armor absorbed enough force to keep the bone intact. The impact still threw him aside.

Leon landed hard and rolled before the hooked staff could come down on his skull.

The chain was still trapped.

Another yank hauled him toward the shield.

Leon planted his boots and pulled back.

For several seconds, the chain stretched taut between them. Stone scraped beneath his feet while pain burned through his shoulder.

The Tollkeeper was connected to the trial mechanism. Every pull on its hook let the burden match Leon’s resistance, giving the construct leverage no fixed-rank body should have possessed.

Trying to win through strength would only waste what little Leon had left.

He stopped resisting.

Leon moved with the pull.

The sudden loss of tension unsettled the guardian’s balance. Leon rushed toward it, adding his own speed and strength to the force dragging him across the chamber.

He crossed the shield’s outer edge before the Tollkeeper adjusted.

His conscious armor reinforced his sword arm.

Leon slipped around the guardian’s back and drove his blade into the seam beneath its helmet.

The metal split apart.

His sword sank several inches before striking a tougher layer underneath.

The Tollkeeper turned with unexpected speed.

Its shield swung backward and slammed into Leon’s side, ripping the sword from the damaged seam. The blow sent him skidding across the chamber.

The guardian stayed upright.

A thin line of bronze light leaked from the wound in its neck, but Leon had failed to reach the core.

He rose with care.

The Tollkeeper had learned from that exchange.

It shortened its grip on the hooked staff and angled its shield toward the injured side of its neck. If it caught Leon’s chain again, it would not leave him enough space to get behind it.

The construct advanced.

This time, the hook caught the chain closer to Leon’s wrist.

The pull was short and violent.

Leon stepped into it, but the Tollkeeper expected that response. Its shield turned to meet him.

He dropped beneath the lower edge.

The guardian immediately drove the shield downward, trying to crush him against the floor. Leon rolled clear, but the hooked staff reversed direction and jerked his chained arm behind him.

His shoulder reached its limit.

The conscious armor thickened around the joint before anything tore.

Pain still burst down Leon’s side.

He slashed at the staff.

His sword carved a deep notch into the bronze shaft without cutting through it.

The Tollkeeper pulled him closer.

As the chain tightened, Leon noticed how it crossed in front of the guardian’s shield arm.

An idea came together.

He quit fighting the pull and charged forward again.

This time, he made no attempt to slip around the shield.

Leon planted one foot against its lower edge and vaulted upward.

The Tollkeeper lifted the shield, trying to throw him away.

Leon twisted over the top while carrying his chained wrist across it. The bronze links slid around the shield’s rim and dropped behind the guardian’s elbow.

He landed with the chain looped around the Tollkeeper’s shield arm.

The guardian pulled with its hooked staff.

The chain tightened around its own limb.

Its shield arm snapped outward, dragged away from the wounded side of its neck.

The Tollkeeper let go of the staff with one hand and reached to untangle itself.

Leon gave it no chance.

He stepped onto the stretched chain and used it as temporary footing. His armor reinforced both legs and his right shoulder as he launched himself upward.

Then he drove his sword down into the existing wound.

The blade punched through the damaged inner layer.

Holy energy surged along the steel and poured into the guardian.

The Tollkeeper swung the hooked staff at him.

Leon turned his armored side into the strike and accepted the hit rather than give up the attack.

The hook cracked against the bronze-gold surface.

Leon shoved the sword deeper.

The core shattered.

Light burst through the seams in the Tollkeeper’s armor, then faded.

Its shield slipped from its hand and struck the floor. The hooked staff fell beside it.

For one final moment, the guardian remained standing.

Then the entire construct collapsed.

The bronze band around Leon’s wrist opened.

Every chain link dropped onto the stone and became ordinary metal.

The weight disappeared.

So did the suppression.

Energy rushed through Leon’s restricted channels.

Pins and cold pain erupted through his left arm. He flexed his fingers while Life and holy energy poured through pathways the band had kept closed.

Torn fibers drew together. Swelling vanished. The deep strain from wrist to shoulder receded over the next several breaths, and full strength returned with it. His natural regeneration handled the rest while his mana reserve resumed its steady recovery.

Even without drawing more energy from the surroundings, his passive recovery replaced roughly three percent of what he had spent each minute.

Completing the trial had removed the restraint.

Leon’s body erased what the restraint had done to him.

Messages appeared above the fallen guardian.

[Tower Key Acquired]

[Tower Keys Collected: 1/3]

[Mandatory Key Trial Completed]

The bronze key rose from the Tollkeeper’s remains.

Leon caught it in his restored left hand.

It was plain and solid. Compared to either Epic treasure, it carried almost no overwhelming presence.

Obtaining it had still demanded more physical effort than claiming both optional rewards.

The keys were the real purpose of this floor.

Everything else only made reaching them more difficult.

Leon stored the first Tower Key beside the two unabsorbed crystals and the black fragments.

A section of wall opened at the back of the chamber.

The new passage did not return him to the earlier intersection. The labyrinth had shifted again, presenting three different routes.

A bronze key marked the first arch.

An open silver chest marked the second.

The last route had no symbol at all. Beyond its archway stretched a corridor so dark that even Leon’s enhanced vision could not pierce it.

Something moved inside his storage.

Both black fragments pulled in the same direction.

Their attraction was far stronger than before. They strained toward the unmarked passage like compass needles settling on north.

Something tied to the sealed black door waited down that route.

Leon considered all three choices.

The bronze passage would move him closer to clearing the floor.

The silver route promised another treasure and another enhancement for the Gatekeeper.

The black corridor offered no listed reward and served no official objective.

It was also the only path the Tower refused to recognize.

Leon now carried one Tower Key, two unabsorbed Epic treasures, and two unidentified fragments. The Gatekeeper waiting at the end had already gained Spatial Resistance and Technique Mimicry.

Taking another optional route would strengthen it again.

The bronze path was safer.

It was also the practical choice.

The fragments pulled toward the darkness once more.

Leon’s eyes settled on the unmarked corridor.

This time, he did not look away.