The Infinite Stairs
I couldn't help laughing the moment I saw the sign with its overly dramatic name.
I didn't know exactly why, but it reminded me of the time I descended Spirit Mountain before the regression. Usually, climbing was harder than coming down. But could the trial of this staircase really surpass Spirit Mountain's?
The thought stunned me. Confidence and complacency were close. Just as with Spirit Mountain, the ordeal of this staircase was unknown. No matter how harsh the training had been there, I had no reason to underestimate today's challenge.
Still, I'd like to try it. For now, I wanted to take on this so-called infinity with nothing but my body—no internal energy, no blessings.
I thought about it and made up my mind.
I made up my mind and sprinted up the stairs, my mind racing. Alderson was a Seven-Colored Archmage, but he couldn't have actually made the stairs infinite. So why name them that? To intimidate climbers? Or was it simply so long that infinite felt fitting?
Perhaps it's both, I thought with a chuckle. After all, Alderson was a mage. I could tell just by the seven-colored puzzle I'd encountered earlier that this old man's personality definitely wasn't kind.
The stairs themselves were brutal, spiraling upward in a way that made it impossible to tell how far I'd climbed or how much remained. If you had no choice but to keep going without knowing the start or finish, calling it infinite didn't seem far-fetched.
This reminds me of Spirit Mountain.
I felt the same way descending it. The fog had enveloped me to the point where I couldn't see up or down. Yet FAD Senior Brother Arang had given me a way to track my progress there. Despite its difficulty, this staircase felt somehow worse in quality.
I like it. Now, even the unknowns had started to feel appealing.
I had spent 100 days on Spirit Mountain. During that time, I had completely erased the disconnection between my mind and body and pushed my stamina to new heights. It was thanks to the improved First Fire Technique.
Yet since returning, I'd never pushed myself to the limit. My fight with Juan had been one-sided, the demon king was beyond my reach, and none of the hero disciples truly challenged me. In that sense, this staircase was a perfect test.
"Excellent," I muttered without thinking.
After running for about an hour and a half,heat surged through my limbs, but my breath stayed steady. Should I pick up the pace? Or wait and see?
I didn't know the stairs' length, so caution was necessary. Still, running while conserving energy felt wrong. For the first time, I realized how enticing it was to run lightly, almost as if walking.
Just a bit more strength— As soon as I thought this and pushed harder, I stopped abruptly. The staircase ended suddenly, a wall blocking my way.
"What...?" I nearly slammed my forehead into it.
I paused, then a mechanical voice echoed. "Congratulations. You have passed the Rainbow Floor."
Is this the end?
As if in response, the surroundings lit up. The cold stairwell and stone wall vanished. The space around me shifted into a library, steeped in an old-fashioned atmosphere.
All at once, exhaustion hit me. It is really over.
Had I known, I would've gone all out from the start. Clicking my tongue in regret, I took a moment to look around. A library...
No wonder the tattoo on the back of my neck ached. Still, the mood here was nothing like the gloomy underground library of the main house. More than anything, it was bright. There weren't any visible windows, but warm light poured down from a chandelier hanging in the center of the room.
Welcome to the Knowledge Floor!
※Second rule※
There will be a penalty if you get more than three questions wrong.
Even here, it was a quiz. The mages' logic was surprisingly simple. There was a penalty, but failing wouldn't cost me my tongue or my eyes. Maybe just a few mischievous pranks.
What a coincidence.
It was a coincidence, yet it felt like a continuation of the trials I'd faced before, an unintentional preparation for this moment. I didn't feel guilty, but a faint sense of having cheated lingered.
Anyway, what kind of questions am I even solving here?
As I stood in the middle of the library, a book suddenly flew from somewhere and hovered before me. Its pages flipped freely as a voice spoke. "This is the first question."
Eventually, the pages settled, and I read the question. "Ah. So that's how this works."
***
Alderson stared at the screen, his voice trembling. "What is the name of that hero disciple?"
"I'm sure it was..." Morland muttered, scanning the profiles submitted earlier by the two families. "Platinum-blond hair, purple eyes... It must be Luan Badniker."
"Luan Badniker? The youngest child of the Iron-Blooded Lord?"
"T-that's right."
"That's impossible. I heard he's an incompetent child who never received a single blessing."
Morland said nothing. He had heard those rumors too.
The Badnikers' youngest was such a failure that even the Iron-Blooded Lord, who prized blood ties above all, had abandoned him.Worst of all was the rumor that he was a lunatic who had sold the family's treasure sword—something impossible to forget.
The moment the merchant realized it was the Badnikers' treasure sword, he rushed back to their territory to return it. Some said it was a trap set by the Iron-Blooded Lord, but no one knows the truth.
Alderson looked at the screen with conflicted eyes. " Hmm... It seems he focused on physical training since he never received a blessing. Quite an impressive physique now that I look closely.
The slightly calmer Alderson sipped black tea, then leaned back in his chair. "It's a great body, but if he trusts only his strength, he'll be easily defeated. The Tower of Training demands versatility above all."
He nodded thoughtfully, then grinned wickedly. "On the contrary, breaking through the stairs should be easy. The proud hero disciple's face stained with despair... Kukukuk! "
"Excuse me... Dean Alderson?"
"What now?"
"Luan Badniker just cleared the second floor."
***
The mechanical voice echoed once more. "Congratulations. You have passed the Floor of Knowledge."
It had taken less than thirty minutes. I cleared it much faster than the first floor, but to be honest, the victory felt strange, as if I'd taken a shortcut this time.
"Aren't you the Literary God, not the Martial God?" I muttered, half in jest.
The Martial God chuckled.
—It's simply luck. What others call history, I recall as memory and experience.
—It's not just that you lived in the past. Your knowledge is absurdly vast.
—Is that so? I wouldn't know.
Once again, the Martial God had come to my aid. Even a history professor at the academy might have struggled to hold a proper conversation with him. His knowledge spanned so widely and deeply that I couldn't help but feel overwhelmed.
Take one of the questions I faced: In modern arcane studies, mastery is determined by the number of colors a mage can command. Which order of colors is most commonly recommended for learning magic today?
It was written in plain language, yet I couldn't make sense of it. Unlike Lise's questions, these were open-ended and far outside my realm of interest.
Only then did I realize that magical ranks were categorized by the colors a mage could control. Naturally, I had hesitated because I didn't know the answer.
Then the Martial God spoke calmly.
—You can choose red or purple, depending on your personality. After that, the colors follow in sequence. Once you've mastered all seven, you can either focus on one or progress to the mixed-color stage.
The Martial God's expertise extended beyond martial arts to history, mythology, legendary figures, and even arcane studies. Thanks to him, I cleared the Floor of Knowledge without much difficulty.
Welcome to the Training Floor!
※Third rule※
Blessings are prohibited on this floor.
There will be a penalty for the violation.
A mechanical voice greeted me, and the surrounding landscape changed again. This time, I stood in a gray room with three doors on the wall, reminiscent of the starting point. A familiar sign stood in the center, longer than any I'd seen before.
I approached and read it carefully.
You possess endless physical strength and vast knowledge! Congratulations on reaching the third floor!
The fourth floor holds a great reward prepared by the Great Archmage—Purple Alderson!
Naturally, only a select few may enter such a noble space. To proceed to the fourth floor, you must pass three tests:
Strength, Speed, and Reflexes. Achieve a combined score above 150 points to advance!
Strength, speed, and reflexes. I eyed the red, blue, and green doors—Room of Strength, Room of Speed, and Room of Reflexes.
Hmm... A test of physical ability. That actually sounds fun. I almost headed for the Room of Strength first but reconsidered, choosing to start with the Room of Reflexes.
Reflexes, or reaction speed, were most influenced by one's physical and mental state, while strength and speed were less affected.
I opened the door and stepped inside. The room was spacious, by far the largest space I'd encountered since entering the tower. A flutter of nervousness settled over me.
Only one sign stood in the center of the empty space.
Welcome to the Room of Reflexes! This trial consists of four stages. Use all means to avoid the projectiles.
"Projectiles?" I blurted out.
The voice returned. "The first stage is starting."
A black hole appeared in the wall ahead, just large enough for my head to fit. I watched silently.
There was a dull thud and balls poured out of the hole. They were pretty fast.
A dull thud sounded as balls poured out, flying fast. I twisted my upper body just in time to dodge them. The balls slammed against the wall behind me. If one hit me, I didn't expect it to end with a mere Ouch .
"The second stage is starting."
This time, holes appeared on two sides, and a flurry of arrows launched toward me. They were faster and clearly more lethal than the balls. But maybe because I was ready for it, I dodged them more easily than in the first round.
If the second stage is a two-way barrage, then the third stage must be...
"From the third stage, there is a risk of injury and death. Do you wish to continue?"
Even the earlier stages could've gone badly if I'd slipped up. These next ones would be far more dangerous. Still, turning back wasn't an option. I answered the air, "Start."
"The third stage is starting."
As I had anticipated, loud noises echoed as holes opened not only in front and behind but all around me.
What came after balls and arrows?
I sharpened my senses, waiting for the next projectile. Suddenly, discs flew at me—large as sewer covers, each edged with razor-sharp blades. If one struck me, it wouldn't just hurt. It would cut me in half.
The discs were incomparably faster than balls or arrows. They didn't fly erratically; instead, they seemed to predict my evasions. Avoiding them all was nearly impossible.
Defense was an option, but something else nagged at me. The instructions said, " Use all means to avoid the projectiles."
The instruction was clear: evade. Defense was unlikely the right approach.
There was no time to think further. As the discs flew almost directly at me, I drew the Seven Sins Sword from my waist and tapped the nearest one with the sword's tip.
The impact knocked it off course. The disc spun left and crashed into the next one. A chain reaction followed. One after another, the discs collided, bouncing off each other and slamming into the walls.
Am I safe? Still, I hadn't actually blocked them. I waited, a little nervous, for the voice to return.
"The fourth stage is starting."
That was basically a pass signal, but I couldn't relax yet. Where would the next threat come from?
A deep rumble suddenly echoed overhead.
I looked up as dust fell and the ceiling flipped over in an eerie spectacle. Hundreds—maybe thousands—of holes riddled the inverted ceiling. At first glance, it resembled a beehive, but then flashes of cold metal glinted from the holes.
No way.
A moment later, weapons poured out from those hundreds of holes—swords, daggers, spears, axes—more types than I could name. A torrential downpour of steel.
Shit, how am I supposed to dodge this?
If I didn't want to get torn apart, I would have to react immediately, probably by swinging the Seven Sins Sword. But I had the nagging feeling that doing so would mean failing the fourth stage.
There was no way to completely avoid the deluge of weapons. It wasn't about speed or reflexes. It was a matter of space. Even if I used shortcuts like I had in the third stage, I couldn't force a change in trajectory.
Then what should I do?
At that moment, my eyes fell on the discs embedded in the walls. fell on the discs embedded in the walls. On closer inspection, they looked more like shields than discs. And the projectiles falling from above were all weapons.
I moved before I finished the thought. I sprinted to one of the shields, dove beneath it, and braced it with both hands.
Dududududu!
Steel rained down, the sound of metal pounding against the shield roaring in my ears. When it finally ended, my wrists ached from the impact. Finally, the surroundings became quiet.
"Congratulations! You have cleared all the trials prepared in the Room of Reflexes! Calculating the score. Please wait."
I exhaled and crawled out from under the battered shield. In the meantime, the scattered shards of weapons dissolved into particles of light.
Now I understood. The bladed discs and the downpour from above weren't real weapons. They were probably made of magic. They wouldn't kill me, but the strikes could hurt enough to make me believe I was dying.
And somewhere out there, someone was probably watching, waiting for me to scream like I'd been cut to pieces.
Aren't they just charming? I thought with a sigh.
Just then, a small screen appeared in front of me. Before I could react, translucent text lit up the display: All-Time Rankings for the Room of Reflexes.
So, this is a list of past challengers?
I swiped through the names, curious about the top rankings. Near the end of the list, I found a name I recognized.
1st place: Delac Badniker – 94 points
2nd place: Leone – 87 points
3rd place: Hyde Woodjack – 85 points
4th place: Kaela Goldan – 84 points
5th place: Glenn Scarlett – 81 points
Speaking of which, the Iron-Blooded Lord was also a graduate of Cartel Academy. He had completed the entire curriculum in just one year.
I couldn't help but feel a bit nervous. I hadn't expected the chance to compare myself directly to him in a place like this.
"Score calculation is complete."
What was my rank?