Chapter 505: A-Level Soul Fortification, The Second Floor’s Guardian
[Sub-Talent Scroll: x8 Soul Pulse (C-Level), x9 Soul Regeneration (B-Level)]
’Nice!’ Leon grinned when he saw the numbers, ’That’s enough for the girls. These should definitely help them.’
The three girls would all benefit from stronger soul-related abilities.
However, Leon did not immediately think of handing over the sub-talents. He had another idea.
Before giving them away, he wanted to see if he could fuse them into something stronger.
Leon took the eight [Soul Pulse (C-Level)] scrolls and placed them together.
He began the fusion process.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
The first attempt failed. Leon immediately tried again.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
He frowned slightly, but he did not stop.
The next attempt succeeded.
Ding!
[Fusion successfull!]
Leon continued. Another fusion succeeded as well.
Ding!
[Fusion successfull!]
After all eight C-Level sub-talents had been used, Leon checked the result.
The eight [Soul Pulse (C-Level)] scrolls had produced three additional B-Level sub-talents.
Combined with the nine B-Level sub-talents he had already obtained, Leon now had twelve B-Level sub-talents in total.
’That’s a decent number.’
Leon had no idea what the exact success rate of the fusion was, but twelve attempts gave him a much better chance of producing something useful.
He took a deep breath and grabbed the first two B-Level scrolls.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
"Expected."
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
"That’s okay."
Leon grabbed another two.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
"...Alright."
Another attempt.
Fwoosh!
[Fusion failed...]
"Oh come on, B-Level to A-Level is NOT that rare," Leon groaned.
The repeated failures were starting to test his patience. Despite that, Leon refused to give up.
One after another, the B-Level sub-talents had disappeared as the fusion attempts failed.
He was now left with only four B-Level sub-talents.
Leon stared at the remaining scrolls for several seconds.
He could simply keep them and give them to the girls, but after getting this far, he really wanted to see if he could create an A-Level soul-related ability.
’Alright, last try before I have to grind for more of them.’
Leon grabbed the last two.
He closed his eyes and slowly poured his mana into the scrolls, carefully guiding their energies toward one another.
The two B-Level abilities began to glow. Their energies intertwined. Leon waited.
Then...
Ding!
[Fussion successful!]
Leon immediately opened his eyes.
[Sub-Talent Scroll: x2 Soul Regeneration (B-Level), Soul Fortification (A-Level)]
"Hell yeah!" Leon said with a grin. "Now I can give the A-Level sub-talent to Celeste while Emilia and Violet get B-Level ones."
Leon was particularly satisfied with that result.
Celeste had been the one most vulnerable to the soul attacks on the first floor, and although she had her [Darkness Ember], giving her an A-Level soul-related sub-talent would make her even safer.1
Emilia and Violet would also receive B-Level abilities, which would further improve their ability to resist soul attacks.
Against ordinary monsters, these abilities might not make a huge difference as they couldn’t hurt their souls either way.
But against someone like the Lord of Souls, however, Leon knew they could very well become the difference between surviving and dying.
With the sub-talents safely stored away, Leon continued through the dungeon.
Before long, something familiar caught his attention in one of the many halls.
Leon stopped. An ice arrow was sitting in the middle of the corridor.
’Holy shit, Violet, good thinking!’ Leon immediately grinned, ’We did that in the previous floor, and you’re doing it again in this one.’
He did not know whether Violet had already found the exit or was simply leaving behind a trail to show him where she had gone, but either way, the ice arrow gave Leon something he had been missing: a way to track her.
He quickly followed the direction indicated by the arrow.
A short distance later, he found another. Then another.
Along the way, he encountered several monsters that had been completely encased in ice.
Others had already been killed, their bodies scattered across the floor as evidence that Violet had passed through the area..
’She’s definitely ahead.’
He increased his pace and continued following the frozen trail. Eventually, the hallway opened into a massive chamber.
Leon stepped inside and immediately noticed the enormous gate standing at the opposite end.
The exit to the next floor. However, something was different this time: the boss guarding the gate was still alive, and Violet was actively fighting it.
"A little help?" she shouted as she jumped backward, narrowly avoiding an enormous hammer that smashed into the ground where she had been standing.
BOOM!
𝗳𝚛𝗲𝕖𝚠𝚎𝚋𝗻𝗼𝕧𝗲𝐥.𝚌𝚘𝐦
The entire chamber shook from the impact. Leon immediately looked toward the monster.
It was nearly three meters tall, with an enormous body covered from head to toe in dark, heavily reinforced armor.
Thick plates protected its chest and shoulders, while several layers of metal covered its arms and legs, making the creature look less like a warrior and more like a walking fortress.
Its helmet completely concealed its face.
Only the narrow visor remained visible, and behind it burned two cold blue flames that served as the monster’s eyes.
In one hand, it carried a massive war hammer.
The weapon was as large as Violet herself, and every swing generated enough force to crack the stone floor beneath it.
Eye of Truth!
---
[Soulsworn Juggernaut (Floor Boss)]
[Level: 100]
[Talent: Soul Fortification (A-Level), Supreme Strength Enhancement (S-Level)]
[Combat Power: 19,500,000]
[Details: A powerful guardian summoned to protect the path toward the third floor of the Tower of Souls, its body has been strengthened through countless battles and its soul is exceptionally difficult to destroy.]
---
Leon narrowed his eyes. 19.5 million combat power.
The creature was considerably stronger than the Spiritfang Wolf, and unlike the predators he had encountered earlier, this one possessed an A-Level soul-related sub-talent alongside an S-Level strength enhancement.
The Soulsworn Juggernaut raised its enormous hammer once more.
Violet immediately noticed the movement and raised her rapier.
Fwoosh!
An enormous wall of ice erupted from the ground directly in front of her. The Juggernaut brought its hammer down with tremendous force.
BOOM!
The hammer slammed into the ice wall, sending cracks racing across its surface.
The entire barrier shook violently before fragments of ice exploded outward. But despite the force behind the attack, the wall successfully blocked the blow.
Violet quickly stepped backward, maintaining her distance from the massive guardian while preparing another attack.
The Soulsworn Juggernaut slowly lifted its hammer again.
Its two blue flames burned fiercely behind the visor as it prepared to attack once more.
Leon watched the scene from the entrance.
He had originally intended to let Violet handle the fight herself, but the strength of this guardian was clearly far beyond anything she had faced on the previous floor.
His grip tightened around his sword, and his eyes flashed as he prepared to intervene.
Soul Chains!