With his eyes turning sharp as he locks gaze towards the shining azure blue core crowing where the golem's head is supposed to be, Azrael lets out his breath as his muscle stretched, his arm swinging fast enough that it appears like a whip to his opponent, and from the end of this whip, a silver, metallic object was launched piercing through the air, going at speed difficult to follow by the naked eyes, heading straight towards the core of the golem.
As it whistles past the air and tears apart the dust along its way, this object doesn't even take a single second to reach the golem, especially since the golem is approaching its direction as well, the impact between these two moving bodies making the hit all the more devastating on both sides.
As sound of metal piercing through earth resounds across the entire area, not only the golem, but also Azrael froze in place as he watches the proceedings of the events, his body shaking as he never expected that he will ever witness something like this in his entire life, the maniacal, battle hungry smile on his face changing to one filled with relief, as well as some sort of hope for a better future.
This smile further improves as he saw the sword buried deep within the golem's core, its tip passing through the back and completely piercing the object, which is already starting have more and more cracks as its pierced middle starts falling apart.
With the cracking sound becoming more and more apparent, the young man couldn't wait anymore and rushes towards the stationary giant once again, urging his already weak body to move at the best that it can in order to end this decade long suffering once and for all, the adrenaline numbing his pain now gone, but the prospect of finally ascending takes its place in suppressing all the pain he should've been feeling right now.
Leaping up with his previously injured leg now recovered enough to support him, Azrael nimbly moves towards the top of the frozen golem, balling his hand into a fist one last time as he jumps right on top of it, smashing his fist right in the middle of the core and finally shattering it.
"Tsk… you just refuse to die without making me suffer huh…" hearing the sound of glass shattering as he destroys the entirety of the golem's core, he couldn't help but remark as he grits his teeth in pain once again, feeling shards of the golem's core burying itself deep within his hand, leaving painful wounds that will inconvenience him for some moment but not long.
Not letting this small matter concern him too much though, the young man gleams as he saw the azure blue screen popping up right in front of him, the messages carried by the tower's guide something that he had been waiting for a long time, and finally, he saw it with his own two eyes.
'Makes me want to tear up and cry…' he jokingly mocked himself as he fails to hide the excited smile on his face reading the words, his fist clenched as he starts looking forward to what kind of rewards he will get aside from the treasure that his [True Treasure Hunting] skill point him too.
[Detected a progress in the Hidden Quest: Subjugation of the Fortress Golem]
[Detected the death of the monster: Fortress Golem. It is also detected that this monster possesses strength and ability way beyond the ascender's current capabilities. Rewards will be distributed based on the ascender's contribution to the subjugation of the monster. Now calculating the contribution the ascender made in defeating the Fortress Golem…]
[Subjugation of the Fortress Golem]
[Contribution]
[1: Azrael Weiss (1st Floor Ascender): 100%]
[Since the ascender is the sole person to defeat the monster, all the rewards will be issued to the ascender, and an additional reward will be given as well.]
[Rewards for the Hidden Quest]
[Active Skill: Stone Transformation]
[Active Skill: Fortress Golem's Might]
[Passive Skill: Gigantification]
[Item: Fortress Golem Heart Iron]
[Item: Fortress Golem Silver Blood]
[Item: Rocky Scaleskin]
[The Fortress Golem was defeated with the ascender's hands alone]
[The will of the ascender influences the tower more]
[The tower recognizes the hard work of the ascender]
[Perseverance increased to 50 (limit for the first floor)]
[Charisma increased to 50 (limit of the first floor)]
[Lunacy increased to 25 (limit of the first floor)]
[Detected that the ascender already fulfills the requirements for the ability: True Treasure Hunting. It is now possible to ascend to the second floor.]
As he reads through the torrent of words in the screen, Azrael couldn't help but feel more than just satisfied as he realizes that the rewards for all these years of suffering is really abundant, making him feel consoled for going through all that, as if everything is worth it.
While he thinks that the rewards are really good though, he is still more focused on the one at the other end of the place he is in, an unassuming treasure chest made of dark metallic material that nearly blends with the surrounding just lay there, almost as if waiting for him to open it, the only reason why such thing can even be recognized from the distance being its slightly reflective nature, the light bouncing on its surface making it appear odd among the things surrounding it.
With his body already considerably recovered despite feeling slightly weaker, the young man drags himself, forcefully suppressing his shaking body from falling until he eventually reaches the treasure chest, which appears to be quite sensible as it opens itself the moment that he touches its lid.
And from inside, he couldn't help but squint his eyes as brilliant flashes of light nearly singed his eyes, and only after adapting to the intensity of the light for a while did he see what it was that the treasure chest hid.
A card, a blank card that continuously rotates, making him wonder what its purpose is.