"Do you mind if I try? I'm not the greatest of combat types, but with my visions, I'm not too bad." Cyrene asked Cain hopefully, still wrapped around his waist.
"You do have a bunch of fire elemental magic and better combat sense than almost anyone but En, so I think you should be fine to go fight. Just be careful, I know that the contents of the tower can be particularly tricky and I don't want you dropping out early because of a careless mistake." Cain told her with a sly wink, making everyone around her chuckle.
To the people here, Cyrene was well known for her level-headed decisions, using her visions to assist her decision-making where the Guild was expecting trouble as well as a way to predict where the best rewards might be.
But Cain knew better. Cyrene was actually horribly insecure and desperate for affirmation, so she did her very best at all times so that she wouldn't let down the people around her. Telling her to focus wasn't a sign that he viewed her as absent-minded, Cain was actually worried that she would try too hard and make simple mistakes that led to her being eliminated.
Instead of unwrapping herself, Cyrene tugged Cain forward for a moment, then realized what she was doing. "Sorry, it's just so comfortable here that my body didn't want to move there for a moment."
Before the onlookers could realize what she meant, the Lamia was slithering away at a running pace, bypassing the line to take up the next spot in line to enter. Like they did with En, everyone simply waited until she had begun her trial so the bystanders could see which one was her statue.
But this time, they didn't wait and watch. Cyrene wasn't a combat class, so she was unlikely to set any new records. In the minds of the Bear Kin that meant that they could find out how she had performed once their own runs were finished.
The first floor that Cyrene found herself on was a reproduction of a destroyed village, with small green creatures running around. At first, she thought they were Goblins, but they were too short for even the Green Goblin species, who were smaller than their Red kin. Then she finally got a good view of one and the System identified it as a form of Lesser Murlock.
That definitely sounded less dangerous than a Goblin, so she carefully slid forward until she had a decent view of the area. There were five of them in total, and her first instinct was to use the Guild Skill and call for Summons to wipe them out.
[Guild Skills Unavailable in the Tower] was the message when she tried.
"Well then, I'll have to get my hands dirty." She whispered to herself and fired a barrage of [Flame Arrows] into the group.
Cyrene had pretty decent spell power, but a single [Flame Arrow] each wasn't going to take down monsters her own level. The arrows were merely baiting them forward for the easiest way her visions had shown her to win this fight. [Flame Wall] had a much shorter range, but covered a significant amount of ground, so once the small creatures were in range, Cyrene unleashed the trap and roasted them all alive.
"Oh, man those smell good." She whispered, moving forward to attempt to grab one, but just then the setting changed and she was on a new level.
"The Master is too cruel. Filling the air with the smell of roast meat, but letting the tower move you out before it can be eaten." Cyrene sighed as a vision of the next battle flashed in her head.
Things were going fairly smoothly for Cyrene thanks to her visions until she reached the eighth floor. The setting was a cavern with no exits, and there were eight very large Fire Golems here. The only real attacks Cyrene had were Fire based, to which they were completely immune.
She focused on her visions, trying to make a strategy, but every idea she had just led to an even more brutal death. Who cares if she would be ejected at 5HP if they were going to peel her skin off her while she was alive?
"Can I forfeit? That looks like a really, really bad way to die." Cyrene asked nobody in particular.
[Forfeit now to collect your reward?] Y/N
The system message gave her a great sense of relief.
"Yes, so much yes," Cyrene answered, then found herself standing on the main floor of the tower.
[Quest Completed: Challenge the Tower] Reward granted 5 Gold Coins, 2 percent of the current level in experience.
[Achievement Unlocked: Know Your Place] As the first to quit the trial before being forcibly ejected due to your own stupidity, a special reward has been prepared.
'Well, that's just a little bit rude. Was the System always like that?' Cyrene wondered. If Cain had seen the message he would have known right away that it was a personal reward from the Laughing God for doing the thing that he had been hoping all along someone would try. But Cyrene herself hadn't previously had any such personal interaction.
[Reward Granted: Variable Spell of Elemental Bolt] Mythic rank ranged magical attack that can create a 10cm ball of energy from any elemental variety.
[Awakening: Mythic] Completed
[Modifiers Adjusted]
[New Defensive Ability Gained]
"Master Cain, Master Cain, I got an amazing reward!" Cyrene shouted as she raced out of the tower and back around Cain's waist in an instant.
"You got faster. Very nice." Cain congratulated her, noticing from her status that she was now Mythic Awakened, so her increase in speed was likely just a side effect of whatever the real reward was.
"No, not that. I got Mythic attack magic that can switch between elements. My last level was Fire Elementals, and I could only use fire magic, so I ran away and it gave me the spell as the reward." she explained, releasing first ice and then lightning balls straight up into the air as an explanation.
"You got a Mythic spell from level 8 of the tower? How is that fair? I got a pack of Epic grade Ramen Noodles." One of the Guild Members complained, drawing the attention of many others.
"Did you say Epic Grade noodles? How much?"
"Whatever he is offering I will pay you more!"
Just like that, the new spell that Cyrene received was overshadowed by the prospect of Epic Grade Noodles. There was at least a good excuse for that at least, since Epic food items like that usually refreshed on a daily cooldown timer and weren't single-use, so whoever got them could enjoy the meal every day. It made them both somewhat useless in everyday life, and incredibly valuable at the same time.
