Tower Awakening: I Have Limitless Potential Trait

Chapter 3 – 1st Floor: The Forgotten Catacombs

The warm energy slowly faded away from his body. He stood up from the cold stone floor and looked at his hands. The exhaustion from swinging the rusty sword and the pain from the skeleton's kick were completely gone. It was like magic.

"Level up..." he whispered to himself. He remembered the system message earlier. "Status."

[(Challenger's status)

Name: Daniel

Race: Human

Level: 2

Job: -

Trait: Limitless Potential (???)

Stats Point: 5

Strength: 12 (+) Agility: 9 (+) Vitality: 17 (+) Mana: 11 (+) Perception: 8 (+) Willpower: 19 (+)

Skills: -

Title: - ]

He looked at the blue screen floating in front of him. His raw stats hadn't changed at all. Instead, there was a new line that said he had five stats points. He remembered reading web novels where a person could freely distribute these points to make themselves stronger. Since he was only at level two, five points seemed to be the standard reward for early levels.

He thought about allocating a few of them right away, so he began to click the plus sign beside the [Agility] stat and another one to [Perception]. Right now, he had ten points for [Agility] and nine points on [Perception]. For the rest of the stat points, he decided to save them since he didn't know what kind of dangers were waiting for him in this labyrinth. It was better to save these three points for an emergency.

His eyes stopped at the trait section. The Limitless Potential was still classified as unknown. He shook his head, deciding not to overthink it for now. The priority was surviving this endless maze and reaching the 5th floor.

He looked down the dark corridors stretching out before him. There was no map, no guide, and no visible exit. With a deep breath, he gripped his rusty sword tightly. His high willpower stat helped him push down the paralyzing fear of the unknown. He decided to just follow his instinct, picking a path that felt slightly warmer, and started walking carefully.

Every step he took echoed in the silent ruins. He walked for what felt like hours. The walls were covered in dry moss, and the air smelled like old dirt. The sheer size of this first floor was terrifying. It wasn't a mere room; it was an entire buried city.

Suddenly, as he entered a wider intersection of the catacombs, he heard a sound.

Clack. Clack. Clack.

He froze. The sound was not coming from just one direction. It was coming from the front, the left, and the right. Slowly, humanoid figures stepped into the dim light. They were Awakened Skeletons, just like the first one, but this time there were six of them. Some held broken clubs, while others held rusted daggers.

Their red glowing eyes locked onto him. He was trapped.

A cold sweat ran down his neck. His hands started to shake uncontrollably. He had barely survived fighting one skeleton earlier. Now he had to fight a whole group.

"No... I can't die here," he whispered, trying to calm his breathing. He raised his sword, gripping it with both hands. He remembered Olivia's voice and his mother's tired face. He needed to go home.

Before he could prepare a proper stance, two skeletons from the front charged at him simultaneously.

He didn't panic. Instead of stepping back, he took a step forward. He waited until the first skeleton swung its club, then quickly ducked and slashed his blade at its knee joint.

Crack!

The bone shattered. The skeleton lost its balance and fell to the ground. He didn't waste the chance. He stomped his foot on its back and drove his rusty sword straight into the gap of its neck. The red light in its eyes died instantly.

[Congratulations. You have defeated an Awakened Skeleton.]

[You gained 10 Tower Coins.]

[You obtained: Bone Fragment x1. Item automatically transferred to Inventory. Current stack: 2/99.]

He saw the text flash briefly in his vision, confirming that the exclusive drop feature stacked his new loot with the one he got from his first kill.

But he forgot there were others. As he pulled his weapon out, a rusty dagger sliced through the air from his blind spot.

Swoosh!

A sharp pain blossomed on his left shoulder. One of the skeletons managed to cut his skin. Blood started to soak his shirt. He gritted his teeth and ignored the pain. His high vitality helped him suppress the shock. He swung his sword blindly to the side, hitting the attacker's ribcage and pushing it back.

His lungs burned for air. His muscles ached from the heavy swings. The remaining four skeletons circled him, clicking their jaws.

Suddenly, a transparent screen popped up right in front of his face, accompanied by a weird glitching sound.

[Action-Based Growth triggered.]

[System Warning: Anomaly detected.]

[Growth efficiency exceeds standard challenger baseline.]

[You have endured physical stress and pain during combat. Trait: Limitless Potential is abnormally forcing cellular adaptation.]

[Strength +1]

[Vitality +1]

He stared at the screen in confusion. His stats increased on their own without using his saved points? The Tower must reward challengers who pushed their bodies to the limit. But the system explicitly stated that his growth efficiency exceeded the standard baseline.

As the notification disappeared, a strange sensation flowed through his body. The burning pain in his left shoulder lessened slightly, and his arms felt stronger. The heavy rusty sword suddenly felt easier to swing.

If enduring pain and pushing his body to the limit forced his unknown trait to permanently upgrade his stats at an anomalous rate, then his trait was truly a broken machine.

He gripped his hilt tighter. "Come on!" he yelled.

He dashed forward, dodging a clumsy swing from a skeleton, and smashed the hilt of his sword directly into its skull, cracking it open. Two down.

[Congratulations. You have defeated an Awakened Skeleton.]

[You gained 10 Tower Coins.]

[You obtained: Rusted Dagger x1. Item automatically transferred to Inventory.]

He didn't have time to check his new weapon. The sound of the fight was too loud. From the dark tunnels behind the remaining monsters, he heard more clattering. Dozens of red glowing eyes appeared from the shadows. More skeletons were coming.

His eyes widened in horror. There were too many. If he stayed and fought, he would be buried under a mountain of bones, no matter how much his stats naturally grew.

"Run," his instinct screamed.

He instantly changed his plan. He didn't try to slay the ones in front of him anymore. Using his sword to parry an incoming dagger, he kicked up a handful of loose dirt from the ground right into the face of the nearest skeleton. The undead creature stumbled backward, creating a small gap in their formation.

He didn't hesitate. He pushed his legs to the limit and sprinted through the gap.

[Action-Based Growth triggered.]

[System Warning: Anomaly detected.]

[Agility +1]

He ignored the notification. He just kept running blindly through the dark labyrinth. The sound of clattering bones chased him from behind, echoing loudly against the stone walls. His lungs felt like they were going to explode, and his legs grew heavier every time he took a step, but he didn't dare to stop.

After running for several minutes, the path started to narrow. The brick walls turned into raw, jagged rocks. He looked desperately for any place to hide.

Just as the footsteps behind him started getting closer, he noticed a small, dark crack at the bottom of the rocky wall. It was a narrow cave entrance, just big enough for a single person to squeeze through.

Without thinking twice, he threw himself into the crack. He pushed his body deep into the darkness of the narrow cave, holding his breath and covering his mouth with his hands.

Outside the crack, the group of skeletons ran past his hiding spot. Their glowing red eyes completely missed the narrow opening in the dark wall. He stayed perfectly still, waiting until the clattering sounds completely faded away into the distance.

He leaned his back against the cold cave wall and slowly released his breath. He was safe, at least for now.