Return of the Woodcutter

Aito gawked at the Training Ground, more amazed by the sheer size of it than the actual equipment available. It could be said to be slightly larger than the Mall.

The biggest track field he had ever seen stood in front of his eyes. To his estimation, if put in a straight line, it could probably average four or maybe five kilometers. It was hard to tell.

At the center of the track field was a whole lot of nothing. Apart from grass, he couldn't see anything else. Aito found it weird since he had been expecting training equipment like dummies, weights, and such. Once he walked on the track field paved with what looked like perfectly rectangular brown rocks, someone called out to him.

"The black challenger, I presume?" Gwen said from behind him.

"Why is everybody calling me by my title?" Aito automatically complained, tired of being addressed this way.

He then turned around and came face to face with the moderator's leather bra covering her well-developed chest. He looked at it, wondering if these boobs were as firm as they looked like and also if talking boobs were a native species of Iris, until his gaze traveled upward to see piercing purple eyes staring at him.

'Wow… she's huge,' he thought. It couldn't be helped since it was his first time meeting such a tall woman.

"Like what you see, little man?" Gwen asked, seemingly amused.

Thinking that she was trying to make fun of him, Aito held her gaze and replied, "That remains to be seen. I require in-depth physical investigation for a better assessment."

"Gahaha! Honest and bold, hun? However, I don't mate with weaklings. If you can best me in combat, that's another matter," Gwen said, before smirking. "But you're currently too weak for that to happen."

Somehow, Aito felt like her boasting wasn't exaggerated. The giantess looked pretty laid back, which could mean two things. Either she was extremely careless or was so strong that she did not need to fear a challenger.

Considering the impressive invisible aura emanating from her toned body—a characteristic of the strong—and the fact that she was just wearing a leather bra and tight leather pants, the latter seemed more likely to him.

However, even if he was certain that his current self stood no chance against her, Aito thought it would be a great experience for his growth to fight a stronger person—not necessarily for having sex with her, though. For some reason, he felt like she would break him in two in the bed.

"Scared I would win?" He said, trying to taunt her into sparring with him.

Intrigued, Gwen rose an eyebrow. "Little man, haven't you heard about the Tower's moderators from your guide?"

Of course, he had, and that last sentence of hers confirmed she was one. Aito was just curious about what kind of gap there was between a challenger's strength and a moderator. He's been dying to know the difference since he heard from Roan that moderators were at the very least Lv4 combat classes.

Not because he was arrogant, but because he wanted to gauge the powers of beings with higher levels than his. After all, this knowledge could prove useful in various situations, and also serve as a danger-o-meter. To know who he could afford to offend and those he couldn't.

But also, to what kind of strength he must aspire to accomplish his goal. Since he didn't know if there was some kind of max level yet, fighting a moderator could be a good chance to gain information on the topic.

Seeing the firm resolve in Aito's black eyes, the giantess scoffed. "I don't know if you're foolish or just in heat. Even if you manage to clear the Tower entirely, you wouldn't stand a chance against me."

"I won't know until I try."

Gwen shook her head and said, "First, learn Durability. Maybe then I'll consider sparing with you."

Suddenly, a notification popped up in front of Aito.

BING!

___________________

[Quest received: A durable foundation]

Objective: Learn the active skill Durability from Gwen, the moderator of the third floor.

Time limit: 7 days (counted in Cooldown periods)

Rewards:

- Active skill Durability

- 1000 TPs

- Access to the fourth floor if the host is a marked one

- Unlock daily training quest on the third floor

Failure: No consequences

___________________

"Are you ready to begin?" She asked. Expecting Aito to say "yes" like the countless ones before him, Gwen mechanically started to walk towards the large grassy area that filled the space in between the circular track field.

She then used her moderator's rights to summon an armchair destined for her personal use and was about to sit on it when she noticed that Aito hadn't followed her. She turned towards him and furrowed her red brows, wondering what he was doing with his eyes shut.

Still on the track field, Aito was concentrating. Instead of using what he had learned alone, he followed the knowledge acquired after the System granted him the skill Durability. A few seconds later, his ax glowed yellow.

Then, as expected, notification windows listing the rewards he had seen a few moments ago popped up in front of him. Anybody would be happy at the thought of being rewarded.

However, he felt dissatisfied. Not because of the rewards, but because he could feel that something was amiss in his use of Durability through the knowledge imparted to him by the System.

It had been buggering him since he had experimented with Durability in his room. He hadn't noticed it before since every skill he had used was given to him by the System.

But he had learned Durability step by step, using Ogoro's knowledge and his own. Thanks to that, he could feel a slight difference. As if the skill activated by itself, forgoing the minute details. Not that he had never felt his body reacting to the activation of a skill, but more like he hadn't felt everything.

Unable to come up with an answer, he sighed and looked up to see a poker face Gwen walking towards him. She seemed serious, too serious, in fact, as if it was exaggerated. If Aito had to take a guess, she was holding back her surprise for the sake of her image as a moderator.

"Hum, let me guess, you ingested a memory bead?" She asked, towering over him.

Gwen had received a notification barely a second after Aito used Durability, so she knew he had cleared the quest and earned the right to access the next floor. Using her experience as a fearsome warrior, it didn't take long for her to figure out Aito had used a memory bead prior to his coming here.

However, she had two issues with it.

First, the use of memory beads to learn skills could hinder one's growth if their purity were too low—which was, in most cases. Since the human before her was a black challenger who cleared his trial, he could only be a promising recruit, and she didn't want him to waste his potential.

Second, now that he had cleared the quest that most people couldn't before the seventh day, he had access to the fourth floor, which she had a problem with. But she couldn't deny him access to the hunting grounds, so Gwen was currently trying another method to make him stay on the third floor for a longer period of time.

"Yes," Aito replied, before adding. "Judging by your expression, it doesn't seem to be a good thing to do."

"It depends," she said.

"Care to elaborate?" Aito asked, wondering why there was a barely perceptible smirk drawing on Gwen's face.

"If your memory bead isn't at the very least red, you will have trouble coordinating the knowledge acquired with practical usage. The System will still give you the skill, but that will only hinder your growth because of its automatic activation." Gwen said, "So I'd advise you to stay on the third floor to train Durability."

"It was red, though," Aito said, poking a little fun at the moderator, who seemed to be at a loss for words.

Gwen almost lost her composure at his words. Red memory beads were expensive. Even if they were available in the Tower, they were just for show. No mere challengers could get their hands on one unless they were loaded with TPs.

While the giantess was looking for something to say, Aito thought back to something she had said a few moments ago: "automatic activation." If it meant what he thought it meant, then it would explain the difference in feelings he had while activating his skills using the knowledge provided by the System and the knowledge he had gained by learning a skill step by step.

Before the moderator could say anything, Aito asked, "What did you mean by 'automatic activation'?"

A glint of hope brightened Gwen's purple eyes as she said, "Let me show you."

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DISCLAIMER: NO HAREM IN THIS NOVEL

Edit (there used to be a huge paragraph here): I have plans for R18 content and am doing researches on this to make them meaningful. HOWEVER, if I think it won't add anything to the story, I will just gloss over them and suggest that characters had intercourses in one or two sentences. Meaning I won't go into details.

Also... Yihaa! Halfway through 100 chapters!

I'll read you later guys.