lvin looked up, and standing with his back against him was a boy with deep, long, obsidian hair. He studied every feature of the boy – his smooth, pale skin and the fact that the boy was just over six feet tall.
’Is that not?’
"You... how?" he stuttered, drawing the boy’s attention as he turned to look at lvin.
"Oh, you are alive. I thought a frail body like yours would have given up after that impact," the boy said with a sowhat proud voice.
The prideful voice belonged to no other person than Aurex.
Tch.
"It’s good to have you, I think. Thanks, I owe you one."
lvin extended his vote of thanks as he made to stand up, but his legs slipped and he fell back down on the snow.
Aurex mistook this for weakness and rushed over to lvin to help him.
"You don’t need to stand now. Rest a bit," he urged, with his right palm forward for a grab in case lvin wanted to do otherwise.
lvin stared at Aurex’s palm for a bit, then nodded in disapproval.
"Don’t trust my actions now for weakness."
Aurex shrugged and turned his back on lvin again, folding his hands across his chest.
"Fine then," he said. "But..."
Before Aurex could speak, lvin interrupted him.
"How did you do it?" lvin asked.
"Did what?"
Aurex’s mind recollected for a bit, and he understood what lvin was asking. He then attempted to face the silver-haired boy but imdiately turned his back once again, scratching his head.
"Let’s just say I can utter commands and gain temporary subjects as a result."
"Are you saying that the fragile part... no, this whole snow area is your subject at the mont?" lvin asked, trying as much as he could not to feel envious.
Sobody like Aurex was able to use his ability freely as he wanted, without a cost. If that was the case, he wondered what his limit could be.
Every flux carrier blessed with a magical affinity and, possibly, an ability was bound to have one.
With his back still turned to lvin, Aurex smiled pompously.
"Well, you can say that too," he agreed. "I an, just a few monts ago, I found myself in this hurting cold, but now I’m warm. It was even when I wanted to take the direction to our south that I noticed struggles in that part of the water and thought it could be a Climber.
"I just had to say, ’Free the Prey,’ channeling so essence through contact with the snow, and the deed was done."
lvin’s eyes widened in shock. The flakes of snow flying around were indeed hurtingly cold against his skin, but this wasn’t a ti to flinch under minorities.
It’s just that, the more he tried not to envy Aurex’s ability, the more the feeling ca.
Aurex was basically saying that he could move mountains if he wanted. Of course, that would also depend on his soul essence. It also ant that he could beco a temporary subject to this being before him.
Would he even allow such a thing to happen?
For now, though, lvin needed to test his ability. He needed to see what he could be able to do, and that ant he needed a way to garner fragnts.
Maybe there can be a way to do so without engaging in danger. Since Aurex was able to channel his essence for his ability to work without having to pass through the trial zone, it ant there should be a way.
"I see," lvin nodded approvingly and asked, "How can I absorb essence into my core?"
"It wouldn’t be as easy as it was while in the academy. Now, you will have to defeat monsters for that... it’s a pity you are this unfortunate," Aurex explained. "The only process that sounds easy is how we recover our lost essence."
Then, he faced lvin this ti and wanted to continue but, with desperation, scread at the top of his voice.
"Didn’t the Academy provide you with safety clothing gear?!"
’What’s wrong with him? What does he an?’
lvin was still trying to make sense of what Aurex had just said.
The boy had been talking about absorbing and recovering soul essence, which was very well going to be beneficial to lvin, especially considering his 5x multiplier. Then suddenly, without warning, he had switched the topic to sothing else entirely.
Safety clothing gear?
lvin frowned slightly.
If Aurex ant battle gear, then that wasn’t a problem. lvin already had one. In fact, he had two – both powerful and of high ranks.
His gaze absentmindedly dropped as he thought about it. Then his eyes suddenly caught sight of a very particular part of his body right between his legs.
lvin froze.
Because he found himself in a dire situation after getting transported to this area, he didn’t have the opportunity to see himself fully.
Now he understood what Aurex had ant. And why the obsidian black-haired boy had kept his back turned toward him all this while.
lvin was completely naked.
"...Right," he muttered under his breath.
But before embarrassnt could even properly settle in, the snow beneath them suddenly rippled.
A deep vibration spread through the frozen surface, like sothing enormous was moving underneath the ice.
Sothing was coming. And whatever that thing is, it was moving very fast.
lvin didn’t even have ti to summon his armor beforehand. The snow suddenly exploded upward before he could do so.
A massive shape burst from beneath the frozen surface with terrifying speed.
"I guess your ability wears off... too," lvin muttered dryly to Aurex.
At the last possible mont, he leapt upward, narrowly avoiding the violent lunge of the creature erupting from below.
At the sa ti, Aurex jumped to the side, his hand flashing as a sleek katana appeared in his grip. He slid into a ready stance, prepared for a brutal fight.
But as the creature fully erged from the snow, it beca clear that the battle might end sooner than expected. And under the watchful care of one person.
The monster was indeed enormous.
Its body looked like a twisted mass of thorn-like ridges. Every inch of its surface was covered in sharp protrusions that curved outward like the thorns of a deadly rose.
The creature’s massive head resembled that of a shark, but was far more grotesque. Behind it lashed a long, muscular tail that resembled that of so ancient dinosaur.
In general, the monster with its massive, streamlined body moved like a whip capable of cutting a man clean in half.
But it had already made a mistake.
lvin had sorsaulted through the air before its assault beca successful as he summoned his soul signatures.
The Brinewrought Aegis manifested instantly, liquid-like armor flowing across his body and forming around him in a smooth, protective layer.
At the sa ti, the Aftertick appeared in his left hand.
The long whip crackled sharply as it unfurled.
lvin was now directly above the creature’s disgusting shark-like head, as it had dropped at the point where he initially stood.
Without hesitation, he lashed the silver whip downward powerfully.
The razor-sharp edge of the Aftertick sliced cleanly through the point where the creature’s neck should have been. But it looked like nothing had happened.
However, lvin’s reaction was indifferent as he landed lightly on the creature’s jagged back, carefully balancing his footing among the thorn-like ridges. Using the montum of the landing, he bounced off the ridges and swung gracefully to the side.
A mont later, he landed on the snow with a smooth step.
From his side, Aurex stared with shock plainly written across his face. He didn’t know if he should direct its cause to the fact that the monstrous creature had stopped moving, even though it didn’t look dead yet... or there was no blood to prove that.
Was that paralysis lvin’s ability?
He imdiately disproved himself, having seen lvin act too fast and with precise execution. It couldn’t be paralysis.
Even more shocking was the weapon. One of the most difficult weapons he knew was not properly wielded.
Yet lvin handled it with incredible control and even with flexibility honed into his skills.
’I, indeed, shouldn’t trust his actions for weakness.’
He thought and slowly walked closer just in ti to see the muddy blood spray across the snow as the head of the monstrous creature separated like it had delayed ti.
’He killed it with one slash?!’
Confusion set in as he turned to see the faint smile forming on lvin’s face.
"So that’s what you are called," lvin whispered.
He was currently staring at the system runes floating before his eyes.
[You have slain an Evolved Creature: Frostmaw Ravager!]
[You have...]
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