To be honest, when I first saw Mr. Bear's crossbow, this thought came to mind: Is it really possible to use that as a weapon? Surprisingly, the answer was yes, it was possible.
Whooooom!
As if to ignore my doubts, Mr. Bear skillfully loaded the crossbow, aimed precisely at the head, and fired.
"Tsk, as expected. It blocked her."
The Yeti blocked the arrow with both hands and escaped instant death. Of course, he didn't escape anything else. Both hands were pierced by a single arrow. The Yeti screamed and strained, but the arrow wouldn't come out. The arrow didn't seem particularly special either.
Could it be Hook Arrow?
It was a skill he suspected, but couldn't be sure. In any case, it wasn't something to think about right now.
"Keeeeeeek!" The giant Yeti stomped toward us. Since its hands were sealed, it didn't seem particularly threatening. But what was this?
"You finish off the rest." Mr. Bear slung the crossbow back over his back as if he'd finished his task. One more arrow would have ended it, but seeing that, I could conclude he didn't want to do any unpaid work.
Is it because he's an explorer? His calculations are spot on.
To avoid any objections in the future distribution, I grabbed my shield and ran off.
"What is...?!" I could hear Carlson frantically yelling. Even if I were a barbarian, it would seem impossible to stop a monster like that head-on. But that was when you were a bare-headed barbarian. Building a wall with my shield, I blocked the Yeti's charge.
Bam!
A powerful shock surged through me, but it was nothing. After consuming the essence of the Orc Hero, I had virtually no reason to be held back in terms of power. Besides, the Yeti was only a meter taller than me.
[You have received cold damage from Shiver].
That chilled me to the bone, but not to the point of pain.
"Michelle!"
"Ah, yes!" When I shouted, Missha, who had been staring blankly, stepped on my shoulder and leaped up. With the sword she now mastered, she stabbed the Yeti in both eyes from below at the same time.
Stab!
Since they weren't daggers like the ones he used before, the sharp blade was enough to penetrate the Yeti's brain.
Boom!
Shortly afterwards, the Yeti collapsed to the ground with a loud noise and disappeared like a flash of light.
[You have killed a Yeti. EXP +3]
Unfortunately, there was no essence. If there had been, I would have given it directly to Missha.
It's a bad start so far.
Now there were only five essences, excluding the guardian's, to feed Missha.
"Hm? Why are you looking at me like that? Have I done something wrong?"
There should be at least one, right?
"You two. You work well as a team." With Mr. Bear's brief comment, we resumed our walk.
We entered the ice cave and, moving in formation, killed countless Frost Wolves, rank 9 monsters. These were the only ones that came out in this area.
[You have killed a Frost Wolf. EXP +1]
Anyway, Missha and I had to do some work here. Mr. Bear also killed some wolves with a crossbow, but not enough to compare to us.
He has a strong one-hit hit, but no wide offers.
As I wandered through the cave slowly analyzing Mr. Bear, the first chapter came to an end. It took us exactly six hours to get here, because we got lost many times.
...Not here either.
If I had made serious progress here, this chapter would have been covered in less than an hour. The topography was the same as that of the Blood Citadel dungeon.
Left, left, right, right, left, seven consecutive lines, left...
The pillars appeared at regular intervals. If you wanted to find your way through this place, it was easy to do. But I wasn't trying to probe them on purpose.
Someone who knows how to open a crack would have memorized a pattern as easy as this.
It came down to one of two things: The mafia wasn't a gambler, or they were pretending not to know.
Well, if I keep watching, I'll find a gap.
The second chapter continues there.
«It's kind of an ominous cave...»
We went down the ice stairs at the end of the cave and headed further underground. During this process, I carefully observed the actions of the group members. Here was a hidden piece. Nothing special, but breaking the third pillar of this room revealed an elixir, an object that increased cold resistance only once when taken.
Aren't they going to take this either?
Although we had already passed that point and reached the bottom of the stairs, no one behaved strangely.
Well, even if they know, they wouldn't do something so obvious. They can go back to the end and pick it up themselves.
I decided not to recklessly underestimate my opponent. The stronger he assumed the enemy was, the better. Well, at least that's what I thought.
«It looks like we've gone down a lot, but it's surprisingly bright», Carlson murmured behind me.
I had a similar feeling. The ice walls radiated white light as if the entire cave were made of transparent glass.
«You are quite beautiful».
«Yeah right? I thought the same».
«Hey, but what is that?» Jencia, who was chatting with Missha about a topic that was difficult to relate to, pointed to a huge cavity in front of us at the bottom of the stairs. At first glance, the striking, totem-like thing flaunted its presence in the center.
«Oh! I have touched it and it has shone».
«It could be dangerous, so back off».
«Ah, okay!» Jencia was nervous, thinking she might have done something wrong.
Mr. Bear laughed. «What are you surprised by? That looks like the key, anyway».
«¿La llave?»
«Well, I'm sure a few monsters will come out and then the way will open». Once again, Mr. Bear demonstrated a player mentality. In fact, his words were not wrong, although there were some things that needed to be corrected.
[The long-sealed tyrant has awakened].
In this chapter, it was not a few monsters that appeared, but a final mafia boss. Of course, the crack spilled a lot of trash before that.
¡Rumble!
The entire space vibrated and began to spill ice dust. Before long, a howl piercing the eardrums echoed throughout the place.
«Gwaaaaaaa!» The roar was second only to a Ground Lord in terms of intimidation.
[The ancient monsters who sense the existence of the tyrant have awakened from their long slumber].
¡Rómpanse!
Soon, the ice walls surrounding us fell off layer by layer and began to spit out demonic beasts.
«Grr...» The freshly thawed monsters slowly raised their bodies, as if they still had no strength.
«W-what do we do?»
«Huh, I didn't expect it to be like that», Mr. Bear murmured.
Give the orders. «Let's go to the stairs. There are no walls there».
«Yes, it's a good idea». Mr. Bear agreed with me.
The battle began. In the first wave, about 20 Frost Wolves appeared. Starting with the second wave, rank 8 monsters also gradually appeared: Saber Tigers and Wormstones, which we had fought in the Beast Lair, and the Ice Golems that only appeared here.
«¡Kyaaaaaa!»
«They can't seem to move well...»
«Oh, wasn't it just me?»
As this monster sprayed an aura of Slowing more as time passed, I crushed everyone I saw with the mace.
[You have killed an Ice Golem. EXP +2]
Since it was a crack that Missha and I were prepared to clear on our own in the first place, there was nothing too dangerous. However, he was sure that Jenson had to risk their lives. Still, we were able to clear them before the next wave.
Once you start getting pushed back is the end, but on the other hand, it's a pretty mundane chapter.
We reached the ninth wave in about 30 minutes. A Yeti appeared here once again. Of course, it was completely different from the first one we found. If that one was just a guardian, this one was more like a mid-level boss.
« ¡Koooooo! »
The Yeti appeared with the lower rank monsters. That alone increased the difficulty several times, but this time he was also a high-ranking mutant. Simply put, it had a name. In addition to a named monster having greater intelligence, its own name, and a unique story, it could also use another entity's ability.
[Snowfield Lord Katoomba has released Suppression.]
«Huh! W-What! Why my body...?»
This Yeti's additional ability was Stone Golem Suppression. It was the same thing the looting bastards used on me once. The method of destruction was simple.
«Huh! Again...! Everyone be careful! That monster is using something Q-!»
Either you get beaten up by some trash mob every time your body freezes like Carlson there, or you keep biting your tongue like I told Missha beforehand to keep the bleeding going.
«Ugh.»
[Your Mana Resistance is above a certain level. There is perfect resistance to that effect].
If not, prepare Mana Resistance statistics in advance. Since the Suppression had the tricky ability to impose a temporary inability to act, it was considered easy to destroy. That was probably the reason why this was just a rank 8 monster.
«¡Behell-aaaaaaaaaah!»
After increasing the aggro level using Wild Blast, I ran forward. Whether Jenson was almost half dead or not, if I didn't get rid of him before the next wave, I'd be in trouble too.
[You have taken cold damage from Chill].
When I stood in the center, the Yeti - was it called Katoomba? Anyway, starting with this bastard, all kinds of trash mobs started sticking to me. I only focused on Katoomba, because having rank 8 or 9 monsters attached to me only tickled me.
«Don't get off of me!» Missha, whose pronunciation was made even worse by biting her tongue, followed me closely and eliminated the monsters around her. The way he moved with the twin daggers seemed like he was dancing.
[Snowfield Lord Katoomba has released Chill Rash].
Was it because I looked away for a moment? I couldn't avoid or block the blizzard that the bastard vomited. My skin hurt because I had no resistance to the cold.
But everything else is fine.
As this body regenerated instantly, it did not reach freezing point. I fought even more aggressively with the Yeti.
«If you don't want to die, get out of here quickly», Mr. Bear murmured so he could hear it.
[Abman Urikfried has launched Improvement. The effect of the next active skill used increases in proportion to Soul Power].
[Abman Urikfried has released Hazardous Materials.]
For some reason, my instincts told me to listen to that man's warning.
Dash.
The moment I got up from the ground and widened the distance, he shot an arrow.
¡Wooooom! ¡Kaaaaaaang!
As soon as it hit the Yeti's head, it exploded, spitting flames within a three-meter radius. Compared to the wide area magic Raven used, it couldn't be said to have great range, but all the monsters inside were dead.
«What kind of arrow d-does that?!»
Therefore, I modified the information about Mr. Bear that I had been collecting little by little. I thought it was a one-form nuker, but it had an Area of Effect attack.
[Bonus for killing a top class mutant. EXP +1]
In fact, I wasn't sure if it was a wide area skill, but anyway. Thanks to showing all his strength, the ninth wave ended easily.
"A-An essence!"
The settling period came a little too soon. A mana stone could be collected later, but not an essence.
"Two at a time. It's good luck." Mr. Bear didn't show much interest in the essences and simply said that we could each take one.
I had a similar feeling, at least halfway. "You two take care of the red one over there." I had no interest in the Frost Wolf or Sabre Tiger essence. "We'll take this one instead." A blue essence floated in the place where the Yeti had last been alive.
Carlson asked, stuttering, "Could it be the essence of the Yeti?"
"Do you have any complaints?"
"Of course not. I don't have any." As if trying to shake off his greed, Carlson shook his hand exaggeratedly and took a step back. He seemed a little disappointed.
If you think it's unfair, you should become stronger, shouldn't you? Strength is invincibility and godhood in this world.
"Then there's no problem."
I called Misha right away, but it seemed she'd misunderstood something. "Congratulations, Bjorn. You'll get even stronger!"
"What are you talking about? This is yours."
"Hmm? Are you giving me this…?" Missha's words of sincere congratulations stopped as she stiffened. Then she asked carefully, "It's not that I don't want it, no, I really do, but… I'm just asking in case, so don't misunderstand me, okay?"
"Say it."
"…How much do I have to pay for this?"
Does this kid think I'm an evil boss?