Name: Rue Hazard.
Level: 36 → 40.
Class: ArchMage-Knight of Frost.
Creation Point: 230,000 → 19,000.
Authority: Authority of Frost.
Core: Arch—Core.
Mana: 255/915 →621/1120
Strength: 53 → 59
Dexterity: 42 → 47
Constitution: 47 → 52
Mind: 79 → 87
Sense: 52 → 55
Arcanery: 105 → 115
[Knight Spell (3/3) → (4/6)]
- Frost Sword [335] [Lesser-Piece] [Common]
- Stasis of Obsidian Ice [54,822] [Archon-Piece] [Mystic]
- Hearts of Frost Knight [332] [Lesser-Piece] [Uncommon]—Increase Frost regeneration.
- Frost Mend [55] [Fragile-Piece][Uncommon]
[Mage Spell (4/6)]
- Frost Blast [88] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]
- Frost Shrapnel [225] [Fragile-Piece] [Common] → Frost Shrapnels [121] [Lesser-Piece] [Common]—Form Extra Frost Shrapnel with more Mana spent.
- Ice Embrace [95] [Fragile-Pieces] [Rare]
- Frost Blood [53] [Fragile-Piece][Rare]
[Knight Spell Option]
[Frost Shield][Fragile-Piece][Common]—With the power of frost, summon forth a shield of frost. Frost Shield’s size will increase and decrease depending on the mana applied by the Frost Knight.
[Winter Resilience][Fragile-Piece][Uncommon]—Cold no longer hinders the Frost Knight—it strengthens him. Winter Resilience grants additional strength and further regeneration if the Frost Knight is exposed to a cold environment, using out-of-body cold as an extra Frost property, absorbing and converting it inside the Frost Knight’s body.
[Mage Skill Option]
[Frost Sigil][Fragile-Piece][Common]—One ought to be careful to step onto a strange sigil; it might sprout a savage, sharp crystal that could pierce any armor. Draw a sigil of frost and plant Frost Mage’s mana upon it. The Sigil will respond and summon stalagmites up.
[HoarFrost Haze][Fragile-Piece][Uncommon]—Sight is one of the most valuable senses during a fight. If you took it away, what chance is there? Summon a suffocating cold mist. Distort vision, and cause the enemy to struggle to breathe as intense cold invade and envelops them. Frost Mage will obtain a sense of where the enemies are inside HoarFrost Haze.
Hm, this time. It was not hard to decide which he would go for. Winter Resilience and Hoarfrost Haze just seemed miles better than the other two.
Actually.
Winter Resilience would only work if he were exposed to cold; whereas he could simply summon the Frost Shield. In a way, if his class were just Knight rather than Mage-Knight, then going with the shield might be a better option. But his Frost Shrapnels’ sheer power was something he could not ignore.
Rue could easily imagine when he mastered fighting with one sword and a wand or staff in the other hand, allowing him to keep launching magic and handle a close-range fighter. Yes, Winter Resilience would be the choice. Besides, who knows, he might just rub his frost sword to heal. It might sound ridiculous…
Well, that's what the skill describes, though…
HoarFrost Haze was exciting; Frost Sigil was interesting, but the ability to summon a mist? And if he read it right, he could get a sense of his enemy's location inside it. One thing Rue wished he knew was the Mana cost of this spell, though.
Not a hard choice.
Name: Rue Hazard.
Level: 40.
Class: ArchMage-Knight of Frost.
Creation Point: 19,000.
Authority: Authority of Frost.
Core: Arch—Core.
Mana: 921/1120.
Strength: 59
Dexterity: 47
Constitution: 52
Mind: 87
Sense: 55
Arcanery: 115
[Knight Spell (5/6)]
- Frost Sword [335] [Lesser-Piece] [Common]
- Stasis of Obsidian Ice [54,822] [Archon-Piece] [Mystic]
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- Hearts of Frost Knight [332] [Lesser-Piece] [Uncommon]—Increase Frost regeneration.
- Frost Mend [55] [Fragile-Piece] [Uncommon]
- Winter Resiliance [0][Fragile-Piece][Uncommon]
[Mage Spell (5/6)]
- Frost Blast [88] [Fragile-Piece] [Common]
- Frost Shrapnel [225] [Fragile-Piece] [Common] → Frost Shrapnels [121] [Lesser-Piece] [Common]—Form Extra Frost Shrapnel with more Mana spent.
- Ice Embrace [95] [Fragile-Pieces] [Rare]
- Frost Blood [53] [Fragile-Piece] [Rare]
- HoarFrost Haze [0] [Fragile-Piece] [Uncommon]
After drinking almost all of his mana potion, they walked through the stadium’s gate. Rue could not help but stop at the sight of it. Green sludge melted away parts of the gate, which stood at least as tall as a two-story house. The Arbeau’s gate was capable of welcoming about two dozen lines at once, as it was deemed necessary because the hundred thousand seats inside were often sold out by the rich of society.
They were the same rich folks who were second in line for Rue’s blood.
And now the universe itself doomed them. Rue thought, a twang of satisfaction brimmed inside of him. Yet, the same universe—the System now offered him rewards to help them.
I’m just doing this for my armor.
“Let’s go then,” Ein prompted.
Rue just realised he stopped dead right in front of the entrance, which looked like a gaping tooth with sludge around it. He stepped inside, careful not to step on the pooling acid below him. A hiss climbed up from the acid. Inside, it was everywhere. Like the rats decided to throw up all of their bladders.
Black char ran across the large circular entrance, where, by all means, moonlight should stream in from Arbeau’s glasses and bring in a sense of peace; instead, all the thin shutters were brought down and darkness covered everything.
Luckily, the neon light above flickered albeit weakly. That was enough for Rue to see the straight tunnel leading into the court.
It was so straightforward…
Blood stained the tunnel all the way up to the tunnel’s roofing, which stood at three meters tall. Bodies were strewn over, and there were no rats. Rue looked farther, carefully placing his hand on the tunnel entrance, and peeked.
The court bathed in moonlight. Clear grass swayed by strong winds. If not for the blood, Rue believed he could almost smell the grass. Strangely, and perhaps bizarrely, he saw a table where someone was sitting just behind it, with attendant rats around it. Amid the cacophony of screams, it just sat, doing something that Rue could not identify.
“Do we just rush in?” Edna asked above his head.
“Nah, let’s get distance; gather people first before we go to the center, especially old Fruer, that old bastard must still be alive somehow. Let's take the stairs, lad.” Ben said.
It was not clear whether he asked Rue or Ein, but the latter instead said: “What do you think? James?”
Rue signalled for the book again, and wrote on it above the floor, where he almost foolishly destroyed the book thanks to a green smudge of acid spread randomly.
“All of you take the stairs, gather people, and prepare to charge down… And I will just rush ahead and plant the tree…” Ein read. “Are you sure about this?”
“We wouldn’t be able to help him anyway, lad—ah, shit.” Ben cursed.
Rue whirled around to see three Tall-rats just casually stumbling inside.
Yeah, shit.
He stood briskly, hefting his sword up. The others began to file behind him, about to retreat toward the right side of the entrance lobby, but then another two Tall-Rats and several Drip rats sauntered in, chirping, and they stopped the moment they saw him.
“In! go! Sidestair!” Ein shouted, running inside the tunnel with Ben and Edna.
There was a side stair?
Rue’s thought was cut off. Two Tall-rats charged at him. Their legs glowed with a green surge of acid, bubbling over their furs.
The next instant, four daggers whipped across him with the figure of two Tall-rats.
Rue got his sword up diagonally, holding the end with his left arm. By sheer luck, all strikes swung at him were downward slashes.
Good, he could now counter—
His sword broke apart into four parts, cracked and busted in an explosion of dark mist.
Of course…
Rue was about to summon his sword again, but quickly decided against it. He retreated, but the Tall-rats already found their balance and were about to lunge at him.
HoarFrost—
Two daggers impaled through his shoulder and chest. Pain exploded; he clenched his hands—the next thing he knew, a blur of movement followed immediately. Another two daggers pierced his hip and upper thigh. The second rat could not target any killing stab because the other rats blocked it. Perhaps it was sheer luck. Rue did not care.
His armor was breaking.
Rue lifted his head despite the pain. His body convulsed, and he slammed his forehead to the left rat, breaking its nose, and it gurgled backward. The right one, however, withdrew its sword, about to finish him.
Then an intense draft of dark, cold vapor rushed out of Rue’s body, blanketing the tunnel and pushing the rats away.
Intense cold gathered like a sudden winter. Rue’s mind opened as he sensed about two dozen figures inside him. Inside this haze.
A crack pounded through the air, pushing the pocket of wind apart. His armor started to fracture. But, this cold—this misty, harsh cold held it together. Deep inside Rue, he got the sense that the damage was too much, and all of his spells could not hold onto the obsidian armor. Which was why he needed to make this count.
He reached into his doctor’s pocket and wove his wand forward, conjuring eight Frost Shrapnels that formed far faster. Beyond him, they gathered. Three moved faster, and they stopped along with maybe fifteen of them.
A sense of dread drummed inside of him. Acid!
Green slosh fired off through the dark mist, and a jet of green acid also followed. All of them spread in a wide area because they did not know where Rue was. But one of the acid jets headed straight at him.
Focus on the Tall-rats.
Rue released his Shrapnels.
One met the acid head-on, and the dark obsidian ice thundered ahead, uncaring of the acid. All of his spells caused a huge crack, followed by an immediate wail of cries. Impact shuddered, and a kill notification started to appear. But Rue ignored all of them.
The two Tall-rats from the start already gathered their wit and attacked him. Four cruel jade glows rushed at him. Rue summoned his sword, and it formed fast—it was not just his sword, but Rue could sense their hands, the way they were moving. Rue pushed himself up—he positioned his sword like a rapier and stabbed to his left.
One rat's arms were wide apart, causing the two daggers to be separated too far from the Tall-rat's main body. It exposed too much without committing to defense. Rue gored through its chest and slid his sword past its entire body in the middle of both of its daggers that flailed wildly.
Surging onward, Rue crushed the Tall-rat into the tunnel’s wall. The canister broke apart, and the Tall-rat’s head reeled from the impact. Rue turned his sword sideways and sheared apart its inside, killing it.
He did not waste any more time. Rue charged toward the part where two other daggers glowed still brightly. An idea struck him. He came to a stop and raised his sword, then he threw it with a spin. His sword whirred through the air, and the other Tall-rat let out a scream before it quickly died.
Resummoning his sword, Rue faced the rest, but—
Mana: 0/1120.
The Hoarfrost Haze was blown apart into nothing. Mist swirled out of existence, and Rue was left by a tunnel full of the dead—his work.
Still, panic gripped him. He tried to clench his sword, but instead, he clenched air. Right, his mana was gone, and his sword too.
Without thinking further, Rue ran to a nearby Tall-rat, the one on his left, and yanked both of its daggers off those wire-tubes, kicking its body for support. The wall hissed thanks to the canister that broke against it, causing acid to slither down.
Rue tapped both daggers onto it, absorbing the acid into the daggers.
It glowed brightly, and he turned to face—nothing.
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Tall Rat—Level 41]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Tall Rat—Level 41]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Tall Rat—Level 43]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Tall Rat—Level 39]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Tall Rat—Level 40]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 11]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 15]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 10]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 18]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 15]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 15]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 8]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 15]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 12]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 9]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 11]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 12]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 12]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 15]
[You have Slain Blight Rat, Drip Rat—Level 11]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
[Level Up]
“W—What?” Rue panted, dragging cold air inside of him.
Are all of them dead? How?
Then he saw the answer in the Drip Rats. His Frost Shrapnels had shattered, killing the Tall-rats; and opening various Drip rats, and from it, a dark frost crept in. Their mouths opened, like they were—
“Choked to death,” Rue muttered.
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