Chapter 107: Rapid Freeze
Walfred pulled out the spoils he’d earned from exterminating the Spirit King one by one and set them on the floor.
Three skill books in all.
An egg about the size of a chicken egg. A necklace set with a deep blue jewel, and a stamp carved from ice.
’First, this one.’
A book in the form of a red hardcover.
A skill book noticeably thicker than the others.
It was the [Skill Book - Ultimate].
-----
[Name]: Skill Book - Ultimate
[Effect]: Opening the book grants one random ultimate skill suited to the user’s attribute.
[Usage Requirement]: A-rank or above
[Currently unusable.]
-----
The moment he read the details,
Walfred let out a short sigh.
"...Ah."
The name alone had made him expect he could learn some kind of finishing move, but he realized the usage requirement made learning it outright impossible.
’To think it can only be used starting at A-rank.’
He’d have to hurry up, take the trial, and get promoted first.
After sighing in disappointment,
Walfred tucked the skill book carefully into his backpack. Then he opened a regular skill book.
Flash!
The skill book vanished in a burst of light.
Soon a new skill appeared.
-----
[Combat: Ice Spear (Lv.1)]
[Creates a spear for long-range throwing.]
[Ice Spear can absorb mana and cold for up to 30 seconds, and its size and power vary with the amount of mana and cold absorbed.]
[In addition, any target struck by Ice Spear is afflicted with ’Slow’.]
▷Mana cost: 40 per second
▷Maximum held: 1
▶Slow effect: -40% (lasts 60 seconds)
-----
A long-range attack skill.
[Ice Spear] worked on almost the same mechanism as the melee charge weapon of [Frozen Weapon] he often used, the ’ice hammer.’
The differences were that it attacked by throwing a spear from a distance and that it came with a Slow effect. And that its mana consumption was heavier than the ’ice hammer.’
’If I throw it fully charged...’
A full 1,200 mana would evaporate in one shot.
For a single-use strike, the mana cost was on the high side, but honestly, as long as the power was strong, that was fine by him.
On top of that, it came with a Slow effect, so it’d be handy against Elite Monsters. Satisfied, Walfred opened the second skill book.
And then.
-----
[Support: Rapid Freeze (Lv.1)]
[Freezes any target touched by the hand.]
[Targets frozen by Rapid Freeze are afflicted with the ’Chill’ debuff, and the freezing speed is proportional to the caster’s physical enhancement.]
▷Active / [Inactive]
▷Mana cost: Variable
▷Duration: Variable
▶Chill effect: All physical abilities -30%
-----
This time a support skill appeared.
The kind of skill that could freeze a target just by placing his hand on it. Its defining feature was that it could be freely toggled on and off.
’Should I give it a test?’
His curiosity piqued, Walfred carefully lifted Elsa so as not to wake her, then rose to his feet.
And with his hand pressed against the wall,
He activated [Rapid Freeze].
And in that instant.
Crack! Krrrrrunch!
Centered on the wall where his palm touched,
Intense cold burst out, and the wall froze over in the blink of an eye.
That wasn’t all.
"Uh, uh?"
As if to prove the name [Rapid Freeze], the ceiling and floor froze solid in an instant as well.
Left as it was, it looked ready to turn the entire shelter into an icebox, so Walfred hurriedly pulled his hand off the wall and deactivated [Rapid Freeze].
’...This is beyond what I imagined.’
He never expected the freezing speed to be this fast.
It was probably because of the trait mentioned in the skill details, ’the freezing speed is proportional to the caster’s physical enhancement.’
Right now Walfred’s physical abilities were enormously boosted by all sorts of blessings and passives.
’Especially if I use it in a fight against many enemies...’
It would surely be a big help.
He could freeze the ground to keep enemies from moving, and he could weaken them with the ’Chill’ debuff.
’That’s it for the skills.’
Next it was time to look at the tangible spoils. Of those, Walfred first grabbed the egg-shaped item made of ice.
-----
[Name]: Frost Soul Egg
[Rank]: Legend
[A soul with the qualities of a new Spirit King dwells within. If you continuously infuse it with mana and bond with it, it may one day hatch.]
-----
After reading the details,
Walfred quietly frowned.
"Hmm, this is kind of..."
It didn’t look particularly useful.
It said it would hatch if he infused it with mana, but there was nothing written about when it would hatch.
If it became an ally after hatching, that’d be reassuring beyond words, but the problem was there was no telling when.
’I’ll just give it to Elsa.’
When they’d first come face to face with the Spirit King,
Elsa had pointed at it and said it was cute and that she wanted to raise it.
Besides, mana was the one thing Elsa had to spare, so she was perfect for infusing the egg with it.
Plunk!
Walfred set the Spirit King’s egg down beside the soundly sleeping Elsa. Then he picked up the necklace that scattered a brilliant blue light.
[Name]: Necklace of the Frost Spirit King
[Rank]: Legend
-----
[Special Skill]: Permafrost
[A necklace imbued with the power of the Frost Spirit King.]
[Grasp the gem at the center of the necklace and recite the command to transform the surrounding area into the Frost Spirit King’s domain, (Permafrost).]
▷Effective range: 0.6-mile radius
▷Duration: 1 hour
▷Activation command: ’Freeze over.’
▶Cooldown: 24 hours
-----
The necklace’s ability was intuitive.
Anytime, anywhere, whenever he wanted, it could completely freeze the space within a 0.6-mile radius.
If he had to put it a certain way, it was the ability to create a kind of miniature White Dome.
’A little iffy, though.’
Walfred, on the other hand, narrowed his brow.
In a situation like now, with the whole world frozen over, all his blessings and buffs applied without him even needing to use the necklace’s ability.
’But still...’
If, when the (Permafrost) was created, the surrounding temperature dropped below -148°F, then it would definitely become a meaningful skill.
Deciding to test it later, Walfred hung the Necklace of the Frost Spirit King around his neck. Then he grabbed the last remaining piece of loot.
-----
[Name]: Mark of the Spirit Devourer
[Rank]: Legend
[Strikes fear into all spirits, weakening them, and they will not attack first. Obtained by exterminating a Spirit King with a contribution of 70% or higher.]
▷Weakened: All abilities -50%
▶Usage: Place it on the desired body part and say ’Mark’ to activate automatically.
-----
The mark’s effect was quite useful.
When it came to spirit-type monsters specifically, it was a straight upgrade over Elsa’s [Frost Resonance].
On top of letting him avoid a preemptive strike, it also cut the enemy’s abilities in half.
’I’d better engrave this one.’
It would come in handy down the line if he ran into spirits of other attributes. Walfred brought the stamp to the inner part of his right elbow.
And then.
"Mark."
The instant those words left his mouth,
A searing, burning pain ran across his skin. A moment later, once the pain subsided, a mark the size of a palm was etched into his skin.
Ding!
[The Mark has been successfully used.]
[Mark of the Spirit Devourer: Activated]
[Held Marks: 2/12]
With that, he now had two marks.
Having finished checking every last piece of loot, Walfred leaned his back against the wall and let out a sigh.
"Whew."
Maybe it was because his body had been enhanced to its limit earlier. As the physical enhancement wore off, his muscles ached and every joint in his body throbbed. Along with it, a strong wave of fatigue washed over him.
’Guess I should catch some sleep too.’
Walfred lay down at an angle beside Elsa.
But he didn’t fall asleep right away.
Maybe because his body was too exhausted, sleep wouldn’t come easily. So he decided to browse the Hunter Community a bit until he drifted off.
’Oh, come to think of it...’
Unlike with the Bone Drake.
This time the formidable enemy extermination alert seemed to have appeared not just across New York but across all of New America Republic.
So the community was probably in complete chaos by now, wasn’t it? With that idle thought, Walfred logged into the community.
And a little while later.
[Whoa, lol Walfred, this crazy son of a bitch lol]
[Soloing the Spirit King is fucking...]
[This really makes you feel the wall.]
[No but seriously, what the hell is this guy?]
[Isn’t he something wearing a human mask?]
Walfred witnessed it.
The sight of every single board on the Hunter Community plastered with his name.