Chapter 28 - Frozen Witches

The frozen witches were a scary sight, their icy forms twisted and contorted by the ice magic that had consumed them. Their once graceful figures were now encased in ice, their delicate features frozen in expressions of agony and despair. Shimmering crystals of frost clung to their hair and clothing, creating an ethereal glow in the dim light.

Despite their frozen state, the witches seemed to exude an aura of malevolence, their eyes glowing with an otherworldly light that sent shivers down Zack's spine. Each witch bore the marks of their icy prison, with jagged shards of ice protruding from their limbs and torsos like cruel spikes. It was as if the very essence of winter had taken hold of them, trapping them in an eternal prison of ice and darkness.

"These are the most humanoid-looking monsters that I have seen so far… where do these guys come from?" Zack furrowed his eyebrows in confusion. "I don't know what can we use them for, but… I guess I will have to find out."

Maybe the ice parts of their bodies could be used in place of freezers. Then, the world wouldn't have to rely on electric energy to keep things cold and last for a long time, and weird gases wouldn't come from freezers, either.

In any case, the frozen witches moved around from one place to the other with no clear goal in mind. They could also fly by emitting cold wind from the soles of their feet. Maybe that was why Zack felt that the surroundings were way too cold, even though he was wearing clothes for winter.

In any case, Zack took some goblin axes from his inventory and threw them using Auto Aim at the necks of the monsters. Much to his surprise, the weapons only reached the middle of the monsters It had been enough to kill them, but they didn't look that way, though.

(You received 50 XP.)

(You received 50 XP.)

(You received 50 XP.)

"Nice, very nice," Zack thought.

Zack also decided to take a bit of the dire wolf's fur and cover his shoulders with it. That helped a lot, even though the fur was pretty smelly. In any case, he went to check the bodies of the frozen witches and recovered the axes… they were getting colder and colder, so Zack felt his hands turning a bit numb thanks to it.

"Yeah… I can't even imagine what parts of their bodies can be useful," Zack thought while scratching the back of his head. "The difficult thing about conquering new territories are these: learning the best ways to dispose of the enemies, finding how they can be used after death like their parts, and learning their patterns."

That job had to be done, so Zack broke with his sword the ice parts that left their bodies like bones and stored them away. He also checked their bodies, but he didn't see anything useful. They were wearing ragged dresses that seemed like a thin layer of ice, but that was melting, too, revealing that they looked even more dead-looking than zombies.

In the end, while Zack didn't like that, he checked even the monsters' teeth and nails, but they didn't seem special either. The only thing that he could do now was check the organs of the beast… he heard that some magical creatures had cores, and the frozen witches fit that criteria.

"Ugh, this is the worst," Zack thought and then sighed.

It felt weird to do that to something that looked like a human, so Zack decided to leave the bodies alone for now. Still, when he found the next frozen witches, he used Auto Aim to hit other parts of their bodies and soon confirmed that their stomachs were quite hard, and the axes froze much faster than before. One of them even turned into a crystal and cracked completely.

"Well, it was bound to happen. My life as a hunter couldn't be this convenient," Zack thought.

Using his sword, Zack opened the stomach of the monsters and soon found a blue and round sphere that seemed like the magic core of the monsters. As soon as that was removed, the bodies of the monsters began to age insanely fast. In less than five minutes, they turned into dust.

Zack had encountered similar situations before, particularly with the cores of creatures like the giant ice slimes. With that in mind, he decided to take a risk. Selecting one of the frozen witch cores, Zack absorbed it with the sword. The core dissolved into a shimmering mist that enveloped the blade, causing it to glow with an icy blue light.

As the transformation took hold, the sword began to change. Frost crept along its length, encasing it in a layer of shimmering ice. The hilt morphed into the shape of a gnarled goblin's hand, its fingers frozen into a grasping grip around the blade.

The blade itself took on a new appearance. Its edges sharpened to a razor-like point that gleamed with an otherworldly frost. Jagged icicles jutted out from its surface, making it appear menacing and formidable.

"It feels lighter… and when I swing it, crystal dust falls from it," Zack thought, and then touched the snow on the ground. The snow froze almost immediately.