Chapter 25 First Boss

The ice walls shimmered with light as she held up her hand. The fingerless gloves appeared on her hands without her having to put them on. A surge of power ran through her. Without wasting valuable time, she clenched her fists. The squeak of the leather comforted her as Oz ran out after Nahern.

Right before the safe room was a group of ice spiders. Her stomach dropped at the sight.

[Level 14 Ice Spider]

Dialog boxes glowed over the group of nine, their names in a soft orange tint. Oz squeezed her hands tighter, she could do this. She had to do this.

"You take those three to start, Saint." Nahern slid his glass sword free of its sheath. "I will make sure you are not overwhelmed."

Oz blinked at that, unable to help the low whine. "Fine. Fine."

She eyed the monstrous spiders, chittering at her. Everywhere their spindly sharp legs touched, an extra layer of ice formed. With her fists tight, she leapt into the fight.

The spiders were quick, but Oz was quicker. The world felt in slow motion as she allowed herself to go full out.

SKIRR!!

Screamed one of the spiders, enraged at her boldness. Usually hunters kept a distance from the massive creatures, the largest of the spiders was as large as a small car. Despite the size they were incredibly fast, horrid venom dripped from their fangs.

She dodged their attacks and struck back with her own.

SKIRRR! SKIRRT!

Like with the mercenary before, she felt a surge in the ring now on her middle finger. A cold gust of wind surrounded her hands, soon encased in ice. Yet she felt no cold. Dodging an icy blast of web. She shattered the large spiders' legs, one by one, and then their bodies. Soon, all that was left of them were piles of ice and chitin.

[Three monster cores acquired.]

Oz stood over the defeated spiders, her chest heaving. She wiped her brow on the back of her leather wrapped arm. Nahern stood to the side, motioning with his sword for her to continue.

Oz bit back a curse, her muscles already aching as she leapt into the fray. The white robe flew around her like a death shroud.

Five spiders all skirting and throwing their icy webs in her direction. Oz never felt so light on her feet, parkouring off the icy back of one spider to bring her fist down and through the face of another.

[Blood Lust has Leveled up! Level 2 effects in action. A bonus of 5% Attack will be added for each death]

She barely noticed the dialog box as she ripped her ice encrusted fist from the ground, her heart racing in her chest. She never felt so alive in her life. The spiders were technically stronger than her, but she had the speed and power to knock them into ice shards.

Oz ducked under a web and rolled to the side, avoiding another strike from the enraged insect.

'Not Insect, arthropod' Oz distantly thought, rolling out of the way of a striking leg. She lashed out with her foot, kicking one of the spiders in the face. It staggered back, stunned, and Oz took advantage of the opening to slam her fist into its abdomen. The spider collapsed to the ground, dead.

Oz turned to face the other spiders, her eyes narrowed. She knew she couldn't take them all on at once, but she was determined to give them a fight. She charged forward, fists tight to her chest. A sword would come in handy right now with some distance between her and those fangs, but she was a front combat fighter now.

The spiders scattered, but Oz was too quick for them. She dodged their webs and struck back with deadly precision. One by one, the spiders shattered.

Finally, only one spider remained. It was larger than the others, and its eyes were filled with hatred. It charged at Oz, its fangs bared.

Oz met the spider's charge head-on, her fists smashed right into one of its fangs. The two of them fought furiously, neither one able to gain an advantage.

"Come on you ugly bastard." She grumbled, slamming her fist into the creature's face. The spider screamed in complaint, sending a blast of icy webs at her. She dodged, barely. Her arm tangled in the freezing webs. Finally, Oz saw an opening. She lunged forward with a scream, pulling the web hard so the spider was dragged forward. She felt the magic of her grandfather's ring race through her again. All at once, the air super froze around her and she slammed her full strength into the spider. It atomized into sparkling dust.

Oz stood over the bodies, her chest heaving. She had won, but it had been a close fight.

"How was that?" She wheezed out.

Nahern frowned as he looked over the mess. "C"

Her head shot up at that, "C?! I murdered those bastards."

"You should have been able to finish those spiders in less than two minutes. It took you ten." Nahern said, a slight smile on his face.

Oz wanted to slap that smirk off before glaring.

"This is all new for me. My job wasn't to fight, it was just to move product."

"I can tell." Nahern motioned for her to follow. "Come, I'll teach you how to properly fight Saint. You are the Dragon's Saint, you need to fight with grace. Not like you are in a dog fight."

Oz waved her hand over the remaining bodies, absorbing the experience and monster cores.

[Five monster cores acquired. Ice Spider Fang acquired.]

She paused at that, eyeing the dialog box. She tapped the sudden box, seeing the special fang in her inventory. Tapping it again, she brought up the inspection box.

[Level 12 Ice Spider Fang : Dripping with venom, it will freeze enemies for status damage. Attach to a weapon slot for bonus.]

Oz rubbed her cheek seeing that, a nice status boost but it would be useless in a dungeon of ice monsters. For now she would hold on to it for later.

"Come along, Saint."

She grumbled at Nahern's tone but chased after. Her anger was tempered by the allure of learning more. Even if he was an insufferable jerk.