Oogway : One often meets his destiny on the road he takes to avoid it.
.....
The next second, I stood in front of Gorr. He didn't look the slightest bit tired, but if he were alive, the skills he used, such as "Self Harm," would come at a greater cost. He would have been near the death door if he wasn't already undead. That's one of the greatest perks for him; now he can use skills like that without care.
"Amazing work, Gorr. I never expected the creature to be this powerful, but you fought him brilliantly using both your head and your skills."
"Mooo-Mooooo," Gorr screamed as if accepting my praises.
As I looked over the sprawled-out body of the huge ice monster, I saw three sources of light coming from its body.
With a delighted face, I stretched my hand towards the light.
Ding~
[You've found "Frostbite."
Would you like to acquire it?
You've found a Runestone containing the skill "Freeze."
Would you like to acquire it?
Of course, I will "Acquire all."
You've found a flask containing "The Blood Of Ice Behemoth."
Would you like to acquire it?]
I could not hide my happiness.
'Acquire all.'
As I spoke, a dagger made out of pure ice with steel and a glass flask containing a red substance, which was most likely blood, and a runestone made out of ice appeared in my outstretched hand.
[FrostBite
Rarity: A
Type: Dagger
Attack Power +120
Inflicts 'Cold damage' and Freeze on the attack.
'Freeze': The target has a chance to become immobilized.
'Cold damage': The target will lose 1% defense per second.
Inflicts "Cold damage" over time with every attack, lowering the defense of the target.
It's a dagger forged from the last remains of the Ice Behemoth of the coldest mountain, specialized in ice damage.
You may keep this item in your inventory.
You may sell this item in the shop.
I nodded as I read the item's description. It is a nice addition to my collection.
Its stats and effects are pretty good. Of course, I will keep it as one of my main weapons. With its infecting cold damage, lowering the defense, it's pretty good.
I looked at the flask next.
[The Blood Of Ice Behemoth
Rarity: A+
Type: Elixir
Buff "Ice Behemoth" essence applied on consumption.
Debuff 'Always Cold' applied on consumption.
Complete immunity to cold weather on consumption.
20% Resistance to cold, frost, Ice attacks.
Cold will follow you.
A container containing the refined essence of the Ice Behemoth. Drinking it will permanently give you cold essence, but the cold will also permanently follow you.
Rare drop from the Ice Behemoth.
You may keep this item in your inventory.]
A small stone with runes inscribed on it was in my hand.
[Runestone: Freeze
Break the Runestone to absorb the skill.
Breaking this would give him access to 'Freeze'.]
My expressions were full of joy as I looked at the screen. These items are priceless. The dagger, especially the blood and the freeze skill, all of them are great. But what is even greater is laid in front of me.
I thought as I looked at the corpse of the Ice Behemoth with great confidence, I spoke a word.
"Arise!"
Uwaaaaah-
The familiar deep scream rang forth from its shadow as a child ran down my back. The weather around us got even colder as the air itself froze.
With it, a giant hand came out of the Ice Behemoth's shadow and pulled itself out.
[You've succeeded in Shadow Extraction.]
'Of course!'
[The Monarch's voice pulled forth the fighting spirit of the fallen one.]
[You've succeeded in Shadow Strengthening!
The Shadow's level will start at 3.]
Great, unlike RNG being kind to him. Unlike poor Iron, who didn't get any level up and got fewer level ups than Gorr.
Even though he was called the Ice Behemoth, he wasn't taller than the Ice Giants; he was ⅓ of their size. But it wasn't about his size, it was about his power as a massive four-legged beast with ice spikes all over his body.
He had the appearance of an insect walking on four feet - a fusion between a dragon and a Betal. With a tail twice as long as his height, he was covered in sharp spikes like icicles and had a strong jaw that could easily snap people's.
With a breathtaking cold air, the pale blue, hardened bone armor oozed out diamond dust like bright light. His shoulders and back looked like huge, uplifted icebergs that resembled four huge wings.
Of course, now he was pitch black, and with every passing second, the air around him grew colder and colder. The beast gave off an incredible sense of danger.
'Man, I knew he would be amazing, but this thing is...'
I couldn't help but be amazed by the power of the beast in such a rich circumstance and with a lot of luck, he could beat him in this form as he is now immortal.
Please choose a name for the soldier.
A name rang in my mind as I spoke out loud without realizing.
"Zelos."
Mm, not bad, as it's for the zealous Romanian ice dragon. Even though you are not a dagorn, you are pretty similar to it. Yes, "Zelos."
Ding!
Zelos (Lv. 3)
Veteran Elite Knight Grade.
.....
*Time Skip*
After taking down everything, I returned to the campsite and found everyone was doing well, and nothing attacked them.
So I looked at the ice elf boss whose neck I just broke using only my strength.
Even still, the ice elf grabbed my wrist.
CRASH!
Ding!
You've defeated the boss of the Dungeon.
You've leveled up!
'Phew, it's finally over.'
I sighed as I did nothing but hunt these days. It was a difficult thing, especially when I just missed the Ice Elf female.
But it was a good idea to explore the place. It gave some of the most amazing things, and with that, my army was even stronger.
I was about to catch my breath, but then I noticed Iron.
"Hey, hey, that's enough."
As he was still chopping the last few trees that were standing, yes, I stripped even the trees in the forest.
Just to find if there was something special about the tree, plus it was a resource Earth needs, hahaha.
"..."
I even tried to mine to find any minerals inside the place and how deep I could go. But after wasting more than three hours, I stopped as there was nothing in the crust of this place.
I smiled widely again. My reward after a fight was waiting beneath my feet.
The God of Death gave the command with a subdued voice.
"Arise."
.....
*3rd Person Pov*
It was already 11 AM.
The faces of the four men guarding the area were dark. Unable to take it any longer, Hyun Gicheol spoke up.
"We'll keep watch here. Why don't you turn in for the night, Guildmaster?"
"The members of my Guild are in there. How could I rest at a time like this?"
Baek Yoonho was determined. As the master of the Guild and an S-rank Hunter, he could not leave this spot. It had been more than 8 hours now, and everyone was aware of the situation.
Even the families of the people who entered the red gate started to call them, and he didn't know how to answer them.
Do I give them hope or despair?
I don't know, but after 8 days, everyone has started to give up the last hopes they had.
Suddenly, he was interrupted from his thoughts by Ahn Sangmin, who shouted in surprise.
"What? The Red Gate!"
Hyun Gicheol and Joo Sungchan also noticed at the same time.
"The Red Gate is opening!"
"They cleared the Dungeon!"
"People... people are coming out!"
Baek Yoonho clenched his fist.
'Kim Cheol! Kim Cheol, he's done it!'
The four men all ran to the Gate. Unable to hide his excitement, Baek Yoonho looked for Kim Cheol's face among the survivors. However, even after everyone had exited the Gate, he could not find Kim Cheol.
'Huh? Something's wrong.'
Even Joo Sungchan, who told everyone to believe in Kim Cheol, lost his confident attitude and put on a confused expression.
"Hunter Park Heejin-nim! Hunters Go Myunghwan-nim, Yoon Gijoong-nim!"
"Hunter Sung Jinwoo-nim!!!"
Seeing Jinwoo follow Han Songyi out of the Gate, a smile bloomed on Ahn Sangmin's face.
"As I thought!"
Joo Sungchan and Ahn Sangmin's moods had completely flipped from hours ago. However, the smile quickly disappeared from Ahn Sangmin's face. After the five Hunters, including Sung Jinwoo, came out of the Gate, the Gate quickly disappeared into oblivion.
"It can't be... are the ones here it?"
With a smile on his face, Jinwoo nodded. Hyun Gicheol, who had asked the question, froze.
"It can't be..."
With tears forming in his eyes, Hyun Gicheol began to cross off the names of the deceased in the party list. It was a sad job, but someone had to do it. Baek Yoonho was dumbfounded.
"Only the low-rankers came back? Not even the A-ranker and only one B-ranker?"
It was impossible. Just what happened in there?
"Let's go, I'll take you home."
Jinwoo was about to leave the scene of the incident with Han Songyi when Baek Yoonho grabbed his wrist.
"Excuse me, hold on a minute-"
Woosh!
Jinwoo threw aside the S-ranker's grip, and Baek Yoonho's eyes turned sharp.
"Can we talk for a minute?"
Jinwoo turned around.
"I'm a little tired right now. If you have anything to ask, talk to your Guild members."
Baek Yoonho could not take it anymore. He revealed his identity to Jinwoo.
"I am Baekho's Guildmaster, Hunter Baek Yoonho."
Jinwoo's eyes remained cold, or should I say even the air around him became colder, which was felt by everyone.
"So what?"
At Jinwoo's cold reply, Baek Yoonho's irises flickered and turned into those of a magic beast's. They were inhuman, beastly eyes.
"We've just lost nine Guild members because of this incident. As the Guildmaster, I have the right to ask you some questions."
This was not a request.
An order.
In a way, a threat.
No matter what, Baek Yoonho had no intentions of letting Jinwoo leave that easily. But suddenly, Jinwoo flared his eyes. A huge amount of magical energy swirled around him. The air around him became so cold that even everyone around him felt a chill.
While the enormous amount of mana pushed everyone back, as they all felt invisible pressure on them, they felt as if they were lifting a whole mountain on their backs.
"Crack! Crack! Crack!
Even the ground below him cracked, and those cracks spread all over the place.
He was not moved back but pushed Baek Yoonho back in any way by the S-ranker's genuine hostility.
As the S-ranker felt a fear he thought he would never feel, a shiver ran down his spine when he looked into the man's eyes.
"And I just saved three of your Guild members. If you're their leader, shouldn't you be thanking me before anything else?" Even as Jinwoo said this, the cracks on the ground continued to expand.
Realizing things were getting heated, or getting old as a little amount of ice was generated around him.
At the stifling pressure the E-rank Hunter was giving off, the S-rank Hunter retracted his hostility. The man was right. Baek Yoonho had no room to argue.
"...I apologize."
As Baek Yoonho bowed his head, Jinwoo turned around again. As the pressure disappeared and everyone sighed in relief, They couldn't imagine what would happen if Jinwoo and the guild leader fought here, especially those who were with him in the red gate. They could already see him easily winning with his overwhelming numbers using magic and unique beasts.
"Han Songyi, we're going."
"Okay."
The student carefully followed after Jinwoo while glancing at Baek Yoonho. Soon, the pair got into the van they had arrived in and left the scene of the incident.
'What just happened...'
In chaos of his thoughts, Baek Yoonho quickly ran toward the sole high-ranker of the survivors.
"Excuse me, Park Heejin-ssi."
The woman was warming her body with some tea provided by Hyun Gicheol and raised her head.
"What was with that man? Why was he so mad?"
Their party had overcome all odds and should've left the Gate happily with their lives, so why was Jinwoo filled with so much anger? Park Heejin shook her head.
"I'm not sure... He defeated the boss, and then he was gone for the next three days. When he returned, he had chopped off every tree there. Then he easily snapped the boss's neck and yelled something once in front of the corpse... Then, just like Kim Cheol—"
"A pitch-black shadow came out of his shadow, resembling the dungeon boss. Then he pulled out every elf corpse he had collected and told him to select the two best archers among them. And after the boss pointed towards two corpses, he repeated the same process, but this time he placed two bows beside the corpse, and the quality of both bows was high."
After speaking the words, two more pitch-black shadows holding the same bows stood in front of him.
Then all the shadows disappeared into his shadow, and we came out.
"What a load of crap."
"What bullshit."
"And he was fine until then?"
Park Heejin looked over to Go Myunghwan and Yoon Gijoong. The two men nodded in unison.
"What a strange man..."
Baek Yoonho uttered while staring off into the distance where Jinwoo had disappeared. Ahn Sangmin approached his boss as if Jinwoo's bad mood was his fault.
"I apologize, Guildmaster. I'm sure what he did or didn't do was very weird. He was just tired after everything. In my eyes, he's not a bad person."
"No, that's not the problem. Anyway, after you get some rest, file a return report with every little detail you saw, and make sure everyone does the same."
"Sir?"
Baek Yoonho turned and faced Ahn Sangmin.
"Why have you not recruited that man yet?"
"S-sir?"
Ahn Sangmin could not hide his embarrassment, but his embarrassment paled in comparison to Baek Yoonho's.
'Against me...'
The S-ranker recalled the moment he met Jinwoo's eyes and gulped.
gulp
If they had fought just now, Baek Yoonho was sure that he would have to be prepared to lose an arm.
'Maybe even more...'
Realizing his Guildmaster's meaning, Ahn Sangmin quickly replied,
"I'm currently doing my best."
"That's not enough."
Baek Yoonho's eyes lit up.
Sung Jinwoo.
As expected, Chief Ahn's eyes were never wrong.
"From now on, the full support of the Guild is at your disposal. You must bring that man into our fold."
On the drive home.
Zooom-
The face of the van's driver was filled with great satisfaction.
...
*Jin-Woo Pov*
'Today was a great boon...'
Not only did I gain two amazing skills, but I also acquired some incredible shadows. Four Ice Bear Alphas, five normal Ice Bears, one King Yeti, Ice Giant, and a Mammoth. I also gained an SS-rank Shadow named Zelos, specialized in cold. And two Ice Elves who are exceptional archers with their own archery skills and stealth abilities, given the best bows I have.
This is something my army severely lacks in long-range combat. I don't have many shadows who can fight at long range. Even among the named shadows, only Aella is capable of long-range combat using her bow, and she's not the best at it. Even Gorr, the mightiest shadow, has no means to deal with long-range opponents. So these additions are valuable to my army. Zelos also possesses long-range skills.
Lastly, I obtained an S-rank shadow who excels in close and long-range combat, using both daggers and a bow. I named him "Buster" because he bursts anyone's bubble who thinks they are good at combat.
Of course, I cannot forget Iron, who is a pretty good tank with excellent tanking skills.
It was a good idea to explore the entire place as I now have wood that doesn't exist on this planet. The hardest wood on this planet, Australian Buloke, has a strength of 5,060 IBF, and this wood is even stronger than that.
Of course, I have an inventory full of ice-type monster corpses that can be sold at a very high value.
I have already consumed the Blood of the Ice Behemoth, which gave a significant boost to my resistance. I already had fire resistance, and now I also have cold resistance at 20%.
With the Freeze skill, I have broader means of manipulating ice. The debuff isn't significant; it's just that cold will always be around me, influenced by my emotions. Like what happened in my recent clash with the guild leader. The air automatically grew colder, and as time passed, snow started to fall.
Level-up.
It's something I'm quite good at.
And I can't forget the item I obtained from the boss. I took my left hand off the steering wheel, and an elegant, curved dagger appeared in it.
Baruka's Tanto
Rarity: A
Type: Dagger
Attack Power +110
Agility +10
It is the tanto wielded by the great warrior, Baruka. A magical enchantment makes both the dagger and the wielder more agile.
I didn't leave the Dungeon empty-handed, but with a plate full of amazing things. While one of the twin daggers wielded by the boss was in his hands, I claimed the other one as my own. I also gave him Caldan's Dagger, one of the treasures I obtained from the Labyrinth.
I'm also going to gift Igris the Sword of Stealth as his second sword, as it's an S-class equipment.
I also wanted to give Ende's Shield to Iron, but it was too small for him. So I just gave up on the idea. When I find something suitable for his build, I'll give it to him. The same goes for every shadow.
Just like me, I want them to be equipped with the best gear I can find, so they can be as overpowered as possible. That's the reason I even bought two A-rank bows from the system, which took a toll on my gold reserves.
.......
"So my English got batter or not ." - Remark.
So world travel has started to the Akame Ga Kill.
I am currently writing it.
Now to confirm the plot points Esdeath is part of the Harem and other are Shadows.
Now if can suggest me some good shadows both humans and danger beasts it would be great help.
Thanks