Clearing The First Room

Elsa didn't dare hold back or be negligent for even a second. A layer of a frosty Ice Magical Aura shrouded her body as she dashed towards the skeleton creature in an Icy blue light.

Before even reaching the skeleton creature, Elsa had already one of her palms stretched forward. A mass swirl of Ice energy coated her palm, causing a brilliant Ice glow to lit up the entire room.

More than anytime she previously fought, Elsa had a frantic desire to end this battle as soon as possible.

She took her role as guardian very seriously and didn't want any critical harm to come towards either Asher, Reese, or Kylee.

Even as she doesn't have any sort of bond with Reese and Kylee, they were still Asher's closest friends. And that alone was enough to give her full protection.

However, despite how fast Elsa went, she wasn't quick enough.

When Elsa neared thirty feet from the skeleton creature, she sensed a massive sum of energy gathered within that monster. It was like the skeleton creature couldn't be affected by Elsa's intense Magical Aura pressure despite being levels lower than her.

Even though Elsa was far superior, the skeleton creature could still summon its power instantaneously!

And right when Elsa neared thirty feet from it, a blinding white glow spewed out from the skeleton creature's bony eye sockets!

'Chi!'

The skeleton creature's white glow illuminated the whole room, even slightly overshadowing Elsa's bright Ice glow.

Elsa wasn't affected at all by the white flash. She only sensed an attack filled with powerful, incomplete Origin Mana energy soar straight at her.

This level of attack barely gave Elsa any pressure or threat. She was about to continue her charge, but right then, her Aura Sense picked up on the same Origin Mana attacks flying straight at Asher, Reese, and Kylee.

'No!' Elsa halted her charge and immediately snapped her attention over to Asher's side.

Even though they had the Origin Cloaks, Elsa couldn't help but worry as the Skeleton Creature's Origin Aura was abnormally strong for just being at the half-step realm.

Elsa wanted to create an Ice shield for them, but she was just a step too late. When she had turned around, Elsa witnessed three meters long boney spikes arriving right near Asher, Reese, and Kylee.

And at the same time, Elsa sensed the skeleton creature's first attack neared within inches from her.

'Bang!'

Without even looking forward, Elsa instantly spewed out an Ice Shield from her hands, protecting her from the creature's attack.

The skeleton creature's boney spike didn't stand a chance against Elsa's Ice Shield, as it immediately burst into thousands of tiny fragments on the first contact.

Elsa, however, didn't pay any attention to the boney spike. She narrowed her eyes as she watched how Asher, Reese, and Kylee tanked the full brunt of an incomplete Origin Mana attack.

"Nnng-Elsa! Just finish it off!"

And right then, Asher's blaring voice echoed out in the room.

He, Reese, and Kylee were actually relatively fine after that attack. They had only taken a few steps back because of the slight after force.

Just like what Asher expected, the Origin Cloaks completely negated the skeleton creature's attack.

Similar to Elsa, the boney spikes simply shattered into thousands of tiny fragments once they crashed onto Asher, Reese, and Kylee's Origin Cloaks.

Once seeing that no harm came to Asher's group, Elsa snapped her attention back forward.

"Right, I will."

A frightening chill leaked from Elsa's body as she glared directly at the skeleton creature. Even though its blinding white glowed eyes made it hard to see, Elsa could detect its exact location with her Aura Sense.

At that moment, Elsa sensed the skeleton creature surging energy to release another attack.

"Hm." But before it could do so, Elsa coldly harrumphed while snapping her Ice coated fingers.

Instantly, Elsa created an Ice Atmosphere around the skeleton creature.

The skeleton creature only saw a chilling blue glow covering its whole vision. The monster conscious wanted to fight back and kill the intruders, but when the blue glow appeared, it couldn't gather any energy!

Elsa's powerful Ice energy caused the skeleton creature to become encased in sparkling blue Ice. The Origin Energy flowing through its bones was immediately frozen over; it couldn't resist Elsa's overwhelming power at all.

In just a mere second, the skeleton creature turned into a tall ice statue!

Because of the first attack the skeleton creature unleashed, Elsa actually had enough time to gather her energy to create this powerful Ice Atmosphere.

Initially, she was going to slice off its boney head, but after the first attack, Elsa immediately decided to cut off any chance for it to attack again.

After freezing the skeleton creature, Elsa didn't delay in her next attack.

An Ice cold light blew from her eyes as she spewed out a three-meter-long Icicle from the center of her palm. Before tossing it over, Elsa overloaded the Icicle with an abundance of Origin Energy.

The temperature around her plummeted to freezing degrees as Elsa swiftly surged her power. Then, with a flick of her wrist, Elsa shot the Icicle straight at the frozen skeleton creature.

The Icicle split the air apart with its sheer speed, casting faint afterimages behind it.

'Ka-Cha!'

And without any resistance, Elsa's Icicle shattered the eight-foot giant skeleton creature into tiny Ice fragmented shards.

Once it was finally dead, Elsa diapered her energy, causing the room's temperature to return to normal.

At the same time, the near blinding white glow ash vanished.

"It's over. You all can open your eyes now." Elsa calmly spoke as she walked over to Asher's group.

Doing as she said, Asher, Reese, and Kylee simultaneously flung their eyes back open.

"Huuue~, that was amazing, Ms.Tirel! Asher told you it was powerful, but experecing it really is different from hearing it." Kylee was utterly impressed by Elsa's proper display of power.

Within just seconds, she crushed an Origin Tier monster that could squash her at a moment's notice! The admiration Kylee had increased tenfold now.

"No kidding about that power….but, just what was the creature?" Reese asked next.

That skeleton creature honestly reminded him of those horror monsters in either movies or video games. But, in terms of actual history, Reese never recalled learning about sentient beings actually existing.

"Well, this place supposedly has something that can improve our souls. I'm amusing the expert that was here had some mysterious means." Asher said.

From this battle, he more so understood that this may just be Elsa's battleground. After all, the first foe they encountered was already at the half-step Origin Tier realm.

Moreover, whatever that skeleton creature was, it had a prowess practically equivalent to genuine Early Stage Origin Tier cultivators.

Asher could tell from here on out, things would only get tougher.

"Fortunately for us, it seems like that skeleton creature was the only thing in this room. Less something is hiding from my senses, we should swiftly leave now."

Elsa spoke after briefly closing her eyes. In just a couple of seconds, her Aura Sense did another sweep of this whole room. She concentrated on every nook and cranny of the room, wanting to leave nothing unturned.

But no matter how hard she tried, she couldn't sense anything else within this room. It raised some suspicions for Elsa, and she immediately wanted to leave before anything else could unexpectedly jump out at them.

"Ok. Let's get going." Asher nodded at everyone and then, they all began trekking over to the exit.

This time their pace was quicker but not too hurried. Everyone in the group had their guards raised, ready for another unexpected foe.

However, even when they got just several feet from the exit, nothing jumped out at them. A slight feeling of relief almost made it to everyone's mind.

But just as they neared the exit, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa's Aura Sense frantically went off like a loud alarm.

"This is?!"

All at the same time, everyone went dead in their tracks. They all sensed a familiar energy that caused them to feel a sliver of dread.

This energy was precisely the same as that gray energy substance!

In an instant, the whole room was filled with that gray energy. Then, a blinding gray flash covered Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa's vision.

"Shit! Alright, everyone jus-"

Asher couldn't finish his sentence when he was struck with a terrifying sensation.

Cold air swept through his body as a burst of dread wracked his mind. And Asher wasn't the only one to experience a bout of anxiety.

Reese and Kylee felt their bodies shiver on an instinctive, primal fear. And even Elsa felt dribbles of cold sweat pour down her face.

Their reason for this sudden burst of terror were four powerful presences that had abruptly appeared within the room.

From even just sensing whoever these presences were, Asher's group could feel trouble arising. But, before any of them could turn to face the sudden intruders, a voice called out to them.

"Hey….you four. Can you answer a question for us?"

Despite not shouting at all, this man's voice was powerful. He had a tone that would make anyone feel like he couldn't be ignored.

And immediately when hearing the voice, Asher, Reese, Kylee, and Elsa's pupils heavily dilated. Their bodies tensed to their absolute limit. Reese and Kylee specifically felt horrid goosebumps bubbled up their skins. And Asher felt the hair on the end of his neck rise in dread.

When the man spoke to them, an incomparable powerful Magical Aura swept through their bodies. Asher and Elsa had directly identified this level of Magical Aura.

This man was at the Mid-Stage of the Origin Tier realm!