Chapter 20: Frozen rift (4)

"Food!"

Without a second's hesitation, one of the lizards lunged at Martyn, but he quickly dodged it.

Wasting no time, he swung his dagger at the monster, taking it down instantly.

[You have defeated a Cave Monster]

[You have gained 20 experience points]

[Cave Monsters: 2/50]

[Experience: 120/520]

But before he could relish his reward, he found himself surrounded by seven more lizards.

("Damn it, they're weak, but there are too many. I need to put some distance between us,") Martyn thought, then leaped away.

[Skills:]

[Flow]

With his concentration at its peak, the boy quickly charged at his targets, slashing his dagger without pause.

[You have defeated 7 Cave Monsters]

[You have gained 140 experience points]

[Experience: 260/520]

[Cave Monsters: 9/50]

"Food!"

The others didn't hesitate; as soon as their companions fell, they surrounded Martyn once again.

"This is crap," the boy thought as he swung his hand toward one of the monsters.

But to his surprise, the creature opened its mouth to catch his dagger.

[Warning]

[Weapon durability: Saex Dagger is in critical condition]

Along with the system message, the weapon that Martyn had relied on so much shattered right in front of him.

[Weapon: Saex Dagger has broken]

"You son of a—!" Filled with rage, Martyn fiercely struck the monster, sending it flying through the air.

[You have defeated a Cave Monster]

[Cave Monsters: 10/50]

[You have gained 20 experience points]

[Experience: 280/520]

But because of this, the others didn't waste time in attacking him, slashing his back.

[HP: 100/120]

Seeing that he was at a disadvantage, Martyn didn't hesitate to distance himself from the monsters.

"Damn it, this sucks," Martyn thought as he searched through his inventory. Thanks to the "Flow" skill, he could take his time.

("All I have left is the basic knife Tyran gave me. I could win with it since they aren't that strong, but it would wear me out.")

Although the crystal lizards were easy to hunt, he still had one more objective to complete, so it wasn't ideal.

("There must be something I can do... Wait a second, that's it.") Fully illuminated, Martyn took another leap away from his enemies.

He decided to climb a bit higher, where it would be harder for the monsters to reach him.

"Alright, let's see."

[Activating class]

[Class: Beginner Nordic Blacksmith activated] - [Volundr]

"If I don't have a weapon, I'll make one," Martyn said to himself, holding a stone.

[Inventory]

[Normal Knife]

[Crystal Lizard Meat]

"I need something else," the boy thought. He didn't have much time, but he needed to do this right. "Ah, that's it."

[Luminous Stone]

With all the items in place, Martyn focused all his energy into the rock he held, just as Volundr had done before.

"Here we go!"

Wasting no time, he began to fuse the elements, slowly combining them. Thanks to Volundr's power, he didn't need to refine each material individually; he just had to gather the materials and work them.

Quickly, and just like before, the weapon began to glow.

[Congratulations]

But unlike previous attempts, the message was different.

[You have successfully created a weapon]

"Yes!" Shouting in victory, the boy gazed at the weapon before him—a sword.

"Wow, I have to admit, it looks pretty good," the boy said as he held the weapon.

[Greenflare Sword: A powerful weapon with a blade charged with luminous energy. You can charge mana into it to increase its power.]

[Weapon Rank: C]

[Special Effects: Mana Charge Level 3]

[Mana Charge: By focusing mana into the weapon, you can increase its power. If you gather enough mana, you can even fire it.]

"Well, well, this is awesome," Martyn said happily as he swung the weapon.

"Food!" But interrupting his fun, the monsters approached.

"Alright, just in time," the hunter said with a smile, then swung his weapon toward the lizard.

The slash was perfectly precise, slicing the monster in half. Martyn couldn't help but be surprised at the glow emanating from the weapon.

[You have defeated a Cave Monster]

[You have gained 20 experience points]

[Experience: 300/520]

[Cave Monsters: 11/50]

"Come on, don't be scared, there's enough for everyone," Martyn invited the monsters to fight while maintaining a confident smile.

"Food, let's get him!"

Falling for the boy's provocation, all the monsters lunged at him. It looked like it was going to be a long battle.

*

"Hey, sleepyheads, wake up!"

Meanwhile, Henry's group was just waking up after a comfortable night's sleep, being roused by Henry.

"Hey, don't be so pushy," the hunter Yeon-woo grumbled. Even though they were in a crevice, she had to admit she slept incredibly well.

"Come on, Henry's right, we need to hurry if we want to get out of here," Axel backed up Henry as he stretched.

"Alright, we need to find the Kaldvargr and kill it so we can get out of here," Henry said. If they were lucky, they might get out of the crevice today.

"Hey, the impure hunter never came back. Do you think something happened to him?" Varek asked, noticing Martyn's absence.

"He's not our problem anymore; he was going to die sooner or later anyway," the group leader responded. He never really cared about Martyn.

"Yeah, he was just dead weight. Why was I even paired with him?" Roy asked. Hearing that Martyn hadn't returned, she felt immense relief.

For her, what happened before was probably just luck; he was likely bluffing about the dark gods.

"Alright, time to get moving," Yeon-woo said, already ready.

With that, everyone started walking. Today's objective was clear: they needed to find the Kaldvargr and kill it if they wanted to escape.

"That bastard only knows how to hide. He's pretty weak. If it weren't for this crevice, we'd already be getting recognized by the headquarters," Varek said angrily, thinking about finishing off the Kaldvargr as soon as he saw it.

"Calm down, Varek, you can take your revenge when we find it," Henry replied, leading the way.

"Hey, I don't think we'll have to wait much longer," cutting off their conversation, the hunter Yeon-woo spoke up.

"What do you mean?" Roy asked. Yeon-woo was very confident in her words.

"Thanks to my hunter's eyes, I can tell—it's close," the girl said, pointing to the left.

"What, really? Varek, confirm," Henry ordered, excitement showing on his face.

Wasting no time, Varek started scanning the area, then a smile spread across his face.

"Yes, I sense an enemy nearby, let's go!" In his excitement, the mage started running in the direction his magic led him.

The others followed. This mission was about to be completed.

The silhouette of the Kaldvargr was becoming clearer, so Henry decided to speed up and land the first strike.

"You damn monster!" Henry shouted, enlarging his sword and slashing toward the Kaldvargr.

But to everyone's surprise, the blood staining the snow wasn't from the monster, but from Henry, who had been cut in an instant.

"Henry!" Yeon-woo screamed, quickly firing an arrow at the Kaldvargr, but it dodged effortlessly.

"Damn it, you'll pay!" Axel drew his axes and charged at the monster, but was stopped by Henry's hand as he lay wounded on the ground.

"Wait, Axel, this isn't like before, it's different," the man said as he struggled to get up. A rather deep cut was visible on his chest.

"Different? What do you mean?" Axel asked, but just by looking at the monster, he could tell.

The monster's body was the same color as before, but for some strange reason, all its veins were visible, and they had a peculiar black color, along with its eyes.

"Everyone, form up! We're going to hunt it!"