Chapter 113: Frozen World Severance Skill [GOLDEN TICKET BONUS]
"What happened to your arm?" Elara raised an eyebrow.
"This is one of the abilities I awakened after reaching the 1st Echelon."
Despite their dark appearance, the scales did not resemble armor placed over Cain’s skin. They looked completely natural, as if they had always been part of his body and had merely been hidden until now.
Thin traces of dark gray energy occasionally flowed between the scales before disappearing again.
After staring for a few seconds, Elara slowly raised one hand.
"Can I touch it?"
Cain smiled. "Go ahead."
Her fingers brushed across the back of his hand before moving toward his forearm. The scales were much harder than she expected, almost like touching polished metal rather than skin.
Elara pressed against one of them slightly before looking up at him.
"You can feel that?"
"Of course."
"So it really is your skin."
"More or less."
Cain allowed her to examine the transformation for another moment before pulling his arm back.
"Now watch this."
True Ruin gathered along the transformed claws.
The dark gray energy flowed much more smoothly than ordinary Ruin had before his advancement.
Cain faced the damaged wall farther down the alley and swung his arm.
A distorted crescent separated from his claws.
Tsssh!
The energy traveled several meters before losing its shape and striking the edge of the wall.
Part of the concrete deteriorated before several fragments dropped onto the ground.
Elara stared at the damage.
"You threw the Ruin energy?"
"Kind of."
Cain looked down at his claws with a slightly helpless expression.
"I discovered it while coming back with Ron. I still can’t control it properly."
"Did you awaken another skill?"
"Not yet."
Cain shook his head.
"It’s more like I figured out that True Ruin can leave my body now. Sometimes it travels where I want it to."
He glanced toward the damaged wall.
"Other times, it decides to do whatever the hell it wants."
Elara looked between Cain’s transformed arm and the section of concrete that had just been destroyed.
Even in its unfinished state, the technique was clearly dangerous.
Cain had only just advanced to the 1st Echelon, yet his overall strength had already undergone an enormous transformation.
His stats had doubled after forming his Mana Core, Ruin had evolved into True Ruin, and now he possessed a Skill capable of partially manifesting the characteristics of the Dragon within his body.
If he eventually learned to control those ranged attacks properly, his combat power would increase even further.
Elara finally understood why Cain was so willing to hand the Orange rewards to her instead of using them himself.
Cain released Partial Dragon Manifestation.
The dark scales gradually receded beneath his skin. His fingers returned to their original shape, while the curved claws disappeared completely.
He flexed his hand once before looking at Elara.
"So?"
The Orange Scroll and Orange Orb appeared in his hands again.
"I’m not exactly helpless."
Elara remained hesitant, but Cain pushed both items closer to her.
"If you really want to help me, then become stronger."
That finally made her expression change.
Elara looked at the two Orange rewards for a few seconds before slowly reaching out and accepting them.
"Fine."
She eventually turned her attention toward the Orange Scroll.
Even after accepting it, Elara could not completely hide her hesitation as she knew how valuable an Orange Scroll was.
After taking a breath, Elara opened the Scroll.
Orange light immediately erupted from the parchment.
The Scroll began dissolving between her fingers, transforming into countless particles of light that flowed directly into her body.
Unlike Evelyne’s transformation, there was no gentle Life energy filling the alley.
Instead, the temperature dropped abruptly.
Cain immediately noticed white frost spreading across the pavement beneath Elara’s feet.
Her long silver hair lifted slightly as dense Ice Mana surged from her body, filling the narrow alley with a cold pressure that continued growing stronger.
Elara closed her eyes as new knowledge began appearing within her consciousness.
The method of using it became clear in an instant.
A tremendous amount of Ice Mana would be condensed together with her sword force before being released through a single attack. The skill was not designed for prolonged combat or repeated strikes.
Everything would be concentrated into one decisive slash.
A notification appeared before her.
[You have obtained Frozen World Severance.]
[Frozen World Severance]
[Condenses an enormous amount of Ice Mana and sword force into a single devastating slash.]
[Everything along the path of the attack is rapidly frozen, drastically weakening its structure before the sword force tears through it.]
[Targets that survive suffer severe freezing, greatly reducing their movement speed and disrupting Mana circulation.]
Elara’s eyes slowly opened.
The cold pressure surrounding her gradually settled, although a thin layer of frost remained across the pavement.
She stared at the description in front of her.
Then she read it again.
Cain immediately noticed her expression.
"What did you get?"
Elara looked up at him.
"A Skill."
"Is it a good one?"
Instead of answering, she simply allowed him to see the description.
Cain focused on the information.
His expression changed immediately as he read through the description.
"Wow, that’s an extremely strong skill."
Frozen World Severance concentrated an enormous amount of Ice Mana and sword force into one attack.
That alone made it powerful.
However, the part that interested Cain most was what happened before the target was actually cut.
Everything along the path of the slash would first be rapidly frozen, weakening the affected structure before the sword force tore through it.
That meant an enemy whose defenses might normally stop Elara’s sword could become much easier to cut once the extreme cold weakened the affected area.
And even if something managed to survive the attack, the severe freezing left behind would still hinder its movements and disturb the circulation of Mana within its body.
Cain looked at Elara with obvious satisfaction.
"This fits you ridiculously well."
Elara’s excitement became increasingly difficult to hide.
Cain was not surprised by the quality of the Skill.
Orange Scrolls had already proven what kind of abilities they could provide. His Undying War Body had originally come from one, while Evelyne had just obtained Sacred Life Body.
It made sense that Elara would receive something capable of drastically increasing her offensive power.
"With this, your strongest attack should become much more dangerous."
Elara nodded.
"I kind of want to test it now."
"Just do it later, since this one sounds like it could destroy half the street."
"Fair enough." Elara pouted for a moment before shifting her attention toward the Orange Orb.
After obtaining something as powerful as Frozen World Severance, she could not help feeling curious about what the Orb would give her.
Secretly, she hoped it would be a sword.
Purely because if Cain happened to need whatever appeared more than she did, Elara could simply return it to him.
With that thought, her fingers tightened around the Orb.
Crack!
Orange light filled the alley once again.
Cain watched with interest as the broken Orb disappeared from Elara’s palm.
Something immediately began materializing in front of her.
However, instead of the sword she had been hoping for, a long object slowly took shape within the fading orange light.