Chapter 434: Frostbite Cavern [1], Skill Stones!
The cavern stretched out before him, a vast frozen expanse of glittering ice walls that reflected the dim light like a thousand mirrors.
The ceiling hung with massive icicles that looked like frozen spears ready to fall, and the ground was slick with frost that crunched with each step.
The walls were carved with ancient runes that seemed to pulse with a faint blue glow, as if the cavern itself was alive.
But as soon as Leon took a step forward, the ground beneath him cracked, and from the fissure, a massive ice golem emerged, its form towering over him.
---
[Frost Golem]
[Level: 100]
[Talent: Ice Affinity (B-Level)]
[Combat Power: 8,000,000]
[Details: A golem formed entirely from the ice of the Frostbite Cavern, its body is nearly indestructible to physical attacks and it radiates an aura of extreme cold that can freeze lesser beings solid.]
---
Leon didn’t hesitate, and launched his Cataclysmic Fireball against it, the massive sphere of flames roaring through the frozen air, killing the monster in one devastating attack and scorching the icy ground beneath it.
Ding!
[You have killed "Frost Golem" and gained 28,000 experience points.]
[100% Drop Rate has triggered...]
Leon opened his storage space and looked through the items that dropped, his eyes scanning the loot with anticipation.
[Frost Golem Essence: Consuming will increase Spirit by 250 and Constitution by 50.]
[Frost Gloves (Rare): +20,000 Constitution, +28,000 Spirit. A pair of gauntlets forged from the frozen core of a Frost Golem, granting the user enhanced strength and resistance to cold.]
[Sub-Talent Scroll: Ice Affinity (B-Rank)]
[Skill Stone x1]
"Holy shit," Leon’s eyes widened, a genuine smile spreading across his face as he stared at the notification, "I found it!"
The [Frostbite Cavern] was an extremely dangerous dungeon that even the most powerful level 100 players would struggle with at Impossible difficulty, its frozen halls filled with monsters that could freeze the unprepared solid in seconds.
But for Leon, all of it was absolutely nothing, a simple training ground where he could test his abilities.
Instead he simply marveled at the fact one of these monsters dropped a Skill Stone, something he had been desperately searching for across the domains without success.
But that wasn’t all, all of the other items were also pretty good and would serve him well in the coming battles.
First of all, Leon quickly grabbed the sub-talent scroll, poured his mana into it and tore it apart to learn it, the energy integrating with his soul.
Ding!
[You have learned the B-Level Sub-Talent: "Ice Affinity"]
But even then, this wasn’t actually that interesting to Leon, what really made him excited was the notification that appeared immediately after.
Ding!
[Do you wish to sacrifice "Ice Affinity (B-Level)" to your "Master of Elements (SS-Level)" sub-talent?]
"Yes!" Leon quickly agreed to sacrifice, not even hesitating for a moment.
Ding!
["Ice" has been added to your elements list.]
He had obtained this sub-talent in the Elemental Lands, the same place he had obtained the [Primordial Dragon of Chaos] egg, a memory that seemed so distant now.
---
[Master of Elements (SS-Level): You can master any and all basic elements (not advanced) perfectly as long as you have a basic understanding of them, allowing your spells and attacks to become much stronger.]
[Current Elements: Fire, Water, Earth, Wind, Lightning and Ice.]
---
After so long, he had finally obtained another element, which was quite shocking and opened up new possibilities for his combat style.
This meant that his Ice element was now at SS-Level as well, making his [Ice Spikes] skill much stronger and more versatile than ever before.
He consumed the essence, boosting his powers further, and as for the gloves, he actually decided to equip them immediately.
He removed his [Will of Nature Gloves (Mythical)] to equip these new ones, feeling the cold energy flow through his fingers.
’Good, dungeons really are the best place to acquire equipment, as I thought,’ he mused, satisfied with his decision.
He’d definitely have to look for more after the [Frostbite Cavern] if he could find any, as the rewards here were proving to be excellent.
Just like that, Leon continued through the frozen halls, encountering more [Frost Golems], [Snow Wolves] and [Ice Wraiths], all of which dropped a skill stone and an ice sub-talent in addition to their monster essence, a consistent pattern that excited him.
And unlike the Catacombs which Leon tried to clear very fast, this time around, he actually explored every inch of the place, determined to maximize his gains.
There was an abundance of monsters in the frostbite caverns, as Leon managed to kill around 80 of them during his thorough exploration.
[Skill Stones x84]
This was still far from what he needed to upgrade all of his skills, but it was actually an incredible start that gave him hope for the future.
He also managed to enhance his [Frost Gauntlets] two times from killing the [Frost Golems], each upgrade making them more powerful.
[Frost Gloves +3 (Rare): +30,000 Constitution, +40,000 Spirit. A pair of gauntlets forged from the frozen core of a Frost Golem, granting the user enhanced strength and resistance to cold.]
And as for the ice sub-talent, he managed to enhance one to S-Rank through the drops, a significant milestone.
He planned to give it to Violet to make her even stronger, as her rapier’s ice abilities would benefit greatly from the upgrade.
Eventually, while searching the dungeon for any remaining monsters, he emerged into a decently-sized chamber that seemed to be the heart of the cavern.
And waiting in the middle was the boss.
[Frostmaw (Boss)]
[Level: 100]
[Talent: Deep Ice Affinity (A-Level)]
[Combat Power: 10,000,000]
...
A/N
Some readers tell me the story is too fast paced while others tell me its too slow paced, I try to keep a good balance while also showing the way Leon gets stronger.
I feel like timeskips are lazy, and thus I want to make sure to describe everything even if it takes a little big longer.
After all, this will be very important in the future, as Leon and his companions need to get MUCH, MUCH, stronger :D!
Thanks for supporting the novel!