After that, Arthur absorbed the blood of this group of monsters before he turned around to leave. At this point, he was not gaining any more stats from the deer as they were simply weaker than him and he had already absorbed all possible stats from them that even Blood Eater couldn’t provide any extra points.
‘I hope I will come across stronger monsters near the lake. If that doesn’t work, I will have to go deeper.’ He thought to himself as he dashed through the empty field, heading straight toward his target.
On the map, the lake started appearing, indicating that he was getting closer and closer. The wind had picked up the pace and the snow shrouded the horizon so Arthur couldn’t see clearly.
However, as he got closer and closer, glimpses of the lake finally emerged from the mist, revealing a magnificent scenery in full view.
The lake was huge, as Arthur expected. It stretched for as far as the eye could see and beyond. A thick layer of ice covered the entire lake, freezing all the water on the surface. Around it were the giant, dead trees of the winter, completely covered in snow.
“Wow…” Arthur muttered as he stopped for a moment to admire the scenery. It was truly a work of art that he was seeing at that moment. The lake appeared to glisten under the rays of the sun like a giant precious crystal. The water beneath the ice kept moving around, unaffected by the cold temperatures.
After a few moments of silence, Arthur started moving again as he approached the lake. The place was quiet and empty.
“Hmm, this should be the place Logus told me about. But, there isn’t really much activity here compared to where I was.
Approaching the shore of the lake, he crouched down and touched the ice.
“Hmm, is this even safe to walk on?” Arthur muttered to himself as he tapped it a few times. The layer of ice was quite thick, almost like it was made out of tough rock.
Arthur kept looking around him, contemplating what he should do next. The area was completely empty with no monsters around and Arthur also couldn’t just walk into the woods yet.
Instead, he came up with a very weird idea but nonetheless an exciting one.
“What if I just… try to go deeper into the lake?” He muttered. The idea wasn’t completely outlandish but it still made Arthur think. After all, this was not the only option he had at that very moment.
‘Eh, should I go the safe route or go the exciting route?… And do I even need to ask myself that question in the first place?’
Arthur grinned as he stood up and dusted his clothes from all the snow. He was not going to just do the safe things. There was an icy lake in front of him so it would be a huge shame not to try and cross it.
After taking a deep breath, Arthur put his foot on the ice. At first, he thought he was going to slip due to the nature of the ice. However, because of how solid it was, Arthur was actually able to stand on it without slipping.
“Wow, this feels so weird… I can see the water running beneath me.” He muttered as he looked down. After adjusting his feet, Arthur finally took his first step on the lake and then a second before he started moving forward, slowly increasing his pace. Minutes passed and Arthur found himself completely surrounded by the ice and the storm.
The storm around him eventually shrouded the path he came from and nothing became visible anymore.
“Hmm… Where is even the direction I came from?” Arthur muttered as he looked around him. “Oh well, I’m just exploring at this point.”
Shrugging it off, he continued walking, heading into the complete unknown. Arthur didn’t know what he was exactly looking for but he was certain he would come across something interesting sooner or later.
The scenery all around him turned completely blank, and everything became conformed, lacking in details.
‘This is a little too white for my preference… All I’m seeing is snow!’ The boy grumbled to himself as he continued on the path. After almost 15 minutes of walking, there was really no point in going back now, he either finds something interesting or he will cross the entire lake and reach the other side.
‘The map is saying that I’m still far from the other side so this trip isn’t going to be short.’
As Arthur was like that, he suddenly heard a noise coming from somewhere nearby. Immediately, he stopped and looked in the direction of the noise.
‘What even is that sound? It’s almost like sheets of glass breaking.’ He muttered under his breath. Still, Arthur quickly pulled his sword out. The noise was getting closer and closer with each passing second.
Eventually, something emerged from the shroud of the storm or to be more precise… several things appeared.
‘Monsters!’ Arthur exclaimed in his head. The things he saw were humanoid creatures made out of transparent ice. The creatures were a little taller than him, with eyes like blue pearls, completely dead, emotionless, and with long limbs. However, instead of hands, they had sharp icy edges at the end of their limbs.
At first, Arthur only saw two, then the number quickly grew to twelve, then to thirty. Arthur then heard the noise coming from behind him.
In a matter of seconds, he was completely surrounded by these monsters and he didn’t even have a moment to react.
“Where did you bastards come from, huh?” He muttered as he took a fighting stance. Upon speaking, the monsters suddenly halted and then, they all lifted their heads quickly and stared directly at Arthur.
“…” The boy felt a chill run down his spine from these stares. But, he still kept his composure.
‘Well, I was looking for monsters either way.’
At that moment, the monsters sprung into movements, rushing at Arthur. Their sudden speed burst almost took him by surprise. But, Arthur quickly channeled his mana before he fused his Sanguine Blade. Then, he dashed forward.
*CLING*
Reaching his first target, Arthur hit it with the sword. However, his arm immediately felt a strong vibration from the impact. Looking over his shoulder, the monster’s head burst open like a glass plate before the monster stumbled to the ground dead.
[Ding!]
[You have killed level 24 Ice Lake Spirit.]
‘Ice spirit?’ Arthur frowned. ‘So these things are related to the lake itself. Ugh! That doesn’t matter now! The problem is they are really resistant to sword attacks! That hit hurt my hand!’
Clenching his teeth, Arthur quickly dodged a second monster before he stabbed it. However, the sword barely cracked through its thick crystal body. Arthur felt his arms taking the blunt hit.
So, he quickly kicked the monster away and dodged a third one that tried to stab him from behind. At the same, two other spirits lunged at him. Arthur didn’t have any other option but to quickly throw a kick in the air, sending the two flying in the air.
“Ouch!”
However, Arthur felt a stinging pain in his leg. Looking down, he noticed a considerably big injury going around his ankle.
‘Great…’
The boy then looked up and all he could see was hordes and hordes of Lake Spirits, all rushing toward him from all angles.
The true battle had begun.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets and ps. Let’s keep it up!