Jumping up, the Yeti shoved its hand into its stomach, desperately trying to pull the fire out. Its screams of pain and agony heightened as it struggled to extinguish the flames. Eventually, what Arthur expected happened.
The sound of ice cracking and spreading inside the monster echoed in the vicinity. The layers of ice slowly ate away at the monster’s organs, covering them like wildfire. The monster felt its body freeze up quickly.
The pain from that feeling was unimaginable—a mix of horrendous burning and brutal cold filled its entire torso.
Arthur watched as the monster slowly burned and froze to death, fighting against the unbearable pain.
“Get that… bastard,” he muttered, grabbing his injured back with squinted eyes. ‘That hurts. It almost peeled my back off,’ he thought. “But… the fact it has such an ability… This game always surprises me. Really bad surprises.”
With that, Arthur waited for the monster to die. He knew that sending the Frost Flame deep into its body was deadly, as it was attacking all the vulnerable spots in the Yeti’s body. There was no way it could stop it.
Arthur didn’t want to exhaust himself any more than this, especially when he was aware that things weren’t going to get any easier from that point on.
Several seconds passed before the Yeti’s movements finally slowed down, and it lay on the ground, motionless. Small whimpers escaped its mouth as it exhaled its last breath and finally succumbed to its injuries.
[Ding!]
[You have killed Level 45 Adult Yeti.]
[+7 Presence, +7 Mind, +7 Stamina.]
[Ding!]
[You have leveled up 3 times to Level 32.]
[+6 Bonus Points.]
“Nice!!” Arthur exclaimed as he felt his entire body heal, immense power filling his muscles and veins. He had gained 21 new stat points from killing the Yeti, and that was enough to level him up three times.
“Hmm, Level 45, and it only gave me three new levels?” Arthur frowned. “I honestly expected way more. Maybe the game is counting the fact that I’m way stronger than my level.”
At this point, the fact that Arthur could easily fight a Level 45 monster and beat it proved that he was truly levels above everyone else, even if they reached the same level. He had gained way more stats, and that snowballed into this huge gap.
So, the game perhaps decided that he was stronger than Level 30 by a huge margin, and the experience he gained reflected that.
“Oh well, the 21 points are far more important. I also have 20 Bonus Points to use in case of emergencies. That will help a lot,” Arthur muttered as he stood up and stretched his limbs. After leveling up, he was feeling way better than ever before, and his body felt considerably lighter.
The increase in his stamina was particularly good, as his stamina had been falling short compared to his other stats. He was glad to see it was picking up pace too.
“Man… That was a brutal fight for how short it was. To come across a baby Yeti and then fight their enraged mother… I’m truly unlucky.” Stay tuned to My Virtual Library Empire
Looking around him, Arthur felt lost as to what he was supposed to do next. So, he decided to simply go with the very first idea that came to his mind.
[Ding!]
[2 Dead Corpses Have Been Detected.]
[Would You Like to Activate Blood Eater?]
“Yes.”
Saying that, Arthur’s skill activated, and all the blood inside the two dead Yetis entered his body, turning into even more stats.
[+5 Health, +4 Strength, +3 Agility.]
“Nice, even more stats,” Arthur said, clenching and unclenching his fists before nodding in satisfaction. His stats were now all in the 40s, 50s, and 60s. Soon enough, all of them would be above 50, which was a huge milestone for him.
After that, Arthur turned around and walked toward the dead human on the other side of the field. Stopping in front of it, he crouched down and examined the corpse. However, almost immediately, his eyes widened in shock.
The reason for that was because… he recognized the dead man.
“… Fangs?” Arthur muttered with a surprised tone. The familiar face reminded him of the older man who belonged to Deka’s squad. His unique, rough appearance was something Arthur could not forget, coupled with his distinctive name. This was certainly the same man.
“…” Arthur didn’t know how to react to that realization. Slowly, his eyes closed for a moment as he inhaled a deep breath. “I didn’t know this man for long. But… rest in peace. You didn’t treat me horribly,” he muttered as he clasped his hands together.
Although their meeting only lasted a few minutes, Arthur found the old man to be quite interesting. The fact that he had survived for so long in this job made the feeling even worse, as the man truly had done everything as a veteran in Frozen Peak.
After a few moments, Arthur extended his hand and closed the man’s eyes slowly. This was the least he could do for the already ruined corpse. He couldn’t bury him or give him a proper send-off, so the corpse could only remain there until it was eaten or frozen.
After that, Arthur stood up again with a frown on his face. “Now, where should I go? I can either continue searching for these people or continue on my path to the mountain.”
His two options weren’t bad, as he would benefit from both of them. However, at the same time, Arthur was leaning toward the second option due to one simple fact.
‘I can’t really save those people even if I find them. It will only hinder me,’ he mused.
Arthur wasn’t there to save the mercenaries. This was their job, and the fact that they died doing it was their problem, not his. They had been doing this work knowing fully well the risks that came with it, and as much as Arthur would be happy to help them if he could, it was simply not his priority.
On the other hand, reaching the foot of the mountain would be a huge discovery for him, as it would give him an idea of how vast this place was and its scale.
“Well, I’m not really a fan of making these choices. But I should just stick to my plan, and if I come across something interesting, I’ll deal with it as it comes. That has been my entire plan for the longest time now.”
Settling his mind, Arthur finally opened his map and started walking again, heading deeper into the woods. He didn’t have much time left before the end of the day, so he had to hurry. The warning he received about being outside during the night was still in his head, and he didn’t want to experience what it was like to explore these uncharted lands in the darkness of the night.
The storm outside the forest had already picked up pace, and the snow started falling harder, piercing through the thick leaves of the large trees.
Time before sunset: 9 hours, 35 minutes, and 35 seconds.
A//N: Thank you all for the gifts, golden tickets and ps. Let’s keep it up!