Chapter 158: Ice King (12)

When Luke reached New York on the third day of his trip, he couldn't believe in what he was seeing… everything had been taken by snow. Still, the ice completely took over the city, and it became some sort of support for a massive and weird-looking building. It was hard to describe it… but considering its tall and massive walls, some towers near those, it seemed like a fortress… but it also seemed like a castle… and everything was made of ice. It looked pretty sturdy...

"It is hard to believe that any radio would work here… how did Dad manage to communicate with survivors here?" Luke asked while trembling from head to toe.

The cold was so intense that Luke was actually losing health over time… that was quite something since he was supposed to recover six points of health per second. Four due to his focus, and two thanks to Rina's power. In any case, that means the cold was causing more than six points of damage per second. Shalia used her mana to create a Fireball above them to warm things up without any other choice. It was strong enough to stop the cold winds from bothering them, but it was only working because it wasn't snowing.

"I never saw anything like that… but someone very close to a crystal overlord was probably summoned and created that," Rina said. "This environment boosts the power of ice magic and decreases the effect of fire magic."

"Hmm… so it is kind of like a magic field," Luke said.

"Not like… it is exactly that," Shalia said. "It is rare to find people so focused on improving their abilities in a single element… I suppose their master is also like that."

Luke didn't have any equipment that was good against ice magic, so he probably will have to increase his RES quite a bit to prevent the environment's interference in the upcoming battles. He also could wait until night and buy those equipment, but he wanted to save his coins again to get Vigor. His HP and MP were increasing so nicely thanks to them, so he shouldn't let his SP fall behind even more.

In any case, even though Luke could see the building, it took a while for him to approach it. It was only another proof about how massive it was… in any case, Luke didn't find any monster while he was flying around. The ice dolls, the frozen wasps, and the Koriris… were keeping their distance from the castle. That was good and bad because Luke won't have to fight several species of monsters… but it was bad because it showed how powerful the enemies ahead were.

Once Luke got close enough to the city, he saw that most of the buildings had been taken by the ice and became pillars to the castle above. There were some massive pillars of ice outside the city that offered a better base from the structure. Still, those didn't work like a wall that kept the people inside the city locked… the cold was terrifying, but Luke confirmed that they could have escaped.

You received a special quest.

Quest: destroy the castle and its owner.

Reward: Water Manipulation skill book.

It was a pretty specific reward… was it because the owner of the castle used that to build that? In any case, Luke didn't know the cost of using a skill like that, but it must come in handy in areas like that. Unfortunately, destroying the castle wasn't in his plans. Regardless, Luke passed by the ice and then arrived on the frozen New York, he didn't notice it from so far away, but he could see in the distance the ocean… frozen. He also found a group of enemies.

Ice Goblin - LV 92

HP: 1333/ 1333

MP: 745/ 745

SP: 656/ 656

STR: 193

SPE: 188

INT: 155

END: 139

RES: 180

FOC: 200

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Active Skills: Leadership Lv 06, Dash Lv 05, Strong Arms Lv 04

Spells: Ice Arrow Lv 08, Ice Tornado Lv 06, Water Manipulation Lv 08, Water Transformation Lv 05

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 03, Wind Resistance Lv 06 Cold Resistance Lv 10, Cold Immunity Lv 07, Iron Heart Lv 04, Meditation Lv 04, Vigor Lv 04

Luke got surprised again… those enemies had all the skills necessary to increase their Hp, Mp, and Sp even without leveling up. How? It was impossible that their leader granted them that… Rina and Shalia looked as surprised as him. The Ice Goblins a light blue skin, and they were even taller than most humans. Their physiques were also a lot more impressive than the ordinary ones. Still, what impressed Luke the most was the fact that they were using armor made of ice, and in their hands, they had two meters long hammers also made of ice… 

"We didn't have many chances to confirm that since we were at war… but it seems that some of the descendants of powerful individuals are born with their parent skills," Rina said.

"Is that so? One more reason to procreate like rabbits, right Luke?" Shalia asked.

"Don't take this in the wrong way, but I thought you were supposed to know that," Luke said.

"Well, even dark elves don't have descendants that often," Shalia explained. "Besides, I am only interested in those stronger than me or that have the potential to become so."

Luke thought that Shalia said that before just to mess with him, but it seemed that she didn't have that much experience despite her attitude. In any case, there was no time to think about that. Those enemies were the strongest of the ordinary ones Luke had faced thus far, so he had to take them seriously.. The enemies noticed Artiuno flying above them, and even though they were two hundred meters away, their Ice Arrows still reached them. However, Luke blocked the attacks, and then Artiuno began to fly down toward the enemies…