Frostfire Legacy

Chapter 161: Difficult-to-Use Skill!

"Kuh?!"

Thankfully, he was alert and was able to duck and dodge the incoming fist. The wild swing continued, hitting nothing but air—but the tree that was a few meters behind Aster ended up getting perforated instead!

Just imagining such an attack landing made him feel faint!

'But why did the skill fail in activating? Did I do something wrong?!'

Since it was an upgrade of the Mana Slash, he thought that activating it would follow the same procedure. He tried again, gathering mana for his sword, before slashing forward with a wide arc.

However, just like the previous one, the skill didn't activate, and the strike became nothing but a mana-imbued slash with no power to back it whatsoever.

As soon as he failed, he transitioned to dodging almost immediately. With the extra stat from his passive Boost, dodging was a lot easier compared to before. However, this doesn't change the fact that he couldn't attack.

"I'm missing something...!" He muttered, trying to think of another way. "Wait!" And suddenly, he had an epiphany.

The skill was now called Elemental Sword Slash, so that meant the slash should have an "element" attached. However, his method was no different than simply slashing with mana clad around the blade, way different than what the skill's name promised.

"Is it like this...?"

The third time's the charm! After cladding the sword with mana, he imagined the cold, frigid north. As he did, the mana started to fluctuate, and change in essence.

"...!"

A cold aura started to envelop the blade, releasing a cold mist! Seeing this, Aster didn't delay and attacked one more time. A simple diagonal slash, quick and straightforward. The rabbit tried to dodge, but the sword's tip still managed to graze its thick chest, opening a small laceration.

*CRACK!*

But it didn't stop at that. The cut wound started to freeze, spreading to about a radius of one foot! The rabbit's face turned blue as it grabbed its chest, right where its heart should be, and fell to its knees.

Then, without much fanfare, the powerful monster died just like that.

"... What?" Aster muttered, confused.

He just grazed the enemy, and it died!

Of course, this was just his luck at play. The element he chose, ice, can freeze the attacked spot, and a certain distance from it depending on the user's WIS stat. As such, the attack froze over the enemy's heart by accident, causing heart failure, which led to death not long after!

Aster wasn't satisfied just yet with the results, as he didn't really manage to check the performance of the new skill. He looked to the other rabbit, planning to use it as his next training dummy, but he realized he was too late.

*Arf~!*

Argus was already sitting atop the dead rabbit's corpse, wagging his tail wildly as if waiting for praise. His fight finished faster than Aster's did, even though he didn't use his main attack method—lightning!

"... Good work again, buddy. You even finished it faster than I did." Aster smiled wryly, sheathing his sword before patting the pupper.

After they cut off the rabbit's horn, the most expensive loot they could get from it, Aster and Argus quickly moved on. As they did, they of course encountered more enemies, which gave Aster more chances to practice his new skill.

Thanks to that, he somewhat gained some understanding of the Elemental Sword Slash.

First, the activation process was mostly similar to Mana Slash; the only difference is that he needed to "change" the property of Mana and add an element to it. From the elements he tried, only fire and ice, which he got a solid image of, managed to come out successfully.

In short, unlike before, he can't just spam the skill, as he needs to focus for a bit to activate it.

Still, the power behind it was more than enough to cover for this drawback. Mana Slash was already an overpowered attack skill before, but now, its damage has increased by almost fivefold! That's ignoring the added damage depending on the element used!

Thanks to this, and his increased strength from his passive Boost, his sword could now damage monsters of the 30th floor. He's no longer deadweight for Argus and could contend against monsters—as long as they're fighting one-on-one.

"Boss, there's another corpse here."

But then again, they weren't the only ones on the 30th floor. The previous group of kidnappers finally found his tracks, and started their pursuit!

"From the looks of it, they're a small group heading for the entrance to the north," the scout of the enemy explained while pointing to where Aster was heading at the moment. "Should we intercept them midway?"

"Of course." The young man replied with a fiendish grin. "You, mage. Prepare a warp spell. We'll intercept them at that place."

"...!"

The scout opened his eyes wide, as if in awe of the young man's decisiveness. "If it's that place, then they'd have nowhere to run. Keke!"

"Heh, of course. I just hope they don't die before reaching that place."

A dark shadow was approaching Aster and Argus, but they had no idea that an ambush was getting prepared for them just yet.

---

Outside the dungeon, at the Dungeon's Entrance Portal.

Although the time was barely approaching midnight, people were still coming in and out, albeit sparsely. Some were in parties, returning after an arduous hunt, with smiles on their faces from their abundant loot.

Others were lone individuals who had a shadow of death over them, with barely any loot on hand, bloody and depressed. In this space, lit by nothing but the floodlights and the glowing portal, something eye-catching occurred.

The portal released a powerful glow, signifying that someone was about to exit, but the light was so intense that they thought daytime had arrived for a moment!

The gatekeeper, the Oni Uncle, as Cassy calls him, stared at the lone individual who came out. Of course, he was familiar with everyone entering the dungeon, so he didn't fail to recognize the person who was standing wobbly, covered in wounds, lacerations, and bruises.

"You... You're Kali from that youngster's party, right?" he asked, approaching her. "Where's the rest? Don't tell me..."

But before he could finish asking, Kali's reaction made him stiffen in surprise.

"H-Help us... Aster, Cassandra, Celestinya, Lizandrea, Lorelai... All of them are in danger!"

Her usual cold, cocky attitude was nowhere to be found as her eyes flickered with fear and a faint beam of hope.

"Please... They're teleported to a random floor below Floor 50. Please rescue them!"

As soon as she finished speaking, as if completing her mission, she immediately fainted. The Oni Uncle heard her words clearly and frowned.

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"Random teleport? Could it be starting already...?" He whispered, but nobody was close enough to hear him. "Although I think it's too early, well, this must be fate at work."

He pulled out his phone from his pocket and called somewhere.

"It's me. Send out personnel for all floors from 5 to 50. It's Code Zero."

A faint glint appeared in his eyes, but soon, worry replaced it.

'Young'un, you must return safely.'