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Great Ancient Mage, Destroy (4)
The north continent was covered with a bit of darkness and a lot of ice. Although they arrived in the morning, the sun wasn’t up in the sky. It was as if it was under a different law of nature, unlike the central continent.
“The mana, it’s heavy…!”
Mirole, who was accustomed to the warm mana from the spirits of the World Tree, failed to adjust to the atmosphere of the Eternal Glacier that was filled with the mana from the other worlds.
“With your status, you can bear the pressure. Gain your senses and correct your posture.”
“Whew…all right, I understand.”
“Good, after adjusting for a while, I’ll give you equipment that will help in resisting the environmental debuffs.”
Evan patted Mirole’s back and encouraged her as she behaved more naturally than before. Mirole looked to be both in agony and in happiness, but it was great that Evan didn’t realize it.
“It’s a tough nut to crack, Master. There won’t be any humans here, at least.”
“We should attack anything that looks like a human. It must be a demon pretending to be a human.”
The chilling air from the Eternal Glacier, the heaviness of the mana, and the toxic atmosphere from the other worlds. As the Eternal Glacier of Yo-Ma Great War 3 was the final stage where the players must meet with all the conditions before barely entering it, it was the worst place with an environment that could kill unprepared players before they could meet any monsters. Their abilities suffered from environmental debuffs. Each monster was as strong as the regional boss, so one slight mistake could lead to death.
“And this is the equipment to be worn in this place.”
“I miss these.”
They were the armor sets made from the Glacial Tears from the Eternal Glacier. With these armors, there wouldn’t be any difficulties in roaming around the Eternal Glacier!
“Woah, with these…my body feels very comfortable.”
Mirole touched her body with a surprised look after equipping the armor.
‘I only thought it had the anti-heat and anti-freeze abilities, but they can also block the poisonous miasma of the Eternal Glacier.’
It was well known that armor from the Glacier Tear acquired in the environment of Yo-Ma Great War Zero helped in overcoming all the debuffs the Eternal Glacier gave, including the cold chill and the armor they were wearing was crafted from the Glacial Tears in Yo-Ma Great War 3. Yet, it was quite strange how it resisted the toxic aura and the heavy mana in the atmosphere.
‘…No, wait a second.’
…In the middle of a thought, Evan suddenly found the answer.
‘I see. The Glacial Tears used in them weren’t from the modern time.’
He recalled the past. An ancient ruin existed from a sealed dimension, completely different from other ruins of Yo-Ma Great War 3. Evan recalled his first encounter with the King Ice Spirit, who claimed him as Zero in the ruin filled with the Glacial Tears…
“Things turned out good, anyways.”
“It’s really amusing, Zero. I felt like I was being crushed down until a few moments ago, but now I feel so light.”
Mirole looked more like a fairy with her white raincoat equipment, and she jumped up in joy. Evan smiled lightly and reached out his hand to her.
“It’s a dangerous place if you let your guard down. Let’s go.”
“Okay!”
“Then, the other hand is mine!”
The three people headed toward the icy land in good harmony. One might think they came for a date.
―Krgh, humans from the other side. I’ve finally found you.
“Hiiii!?”
“Ah, nostalgic.”
A creepy voice from the darkness somewhere! Mirole fell into delusion as if she were getting choked by that voice, and she was unable to move. Still, Evan sounded bright as the event he experienced in Yo-Ma Great War Zero recurred.
―Grgrghhhh…
And nobody had the chance to find out why the owner of the creepy voice was looking for humans from the other side. It was because Evan half-killed it with his Annihilation as soon as he heard the voice, and it became something that was beyond anyone’s recognition. Splat, Maybell calmly looked at Evan as she saw the crushed monster that fell down behind them.
“How did you kill it when it doesn’t have a form, Master?”
“Stupid, you can just use your power in all directions.”
“You just sounded smart while saying what amounts to lighting the entire house on fire just to kill a mouse works well.”
“There’s nothing good in telling me one of your mistakes.”
Evan had a light exchange of humor with Maybell, then he lifted the half-dead body with his Annihilation. Mirole shuddered as she saw the body crushed beyond recognition flying towards her.
“Uh…Zero? Why are you bringing it…”
“You kill it, Mirole.”
“What’s the point in that?”
It was a matter of gaining experience, but Evan didn’t speak out his thoughts. As Mirole said, she wasn’t that high level enough to explore the Eternal Glacier. But then, he couldn’t just sit back and wait until she leveled up. The skill level could be raised through meditation, so Evan decided to kill the monsters in the Eternal Glacier that gave the highest experience.
Mirole didn’t know that she could take more than half of the experience gained by finishing off the half-dead monsters. Such game components were the wonders of this world, though it was difficult to explain through words.
“Yup. I believe this is a ritual for making you stronger.”
“If you say so, I’ll follow you…it will be difficult for me to even finish off these kinds of monsters.”
Mirole pulled out her arrow and penetrated its neck at a point-blank range after concentrating her mana. She was the strongest among the elves, but her arrow only pierced halfway through the neck. However, the skin of the monster was already dangling due to Evan’s annihilation.
“Huh…?”
Yet, it was enough to kill it, and with that…Mirole felt the change in her body.
“Huh? How? Hmm?”
“Do you feel stronger?”
“Yes, you’re right. But…how?”
Mirole opened her eyes wide as she touched her body. Evan smiled bitterly. He predicted Mirole’s previous existence level to be about 40. Although she had lived about 700 years, she was part of the elven race that lived peacefully without a war. As a daughter of the World Tree, her abilities, status, and skill levels were ridiculously high compared to her existence level. Still, she didn’t get the chance to raise her existence level.
‘And she barely managed to reach about 40 when she cleared out the dungeons with me.’
But the lowest existence level of monsters from this place, the Eternal Glacier, was about 120. And some of them reached 180, so Yeo Ban-Min repeated the cycle of death and resurrection in the Eternal Glacier to level up the Great Ancient Mage. And the result was that he reached the level of 186. Evan planned on raising her level to that number. If the experience gained was just halved from finishing off the enemies, she could just kill twice as much as he did in the game. It was that simple.
‘Come to think about it, what’s my existence level? I’m sure it’s beyond 200.’
Must Save, who had similar status and abilities as him, might know his level. He regretted not asking it since he was putting up an act in front of him and not being honest. No, but there would be a benefit in not knowing it. Evan shook off his head to stop the delusions. If he really asked, Evan would be surprised by the report that his existence level became unidentifiable after going beyond 350, so it was nice that he didn’t.
“This might sound weird, but my soul and body…”
What was important now was Mirole. Evan drifted back his focus. Mirole was looking up in the sky with amusement.
“I’ve felt like they suddenly became stable. My body became strong, and my mana got amplified suddenly…Moreover, before, I couldn’t call the spirits due to the sterile environment. Still, I think I can do it now. No, I am certain of it…!”
That’s what happens when you level up ten times in one go. Evan mumbled to himself and nodded. She just finished off a monster of level 120 and gained half of the experience, so she should easily reach level 50. Of course, it was difficult to experience such a level jump as she reached higher levels. Still, she could reach about level 100 in a day if Evan put in the effort. And that would enable her to survive in the Eternal Glacier. She was basically stronger than what her level showed.
“From today, you need to lessen your sleeping time and invest in honing your skills. If not, your skills will be far behind your growth pace.”
“I see, all right…but wait.”
Mirole nodded at Evan’s words, but she stopped and looked at him. Her eyes were filled with guilt.
“With things like this, am I unjustly taking advantage of you, Zero? I want to be of help and not a burden…”
“But you are a burden as of now.”
“Krgh.”
Mirole became dizzy at his words!
“You can’t roam around with such a low level, so I’m just trying to make you stronger in a place efficient for your growth. No need to feel guilty about it. And.”
“And?”
“I’ve grown strong enough. Killing one or two of these monsters won’t be that much help to me.”
To level up, Evan needed to kill precisely 500 of them. He would be surprised if she knew about it.
“Is that true? If I really become your burden…”
“That’s for now, but you will be a great help once you become strong. Moreover, you need to have the strength worthy of the queen of the Forest. So be quiet and accept my help.”
“…Okay.”
Mirole bit her lips at Evan’s unusual yet strong words, and she nodded. Then, she secretly approached him and held his clothes.
“I will try to become the help you need as soon as possible.”
“All right.”
“So, umm, I thought of helping you in another way…”
“Here, kill the next…huh? Did you say something?”
“…”
As Mirole was about to use the technique she learned from Maybell, another mysterious voice was heard, and Evan swung his hand, then he brought the horrible half-dead body of a giant monster in front of Mirole. He had no sense of atmosphere.
“Isn’t this already dead?”
“It will die if we let it be, so you need to end it fast.”
“Such a nice expression, Master.”
Even a great plan from the Succubus Queen and the magnificent charm of the high elf…didn’t guarantee things would go as they planned. Especially if their target was someone outside their reach.
Mirole didn’t say a word as she nocked an arrow.
Swoosh!