"The tenth floor monsters… aren't that impressive."
Arthas said, approaching slowly. He held the fire poker in his right hand; several ice spikes hovered in his left.
"Mr. Arthas, you'll freeze the magic stones again!"
Lilly said. The large half-orc before her shattered, but, surprisingly, the magic stone remained intact.
"Eh?"
"Simple. I released my mana before firing the spikes."
Arthas's mana was too powerful; even with control, maintaining its release caused destruction. Releasing it at the right moment solved the problem.
He'd learned his power's characteristics.
Stage one: intense cold, like normal ice magic, gradually paralyzing the enemy. Then, complete freezing, ending their life.
Finally, absolute zero, causing complete structural destruction.
By the third stage, it wasn't just frost; Arthas's mana caused annihilation.
"But if you released your mana, how did you fire the spikes?"
Lilly tilted her head. Arthas smiled faintly.
"Simple."
As he spoke, another half-orc charged from the fog.
Arthas did something that made Lilly facepalm. He grabbed one of the hovering ice spikes and threw it at the half-orc.
This time, Lilly saw clearly: the spike didn't pierce the half-orc's heart; it hit it, froze it, and the cold instantly froze the half-orc solid.
"The destructive power is still strong… but it feels weak…"
Lilly muttered, collecting the magic stones.
"Killing the enemy is all that matters. The method doesn't matter. And this way, the magic stones aren't destroyed."
Tossing an ice spike, Arthas shrugged.
"City folk are fancy."
They continued deeper into the fog.
"Great harvest."
Hours later, Arthas smiled, looking at the collected magic stones. At this rate, he could soon get Hestia a better house.
"Yeah, great harvest."
Lilly muttered resentfully; she wouldn't get a share.
I risked my life to lure those monsters.
"Let's go. Time to return."
Arthas gathered his bag, clumsily spilling half the stones.
"They fell out, Mr. Arthas!"
"They're yours."
"But you said no pay for three days…"
"That's the support member fee. This is a bonus."
Arthas said casually, picking up his share and smiling, leaving Lilly stunned.
"What… an idiot." After a while, Lilly gathered the stones and followed Arthas.
They left the tenth floor, heading upwards. But something happened on the eighth floor.
"This isn't what we agreed on, Lilly. You were supposed to lure the monster to us, not take it to the tenth floor."
A sinister voice echoed from a corner.
Arthas stopped; Lilly's face paled.
Looking towards the voice, they saw a poorly dressed adventurer. He had bear-like ears, similar to Lilly's.
"Your friend?"
Arthas asked Lilly.
"Yes, we're close friends."
The poorly dressed man narrowed his eyes, laughing at Lilly.
He threw something behind him. A thud echoed as something rolled to the ground, making Lilly cry out.
"Killer… Ants…!"
Severed Killer Ants, barely alive, lay on the ground. Wounded, bleeding, they thrashed weakly.
"Before we catch up, hand over everything. I heard you have a godly weapon from Hephaestus."
Two more severed ant bodies were thrown. Two more adventurers appeared. Three ants lay groaning.
"What is this, a noise attack?"
Arthas blinked, asking Lilly, making her almost fall.
"Don't joke, Mr. Arthas! Dying Killer Ants release pheromones, summoning others."
The ants were ticking time bombs.
"Oh?"
Arthas sounded interested; Lilly wasn't so calm.
"Mr. Arthas, don't be so relaxed! Your mana must be low! Facing an ant army is dangerous, even for you!"
They'd killed many monsters; Lilly was amazed by Arthas's mana reserves, but they must be near their limit.
Mr. Arthas is only Level 1! This mana consumption is extreme.
"Mana?"
Arthas raised an eyebrow. He'd used a lot of mana, but it was a drop in the ocean.
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