Chapter 192 - Ghosts (1)

During the first week, they kept their search in the extreme north of that area, but now they had to choose between the Northeastern and northwestern parts of the region. Rina was hesitating for some reason between the two… Luke had no idea why, though.

"I thought that preparation was your strong point… what is wrong?" Luke asked. "Is something in your mind considering the next areas?"

"I am guessing that we will have a hard time in the northwestern part of this region… I heard some of my followers said that they had seen massive months appearing in that area," Rina explained. "Their endurance is like no other… against magic or physical attacks. They can endure pretty much everything."

"So, you wanted to leave the worst part of the mission for last," Luke said. "I guess that doesn't count as cutting corners, so for me, either way is fine. Still, that isn't like you."

"... Leaving them alone now will give them the chance to get stronger," Rina said after thinking silently for a while. "Let's head there. Besides, the people there probably need our help the most."

Now that sure was something the usual Rina would say. The group headed toward the northwest, and for a full day, they only found the usual monsters. However, from noon of the second day, they noticed some hills of snow along the path, and Luke knew that something was off… those hills seemed strangely out of place. When they approached one, the hill exploded and revealed a creature that had just woken up. They were really weird, starting from their names...

Icicle Mammoth - LV 177

HP: 3236/ 3236

MP: 1877/ 1877

SP: 655/ 655

STR: 455

SPE: 50

INT: 303

END: 495

RES: 442

FOC: 850

Free points: 00

Gold Coins: 00

Active Skills: Charge Lv 08, Ice Shell Lv 05

Spells: Ice Cannon Lv 06, Ice Spear Lv 05, Hibernate Lv 08

Passive: Fire Resistance Lv 06, Wind Resistance Lv 07, Pain Resistance Lv 10, Cold Resistance Lv 10, Earth Resistance Lv 10, Electric Resistance lv 06, Poison Resistance Lv 06, Cold Immunity Lv 10

Luke frowned when he saw those behemoth-like creatures… they resembled the mammoths from the books and illustrations from Earth, but their tusks were made of ice. Those were pretty pointy in the end, but they were so large in the beginning that they could cover a good part of their faces and worked as some sort of helmet. Fortunately, only one woke up. Otherwise, things could have become messy…

As if the creature had found its first meal in weeks, it dashed toward Luke, and since it was fifteen meters long and three meters tall, it was definitely impossible to block it. Not to mention, each step was making the ground shame. 

"Well, let's see what I can do without pulling my punches…" Luke said and then used Lightning. 

The attack stopped the monster's charge, but it hadn't been powerful enough to even knock down the beast for a few seconds. The monster just shook its head for a few seconds and then recovered. However, Luke confirmed that the beast had some burn marks on its back, and after using Appraisal, he saw that it had lost five hundred points of health. However, with its natural recovery alone, forty seconds would be enough to recover from the damage. Luke used Lightning four more times and finished off the beast… but that was only possible because he had access to Rina mana pool.

You obtained 250 experience points.

You obtained 250 gold coins.

"Well… it certainly isn't an efficient way of fighting," Luke said and then approached the body of the monster.

"These monsters truly are strong… still. They can probably feed an entire family for a few weeks," Rina said. "By the way, it would be a real pity if you could only make a single skeleton out of a body this size."

Luke already had a feeling that it was the case, and he soon confirmed that. That massive pile of bones created only an ordinary skeleton. The rest of the bones were still around, but Luke couldn't use them. In any case, the skellies won't be very useful against them. Most likely, the mammoth will knock them a group of fifty even before they can finish it off.

"Let's try the hard way now," Luke said and then unsheathed his sword.

The weapon couldn't deal with extra elemental damage since the monster also could use ice magic, and the slow effect also was completely ineffective, but Luke already knew that. Still, when the beast charged at him, he used Stinger level five.

Luke had aimed at the monster's forehead, the unprotected area by the tusk, but the creature probably sent some danger and moved its head to the side. Thanks to that, Luke ended up hitting the protected area, and the impact made his arms tremble while he was spinning in the air. Still, he felt good feedback, and he also heard something when he attacked, and he confirmed that the monster's defenses had been breached a little. The monsters didn't soon charge at him, after all.

What caught the monster and Luke by surprise was the fact that Rina threw her boomerangs at the monster's eyes. The creature moved its head to block them with the cracked husk, but that only made it crack even more. Before she could retrieve those, Rina used her whip, and while the neck of the monster was too thick for her to be able to strangle the creature, it still left a big and purple poisoned wound.

"Thirty percent of health lost… I suppose this isn't so bad," Luke said and then charged. 

In the last moment, the monster covered most of its face with ice, that was probably the skill Ice Shell, and while the beast still could see Luke through some holes in the ice, the creature soon lost sight of him when he jumped.