'Why are there so many snow cyclops here?!' Zick thought started racing at a speed that was many times faster compared to when he fought the mind monster.
An absurd situation was occurring right in front of him. Eight snow cyclops had gathered at the same place!
Snow cyclops were extremely rare for them to come together like this without a doubt had a reason behind it. And the feeling Zick got from it was anything but good.
Their intense killing intent was not hidden in the slightest as they howled loudly. This clearly showed that the dragon's fear released by his body did not affect them.
'They are going to attack.' Zick's heart started beating at a faster rate making hot blood travel in every part of his body rapidly.
He concentrated to the limit thinking of every countermeasure he could.
In the end, he only found one answer to his rapid thinking.
Nothing
There was no possible way that Zick could use to fend against the joint attack of eight cyclops.
The icicles on the shoulders of the snow cyclops shone in bright light. They stood hundreds of meters away from Zick which was still increasing as he tried escaping.
Feeling the bad feeling in his heart increasing, Zick squinted his teeth. He was against climbing the mountain as that would just make him a better target and moved sideways, towards somewhere unknown.
Something entered his eyes, a dead end to the snow terrain appeared.
'The gorge!' Zick's eyes flashed with a brilliant light. He was aware of this place as he was planning on going there in the worst-case scenario of not finding the place mentioned in the novel.
There was another way that could lead him to the mana crystal mine. It was through this gorge.
Zick didn't want to only rely on the information mentioned in the novel so he always thought of another way if the information failed him.
Mana crystal mine spread its veins to a very far and deep place so there must also be a Node in this gorge, it was very near to the mana crystal mine after all.
Seeing the gorge nearing, Zick revealed a resolute gaze.
Multiple ice spears flew toward him at a rapid speed. It cut through the air making a whistling sound.
Without any hesitation, Zick strengthened his body to the limit with mana. Light black mana enveloped his whole body.
He jumped off the snow wolf, The ground below his feet caved in by the force put upon them.
Bam! Zick dashed forward at an incomparable speed to when he rode the snow wolf. He surpassed them in no time and headed towards the gorge.
BANG! BANG! BANG!
More than half of the snow wolf pack was killed at once facing the gigantic ice spear.
The snow wolf pack were confused as to what to do and stooped in their tracks looking at Zick's figure running forwards. Their bodies froze from the fear they felt from the snow cyclops.
The snow cyclops attacked both the snow wolf and Zick again. To them, both of them were nothing but prey that could be killed easily.
Zick's pale face got covered in a layer of dark shadow, feeling gloomy. The gorge was still some distance away from him, even while running at his full speed reaching there before the ice spear was not possible.
He unsheathed the cursed sword, which hung on his waist. The imminent danger posed by the ice spear made Zick focus to his limit.
The ice spear was huge, it was four meters long with its edge pointy and thick.
'I won't be able to parry that....' With a single glance from his shoulder, Zick concluded.
It was still far from him so he started shooting black mana slashes by swinging his sword. He didn't stop running even while throwing the mana slashes.
GUHHH!!!
"Ahh!" Hearing the roar, Zick inevitably stopped and screamed in a crazed voice too. His eyes turned red with madness.
But he snapped out of that state in a second.
Getting his consciousness back, the ice spear had already flown very near to him.
Compared to Seveleen, Zick's senses were a hundred times stronger so he was able to follow the movement of the ice spear with his eyes.
'A taunting skill?!' Zick had read it from the novel. He didn't expect the snow cyclops to have such a special ability too. And the reach of this skill was very scary, it even affected him who was very far from them.
With the ice spear so near, Zick could only grit his teeth and ready the cursed sword in front of him.
The black sword in his hand glowed in a black light. The mana around Zick's body perfectly circulated with the sword. It was the mana harmonization technique that he learned at a young age.
Clang!
The ice spear and Zick's sword collided diagonally, giving out a metallic sound.
"Pssss....." The breath left Zick's mouth as his sword collided with the ice spear.
His body started getting pushed back at an extreme speed not being able to handle the pressure from the ice spear.
A trail was left in the snow as he got pushed back.
Crack!
"Ugh...." A muffled groan left Zick's mouth feeling the pain in his wrist, elbow, and shoulders.
The bone in his left shoulder actually broke in no time. This made his hand unstable.
'No...if the balance gets destroyed, this icicle would directly destroy my whole left chest. If that happens, I will die without a doubt.'
Zick clenched his jaw tightly, he used his mana to keep the left shoulder from becoming immobilized.
The deadlock in the collision didn't last for long, Zick reached the gorge being pushed by the ice spear. He was not blindly just enduring the attack.
Arriving at the gorge, Zick directly fell into the unending darkness, and the ice spear collided with the snow-covered wall.
A thick layer of the snow wall exploded and fell into the gorge.
Falling down the gorge, Zick's left hand waved around with him having no control over it. It had now become fully immobile.
'Luckily, I didn't lose the whole limb. If I lost it, I would have to go around looking for an elixir.' Zick thought with an emotionless face, even while feeling the pain in his hands and shoulders. His tendons still kept the muscles attached to his bone so it cannot be said that his left hand was totally severed.
Zick pushed himself towards the wall beside him controlling the mana around him and stuck the black sword into it.
A trail was created on the wall; it took a few seconds to stop his fall.
Looking below him, Zick could only see darkness. Above, he could still see a thin layer of light which was the sky.
'My condition is a lot more messed up than I estimated.' Zick calculated his injuries.
There were four broken or cracked bones in total, and he had also lost the mobility of his left hand. Along with it, there was much damage to the muscles.
Pulling himself up, Zick got up on the sword with a simple swing of his body. He sat upon it and took out healing potions, gulping them down at once. He did this four times before starting to apply it outwardly.
Feeling his wounds healing, Zick breathed out, relaxing his tensed body. It would take a while for his body to fully heal.
"Sigh....where did they appear from now?" Zick squinted his eyes, feeling his carelessness. He should have realized that something was wrong after the abnormal appearance of the mind monster.
'It's most probably because of the snowstorm or at least connected to it.'
It seems that different kinds of dangerous monsters come out once it starts snowing. It was just a conjecture but it was the only lead that Zick had.
In truth, this could not be blamed on Zick, but he was a prudent person so he always thrived to be a better self with fewer flaws.
Seeing that no cyclops came to kill him, Zick calmly waited for his body to recover while recovering his lost mana.
Within ten minutes, Zick's body was fully healed, absorbing all the healing potion's content in his body.
While waiting for himself to heal, Zick had already found a place with a greater concentration of mana. It was on his right, deeper into the gorge.
'The mana crystal node must be located there.'
Zick with blood all over his leather armor hung holding onto the cursed sword from one hand again. He kicked the rock wall making a hole to place his leg on.
"Phew....." Tensing up his body again, Zick leaped towards right after pulling out his sword.
He was able to leap up to five meters with his body alone, this movement was done without the help of mana. He thrust the sword into the wall again.
'I should be able to reach the node sooner like this.'
Zick continued doing the same process, thrusting the sword into the wall, making a hole, and jumping again. He kept doing it for another 30 minutes before stopping, he could feel the mana crystal node deep below him.
"Haaaa....." Readying himself, Zick pulled out the sword and let himself fall.
While falling, Zick looked below him only to see total darkness. This made his heart palpitate, it was a new experience for him after all.
Even while falling, he didn't lose balance and was near the wall at all times.
The pressure from his falling made his armor madly wave around and His hair stood straight, exposing his forehead.
Feeling The mana crystal node nearing, Zick slowed down his falling speed by a little by thrusting the tip of his sword into The wall. He had strengthened his eyes so that he would not miss anything.
'There it is!'
p1ease visi(t) n0ve1b(in).ne)t
A cave appeared right below him out of the darkness.
Zick's sword came out of the wall facing a dead end. But he directly thrust it into the entrance of the cave.
Putting pressure on his right hand, Zick climbed up and entered the cave.
"I reached this place at last...." Zick couldn't help but feel emotional.
He had faced one crisis after another making him feel tired. The intense snowstorm, mind monster, and snow cyclops. All of these situations were dangerous, both his wits and luck played a part in overcoming all of this.