Placing the body of the high-rank snow spider in his space ring, Zick thought of getting out of the pit, when a crystal the size of a meter entered his sight.
It was the larger and stronger version of the snow-white crystal that the snow spiders picked up. It would glow in a blue light, like rippling water, and vanish randomly. It was a mysterious sight.
Putting it within his space ring too, Zick got out of the pit, when-
SCREECH!
A loud screeching noise of a snow spider entered Zick's ears.
It was so loud that the whole frozen room shook. A majestic presence swept through the room making Zick's expression change.
'A master rank monster!' Horror filled Zick, overwhelming his senses. His expression turned gloomy and surprised at once.
If this monster made a move he would die without a doubt. The difference between a peak rank and a master rank was just like the difference between day and night.
A peak-rank monster human would never be able to beat a master-rank being!
Zick didn't think any further and dashed towards the passage he came from. The way leading to the outside was already memorized in his head. He followed it and ran, enhancing himself with mana, not holding back at all.
SCREECH!
Another screech could be heard behind him but he ignored it and further increased his speed.
'I have to get out of this place quickly!'
Zick felt regret rising within him, if he knew that this place was filled with tons of monsters like this he would have never come near it.
He had thought of this place to be an easy trip but it turned out to be a place where he had to put his life on the line dozens of times.
'It would have been a hundred times better if I just went and looked for an item that could help to melt all the platinum coins I have.' Zick lamented.
Losing his Archmage status in the mage profession, Zick could not create magic strong enough to melt platinum anymore. So he had to look for an item or person who could melt them for him.
This was a hard task but it looked nothing compared to what he was currently going through.
In the first place, Zick was unwilling to sell unprocessed platinum like that. It would appear extremely suspicious!
And right at the moment, the Eastern continent was in turmoil with ghost people appearing out of nowhere. This made Zick extremely hesitant.
Revealing his identity would bring many dangers to him. If not handled with care he would die without a doubt.
BANG!
The wall behind him broke apart, scattering debris everywhere. A high-rank snow spider burst out of it with its killing intent not hidden at all.
Glancing behind him, Zick continued running. A spider of that size would not be able to chase him in such a narrow passage.
'The leader of this snow spider is quite prideful I see...Hmph, well it's good for me anyway.' Zick narrowed his eyes thinking this.
Sending a weak monster like that clearly showed that the leader of this monster was looking down on Zick. Not moving even after he killed one of its important subordinates.
'Or wait...Is the monster I just killed not worth its time?' Zick's expression turned solemn thinking this, he got a bad premonition from it.
If what he just thought was the truth then, there must be multiple monsters that are stronger than the snow spiders that he met now.
Zick did his all to escape from this place, he estimated that it would take another ten minutes for him to get out of this place.
"hmm...." Zick felt multiple presences of snow spiders in front of him. There were more than 20 of them waiting for his arrival, they had received an order from their queen.
Zick was in a hurry right at the moment, he didn't want to take risks in staying here anymore. Though the Queen of this monster was not making a move it was not worth risking his life to see the patience of this monster.
'Are they trying to buy time? Why did the leader of these monsters suddenly turn into an idiot?' Zick sneered in his mind.
Zick still decided to move forward in the same direction. Changing passage right now would make him deviate from the exit, finding another route seems a lot more time-consuming than killing dozens of monsters.
Thus, Zick made a layer of black mana cover him and continued running at full speed.
The snow spider waiting for him in the passage panicked looking at him who was heading towards them crazily, showing no sign of slowing down.
Zick reached in front of them in no time, he ran right through them; The snow spiders were crushed by the pressure exerted by Zick's feet. Their body was left loitering there.
He was unscathed with not even a scratch on his body. The thin layer of black barrier around his body vanished, maintaining it would be a waste of his time.
The smell of rotten blood reached Zick, many dead bodies of snow spiders were laying on the ground, giving off a nauseating smell.
'I am getting nearer to the exit.' Zick could not help but feel relieved. These were the monsters that he killed while going deeper into the passage.
'Sigh....for this place to be under a monster. This node of the mana crystal is probably completely under their control.' Zick moved while considering. No monster followed him anymore showing that the Queen of Spiders was hesitating.
'The next time I come to explore this place, I will make sure to enter through another node. And if even that node was taken over by another monster, I will have to wait to become a master swordsman, before trying to explore this place.'
'The only safe node I know right now is the one used by Aeiron but for some reason many snow cyclops are roaming around in that area.'
Zick didn't want to give up on collecting the mana crystal and also wanted to explore this place. There was something that attracted the monster and also strengthened them immensely.
Zick looked at the space ring in his right hand, the show white liquid, and crystal that he stored within it from the pond surely held some connection to this mystery.
'If this could strengthen the monsters, then....' Zick's eyes shined in bright light, but it vanished after a blink of an eye.
If this snow-white liquid could strengthen him, this trip would be more than worth it.
Zick's speed in running while using mana was incomparable to before. The wind split, creating a whirlwind. The surprising thing was that no sound was made excluding the wind. He had very high control over his body.
Remembering something, Zick snorted: ' If the leader of this monster was as prideful as I speculated, its pride must be hurt right at the moment.' Zick snickered internally as he moved towards the exit.
He took turns here and there with no hesitation at all, the way was perfectly memorized by him. He soon reached the room below the four passage room, he could see the hole he made from the place he stood.
Right at the moment, he had hidden his presence, not making a sound.
Three high-rank rank snow spiders waited for him in the four passage room.
'In the end, a monster is a monster I guess. Letting pride get to its head.'
Black mana started gathering on Zick's sword rapidly. The snow spiders noticed this but were still a step late.
Zick swung his sword aiming at the ceiling, right at the place where the three snow spiders stood!
A mana spear extended from his sword directly coming in contact with the ceiling.
BANG! SCREECH!
With the ceiling collapsing, the snow spiders also fell down along with it. The ice armor protected its body from getting damaged in any way.
Before the snow spiders could recover, Zick hopped above a huge rock that fell from the ceiling and directly jumped to the other side of the passage with no effort at all. He didn't have any reason to fight against these snow spiders.
He had already gotten what he wanted and he had nothing to benefit from fighting either.
Getting stronger and finding a way to defeat the demon lord was his current goal.
Just thinking of the thing that he still had to do made Zick sigh. He almost had no experience in controlling people and making them follow his order. It was the same with politics, the only reason he got until here was because of his meticulous thinking and scheming.
'I can only do my best...No, I will do my best, I will give my all in collecting a group of meatshields.'
Zick didn't let despair affect him. If he gave up this easily he would be letting himself down. He would be letting down all the effort he put in his life till now!
Then what was the worth of living till now?
Could he forgive himself for giving up, not even trying to resist?
'No matter why I came to this world. No matter how my life ends, till the very last moment, I will keep fighting! Giving my all to live and pursue my goal!' Immense determination filled Zick, making his usual cold expression have a brilliant smile on it.
He soon reached the place he entered the mana crystal nord. Nothing but darkness welcomed him.
Without further ado, Zick started climbing the gorge.