Right after jumping off the rooftop.

Walfred launched himself downward with his spear, letting gravity add momentum as he aimed straight for the spider monster’s mana stone.

Crack! Crash!

A deafening collision.

The moment the spear tip struck the mana stone, tremendous recoil shot up through his wrist.

’Got it!’

That should destroy the mana stone.

Walfred was certain, but the system warning that appeared next was enough to make his expression harden.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Target has high Cold Resistance.]

[30% of damage negated.]

’...What?’

Walfred’s eyes went wide.

Sure enough, the mana stone had come close to breaking but hadn’t shattered yet. Walfred hastily abandoned the ice spear and fell back.

And that was the best call he could’ve made.

Whoosh!

Sharp claws grazed the tip of his nose.

A split second slower and his face would’ve been split in half. But there was no time to feel relieved. The spider’s second attack came immediately after.

Thud!

"Ugh!"

A heavy impact slammed into his side.

Pain like getting hit with a steel pipe.

His breath caught as Walfred’s body tumbled across the ground. If Frost Domain hadn’t reinforced his durability, his ribs would’ve been crushed.

"Urk!"

Walfred gritted his teeth and got up.

Pain washed over him, but he couldn’t stop. 𝑓𝓇𝘦ℯ𝘸𝘦𝑏𝓃𝑜𝘷ℯ𝑙.𝑐𝑜𝓂

One more solid hit and this fight would be his. Walfred stretched his hand toward the spider monster and shouted.

"Ice Needle!"

At his furious cry.

Ice shards around him shot upward.

Twenty sharp ice needles moved quickly, as if responding to Walfred’s rage.

"Launch!"

Crack-crack-crack-crack!

The ice needles rushed toward the mana stone.

But the spider monster was cunning.

The moment it saw the ice needles, it quickly wrapped its front legs around its head.

Clang! Ping!

The ice needles bounced off the hard carapace. A few managed to slip through gaps and stick in, but it wasn’t enough to shatter the mana stone.

Then the creature’s jaw twitched.

’Webbing!’

The same attack that had taken down Chaz.

If he got hit by the webbing, the fight would turn even more against him.

"Frozen Weapon!"

After creating an ice spear.

Walfred kicked hard off the ground.

His enhanced physical abilities let him leap three stories high in one bound, and the spider monster’s eyes tracked his movement.

Nowhere to dodge in midair.

Seeing this as an opportunity, the creature lowered the legs protecting its head to spit out webbing.

And in that moment.

’Now!’

Crack!

Walfred switched his grip on the ice spear to a reverse hold. Then he twisted his whole body, adding rotational force as he hurled the ice spear downward.

At the same time, a sticky ball of webbing shot from the spider monster’s mouth. But the webbing didn’t wrap around Walfred.

Whoosh! Thud!

The ice spear, enhanced by Cold Emission at just the right moment, pierced straight through the webbing.

The ice spear flew in a blue arc and drove straight through the spider monster’s mana stone.

Crack!

A shattering sound like crystal breaking.

The heavily cracked mana stone split into dozens of pieces and crumbled helplessly.

"Eeeeeeaaaagh!"

A desperate death cry rang out.

The spider monster’s massive body convulsed violently before collapsing in on itself.

With that sight.

The victory message appeared.

-----

[Subjugation successful.]

[Elite: Frozen Weaver]

[Rank]: D

[Reward]: 3,000 coins, Skill Book - Random

-----

"Huff, huff!"

Walfred’s breathing came in ragged gasps.

As the tension released, pain flared again from his side where he’d been hit. But the painful moment didn’t last long.

[Level up]

[Level up]

[Level up]

Jumping three levels at once, all his fatigue and pain vanished as if washed away.

Through this, Walfred truly realized.

The fact that the powerful enemy he’d just taken down really was an Elite Monster.

’...I got lucky.’

The only reason he’d won against the spider monster was because Chaz and the hunters had already worn down its health and focused their attacks on the mana stone.

If he’d fought it in perfect condition, he couldn’t have won. Walfred let out a sigh of relief and looked at the system notifications appearing one after another.

[You’ve reached Level 22!]

[Hunter rank has increased.]

[Rank: E → D]

"D-rank..."

Finally shed the beginner label.

Generally, D-rank meant you could pull your weight anywhere. Plus, having passed level 20, a new skill slot had opened.

[A new skill has been acquired.]

▷Defense: Frost Shield

"A defensive skill."

Just when he’d been feeling the need for one.

Especially thinking back to when Frozen Weaver’s attack had slammed into his side.

Walfred checked the skill’s detailed information.

-----

[Defense: Frost Shield (Lv.1)]

[Creates a frost shield that absorbs damage.]

[The frost shield’s effects are enhanced by [Passive: Cold Emission].]

▷Mana cost: Proportional to damage taken

▷Frost damage absorption: 30% (60%)

▷Other damage absorption: 15% (30%)

▷Fire damage absorption: 5% (10%)

▶Skill feature: Remains active after activation

-----

A skill that absorbed incoming damage.

However, reading the detailed information raised a question.

’Mana consumption proportional to damage taken?’

So if he activated the skill but didn’t get hit, it wouldn’t consume mana?

Walfred decided to test it immediately.

"Frost Shield."

With the short command.

After the notification that the skill had activated, a white barrier formed around Walfred’s body.

It felt like wearing thin ice armor.

Checking his status screen’s mana stat confirmed there really was no mana consumption.

’Perfect.’

If it didn’t consume mana unless he took hits, he could keep it on all the time.

This meant he now had some insurance against ambushes. Plus, since it stayed active, skill experience would accumulate automatically.

With a satisfied smile, he checked the loot next. Walfred picked up the glowing book that had dropped from Frozen Weaver’s corpse.

-----

[Name]: Skill Book - Random

[Effect]: Opening the book randomly grants one skill suited to your attribute.

-----

’So it was a skill book after all.’

Walfred’s eyes sparkled like stars.

Skill books were loot that only dropped at low rates from Elite or higher monsters.

They were consumables that provided additional skills beyond the ones randomly acquired every 5 levels.

’I heard some of them contain skills that are hard to acquire through normal means.’

That made him even more excited.

Walfred tried to calm his trembling heart, then gripped the skill book with both hands. The moment he slowly turned the page.

Flash!

Blinding light burst forth.

The light seeped into Walfred’s body as if being absorbed, and shortly after, the skill book crumbled like dust.

And moments later.

[A new skill has been acquired.]

▷Blessing: Blessing of the Snowfield

"Blessing? A blessing?"

A type of skill he’d never seen before appeared.

Normal skills were usually categorized as combat, support, defense, passive, etc. Walfred tilted his head in confusion, then immediately checked the detailed information.

-----

[Blessing: Blessing of the Snowfield]

[The land of snow and ice blesses you.]

[Blessing of the Snowfield activates when snow or ice exists within a 33-foot radius.]

▷Mana recovery every 30 seconds: +0.5% (1%)

▷Gain trace experience every 60 seconds

-----

"Mana recovery?"

Walfred tilted his head.

He had reason to.

Normally, mana could only recover naturally over time or by drinking potions.

He’d never heard of recovering mana with a skill. While puzzling over this, Walfred looked at the second ability and his eyes went round.

"This is...!"

An ability that granted experience every 60 seconds.

Sure, it had the condition that Blessing of the Snowfield had to stay active, and the experience amount was only a trace, but that didn’t matter.

In the current situation, this blessing would basically be active constantly. Then a notification related to Blessing of the Snowfield appeared.

[Blessing of the Snowfield activates.]

[Experience gained.]

[Experience: +0.003%]

"...Really is a trace amount."

Seeing the number, Walfred laughed hollowly.

Rough calculation meant about 4% experience gained over 24 hours. It was disappointing, but still better than nothing.

Every little bit adds up, after all.

’Come to think of it, what are coins?’

The reward that came with the skill book: coins.

Walfred tilted his head.

He was frustrated that there was no information beyond having acquired 4,000 coins. Then the message he’d been waiting for appeared.

[New feature unlocked.]

[System: Hunter Community]

[Connect now?]

’Finally...!’

The privilege granted at level 20.

Now he could learn how the world was turning, what the situation was in other regions.

He could find out news about Key West too, where his niece Jenna had gone. Walfred reached with trembling hands to tap the connect button.

But then.

Suddenly his vision flashed red.

[Warning! Warning!]

[Rising ambient temperature detected]

[Some skills will be deactivated.]

▷Frost Domain

▷Blessing of the Snowfield

"...What?"

The temperature rose? Suddenly?

Why? In that bewildering moment.

"Um, excuse me..."

A small voice from behind him.

Startled, Walfred immediately turned around.

Where his gaze landed was a girl with a petite frame. The fire attribute Awakened that Chaz had tried to take with him.

"...Ah."

The moment he saw the girl.

Walfred finally realized.

Faint heat haze was rising around her. And the closer she came, the more the snow and ice around her melted.

Belatedly realizing the cause of the rising temperature, Walfred hastily stepped back.

"Talk from there."

"Pardon?"

"Don’t come this way."

"Oh... Okay."

She looked clearly flustered.

But she obediently stopped in place.

Taking a deep breath, the girl looked at Walfred again and bowed her head politely.

"Th-thank you for saving me."

"..."

Walfred didn’t respond.

Instead, he calmly looked her over.

As if proving she was a fire attribute Awakened, the girl’s outfit was simple. Just a somewhat worn school uniform with a single thin coat thrown over it.

"My name is Lauren."

With that brief self-introduction.

Lauren’s story began.

Shortly after, Walfred learned that she was a refugee from Crown Heights Arena Shelter and had been heading to Newark Caverns.

"But suddenly people I’d never seen before appeared and blocked our path, and then that spider monster attacked everyone..."

Lauren’s voice trembled faintly.

Probably from recalling how all the refugees had died in Frozen Weaver’s attack.

In fact, now that the battle was over, the only survivors were Walfred and Lauren. Everyone else was dead.

"Um, if I may..."

After the full story ended.

Lauren spoke up.

"Can I ask which shelter you belong to?"

"I don’t belong to any."

"What? What do you..."

"I’m just a drifter."

Walfred replied curtly.

Did she pick up that he didn’t want to explain?

Lauren pressed her lips shut. After reading the room a bit, she opened her mouth again.

"Then may I ask where you’re headed..."

He could answer that much.

Walfred said immediately.

"Silicon Alley Station."

"...! S-Silicon Alley?"

For some reason, Lauren’s eyes went wide.

She took a step toward Walfred and spoke in a slightly louder voice.

"C-could I come with you?"

"Come with me? With me?"

"Yes!"

Walfred narrowed his eyes.

A little further from here and they’d reach Newark Caverns, but suddenly she wants to go to Silicon Alley?

Even accounting for the variable of monster attacks, going to Silicon Alley would be much farther and more dangerous, right?

"What about Newark Caverns? Didn’t you say the shelter representatives already worked everything out?"

"W-well, that’s true, but... Actually, the place I originally wanted to go was Silicon Alley."

Lauren bit her lip as she spoke.

"My sister’s company is in Silicon Alley."

"..."

"So if my sister is still in Silicon Alley, I really want to see her again."

Her eyes were desperate.

Seeing this, Walfred was at a loss for words.

Lauren’s desire to find her family reminded him of his own worry for his niece.

Plus, leaving a high school girl around his niece’s age alone here didn’t sit right with him.

’More importantly, purely looking at attributes, taking her along would be much more beneficial.’

Fire attribute Awakened received VIP treatment at every shelter just by existing. Silicon Alley, which already had a fire attribute Awakened, wouldn’t be an exception.

The more fire attributes, the better.

By extension, Walfred would likely receive decent treatment too. After all, he’d be the one who brought a fire attribute Awakened.

’But...’

There was one problem.

The compatibility was terrible.

Just having Lauren nearby, radiating heat, deactivated Walfred’s main skills.

Then he’d run into trouble if they encountered monsters. While he was agonizing over this, Lauren spoke up again.

"If you just let me follow, I’ll do anything!"

Interpreting Walfred’s silence as hesitation, Lauren played her strong card. This snapped Walfred out of his thoughts, and he looked at Lauren’s desperate expression.

"Anything?"

"...Anything I’m capable of, yes."

An answer filled with firm resolve.

Walfred looked at her silently, then suddenly stepped back several paces. 10 feet. 13 feet. And the moment he widened the gap a bit more.

The system notification appeared again.

[Ambient temperature dropping.]

[Some skills are activating.]

▷Frost Domain

▷Blessing of the Snowfield

’About 16 feet, I guess.’

He needed to maintain about that distance to prevent his skills from deactivating. Walfred looked at Lauren again and asked.

"Can you maintain this distance?"

"What do you mean..."

"If you want to come with me, follow while keeping this gap."

"...What?"

Lauren looked dazed.

Usually people clamored to stay close to her. Because she was warm.

But this man moved away the closer she got. About to feel curiosity beyond confusion at this unfamiliar behavior.

"If you can’t, just stay here."

"...! N-no! I’ll do it!"

Lauren hastily waved both hands at Walfred as he turned to leave. Then Walfred nodded and turned his body.

Walfred walked ahead.

Lauren hurried after him with quick steps. A strange companionship began, with 16 feet between them.