Devouring Dragon Heir-Chapter 19: Ch The Ice Golem’s Lair

IMPORTANT NOTE: Dear readers, please don’t skip this Chapter or skim lightly through it since the info-dump of this Chapter is quite foundational and important to the story.

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Klaus stood at the entrance of the D-rank monster gate, a massive, swirling portal of energy. It was late afternoon, and as he glanced around, he noticed the area was surprisingly quiet.

Not many hunters were present, which meant fewer people to worry about. He swiftly approached the checkpoint outside the gate, where a couple of stern-faced guards stood by a small booth.

He presented his permit, a simple, laminated card that granted him access. The guards, one of them was a burly man with a grizzled beard, squinted at it, then at Klaus. He scanned Klaus from top to bottom and thought that Klaus was a rookie daring to go solo hunting.

"Alright, kid. The permit says one week. If you’re not back by then, you’ll be charged a hefty fine. Understand? And no one’s going to come save your ass if you are stuck inside"

Klaus just looked at them, his expression calm, almost dismissive as if they were not worth even getting a reply from him. He didn’t say a word, just gave a slight, almost imperceptible nod.

Then, with a confident stride that seemed to ignore their presence entirely, he walked past them and straight toward the shimmering portal. His nonchalant attitude irritated the guards, who exchanged annoyed glances, but they couldn’t do anything to stop him. He had his permit, after all.

The gate was called Ice Golem’s Lair. It was known for housing D-rank monsters or lower, usually, with the rank of the boss being a mystery, as was common for most gates.

As soon as Klaus stepped through the rippling energy of the gate, he found himself in a completely different world. The air instantly bit with a sharp, dry cold, and what came into view was a breathtaking landscape filled with towering, snow-capped mountains and rugged, icy terrain.

It looked like a vast, frozen wilderness, untouched by human warmth.

He knew that golems, especially ice golems, were generally tougher than typical D-ranked monsters. Their strength was significant, but they had a fatal weakness, their enormous size often came with low agility. This was something he could use to his advantage.

He walked forward for a few miles, crunching through pristine snow, but nothing came into view. No monsters, not even a distant roar. It was obvious, being a public gate, that the concentration of monsters was relatively low as they were hunted frequently.

He saw faint footsteps in the snow, traces of quite a few hunter parties who must have come through here recently, clearing out the immediate area.

He wasn’t worried about not finding any monsters, though. He had reserved this gate for a full week. He could afford to go deeper.

Klaus strolled confidently into the forest ahead. The terrain was indeed filled with ice and packed snow, but he was well-prepared. His new, sturdy boots, which he had bought specifically for such environments, gripped the icy ground well, preventing any slips.

He felt a surge of luck that he had chosen a gate filled with elemental monsters rather than just regular strength types. This was perfect. He could now start awakening his ice element thanks to this.

Earlier he had decided to focus on mastering four elements for now, not just one or two and there were quite a few reasons for that.

-First, he would be able to create multiple identities and also after showing only two elements to the world, he could reserve two as his trump cards.

-second, the reason he wanted to show two elements to each other was due to when he goes to the academy he would be quite valued for his affinity with the two elements.

-The third is that he could have a wide variety of applications with multiple elements although he needed to research more on that

The system also supported him wholeheartedly, although it had initially suggested dealing with only two elements to start. After Klaus explained his ambitious plans, it surprisingly agreed.

Klaus had promised he would work ten times harder than the system expected him to, a promise he fully intended to keep.

He turned around, standing at the edge of the snowy forest, taking in the grand scenery of the ice-capped mountains. He spoke aloud, not really to the system, but to himself, a declaration of intent.

"Today starts my journey. As the heir of the Devouring Dragon"

"save this amazing view in my memories if you can, System."

[Ding! Understood. Do you want to write a journal after this?]

The system asked, its tone still flat but with a hint of an unexpected query.

Klaus chuckled lightly.

"Nah! I don’t even know if I’ll remember to. Just save some of my memories separately whenever I feel like something exciting is happening. My mind is too occupied with other things to think about writing a journal"

[Understood!]

With that, Klaus stepped into the deeper parts of the frozen forest. As he did, Lost Echo, his newly bound sword, appeared in his hand.

The black blade shimmered faintly in the cold, crisp air, ready for action.

Before coming here, Klaus had studied up on ice golems. He knew a few important things:

First, they had a strong ice affinity and could use some serious offensive skills like Ice Spike and Frost Action.

Ice Spike created a giant shard of ice that launched itself to attack from a distance, while

Frost Action imbued their physical attacks with ice element, causing status rebuffs like reduced speed, which could be fatal in a close fight.

"So basically," Klaus muttered to himself, planning his strategy, "to avoid getting hit by the Ice Spike, I have to be in close distance with the enemy. But to avoid Frost Action,

I have to dodge direct physical hits from the golems. Since they have low agility and I have my Swift Step skill, it’s somehow possible."

He outlined his plan, weighing the risks.

"Now, to kill it, I have to target the orb that’s deep inside its body." This was crucial. Their core was their weakness.

As he spoke, a new window opened in front of him, showing the skill he had obtained after killing the cultist.

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SKILL - HAUNT (B)

EFFECTS:

-Inflict fear upon the enemy before the fight even starts.

-The effectiveness of the skill depends upon the mental state of the host and the target.

-The skill is negated if the host attacks first.

-The skill cannot be worked on targets stronger than the host.

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Klaus squinted at the description. "System, but I don’t have a mental stat. How will this work?" Most skills relied on measurable stats, but his new system didn’t show any.

[The Host doesn’t need to worry. The basic deal is the mental strength of the Host and not the number that represents it. Such numbers are insignificant for the Host when he is the Heir of the Dragon God. You will be at the top in whichever rank you are.]

"Oh!" Klaus paused.

"I still don’t understand why a stat screen isn’t important for me and why you insist on not keeping that format."

He was genuinely curious. It felt like a fundamental change to how he understood power.

The system’s voice took a great pause as if deciding whether or not to say it.

[The deal about the stat screen is that different civilizations have different ways of measuring strength. But no one is perfect. The best one is what the Host is currently following, and it is also what the dragons have been following for a long time.]

The system began a detailed explanation, shedding light on a deeply hidden truth about his world.

[The stat screen of your world gives a numeric score to each aspect like strength, constitution, agility, magic, etc. This is done by a blessing awarded by an entity that governs the world, about which you are not qualified to know about yet.]

Klaus felt a chill. Another entity? His world was far more complex than he’d ever imagined.

[And the system doesn’t know if it is intentional or not but there is a major flaw.

Usually, all the aspects of one’s power are interrelated and mutually dependent. For example, if the constitution stat is increased somehow then it may also result in improved strength and agility.

However, the blessing in order to quantify the stats segregates all these natural aspects under different names and shows it on a panel that hinders an individual’s growth. As for how it does that I can only that in the process of recording stats the sound of the being is affected in the long run. The process of recording stats in itself is forbidden by nature and unnatural.

A living being is not a one-dimensional programmed creature that can be attributed to some simple and uniform stats, nature has made them more complex.

That is why higher species like dragons rely on instincts and intents to decide who is stronger but that is the talk of another time.

At least, the resonance that was present because of the interconnectivity of stats is blocked by the blessing of the said entity, which leads to stunted growth and side effects at realms higher than the mortal one but have you ever seen someone cross the mortal realm in this world?]

This was mind-blowing. The very system of power everyone grew up with was actively stunting their potential.

[As soon as you awakened the divine skill of absorption, the blessing that had been dormant in your body awakened, showing you two stats: magic and physical.

At that point, the connection between magic and the physicality of your body was cut. After you awakened the agility stat after defeating the wolf, another piece from your physical aspect was sliced off.

So when I sensed this in your body, I immediately recovered what damage had been done and also removed the blessing of that entity.]

"Oh shit, another entity now! Just how many shitty entities are there governing the world, dammit?"

Klaus muttered, frustration mixing with awe. He realized how close he’d been to permanent stunted growth.

"Thank god I’m saved. I get what you’re saying, it’s like your hand when you hit something with five fingers open, the strength exerted is much less than when you clench them into a tight fist and punch with the same intensity."

[Affirmative.]

While they had this intense mental chat, Klaus had travelled quite deep into the icy forest.

He kept an eye out, but there was still no trace of any golems. The silence was almost unnerving.

"It’s weird," he mumbled, a bit impatiently. "How come I haven’t seen anyone yet?"

As if waiting for him to complain, tremors started appearing in the earth beneath his feet. A low rumble grew steadily louder, shaking the frozen ground.

"I guess I just invited them, he-he," Klaus chuckled, a confident smirk spreading across his face.

He quickly climbed up a tall, ice-covered tree, its branches thick enough to hold his weight, to get a better view in the general direction of the tremors.

Once he spotted the massive, hulking figures moving slowly but surely through the distant snow, he grinned slightly, stretching his limbs.

"Let’s try my luck," Klaus said, holding Lost Echo, which hummed subtly in his hand, almost as if amused by her master’s carefree attitude. His first true hunt in this new world was about to begin.

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AUTH NOTE-

I hope you like the story I know the pace has not picked up really yet but around the 20th Chapter, things will be in place.

As an author, I can say that the biggest challenge I face is the lack of a reader’s perspective which is why your feedback is really important for me. So please give review or at least a Chapter comment.

Have a nice day <3.

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