Rean didn’t move as the thing and himself clashed.

At first, it was just shape—mass forcing its way through shattered ice, fragments cascading off something too large, too structured to be mistaken for anything mindless. But as the last of the frost slid away, the form beneath became clear.

And for a brief moment—

No one spoke.

"...A deer?" Porter said from behind him, disbelief slipping through.

Rean’s eyes narrowed.

"Not just a deer."

It stood upright.

That was the first wrong thing.

Its lower half carried the powerful, jointed legs of a stag, thick with muscle and plated in layered ice that resembled natural armor. But above the waist, its body rose vertically, elongated and unnatural, like something that had learned the shape of a man without understanding it.

Its torso was broad, carved from dense, translucent ice that pulsed faintly with a cold, inner glow. Frost crawled along its surface in slow, shifting patterns, like veins beneath skin.

Then there were the arms.

Long.

Too long.

They hung at its sides at first, ending in clawed hands.

Rean’s gaze lifted higher.

The head...

That was where it stopped resembling anything natural.

A stag’s skull—elongated, elegant in structure—but entirely frozen, hollow eyes glowing faintly with a pale, frigid light. No flesh. No fur. Just bone-like ice, polished and cruel.

And the antlers—

They spread wide and high, branching outward in jagged, intricate formations. Not smooth like natural horns, but sharp, uneven, almost like frozen lightning caught mid-split. Frost drifted off them constantly, the air around their tips distorting from the sheer drop in temperature.

"...Ice-attribute construct," Rean said quietly, more to himself than anyone else. "High-density mana core. Probably centralized."

The creature moved.

When it took a step forward, the entire chamber responded. Ice cracked beneath its weight, thin fractures spreading outward with each shift of its body. The temperature plummeted again, breath turning thick and heavy in everyone’s lungs.

It tilted its head slightly.

As if observing them.

Studying.

Rean felt it then—that pressure.

Not wild. Not chaotic.

Focused.

The kind of presence that wasn’t just strong—but aware of its strength.

"...It’s not just standing there," Zeta murmured.

Rean nodded faintly.

"Yeah."

The deer’s clawed hand lifted slowly, ice forming along its fingers as mana condensed around it. The air bent slightly, cold intensifying in a localized point.

It wasn’t rushing.

It didn’t need to.

Rean’s grip tightened on his blade, eyes locked onto the boss as he took a small step forward, positioning himself just ahead of the others.

"A-rank boss," he said, voice calm, grounded despite the pressure.

Then, after a brief pause—

"...An ice deer that stands like a man."

The creature’s hollow gaze met his.

Rean turned.

"You guys don’t mind if I take this one, right?" he teased.

Zeta and Porter gave no response.

He waited for Michael. It seemed Michael wasn’t going to respond.

"Ok then, that’s settled."

’I can’t take this thing using just mana skin, or my extension. Hell, I’m sure mana pulses would be less effective against this kind of monster.’

Mid-thought, the boss disappeared—and in an instant, Rean was slammed through the room.

"Ok..." He got up. "Well, if that’s how you’ll move, then I guess I can’t really hold back now, can I?"

’The strongest sub-vessel wall I have is Victor’s—and his ability to multiply spells infinitely.’

Description: The sub-walls are various parameters or conditions that allow vessels to have the skills of other vessels. It’s a temporary thing. Rean obtained this ability through training.

’I currently still haven’t subbed in Victor, Xander, or Kara. I guess that’s not a whole lot,’ Rean thought.

’But it is, since I also got a shit ton of regular skills I force-evolved from that whole ordeal.’

’The only problem is that none of them seem to fit my whole plant aesthetic as well. I’m going to have to either switch things up or risk being found out.’

’Pull up skill list.’

The system interface popped up. It was preset to show recently used skills.

Rean was constantly dodging high-speed strikes even while selecting.

’No, I can’t use Mask of the Rizha.’

’Bowl Pitt is a bit too much, right?’

’No.’

’No.’

’No.’

He continued to scroll. None of these skills seemed to match what he needed currently.

’Nature not nurture...’

’Yeah, that could work. Most definitely.’

’I just have to—’

Rean accelerated. He got past the boss’s defenses with ’man not main.’

The boss got cut.

An invisible attack.

Rean deactivated ’man not main.’

"Ok, let’s start the beatdown of—what? For you? Well, your whole life." 𝑓𝘳𝑒𝑒𝓌𝘦𝘣𝘯ℴ𝑣𝘦𝑙.𝘤𝑜𝑚

The pressure in the chamber shifted the moment Rean stepped up.

Not outward.

Inward.

Like everything—cold, sound, even presence—was being pulled toward a single point.

Him.

Rean lowered his blade slightly, eyes locked onto the upright ice deer. The creature’s antlers shimmered faintly, frost drifting from their edges as its mana continued to swell, dense and suffocating.

"Let’s test it..." he muttered.

Then—

Something changed.

It wasn’t visible at first. No glow. No eruption of power. Just a quiet, internal shift—as if a mechanism deep within him had finally clicked into place.

"Nature... Not Nurture." He chanted.

Description - allows Rean assign a new skill to the opponent and gives Rean the enemy’s strongest skill as a trade.

The air between him and the boss warped subtly.

For a fraction of a second, the connection formed.

And then—

It took.

Rean felt it instantly.

Not just the suppression—but the assignment. Like reaching into the structure of the boss itself and rewriting a piece of it. Something fundamental. Something important.

The deer reacted.

Its body tensed sharply, hollow eyes flaring brighter as the mana around it stuttered—just once.

Its strongest function...

Gone.

Sealed.

Rean exhaled slowly, a faint smirk pulling at the corner of his lips.

"...Got it."

The boss moved.

Fast.

Faster than before.

Its arm snapped forward, ice condensing instantly into a spear-like formation—

Too late.

Rean was already gone.

He reappeared to the side—

And thrust.

"Ice Thrust."

The technique came naturally.

Too naturally.

A spike of condensed ice formed along his strike, sharper, denser than anything he’d produced before. It punched forward with brutal precision, slamming into the boss’s side and detonating in a burst of freezing force.

The deer staggered.

Rean’s eyes sharpened.

"So this is what it feels like..."

He moved again.

The boss retaliated, its other arm sweeping wide as a surge of frozen energy rippled outward—

"Waves."

Rean answered in kind.

A sweeping arc of ice burst from his motion, colliding directly with the incoming attack. The two forces clashed mid-space, shattering into a storm of frozen fragments that tore through the chamber like shrapnel.

But Rean was already moving through it.

Unharmed.

Unbothered.

The boss tried to reset—its movements sharper now, more aggressive despite the loss of its strongest ability. It stepped forward heavily, cracking the ground beneath it as it raised both arms—

Rean closed the distance.

"Dive."

He vanished upward—

Then dropped.

A concentrated mass of ice formed along his descent, spiraling around his body as he drove straight down onto the boss’s shoulder. The impact was violent, a crushing collision that forced the creature down a half-step, fractures spreading across its upper frame.

Rean’s ice attacks were all root-themed. They had a coiling nature about them.

Rean landed lightly.

Pulled back.

Watched.

The boss steadied itself, but something was off now. Its movements weren’t as clean. Its output wasn’t as overwhelming. The missing piece—the one Nature Not Nurture had taken—was leaving gaps.

Openings.

"...So it’s complete."

Evolution.

The skill wasn’t just evolving anymore.

Assimilation had begun.

Rean’s gaze hardened, the faint hint of curiosity fading as something colder took its place.

Focus.

Decision.

The boss roared, frost exploding outward as it prepared another assault—larger this time, more desperate.

Rean stepped forward.

No hesitation.

No testing.

"Yeah..." he said quietly.

"...that’s enough for round one."

The air around him tightened.

The ground beneath his feet cracked.

And for the first time since the fight began—

Rean moved not to test.

But to kill.

"I’ll be sure to put your skills to good use."

"Goodnight, Mr Boss."