If it were any other students, they would have been scared half to death by now.
But neither of them felt a trace of panic.
Greg decisively moved to the flank with various alchemy potions, leaving the main battlefield to Vivian.
Meanwhile, Vivian's ice-blue eyes instantly turned as calm as ancient ice, and the mana inside her body surged to life.
Facing three Rock-shell Shield Bugs charging at her side-by-side, she quickly folded her slender hands in front of her chest. Ice-blue mana shimmers danced at her fingertips as she chanted a complex, elegant spell under her breath.
“Ring of Frost!”
Centering on the tip of her toes, a brilliant ice-blue ring rapidly expanded!
Wherever the ring passed, the ground instantly froze into ice as smooth as a mirror!
Caught off guard, the front two Rock-shell Shield Bugs stepped onto the slick ice with their heavy paws. Losing their balance, they let out angry roars as their legs skidded ridiculously, their charge halting so abruptly that they collided into each other.
The third Rock-shell Shield Bug, however, proved more cunning. Veering slightly off course, it bypassed the main area of the Ring of Frost, slipping only briefly before adjusting its stance. Opening its wide, fanged maw, it lunged viciously toward Vivian anyway!
Vivian's eyes narrowed slightly, but she remained calm.
The instant the Rock-shell Shield Bug lunged close, she lightly tapped her foot against the ground, her body drifting back half a step like a weightless snowflake.
At the same time, she swept her left hand to the side—
“Ice Wall!”
A curved Ice Wall half a meter thick and two meters high suddenly rose on her left!
BOOM!
Unable to check its momentum, the Rock-shell Shield Bug slammed headfirst into the Ice Wall, sending ice chips flying. The wall shuddered violently and cracked, but successfully blocked the charge.
Having already used the recoil to spin around, Vivian pressed her right fingers together like a sword, pointing at the two Rock-shell Shield Bugs struggling on the ice.
“Ice Spear Volley!”
Seven or eight forearm-thick, razor-sharp ice spears shot out like heavy crossbow bolts, piercing the air with sharp shrieks as they hit the relatively vulnerable spots of the two shield bugs with deadly precision!
Thwip, thwip, thwip!
Dull sounds of flesh being pierced echoed one after another.
One shield bug had its eyes blinded, rolling about with miserable howls, while the other's mouth was impaled; icy mana surged into its body, freezing its movements solid.
Though neither died immediately, they were temporarily rendered harmless.
Vivian was undoubtedly the core anchor of this battle.
Nimble and agile, she maneuvered fluidly within the confined area, her ice-blue hair and dress tracing graceful arcs.
Ice spikes rained down like precision strikes onto the most vulnerable spots of the monsters.
Ice Walls sprouted at critical moments to block charges or divide the battlefield.
Rings of Frost erupted around her, instantly slowing large swathes of enemies.
Her spellcasting was precise and composed. Every surge of mana was perfectly calculated, bringing the control and lethal power of ice magic into full play.
Meanwhile, Greg acted as the ultimate support and vanguard controller.
Hovering at the edge of the battlefield, his eyes were sharp as a hawk's.
Explosive Potions detonated in the densest clusters of monsters, Corrosive Acid was splashed precisely into the cracks of the Rock-shell Shield Bugs' carapaces, Flash Powder disrupted the vision of the Shadow-stalker Spiders, and Sticky Web Potions sent charging Cave Trolls stumbling to the ground.
At times, he used LV4 Water Gun to finish off monsters heavily wounded by Vivian; at other times, he launched LV2 Fireball spells at hairy, fire-vulnerable enemies to exploit elemental weaknesses.
The two worked together seamlessly. Without speaking a word, they seemed to share a telepathic connection, transitioning between offense and defense with perfect fluidity.
In such high-intensity combat, experience points flooded in like a breached dam.
Vivian could clearly feel the flow of mana inside her become smoother, her perception and control over the ice element rising exponentially in the heat of battle.
Her Mid-tier magic 【Ice Crystal Spike Array】, which had been stuck at LV2 proficiency not long ago, suddenly clicked during a critical moment when three different monsters ambushed her at once. The ice-blue magic array beneath her feet flared brilliantly, and dozens of sharp, rigid, barbed ice spikes erupted outward in a fan shape centered on her!
Its power and range shot up dramatically!
It turned the monsters surrounding her into bloodied strainers!
Proficiency reached LV3!
This Mid-tier magic finally revealed its true destructive potential.
Her level also skyrocketed under the continuous influx of experience, jumping four full levels from LV34 to reach LV38!
Surging mana coursed through her body, bringing an unprecedented sense of fulfillment.
This tangible speed of growth ignited a spark of fiery excitement deep within her usually calm, ice-blue eyes.
“So... growth in slaughter can be this swift... this... fascinating.”
At the same time, she realized far more clearly where Greg's current strength—far exceeding his level—and his flawless grasp of battle timing had truly come from.
“Has he always... fought alone amid such danger in exchange for power?”
At that thought, a subtle wave of heartache stirred within the frozen lake of Vivian's heart.
Glancing over at Greg, who had just thrown a vial of viscous potion right at a troll's feet to trip it up, a thought quietly emerged:
“In the future... I must make it up to him.”
Unaware of Vivian's thoughts, Greg was reaping equally rich rewards.
Under the bonus of his talent [Dungeon's Gaze], which increased experience gain, his experience bar climbed rapidly as well.
His level surged all the way from LV31, quickly breaking through to LV36!
And mid-battle, after one of his Fireball spells blasted a Shadow-stalker Spider to bits, a notification resonated in his mind.
[Fireball proficiency upgraded to LV3!]
This increased both the size and core temperature of his fireball, making its explosive force even more formidable.
CLANG!
When the last heavy-hammer-wielding Cave Troll collapsed with a miserable wail, its heart pierced by Vivian's precise LV3 Ice Crystal Spike, silence momentarily descended on their surroundings.
There was only the sound of their slightly hurried breathing.
“Phew... That's pretty much cleared out. As expected of an 'honor student,' you adapt fast.”
Greg wiped sweat from his forehead and teased Vivian.
Vivian also adjusted her breathing, calming the mana surging within her. Her ice-blue eyes swept across the battlefield, confirming no living enemies remained, before she shook her head at Greg.
“I can feel that you haven't even used your full strength yet. I still have a long way to go.”
However, just as both of them assumed the battle was temporarily over and their guards slipped for a split second—
CRACK... BOOM!
A cliff wall to their rear flank, covered in thick ice, violently shattered!
A massive lizard far larger than any of the previous monsters—its body clad in heavy, deep-blue scales and radiating bone-chilling cold—smashed through the ice and charged out recklessly!
Its crimson vertical pupils locked onto Vivian, who was closer. Opening its hideous mouth lined with bone spikes, it unleashed a blast of Frost Breath flickering with dangerous blue light, erupting out like a high-pressure water cannon!
Its speed was terrifyingly fast!
A LV40 Frost Lizard!
An elite monster that had undergone four evolutions!
Rate on N.U.
