The ground beneath me trembled. It reminded me of the sentinel, unfortunately even that monster paled in comparison to whatever was on its way.
I swear, if this is another beast made of pure ice, I was truly fucked. Unless they had some kind of weak point to exploit, the last monster made it clear that I was ill-suited for taking down golems. But fortune favors the bold, so bring it on! Just maybe, not all at once?
I took a cautious step back, my dagger at the ready. The temperature maintained a consistent state of bone-chillingly cold, but the unknown threat that loomed before me was doing enough on its own to lower my body temperature. I barely noticed, my body blocking out the discomfort as it prepared for what was yet to come.
A deep crack split through the ground, followed by another. The floor splintered, thin fractures of ice forming beneath my feet. I hopped back, not wanting a repeat of my last blunder, having had enough of falling through floors. I watched as fragments broke away and fell into an inescapable void–well, it looked that way to me, and I wasn't particularly eager to get a closer look to confirm this.
More and more pieces broke free, cascading down, until finally, it collapsed–not the whole floor, just a section near the center of the chamber. The ice shattered, chunks plunging downward into the abyss. I wasn't terribly concerned with the finer details, but it was odd that I didn't hear anything clattering to the floor below. There was just an unsettling silence that filled the air, the calm before the storm most likely.
Finally, from the abyss, something stirred and a massive, armored limb burst upward, ice and debris raining down as an enormous figure clawed its way free. Armor was a bad sign, for I hadn't even managed to damage the unarmored sentinel. I quickly examined it and found that I was to be facing an Icebound Guardian. To make things worse, it was labeled as a mini-boss.
I searched the room for any parts of the environment I could use to my advantage, and thankfully there were several icicles. They weren't just your typical spears of frozen death, they were absolutely massive. Even something like this beast wouldn't be able to brush off a few crushing hits from these things. In addition to their weight, I was willing to bet that they would inflict blunt damage. Once the tips shattered on the creature, the remaining heft would, ideally, do a significant portion of potential damage.
As the mini-boss continued to rise, and continued, and kept rising, and holy shit, how big was this thing? It wasn't like, "Oh, that's a large enemy" big. This thing was a giant, in frost-forged plate, wrapped in layered sheets of enchanted ice. Part of me felt relief, thinking, How could this thing even see me from up there?
Its limbs were thick as tree trunks, its torso a fortress of overlapping frozen armor, glowing runes pulsating beneath the surface like veins of light trapped in a glacier. Unlike the Sentinel, this thing had eyes, which was always a good sign. Eyes were a weak point for most creatures, and that at least gave me something to work with. The things were monstrous twin orbs of burning blue frost, locked onto me with the kind of sentience that meant it knew exactly what I was. If this wasn't a living thinking entity, then it was likely the Ice Mage was directly controlling it.
[System Notification]
"Miniboss Encounter: Icebound Guardian (Elite)"
"No clever remarks. May God have mercy on your soul."
That was probably the worst thing the system could have said…
I took another step back, analyzing my options. Run? Not happening. The doors were sealed.
Fight? Yeah, but how? Daggers vs. an ice juggernaut wouldn't be ideal.
As if it wasn't intimidating enough, the Guardian's fists clenched, ice cracking along its knuckles.
Its massive arm swung wide, a wave of ice exploding outward in its wake. I rolled back, barely avoiding the gale-force burst of frost that left a jagged mount of ice where I had been standing.
[System Notification]
"Reminder: You have exactly zero magic resistance."
I thought you said there weren't going to be any clever remarks? Ass…
I had no way to reach the ice on the ceiling, no way to attack this thing, at least not while it remained solely focused on me. If I could just create a diversion, I might have a shot at blinding it. Think James, think, you need to pull something out of your hat. First, you needed a hat, but that could wait for later.
As if on cue, a figure fell from the ceiling, putting my landing to shame, and on top of that, they managed to strike a badass pose while doing it.
The Guardian's second attack came fast, quickly interrupting the building jealousy I held at the arrival of another unfortunate soul, doomed to meet the same fate as I. It swung with a hammering strike meant to pulp me into a smear across the ice.
I leapt out of the way, throwing my weight just enough to dodge, but the attack never landed.
Something blurred through the chamber, swords flashing like silver lightning. A pair of what had to be enchanted blades–I don't see why my blades couldn't be enchanted, they were supposed to be legendary after all–that clashed against the Guardian's massive wrist, deflecting its attack mid-swing. A shockwave blasted outward from the impact, sending fractures splintering across the walls, leaving the surface peppered with razor-sharp shards of ice.
I rolled to a stop, my attention now focused on the new arrival and his stupid sexy swords, and did elemental damage to the golem, because why not? I get vampirism, and he gets cool anime lightning.
A tall, lean figure, dressed in sleek combat leathers repositioned himself as the Guardian reset his attacks and prepared for another volley of wild brutal attacks. The man knew his shit, his stance was poised yet loose, and he was already calculating the next set of attacks.
His face was hidden beneath a dark hood, but I could see the gleam of his predatory eyes beneath it, already measuring the fight based on such a short encounter.
He had the stance, the confidence, the gear, and the posture of someone who expected to win. He was like a deadlier, far less handsome version of myself, and I hated how it made me feel. Still, the enemy of my enemy and all of that. So long as he didn't try to murder me, we might make it out of here alive.
He let out a breath, rolling his shoulders, stretching a bit, telling me nonverbally that this really wasn't such a big deal.
"Well," he said casually. "Didn't expect to find someone else here."
I stayed where I was, keeping a loose grip on my dagger.
"Yeah?" I said. "Funny. I was just thinking the same thing."
A pause, and then he smirked. The lame kind of cocky smirk, like he had already figured me out. Well, I had him figured out too–probably.
[System Notification]
"New Player Detected: Duelist."
"Current Threat Level: Gold-Silver Hybrid."
"Translation: He's got decent skills and gear. You still have noodle arms."
Yeah. Thanks for that, but what's his name?
[Request Received]
"Player names are not available upon request. Have you tried asking him?"
So you give me the class, but not the name?
"The first one is free, you needed the advantage. To clarify, Classes too, are not available upon request. Get used to it."
The Ice Mage's voice returned, his tone almost amused.
"Ah… a second contestant."
The walls rumbled, the cold growing even deeper as frost crept up my armor and caused my muscles to tighten. My joints were stiff, my hands numb, and I couldn't feel my nose. If this continued much longer, I would be struggling to avoid future strikes.
"Very well. Prove yourselves, then."
The Icebound Guardian roared, frost spreading across its colossal arms as it struck out again. I was almost thankful the Guardian was so utterly massive. It really was a blessing that he couldn't fit in the room and that only the upper half of his body was exposed from that void he came from. However, that did beg the question, what would happen if he tried walking forward? Would he just carve his way through the floor like a ship breaking through the ice?
The Duelist—Specter, if I had to guess, based on what I gleaned from the top 10 charts I had been shown earlier—sighed, flicking one of his blades to his side.
I think he was number 4, or was it 3? I was stuck inside my head, wondering if my status was from dumb luck or if I actually had skill. I recalled taking out the frost creatures outside, that was easy, it felt natural. But here I was, standing against a target out of my league while this guy was dissecting it one strike at a time.
"Guess we're doing this together," The Duelist muttered.
For now.
I grinned, flipping my dagger into a reverse grip.
"Looks that way."
You can't let him see how helpless you are against this thing. Go for the eyes, but don't be too flashy. Tread carefully, he needs to keep his guard down around you, but not too much to make you look like an easy target.