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Chapter 21 - Chapter 21: The Frozen Hunters

The dim, bioluminescent glow of Level 3 offered little comfort as Elias pushed deeper, the constant, biting cold a relentless companion.

His brief, fitful rest had barely dulled the ache in his bones, but his resolve, sharp as the surrounding ice shards, remained undimmed. His newly acquired Frost Resistance was a godsend, a subtle internal warmth that prevented the cold from completely seizing his limbs, while Ethereal Sense lent a strange, almost unsettling awareness of the unseen currents in the frigid air.

He moved with a hunter's caution, his Low-Light Vision straining to pierce the icy gloom. The passages grew narrower, winding like frozen arteries, occasionally opening into vast, echoing caverns.

The silence was profound, broken only by the creak and groan of shifting ice, sounds that seemed to come from the very heart of the dungeon. His Perception and Enhanced Hearing were on high alert, sifting through the ambient noise for any sign of danger.

Suddenly, his Perception flared, a cold prickle along his spine. Not a direct threat, but an unsettling presence. A moment later, his Ethereal Sense registered it: faint, shimmering distortions, like ripples in water, moving in unison ahead. They were too organized to be random atmospheric effects.

From the swirling mist ahead, three figures materialized, stepping out of the very air itself. These were not the ethereal, wispy Frost Wraiths, but something far more substantial and menacing: Ice Stalkers.

Each creature stood roughly eight feet tall, humanoid in shape but composed of jagged, crystalline ice that shimmered with an inner, predatory blue light. Their limbs ended in wickedly sharp icicle blades, and their heads were helmet-like formations of frosted crystal with glowing, malevolent eyes.

Unlike the Wraiths, they moved with a heavy, deliberate crunch on the ice, but their speed was deceptive.

They were hunters. And Elias was their prey.

One of the Ice Stalkers let out a grating roar, a sound like grinding glaciers, and charged.

Its icicle blade arm swung in a wide arc, aiming to cleave Elias in two. Elias reacted instantly, his Enhanced Agility allowing him to slide under the sweeping attack, the wind of its blade chilling his face. He countered with his pickaxe, aiming for its leg, hoping to exploit the brittle nature of ice. The strike landed with a sharp crack, a chunk of its crystalline leg shattering, but the Stalker merely stumbled before righting itself. Its form briefly glowed, and the shattered ice on its leg began to slowly, visibly reform. They could regenerate.

The other two Stalkers moved to flank him, cutting off his escape routes. Their movements were coordinated, a hunter's encirclement. One lunged, driving its blade forward. Elias sidestepped, the blade scraping against his Armored Hide with a screech, leaving a deep gouge but not piercing. His Stone Skin shimmered, absorbing some of the impact. The second Stalker immediately followed up, its own blade slashing towards his head. Elias ducked, the icicle passing mere inches above his scalp.

He was outnumbered, and these creatures were more resilient than the Wraiths. Their attacks were physical and brutally effective, capable of cleaving solid ice, and their regeneration meant he couldn't just chip away at them. He needed a strategy, and fast.

His Mana Conduit began to hum, a deep, resonant thrumming within his chest. The extreme pressure of the fight, the biting cold, and the raw threat seemed to amplify its activity. He felt a surge of untapped energy, a desperate, intuitive reach for power. For a fleeting second, a faint, visible shimmer of raw energy pulsed around his pickaxe, and the air around him grew strangely warm before the sensation vanished, leaving him breathless. It was still uncontrolled, but the conduit was responding more fiercely than before.

The Ice Stalkers pressed their attack, their movements relentless. Elias dodged, weaved, and parried with his pickaxe, the metal ringing against the crystalline blades.

Each strike they landed, even glancing blows, sent shards of ice flying, and the chilling cold emanating from their bodies sought to freeze him to the bone. This wasn't just a fight for survival; it was a battle against the very environment they embodied. He needed to find a way to stop their regeneration, or he would be overwhelmed.

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