Awakening: I Ascend Alone-Chapter 32: One Slash

Melvin looked up, and standing with his back against him was a boy with deep, long, obsidian hair. He studied every feature of the boy – his smooth, pale skin and the fact that the boy was just over six feet tall.

’Is that not?’

"You... how?" he stuttered, drawing the boy’s attention as he turned to look at Melvin.

"Oh, you are alive. I thought a frail body like yours would have given up after that impact," the boy said with a somewhat proud voice.

The prideful voice belonged to no other person than Aurex.

Tch.

"It’s good to have you, I think. Thanks, I owe you one."

Melvin extended his vote of thanks as he made to stand up, but his legs slipped and he fell back down on the snow.

Aurex mistook this for weakness and rushed over to Melvin to help him.

"You don’t need to stand now. Rest a bit," he urged, with his right palm forward for a grab in case Melvin wanted to do otherwise.

Melvin stared at Aurex’s palm for a bit, then nodded in disapproval.

"Don’t trust my actions now for weakness."

Aurex shrugged and turned his back on Melvin again, folding his hands across his chest.

"Fine then," he said. "But..."

Before Aurex could speak, Melvin interrupted him.

"How did you do it?" Melvin asked.

"Did what?"

Aurex’s mind recollected for a bit, and he understood what Melvin was asking. He then attempted to face the silver-haired boy but immediately turned his back once again, scratching his head.

"Let’s just say I can utter commands and gain temporary subjects as a result."

"Are you saying that the fragile part... no, this whole snow area is your subject at the moment?" Melvin asked, trying as much as he could not to feel envious.

Somebody like Aurex was able to use his ability freely as he wanted, without a cost. If that was the case, he wondered what his limit could be.

Every flux carrier blessed with a magical affinity and, possibly, an ability was bound to have one.

With his back still turned to Melvin, Aurex smiled pompously.

"Well, you can say that too," he agreed. "I mean, just a few moments ago, I found myself in this hurting cold, but now I’m warm. It was even when I wanted to take the direction to our south that I noticed struggles in that part of the water and thought it could be a Climber.

"I just had to say, ’Free the Prey,’ channeling some essence through contact with the snow, and the deed was done."

Melvin’s eyes widened in shock. The flakes of snow flying around were indeed hurtingly cold against his skin, but this wasn’t a time to flinch under minorities.

It’s just that, the more he tried not to envy Aurex’s ability, the more the feeling came.

Aurex was basically saying that he could move mountains if he wanted. Of course, that would also depend on his soul essence. It also meant that he could become a temporary subject to this being before him.

Would he even allow such a thing to happen?

For now, though, Melvin needed to test his ability. He needed to see what he could be able to do, and that meant he needed a way to garner fragments.

Maybe there can be a way to do so without engaging in danger. Since Aurex was able to channel his essence for his ability to work without having to pass through the trial zone, it meant there should be a way.

"I see," Melvin nodded approvingly and asked, "How can I absorb essence into my core?"

"It wouldn’t be as easy as it was while in the academy. Now, you will have to defeat monsters for that... it’s a pity you are this unfortunate," Aurex explained. "The only process that sounds easy is how we recover our lost essence."

Then, he faced Melvin this time and wanted to continue but, with desperation, screamed at the top of his voice.

"Didn’t the Academy provide you with safety clothing gear?!"

’What’s wrong with him? What does he mean?’

Melvin was still trying to make sense of what Aurex had just said.

The boy had been talking about absorbing and recovering soul essence, which was very well going to be beneficial to Melvin, especially considering his 5x multiplier. Then suddenly, without warning, he had switched the topic to something else entirely.

Safety clothing gear?

Melvin frowned slightly.

If Aurex meant battle gear, then that wasn’t a problem. Melvin already had one. In fact, he had two – both powerful and of high ranks.

His gaze absentmindedly dropped as he thought about it. Then his eyes suddenly caught sight of a very particular part of his body right between his legs.

Melvin froze.

Because he found himself in a dire situation after getting transported to this area, he didn’t have the opportunity to see himself fully.

Now he understood what Aurex had meant. And why the obsidian black-haired boy had kept his back turned toward him all this while.

Melvin was completely naked.

"...Right," he muttered under his breath.

But before embarrassment could even properly settle in, the snow beneath them suddenly rippled.

A deep vibration spread through the frozen surface, like something enormous was moving underneath the ice.

Something was coming. And whatever that thing is, it was moving very fast.

Melvin didn’t even have time to summon his armor beforehand. The snow suddenly exploded upward before he could do so.

A massive shape burst from beneath the frozen surface with terrifying speed.

"I guess your ability wears off... too," Melvin muttered dryly to Aurex.

At the last possible moment, he leapt upward, narrowly avoiding the violent lunge of the creature erupting from below.

At the same time, Aurex jumped to the side, his hand flashing as a sleek katana appeared in his grip. He slid into a ready stance, prepared for a brutal fight.

But as the creature fully emerged from the snow, it became clear that the battle might end sooner than expected. And under the watchful care of one person.

The monster was indeed enormous.

Its body looked like a twisted mass of thorn-like ridges. Every inch of its surface was covered in sharp protrusions that curved outward like the thorns of a deadly rose.

The creature’s massive head resembled that of a shark, but was far more grotesque. Behind it lashed a long, muscular tail that resembled that of some ancient dinosaur.

In general, the monster with its massive, streamlined body moved like a whip capable of cutting a man clean in half.

But it had already made a mistake.

Melvin had somersaulted through the air before its assault became successful as he summoned his soul signatures.

The Brinewrought Aegis manifested instantly, liquid-like armor flowing across his body and forming around him in a smooth, protective layer.

At the same time, the Aftertick appeared in his left hand.

The long whip crackled sharply as it unfurled.

Melvin was now directly above the creature’s disgusting shark-like head, as it had dropped at the point where he initially stood.

Without hesitation, he lashed the silver whip downward powerfully.

The razor-sharp edge of the Aftertick sliced cleanly through the point where the creature’s neck should have been. But it looked like nothing had happened.

However, Melvin’s reaction was indifferent as he landed lightly on the creature’s jagged back, carefully balancing his footing among the thorn-like ridges. Using the momentum of the landing, he bounced off the ridges and swung gracefully to the side.

A moment later, he landed on the snow with a smooth step.

From his side, Aurex stared with shock plainly written across his face. He didn’t know if he should direct its cause to the fact that the monstrous creature had stopped moving, even though it didn’t look dead yet... or there was no blood to prove that.

Was that paralysis Melvin’s ability?

He immediately disproved himself, having seen Melvin act too fast and with precise execution. It couldn’t be paralysis.

Even more shocking was the weapon. One of the most difficult weapons he knew was not properly wielded.

Yet Melvin handled it with incredible control and even with flexibility honed into his skills.

’I, indeed, shouldn’t trust his actions for weakness.’

He thought and slowly walked closer just in time to see the muddy blood spray across the snow as the head of the monstrous creature separated like it had delayed time.

’He killed it with one slash?!’

Confusion set in as he turned to see the faint smile forming on Melvin’s face.

"So that’s what you are called," Melvin whispered. 𝗳𝚛𝚎𝚎𝘄𝕖𝕓𝕟𝕠𝚟𝚎𝕝.𝗰𝕠𝐦

He was currently staring at the system runes floating before his eyes.

[You have slain an Evolved Creature: Frostmaw Ravager!]

[You have...]