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Side Story Episode 4
"Sigh..."
Zeke crouched in a hideout carved into the ice cliff, slowly chewing on frozen rations.
He had already endured over a month on this precipice.
Among the Northern Rangers, legend told that the Ice Dragon Valley in the Ice Mountains was formed during a month-long fierce battle between an ice dragon and a fire dragon ten thousand years ago.
Fittingly, the endless cliff instilled primal fear in humans.
Even Northern Rangers, who traversed the Ice Mountains like their own homes, avoided approaching the Ice Dragon Valley.
Zeke had spent over a month hiding from pursuers in a shelter he created by drilling holes in the ice cliff while hanging from the wall. This was only possible because he was exceptionally stubborn.
The hunting dogs searching for Zeke were scouring every corner of Ice Dragon Valley, but they never imagined he would be hanging from an ice cliff.
Zeke explored the precipice daily, maintaining balance with his innate exceptional senses.
The reason he clung to this place for a month was to find an entrance to the ruins.
'There must be a path here.'
Zeke trusted the southern continent proverb that important things should be hidden where others fear to go. He believed if there was a detour into the ruins, it would be on the ice cliff nobody approached.
After finishing his rations in the hideout, Zeke replenished his fluids by drinking small amounts of melted ice water.
Then he used healing on his frozen body.
CREAK!
He felt his body, nearly frostbitten, recovering through healing.
Unable to wear thick winter clothing to maintain lightness, even the stubborn Zeke couldn't endure a month in extreme cold without proper winter gear.
As an Irregular with healing powers, he survived by treating his own body.
Thanks to this, Zeke endured extreme conditions unimaginable to others.
Once blood returned to his frozen limbs and muscles loosened, Zeke rose again.
He secured a rope to the ice wall and crawled sideways while tapping the wall with his hands.
THUMP! THUMP!
Reaching a particular spot, Zeke tapped more carefully, using his sharp senses to determine if there was space behind the ice wall.
He had sensed something a week ago and was now conducting a focused search in this area.
Zeke concentrated all his senses, tapping various parts of the ice wall while moving sideways.
Suddenly, Zeke's senses detected an ominous vibration.
RUMBLE!
The entire Ice Dragon Valley seemed to tremble.
'What's this?'
Startled, Zeke immediately grabbed the rope and tied it tightly around himself again.
He tried to quickly move to his hideout.
But at that moment, a tremendous amount of snow poured down from above.
CRASH!
White snow cascaded down the ice wall like a waterfall.
Zeke realized he couldn't withstand the avalanche by relying on the rope.
He boldly cut the secured rope with his dagger.
Then he plunged the dagger into the ice wall, stepped on it, and launched himself toward his hideout.
WHOOOSH!
Below was an endless precipice, and above, snow rushed like a tsunami.
In this critical moment, as he nearly reached the hideout, Zeke's body began to fall toward the bottom of the cliff.
He pulled out Gram from his back and activated his soul technique.
Soul Technique
Solo Spell
Will of Explosion
An explosion erupted from Gram, propelling Zeke's body in the opposite direction into his carved hideout.
THUD!
Colliding with the ice wall of the hideout, Zeke felt pain as if his entire back was breaking.
In fact, his back and spine were shattered.
"ARGH!"
Disoriented and in excruciating pain, he could barely move.
Yet even in this state, to avoid being swept away by the avalanche, he stuck Gram into the wall and held onto it.
While doing so, he slowly healed his broken back.
CRASH!
A tremendous amount of snow poured down the ice cliff frantically.
Zeke curled up, waiting for the avalanche to pass.
"HUFF, HUFF, HUFF.”
Though Zeke had experienced countless dangers, this was his most dramatic survival yet.
Even after the avalanche passed, Zeke, who had barely healed his back, slowly rose.
‘...I almost died.’
He slowly approached the entrance of his hideout and looked down.
Though the avalanche poured down a lot of snow, the valley was so deep that no trace of accumulation could be seen.
If one fell here, it seemed no trace would ever be found.
While he was fortunate to have survived, a problem remained.
Having cut the securing rope that was his lifeline, he couldn't move from the hideout.
Checking just in case, he saw the cut rope had been swept away by the avalanche and disappeared into the depths below.
'Am I just waiting to freeze to death here?'
As Zeke's mind began to sink into despair, something suddenly caught his eye.
The avalanche had shaken the entire valley, causing a crack to form in the middle of the cliff.
Seeing this, Zeke sensed something.
'Could it be...?'
He checked how many daggers he had left.
About four daggers remained, which might be enough to reach the cracked area if embedded properly in the wall.
'If that's not an entrance... I'll die here helplessly.'
Thinking this was his last chance, Zeke took a deep breath and, while hanging from the hideout, threw a dagger toward the opposite wall.
The dagger, infused with soul technique power, suddenly changed direction and embedded itself firmly in the wall.
"Good."
Zeke similarly embedded the remaining three daggers into the wall.
After confirming the daggers were sparsely fixed toward the cracked area, Zeke composed himself and leaped from the hideout.
WHOOSH!
His agile body rose upward, stepping on each embedded dagger.
Using the four daggers as stepping stones, at the last moment, Zeke thrust Gram toward the crack in the cliff.
THUD!
Gram penetrated deep into the ice wall.
Hanging from Gram, Zeke examined the cracked area.
Surprisingly, there was empty space visible through the crevice.
"PHEW..."
Holding Gram with both hands, Zeke swung his body and kicked the cracked area with both feet.
THUD!
The crack remained unchanged, perhaps because he couldn't put enough strength into it.
If he lost his grip here, Zeke would fall straight down into the abyss.
Zeke swung more forcefully, concentrating mana in his legs.
"HAAAH!"
With a shout, Zeke's swinging feet completely shattered the cracked ice wall.
CRASH!
As the wall broke, the area where Gram was embedded also collapsed, and Zeke quickly jumped into the opening.
BOOM!
Barely rolling into the cave, Zeke breathed heavily.
"HUFF, HUFF…”
Rising while leaning on Gram, Zeke looked around.
From outside he thought it was a cave, but looking closely, there were signs it was artificially made.
Smooth stones covered the floor, and the walls were finished with ancient tiles.
'High possibility it's an ancient ruin.'
Though uncertain if it was the Elder Dragon ruin the mad Emperor sought, he could reasonably assume it was something significant.
Zeke took out a magical light from his pocket and examined the ruin.
As he moved forward step by step, he felt it getting warmer.
After a month in extreme cold, Zeke could finally feel comfort.
Then something appeared before Zeke's eyes.
'An altar?'
In the center of a small room was a staircase with an altar on top.
Zeke cautiously approached the altar while surveying his surroundings.
Looking around, he noticed the entrance door to this place was closed.
Having entered through the collapsed cliff gap, he had come directly into the altar room instead of through the front door.
'If I had come that way, all sorts of traps might have been waiting.'
Despite his struggles, he had been lucky.
Zeke climbed the stairs onto the altar.
There was nothing special on the stone altar.
Just an ordinary black box with no patterns sat upon it.
Zeke slowly approached the black box.
"Could this be the relic the Emperor is looking for?"
Zeke tapped the black box with Gram.
There were no traps.
He slowly picked up the black box and checked if it was locked.
Surprisingly, the box wasn't locked.
For something hidden in such an extreme location, it had remarkably little security.
With slight puzzlement, he opened the box and found something unexpected inside.
A dark dragon statue.
Zeke picked up the statue and examined it closely.
"...Is there something I don't know hidden here?"
Whether it was an Elder Dragon relic or not was unclear, but being hidden in such a place meant it was certainly no ordinary object.
However, as a swordsman rather than a mage who could use healing, Zeke couldn't determine what functions might be hidden within it.
Though uncertain of its nature, he decided to take it since the mad Emperor might be after it.
If the Emperor moved personally to find this, it might create an assassination opportunity.
Zeke briefly recalled Alicia and the knights of Himonas, then with a bitter expression, pocketed the dragon statue.
He looked around the room thinking there might be something else, but the only thing here was this dragon statue.
After confirming there were no other artifacts, Zeke decided to find a way out of this place.
The stone door through which he entered this room seemed to be enchanted, as no matter how hard Zeke pushed, it showed no signs of opening.
Eventually, Zeke had no choice but to look for another way.
'Climbing back up the cliff is impossible... I can only hope that cave connects to somewhere else.'
Zeke returned to the cave through which he had entered the room to find a way out.
He walked in the opposite direction from where he had come, remaining vigilant of his surroundings.
The cave extended longer than he expected.
He took breaks at intervals, eating dried rations and drinking water from melted snow.
'It would be convenient if there was a map I could see at a glance. Or the ability to teleport instantly by marking coordinates.'
After enjoying a brief rest while imagining such impossible things, Zeke continued searching for a way out.
After wandering for some time, the artificially smoothed path ended, and an ice cave appeared.
While examining the ice cave, Zeke felt a faint breeze and searched for the direction it was coming from.
'The wind is escaping this way.'
Using his keen survival instinct, he found a possible exit.
While advancing through the ice cave following the breeze, Zeke sensed something troubling ahead.
'This is...?'
He had discovered a group of ice trolls.
They were monsters rarely seen in the Central Continent but occasionally encountered in the northern regions.
Unlike regular trolls, they were covered in thick fur that swords couldn't easily penetrate, and with recovery abilities similar to trolls, they were difficult opponents.
Zeke gripped Gram while watching the ice trolls' movements.
Just then, something strange caught Zeke's senses.
'They seem to fear something?'
Ice trolls were monsters that valued their territory.
But this place didn't appear to be their territory now.
They looked as if they had been driven from their territory and were warily guarding against intruders they feared.
'If there's something that makes ice trolls afraid...'
At that moment, something flew in from the opposite direction.
SWOOOOSH!
A sharp aura blade instantly flew in and sliced through an ice troll's neck.
THUD!
Seeing their companion fall while spurting blood from its neck, the other ice trolls bared their sharp teeth and let out a terrible cry.
RAAAAAAAAR!
As the ice trolls raised their claws and charged, the intruders revealed themselves.
They were none other than the extermination squad of the Hound Unit.