How Do You Charge Eternal Winter with Mana?
I've never done it before, so how the hell should I know? I pulled the long staff from my bag and gripped it in one hand. With my other hand, I snapped on Synchronization.
In an instant, infinite EX-rank frost mana surged up. I just shoved it straight into the staff.
As I poured in the mana and shook it this way and that, it started flowing on its own—smoothly.
Aha.
Not hard at all. And now I had a pretty good idea how Eternal Winter's genesis trait, Winter That Proclaims the End: Absolute Zero, worked.
"So that's how it is."
The key was the gem at the staff's tip, shaped like the Frost Dragon's Heart. A rare material you could only get from hunting Scathach an insane number of times, with abysmal drop rates.
Think of the whole staff as a water gun, and this gem as the water tank. But right now, the tank—the heart—was bone dry. Han Seol-ah had used it once.
Empty? Just fill it up.
I started slamming mana into the Frost Dragon's Heart. My way.
The staff began trembling and humming like it was screaming. I ignored it.
I knew the proper method was to channel a precise amount of mana along fixed paths. But that would take over a week to fill this tank.
I'm an EX-rank hunter now, but at my core, I'm a gamer. A glorious Republic of Korea gamer, no less.
...Not a citizen, though. Just a gamer, then.
Anyway, my gamer soul screams it: I can't tolerate inefficiency...!
The staff shook wildly—whirr!—but I pushed on. My calculations said it'd be fine. Though if I slipped up on the adjustment, the tank might explode.
Mess up? Just don't.
Who screws up filling a water tank? Just turn on the faucet and hold the bucket underneath. That's basically what I was doing.
Someone might see this and yell that I'm insane.
"I'm an EX-rank hunter."
My word is law.
Frozen screamed and shuddered under the threat of death.
Her home—the Frost Dragon's Heart, that vital, precious place—was on the verge of exploding.
Fierce, razor-sharp frost mana was overwhelming it.
[Great One!!! Please!!!]
Frozen could wield frost mana like her own limbs through Eternal Winter. But this rampaging mana? Untouchable.
One wrong touch, and that'd be her end.
It was sharp. Fast. And way too much.
Picture Frozen as a master rider. Before her, a foal becomes a legendary steed; a wild beast turns into a docile pegasus.
But dragons? One, ten, a hundred, a thousand, ten thousand, a hundred thousand charging at once?
No rider in the world could tame that chaos.
[Ughhh...]
It could blow any second... Exhausted from her mental screams, Frozen slumped.
[...But.]
It's not exploding, weirdly enough.
Regaining composure, Frozen closely examined the mana's flow.
[...]
She was speechless in shock.
This... harmony unfolding before her eyes?
[What?]
Possible? At first, she thought it was overloading the heart. Sure, it'd douse the immediate fire, but the heart would lose its core function afterward.
The genesis trait granted to a creation-grade item would vanish. End of Frozen's short life.
But this mana control was rough... insanely reckless... yet beautiful.
Yes. No other word for it.
[Heh.]
Frozen was born etched with the soul to master all of Eternal Winter. Forged on the world's sole anvil, poured with priceless legendary runes and top materials, by the dimension's greatest artisan.
She was its ordained spirit.
No one handled Eternal Winter better. There shouldn't be.
It would deny her creator's power outright.
Yet here it was, happening before her eyes.
[Heh. Heh heh heh.]
No explosion. Perfect mana control.
Frozen realized it belatedly. Mana was filling the Frost Dragon's Heart at breakneck speed. And spreading beyond—to the entire staff.
[Great One... what in the world are you?]
Then, the storm of mana subsided.
The Great One sat before a strange box, expressionless. Snap. He flicked his finger lightly.
Whoosh—
The transcendent mana that could freeze the world... evaporated.
[......?!]
Frozen doubted her senses.
Gone. Not hidden. Not suppressed. That ocean of mana, erased clean from existence. As if it never was.
Hiding mana? Not even close.
Even perfectly concealed, traces remain. Frost mana couldn't fool its master, Frozen.
Close a dam's gates, and water still seeps through cracks.
But this... wasn't closing gates. It erased the water itself.
[Th-this can't be possible...!]
Snap. Another crisp sound.
[Eek?!]
The erased sea returned!
Snap. Gone again.
Snap.
[Aaaargh!]
Back.
Snap. Snap.
The Great One repeated the bizarre act several times, checking the mana's evenness.
Frozen shuddered. Her soul trembled.
[Controlling the flow... no, existence itself at will...?]
"Let there be water," and there is; "be gone," and it vanishes—a genesis power?
To him, mana was just tap water. Turn the faucet on when needed, erase it when annoying.
[A different league...]
Beyond awe, Frozen cowered deep in the staff, holding her breath. Too terrified even to breathe.
"Mana hog, this thing."
I'd just brute-forced it like squeezing a tube, and it guzzled 50,000 MP—my lifeline—in seconds.
Good thing de-syncing left almost no burden.
"Yeah, non-combat, 50k is manageable, but..."
Drip.
Hot liquid trickled from my nose.
"Huh."
No worst-case since not in combat, but brain strain was inevitable. A sandpaper-rub pain hit late.
Wipe. Tissue soaked red instantly.
I tossed the bloody clump in the trash nonchalantly and gripped the staff again.
Every scream from Han Seol-ah in the tub made my head's vessels scream too.
But I couldn't stop.
"More useful than I thought."
This was ammo. The one bullet to pierce the disaster called Scathach.
Load every last one.
"Hoo... again."
Plugged my nose with tissue roughly, synced again.
While Han Seol-ah exploded wildly, I bled and reloaded ammo.
For the doom ahead.
Dawn broke.
Han Seol-ah hadn't rested a moment.
Boom! Bang bang! Crunch!
Two hours till daily reset. Supposed to be sweet rest for her weary body.
But she couldn't spare it. Locked in the tub for self-harm show... no, magic experiments all night.
Speaker blared flesh-ripping, bone-crushing horror sounds nonstop.
I ended up sleepless.
Damn... she's ruthless. Ruthless.
I scooped up the still-exploding Han Seol-ah from the tub.
[Nebula-nim?]
With her puzzled voice, I headed the familiar path to the Otherworld Gate.
[Ah, here...]
Familiar to her too. Where she'd faced Scathach with Eternal Winter.
Quick mouse flicks summoned Scathach.
[No way?]
"Yeah."
That mock exam.
In Lost Honor, Scathach was an infinitely resummonable boss. Reality version should match specs.
"Mock exam, Han Seol-ah."
Perfect practice spot before the real thing.
[I'll do it!]
Resolve hardened on her face.
Last time, one-shot with Eternal Winter. Now? Pure Han Seol-ah power.
First attempt began.
—Kraaaaaargh!
[FAILED]
Han Seol-ah blacked out from Scathach's Fear, defeated in 1 second.
"Dragon Fear's a passive. For a mighty one like Scathach, it's even higher rank."
She woke quick, instantly grasping why.
Second round.
"That's it."
Mental defenses solid, she withstood the Fear. Battle on.
Her opener: Permafrost on charging Scathach.
[FAILED]
Dead before cast complete, hit by Scathach's magic.
"Had Eternal Winter then. Bare now."
Revived with scroll.
Third round. New spells from our spars.
"Whoa. Impressive."
Not all, but 30% mastered perfectly.
"...But not the answer."
Scathach had Frost Dragon's frost resistance—beyond, Frost Immunity. Apex frost dragon.
Her spells crumbled pre-impact... dead to Scathach's magic.
Revived Han Seol-ah pondered before next raid.
"Right. Recall the spars."
I knew she couldn't hear, but cheering her on.
She re-entered Scathach's range, organized.
[Hoo.]
Deep breath audible over speaker, focus up. No action.
Charging Scathach paused, stood, probed her.
No response? Began casting.
Boom! Frost explosion in air. Perfect dispel.
"Yes. That's it."
Scathach's arrogant and cruel. Fight back? Crushes harder. Yield? Tests till broken.
Like cat toying with mouse.
And during that "test"—
"Ah."
Han Seol-ah died.
"Let's see. 6 seconds."
Failing grade.
"It's fine. Scrolls aplenty."
Unlike real combat's one-shot, 99,999 chances left.
Plus... if you're short, I'll make more chances.
So rise, Han Seol-ah.
And.
The day of reckoning dawned.