Mastering Eternal Frost

Even before the thrill of acquiring a 9-star skill had fully faded...

Permafrost popped up notification windows as if to boast its own presence.

"Oh? So 9-star skills come with a bunch of picky requirements, huh."

The mastery condition was fine thanks to Elemental Mastery, but his base stats fell a bit short.

"Guess I should dump those saved points into Magic."

Ever since entering the Elf Forest, he'd been power-leveling way beyond his peers, so he had plenty of stat points leftover.

But just as Carpe was about to allocate them, another notification appeared.

"Huh? Conditions met?"

-Usually for stat requirements like that, it counts total stats including titles and item bonuses, not just base.

"Oh yeah? That's a handy loophole system."

Couldn't you just borrow gear from friends or guildmates to pump stats and meet the requirement?

-Plenty of players do exactly that. But if your stats drop below the threshold after acquiring, the skill's power tanks hard. Sometimes it won't even activate.

"Hmm. So they patched the exploits somewhat. Doesn't affect me anyway."

Most of his stat boosts came from the title Three Firsts (All Stats +33) anyway.

No bug was deleting that overnight, so his Magic would never dip below 100.

"Wait, 2 points?"

What the hell?

Every skill so far had only cost 1 point. Why double now?

-Yeah, 9-star skills are special—they eat double points unlike others.

He'd assumed Cheonma Jijon would mention it eventually, after getting a 9-star later.

"No way? But Drech-style Doll Unification only took 1."

-That's a job-exclusive skill only you can learn. Normal 9-stars available to all players cost double. Same for leveling them up.

"What kinda garbage system is this?!"

Every player who'd ever gotten a 9-star had raged about it—including Carpe—but it was necessary for power balance.

8-star vs. 9-star. Just one rank apart, but the power ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠gap was massive.

-Think back to the Servant Lord fight. Did 8-star and 9-star feel like just one rank difference?

"...No, not even close."

Blizzard Nova, the 8-star summon-storm skill, was strong—but nothing compared to Permafrost's overwhelming might.

A wave of ice that froze everything in its path.

It was on another level entirely. No wonder Cheonma called it "special treatment."

"Ugh... I get that 9-stars are special, but it still sucks."

-You're drowning in points and still whining? You're gonna learn it anyway.

"Yeah, true."

It was just a reflexive gripe at the double cost.

It applied to everyone with 9-stars, not just him.

Finally!

This was his second 9-star skill after Drech-style Doll Unification.

"As the saying goes, 9-stars gotta go straight to Master level, no questions asked."

-Obviously. You'll spam Permafrost till the endgame. Don't skimp—dump 'em all in.

Carpe immediately started pouring skill points into Permafrost.

And while he was at it, he distributed his saved points where needed.

"Done!"

A chime rang out.

"Kuh... Just looking at it fills me up."

-Fills you up? You should be bursting. How do you still have points left after dumping that much?

Carpe admired his status window with a satisfied grin.

As a magic-fist fighter blending melee and ranged—not a pure DPS mage—he prioritized Magic, then spread the rest evenly.

-Like I said before, even if you mess up stats a bit, items cover it. No need to overthink.

Of course, he had all the prime item locations memorized in Cheonma's head.

-So just don't go full Vitality mage or whatever. Anything but full Vitality.

"I won't, even if you say it a hundred times."

He'd considered it once, but the hassle outweighed the gains.

"From now on, I should just Master everything decent."

Watching Mirage (transformed into the Magic King) fight had taught him that.

Even low-rank skills shone when used right.

A well-timed 3-star could outdo a 5-star.

-Master low-rankers and the damage adds up surprisingly. Others can't dream of it, but you could pull off full skill mastery.

"Triple skill points are straight busted."

Excluding Castling (which just extended range), he'd Mastered everything and still had 20+ ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠points left.

He planned to hoard those 20.

"Never know when another 9-star drops. Gotta keep emergency cash on hand, like 100k won in your wallet. Same deal."

Fortune favors the prepared.

"Think about it backwards. Would a 9-star wanna go to some broke scrub with no points? It'd bounce immediately."

-...I'd bounce too. You got a disease where you spew nonsense daily or what?

Cheonma muttered tiredly, but it fell on deaf ears.

"Oh yeah, got one skill pack left. Use it now?"

He'd hit 35 doing village quests; the basic pack was still in inventory.

"Time to test my last lu—"

But his plan got interrupted.

"Your Majesty! Magic King! Are you safe?!"

Croje, the guard captain, led a group of elves rushing in.

They'd spotted the fierce battle traces around the World Tree and came running to Alteer in shock.

"Wh-what is all this?"

"Croje. Calm yourself. The monsters?"

"Yes, Your Majesty! They've all retreated."

The horde charging the barricades had suddenly panicked and fled.

"We figured the mind control broke, so we left minimal guards and came here... but..."

The area was wrecked—the implications clear.

"A fragment of the Servant Lord hid here? Did it escape?"

"Nay. Contrary to expectations, it did not flee."

"...Pardon?"

Still ambushing nearby?!

As startled Croje scanned warily, Alteer continued.

"We defeated it."

"...Pardon?"

"Exactly as I said. With the heir's aid, we somehow took it down."

"Uh...?"

"The Servant Lord's fragment?"

The elves couldn't process it at first.

To them, the Servant Lord was a nightmare.

But as Alteer beamed and pressed on...

"Freed from the Servant Lord at last! Saiers! Prepare the festival!"

"Woooah—!"

"Long live the Queen!"

"Long live the Magic King!"

Finally grasping reality, the elves erupted in cheers.

Peace had returned to the Elf Forest.

After that, things progressed smoothly.

While other elves prepped the festival, Carpe happily farmed forest mobs.

"No point slacking. Levels are true wealth."

-Love that mindset.

Carpe swept the brainwashed monsters clean.

History proved stragglers were the easiest foes.

"Permafrost!"

Crackle—!

He herded forest monsters, then unleashed Permafrost in the center.

"Kreeegh—?!"

"Kaaack!!"

The stragglers got swept by the ice wave, frozen into statues.

Crack!

Powerful DoT damage shattered them all.

"...That's the stuff. RPGs are all about mob trains!"

Carpe shivered at the AoE bliss.

Yeah, mages lived for corralling and nuking!

Regretted not realizing sooner—half his life wasted.

"Been too melee-focused lately. Gotta embrace the mage life."

-...Where'd the guy who swore melee hand-feels were best go?

"9-star AoE changes tastes."

Long cooldown limited spam, but the rush was worth it.

"Not letting a single one escape."

He scoured every corner, wiping remnants. Watching elves were moved—"He's exhausted but doing this for us!"—boosting affinity big-time. Bonus win.

He even cleared the slime worm cave, snagging scraps of EXP.

He hit 39? No—38 solidly.

But he didn't just grind; he enjoyed the festival too.

"Whoa, this ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠is delicious! What's it made of?"

"Apple pie from elf-grown apples. Glad you like it—take some."

"Huh? Don't usually like booze, but this goes down easy."

"Haha. Fruit wine from World Tree dew and apples. Take some bottles."

Petty rewards were icing!

"This... this is gaming!"

Solo grind spot guaranteeing levels. Gushing rewards.

He wanted to ‍‍‌‌⁠​​⁠‌​​‍​​‍​‌​⁠‍‌‍⁠⁠‌⁠‌‍‌‍‌‌‌‍⁠​‌​‌​‌‍‌‌‌⁠‍​​‌‍⁠‌‌⁠⁠camp here forever, but couldn't.

"Carpe. A moment?"

Time to leave the Elf Forest.

Alteer—no, Mirage—led Carpe's group to a spot.

A massive cavity inside the World Tree.

Where the real Alteer slumbered.