The journey to the Frostfang Caverns was a descent from a civilized heaven into a primal, frozen hell.
While other students were confined to the central islands, restricted by their lack of status, Alvian sat atop the academy's griffin transit system, soaring toward the untamed outer edges.
As a Special Entrant, he held privileges the common rabble could only dream of.
Below him, the ivory towers and shimmering light bridges vanished, replaced by a rugged, white wilderness. The air grew thin and sharp, carrying the biting promise of ice.
"SCREEEE!"
The griffin shrieked, landing on a windswept plateau before immediately launching back into the sky, eager to flee the desolate energy of this place.
Alvian stood alone.
Before him lay the Frostfang Caverns. The entrance was a gaping maw carved into the sheer cliff, framed by colossal icicles that resembled the fangs of a titanic beast. A visible wave of shimmering cold rolled out from the darkness, and the wind howled like a dying god.
Alvian stepped forward.
The moment he crossed the threshold, the cold became a physical assault, a crushing weight seeking to freeze the blood in his veins.
[Ding!]
[WARNING! Extreme Cold Environment detected!]
┏━━━━━━[ Environmental Debuff ]━━━━━━┓
│ Status: Piercing Frost (Stacks accumulating...)
│ Effect: Health/Mana regeneration reduced by 50%
│ Effect: Fire-based abilities effectiveness -75%
┗━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━━┛
Alvian glanced at the red holographic warning floating in his vision and inwardly sneered.
'Just a 50% reduction? I expected worse.'
He ignored the debuffs. He had endured far worse during the simulations.
The interior was a lethal cathedral of ice. Walls of semi-translucent blue crystal pulsed with faint light, illuminating the treacherous black ice that coated the floor.
He pushed deeper. Thanks to the [Prowler's Boots], his grip on the slick terrain was absolute.
"Ki-ki-ki!"
A high-pitched chittering broke the silence.
From the crystalline walls, a dozen small figures detached themselves. Cryo Sprites. Level 25 nuisance mobs made of razor-sharp ice shards.
They swarmed him instantly, launching needles of pure frost.
Alvian's expression didn't change. To him, this wasn't a threat; it was a chore.
He didn't have a powerful Area of Effect spell yet, but he didn't need one. This was a test of efficiency.
He wove through the volley of ice needles like a phantom.
"Shatter!"
He moved in a blur. The [Wolf Tamer's Gauntlets] on his hands gripped a jagged golem crystal—a crude tool he had salvaged from the mine. But in his hands, it was a surgeon's scalpel.
He didn't waste energy on power. He struck the central cores of the sprites with terrifying precision.
"CRACK!"
"CRACK!"
"CRACK!"
One by one, they shattered into useless piles of ice, their death cries sounding like tinkling glass.
He dispatched the entire pack in under a minute.
'Trash. Not even worth the experience points.'
He continued his descent. The tunnels widened, and the temperature dropped even further until he reached a vast, cavernous chamber.
Alvian halted in the shadows.
The chamber was a fortress. At least fifty hulking beasts patrolled in tight formations.
Frostfang Ursids. Level 32 Elites.
They were a terrifying fusion of white fur and jagged ice armor, their claws like obsidian daggers. A single roar from one of them could trigger a localized avalanche.
At the far end of the chamber lay the passage to the Heart of Frost.
Alvian's mind, cold and calculating, assessed the situation.
Fighting his way through? It was possible. But it would be a long, brutal slog. It would waste time, resources, and energy. That was the path of a brute.
He was not a brute.
His gaze flickered to his interface. specifically to the cooldown timer on a specific item.
[Klaus's Upgrade].
It was ready.
A cold, confident smile curled Alvian's lips. The logic was simple. Why fight a fortress when you can simply walk through the walls?
He retreated deeper into the shadow, taking a deep breath.
"Activate [Blessing]."
The purple gem on his ring flared with brilliant, silent light. A warm, potent energy surged into his meridians, suffusing his mana channels with limitless potential.
[Ding!]
[Blessing is active!]
[The effect of your next skill will be doubled!]
He didn't waste a second.
"[Shadow Weave +2]!"
The world dissolved.
This wasn't just invisibility. It was a fundamental shift in his state of being. The doubling effect of the blessing washed over the skill, amplifying it to an absurd degree.
[Ding!]
[Synergy Detected!]
['Blessing' has enhanced 'Shadow Weave +2'!]
[Skill duration increased: 2 minutes -> 4 minutes!]
Four minutes.
It was an eternity.
Alvian stepped out from the tunnel and walked directly into the cavern of the Frostfang Ursids.
He didn't sneak. He strolled.
He walked with an unhurried pace right through the center of their patrol routes. He passed within inches of the massive, armored bears. Their foul, frozen breath misted the air where he stood, but they saw nothing.
They were completely oblivious. Their primitive senses were utterly incapable of piercing the veil of his Legendary, super-charged skill.
He was an untouchable god walking among ants.
He walked past the roaring sentries, past the sparring elites, and reached the narrow passage at the far end.
As he slipped into the inner sanctum, the roars of the Ursids faded behind him.
He had bypassed the dungeon's primary defense without spilling a single drop of blood.
'Too easy,' Alvian thought, checking the timer.
He still had three minutes left. The Heart of Frost was as good as his.