"Gwaaah!..."

The dying scream of a Red Goblin resounded within the Alnuss woods. A silvery white blur flashed past, weaving through the rugged terrain of the forest floor littered with large rocks, fallen branches, thick tree roots and decaying stumps almost effortlessly.

"Woah..."

Ice stared admiringly at Ibex as he repeatedly downed the goblins without even giving them any chance to retaliate.

It was already late in the afternoon and the two of them had been hunting monsters nonstop ever since they entered the woods.

Ice had taken the initiative at first. But after a few level ups, Ibex began to hunt monsters by himself, making full use of his Skills and advantages to achieve staggering results.

Ibex was currently hunting Red Goblins; the bigger, meaner cousin of Maleena village's Lesser Goblin. But Ibex was able to overcome the difference in levels with clever battle tactics.

He had utilized his advantage in speed and agility to execute effective hit and run attacks, harrying the monsters with rapid strikes and immediately getting away before the enemies can throw a counter blow.

The goblin's short limbs and chubby bodies proved to be ineffective in giving chase to the fast moving Ibex.

He dealt significant damage by using the Frost Charge Skill repeatedly. The maximum damage of the Skill increased relative to the distance traveled with a running charge. Ibex used this to great effect, ensuring an effective means of attack without compromising survivability.

If, by some chance, goblins managed to get close, he used Frost Breath to ward them off and fled immediately. Frost Breath had a relatively short cooldown time (4 seconds) so even if it dealt low damage, it was still really effective.

Both Frost Charge and Frost Breath had small chances of freezing an opponent as well. Add Cold Aura (Adds 4% chance of inflicting Frozen via normal attack) and Intimidation (Adds 3% chance of inflicting Intimidated to opponent via normal attack, lowering opponent's attack by 15-20% for 60 seconds) Ibex had a fair chance of inflicting some Negative Effects, which only adds to his advantages.

The poor goblins never stood a chance!

Ice was totally floored.

"___Damn, he's good... I gotta work harder or I won't be able to keep up."

It wasn't like Ice was completely idle during Ibex's single handed drubbing of the unfortunate goblins. He had also hunted quite a few of them himself. Most of their attack patterns were similar to their lower leveled cousin so Ice had a relatively easy time bringing them down.

Their slow, hobbling gait and poor swing speed posed no threat to Ice. Their attack was comparatively higher than most Level 17 monsters Ice had encountered. But it wasn't much of a problem since they couldn't hit him anyway. This was one of the major reasons why he had decided to grind in the area.

Ice also made an effort to divert aggro from Ibex whenever he judged the numbers that went after the fast moving summon were too much for comfort. He didn't want to take any chances, especially since Ibex's Def stats weren't enough to ward off the goblin's attacks should one manage to hit. Ibex couldn't wear any of the defensive equipment available in the city after all.

This was one of the disadvantages of summoned creatures. They couldn't wear any equipment that's not specified for them. Equipment shops that held goods that were for specific summoned creatures were few and far between. And craftsmen who could fashion custom equipment for them were even rarer.

This disadvantage was even more pronounced in Ibex's case since he was, for the most part, a unique summoned creature. Ice planned to try searching for compatible equipment anyway. But that was saved for later and right now, they'll have to make due.

Ice also suffered a steep penalty if his summon died. A significant chunk of his HP gets shaved off whenever a summon's HP gets reduced to zero. The more summons he has out, the greater the risk. So much so that Ice had thought it to be a little unfair. Micromanaging, awareness of the current battlefield situation, quick thinking, decisiveness and adaptability were paramount. His was really a pretty troublesome Class.

Yet one useful thing Ice discovered about his Class was complete control regarding experience sharing with his summons. He was free to choose the EXP distribution amounts between him and Ibex regardless of level difference.

He had been quick to take advantage of this fact and this was how he had power leveled Ibex to Level 14 in just a few of hours. They were now sharing at a 40%/60% split with Ibex set as priority. Ice didn't want to neglect raising his own level so he adjusted it as such.

They continued to grind like that for a few more hours until the sun began its decent towards the horizon in earnest. Ice had gained an additional level and Ibex went up all the way to Level 16.

***

It was already near evening when the pair decided to call it quits for the day. The surroundings were getting dark and the cries of nocturnal insects began to resound in the woods.

Some monsters become more aggressive during the night. Some were even buffed a bit, increasing their overall parameters. Some Wolf and a number of other Lupine types were a common example. More physically evident changes would also take place in others (longer fangs and claws, bulkier bodies and the like). That's why they were trying to pick up the pace before the sun sets totally and night begins in earnest.

"We've hunted quite a few. That was some amazing stuff back there. You seem really used to this." Ice exclaimed in an amazed tone.

Ibex held his head up proudly.

"Of course! I'm an ancient existence that has gone through countless battles. Even if my level resets every time the link with my summoner is terminated, my memories remain relatively intact. It's both a boon and a bane for something like me..."

Ibex suddenly grew quiet after the short exchange. His eyes revealed a solemn, far away look; most likely remembering past experiences. Ice grew quiet as well. He had tried to imagine how it would feel had he shared Ibex's circumstances.

They continued walking in accompanied silence.

"?!"

Ibex suddenly stopped in his tracks, surprising Ice. But he had also noticed the abnormality and raised his alertness. Somehow, the palpable feeling of tension and dread that hung in the air was quite familiar.

"___It's pretty similar to that time." Ice thought.

The surroundings were quiet. Too quiet. Eerily so. It was also like this when he encountered the Sable Wolf.

"___Keep your guard up kid. This smells like trouble..." Ibex warned.

Ice was constantly scanning the immediate area around them, trying to pick up any sign of danger. He had taken out one teleport stone and prepared to use it to get back to town. He didn't want to use them that often if possible since they were rare and valuable commodities, but this was an emergency so Ice felt it couldn't be helped. But he was surprised by the unexpected outcome.

"___What's wrong?" Ibex asked.

"It's the teleport stone. It's not working! I can't bring up the Use command button." Ice exclaimed. Traces of panic tinged his voice.

"?!"

Ibex's eyes opened wide in surprise.

"___Not working? But that's..."

Ibex grew even more alert, dutifully scanning the surroundings, seemingly looking for something.

"What's wrong? What are you looking for?" Ice asked.

Before Ibex could answer, a deafening roar pierced throughout the woods. The ground shook with intermittent rumbles and within moments, the source of the roar bore down on the pair.

*Ruaaaaah!

It was a huge monster resembling a black furred bear; albeit a very brutal looking one. It had huge spikes lining up its back and its fore paws were equally imposing, with long sharp claws protruding from the tips. Its forehead had rune-like markings that glowed crimson in the fading daylight. Its bloodshot eyes looked intimidatingly at the pair.

Ice used Keen Eye to inspect the monster and was shocked by its specs, which he thought was overkill at their level.

_______________________________________________________________________________

Obsydian Edgeback (Area Boss)

Level: 50

HP: 8500

Exp. Gain: 4000

Info: An aggressive and exceedingly brutal mammalian beast type monster that makes its lairs in the northern forests of the Valis continent. Very territorial, it will not let interlopers escape and would gore them with its razor sharp claws and fangs. The spikes protruding from its back are extremely hard and are valued crafting material.

_______________________________________________________________________________

It was an Area Boss, of all things! But Ice was sure the Edgeback was not the Alnuss wood's boss monster. He had read up on the monster data around the surrounding areas during his time at the library and was sure of this fact.

"___It really is similar." Ice thought. "___It had been this way with the Sable Wolf too. That thing also wasn't supposed to appear anywhere near Maleena village."

And now, Ice discovered that convenient means of escape like teleport stones were unusable. The circumstances really were far too suspicious. But right now, he had his mind occupied with trying to think up other means of escape. Fighting back never even crossed his mind. The differences in levels were too great. And bosses had significantly more superior stats than average high level monsters.

It really was no contest. Ice had a feeling that just being hit by one swipe of the Edgeback's claws would be enough to kill him.

The important thing was to live! If you lived then you could always try to redeem yourself. But you won't be able to do anything if you're dead. But could he do it? Could he survive?

The Edgeback let out a terrifying roar once more and inched ever closer towards the pair. Ibex nudged Ice with his horns and prompted him to action with an urgent tone.

"___Kid. Kid! Snap out of it and get on me!"

"Eh?"

Ice made a dumbfounded look, not understanding what Ibex said for a moment.

"___Didn't you hear me? I said get on! Oh forget it!"

Ibex suddenly bit on the collar of Ice's leather armor. He then unceremoniously tossed the still dumbfounded Ice onto his back with a snap of his powerful neck.

"Eh! Wait, wha-?"

Ice was now mounted on Ibex's back. He had started running the moment he confirmed Ice was in position. Ice looked a bit awkward because Ibex's size could not fully accommodate his now considerably taller stature. Thus, he needed to fold his legs to avoid them hitting the ground as Ibex ran at full speed.

“___You comfortable up there kid?””

“Eh?! That’s- Woah!””

Ice floundered clumsily on Ibex’s back. The path was littered with obstructions but Ibex paid them no heed and just weaved straight through some and leapt above others. He was tracing as straight a path as he could manage as the rampaging Edgeback gave chase.

“___Grab my horns kid. Try not to fall off.””

Ice had done as Ibex suggested and gradually got accustomed to riding the fast moving mountain goat as he grabbed Ibex's long horns like the handlebars of a large motorbike. It was the birth of the Harley Davidson mountain goat express!

Ice looked back to find the Edgeback not too far behind, barreling through trees and rocks with relative ease. Its large body allowed it to cover great distances in just a few short bounds, allowing it to keep pace with them and not lag behind.

“Damn, that’s really unfair! You’re a huge monster so behave like one and go slower dammit!” Ice shouted in complaint to the boss monster giving chase.

“___Kid, you got a comm. glyph on you?” Ibex asked as he ran through the woods at full speed.

“Eh? Yeah, I have one. I got it from Sea before we went to the capital.” Ice replied.

“___Good. Do you have that young lady we met earlier in your contact list?””

“Yeah, I do. Wait, you want me to contact her and ask for help?””

“___Yeah. From the looks of her equipment, she must’ve been a member of a knight order correct? She seemed at a pretty high level too. Call her. We won’t be able to survive this otherwise.””

Ice was a bit reluctant. He felt he didn’t want to trouble Sea any more than he had to.

“___What are you doing kid? Hurry up and call her. I won’t be able to keep this up indefinitely. Don’t let your pride get in the way of survival!””

Ice got over his hesitation after Ibex’s reprimand. He just decided to repay this favor several times over when he gains sufficient strength. For now, he needed to live in order to keep that chance of getting stronger from getting extinguished.

***

Sea was currently meeting with some of her subordinates within the royal guard quarters when she received Ice’s distress call. Her face instantly paled and she took off without any hesitation, leaving the others in stunned silence.

“Eh? Wait, captain! What’s wrong? Eh?!””

A petite girl with short golden hair styled in several ringlet curls called out to Sea in surprise after she bolted out the door of the guard quarters.

“Go and follow her Sasha. Take Evann with you. I can only think of a few reasons that could make the captain go all frantic like that. And if my hunch is correct, this one is due to a certain gentleman. Judging from her face just now, it might be pretty serious.””

Rosseane immediately gave out orders to follow Sea. Sasha’s eyes glittered abruptly with curiosity and gave a perfunctory salute, finally turning towards a sleepy looking yet relatively handsome auburn haired young man.

“Come on Evann! We gotta follow the captain and find out what’s going on.””

“Yeah, yeah. I get it. Don’t pull. I can walk by myself.” he replied in a bored tone.

“Don’t walk! Run! Let’s daaaash!” Sasha exclaimed energetically as she pulled Evann by the arm with surprising strength.

“Woah! I said don’t pull. DON’T PULL!””

The pair raced to follow Sea outside the castle town.

***

Ice and Ibex were still on the run from the boss monster. They had covered quite a distance and were now nearing the entrance to the woods. The Edgeback was letting out frustrated roars at them as it continued to give chase.

“Damn, just how persistent is he? Just how much is the aggro on that thing?" Ice exclaimed.

“___We just have to focus on running away. Hold on tight. We’re nearing the edge of the woods. I’m gonna pick up the pace.””

Ibex bolted out with increased vigor as soon as he had spotted the end of the tree line. They were just a few meters away. But then

“___Wha-?!””

Ibex’s pace noticeably slowed down. He had been hit with a Slow spell. The Edgeback didn’t miss the opportunity and covered the distance in a couple of big leaps. In an instant, the pair was within the range of its massive claws.

"“___Damn!”"

Ibex suddenly threw Ice off. The momentum made Ice roll over several times on the ground before finally halting. His HP was shaved a little. He frantically stood up and turned towards Ibex.

Ibex had confronted the Edgeback to try and buy some time, but he was woefully under-leveled. He had only been able to dodge blows a couple of times before finally being downed by a powerful swipe of the boss monster's brutal looking claw.

Before he died and got forcefully unsummoned, Ibex was able to hail Ice telepathically as a last ditch effort. He told Ice only one thing...

"___Run!"

Ice's HP took a hit when Ibex died, but he didn't pay it any heed. He had started running in earnest. He had to survive this!

There were no signs of other adventurers in the immediate area. And even if there were, who would dare approach a boss monster whose level was clearly far too high for this area's general difficulty range.

One small hope is that he'd encounter high leveled adventurers that were making their way towards Ricksvale's capital. But that heavily depended on luck. And who's to say if they'll actually bother helping him at all.

He had to hold on until Sea found him using the comm. glyph's tracking signal. He literally ran for dear life.

But the Edgeback was just too much for the current Ice. Within moments, it had already caught up and had Ice within striking distance of its claws. And when everything just seemed totally hopeless...

"Ice!"

Help arrived!

***

Sea ran furiously and reached Ice within moments. She deflected the monster's claw attack and leapt towards it. She landed on its arm and bolted up like a loosed arrow, finally arriving on the Edgeback's shoulder and gave it a swift and powerful kick on the side of its head.

The monster staggered and fell back on its haunches, visibly shaken. A considerable amount of its HP was shaved off from that one kick.

"___S-So strong..."

Ice went wide eyed in surprise. He had seen Sea's prowess when she had fought with the Sable Wolf. But he had refrained from inquiring about her actual level; a bit due to the small measure of pride he had stubbornly clung to at the time.

But Sea had once again shown just how formidable she was. She had only kicked a level 50 area boss, but that one kick had silenced the once aggressively snarling monster. It had even looked a little cowed.

Just how high of a level was she to be able to do all that with just one kick?!

"Phew. We've finally caught up. Are you alright sir?"

A girl with golden hair that was styled in several ringlet curls knelt down and checked up on Ice. Behind him was a young man with sleepy looking eyes that had looked a little grumpy as well.

Ice surmised they were Sea’s comrades judging from their equipment. Their armor, barring some cosmetic differences here and there, greatly resembled the one Sea was wearing.

“I’m alright. But Sea…”

“The captain will be fine. That boss monster looks to be at the 50s to 60s range. She’ll eat bosses like that for breakfast. Why’d we even come out here anyway? We’re pretty much not needed.” the young man told Ice matter-of-factly in a disinterested tone.

The girl nudged the young man’s stomach lightly and pouted.

“That way of putting it is kind of rude Evann! I’m sorry. What he meant is that captain is as strong as she is beautiful.”

Ice just nodded lightly; getting influenced by the girl’s bright smile.

They had turned their attention to the ongoing battle, becoming silent spectators to the struggle between the beauty and the beast.

***

Sea had not given the Edgeback a chance to retaliate. She had continued to rain down furious slashes at the monster in a never ending torrent of attacks.

The Edgeback tried to curl up and use its spikes for defense, but Sea had cut through those effortlessly as well, wracking the monster with intense pain. It had let out agonized wails.

The sight was so utterly merciless that the three people that composed the gallery (Ice, Evann and Sasha) actually felt sorry for the boss monster.

After its HP fell below 10%, the Edgeback tried to retreat. Ice had expected Sea to let it go, but it did not go as he envisioned.

“Running away?! How shameful for something of your caliber. Face your death head on like a true master of beasts.”

She chased it down and, after jumping onto its shoulders, gave the monster the coup de gras by stabbing the back of its head.

The monster gave out one final agonizing wail and collapsed dead.

***

Sea immediately ran over to where Ice and the others were after finishing the boss monster off. She had a really worried expression on her flushed face; the face on an angel. And yet Ice could only stare blankly at her, not knowing how to react.

She grabbed his hands and held them to her chest as she looked at him with eyes filled with concern.

“Ice! Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere?”

Snapping out from his stupor somewhat, Ice shook his head frantically.

“N-No. I’m perfectly fine. See. Not even a bruise.”

He had hurriedly stood up and made a placating gesture, telling Sea not to worry.

“That’s good then. I was really worried you know.”

“Ahahaha…”

Ice let out an awkward laugh. He made a mental note never to piss Sea off under any circumstance.

“A-Anyway, now that that’s settled, let’s go ahead and return to the city. It’s getting pretty late after all.” Sasha suggested.

The others nodded in assent and they all began heading back towards the city.

***

"We have failed. We have to notify the praetor right away for further instructions."

"Understood. We must not let the 'Impurity' linger in this world any longer."

Two shadows emerged from the cover of trees and ran southward.

-Chapter 11 End-

*Note

Levels, names and other details don't usually show up on top of peoples heads in El Fabula (except for HP in the event of a fight). There's an option to show them of course. But there's the issue of privacy. Also, currently, no Skill is capable of revealing a persons stats to others like that of Keen Eye for monsters. There might be a method to do it. But odds are, it would be considered illegal and would be banned. At least in normal circumstances.

Seasoned veterans try to gauge levels through looking at the other persons Skills and equipment. And it's effective for the most part, though there are means to lower the level requirement for equipment as well, making things a bit trickier.