"Woah!"
Jumping to the side, a stream of hot, red flames erupted from nothingness at Kai's previous spot. Even with his new tier:1 ice magic that naturally made his body cold, the fire quickly raised his body temperature, demonstrating its might.
The red flames burned away the dry grass where Kai was previously standing; the flames left no traces of what once was.
~Crunch~
The culprit of the flames showed itself next to the portal, protecting the portal as it was meant to do.
The creature's majesty was in a full show with an aura that burns. It stood proud, like a king before his subject; there was no malice from the creature. It was only doing its duty to protect the portal; it would do what was necessary.
It was indeed a superior being to the Fire Cats; However, it had similarities; it was impossible to mix up the ugly, crude appearance of a Fire Cat with this otherworldly creature.
Standing on all fours, it had golden-red fur. Three golden eyes, one in the center, with the other two on its side. Each eye was focused on Kai, trying to pierce his secrets. A long snout with fierce fangs protruding its lips, almost like it was looking down, smirking at prey—three black marks above its eyes, almost like a natural crown. Red flames danced around the neck, waiting to be commanded, ready to strike at any second. Three long, golden-red tails swayed in the air; happy someone came to play.
'What is that? It looks like a fox but more majestic.'
"{Inspect}"
{Sphex, Nenex-Floor Guardian}
{Tier:1 Level-31}
'A Nenex? The book didn't have anything on Nenex; what kind of monster is that?'
Although he hadn't read the entire book yet, Kai was sure Nenex was never mentioned. Kai knew it was basically impossible to write down every monster and beast; he didn't expect to meet an unknown monster just yet.
'Looks like my ice will be put to the test. I doubt floor guardians have tier:0 magic.'
Based on the power behind the stream of flames that attacked him, Kai knew it wasn't tier:0. The monster in front of him was also a higher level than him, although only by a little; if his stats were anything to go by, then the distance in stats was still a decent amount.
Thinking of a way to beat Sphex, Kai ruled out using [Death's Embrace] as it would only increase the physical power of Sphex. And based on Sphex's long, shiny, golden claws, it was not a good idea to get close.
Kai was confident in his physical strength and defense, but he wouldn't take a chance with an unknown enemy.
'That leaves my ice magic, hehe. It seems like I have the perfect chance to test it out.'
He was already going to test his new magic out on the next floor; why wait any longer?
'I can't get too carried away; after all, people are chasing me.'
If the fight were prolonged, then both Kai and Sphex would be in trouble. The faster he could end the fight, the better. However, it would give his pursuers a safe passage to the next floor. With no floor guardian, they would be free to enter through the mystical portal.
If they are quick enough, they could pass through before a new floor guardian emerges.
"[Ice Spike]!"
Forming a single ice spike, Kai examined it; almost obsidian, the black ice emitted a dangerous and cold aura. With just a glance, he was sure that not even fifty of his tier:0 ice spikes could compare to one tier:1.
Not only was it stronger and more durable, but the time it took to construct it was only instant. The detail in the spike far surpassed his expectation. Even the mana cost went down by a hundred. Would higher tiers even need mana to use magic?
~Zoom~
Sending forth his ice spike, Kai could tell the speed increased too.
Sensing danger from the black ice spike, Sphex controlled his fire mane to intercept it. The fire danced around Sphex's neck before taking the form of a fist, taking the ice spike head on.
~Boom~
Both attacks collided, battling for supremacy. The ice spike tried to cool down the fire, putting it out. While the fire attempted to melt away the ice. Neither backed down until the spells ran out of mana.
A draw!
The ice couldn't be melted, and the fire wouldn't be put out. It seemed as if Kai and Sphex were equal, but both knew the truth. No one would start a fight with their strongest attack or use a large amount of energy. The first attack was to test the waters before the actual fight started.
"[Ice Spike}"
Summoning three ice spikes, he put a little extra into them, testing how much he could improve them with mana.
Spells have a minimum amount of mana required, which shows while looking at a spell. With good enough mana control, there is no maximum; putting more mana into a spell would increase its power.
Previously Kai only used the minimum amount needed; this time, he put a hundred extra mana.
"Go!"
At his command, the three ice spikes speed off into the wind, straight at Sphex. With the extra mana, the ice spikes were faster, arriving at Sphex seconds earlier than the first one.
Seeing the ice spikes were faster, Sphex willed his fire mane into three fists, once again taking the attack head-on. These fire fists had a deeper tint of red than before and, like the ice spikes, were also faster.
~Boom~
Neither side was willing to give in. Once again, they were equal until slowly, the ice spikes pushed back the fire fist.
Watching his fire fist be pushed back, Sphex's proud appearance faltered for a second. He was the king of the first floor, protector of the portal, yet his attack was pushed back! He couldn't take it; he wouldn't stand for it.
~Rooooo~
Roaring at Kai, deep crimson flames erupted from his mouth, breaking the ice spikes. A detail that Kai noticed.
'My ice didn't melt, but it did break.'
Even under Sphex's fire breath attack, his ice didn't melt. Kai was sure that breath attack had far more mana than all ice spikes combined, yet it wasn't enough to melt his ice.
"Hahaha!" Kai laughed; he couldn't help it. He had just discovered how durable his ice was; he had no fear for the monster in front of him.
What could Sphex do if Kai encased himself in ice? With enough mana in his defense, even Sphex couldn't break it.
Hearing his opponent laugh, each of Sphex's eyes narrowed, and all his tails stopped swaying and fell to the ground.
Opening its mouth, a small crimson fireball formed; the more mana Sphex put into it, the greater its size. From the size of an apple to almost the size of Sphex himself.
Because of the amount of fire mana inside the fireball, the air started heating up, and even from where Kai was, he could feel the heat radiating from it.
Kai was sure he wouldn't survive if the fireball made contact with him.
'What kind of crazy spell is that?!'
Only after the fireball reached 3 feet in diameter did Sphex stop pouring more mana into it. Sphex panted, out of breath. This was his ultimate move, and it required almost all his mana.
Sphex was only a monster; he didn't know any better. Once Kai provoked him, he lost any sense of reasoning a monster had.
Kai noticed this. With all Kai had learned and seen, he knew something was wrong with him.
Since his encounter with Elisa The Banshee, Kai knew nothing was as it seemed. After all, only monsters were supposed to be in dungeons tier:2 and below, yet a former human was a floor guardian. And a devil put her there.
From what he's overheard and seen, no other adventurer or person has had any weird encounters as he had. It was almost like the dungeons altered when he entered.
No one else was a beast at tier:1 like he was.
And if he had to guess, Sphex was also something that shouldn't belong in this dungeon.
Not because he thought a devil put him in the dungeon or anything of the sort. It was because of Sphex's appearance; it was so unique and extraordinary that everyone would wear its fur.
Yet he hadn't seen one person with such clothing.
Also, with Sphex's strength, Kai was sure it wasn't something a group of normal tier:1's could take on.
"Nothing makes sense anymore." Kai grumbled.
He wanted to ask Atar all these questions but couldn't find the right moment to ask. Nor was he sure Atar would even answer them. In the worst case, he would tell Atar something that should've been kept secret and maybe make him angry.
Focusing back on the giant crimson fireball, Kai decided to test one more thing.
"[Ice Wall]"
A wall made up of black ice formed in front of the fireball trajectory, waiting to intercept it. The ice wall was a long rectangle; it was so dark that the fireball reflected in it.
~BRR~
Sphex let go of his fireball, making a screeching noise. The mass of flames moved at a fast pace. Although the speed was nothing compared to the ice spikes or fire fists, it was still fast considering its size.
As it grew closer to the ice wall, it was like it drew in all light from the outside world. The sun disappeared, and the sky was gone. Only the mass of flames and ice wall remained. Illuminating the dark world, the crimson fireball made contact with the ice wall.
~Boom!~
The ice wall remained steady for a few seconds fighting against it before ultimately faltering to the mass of flames.
~Crack!~
The ice cracked and fell apart, and black ice shards flew as the fireball made its way toward the real target, Kai!
Looking at how the ice wall was defended, Kai was happy; he didn't plan on stopping the fireball. He only wanted to test how durably it was now that his magic had evolved.
He was even more delighted that his ice still didn't melt but broke instead. The only thing his ice wall lacked was mana. If he had put more mana into it, he was confident he could defend against the fireball.
Jumping far from his original spot, Kai wanted to wait until the fireball passed before attacking again. But he froze, watching as the fireball changed his direction, heading straight toward him again!
'It's tracking me?!'
Sphex had a mocking grin, watching Kai freeze as his spell chased after him.
"[Ice Wall]" This time, Kai put more mana into his wall, hoping to stall for more time.
~BRR~
The fireball and ice wall collided, but unlike last time, this ice wall was still maintained after a few seconds of contact.
Sighing, Kai started thinking of a wall to deal with the attack and Sphex.
'Even if I kill him, the fireball will still be here.'
Sphex put almost all his mana into the fireball, and even defeating Sphex won't help with the fireball as it already had the mana inside it.
'I need something to deal with the fireball and Sphex simultaneously. What kind of spell can do that?'
~Crack~
The ice wall couldn't bear it any longer and cracked. The fireball pushed even more. Under such pressure, with the little amount of mana it had compared to the fireball, the ice wall broke. Letting the fireball continue to Kai.
'Damn!'
"[Ice Wall]!'
Another pitch black ice wall appeared, blocking the fireball's path.
'Quickly, something. Ice. Ice. Cold. Freeze, no... snow?'
'Yeah, snow!'
Kai always liked the little amount of snow he got in Nightmare City.
Snow signaled the near of
"Winter, the coldest time of the year!"
Picturing what he wanted his spell to do, Kai freed his mana, taking on his will. Molding the mana, it flew into the sky, forming what he had pictured.
The sky was again visible; the fireball no longer absorbed all the light. Yet the mostly clear sky didn't last long. The air grew cold, making even the fireball weaver under it. Sphex sensed something was off yet couldn't tell what.
Falling from the sky, little black spots drifted down. Upon contact with the ground, the ground was frozen in black ice.
With snow comes winter.
"[Everwinter]!"
{Learned, Tier:1 Ice spell [Everwinter]-Focusing ice mana into the sky, the user brings forth the might of winter. Consumes 15,000 mana}
Black snow fell from the sky, freezing anything except Kai upon contact. The fireball was moving at a much slower pace until it completely stopped moving at all.
Each black snowflake added more ice to the fireball until the fire itself was frozen.
Sphex wasn't doing any better, shivering due to the cold; the black snowflake fell on his fur, freezing it and encasing his fur in black ice until he couldn't move.
The last thing Kai saw was fear in Sphex's three eyes before black ice covered them.
The once dry grassland was now covered in black ice. If the cold air didn't freeze you, then the black snowflakes would.
{Earned 6,000 Experience Points}
{Obtained, Sphex's Fur}
{Obtained, Nenex Eye}
Due to the immense cold, Kai didn't need to break his ice anymore to end his enemies.
'It seems my spell caught some other monsters in the crossfire.'
'I wonder if I could make special armor from his fur.'
{Name: Kai Venator}
{Tier:1 Level 33}
'Too bad I can't [Collect] them. Though this should hold them off for a long time.'
Kai didn't want to kill them; after all, he wouldn't learn about the Starla family from them if they were dead.
He needed to know if the Starla family was as bad as Atar had said.