Adam ran deep inside the forest, jumping over the fallen trunks and dodging the low-hanging branches.
Soon, a small ravine, about a meter wide, appeared in the distance. It looked like it was cutting the forest in half.
Without stopping, Adam leaped over the ravine and landed on the other side.
As his backpack patted his back gently, he lifted his chin to look at the mountain. He was already standing under the shade of the mountain and could already see the terrain moving up the mountain.
'I am close.' Adam thought, and he continued to run.
After a short while of running, he came across just another patch of snow, perfectly similar to the clear, white snow that was all around him.
However, there was something odd about this snow that made Adam's brows furrow.
His eyes narrowed into a slit, and he crouched, his knees landing on the snow, and he then touched the snow with his pale-skinned hand.
He could feel the coldness of the snow, but something was strange.
As he raised his hand and rubbed the snow between his fingers, he realized there wasn't any moisture in the snow.
When he touched the snow a little further away, it was completely wet, completely different from that small area with dry snow.
Adam's eyes turned serious, and he slowly moved the shield in front of his body, protecting himself behind it.
He then stood upright and started to slowly move across the dry snow towards the mountain area.
He was cautious and vigilant, scanning the nearby area like a hawk.
At that moment, the snow behind him shifted slightly, and something started to emerge from the snow, looking like a blob of snow that slowly took the shape of a figure.
Adam stopped moving, and his grip on the shield tightened. He then spun around and smashed the shield through the snow figure, blasting its face apart and causing it to crumble like a badly built sand castle.
As the figure collapsed to the snowy ground, the ground around Adam started to shake. However, only the area within the dry snow began to shake.
'Snow Chaosbeing...' Adam thought without even batting his eyes.
Swoosh—snow spearheads shot out from the ground, piercing through the air as they headed towards Adam.
Adam quickly shrank his body to hide behind the shield.
Splash—the snow spearheads landed on the shield and caused Adam to stagger backwards one step.
However, since the spears were made of snow, they couldn't handle their form, and as soon as they smashed into the shield, they turned into powder-like snow and fell back to the ground.
'I need water...' Adam opened his backpack, took out a water canteen that was still full, removed the cap, and started splashing it across the dry snow.
The ground trembled as if a giant were stomping in the distance, and from the snow, a figure jumped out with a nearly furless body and glowing eyes.
It looked humanoid as it stood with two legs, but it had a long tail, sharp claws, and the head of a goat. Its upper torso was naked, looking very similar to the male torso but as if it were frostbitten, and from waist to feet, it had goat's legs.
'Goatman.' Adam emotionlessly thought without a change in expression.
It was a part of the Chaosbeing family—a group of horrific creatures that were the main opponents for players. They ruled the dungeons and the wasteland that laid beyond the New World.
Players had been longing to conquer the dungeons for a while now, but they couldn't stop the Chaosbeings from respawning, as if they were immortal creatures that couldn't be completely annihilated.
"Szzzz..." The Goatman let out strange and guttural noises as it looked angrily at the human in front of it. Its shoulder had a strange burn mark, as if it had been scorched by a powerful flame.
'During Goatman's snow form, splashing water at them is very effective to make them return to their normal forms.' Adam closed the water canteen with the cap and put it inside the backpack.
'Unfortunately, when they are in their real form, water would have no effect anymore.'
Adam tightened the straps on his shield and made it hug against his arm as if it were just another part of his arm.
"Now, only blood and shattered bones will have an effect."
Adam approached the Goatman slowly, his right hand reeling in slightly backward as if he were about to throw a punch at a moment's notice.
"Szzzz!" The Goatman let out an unpleasant sizzling sound and revealed its sharp, black claws.
"I don't have all day..." Adam lunged forward with a quiet whisper and smashed the round shield across the Goatman's face.
Thud—the Goatman staggered to the side and shook its head with a stunned expression. For a moment, it seemed to be dazed and disoriented.
"Hmph!" Adam put the shield in front of his body and then tackled the Goatman down to the ground.
He then pinned the Goatman down on the ground with the shield and threw a punch with his right, which landed squarely on the creature's face.
"Szzz!" The Goatman grabbed the shield with both hands and shoved Adam off of him. The difference in physical strength was very noticeable.
After the creature climbed back to its feet, it launched forward and started delivering sharp and accurate slashes with its black claws.
Adam hurriedly put his shield in the way and blocked the claws, but scratches started to appear on the silvery surface, and the durability began to slowly drop.
Adam knew he had to act fast before the shield was completely destroyed.
As the Goatman swung its arm wide, its claws missed Adam's head by an inch, and he quickly took advantage of that—he decisively dove under its arm and swung his shield-wielding arm upwards, slamming against the Goatman's chin.
The force of the impact sent the creature stumbling backward, and soon it fell backwards on the dry snow. Its eyes shook, and it started to slowly sink back into the snow.
It was preparing to escape into the snow!
"No, you won't!" Adam tossed the backpack over his shoulder, dropped it to the ground, and picked up the water canteen.
Once the cap flew out of the canteen, he splashed the whole bottle on the Goatman, who was already inside the snow, only its goat face showing.
"Szzzzzzzzz!" It screamed loudly as its skin started burning from the inside out. Its chest turned charred, and the smell of burned meat started to waft through the air.
Adam dropped the empty water canteen on the ground and watched as the Goatman appeared from the snow, rolling towards the wet snow, wanting to get rid of the burning sensation, but it only got much worse.
After a few more screams, it stopped moving. Its eyes looked lifeless—the Goatman died!
"Phew..." Adam heaved a sigh of relief and crouched beside the Goatman's corpse.
'The claws look valuable, and the feet and the tail of Goatmen have value. That's pretty much the only thing I can get from its corpse. I cannot eat it, because that would be utterly disgusting.'
Adam scavenged all the claws and then used the shield to hack off its legs and tail. He then put them inside a bag found inside the backpack and filled it with cold snow and ice.
While other players thought these items wouldn't decay, Adam knew they would, and their value would decrease. It had happened to him more times than he wanted to admit, and it was hard to prevent.
However, he had learned a few tricks to try to keep up its value as much as possible.
After putting the bag in his backpack, he slung it over his shoulder and turned his attention to the nearby mountain.
'I should be close. I wonder if anyone has found the boss yet...'