94 Deep beneath the mountain...
[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]
As soon as the notification appeared, Aiden threw an unstable ball of essence mana and vanished from the spot...
*Boom*
In a single moment, a powerful gust of wind and sharp ice shards filled the entire cave. The explosion threw the small-bodied dwarves into the air.
*Bang* Bang*
The sound of the gun was especially loud inside the cave, and the bullet didn't fail to draw the blue blood of the enemies. At the next moment, with another [Blink], Aiden reappeared in front of the shocked enemies.
With the blue ice blades on his both hands, Aiden didn't hesitate to sever the heads of enemies those were yet to recover. Yet their number was showing no sign of decreasing.
As soon as Aiden took care of the fallen enemies, the dwarves took a few steps back, prepared their shields, and stared at Aiden with caution. After the repeated uses of unstable essence mana, what Aiden called [Mana Bomb], they were wary of Aiden.
"What kind of Barbaric use of mana is this?" Mraz was shouting inside Aiden's head non-stop. "You are wasting your precious essence mana. If you want to throw something at them, use [Ice Mana Lance]."
Aiden gripped his ice blue blade, made of his essence mana, and replied, 'Even if I can maintain the shape of the blade as long as I keep touching it, it is hard for me to maintain the shape if I throw it.'
It was as Aiden said. As soon as Aiden released the [Ice Mana Lance], it crumbled into powdered snow. Aiden felt that there was no way he could master the technique within a few hours, and the ice blades in his hand were the best result of his effort.
However, what he said to Mraz was, 'If I want to throw something, it would be better to throw a bomb than a lance.'
"Don't waste bullets." Aiden ignored Mraz's opinions and spoke through his helmet. "We might need it later."
There was no reply from the other side. Aiden took another look at the shield as mana gathered in his hand. As soon as he felt that it was becoming unstable, he repeated his previous steps.
After braving the attacks several times, they were aware of the effects of the attack. Even if the vanguard warriors took a few steps back, the attack wasn't strong enough to break the line. Those eyes of the dwarves continued to stare through the gaps between the shields.
"Those bastards know how to use the terrain in their advantage." Robin grumbled through the helmet, "But who thought these monsters would be hiding beneath these mountains? No wonder we couldn't able to find them when we scanned the entire surface of the planet?"
'Hiding under the mountain?' Aiden wasn't too sure about it, but he had a feeling what he found at the end of the cave. But the concentration of the man inside the cave confused Aiden.
[The mana concentration is 2.71% above normal.]
'If there was a portal to another plane, the mana concentration should have been higher.'
"There is no path to the other plane here," Mraz's voice sounded angry, but he replied.
'Then what?' Aiden was not sure about it, but from the greeting they had received after entering the tunnel under the mountain, Aiden felt that there was something important they were guarding.
"Why don't you use those air and ice bomb spells on the cave wall?" Robin's voice broke his thought.
[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]
"Don't worry, I have another way." Aiden vanished with his words and reappeared in front of the shield wall. Instead of attacking with blunt force, Aiden dabbed the shields.
For a moment, his action stunned the vanguards, but they soon lunged to attack. However, they were too slow. Before the sharp swords touched him, Aiden jumped back, leaving a few frozen palm prints on the shield.
[The host has activated innate skill [Skill Mine]]
The notification informed Aiden that his [Wind Gale (??)] was a success. The attacks threw the dwarves of the vanguards back into the army. It was like a raging bull rammed into them.
[Skill [Reduce Drag (??)] activated. Mana used:1/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: ??]
[Skill [Wind Skin (??)] activated. Mana used:2/15 min. Remaining Mana: ??]
[Skill [Wind Scythe (??)] activated. Mana used:3. Remaining Mana:??]
[The host has activated innate skill [Light foot]]
Aiden jumped into the enemy with a giant scythe of ice in his hand. His mana essence now enchanted and strengthened the ice scythe in his hand. As a result, Aiden cut those little monsters in half with relative ease.
As soon as he was about to get surrounded, he would throw one of his crooks [Ice Mana Bomb] and reappear with a giant scythe a few meters away. Whether it was swords, spears or hammers, none was effective against Aiden, and the armoured plated dwarves were like chickens for Aiden to slaughter.
Few of the dwarves were desperate enough to use their skills, but more than Aiden, they hurt their allies in such proximity.
He escaped unscathed with [Light Foot] and the occasional use of [Blink]. And it wasn't long before they lost their morale and turned to run away.
"Follow me," Aiden cried in his helmet and continued to follow the enemy from close behind. Aiden had no intention of letting them run away.
And more than that, Aiden was worried that if they created some distance between them, it would be easier for them to use spells and long-range weapons to attack him. There's also a chance that they might try to destroy the tunnel to shut it down.
However, as the light appeared at the end of the tunnel, Aiden slowed down. He wasn't sure whether or not they had prepared a trap for him, but he couldn't shake off his uncomfortable feeling, and ...
*Boom*
With the first step inside the bright caravan, something heavy came down on him, but missed him by a breadth of a hair. The surrounding dwarves, however, turned into a fine paste of meat.
[The host activated the innate skill [Blink]]
Aiden appeared a few meters away but rolled on the side to escape the giant blade that came down on him. Aiden stood there, his back against the cold wall of the ice, looking at his attacker.
The caravan was over ten meters high, and the beast was more than five. Even with the giant turtle shell on its back, it was still standing on its two legs, which came out of the bottom hole in either side of the shell.
'Looks like something had cut off one of his hands.' Aiden mumbled as he looked at the three-handed bipedal turtle carrying three different weapons. With a bull-like curved horn and a scaly tail, Aiden had to accept that the beast looked fearful enough.
"Don't get out of the tunnel," Aiden ordered through the helmet as he looked around to find that the retreating dwarves didn't dare look at him and just vanished in the tunnel behind the monster.
"This must be the offspring of Bixi."
'Not yours?' Aiden asked in a straight face. And of course, Mraz was angry.
"There is no way that I am related to such a hideous thing." Mraz stopped for a moment before adding, "I can feel my old friend's bloodline from it."
'And what about your blood-line?'
"I can still feel it further inside the cave." Mraz's voice didn't sound too confident, but he shouted in anger at the next moment, "Why are you using such a barbaric method again?"
Looking at the big unstable essence mana ball that continued to grow larger, Mraz yelled, "Do you think such an unsophisticated thing could even hurt it?"
Aiden, however, paid no attention to Mraz and continued to gather mana essence in his hand. But Mraz was not the only one to realize Aiden's attention.
With the reach of its weapon, the monster did not need to take more than one step to attack Aiden, and at the same time the sword and the sledgehammer came down on Aiden. But Aiden didn't throw away his so-called [Ice Mana Bomb] and…
*Boom*
[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]
Aiden reappeared right on the giant mana crystal that was hanging from the room of the cavern and slammed the [Ice Mana Bomb] at its root.
[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]
The monster could feel that something was wrong above its head and looked up, just to be greeted by the giant crystal shards right at its face.
Ice mana waves washed over the cavern and a few feet deep ice appeared on the floor along with a few layers of frost over the walls. Yet the first thing Aiden sensed was the thick, fishy smell of blue blood that filled the cavern.
'What do you say? Isn't that effective, huh?' Looking at the devastation his attack had created, Aiden couldn't help but ask Mraz with a smile on his face.
