He shifted his feet. Whatever the beast was before him, it was biding its time. Waiting for him to make a mistake.

It’s too bad Kade had no intention of doing so. It would be embarrassing if he died from stumbling because of the packed snow around him.

He had his [Soulrend]’s tip pointed between the red eyes. It was his best guess at where the beast’s body was. It wasn’t for a lack of trying harder.

Kade had concluded that its body was white to where it perfectly blended in with the snow. If he was on Earth, he would guess it was some type of wolf.

He watched for the slightest hint of a movement. He could only track the eyes for obvious reasons.

Currently, it was a contest of who would move first. The issue was that he didn’t know how fast this wolf would be. He had three [Free Points] available, but he wasn’t sure if it was worth using them before he knew for sure.

Kade saw a shift. That was enough for him.

He pushed off the compacted snow and lunged, his [Soulrend] leading the way. The red eyes narrowed before a savage snarl erupted as it leaped towards him.

Kade could finally see a vague outline. It looked like a wolf.

He still targeted the area between the eyes to ensure that if he made contact, it would be a grievous wound.

Kade’s eyes were locked on. He was prepared for any minute change. And that was a good thing.

Somehow, the wolf shifted.

It moved to his right side, where he was completely unprotected. If it could get its teeth on him, it would leave him near dead.

Kade swung his [Soulrend] to the right with all the force he could put behind it. He tried to slam the shaft on the wolf’s head. He didn’t care about success. It needed to do enough to get him space to reset.

The wolf pulled back just in time, his [Soulrend]’s shaft missing by mere inches. It circled him, testing for any openings to bite on.

He was concerned. Not only could the wolf move in the air, but he suspected it was testing him for his limits.

Kade felt like he was the prey here.

He needed more speed. And he needed a second shot of [Inferno Burst].

Free Points: 3—>0

Speed: 8—>10.5

Wisdom: 9.5—>10

MP: 19/19—>20/20

MP Recovery: 5.5% per minute—>5.7% per minute

Kade didn’t pay any attention to the interface. His laser-like concentration blocked out all distractions as he willed the wolf to come closer.

The interface wouldn’t tell him the wolf’s [Arcana Level]. Still, he could sense it vaguely to where he was comfortable assuming it was around his own. Activating [Inferno Burst] too far from its body would render it ineffective.

As soon as the tip of his [Soulrend] was near a vulnerable part of its body, he intended to let loose.

Kade narrowed his eyes when he noticed a strange behavior. The wolf seemed to back away.

He wasn’t sure if it was trying to escape or change its plan of attack. Either wasn’t acceptable to him.

This story is posted elsewhere by the author. Help them out by reading the authentic version.

Kade loosened up. He let his [Soulrend] go slack. If the wolf wanted an opening, there were now plenty.

It was a dangerous gambit. One he would risk his body on. Besides, at worst, he would just lose a limb, possibly two, before he healed himself with the wolf’s energy after he killed it.

The wolf hesitated. Kade found it curious that it was smart enough to consider the chances that it was a trap. He put it above the level of the lesser troll in intelligence.

But still stupid.

The wolf lunged at him with a ground-shaking snarl.

Kade had to give it an advantage. It could move positions in midair, so he had to get to a spot where it was too late for even the midair shift to save it.

It felt like the world was going in slow motion. The wolf was only a few feet away. He could see its sharp teeth for the first time, and it was heading directly to his neck. The wolf was trying to finish him in one try.

Now!

Kade stored his [Soulrend]. Despite being visibly surprised, the wolf had already committed to its plan of attack. That was enough for him.

It wasn’t even a fraction of a second. It was less than that, and he had summoned his [Soulrend] in position. The tip was inches, no, millimeters away from the wolf’s open mouth.

Kade activated [Inferno Burst].

He didn’t allow the wolf to even cry out in pain. He didn’t stop and admire the way the flames obliterated all the snow around him and opened a little pocket without a blizzard for a few moments.

Kade pursued the wolf’s heavily damaged body and thrust the tip of his [Soulrend] into whatever was the closest part of its body to him. It was the underbelly.

He activated [Inferno Burst] again.

You have destroyed an Icehowler (Arcana Level 19)!

Footwork (Level 6)—>(Level 7)

Spear Thrust (Level 5)—>(Level 6)

Kill 100 Monsters (0/100)—>(1/100)

Kade felt the rush of dopamine at having outsmarted the icehowler without taking any damage. He barely had the time to smile at his success when the interface spat out the introduction to the Rift Zone.

You have entered the Class E Rift Zone #2,827,182.

Objectives:

Kill 1 Corrupted Lifeform (0/1)

Kill 100 Monsters (1/100)

Optional: Recover ID Tags (0/1)

He frowned at the optional objective, unsure why there was such a tag in the Rift Zone in the first place.

Kade dismissed the interface and felt the chill return. The flames from [Inferno Burst] were still active around him, but the blizzard would quickly overpower it in a few seconds.

He took a deep breath before he carefully walked down. His [Soulrend] acted as a makeshift measuring stick to ensure he didn’t tumble down the mountain and become a rolling snowball.

That might only be in cartoons.

He didn’t think it was such an ordeal at the start, but when it took him nearly two hours to get to the base, he realized how dangerous it could have been. The blizzard had reduced in severity halfway down, but there was still a light snowfall at the bottom.

Kade thanked the icehowler for contributing to his safety. The avalanche it caused made his trek down the slope significantly less treacherous.

He glanced at the shocking level of whiteness around him. There should’ve been some sort of destruction from the avalanche. A tree, rocks, something to show its level of destruction.

There was nothing of the sort. It was like all the avalanche had caught in its path was more snow.

Kade started to think that the Rift Zone was just a large frozen world. He looked around warily, wondering where the surprise would come from.

If he met goblins in a fairly deserted forest in a lower-ranked Rift Zone, surely that would happen here, too.

Oh... that wolf could be seen as the equivalent.

Kade looked up at the mountain he just descended. It was impossible to see past the halfway mark.

Usually, a cloud was the cause. Not this time. This was just a raging blizzard that formed a nearly opaque wall of falling snow.

He narrowed his eyes when he saw faint white dots at the very edge. He would have thought it was just his eyes seeing things that weren’t there—the icehowlers quickly changed that as they appeared one by one.

But this time, Kade knew there was something wrong with him. It was undeniable after he nearly killed himself when he unnecessarily fought the lesser troll for basically no reward other than the fight itself.

He felt an urge to climb the mountain and try to take down more of these icehowlers.

Kade immediately turned and walked away from the base of the mountain. He didn’t run. Or speedwalk. He wanted to give the icehowlers a chance to catch up if they really wanted to chase him, but at least he could tell himself that he didn’t start the fight.

A fight that he knew he had no business wanting since it would likely cause his death. There were far too many icehowlers.

Kade would have trouble dealing with just one at the moment. His [MP] was depleted.

He glanced back after several minutes and was disappointed to find that the icehowlers did nothing but watch, with some even returning to the embrace of the blizzard.

Kade sighed and put them out of his mind. For now.

There had to be something else interesting in the Rift Zone. Even if there was snow as far as the eyes could see. He couldn’t think the worst about the Rift Zone because of its largest, most prominent trait.

The start was perfect, and he had his hopes up. It had better be worth freezing my ass off.