Rylan sank his feet into the snow-covered, icy ground. He climbed the shattered remains of what used to be an Ice Elemental and took a deep breath. Standing on top of the pieces of ice, he looked around.

He was in the middle of a land of ice and snow that stretched as far as the eye could see. The wind howled, cold and piercing, and the land didn't smell like anything at all. He was in the middle of a frozen lake that was partly covered in thick snow. At the edge of his vision, great mountain peaks stretched out toward the cloudy heavens, completely white.

In stark contrast to Golem Haven, which was a labyrinth-like Mage Tower, Frozen Sanctum was a seemingly boundless freezing biome, marked by its mountains.

Of course, it isn't really boundless. It's just large.

Rylan grinned at the thought and pulled at his coat with his free hand, then sheathed Silver Twilight. He turned around and leaped off the Ice Elemental's remains to land on the frozen lake once more. Tightening his hand into a fist a few times, he gauged his strength.

Not bad.

Then, he slowly ran his hand over the large gash on his upper body, from shoulder to waist. The running blood was being frozen in real time by the environment's low temperature. There were three wounds on his left leg and two on his right leg. Walking was more difficult than before, but it was still manageable, just like the pain. Rylan frowned and waved his hand, creating a small flame. He brought it closer to the cut on his torso, thawing out the frozen blood, at the same time that he circulated his mana to mend the wound.

It was a slow process, but it was all he could do. He kept it up until the wound had closed, then moved on to the other ones. After some time, he was mostly fixed. He breathed in and looked straight ahead into the small path that led even deeper into the Dungeon. At the very edge of his vision, many kilometers ahead of him, he could see a large stone palace. His destination.

I've been here for too long.

It had been a month since he'd cleared Golem Haven. While the first week was spent on trying to get to Frozen Sanctum from the Haven, the rest was spent in endless battles. He'd long ago lost count of how many times he'd been injured or how many close shaves with death he'd had. The enemies here weren't exactly higher-Leveled than the Golems in Golem Haven, but they were certainly more dangerous. The combination of their ice magic and the already hostile environment was deadly. Rylan threw a glance over his shoulder at the sliced pieces of Ice Elemental he'd just slain.

As a whole, it had been several meters tall and looked like a rudimentary Golem, in a way. The Elementals had no legs and instead floated above the ground, being composed of pieces of ice in geometrical shapes. Overall, they were a strange kind of living creature.

But they're alive.

They were unlike the Golems, which had been created by the Mage who previously ruled the Mage Tower before it became a Dungeon. Shaking his head, Rylan focused on the road ahead and dashed forward with Snowstorm. At the same time, he pushed all his senses to their limits, readying himself for any ambush. Since Frozen Sanctum was an open area instead of a labyrinth, it was more difficult to anticipate the combat encounters, as well as the number of enemies. He'd learned the hard way that the enemies here could camouflage themselves among the snow and ice. His honed mind easily managed to ignore the howling wind.

Even though he was running on solid ice, Rylan didn't slip or lose his balance even once. It happened as he took a step out of the lake's surface. The ice to his right suddenly shattered as a fully-white creature leaped out from under it. He grasped its movements almost instantly and put his right hand on Silver Twilight's hilt. Simultaneously, he snapped his fingers.

Taken from Royal Road, this narrative should be reported if found on Amazon.

Earth Spikes.

Rylan jumped backward to avoid the beast's claw swipe. A moment later, the ice around him turned into solid stone and surged toward the creature in the shape of sharp spikes. He eyed his enemy.

One of those, huh.

The creature looked like a tiger, but one made almost entirely of white ice. Its figure shimmered and flowed, as if the ice itself were liquid, paradoxically. White spheres of light glowed in its eye sockets. It was one type of Ice Elemental – the ones with the best camouflage ability, being capable of merging with ice almost entirely. He'd run into three of them already in this lake.

The Elemental moved as the Spikes pierced at it. Its body rippled before it veritably flowed around the Spikes, avoiding them completely. Only the head remained in the same shape, and its maw was open, sharp, icy teeth glistening under the sunlight. With calm eyes, Rylan readied his sword.

Fireball. Wind Blades.

Silver Twilight hummed as the Earth Spikes collapsed. The mana around it ignited, but instead of shooting forward in the shape of a large sphere, the flames wrapped themselves around the blade. Assisted by the Wind Blades, they quickly turned into a miniature hurricane of fire that didn't harm Rylan in the least. Wrapped in fire, the sword shone dangerously. Without missing a beat, Rylan dashed toward the Ice Elemental's open maw. The creature slowed down, but it was too late.

Sharpgale Sword Style, Third Movement: Fierce Wind.

His mana rotated alongside the flames, only increasing their ferocity and size. With his increased speed, Rylan closed the distance between himself and his enemy in an instant. He swung the blade. It sliced through the Elemental's left cheek, melted through its teeth and icy tongue, and came out on the other side. The wave of fire devoured the Elemental's flowing body like it had met dry wood. Rylan swung his sword again, this time vertically. What remained of the Elemental's body was cleanly split in half and disappeared before it reached the ground, having melted into water.

The System notification declaring the Elemental's death rang out in his mind, making him nod. Rylan looked back at the stone palace in the distance.

I'll likely meet many more enemies along the way.

Still, that was what he was here for, after all. Every battle represented an opportunity to become greater than before. Rylan started running again, this time stepping solidly onto flat ground. The path ahead was narrow and cut between two mountains, but he only needed to keep going.

And so, Rylan ran.

It took less than two minutes to encounter another enemy, one of the Snow Beasts. He cut it down. The next enemy was another Ice Elemental, one that didn't have the abilities of the previous one. He melted it with fire after piercing its body with Earth Spikes.

The closer he got to the palace, the stronger the enemies became, and their number increased. Different kinds of Ice Elementals joined together, and large packs of Snow Beasts appeared. As he marched on, fighting whatever he encountered, Rylan felt like he had entered a type of trance. It wasn't unfamiliar – Roland had experienced the same many, many times. He just hadn't expected to feel it here and now. It wasn't exactly the precursor to awakening Aura, but it was a sign of how close he was. He could feel his movements getting sharper, his mind clearer, his muscles stronger. Every Sword Art was executed with utmost precision, every step carefully calculated. He was greater than ever before.

Rylan continued to fight, basking in the sensation. Finally, after an unknown amount of time, he arrived in front of the stone palace as the feeling faded. His mind longingly reached for it, but it evaded his grasp. As suddenly as it had appeared, the feeling was gone. He closed his eyes for a second, then opened them again and looked at the stone structure, appearing much calmer than moments before.

From up close, he could truly see how large the stone temple was. Twenty meters tall and dozens of meters wide, it stood proudly in the space between the two mountains, covered in snow. The windows were made of clear ice. Rylan could feel it. The whole place veritably pulsated with icy mana.

Now, let's see what kind of Boss you are.

Decisively, he strode through the temple's main entrance, entering a large hallway. The ceiling was adorned with pieces and spikes made of ice, as well as glowing mana that looked like fireflies, giving the whole corridor an ethereal atmosphere.

It's beautiful.

Moving his gaze to the end of the corridor, Rylan saw a large archway. In the room beyond, curled up and floating in the air, was an Ice Elemental that looked different from all the others. It had the shape of a tall, crystalline man. The moment Rylan took another step, the Elemental moved. It slowly stretched its body, still floating in the air, and looked at him. Its eyes looked like the most beautiful gemstones in the world.

In response, Rylan only smiled.

Let's do this.

He needed to defeat this enemy and leave.

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