The boss slowly looked our way before speaking.
He was a Draugr.
An Undead, and one classified among the higher ranks at that.
In a way, Draugrs were one of the higher forms of Skeletons or Zombies.
“Hmm.”
Considering that a Demon would originally have appeared here, this was certainly an easier opponent.
But a Draugr was no pushover either.
For someone like me who had only just begun to perceive mana, it was still a formidable enemy.
“Are you going to do it?”
“Of course.”
Even so, I had no intention of giving up.
Coming all this way only to rely on Tarian’s strength to clear the Dungeon would practically be the same as giving up an opportunity to grow.
“That sword is......”
“Ah, this?”
I tightened my grip on the hilt and stepped forward.
The Draugr’s gaze shifted toward me.
“I picked it up on the way here.”
“You defeated...... the warrior...... guarding the outside.”
The Draugr looked at me with slightly sunken eyes.
I met its gaze head-on and shrugged.
“I...... will be different.”
“We’ll only know once we try.”
“You would challenge...... me...... a great warrior...... of the North?”
“I would.”
The moment I said that, the Draugr’s figure vanished.
‘......Above!’
The Draugr leapt into the air in an instant and swung its greatsword down with all its might.
CRASH—!
The ice on the floor shattered and split apart with a sharp crack.
I barely avoided the blow with Frost Step.
Seeing that, the Draugr’s mouth stretched into a wide grin.
“You dodged...... that.”
“Hah. Maybe it’s because you’ve been dead so long, old man. You’re slow as hell!”
The moment I said that, I immediately closed the distance.
Large movements always left openings.
‘I can see it clearly.’
Besides, this enemy was weaker than Tarian.
In that case, this was definitely manageable.
The instant I made that judgment, I slipped in toward the Draugr and swung my sword.
CLANG—!
It felt as though I had struck something incredibly hard.
The enemy was definitely strong.
He had not even defended, yet my own hand hurt more from the impact.
‘This won’t be easy.’
I thought that and tried to widen the distance again.
“You are...... like a gnat!”
The Draugr swung its sword in a massive arc.
“Ugh......!”
THOOM—!
I used the principle of Northern Swordsmanship and blocked the sweeping blade with all the weight I could muster.
The moment I did, my surroundings changed.
One blow.
That alone sent me flying.
“You’re insane.”
“I will...... take that...... as praise!”
The Draugr followed me into the air and raised its greatsword for another heavy swing.
In the past, I would not even have been able to react to an attack like this.
But now, I could see it.
‘Mana.’
I could see how the opponent was drawing the path of its attack.
And how much power was contained in it.
‘If I can see it, that changes everything.’
The moment my feet touched the ground, I moved in the opposite direction instead.
Toward the sword that was about to cut me down using all that momentum.
WHOOSH—
I ducked just low enough for the blade to pass over me.
Then I used my own sword to target the Draugr’s leg.
Crude and weighty, but solid.
I poured all the Northern Swordsmanship I had trained until now into the strike.
“That...... tickles!”
CLACK.
My sword still failed to bite in properly.
But it was not as though I had dealt no damage at all.
‘A scratch.’
There was clearly a mark where my blade had passed.
The moment I saw it, I realized something.
‘His senses are dull.’
Unlike the Demons that moved too quickly for me to leave even this kind of mark, the Draugr was different.
He probably could not feel pain properly.
Seeing him move with even greater force because of that, I smiled.
“Found it.”
An opening.
I narrowly slipped past the approaching greatsword and aimed for its shoulder this time.
CLANG—!
A sharp sound rang out and my sword bounced away.
But just like before, it left a mark.
“You are...... annoying me!”
Maybe it was because I kept evading so well.
The Draugr began whipping its greatsword around from one direction to another.
I calmly watched.
‘If one of those hits me cleanly, I die.’
That was no joke.
I could clearly see that it was genuinely swinging to kill me.
Magical power rippled through the blade, scattering shards of ice in every direction.
And yet, even while looking at such powerful attacks, I found myself smiling.
“This is fun.”
“Show me...... the bearing...... of a warrior!”
Apparently displeased with the way I kept dodging, it swung its sword broadly once again.
“Who’d get hit by such a huge swing?”
I laughed and slipped past the blade again.
Frost Step let me glide across flat ground, but on ice like this, it was even more effective.
I moved faster than I did on ordinary ground.
Over a short distance, it almost felt like blinking from one spot to another.
CLACK—
More and more marks accumulated across the Draugr’s body.
I still had not landed a truly deep hit.
But what mattered was that the marks were increasing.
“I will...... hold back...... no longer.”
The Draugr’s expression changed, as though the accumulating wounds had finally enraged it.
His face twisted like an evil spirit’s.
And the flow of his mana changed as well.
THUMP—
He charged at me again.
The pattern itself had not changed much.
But something definitely had.
‘Fast.’
It was faster.
And stronger.
CRASH—!
The ice floor shattered in an instant, huge cracks spreading between the broken sections.
“Young Master!”
Tarian moved to jump in, but I shook my head.
“Don’t interfere.”
This was my fight.
I immediately used Frost Step to search for an opening.
‘There isn’t one.’
I could not see a single gap.
So what?
“Hup!”
SCRRAPE—!
I tightened my grip on the sword and blocked the incoming attack.
The assault was difficult even to stop properly.
But I clenched the hilt harder, drawing out as much of Northern Swordsmanship’s weight as I possibly could.
SWISH—
Sometimes, I dodged.
CLANG—
Sometimes, I blocked.
CLACK—
And even then, I slipped in whenever I found the slightest opening.
Everything I had learned from Tarian.
Everything I had realized while sparring with the soldiers.
And everything I had discovered while training alone.
I used all of it to endure the Draugr’s onslaught.
“Huff, huff......”
My heart felt as though it might burst.
Maybe because I had been watching mana continuously, even my eyes felt as though they were bleeding.
And yet my mind remained perfectly calm.
‘Is this Cold Heart’s effect?’
As expected.
My guess had been right.
This was a moment when it would not have been strange for me to collapse at any second.
And yet, even in this situation, my mind merely observed everything in perfect stillness.
‘Block with Northern Swordsmanship, then strike at the opening with Frost Step.’
Cold Heart lay beneath it all.
My basic northern warrior build was complete.
As I inwardly admired the greater-than-expected synergy, the Draugr muttered quietly.
“You endure...... well.”
The Draugr......
The ancient great warrior of the North was still perfectly fine.
But I was able to assess the situation calmly.
“Enduring? Me?”
Was I really?
I failed to completely avoid the Draugr’s next charge, and a shallow cut opened across my shoulder.
Even as the sharp pain stung, I did not grimace.
Instead—
CRACK—
“There.”
“Hmm?”
Before its questioning sound had even faded—
CRACKLE—
Cracks began spreading across the Draugr’s body.
“......!”
Even the Draugr, which had been charging as though it would split Ian apart at any moment, looked shaken.
Tarian, who had been watching the battle, could not help but marvel as well.
‘To think he would bring it down this way.’
It was another approach entirely from the one Ian had used while sparring with him.
He blocked and evaded the enemy’s offensive, deliberately drawing both sides into a battle of attrition.
At its foundation were the exquisitely used Frost Step, the composure maintained through Cold Heart, and Northern Swordsmanship that had become even sturdier than during their spars.
“A monster.”
Tarian was certain now.
Ian was not merely a genius.
He was a monster.
He was smiling broadly, staring at the Draugr as though he intended to swallow it whole.
‘Is he watching to see what he can learn from it?’
The moment that thought occurred to him, goosebumps rose all over Tarian’s body.
He had been ready to charge in the instant things became dangerous.
Yet Ian had turned even this moment into an opportunity for training.
And on top of that, he had successfully accomplished his objective.
Tarian could not help wondering whether he himself had been capable of anything like this at Ian’s age.
‘He is insane.’
No matter how Tarian thought about it, Ian truly was a madman.
“Warrior...... you were aiming...... for this.”
“You’re calm. I thought you’d get angry.”
Meanwhile, the Draugr inspected the cracks across its body and looked at Ian.
He had remained in this place for a long time under the mission of guarding it and had eventually become a Draugr.
But he, too, had once been a warrior of the North.
He understood very well that becoming angry over one’s own mistake was foolish.
“Your goal...... is Frost Fang...... is it not?”
“As expected. You figured it out right away.”
“I can see...... where you look......”
Ian stared straight at the Draugr.
After fighting the Dungeon boss, his real combat instincts had been honed almost to their limit.
There were other rewards here too.
Pacts.
The countless weapons scattered behind it.
But the most important one was still Frost Fang, embedded at the center.
It looked like a sharply honed icicle.
‘Magical power so cold I can almost feel it just by looking.’
For Ian, who had only just awakened to mana, it was a weapon with exactly the property he needed.
Hearing his words, the ancient great warrior of the North tightened its grip on its greatsword.
“This sword...... is a sacred armament...... imbued with the soul...... of the North. If you want it...... prove yourself.”
“I was planning to......”
Do exactly that.
The moment Ian said it, he gripped his sword and shot forward like an arrow.
Considering that the Draugr had launched nearly every first attack until now, it was practically the first time Ian had taken the initiative.
‘But.’
Unlike in the past, Ian was confident in taking the first move now.
Especially in a place where ice covered every direction.
CLANG—!
Ian accelerated in an instant with Frost Step and unleashed a lightning-fast thrust.
The great warrior barely managed to block it with its massive greatsword.
Shards of ice fell from his body.
“This alone...... will not......!”
“Bring you down. I know.”
As though he already knew, Ian accelerated even further.
He had invested time into Frost Step every single day without exception.
Because of that, he knew better than anyone how to move faster.
How to use it in battle.
‘And how to deceive an opponent.’
Ian had been charging straight ahead.
Then he suddenly slid diagonally and swung his sword.
SLASH—
For the first time, he felt the sensation of properly cutting into something.
Ian lifted his gaze slightly.
What he saw was—
“Hah...... young warrior.”
The great warrior looking down at him while holding its enormous greatsword.
If that thing hit him cleanly, there would not even be bones left to recover.
Ian immediately tried to retreat.
CRACKLE—
But with a sound far louder than before, the cracks running across the great warrior’s body widened.
“You...... have won.”