Aqina was stunned.
A Lawachurl was, by all accounts, a hidden boss in the allogene.
It belonged to the elite monster category.
Yet, this kid somehow managed to draw its aggro from who knows where.
The crucial point was that the Frostarm Lawachurl, which should have been a standalone boss, actually brought two minions along!
Aqina grabbed Tatiana and leaned in close to her ear to whisper a plan.
“Tatiana, it’s a Frostarm Lawachurl.
This monster is an elite, and it even brought two minions—it’s basically a full boss encounter.
How about we slip away?
This is not a matter we should get involved in.” At the ice crevice, the cold was even more intense than outside.
Three Hilichurls circled the trapped boy, their icy blue eyes gleaming with a cold light that flickered in the shadows.
Pinned beneath an ice pillar, the boy was quite young; his face was devoid of color, and his lips had turned purple from the cold.
He saw Aqina and Tatiana.
His eyes erupted with the light of hope, only to be quickly replaced by fear.
“Ca-careful, that big Lawachurl can throw Ice Slimes…” Before he could finish, Aqina knew things were going south.
The Frostarm Lawachurl had already spotted them; it was too late to run.
Three Ice Slimes were already hurled toward her.
“Dodge!” Aqina shoved Tatiana out of the way.
With a roll, she drew the Frostarm Lawachurl’s aggro.
Flames erupted from Tatiana’s hands, and she threw a fireball to take out the Slime that was still tracking and attacking Aqina.
“Aqina, hold on, I’ll deal with them.” Tatiana’s eyes ignited with the will to fight, flames wrapping around her body.
She stomped her foot hard and engaged the Frostarm Lawachurl.
Ice and fire elements reacted, exploding into a cloud of steaming mist.
The Lawachurl stomped fiercely, creating a shockwave, and shards of ice fell from time to time.
Aqina did not hesitate.
Taking advantage of the moment Tatiana was locked in battle with the Frostarm Lawachurl, she crouched and charged from the side, using the tetanus blade to quickly dispatch the two smaller Hilichurls.
She was worried the Frostarm Lawachurl would let its minions help.
Being swarmed was quite different from a one-on-one fight.
“Tatiana, I’m coming to help you.” Aqina shouted and rushed toward Tatiana, wanting to draw the Lawachurl’s aggro.
As expected, the Frostarm Lawachurl fell for it and charged straight at Aqina.
Its heavy body was exceptionally agile; with a heavy smash, it blocked Aqina’s path, and a large patch of ice spikes instantly erupted from the ground.
Aqina rolled forward, dodging the fatal blow.
Tatiana attacked with fireballs from the other side, successfully drawing the aggro back.
The Frostarm Lawachurl immediately charged, slamming the ground to form ice spikes.
Aqina was a bit bewildered.
She didn’t know how to fight the Lawachurl.
She had no Vision, no elemental energy, and the Lawachurl was so tanky—plus, the tetanus blade in her hand was already dull and couldn’t even break through its defense.
The Lawachurl was fast, had many attack patterns, and used various ice elemental attacks.
Tatiana was still in a fierce battle with the Frostarm Lawachurl.
The main issue was that elite monsters had thick defense and high health, and this wasn’t a game where you could switch characters to whittle down its health.
No matter how skilled Tatiana was, she was still a recruit who had never encountered an elite monster; it was truly too difficult for her.
Fire was the bane of ice, but with too much ice, the fire element would also be suppressed, not to mention the Frostarm Lawachurl’s movement was truly annoying.
Tatiana failed to dodge in time, and her arm was grazed by an ice spike, leaving a bloody gash.
“So annoying!” She roared, her flames surging, and her Vision emitted a blinding light.
“Melt for me!” She clasped her hands together, compressing the flames in her palms, and thrust them forward.
A scorching pillar of fire shot toward the Lawachurl, completely engulfing it.
A shrill howl rang out.
The frost armor melted under the high heat, revealing the charred black fur and skin beneath, and it stumbled backward.
The ice armor on its body was now fragmented.
Tatiana paid the price too; the low-health Frostarm Lawachurl went completely berserk, ignoring everything else to take advantage of the cooldown after Tatiana’s skill, slamming an ice fist hard into her waist and abdomen.
She was sent flying with a single punch.
Tatiana groaned.
She slammed hard against the ice wall and coughed up a mouthful of blood.
“Tatiana!” Aqina was anxious seeing her injured and wanted to rush up and fight to the death.
“I’m fine.” Tatiana propped herself up, wiping the blood from the corner of her mouth.
Her eyes were even fiercer now, clearly enraged.
“Aqina, don’t come over, I can handle this!” Aqina gritted her teeth, glanced at the kid who was pinned down, and felt annoyed.
She started considering whether she should go up and help.
Most importantly, she was afraid of interfering with Tatiana’s fight and holding her back.
The boy noticed her fleeting glance and shouted, “I have a way!
Save me first!
Really, really, I’m not lying to you.
I’m injured now and can’t do anything to you anyway.
Save me, and I have a way.” Aqina watched the battle between Tatiana and the Lawachurl; it had reached a critical moment, and Tatiana was struggling to hold on.
Hearing the boy’s plea, Aqina steeled herself.
Forget it, treat a dead horse as if it were still alive.
If this kid had no way and still wanted to cause trouble…
She would slit his throat without hesitation.
Aqina pulled out her military knife beside the boy and started hacking at the ice pillar pinning him down.
“Hang in there.” Aqina growled, wishing her blade could strike sparks.
Tatiana was still waiting for her!
The boy nodded through gritted teeth, trying desperately to pull himself out.
Soon, a significant gap was hacked open, and the boy could escape.
“One, two, three!” Aqina braced her shoulder against the ice pillar and pushed with all her might.
A huge gap appeared.
“Get out quickly.” The boy used all his strength to crawl out through the gap.
His legs had been pinned for too long and were already somewhat numb, so he could only use his hands to push himself out bit by bit.
Aqina didn’t care about all that; she pushed the ice spike off her shoulder and grabbed the boy’s arm, pulling hard.
“Out!” The boy was finally out of danger and fell onto the snow.
On the other side, Tatiana, who was fighting the Lawachurl, was completely losing the upper hand.
Aqina was about to go help.
The boy shouted loudly, “You two, run toward me!” He had already crawled up and was waving to call them over.
Aqina rushed over and drew the Lawachurl’s aggro.
The Lawachurl unleashed a small combo, with ice spikes exploding under them from time to time.
“Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck.” Aqina shouted as she ran.
She rolled when she reached the boy’s side.
The boy held a thin wire in his hand; seizing the right moment, he gave it a hard tug, and with a boom, the Lawachurl fell into a trap.
Finally, there was a chance to catch their breath.
Only the sound of the three people’s heavy breathing remained at the ice crevice.
“Ha…
finally, it’s solved…” Tatiana leaned on her knife, gasping for air, her face pale from the wound on her abdomen.
Aqina was also lying on the ground.
The recovery power of the cockroach card was taking effect; she had also been injured while drawing the monster’s aggro earlier.
The boy sprawled on the snow, massaging his legs incessantly with both hands.
Aqina looked at Tatiana.
“Are you alright?” Tatiana shook her head and looked at the boy beside her.
The boy finally reacted.
His lips trembled as he blurted out, “I’m fine, thank you for coming quickly, otherwise my legs would really have been ruined.” Tatiana stood up and frowned, examining him.
“Kid, why are you here alone?
And pinned underneath, with a big Lawachurl right here?” The boy looked at the two of them, realizing belatedly that he had just escaped death.
He burst into tears with a wail.
“I, I almost died…
Thank you, thank you both.” The boy sobbed, recounting his experience intermittently.
His name was Iul, he was eighteen, had no Vision, and claimed to have a bit of cleverness.
When the trial began, he and a few other recruits formed a squad.
Initially, they cooperated well, relying on his trap designs to ambush quite a few people.
They obtained many nameplates.
“They suddenly didn’t want to take me with them anymore, saying I was a burden who only knew how to play petty tricks.” As Iul spoke, his eyes turned red.
“Yesterday, we encountered a squad of veterans.
Even though they had already been trapped by my traps, my teammates acted clever and provoked them.
The veterans broke free, and since we couldn’t beat them, they all abandoned me and ran.” “Luckily I ran fast enough, but my luck was bad—it was really unlucky.
As soon as I shook off the veterans, I ran into the Hilichurls.” Iul looked completely aggrieved.
“The Hilichurls kept chasing me, and I originally wanted to design a trap to catch them, but to my surprise, I had the bad luck of getting pinned by an ice pillar first.” Aqina and Tatiana exchanged glances.
“Scum,” Tatiana spat.
Aqina didn’t speak, looking at Iul thoughtfully.
“You really are unlucky, kid, just like Unlucky Bear.” Aqina suddenly smiled and reached out to pat his shoulder.
“But it’s not all that bad—at least you met us.” Tatiana nodded.
“Meeting unreliable teammates is indeed bad luck, but you’ve turned misfortune into a blessing now.” Before they could learn more about the boy.
The three of them heard a rustling sound coming from outside.
Aqina turned back and exchanged glances with the other two.
Bad luck, bad luck, bad luck.
Why are there more people!