To be honest, when I first saw Mr. Bear's crossbow, one thought came to my mind:

Can this really be used as a weapon?

Surprisingly, the answer was yes, it was possible.

*Woouuuh!*

As if ignoring my doubts, Mr. Bear skillfully loaded the crossbow, aimed exactly at the head and fired.

"Click, as expected. He blocked it.

The Yeti blocked the arrow with both hands and avoided instant death. It was literally by a thread.

Both hands were pierced by one arrow. The Yeti screamed and applied force, but the arrow did not come out. Although the arrow did not seem special.

Could it be [Hook Arrow]?

I had my suspicions about this skill, but I couldn't be sure. In any case, it was not worth thinking about now.

"Keeeeeek!"

A giant Yeti stomped towards us. Since both of his hands were sealed, he didn't look particularly threatening. But what was it?

"You guys finish the rest.

Mr. Bear hung the crossbow on his back again, as if he had completed his task. Another arrow could have finished him off, but seeing this, I could conclude that he didn't want to do free work.

He said how he cut it off. Maybe it's because he's a researcher?

So that there would be no objection to the future distribution of the booty, I raised my shield and ran out.

"What is he...?!"

I heard Carlson go mad. No matter how barbaric I was, it seemed impossible to stop such a monster head-on. But that was when you were a naked barbarian. Building a wall of shields, I blocked the Yeti's shot.

*Bam!*

A strong blow fell on me, but that's all. After eating the essence of the Orc Hero, there was no longer any reason for me to retreat in terms of strength.

In addition, the Yeti was only a meter taller than me.

[You took cold damage from [Chill]].

It cooled my bones, but not to the point of pain.

"Michel!"

"Oh, yes!

When I screamed, Mike, who was staring into the void, stepped on my shoulder and jumped. With the swords she now wielded, she pierced both of the Yeti's eyes at the same time.

*Blow!*

Since these were not the daggers she had used before, the sharp blade was enough to pierce the Yeti's brain.

*Boom!*

Not long after, the Yeti collapsed to the ground with a heavy sound and disappeared like particles of light.

[You killed the Yeti. Experience +3].

Unfortunately, there was no essence. If it had fallen out, I would have immediately fed it to Misha.

The beginning is not encouraging.

Now I had only five essences in my plans, not counting the Guardian essence, which I wanted to feed Misha.

"Hm? Why do you look at me like that? Did I do something wrong?

... At least one should fall out, right?

***

"You two. You have good teamwork.

With a short comment from Mr. Bear, we resumed driving.

We entered the ice cave and, moving in formation, killed countless Frost Wolves, rank 9 monsters. They were the only guys who appeared in this area.

[You killed the Frost Wolf. Experience +1].

In general, Misha and I had to work here. Mr. Bear has also killed a few wolves with his crossbow, but not enough to compare with us.

He has strong single strikes, but no wide-area attacks.

While I was wandering around the cave, little by little analyzing Mr. Bear, Chapter 1 came to an end. The road here took exactly 6 hours, because we often got lost.

... And not here.

If I were to get serious about the matter here, this chapter would be completed in less than an hour. The topography was the same as in the dungeon in the Blood Citadel.

Left, left, right, right, left, seven straights in a row, left...

The pillars appeared at regular intervals. If you wanted to find your way through this place, it was easy to do. But I deliberately did not try to voice them.

Anyone who knows how to open the Chasm would remember such a simple scheme.

It all boiled down to one of two things:

The Mafia wasn't a gambler, or pretended not to know.

Well, if I keep watching, I'll find a breach.

Chapter 2 continued in the same vein.

"Some ominous cave...

We descended the icy stairs at the end of the cave and headed further underground. During this process, I carefully observed the actions of the team members. There was a hidden object here. Nothing special, but by breaking the third pillar in this room, one could find an elixir, an item that only increased Cold Resistance once.

Are they (the mafia) not going to take this either?

Even though we had already passed this place and reached the end of the stairs, no one was acting strangely.

Well, even if they did, they wouldn't do something so obvious. They can just come back at the end and take it for themselves.

I decided that I should not thoughtlessly underestimate my opponent.

The stronger the opponent, the better he is. At least that's what I thought.

"It looks like we've descended quite deep, but it's surprisingly bright here," Karlsson muttered behind me.

I had a similar feeling. The ice walls emitted white light, as if the entire cave was made of clear glass.

"It's even beautiful.

"Yes, that's right!" I thought so too.

"What is this?" Jencia, who was talking to Mike about a topic that was difficult to relate to, pointed to a huge depression located opposite us at the bottom of the stairs. At first glance, it was obvious that in the center there was something resembling a totem.

"Oh! I touched him, and he lit up.

"That could be dangerous, so stand aside.

"Oh, good! Jencia was nervous, thinking she had done something wrong.

Mr. Bear grinned.

"Why are you surprised?" Either way, it's like a key.

"The key?"

"Well, I'm sure a few monsters will appear, and then the road will open."

Once again, Mr. Bear showed a gamer mindset. Indeed, his words were not wrong, although there were a few things that needed to be clarified.

[The long-sealed Tyrant awakens].

In this chapter, not a few monsters appeared, but the final boss. Of course, before that, the Chasm poured out a bunch of garbage monsters.

*Rumble!*

The entire space vibrated and began to pour ice powder. Soon there was a howl piercing the eardrums.

"Gwaaa

This roar was second only to Lord Floor's roar in its terrifying power.

[The ancient monsters that sensed the Tyrant's existence awoke from their long slumber].

*Crackle!*

Soon, the ice walls surrounding us peeled off layer by layer and began to spit out demon beasts.

"Grrr...

The newly thawed monsters slowly lifted their bodies as if they didn't have the strength yet.

"What are we going to do?"

"Ha, I didn't expect it to be like this," Mr. Bear muttered.

I gave the order.

"Let's go to the stairs. There are no walls.

"Yes, that's a good idea," Mr. Bear agreed.

The battle began. In the 1st wave, more than two dozen Frost Wolves appeared.

"Kyaaa!"

From the 2nd wave, rank 8 monsters gradually appeared: Sabertooth Tigers and Stone Worms, which we fought in the Beast Lair, and Ice Golems, which appeared only here.

"It looks like my body can't move normally...

"Oh, it's not just me?"

As this monster sprayed the aura of [Slowdowns] more and more as time went on, I smashed each of them with a mace.

[You killed the Ice Golem. Experience +2]

Since it was a Chasm, which Misha and I were ready to go through on our own, there was nothing dangerous. Although I was sure that the Jensons had to risk their lives. However, we were able to clear them before the next wave.

Once you start to fall behind, that's the end, but on the other hand, it's a pretty mundane chapter.

We got to the 9th wave in about 30 minutes. Here the Yeti appeared again. Of course, he was completely different from the one we met for the first time. If he was just a gatekeeper, then this one was more like an intermediate boss.

"Kuuuuu!"

The Yeti appeared along with the lower-ranking monsters. This alone increased the difficulty several times, but this time it was also a high-class mutant. Simply put, it was personalized.

In addition to the fact that the named monster had a higher intelligence, its own name, and a unique story, it could also use the abilities of another creature.

[The Lord of the Snow Field, Katoomba, cast [Suppression]]

"Ha!" Wh-what! Why is my body...?

This Yeti's additional skill was the Stone Golem [Suppression]. It was the same skill that the marauding bastards once used on me and Einhar. The method of counteraction was simple.

"Ha!" Again...! Everyone, be careful! This monster is using something...!

Either to be beaten up by some garbage monsters every time your body freezes, like Carlson, or to keep biting your tongue, as I told Misha beforehand, so as not to stop the bleeding.

"Ugh.

[Your Magic Resistance is above a certain level, the effect of [Suppression] is neutralized].

Otherwise, prepare the Magic Resistance stat in advance. Because [Suppression] had the deceptive ability to inflict a temporary inability to act, it was considered to be easily destructible. Perhaps that was why this monster was only rank 8.

'Behellaaa

After raising the level of aggression with the [Wild Splash], I ran forward. Whether the Jensons were almost half dead or not, if I didn't get rid of him before the next wave, I'd be in trouble too.

[You took cold damage from [Chill]].

When I was standing in the center, the Yeti — what was his name, Katoomboo? In any case, starting with this bastard, all kinds of garbage monsters began to cling to me. I only focused on Katumba because the 8th or 9th rank monsters clinging to me seemed like a tickle to me.

"Ne behi ffront in single!" Mike, whose pronunciation became even worse from chewing his tongue, walked right behind me and cleared the surrounding monsters. The way she moved with the two blades looked like she was dancing.

[The Lord of the Snow Field, Katumba, used [Cold Blast]].

Is it because I turned away for a moment?

I couldn't avoid or block the snowstorm that this bastard was spewing out. My skin hurt because I didn't have Cold Resistance.

But everything else is fine.

Since this body regenerated instantly, it didn't have time to get frostbite. I fought the Yeti even more aggressively.

"If you don't want to die, get out of there quickly," Mr. Bear muttered so that I could hear.

[Abman Urikfrid applied [Enhancement]. The effect of the next active skill used increases in proportion to Soul Power].

[Abman Urikfrid used [Hazardous Materials]].

For some reason, my instincts told me to heed this man's warning.

*Jerk*

As soon as I pushed off the ground and increased the distance, he shot an arrow.

*Woooooo Kwaang!*

As soon as the arrow hit the Yeti's head, it exploded, spewing flames within a radius of 3 meters. Compared to the wide area magic that Raven used, it couldn't be said to have a large damage radius, but all the monsters within it were dead.

"What kind of arrow is this?!"

So I changed the information about Mr. Bear that I had been gathering little by little. I thought he only had single attacks, but he had one attack with a wide area of effect.

[High-Class Mutant Kill Bonus. +1 XP].

Actually, I wasn't sure if it was a skill, but anyway. Thanks to the fact that he showed all his strength, the 9th wave ended easily.

"Essence!"

The distribution period came a little earlier. The mana stone could be collected later, but not the essence.

— Two at once. This is a good omen.

Mr. Bear didn't show much interest in the essence and simply said that we could take one at a time.

I was in a similar mood, at least halfway.

"You two take care of that red one over there.

I wasn't interested in the essence of the Frost Wolf or the Sabertooth Tiger.

"We'll take this one."

The blue essence floated in the place where the Yeti had last stood alive.

Carlson stammered:

"Could it be the essence of the Yeti?"

"Do you have anything against it?"

— Of course not. I don't.

As if to shake off his greed, Carlson shook hands excessively and stepped back. He looked a little disappointed.

If you think it's unfair, you have to get stronger, right?

Strength is invincibility and god in this world.

"Then no problem.

Soon I called Misha, but it seemed that she misunderstood something.

"Congratulations, Bjorn. You will become even stronger!

"What are you talking about?" It's yours.

"Hm? Y-You're giving it to me...?

Mike's words of sincere congratulations stopped when she tensed. Then she asked cautiously:

"It's not that I don't want to, no, I really want to, but... I'm just asking just in case, so don't get my words wrong, okay?

— Speak.

— ... How much do I have to pay for this?

Does this girl really think I'm some kind of miserly boss?