TLWD 24

Chapter : 24. The New Master of the Snowy Mountains

Gelu Drake’s exposed neck bone, revealed by the slash Kai had made.

It was hard to pierce Gelu Drake’s hide barehanded, but with a Strength stat of 22, it was more than enough to tear through the half-loosened vertebra.

Crack-crunch—!!

The literal sound of bones being crushed echoed. Gelu Drake tried to resist.

But Gelu Drake was already utterly drained of strength.

Even having used his final trump card, Ice Breath, his resistance was nothing more than a feeble struggle.

I kept pressing forward, tearing at the neck bones.

Eventually, the spine connected to the neck came loose, and Gelu Drake toppled to the ground.

Thud!

His massive body crashed into the snowy ground, sending tremors through the frozen earth.

And almost immediately, translucent messages appeared before my eyes:

◆ You have defeated Gelu Drake!
◆ You gained 8,180 combat experience points!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!

This meant Gelu Drake was truly and completely dead.

“Haaa…!!”

Only then was I able to release the tension in my body.

As it all left me at once, my limbs went limp.

Even though my damaged body had been restored with Regeneration [B-], I still felt completely drained.

I collapsed flat onto Gelu Drake’s corpse and checked the messages that had popped up.

But then…

The experience points were no joke.

Up until now, the monsters I hunted never gave me more than 200 EXP.

Ice Trolls: 120 EXP.
Dermexus: 200 EXP.
Alacron and Rex: 100 and 80 EXP, respectively.

But Gelu Drake? A whopping 8,180.

And that was for just one monster.

That alone made it obvious that Gelu Drake was not a creature someone at my level should have been able to hunt.

No wonder he was called the master of the Snowy Mountains.

This time, I had truly been on the verge of death.

As I lay gasping with a mix of relief and joy, another translucent message appeared:

◆ Emergency Quest [You think you’re that strong?! Follow me to the Snowy Mountains!] completed!
◆ You gained 16,500 quest experience points!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!

Clearing the emergency quest that triggered upon encountering Gelu Drake resulted in a massive level up.

Too much to check one by one, so I opened my Player Info window:

==「Player Info」==
[Name] = Adrian Whitewolf
[Level] = Level 21
[HP] = 26
[MP] = 0
[Stats] = Strength: 22, Agility: 8, Endurance: 15, Mana: 1
[EXP] = 22.8%
<Bonus Stats +8>

Over the past two weeks, I’d barely scraped together 5 levels by hunting through sleepless nights and freezing cold.

So before the Gelu Drake hunt, I was Level 13.

And with just one kill, I gained 8 levels.

Now, I was Level 21.

But that wasn’t all—the emergency quest had more than just EXP as a reward.

◆ Oh. My. Goooooood!!!!!!!!!

A string of overly dramatic messages popped up:

◆ You didn’t run—you stood your ground and claimed victory!!!
◆ And against Gelu Drake, the so-called master of the Snowy Mountains!!!
◆ What to do! What to do!!!
◆ So shocking it’s terrifying! Flipping out over here!
◆ My jaw just dropped open!!!
◆ You’ve earned the title <Master of the Snowy Mountains>!!!

“A title?”

The title <Master of the Snowy Mountains> was apparently a reward from the emergency quest.

Almost like it read my thoughts, another translucent window appeared:

====
[Title] is an honorary designation awarded to [Players] who accomplish nearly impossible feats.

Depending on difficulty, [Titles] vary in how hard they are to obtain. Some even enhance player stats, attack power, or defense.

The easier the title is to get, the weaker its effects.

For example, a title like <Guess I Was Lucky Today>—given to a player who dies from lightning in the field—has no stat bonus and is purely cosmetic.

Players can earn and hold multiple titles, but only one can be active at a time for its effect to apply.

So that’s how it works.

Now, let’s look at my new title:

== <Master of the Snowy Mountains> ==
[Acquisition Condition] – Defeat Gelu Drake.
[Effect 1] – Instills fear in all monsters residing in the Snowy Mountains. Feared monsters suffer a -15% stat reduction.
[Effect 2] – Increases all player stats by +5.

The title effects… were insane.

Especially Effect 2—boosting total stats by 20 points.

That meant a single title had the equivalent impact of 20 levels.

“This is broken!”

The effect was so ridiculous, I couldn’t help but blurt it out.

No wonder the quest message was so dramatic.

As I was admiring the effects of the <Master of the Snowy Mountains> title…

◆ Affinity Quest [Don’t Get It Twisted—This Alliance Is One-Time Only] completed!

A message popped up unexpectedly.

Apparently, I had completed Kai’s affinity quest, which I had no intention of finishing.

◆ Kai’s affection toward you has greatly increased!
◆ Kai’s affection is now in the [Anger] state!

◆ Characters in [Anger] state harbor negative feelings toward you.
◆ They disapprove of everything you say or do.
◆ However, unless you act out, their emotions will gradually cool down to [Conflict].

◆ You gained 32,320 quest experience points!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!
◆ Your level has increased!

Line after line of notifications popped up—giving more EXP than even the Gelu Drake kill.

“What the hell is happening?”

Right at that moment—

“What… are you?”

Kai approached with a mysterious look on his face.

Kai’s thoughts were in utter chaos.

A complete jumble. Pure confusion.

And the cause? Adrian.

The Adrian who had just stood toe-to-toe with Gelu Drake.

This wasn’t the Adrian he knew.

Of course, he’d noticed some changes in Adrian lately, but he never imagined those changes were enough to face Gelu Drake.

Gelu Drake was a “No Hunt” level monster.

The only strategy was to avoid his domain entirely.

Even Kai had only a 30% chance of survival against that beast.

But Adrian… had restrained Gelu Drake alone.

Barehanded.

That shouldn’t be possible.

Sure, there are martial artists who use their bodies as weapons instead of swords.

Their combat power is no less than knights’.

These people train relentlessly to learn how to kill most efficiently.

Adrian’s style resembled theirs.

But martial artists use aura.

Because the human body alone isn’t naturally lethal enough.

Their aura enhances the body to withstand swords, sometimes even break them.

A true martial arts master is said to be as strong as an ogre.

But Adrian wasn’t one.

Because Adrian couldn’t use aura—he didn’t even have the talent for mana.

Kai had seen it with his own eyes.

Adrian used no aura or mana in that battle.

Which meant…

He fought Gelu Drake with pure physical strength.

But that wasn’t the most confusing part.

“How did he survive Ice Breath…?”

Adrian had endured Ice Breath alone.

Even Kai couldn’t have done that.

He could withstand avalanches—but not Ice Breath.

Even pushing his aura to the limit, Kai couldn’t survive it.

Yet Adrian, without a trace of aura, had endured it.

“What are you?”

This wasn’t the Adrian Kai knew.

It was like… he had become someone else.

Especially the way Adrian had told the soldiers to retreat—

He hadn’t used them as bait—he’d offered himself instead.

Even used Kai as bait—but hadn’t run away.

Despite the danger, Adrian never fled.

It was hard to admit, but…

Their teamwork was perfect.

They understood each other’s moves instinctively—like long-time partners.

Fighting Gelu Drake together had even made Kai feel… a strange thrill.

Maybe that’s why… Kai had started to acknowledge him—if only a little.

That Adrian was no longer a disgrace of the count’s family. Maybe…

Crunch!

“…?”

Kai tilted his head.

His train of thought was cut off by a strange crunching noise.

He looked around slowly—Adrian was gone.

Just moments ago, he had been right in front of him.

Had he leapt into the sky?

No, of course not.

Then underground?

No…

Crunch! Crack!

…Well, close enough.

The grotesque sound was coming from Gelu Drake’s body.

It shook with each sound.

Gelu Drake wasn’t alive—he was truly dead.

Which meant…

“No way…”

Kai’s face went blank.

As the thought struck him—

Squish.

The sound rang out again, faint but distinct—from inside Gelu Drake.

Kai stood dumbfounded, silently watching.

He seemed to have something to say, but I had no time for that.

Gelu Drake’s body was cooling fast.

Once the heart lost its life force, I wouldn’t be able to absorb any genetic traits.

Already, I’d wasted enough time checking rewards.

Any more delay, and I’d lose my chance.

I couldn’t let this rare opportunity go to waste.

So whatever Kai wanted to say, I didn’t care.

Didn’t matter to me.

Unfortunately, my sword wasn’t strong enough to cut Gelu Drake’s hide.

Without aura, I couldn’t even scratch it.

So I had no choice but to dig into the severed neck.

I had to enter his body and extract the heart myself.

Crunch, crack!

He was over 10 meters long.

It took time just to reach the heart.

Thankfully, his insides were still warm—not much time had passed since death.

After struggling for a bit, I reached his chest.

And there—it was.

‘Still intact.’

The heart’s life force wasn’t completely gone. Because I’d protected it, it was still in great condition.

Without hesitation, I brought it to my mouth.

Chomp!

And the moment I crushed it with my teeth—

◆ Kai’s affection for you has plummeted drastically!!
◆ Kai’s affection has entered the [Disgust] state!

◆ Characters in [Disgust] hate and resent you!
◆ While not openly aggressive, they do not wish to be near you and avoid interaction.

Talk about mood swings.

“But hey, at least it’s not [Hatred]?”