Frostfire Legacy

Aster was confused. After all, he was starting to think that the Dire Wolf didn't give any EXP when killed. However, this time, delivering the finishing blow caused an influx of experience, pushing him to level up in a flash!

"Ah, right! Status!"

Before forgetting about it, he whipped out his Adventurer's Card and added the newly earned point to his CON. Aster felt as if his body had gotten lighter once more!

"Aster! What happened?! Did... you kill the Field Boss?!" Kali asked as soon as she reached Aster's side. "Wait, it's really dead! That fast?!"

For the first time, she sounded concerned without a hint of her usual cynical tone.

"Star?!" On the other hand, Cassy jumped to Aster's side, patting down his body. "You're not injured, were you? Do you need a heal?!"

"A-Ah... I'm fine." He replied while trying to ignore the various things pressing against his body. "Rather, what should we do with the boss materials? Should we take them with us to the second floor?"

They currently have two boss monster corpses with them: one is the Dire Wolf, and the other is the Hobgoblin. Materials from bosses, no matter what kind, should be rare and fetch a high price.

Kali, who finally returned to her senses, answered in her usual cool, indifferent tone. "For the Hobgoblin, only its accessories can be sold. As for the Dire Wolf..."

She scanned the entire monster's body. Other than its exploded head, most of the parts were preserved in ice.

"... We can still carry and sell it for a hefty price, but moving it would be a pain."

Usually, they would borrow an electromagnetic pushcart from outside to use in carrying it, but right now, they're too far from the entrance!

"Hmmm... We can work hard and carry it to the second floor with us, can't we?" Thankfully, Cassy's suggestion came at the perfect time.

Aster's eyes opened wide, surprised that such a simple idea slipped his mind.

"Right! We're going to the second floor, either way, so taking it with us there would mean we can also drag it outside easier!"

After that, the three started working. Kali and Cassy were checking the Hobgoblin for loot, while Aster was trying to reshape the ice covering the Dire Wolf, chipping the ice with his sword, and molding them to be a bit circular, easier to push around.

After a while, only a truncated sphere remained. Aster tried, and even with his meager strength, he was able to push the large sphere forward. After picking up the two backpacks and wearing them over the front and back, he started to push the sphere, letting it roll over the grass.

Soon, it gained momentum and was rolling effortlessly, further lessening Aster's burden. He didn't push it too fast, of course, as it would become unstoppable if he did.

Cassy and Kali just finished stripping the Hobgoblin of all its accessories. From it, they got a necklace, two bracers, two anklets, three rings, and a mana core about as big as a head out of its chest.

Estimating their loot, the Hobgoblin should give them at least 200 thousand. For the Dire Wolf, since it wasn't intact like the first two, they wouldn't be able to get half a million as usual, but it should still be close.

"Then, I'll go first!"

Just as the three arrived before the portal, Cassy was the first one to move. Carrying half of the accessories, she stepped halfway through the portal and stopped.

"T-This feels... weird." She commented before turning to Aster. "Hurry and push it across the portal!"

"I will!"

Aster didn't delay and carefully started to roll the ice sphere forward. In just a couple of steps, he managed to push it into the portal and continued pushing until even he himself went through it.

Right, the reason why Cassy was standing comically in the middle of the portal was to "activate" the portal and lock its coordinates. After all, there were known cases of inanimate objects disappearing when left unattended while crossing a portal.

Although the chances of it happening were low, it was better to be safe than sorry!

After he crossed over to the other side, Aster started to look around.

"So this is the second floor..." He whispered while taking a deep breath.

The air was fresh, just like on the first floor, but unlike it, the plains and forest looked more chaotically mixed. Looking up, there was still no sun in the sky, but the light shining down on them didn't seem to have changed, as if it were eternal noontime.

"It doesn't look that different from the first floor," he commented with slight disappointment.

"The 1st to 10th floors have the same style. You should drop your expectations of dramatic changes in scenery until we reach the 11th floor." From behind, Kali's voice echoed, explaining.

She, along with Cassy, crossed the portal and touched down on the second floor too! With this, they are now officially unable to return to the first floor, no matter what they do. Right, the dungeon doesn't allow one to revisit an already "conquered" floor!

"Phew... Then, I'll go and borrow an EM Pushcart!" Cassy saluted before dumping the accessories on her hands for Kali. "Wait for me; I'll return in a few minutes!"

Soon after, her figure disappeared into the large, glowing cave behind us, the exit of the second floor, where we just entered.

Aster was unable to sit still, however. He quickly turned to Kali and asked her, "Kali, can you watch over our loot for now? I kind of want to test my new skill."

Just as he leveled up, he also had information flooding his brain. The information was regarding a certain skill, which he just learned. It was his first skill, so he was excited to see what its effects were!

"... Alright. But don't go too far, or I might lose sight of you."

Kali's main job was to guard Aster, but that's something only the two of them knew. As such, they couldn't openly talk about it with Cassy around.

He smiled, waving his hand, before running away. "Don't worry, I won't!"

After moving about a dozen meters forward, Aster encountered a monster. It was a slime, looking like the one from the previous floor, with only its color changing to green instead of blue.

'Now, time to test it!" He grinned as he drew his sword, taking a deep breath and mouthing the skill's name. "Sword Skill! Vertical Slash!"

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