Alex didn’t know how.
All he knew was that as long as he held Svalinn, the Fire Bullet of the fire salamander couldn’t do anything to him.
Out of desperation, the monster unleashed a Fire Bullet at point-blank range, aiming at the young man’s feet.
The timing was so perfect that Alex wasn’t able to lower his shield to cover his feet on time.
However, when the Fire Bullet hit him, it dispersed as if it had hit something that could nullify fire damage.
When Alex finally understood what was happening, the fear and anxiety he felt earlier over fighting against the fire salamander vanished without a trace.
His original plan had been to lure the Rank 2 Monster to the guardian golems so they could fight it in his stead.
But with Svalinn, he no longer needed to do that.
"Slash!" Alex roared as he swung his sword at the monster’s body, drawing blood.
There was a famous saying in ELO.
"A bleeding beast is just a corpse waiting for the final blow."
It was also a way of saying that if a monster could bleed, it could be killed.
And once Alex remembered this famous saying, he once again brandished his sword, drawing more blood.
The fire salamander might be strong and could fight in close combat, but it was just as dangerous as an ash hound.
Meaning, Alex had no problem in killing it.
After its trump card became useless, it was no different from a Rank 1 Monster with more health in the young man’s eyes.
A few minutes later, the fire salamander’s body collapsed before turning into particles of light.
It left behind a monster core, which was two times bigger than the cores that came from Rank 1 Monsters.
Alex looked at the monster core on the ground, but he didn’t rush to pick it up.
He was still trying to comprehend how he had easily killed a Rank 2 Monster without even getting injured once.
"Status page open," Alex said firmly.
When his status window appeared, he immediately looked at Svalinn’s information.
He wanted to find out if the shield was really responsible for nullifying the effects of the Fire Bullets.
Item Grade: Common [Sealed]
Active Skills: [Sealed]
Passive Skills: Auto Repair, Fire Immunity.
Effects: if it is wielded by someone whom the shield has recognized as its owner, it will match the strength of its wielder.
— Will unlock skills and abilities depending on the Stats of its wielder.
— Temporarily unsealed. Will be sealed again after two days.
— The wielder of Svalinn will be immune to any kind of flame.
Note: A shield not meant for mortals, yet borne by those who defy fate. Svalinn does not shine, nor does it shatter. It endures, as it was meant to.
It is the wall before the inferno, the last defense of the living world. So long as Svalinn stands, the sky shall not burn. To wield it is to bear the burden of the heavens.
’Fire Immunity?!’ Alex gasped in shock after seeing the latest information that appeared on Svalinn’s page.
Now that he had confirmed that the shield was really the reason why he hadn’t been affected by the effects of the Fire Bullet, he finally realized just how amazing the shield in his hand was.
’I wonder just how powerful this shield will be when all its abilities are fully unlocked,’ Alex mused. ’With this, there might be a chance to defeat that Boss Monster.’
He didn’t really understand why he had suddenly woken up on the third floor of the Etherion Domain.
But now, he was very happy that he had gotten separated from the others.
If he wanted to help everyone, there was only one thing that he needed to do, and that was to become stronger!
"Dim Dim, please tell me where the next fire salamander is."
The Dim Sum God jumped off Alex’s head and effortlessly landed on the ground.
"Dim!" Dim Dim pointed in a direction, and Alex nodded in understanding.
Cairo and the other Elders, who were now paying close attention to Alex, were very surprised at the sudden turn of events.
They had seen the young man wielding the family heirloom of the Hartwell Clan, and Cairo confirmed he had gifted it to his disciple.
In their eyes, the shield was just an ornamental decoration that had no practical use in battle.
Those who had wielded the shield in the past hadn’t found anything exceptional about it.
But seeing Alex unaffected by the fire salamander’s Fire Bullet, some were starting to believe that they must have used the shield wrongly.
Unfortunately, Cairo was also in line to become the future Patriarch of the Hartwell Clan.
Since he had already given Alex the shield as a token of their master-disciple relationship, the Elders couldn’t possibly ask it back from the young man.
Ramza, who had arrived a few minutes later and had also seen what happened, didn’t make any comment.
He simply played with his beard, deep in thought.
They continued to watch as the young man fought one fire salamander after another, defeating them just like he had defeated the first one.
Alex finally heard the notification sound after killing his sixth fire salamander.
He was starting to get the hang of killing them. He was also getting faster, especially since he no longer had to worry about their trump card.
The Rank 2 brown bear Alex had seen in the Floating Forest had strength and robust vitality.
The Rank 2 red-eyed zebra jumping spider had speed and cunning.
And finally, the Rank 2 fire salamander had firepower.
If Alex were to classify their threat level, he would believe that the jumping spider was the strongest of the three monsters.
Right now, it was still a threat to him. But after farming a few more stat points, it would no longer be dangerous for him to fight it.
"Dim Dim, where’s the next one?" Alex asked.
Dim Dim didn’t answer right away. Instead, it crawled back on top of Alex’s body and stopped on his shoulder.
"There are no more fire salamanders here?"
The Dim Sum God then told Alex that if he wanted more, they should head to the fourth floor of the Etherion Domain.
After giving it some thought, Alex decided to try something.
"Master, can you hear me?!" Alex shouted.
"Yes, I can hear you," Cairo replied.
"Master, are the monsters on the fourth floor the same monsters that can be seen on this floor?"
"Yes," Cairo answered. "But there’s a Mini Boss fire salamander on the fourth floor. It’s twice as big as other fire salamanders, and its body is crimson. However, there is something I think you should know.
"There is another temple on the fourth floor. If you wish to change jobs, you might want to go and look for one. It’s located at the north of the domain as well."
"Thank you, Master!" Alex answered.
Since there might be some kind of time limit or restriction for outsiders communicating with those who were inside the domain, the young man no longer asked his master any more questions.
Instead, he asked Dim Dim if it knew where to find the path that led to the fourth floor.
The Dim Sum God didn’t bat an eye and pointed.
Alex didn’t hesitate to follow Dim Dim’s lead.
In fact, he was very curious about the monster drop of the Mini Boss.
’I hope I get a good drop after I kill it,’ Alex thought.
The young man understood that he was in a race against time.
Svalinn’s Fire Immunity buff would end after two days.
He planned to raise his stats as high as possible before reuniting with the others, so that they could fight the mutated Boss Monster together.