Alka studied the flesh and blood before him. It’s more like the sap of some plant, he mused. This meat doesn’t feel like it’s from an animal, and the blood resembles plant sap. What kind of animal-plant hybrid is this? Truly strange.
Alka wasn’t an expert in this area. After a few more glances, he couldn’t help but shake his head. I have no idea how such a monstrous creature could have been born in this godforsaken place.
"This should be a Sea Beast that has made this island its home," Lucilia commented from Alka’s shoulder, having observed the creature’s body with him. She had found some characteristics of a Sea Beast on the monster.
"Forget it. It doesn’t matter," Alka said, waving his hand nonchalantly. Then, together with Pororo and Jason, he pulled the rest of the monster’s carcass out of the ice cave below.
Only when they had completely extracted the body did they see the monster in its entirety. It was an astonishing 16 meters long—undoubtedly a giant. If the monster had fully emerged earlier, they would have had to expend considerable effort to defeat the gigantic beast. However, it had only poked its head out and was quickly overwhelmed and killed before it could display its full strength.
The creatures on this ice island surely couldn’t satisfy its hunger. This, coupled with its fish-like tail, confirmed it was indeed a Sea Beast.
Alka looked at the map in his hand. The blue light indicating their target should be less than 800 meters away. However, the next 2 kilometers ahead were nothing but an endless, flat plain.
Alka gazed at the ice cave left by the monster. Could it be in there? he wondered. Is the blue dot hidden beneath the ice? That would fit the characteristics of this island.
He pointed to the hole the monster had drilled. "Shall we take a look inside?"
Jason and Pororo nodded without objection; Jason even seemed quite interested.
The three of them headed towards the hole the monster had emerged from. However, just as they were about to enter, they encountered a problem: Pororo’s size made it difficult and very inconvenient for him to pass.
"Sigh, never mind," Pororo said. "I’ll wait for you at the entrance and keep watch."
Seeing Pororo’s helpless expression, Alka and Jason could only offer sympathetic smiles before squeezing inside.
They followed the entrance inward. The ice was transparent, and with the sun shining brightly above, the cave was initially well-lit. However, as they ventured deeper, the passage sloped downward, and the interior grew increasingly dark. Alka controlled his floating lantern to illuminate their surroundings.
"It’s quite warm in here. I thought it would be cold," Jason remarked, touching the icy wall of the cave.
Soon, they reached a fork in the path where two round openings appeared before them.
"Uh... how do we choose?" Jason asked, stepping back slightly to look at Alka.
Alka glanced at the map in his hand. "This way." He then led Jason towards the left opening.
As they traversed the passage, they discovered numerous skeletons. None were human; they were all animal bones, many with fish-like characteristics—likely the remains of the Sea Beast’s prey.
Finally, a faint blue glow came into view in the distant darkness.
Jason rubbed his eyes as he looked at it. "Am I seeing things?"
"No, that’s our target," Alka replied. He knew because, in addition to the blue glow, he also saw a familiar blue outline. He quickly led Jason forward.
As their lantern light fell upon it, Alka saw the true form of the blue outline: a single-handed longsword. It was semi-transparent, looking as if sculpted from ice. Regardless of its power, its appearance alone qualified it as a work of art. Standing beside the sword, both Alka and Jason could feel the intense Coldness it emitted.
The sword’s hilt was gripped by a skeletal hand. Aside from its head, right shoulder, and right arm, the rest of the skeleton was entirely frozen within the ice. Even the tip of the sword remained embedded in the ice.
"So, this sword is the reason you came here?" Jason asked. He reached out to touch the blade of the semi-transparent Ice Sword, then quickly withdrew his hand. "So cold!" The rightful source is NoveI(F)ire.net
Alka looked at the blade and reached out to touch it. A wave of intense Coldness surged up his arm, and the blue outline vanished. The semi-transparent longsword still emitted a faint blue glow; due to its translucent blade, the light was slightly dazzling.
A faint warmth emanated from Alka’s hand, followed by a wisp of flame flickering to life in his palm. He began to direct the flame towards the ice in front of him. This was a more adept control method he had gained after mastering the Cross of Righteous Fire.
As the flame heated it, the ice gradually melted. After about 20 minutes, a depression formed in the ice, and the skeleton slumped into it. The semi-transparent blue Ice Blade also dropped to the ground.
Once the sword’s tip was free from the ice, it no longer emitted the blue glow, and the Coldness it emanated wasn’t as extreme as before. Previously, it felt as if it could freeze a person solid. Now, held in his hand, it felt intensely cold but lacked that earlier bone-chilling, invasive quality.