CHAPTER 35: INFANT AURA

[Killing Intent - 12 MP/second]

A single second was enough for Ash to land his first hit.

The Golem was thrice his size, covered in crystalline ice. Ash rushed forward, dodging the ice shards scattered across the ground, and landed a strike on its chest.

The Golem was frozen by his skill, forced to take the full brunt of the blow. Its design was unusual—its body wasn’t solid ice but a honeycomb crystalline structure, like a lattice of frozen glass.

The area Ash struck cracked apart, sending cobweb-like fissures across its body. He quickly retreated, disabling Killing Intent.

The Golem turned its menacing eyes toward him as a mist of snow rose, cloaking its body. Before Ash’s eyes, the cracks filled in, undoing his efforts.

"He has self-healing. Go in right after me," Jessie said, analyzing the situation.

Ash realized things weren’t as simple as he first thought. His stats had heightened, but this beast wasn’t only strong in attack—it had dangerous, troublesome skills.

A firebolt shot from Jessie’s staff and struck the beast, melting part of its outer layer. It let out a guttural cry of pain, then saw through their plan. Clasping both its massive hands together, it conjured a spike of jagged frost and hurled it toward Jessie.

Ash didn’t bother to intercept. He trusted her armor would hold. Instead, he took the opening and dashed toward the charred section where its defenses had melted, exposing its inner core. Activating Shadow Veil, he flanked behind the monster while it focused on Jessie.

His blade plunged into the exposed area. With his double-damage bonus from stealth, the strike drove deeper, his weapon biting into its crystalline body. The beast groaned, reeling in pain.

It lashed back with a brutal punch. Ash barely dodged, skidding backward as a nearby pillar crumbled into dust under the force of the blow.

Ash retreated, expecting the monster to collapse from his assault—he believed the wound would be fatal.

But the air grew heavy. A chilling frost spread through the ruins, and the scattered snow seemed to crawl back into the Golem’s body. Slowly, the large chunk that had been torn away regenerated before their eyes.

As the massive spike closed in on Jessie, she cast her spell.

"Devourer."

A spherical shield shimmered into existence, shattering the icy spike into fragments. The energy transformed into mana, restoring the MP she had just spent. Her armor and spell worked in perfect tandem, devouring the damage and turning it into fuel.

She dropped the spell and turned her eyes back to the Golem, her breath catching in horror. It was healing again—her attack hadn’t been enough.

Ash stood firm, unfazed. He had only been testing the waters. One thing was clear now—brute physical damage alone wouldn’t finish the job.

He considered drawing his gun. It would be efficient, but he refused. He wanted to kill this thing with his own hands—with raw power.

There were reasons. This was only a single Golem; learning its attack patterns now would pay off when they faced groups. More importantly, if blades couldn’t break through, what were the chances bullets would succeed?

"Jessie. Aim for the heart," Ash ordered, eyes fixed on the beast. He was already forming a new plan.

It was his specialty: finding a way forward when none seemed possible.

[Killing Intent - 12 MP/second]

[MP: 36/70]

Another fireball slammed into the Golem’s chest, striking where it was already weakened. At the same time, Ash’s Killing Intent froze it in place.

He plunged his blade into the melting ice, his hands gripping a crystalline structure within. With a sharp pull, he ripped it free.

In his grasp gleamed a transparent, fist-sized core.

Ash stepped back, nodding in satisfaction.

The Golem staggered, collapsing onto its knees. Its body crumbled, starting from its head—turning into frosty ash, then its torso, until at last the entire monster was nothing more than a pile of snow and shards.

Ash approached the remains and touched them, only for his hand to go numb.

"Even its ash doesn’t like Ash," he muttered with a smirk.

In his palm lay the beast’s crystalline core.

[MP: 24/70]

[+80 Exp]

[692/1000 Exp]

He still needed nearly 300 more Exp to level up. But what nagged at him was the silence—no system notification for the side quest.

"Didn’t you feel the pressure from that thing?" Jessie asked, stepping closer.

"What pressure?"

"It was strange... like I was beneath it, unworthy to even challenge it. That’s why I kept my distance."

Ash frowned and glanced at his status screen.

[Infant’s Aura: Ignore the pressure from enemies one rank above.]

So that explained it. His title had shielded him without his knowledge. He hadn’t even sensed the oppressive aura Jessie was describing. But if it affected her this much, it could become a problem in future battles.

"Don’t worry. It wasn’t anything serious," Jessie reassured him, seeing his concern. "I’m a mage, remember? Fighting from distance is safer anyway—and distance weakens the aura."

"Here. Recover your mana," Ash offered, holding out the D-rank crystal he had taken.

"My mana’s already full, and I still have the Wilbert family’s crystal," she replied.

Ash checked his MP again. Killing Intent was burning through it far too quickly—twelve points per second just to restrain a single monster. Compared to that, his bullets cost only five MP each. They were far more efficient.

He pocketed the beast core for later use.

Together, they swept through the broken ruins, wary of ambushes. They wouldn’t allow another creature to strike from the shadows.

"Let’s move," Jessie said, stepping out from the ruins.

Before them stretched a world of white. A blanket of snow reached endlessly under a bleeding sky. In the far horizon, blue earth met crimson heavens in a surreal, a beautiful scene.

But in reality there was nothing like that...it was a crystalline ice that reflected the Sky.

It was not as big as he thought — there was a limit to it and he wasn’t concerned about that for now. Because his eyes had fallen on hundreds of beast crystals fallen on the ground.

There were no beasts in plain sight so it was a question where they came from.