Ice Swamp.

'Didn't I tell you to attack the imp first?' Mraz repeated the words in his mind, 'as long as it is here, it will be very hard to kill these dwarves.'

Even among all those monsters, Aiden had no problem finding the little blue imp that was creating problems for him. And one of the major reasons for that was it kept on moving while giggling like a child.

With more than a hundred agility stats, Aiden didn't have much trouble getting close to it, but as he swung his blade, it hit nothing but air.

'Oh! You are fast.' Finding that the imps could use a spell similar to that of [Blink], Aiden's lips curved up a bit. 'Okay, let's see who is faster.'

In the next moment, Aiden activated [Zone].

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[12.4995]

As the Zone activated the world around him, things slowed down again. The movement of the imp was still fast, but it was no longer like teleportation, and he could see their movements.

"Going somewhere?" Aiden inquired with a smile on his face.

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

Aiden activated [Blink] and almost missed the imp in the process. However, he had learned a lot from his last misadventure and was able to control himself at the right time. At the next fraction of a second, he cut the blue imp in half.

*Creeeeeee*

It caught Aiden off guard by a sharp cry, and the next thing he knew Mraz was screaming in his mind. 'What are you waiting for? Activate the mana circle.'

As soon as he did, the mana circle spread out from his feet and brightened up two meters of space around him.

With his attack, Aiden had sliced the imp is two. However, each part of the body was moving, as if it had a mind of its own, and was trying to flee. But as soon as the mana circle brightened up, they got stuck, and sharp cries of struggle grew stronger.

'These imps don't have a physical body. They form when the lumps of mana gain consciousness.' Mraz continued to provide him with the knowledge as the body parts of imp grew smaller and smaller.

'They are very hard to kill. Even if you destroy their body, they won't die unless you destroy their spirit. However, you are different, and your Essence-absorbance circle is a bane to them.'

[Agility of the host is increased by 0.03]

[Agility of the host is increased by 0.01]

[MP of the host is increased by 0.05]

[Agility of the host is increased by 0.01]

[Agility of the host is increased by 0.02]

[MP of the host is increased by 0.04]

…

A string of notifications continued to pop up on the screen of his helmet as the body of the imp grew thinner.

'Huh! Can this mana circle directly aid my physical stats by killing beasts?' At the time of the ecstasy, Aiden had failed to notice the approaching danger and…

*Bang*

'Concentrate.' Mraz cried in his mind. 'He's not aiming for you.'

Aiden wanted to know who it was, but he dared not to do so. He lost the reign over the essence of the imp for a moment, and his mana channels almost got ruptured.

[Skill [Wind Skin (??)] activated. Mana used: 2/ 20 min. Remaining Mana: ??]

[Author note: only types of mana type ESS could identify are water, wind, fire and earth.]

His fear, however, was unfounded. Even if many bullets were fired after that, none of them would hit Aiden. It took about 40-50 seconds to absorb the essence of the ice imp that left a small blue mana crystal in his hand.

'If I have to wait so long to absorb the essence, it will be a big problem in the middle of the battle.' Aiden sighed as he grabbed the blade tighter and charged the dwarf.

'That's because you're an idiot and you still have to comprehend your mana circle.'

Ignoring the little blue bird in his mind, Aiden took a glimpse of the man who had taken down a few ice dwarves as he was absorbing the essence. After identifying him, Aiden turned to the crowd of dwarves waiting to pounce on him.

[The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]]

Even without the support of the ice imp, they were still strong but not nimble enough to counter when Aiden suddenly appeared behind them. Other dwarves tried to attack, but before they could, the heads of their fellow brethren were already rolling on the ground.

'Aren't they too weak?' The effectiveness of his attacks made him wonder.

'What were you expecting? They're just the cannon fodder. They could have only one mana circle, and even that could give them a physical boost.'

'So you're telling me that, even without comprehending the first mana circle, I'm stronger than someone who had already gained their first innate spell, right?'

'Huh! Don't be so smug about it.' Mraz didn't forget to remind him of the reality, 'It is because you've absorbed my essence. Do you think otherwise you would be so strong?'

Aiden could not ignore the fact. Still, he continued to charge in the army of dwarves as the bodies started to pile up around him. Not that the dwarves weren't trying to overwhelm him with numbers, but every time they did...

*Bang*

Every time the dwarves were close to enveloping Aiden, a gun roared from the distance. And it didn't happen just once or twice. There were at least 7-8 ice dwarves shot down by him.

"Aren't they too easy to kill?"

Listening to these words through his helmet, Aiden frowned. "Shouldn't you be going with them?"

"I have put my faith in someone who could keep up with the speed of that little blue one." The voice sighed in his helmet, "and for them, you can see their status with your helmet."

As he thought about it, a list of red names on the screen, with only his and Robin's name was bright in green.

It was something that Aiden had expected, so it didn't surprise him, rather he wanted to ask Robin, 'Shouldn't you be sadder about the death of your friends?'

He didn't ask, however, Robin replied on his own, "I've seen too many deaths in ten years, and the thing I've understood the most is that to feel sad you need to be alive."

As Aiden remained silent, he continued, "But shouldn't we get out of here? The enemy line is thin enough, and if we don't move out now…"

*Boom*

Not to distance away from Aiden the snow burst out, exposing a piece of a stone pillar. A moment later, the entire body of the ice troll carrying the stone pillar came out of the snow.

'How the hell did each one of them come out of the snow?' Aiden couldn't help but curse.

'That is a middle-grade spell for sure.' Mraz's words made him curious, but he didn't have the time to think about it.

However, as his eyes met the cold blurry eyes of the ice troll, Aiden couldn't help but shudder a little. 'That's the feeling I haven't felt in the last few weeks. This three circle beast isn't a joke. However…'

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[12.2755]

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

Aiden reappeared about 10 meters away from the ice troll as he struggled to balance himself. As soon as he controlled himself, he initiated another [Blink]. Aiden had no intention of fighting against the ice troll. However, it wasn't up to him to decide.

The [Blink] had nothing to do with teleportation. It was just a skill that increased the speed to such a degree that he disappeared from the naked eyes. But if there is an obstacle…

*Bam*

Even after using it a couple of time, Aiden wasn't accustomed to the agility of over 200 during [Zone]. He could see the thick wall of ice growing out of the ground, but he couldn't change direction.

[12.2312]

[The host has manually deactivated skill [Zone]]

The helmet saved his head from any injury, but it took Aiden a few moments before he could think straight. By the time he did, the ice troll was already walking towards him.

"That was one of the innate spells, right?"

'What the hell are you talking about? That is just a simple spell. [Ice Wall].' Mraz cursed inside his mind as an answer.

'That bulk of muscle can use spells too?' Aiden didn't hide his dissatisfaction. With Mraz's confirmation, Aiden felt that his path of escape had become thinner.

The ice troll, however, didn't give him the chance to look for his path to escape, and it pounced at him in a blink of an eye.

[The host has activated innate skill [Light Foot]]

[The host has activated innate skill [Zone]]

[12.2225]

*Boom*

As the stone pillar hit the spot Aiden was standing a moment ago, a fog of snow was created from the impact. And in this fog, Aiden could see that the shape of the troll was charging at him again.

This time, however, its movement was clear in its eyes. Alas! There was still nothing he could do about it. He didn't dare to waste any more time.

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

With [Lightfoot] already activated, his agility was over 250. Even if he had a hard time stopping, he didn't dare to hesitate.

Everything in Aiden's eyes slowed down. He could see the projectile that was leaving Robin's EMG or the ice dwarf that was taking its last breath not too far away from him. Yet at the next moment, everything went back to normal.

[Because of an external interruption, [Blink] is terminated.]

'What the hell happened?' Even if he cursed, it was too late. The snow underneath him had transformed into a living thing and was clinging to his legs. It froze his legs solid, and the ice was progressing upwards.

The [Zone] had already doubled his strength, and Aiden had no problem in shattering the ice around his legs. But as soon as he put down his free leg on the ground, the snow on the ground wrapped around his leg, and his leg froze again.

'It's 'Ice Swamp'. It is an innate spell.'

'Innate spell? Whose?' Mraz didn't have to reply to him. As soon as he saw the ice troll coming towards him, through the wiggling snowy ground, as if it were nothing, he understood it all.

'Damn.' Aiden cursed, trying to move around again. But every time he recovered one of his legs, the spell froze the other. On top of that, it wasn't just the ice troll that was attacking him.

*Boom*

With his feet tied up, Aiden was having a hard time dodging, so he could only receive the attack with his blade. As soon as his blade met the heavy hammer, his hands started to buzz.

*Bang*

"If you don't move soon, it will be very hard…" as soon as he heard those words, the head of the ice dwarf blast opened with a bang, splattering blue blood onto his uniform.

Aiden pulled his leg and stepped onto the body of the fallen Ice dwarf…

[12.0369]

[The host has manually deactivated skill [Zone]]

[The host has activated innate skill [Blink]]

Aiden initiated [Blink] without the [Zone]. He was slower, but he had a lot more control over his body as he moved while stepping on the body of the ice dwarves that came to attack him.

*Boom*

"The troll behind you." By the time he heard those words through the helmet, it was too late.

He couldn't dodge, so he faced the blunt attack from the stone pillar with his blade and *crack*

His blade shattered like a rice cracker, and the impact sent Aiden flying.