The Skjólvettr

The blackness of the dream realm dissolved, giving way to a new, breathtaking landscape. This time, Kaito found himself in an ice-covered forest. Every branch was encased in crystal, every patch of ground blanketed in pristine, deep snow. The air itself shimmered with an unbearable cold.

A presence, impossibly fast and graceful, immediately moved through the trees. Kaito felt it before he saw it, a profound warmth dissipating from his core. Even with his inherent passive abilities, the effect was bone-chilling, a cold that seeped not just into his body, but as if his very soul was being affected.

Then, from deeper within the frozen trees, a majestic elk slowly stepped out. Its fur was white as freshly fallen snow, its massive antlers shimmering like crystalline ice sculptures in the frigid, cold sunlight that barely penetrated the dense canopy. This was the Skjólvettr.

Fighting against the encroaching cold with all his power, Kaito tried to move, but his limbs felt heavy, stiff. He could feel the intensifying sluggishness spreading through his muscles and joints. A profound weariness began to settle over him, an almost irresistible urge to simply kneel over and fall asleep, to let the numbing cold take him. He powered through, pushing against the unseen force, attempting a strike with his blade. It was a pathetic, slow swipe, nothing compared to his usual lightning-fast attacks.

The Skjólvettr, gracefully stepped back, effortlessly dodging Kaito's pitiful strike. It continued to watch him curiously, as Kaito's struggle intensified. As of now, Kaito's very thinking began to feel sluggish, every thought or action was delayed.

The elk's eyes began to glow with a soft, ethereal white color. As they did, more snow began to fall. Now, Kaito's body no longer responded to him. Little by little, an all-consuming cold began to physically freeze his body in place, frost creeping up his limbs, encasing him in an icy prison.

Before he knew it, Kaito was back at the familiar reset point, the ice-covered forest having completely disappeared. He stood in the black void of the world in-between, shivering, despite the lack of true cold.

"How am I supposed to fight against that?" Kaito asked to himself. "The moment I step into its presence, I'm powerless to do anything."

Durandal's floated before him, a thoughtful expression on her face. "Well, normally, when you want to actually challenge it, much less defeat it, you need a way to overcome its ability. Normally, that would mean generating so much internal heat that it would literally burn you alive within time, just to resist its aura."

She paused, then added, "Even then, the elk would sense that its ability isn't working and would simply flee, making any prior preparations useless. Trapping it wouldn't work either, given its ability to instantaneously teleport between anybody of ice, snow, or anything with a cold enough temperature, even within the mid-air if it desires."

"How did you and Roland defeat it?" Kaito asked, the question bubbling with genuine curiosity. "I'm interested to know."

Durandal tilted her head, her expression thoughtful. "I'm unsure of how myself. Roland simply stopped thinking and let his body move by itself. We managed to subdue it, but it escaped immediately afterward."

"Stop thinking, huh?" Kaito muttered, more to himself than to Durandal. "Is that even possible?" The concept felt alien, antithetical to everything his training had emphasized.

"Let's fight something else then," Kaito decided, shifting his focus. "How about the Jabberwocky?"

Durandal's shook her head. "I suggest you pick something else. While in terms of combat difficulty, it's considered to be middle-of-the-road compared to the prior foe you fought, my blade won't be able to wound it, much less kill it. It's said only a special blade, forged as its only counter, could do so, but it was hidden by the creature itself."

"What about the bunny?" Kaito asked, pointing to the unassuming illustration of the Vorpal Rabbit.

Durandal sighed. "That would be a futile attempt. You wouldn't learn anything trying to fight it. Many have tried to slay it, some much stronger than Roland, and they've failed miserably and lost their life doing so."

"Cerberus?" Kaito asked, his gaze lingering on the image of the multi-headed hound. Durandal only chuckled to herself, offering no comment, her mockery more telling than any words.

Kaito moved on. He decided to fight the Venom Dragon. The dream realm shifted, depositing him into a vast, echoing cavern, the air thick and humid. Immediately, a wave of nausea washed over Kaito as his skin slowly began to take on a sickly purple hue. He was poisoned, and his passive, usually so reliable, were useless in stopping the potent venom. The world swam, and he crumpled. Kaito returned to the reset point, the cavern dissolving into familiar darkness.

Next, he attempted the Corpse Sea Serpent. The scene shifted again, placing him on a small, rickety boat. He was surrounded by shipwreckage, twisted timber and broken masts rising from the churning, dark sea under a perpetually stormy sky. The sea serpent, a grotesque creature of decaying flesh and bone, briefly popped up from the water, firing a jet of corrosive water. Kaito managed to dodge the spray, but then the beast dove back under and never resurfaced. Kaito waited, scanning the dark water, but nothing happened. He called out, he probed, but the serpent remained hidden. So, he could only give up, as he possessed no method to breathe underwater, much less fight a submerged enemy.

Finally, he confronted the Elder Chimera. As Durandal had said, it was a surprisingly articulate creature. It spoke to Kaito, chatting about various things, its multiple heads occasionally arguing amongst themselves with surprisingly polite tones. It even realized that it was a simulated memory, recreated for Kaito to fight against. When Kaito challenged it, it politely went all out, unleashing a barrage of incredibly powerful magic that instantly vaporized Kaito on the spot.

As Kaito continued to challenge the various monsters that Durandal categorized with the status of 'minor apocalypse beasts,' a clear pattern emerged. The battles were either challenging but rather easy fights for him, or they were completely impossible, given his current power level and abilities. There seemed to be no middle ground, no true, balanced test that pushed him without completely overwhelming him.