Debuff Master

Chapter 668

[Strong One’s Teachings]

[Description: The reward for letting Nanuqsa see his family again.]

[Type: Special Event]

[Reward: Absolute Zero +5 Levels, Skill Enhancement]

[Note: You will be rewarded accordingly if you do good things!]

‘Oh!’ Siegfried exclaimed inwardly after seeing the reward promised by the special event, "Strong One’s Teachings."

He was racing against time to investigate the central region of the Arctic Pangea, so he had pulled every trick out of the book to rescue Aryanan’s mother and brother. However, who would have thought that he'd end up getting a reward that would enhance Absolute Zero?

If anyone else were in his shoes, they'd surely be delighted by this as well.

‘Well, all three of them possess water attributes, so it only makes sense that the clue to enhance Absolute Zero would be with them.’

Siegfried set aside the reward of enhancing Absolute Zero for now and focused on watching the tear-jerking family reunion.

Nanuqsa and Marie wailed after finally being able to tell each other’s stories, and even Arnayan started sniffling. Meanwhile, Arnayan’s younger brother, who had been held a captive for years by the Ashenuna Family, seemed at a loss about what was going on.

Thirty minutes later, Siegfried could no longer watch the family reunion.

“E-Excuse me! It is starting to get really cold here, so can we continue this somewhere else?” Siegfried asked. He was shuddering from the cold, and his teeth were clattering as well.

He was a high-level Adventurer, but standing still for thirty minutes in the extreme cold of the Arctic Pangea was still more than enough to make him shudder.

“Ah, my apologies,” Nanuqsa said, sounding very respectful and fluent. Then, he introduced himself, “My name is Nanuqsa. I am the Chieftain of the Blanc Clan.”

“Sure. Hello,” Siegfried replied nonchalantly.

“I have heard of what you did just now, and I sincerely—”

“C-Can we continue this indoors?”

“Y-Yes, we should.”

Nanuqsa wanted to express his gratitude to Siegfried but decided to delay it for a while after seeing Siegfried tremble from the cold.

And that was how Siegfried received the honor of meeting Nanuqsa, who loathed anyone continentals, one-on-one without any threats being hurled at him.

“I would like to sincerely thank you before anything else. I heard the full story... I am ashamed to admit that I was blinded by rage and have been attempting to kill anyone who came from the continent by using our laws as an excuse.”

“Well, to be exact you said that you'd castrate us,” Siegfried said, raising a brow.

“T-That was... Ahem...” Nanuqsa cleared his throat out of embarrassment. Then, he said, “Anyway, this is the first time that we have established good relations with a Continental. I believe the last time was around three hundred years ago?”

“That long...?”

“Well, we did have some contact with the continent, but that was only due to the mixed-blood children that go back and forth between the continent and this place.”

“Oh?”

“Mixed-bloods are somewhat safe from the curse.”

“I see.”

“But they will be forced to come back to the Arctic Pangea after some time, as the curse would eventually start setting in.”

“Oh!” Siegfried finally realized the reason why Arnayan was not showing any signs of getting cursed. She was a mixed-blood, too, so she could stay in the continent for a short while without being affected by the curse.

“So you already knew that Arnayan would be coming back?”

“Yes. I just did not want my daughter to get any wounds from the continent,” Nanuqsa replied.

“I see... Is that what a father is?”

“Yes, I believe it is.”

“I agree.”

“Do you have a daughter, too?”

“Pardon me?”

“Your eyes. Those are the eyes of a father worried about his daughter. It feels like I am looking at my own reflection.”

“Haha... Hahaha... Yeah, I guess I am the same,” Siegfried said while laughing awkwardly. Then, he said seriously, “But that is not the important thing right now.”

“What is it?”

“That's...” Siegfried proceeded to explain the strange energy signals that were picked up from the Arctic Pangea, and he also told him that the First Black Dragon, Inkarthus, was currently sleeping in the ice.

***

“Oh my god... Is that all true?”

“Yes, it is.”

“Ha! Why didn’t you tell me this earlier?”

“But I did.”

“Hmm?”

“I definitely told you numerous times,” Siegfried said, narrowing his eyes.

“Y-You did?”

“Yes.”

“Haha... Hahaha...” Nanuqsa replied with an awkward laugh. Then, he exclaimed, “Ah! This isn’t the time to sit around and do nothing! We must bring all of our kinsmen and investigate!”

“Yes, we must.”

“That is our Blanc Clan’s curse. We are the descendants of those who served the black dragon, Inkarthus, and this is the price we have to pay for our ancestor’s iniquities. We are cursed to be trapped here in the Arctic Pangea and to protect it for the rest of our lives.”

“Ah, I see.”

“Anyway, we must hurry and gather our kinsmen.”

“Alright.”

Three hours later, Nanuqsa gathered nearly twenty thousand Blanc Warriors and brought them to Siegfried.

“It will take a long time to reach the sanctuary.”

“How long will it take?”

“It will take a day and a half even if we run all day.”

“That could be too late... Every second counts right now,” Siegfried replied with a grimace.

“We are already using a shortcut.”

“A shortcut?”

“There is a magical tunnel made of extreme frost. Only the Blanc Clan can use that ice tunnel.”

“It will take a day and a half even after using that shortcut?”

“Yes. It will take more than a week to reach the sanctuary if we do not use the shortcut. Even the fastest sled will take two weeks.”

“Ah, it sounds extremely far...”

“This can be considered a continent in itself, so it is a given.”

“I guess so? Alright, I will leave it to you.”

“Don’t worry. I will do my best so that we can get there even a second earlier. Why don’t you ride with me in my sled?”

“Okay.”

Siegfried’s party boarded Nanuqsa’s gigantic sled and traversed through the Arctic Pangea.

***

The Extreme Frost Road was a network of magical tunnels that spread underground throughout the Arctic Pangea.

Shwiiiik!

The Blanc Clan’s sleds traversed through the Arctic Pangea at incredible speeds almost similar to the speed at which bullet trains in reality ran.

“May I give you a gift?” Nanuqsa asked while holding onto the reins.

“What kind of gift?” Siegfried asked.

“I want to bestow the power the Blanc Clan uses.”

“The power your clan uses?”

“Take your clothes off.”

“Okay... Wait, ehh?!” Siegfried shrieked in horror. Then, he covered his body with his hands and stuttered, “T-That is a bit... I respect your preference, but I do NOT swing that way.”

“Huh? What are you talking about?”

“You just told me to strip!”

“I have to inscribe our clan’s power on your body.”

“R-Really? Hahaha...”

Siegfried’s comrades shook their heads in disbelief at what they were witnessing, but he had no idea, as he was taking his shirt off.

“Lie down here.”

“Like this?”

“Good.”

The chieftain’s sled was so big and spacious that there was more than enough space for Siegfried to lie down.

“I will plant the energy of extreme cold on your back.”

“Energy of extreme cold?”

“It will allow you to use water attribute energy to its limits, and I hope this power will help you in your journeys.”

“I will gladly accept it,” Siegfried replied with a grin. Then, he thought, ‘Ah, is this the special event?’

He figured that Nanuqsa was about to do the special event, "Strong One’s Teachings."

“Alright, I will begin now. It will be cold, so you better bite on something. You might struggle to hold back your screams,” Nanuqsa said as he placed both hands on Siegfried's back.

“Hmm? Come on, there’s no way I would scr—”

It was then.

“Aaaack!

That’s freaking coooooold!” Siegfried screamed at the top of his lungs.

“Kyuuu! I knew it! Owner punk is quite the drama queen!” Hamchi exclaimed with a grin.

“You’re overreacting, hyung-nim...”

“Your Majesty... Please be mindful of your actions in public...”

Even Seung-Gu and Gringore chimed in.

“I-I’m not over overrea—Ack! Aaaack!”

The extreme frost permeating all over his back made Siegfried lose control of his character.

Sseuuuu!

Nanuqsa was a Master, so the energy he was infusing into Siegfried’s back was extremely powerful and cold. The energy was so strong that Siegfried could barely withstand it, even though his resistance was pretty high.

“A-Arghhh!” Siegfried gritted his teeth and toughened it out.

Thirty minutes later.

Ding!

A message popped up in front of his eyes.

[Alert: You have cleared the Special Event – Strong One’s Teachings!]

Then, the message was followed by a string of messages.

[Alert: You have absorbed the power of the Blanc Clan!]

[Alert: You have gained +500 Water Resistance!]

[Alert: You have gained +250% Resistance against the status ailment, Freeze!]

[Alert: The skill level of Absolute Zero has increased by 5!]

[Alert: Absolute Zero has been enhanced!]

[Alert: Absolute Zero has evolved into Real Absolute Zero!]

The details of the newly-enhanced Real Absolute Zero popped up in front of his eyes.

[Real Absolute Zero]

[An enhanced version of Absolute Zero.]

[Unleash a powerful frost energy around the user.]

[The frost energy will spread almost instantaneously. It will be difficult for enemies to react in time.]

[The chance of inflicting Freeze on a hostile unit increases the lower their water attribute resistance is.]

[Enemies with high water attribute resistance will be slowed instead.]

[Cooldown: 5 minutes (Reduced from 10 minutes)]

[Casting Speed: 0.01 seconds (Reduced from 2 seconds)]

“Oh!” Siegfried exclaimed out of delight after reading the details of his newly enhanced skill.

The Absolute Zero he had been using until now had a slight delay before activating. A bright white would flash before the entire area would turn white from frost. Then, the temperature would drop, freezing every enemy inside of it.

The massive delay meant that Siegfried had to be meticulous when it came to timing the skill. There were even times when his target would escape the skill's range before getting frozen.

Thus, he avoided using Absolute Zero unless and until he was certain that he'd hit his enemies, as the skill had a cooldown of ten minutes—a long wait in combat.

However, those issues were all in the past now. The two-second delay was now reduced to a hundredth of a second, and the cooldown was reduced to five minutes from ten minutes.

In other words, it was now easier for him to catch his targets with Absolute Zero, and the skill's cooldown was halved.

“Yeah, this is enhanced, alright,” Siegfried said with grin, feeling satisfied with his new skill, Real Absolute Zero.

Rumble!

A violent tremor ran across the Extreme Frost Road, and the tunnel up ahead started to cave in.