Hiro bowed respectfully to Alice. The girl looked at him with her eyes widened. She was really surprised.


    “What are you doing, boy? I don’t need your thanks. I need you to work hard.” Alice ignored Hiro and threw her face away.


    However, when Hiro looked back at her, he could clearly see that Alice’s face had turned very red. Hiro didn’t know what it meant, but he was sure that Alice was embarrassed by such touching things. After all, Alice was also an ordinary girl who had a soft heart in her soul.


    “Alright, I will do my best!” Hiro replied, suddenly feeling excited.


    At first, Hiro felt like asking about the rtionship between Alice and his brother again, especially after knowing his brother named his pet by Alice’s name. He was sure that it couldn’t be just a coincidence. Hiro increasingly believed his theory about Alice and his brother having a deeper and stronger rtionship.


    However, Hiro didn’t feel like interfering. Alice might not want him to know because she looked hurt every time the girl thought about it. It was the same as Hiro opening Alice’s old wounds and hurting her again. Hiro didn’t want to repay Alice’s kindness in that way, so he just ignored his curiosity for now.


    “Okay, I’ve decided.” Hiro finally decided on something.


    “What do you mean, boy? Go to sleep if you’re tired. Looks like you really need it.”


    Hiro chuckled at the way Alice spoke. The girl looked like her aunt now.


    “No. I mean, not yet. You have to help me buy that Gaming pod first, Alice.”


    …


    Meanwhile…


    In a very dark forest with no light at all, a man with a body shrouded in ck mes that burned everything nearby went berserk with a ck dragon flying low in the sky while releasing spikes from its back._-?(0??)?.


    The two of them were in a very fierce battle against a monstrous monster that was almost the size of a mountain.


    The monster had a body covered with thick fur and could stand on its two legs like a human. Its teeth only consisted of very sharp canines that could tear anything, growing so long that they touched its nose and cheeks, which were very sunken, as if they were only made up of bone.


    “Shit. You just destroyed one of my summons,” sighed the man, who was none other than WynterRain. His two eyes glowed red like a bloodline of the demon race.


    He wouldn’t give up easily and lost to the monster. He drew a magic rune in the shape of a circle in front of him, using both bare hands. So far, no one had noticed that the weapon he used was the pair of sigils in his palms.


    While Hiro had only one sigil, WynterRain had two, and both of them functioned optimally to create damage in the world of the Last Shelter Online.


    “Alice, ck fire breath!” he ordered, as the magic rune he had just created managed to expand to the size of his pet fly ck dragon.


    Kwaaah!


    The dragon’s body began to emit light before the ck smoke billowed out through its triangr nostrils. It seemed ready to spit out the breath of fire that had umted in its throat.


    [ck Fire Breath]


    rrrr!


    The ck mes shot out from the dragon’s gaping mouth, it was purposely aimed towards the center of the circle with the magic runes that WynterRain had created to give it an additional effect.


    “Infinite,” WynterRain muttered as he raised his right hand. In a split second, the ck mes that shot past his magic circle suddenly turned into a huge explosion of ck mes which multiplied from its original size.


    Boom!


    Kaboom!


    The jet of ck mes from thebination attack managed to blow up the front body of the giant monster, and his opponent was finally being pushed backwards.


    However, even though the explosion managed to create a gaping hole in its abdomen, the monster was still able to stand on its two legs. It also seemed not afraid of WynterRain in the slightest.


    Hoaaaah!


    The monster mmed its two fists against its chest like a giant King Kong raging in the forest. Its loud voice made the trees in the forest sway and even uprooted them.


    “Hmmm interesting, I’ve nevere across anything this hard.”


    Even though he still hadn’t seeded in taking down the monster, WynterRain smiled with satisfaction. He looked very excited, as his eyes were sparkling with curiosity.


    “Take me to the top of its head, Alice.”


    The ck dragon immediately shot past WynterRain, and WynterRain swiftly jumped up to grab the dragon’s leg. At its current size, the ck dragon still wasn’t capable of being used as a mount, but it was strong enough to take WynterRain flying by dangling in its leg.


    Whooosh!


    WynterRain jumped down right on top of the monster’s t, square-shaped head. He then slid down towards the nape of the monster’s head.


    Because the size of the enemy was very small, the monster looked confused, looking for WynterRain, who suddenly disappeared before its eyes.


    Meanwhile, Alice — the flying ck dragon had a special ability to blend in the darkness and camouge so that its current existence couldn’t be sensed by anyone. The moment he dashed towards the monster’s head, the monster didn’t realize his presence.


    After WynterRain hadnded smoothly on the back of the monster’s neck, he raised his left hand in the air. His mouth moved to chant a curse magic incantation.


    “Power of Blood Magic. Give me the weapon that can rip through the thickest of skin, flesh, muscle, and bone.”


    He then took out a dagger from under the robe he was using and used the dagger to sh his own palm.


    sh!


    The blood suddenly gushing out from WynterRain’s left palm froze in the midair. It hardened like the shape of a stctite frozen in a cave. It had a very pointed tip and looked very sharp.


    WynterRain used his right hand to pull the object out of his palm, then repeated the previous steps. He shed in different parts, but it was still on his left hand.


    sh!


    Once again, his blood froze in a horrible way because of the blood magic he had.


    This time, in WynterRain’s two hands, there was a pair of twin weapons made from his own blood.


    “Alice, lend me your physical strength!” he eximed to his dragon flying nearby.


    Clink!


    The dragon’s body gave off light as it gave all its physical strength to its master as needed.


    WynterRain could feel a great power emanating from within his body. Even the muscles in his hands instantly grew stronger, and their size expanded distinctly.


    Before the effects that he couldn’t enjoy forever wore off, he immediately thrust the two blood guns in his hands at the same time towards the monster’s neck. He did it with all his strength, so it would inflict great damage.


    “Hiyatt!”


    “Take this!”


    Growl!


    The monster roared in an extremely loud and deafening voice as WynterRain’s weapons shed its neck from behind. It tried to reach WynterRain, but its big hands prevented it from doing so.


    The monster rammed its own back rearward, looking for arge tree capable of grazing the nape of its neck, but its efforts were in vain. Blood had flowed out so much that it dripped onto the forest ground.


    “Now give me your precious skin,” WynterRain muttered before deciding to sh the two weapons sideways until the wound that was originally just a stab had turned into a gaping sh that made the monster scream in pain.


    [Fatal damage]


    [Boss has been defeated]


    Ding!


    [You have obtained the legendary Yeti’s skin (Legendary crafting material)]


    Just the notification of the drop made WynterRain smile again before jumping into the air, grabbing the dragon’s leg to send him flying away from a ce where it could no longer give him an advantage.


    “Well done, Alice. Now let’s go back to that guy’s ce,” he said as he patted the dragon’s leg, which answered him with a kwak.


    pa??? ?<0>??? On the way back to a spooky old building in the forest, WynterRain took the time to check his stats. And once again he smiled with satisfaction, as if what he had dreamed of had been achieved so far.


    It was in the middle of the night, but the building that was WynterRain’s destination looked crowded. More crowded than usual.


    “They’ve gathered, huh? It will be a boring meeting,” WynterRain muttered as he nced at the only room in the building that had the lights on.


    At the front door, two yers in ck robes, who were fully equipped with scythes that had be their group’s signature, were seen standing guard. As if they knew that someone was always stalking them out there. Although on WynterRain’s radar, there was actually no one in that ce.


    Unlike others who entered from the front door, WynterRain asked Alice to drop him down near the giant bell located at the tower part of the old building. He didn’t want to enter through the normal door and caused a ruckus.


    “Removing the Barriers,” he muttered while wiping the empty air in front of him with both hands like he was exorcising an invisible demon in the real world.


    “Alice, just stay here. I’ll be back soon.”


    WynterRain quickly made a magic circle in front of him, then entered the magic circle, which closed right away after he passed through it.


    He had actually installed a strong magic barrier that made the old building invisible to the eyes of those he wasn’t allowed to enter. The barrier also prevented anyone from teleporting directly to that ce, so he had to remove it first every time he came for a visit.


    “I wish to hear the good news today.”