Frostfire Legacy

Aster stared at Faeloria, quickly realizing she wasn't joking. The silent pressure she exuded, her composed gaze, and the confident smile on her lips told him her level was far beyond his.

Injure her? It would be impossible, even if she stood still and did nothing!

"You're worried about someone right now, aren't you?"

"...!"

Faeloria's words made Aster's shoulders tense. The situation with Cassy wasn't a secret, but it wasn't something he expected to be casually known either. His eyes narrowed in suspicion, but Faeloria remained calm, her smile unwavering.

"No need to glare. I'm loosely connected to Magnus, so information reaches me too," she explained with a shrug. "You're concerned you aren't strong enough to save her, right? But first, let me ask... Do you need to do it yourself?"

Saving Cassy, who was abducted by Lorelai, wasn't going to be easy. It was a monumental task, and Aster didn't have to do it alone. If he relied on Magnus, he could send a few level 1000+ adventurers equipped to handle the situation effortlessly.

"...No, I don't. But...!"

But Aster didn't want that. He couldn't explain it well, but leaving Cassy's rescue to others unsettled him deeply. His pride wouldn't allow it, but more than that, something inside him rejected the idea outright.

"Cassy is waiting for me!" he shouted, raising his blade, which ignited with flames using Elemental Sword Slash. "Since she's relying on me, I'll save her myself!"

Faeloria smiled, amused by his determination. "Alright. If you can make me move from here even a bit, you win. If you do, I'll help you save your party member."

"..."

Aster was surprised, but he didn't let it show. Pushing Faeloria? Given their difference in strength, it seemed impossible, but Aster wasn't one to back down from a challenge.

"Sword Chains!"

He cast the new skill, testing its effects. He expected it to be a restraint ability, but instead, his sword glowed with a red aura, separate from the flames enveloping the blade.

"...!"

The light began to fade without any immediate effect, leading him to guess it was some kind of chain-attack bonus instead of an actual "chain." Without hesitation, he activated his next new skill.

"Ground Shrink!"

In an instant, his body blurred with speed, warping his field of view. Before he knew it, he stood before Faeloria, his sword poised for a strike.

*SLASH!*

Following his momentum, he aimed for her shoulder with a sharp, precise cut.

"Holding back against me? How bold~!" But his attack fell short.

One of the three massive roots behind her moved with surprising speed, blocking his strike. It caught fire briefly before the flames died out, leaving the root completely unscathed.

"Kuh! Not yet...!"

Aster didn't give up. The fading red light on his sword grew brighter, turning orange. He slashed at the root again, and this time, his strike left a shallow groove. The skill's effect became clear to him.

'An attack buff that grows stronger with consecutive hits!'

As the sword's glow intensified, Aster pressed the attack. With each strike, the damage to the root increased. By the fifteenth blow, the blade was glowing a near pure white.

*CHOP!*

With one final swing, he severed the root. Faeloria's expression shifted in mild surprise; she hadn't expected him to cut through a World Tree root.

Seizing the moment, Aster swung his sword upward for a final attack aimed at Faeloria!

*TING!*

But the blade was caught effortlessly between her fingers. Her hands didn't even tremble from the impact.

"...!"

However, Aster's assault wasn't over. The flames surrounding the blade suddenly swelled, erupting in a powerful explosion. The blast sent Aster flying back several hundred meters!

If he hadn't encased himself in ice to protect his body from the force of his own attack, he would've been heavily injured no doubt.

"Did I do it?" Aster panted, wiping the blood trickling from his nose.

As the dust settled, Faeloria remained standing. The ground around her was obliterated, except for the small patch where she stood. Two of the three roots behind her were charred but still intact.

It was faint, but there were signs she had been pushed back by an inch. Aster grinned, recalling her promise. "I win!" he declared.

Faeloria glanced down and sighed. She wasn't one to go back on her word. "Well done," she praised before Aster's vision went black.

---

"Ugh..."

Aster woke to the enticing aroma of food. Opening his eyes, he saw the sky still blue, realizing that only a short period of time had passed. He groaned as he stretched, feeling the stiffness in his body from sleeping on the ground.

Before he blacked out, he remembered Faeloria wasn't moving, only smiling at him. She didn't attack at that moment, so he wasn't sure how he had fainted.

"Oh, you're awake?" Her calming voice came from his right.

Turning, Aster saw a table full of beautifully prepared dishes. The sight alone made his stomach rumble loudly.

"You must be starving. Go ahead and eat! I made this to apologize for knocking you out." She smiled sweetly.

"Wait, you knocked me out? When? How?"

He hadn't noticed anything. Other than the damage he caused himself, there had been no signs of an attack.

"It's one of my passive skills," she explained sheepishly. "When an attack reaches a certain level, the skill activates and reflects the damage back to the attacker."

She scratched her cheek awkwardly. "In short, you fainted because you took twice the damage of your explosion."

"I see..."

Though it was frustrating, Aster accepted the result. "Still, I won, right?" He recalled how he managed to push her back an inch. Faeloria nodded, smiling.

Feeling victorious, Aster sat at the table. The food before him was mouthwatering, and the craftsmanship of the table and chairs was immaculate—almost as if they had been grown, not built.

'What a useful skill,' Aster thought as he scanned the dishes.

Though he didn't recognize all the ingredients, the food looked delicious. Each dish seemed to have special properties: some restored mana, others stamina, and a few eased mental fatigue.

But unbeknownst to Aster, all dishes shared a common trait—they bolstered one's vigor!