After killing the undead giant, I search the place to see if there is anything valuable in this section. I move through the whole section and find a pocket watch in a rather good condition.

Hmm.

I feel like I'm forgetting something.

What is it?

Something about elite monsters?

I can't seem to remember so I retrieve my monster encyclopedia from storage to check the topic to see what I missed.

Found it.

Mana Core. That's what I was missing.

It appears that every elite monster has a magic crystal also known as monster crystal or mana core in their bodies.

All monsters have mana that flows their body and strengthens it accordingly. But when a monster grows strong enough to be recognized by the system as an elite, they condense their mana into the form of a mana core.

These mana cores are graded according to the monster's type, strength, purity of the crystal, and their respective elemental affinity.

Now, where is this core located in this giant?

I don't know that and I'm not eager to go through decomposing flesh.

I turn the pages in the encyclopedia from elite chapter to undead and go through it. Hmm, according to this, in undead elites their mana cores are mostly found in their heads but that isn't a hundred percent as finding it in other parts is also confirmed.

So, the most probable place is its head. That's enough. I move towards the giant undead and swing my sword at its neck while using Spatial Slash. And unlike the hard-to-cut toughness from before, the neck was sliced clean.

What the?

Why?

How?

While fighting I had to try so hard to even damage it.

Then why is it so easy to damage it now?

Once again, I go through the monster encyclopedia for answers. Found it. According to it, when a monster is alive, there would be a constant mana flow through its entire body.

But now that it's dead, there won't be any mana flow. That constant mana flow is what empowers the magical enhancements in their body and now that it's gone, there won't be any of those extra enhancements, only the physical toughness of their bodies will be left.

Being an undead monster that was reanimated, most of its strength comes from the magic that reanimates it. When the mana flow is gone, the strength also left along with it and that's why the skeleton is so brittle.

Okay, so after death magical strength leaves and physical stays.

Good to know.

Now that my curiosity is satisfied, I poke through the giant undead's head with my sword until I find a small crystal. This small crystal' color is a combination of both carmine and grey color. From what I saw until now is grey color represents corruption and that means the carmine color represents body magic.

I appraise it along with the watch I found.

Mana Core

Type : Undead

Grade : Common

Purity : Average

Affinity : Body - Corrupted

Corrupted mana core of an elite undead monster.

Old Pocket Watch

Grade : Uncommon

Type : Tool

A simple old pocket watch that can accurately tell time. Made of Deep Iron.

The watch looks similar to those classic pocket watches from my world that comfortably fits into a pocket. The whole thing is black with silver lines on it like some kind of web. It has twenty-four symbols instead of twelve numbers like from earth one.

I guess a day's length on this world is pretty similar to that on earth or its double. That doesn't matter as I'm going to be living my life in this world and whatever the length of the day here is, that would become my regular one in a few months, if I live that long.

After searching the giant's section, I move towards the next one. I look inside to see a normal black skeleton similar to apprentice mages I've faced on the floors below. It's moving around in its section unaware of the demise of its giant brethren.

Just as I was about to appraise it, I remember how I was detected last time and stop. I look around the section and see that there is faint fog in it. I crouch down and quietly move towards it when I feel a cold sensation envelop me.

Due to the cold and the fog surrounding it, I can guess this skeleton is going to be some type of ice mage.

As I've already faced normal mages before there is no use in dragging this fight until I find something worthwhile during the fight. For now, I'll attack it with the intent to kill.

In order to maximize my sneak attack, I Blink behind it and attack its neck with a Spatial Slash.

The moment my attack was about to land on its neck, the skeleton mage was able to instinctively activate its armor spell. A greyish-baby blue-colored armor which I think is the spell Corrupted Ice Armor was able to block my attack without breaking.

I guess these mages really are more powerful than the apprentices below.

First, they can detect me as soon as I appraise them.

Second, it was able to detect me the moment I blinked into its surroundings and also able to instinctively block my attack in that split second.

Third, the defense spell that was used in that split second was able to take the brunt of my skill's damage and wasn't broken.

Now that I'm found, I Blink out of its range and appraise him.

Nirfat, Corrupted Ice Mage - Lv. 28

Another elite, weren't they suppose to be rare?

As I was using Appraisal, he uses that time to use some kind of an area effecting spell that makes the whole floor of the section to be covered with grey-colored ice.

Oh, a new spell right off the bat, I guess this fight isn't going to be as easy as I thought.

As the whole room is filled with ice, it made dodging a very difficult prospect. I can Blink between attacks but my mana isn't that high to be able to use it the whole fight.

Hmm.

How do I fight him?

First, let me check his spell casting speed.

Similar to what I've done before, I Blink to his maximum range and check his spell casting speed by observing a few spells, which is manageable. I guess this method can be used to empty his mana but that will be my last resort.

Now, what should I do to move freely on an ice floor?

Can I stick myself to the floor by coating my feet with mana?

Is that even possible?

Even if it's possible I have don't have the time to practice it right now.

Is there any other way?

I can't think of anything useful, other than using Heating Plate to melt the ice. I guess there is no other way. I just hope the skeleton is dumb enough to ignore it and focus on me.

Here goes nothing.

I eat a Gloil leaf to help with my mana regeneration and Blink to the back of the skeleton and drop the Heating Plate at its feet, after infusing it with mana, hoping that it will be able to melt the surrounding ice before my mana runs out. And I start attacking the skeleton until he turns towards me and then Blink to its back and repeat the same again, waiting for the ice around its feet to melt.

By the time the surrounding ice melts my mana was in low thirties.

After that, the fight was similar to before, moving around and attacking him without giving him any chance to lock on to my position. And blinking away whenever that blast-type spell which I'll call Corrupted Ice Blast for now is used.

As the fight was progressing smoothly, I felt disappointed. This mage was supposed to be tougher than the apprentice mages I've faced before as he is an elite monster. Except for that Corrupted Ice Field spell from before, the rest of the skills are the same.

One projectile spell, one blast-type spell, and a defensive skill. Although the defensive skill was a bit harder compared to the ones from below.

While I was having such thoughts, the skeleton suddenly hurled another projectile spell at me which missed the mark completely.

It fell behind me and I didn't even have to dodge that. I thought it was a projectile spell that missed me and focused on attacking it without a care.

These mindless skeletons don't make mistakes like that, I should have thought of that.

As I focused on attacking the skeleton, there was that sudden sense of danger again and I instinctively blinked away from my position.

The moment I blinked, there was a big boom behind me and small needle-like shrapnel flew all over and quite a few of them were stuck in my back.

Shit, that was close.

It looks like I'm getting really arrogant, thinking that the skeleton couldn't do anything to me. If it wasn't for that sudden sense of danger that I've felt before when I entered this floor but with more intensity, it won't be a few needles that would be stuck in my back right now.

As I'm reeling from the shock that a fucking grenade exploded behind me which could have killed me, the ice mage didn't stop his spells and I took another spell, Corrupted Ice Bolt into my left leg.

I can bear with the pain but the places where the bolt and needles are lodged are becoming numb. And I wasn't in any condition to dodge the next few attacks. So I blinked away from the ice mage towards the entrance and out through it and down the stairs.

After reaching the stairs, I settle down and start removing the needles that stuck in my back and the bolt in my leg. After that, I meditate for a while to fill all my pools. I think about the reason for my mistake while I'm recharging my pools.

Hmm.

It seems killing all those apprentice mages seems to be getting to my head. I need to keep my head straight if I want to live longer. I should really keep an eye on my thoughts from now on so that I don't start acting like that again.

After reminding myself of that, I went back to the fight.

It seems those are the only two surprises it has for me.

The fight became simple after that. The field spell seems to need a lot of mana as it wasn't used again, although the grey-colored ice was still there in the rest of the room except the area around the Heating Plate.

I keep moving around the mage in that particular area and Blink whenever he uses blast or grenade skill. The fight did take some time as I only used normal attacks but the mage was down in a few minutes.

You have defeated Nirfat, Corrupted Ice Mage

Although there were one or two dangerous moments, the rest of the fight is easy. I should also count myself lucky that these skeletons can't see or it could have destroyed the Heating Plate and I wouldn't have any way to move around.

Now that the section is clear, I collect my Heating Plate and go through it looking for loot. Except for the monster crystal that I found in the ice mage's skull, I found one another item in his section.

Bag Tent

Grade : Uncommon

Type : Tool

A magic tent in the form of a bag. Made from Duvloo's leather.

The moment I analyzed it, I couldn't believe that a bag can form into a tent, I guess I'm still getting used to this ridiculous world.

Duvloo?

Is that some kind of monster?

I check my monster encyclopedia for answers. It seems that Duvloo is a magical buffalo whose skin is known for its durability and elasticity.

As for the bag, it's reddish-brown in color and is the size of normal college bags with two thin straps that go over my shoulders to carry it with.

After reading the description I tried infusing my mana into it like I did with all other items before but nothing happened. That was until I found the clasp on it and when I infused my mana into it, suddenly it unfolded into a comfortable one-man tent.

When I looked inside, there is nothing in it, just a tent. And here I thought that there would be all the necessities inside it.

Yeah I know I'm being greedy but hey, an old man like me could hope for anything in this world right.

It seems that in order to convert the tent back to bag form I need to infuse my mana back into that same clasp that is now present at the inside of the tent entrance. Okay, I guess I should proceed to the next section.

Two down and two more to go. Before that, I need to find a way to move when the ground is not suitable for movement like what the ice mage did. The ground is still coated in ice, let me run some experiments with my mana.

Name : Janus Arthridge

Race : Human

Level : 7

Bloodline : N / A

Class : N / A

Level : 10

Health : 190 / 190

Stamina : 200 / 200

Mana : 290 / 290

Attributes

Strength : 10

Dexterity : 30

Vitality : 19

Endurance : 20

Resilience : 10

Perception : 30

Intelligence : 10

Control : 10

Wisdom : 29

Willpower : 10

Attribute Points : 7

Skills

Appraisal Lv.2

Stealth Lv.3

Meditation Lv.7

Space Mana Manipulation Lv.8

Blink Lv.1

Spatial Slash Lv.1

Longsword Mastery Lv.7

Corruption Resistance Lv.4

Spatial Storage Lv. 1

Spatial Shield Lv.1

Skill Slots : 0

Perks

Otherworlder

Summoned Being

Polyglot