Gray moved deeper into the pale stone ridges, his tentacles sweeping the water for the telltale chill of Glacial Moss Lice. The moss-covered rocks stretched on, and the cold grew sharper with every pulse. Small ice crystals drifted through the current, catching the faint green glow of the distant Verdant Hollow like shards of frozen light.
’It’s getting colder. There might be more of them further in.’
Cindy’s voice came, soft but cautious. "I don’t like this... It feels too quiet."
’That’s because the ice kills the sound, vibration doesn’t travel as well through cold water.’
"Huh... I didn’t know that."
’You learn things down here, whether you want to or not.’
The third louse appeared near the mouth of a frozen cave. Its shell was a pale, almost white, blue-green, thick with layered ice and jagged crystalline growths. It was feeding on a patch of moss that grew in spirals along the cave wall, its tiny legs clicking softly against the stone.
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE — Level 24]
HP: 250 / 250
Gray drifted above it, studying the terrain. The cave mouth was narrow, and the louse was positioned with its back to the wall. Not ideal for flipping it over.
’It’s backed itself into a corner. Good for defense, bad for escape.’
"Then use the cave," Cindy said. "If it tries to hide, it’ll trap itself."
’That’s what I’m hoping.’
He fired a Riptide Slash low, angled to strike the rock just beneath the creature. The impact shattered the stone and sent the louse skittering sideways, away from the wall and into the open.
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 76 DAMAGE]
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE — HP: 174 / 250]
The louse shrieked, releasing a dense cloud of freezing mist. The water thickened, and Gray felt the cold pressing against his bell like a living thing. He circled wide, keeping above the mist, and fired another Riptide Slash from a new angle.
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 82 DAMAGE]
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE — HP: 92 / 250]
The creature tried to scuttle back into the cave, but Gray had already vanished from sight. He dropped behind it and swept his serrated bell across its legs. Three limbs snapped off, and the louse stumbled, its shell scraping against the stone.
’Not so tough without your legs, are you?’
He finished it with a point-blank Cavitation Pulse.
[CAVITATION PULSE — 60 DAMAGE]
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE DEFEATED — 220 EXP]
[TRAIT FRAGMENT ACQUIRED: "Frost-Touched Chitin" (3/5)]
The fourth louse was deeper still, in a narrow ravine crusted with a thin layer of ice. It was smaller than the others, its shell smoother, its movements quicker. Gray had to chase it for nearly a minute before it wedged itself into a crack in the rock.
’Clever little thing.’
He fired Riptide Slash into the crack, the blade ricocheting off the stone and striking the louse in the side. The creature squealed and skittered out, trailing pale blue fluid.
[RIPTIDE SLASH — 80 DAMAGE]
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE — HP: 120 / 200]
It lunged at him, and Gray let it come. The louse’s shell slammed into his bell, a burst of cold spreading from the impact. A thin layer of frost formed across his armor.
[-18 HP]
[GRAY ASHFORD — HP: 962 / 980]
[VENOMOUS RIPOSTE — ACTIVATED]
The spines along his bell lashed out, piercing the louse’s soft underside. The creature convulsed, its legs flailing as the venom took hold.
[TOXIN VULNERABILITY — APPLIED]
’Your mistake was touching me.’
He wrapped two tentacles around the louse and squeezed. Grip Jaw activated, and the shell cracked with a sound like breaking ice.
[GRIP JAW — 32 DAMAGE]
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE DEFEATED — 200 EXP]
[TRAIT FRAGMENT ACQUIRED: "Frost-Touched Chitin" (4/5)]
The corpse dropped to the ravine floor, and Gray absorbed it, his feeding surface tingling with the cold.
’One more.’
He moved on, his senses alert, his body moving with the efficient grace of a true predator. Then he saw the last one.
It was the largest yet, nearly four feet across, its shell completely encased in a jagged armor of black ice. The moss around it had frozen solid, crystallized by the cold that radiated from its body.
And its pulsing light was not the pale blue of the others, but a deep, angry violet, like a bruise under frozen skin.
[GLACIAL MOSS LOUSE Level 27] (ELDER VARIANT)
HP: 420 / 420
Threat Level: HIGH
« Analysis »
An elder Glacial Moss Louse that has absorbed and crystallized mana-rich minerals over decades. Its shell is coated in a dense layer of enchanted ice, granting it exceptional physical defense and causing its freezing mist to linger far longer than that of lesser specimens.
Warning: The Elder Louse’s frost aura is strong enough to freeze water within one meter of its body. Extended close combat is highly dangerous.
Cindy’s voice came, careful. "Gray... this one feels different. Its presence is... heavy."
’You can feel that?’
"I feel something. The locket is picking up faint mana around it. That’s not normal for a mindless creature."
Gray studied the Elder Louse from a safe distance. The icy mist around its body was thicker and denser, and the water within that one-meter radius shimmered with the threat of freezing solid. His tentacles would be useless at close range.
’Then I’ll kill it from a distance.’
He unleashed Riptide Slash.
The blade of compressed water shot toward the Elder Louse. At the last moment, the creature’s shell shifted, and a wall of ice erupted from the ground, taking the slash full-on. The impact shattered the wall, but the louse remained untouched.
[ICE WALL — BLOCKED]
’It can create barriers now?’
The Elder Louse let out a low, vibrating sound, like grinding ice. Its violet light pulsed once, and the temperature around it dropped sharply. The water within three meters began to crystallize.
Gray kicked backward, opening the distance.
’That’s new and dangerous.’
"So what’s the plan?" Cindy asked.
Gray watched the Elder Louse for a long moment. Its ice wall had already begun to reform, the shattered fragments flowing back together like living glass.
’It’s guarding itself,’ he said. ’It knows I’ll attack from range, so it creates barriers. If I get close, its aura freezes me. It’s built to outlast and punish.’
"That sounds... hard to deal with."
’Tricky, but manageable.’
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