Chapter 27: 27. A snow boar!
AT THE SAME TIME
ALEXANDER
The snow cracked like glass under pressure, then it exploded outward. A massive shape burst through the white ground beneath the trees, launching a wave of frozen debris in every direction. It wasn’t subtle, it wasn’t cautious. It was pure impact. A snow boar.
"It’s a snow boar!"I gasped.
Its body was easily twice the size of a carriage, covered in thick white fur fused with crystallized frost plates. Its tusks shimmered like carved ice blades, and every breath it exhaled turned into a freezing mist that instantly hardened on nearby branches. It landed in front of us with a ground shaking thud. Silence held for half a second, then it roared. The sound wasn’t just loud; it carried weight, as if the air itself were being crushed.
"Contact!" Rosalia moved first, raising her weapon and firing instantly.
The shot hit the boar’s shoulder, the bullet froze mid air. Then dropped harmlessly as ice fragments.
"No effect!" She clicked her tongue.
"Physical resistance to kinetic impact." Noa stepped sideways, already drawing her blades.
"Obviously." I muttered.
The boar lowered its head and charged fast, way too fast.
"Spread!" Scarlet snapped, light flaring outward into a defensive arc.
The boar slammed into it anyway, the barrier cracked instantly.
"That is not normal durability!" Scarlet gritted her teeth, pushing mana into the shield as it began to fracture.
Aiko stepped forward calmly.
"Trajectory prediction complete." He said.
"Now is not the time to lecture us!" I shouted.
The boar pivoted mid charge, ignoring everything, aiming directly at me.
"Of course it is aiming at me." I sighed.
I barely dodged as it smashed through the space I was standing in, carving a trench through frozen earth. Isabella threw a mana flare, it burst against the boar’s side, it didn’t even slow down.
"It is not reacting to magic!" She yelled.
"Then hit it harder!" Noa lunged, blades striking the boar’s leg.
Sparks flew, ice cracked, the boar finally stumbled half a step.
"Leg damage registered." Aiko noted.
"Thank you!" I shouted.
Rosalia moved in from the side and fired again, this time aiming under the jaw where frost plates were thinner. The shot pierced through and the boar let out a furious snort, shaking its head violently, blood mixing with ice vapor. It turned toward her and it was a bad mistake.
"Light bind!"Scarlet raised her hand.
Golden chains of light snapped into existence, wrapping around the boar’s front legs just as it lunged again. It crashed forward, restrained mid motion.
"Now!" Scarlet shouted.
Noa dashed in. Two precise strikes hit the same weakened point on its neck. Crack, the ice armor split. I stepped forward, lantern glowing brighter than before, warmth spreading unnaturally through the air.
"Let’s finish this quickly." I said.
The boar struggled violently, frost exploding from its body, trying to break free. Aiko tilted his head.
"Core vulnerability exposed." he said calmly.
"Then say it faster next time!" I yelled.
The boar roared one last time, then I swung. The lantern’s light flared. Warmth cut through the freezing air like a blade, the boar froze mid motion, then collapsed into shattered ice and fur, scattering into drifting snow that dissolved into the forest floor. Silence returned, only the wind remained. I exhaled slowly.
"I hate this forest." I said.
"You say that after every fight." Rosalia lowered her weapon.
"Because it keeps trying to kill me." I replied.
Aiko adjusted his gloves.
"Combat efficiency acceptable." He said.
"Good." I muttered. "Let’s keep moving before it sends a bigger one."
Nobody disagreed. The snow boar’s remains slowly settled into the frozen ground, its shattered ice fur melting into mist that immediately refroze on nearby roots. Nobody spoke for a few seconds, and even Rosalia didn’t reload immediately.
"That was a D-rank monster."Scarlet was the first to break the silence.
"It was not behaving like a D-rank monster." Noa replied flatly, wiping frost off her blade.
"It was behaving like a local disaster." I muttered.
Aiko crouched near the remains, scanning them calmly.
"Threat classification updated: anomalous specimen with environmental amplification." he said.
"That is a fancy way of saying it tried to kill us very hard." I said.
"Correct." Aiko nodded.
"Are we just going to ignore how it came out of the ground like it owned the place?"Isabella slowly pointed at the corpse.
"No." Rosalia said. "We are going to remember it."
"That is worse." I sighed.
A distant wind rolled through the trees again, colder now, heavier. Then Michael’s voice crackled through the communication crystal.
"Status report." He demanded.
I looked at the frozen crater.
"We are alive." I said.
A pause.
"That is not an answer." Michael replied immediately.
"It is the only good one you are getting right now." I said.
Another pause.
"Continue mission. Carefully." Michael said, sounding like he regretted every word.
"Copy that." I muttered.
Aiko suddenly straightened.
"Map update required." He said.
"Why?"I frowned.
Aiko pulled a folded guild map from Isabella’s pack without asking permission and placed it on a flat rock. The others gathered around. Noa leaned in first.
"This terrain marking is inaccurate." She said immediately.
"It is missing elevation shifts."Rosalia narrowed her eyes.
"There is a corridor here that was not recorded."Scarlet traced a faint line of mana.
"Objective location: Frostheart bloom registered here."Aiko tapped a point further north.
"That is close?"I blinked.
"Estimated travel time: one day on foot under current conditions."Aiko nodded.
"We fought a nightmare boar for a place that is one day away?"Iasbella asked.
"Yes." Noa said.
I stared at the map, then at the forest, then back at the map.
"I am going to start assuming everything in this forest is personal." I said.
"Good assumption."Rosalia rechecked her ammo.
"At least we know the route now."Scarlet tightened her cloak.
"Recommendation: maintain combat readiness at all times."Aiko adjusted his glasses.
"I hate that that is reasonable advice." I muttered.
Michael’s voice came through again, slower this time.
"Did you say one day?"He asked.
"Yes." I answered.
A long silence followed.
"I am increasing your mission reward." He said.
"That is not the problem." I replied.
The crystal clicked off, and it was time to head there. Let’s hope we won’t meet more bears along the way.
