The Lord Who Levels Up by Devouring - LLD Chapter 21: Master of the Snowy Mountains (2) (Part 1)

An explosive force erupted from a towering mass, nearly 10 meters tall.

I couldn’t even see Ice Drake’s movements.
At most, faint afterimages flickered at the edge of my perception.

‘My Agility is way too low.’

Agility wasn’t just about moving quickly.
To be precise, it referred to the ability to transmit commands from the brain through the nervous system.

That’s why those with high Agility could move so swiftly.
The better the nervous system transmits the brain’s orders, the faster those signals travel, and as a result, the faster the body reacts.

Likewise, the speed at which one processed stimuli through the nervous system also increased.

Reflexes that let you respond instantly to enemy attacks.
Dynamic vision that let you read their movements.

All of these capabilities scaled with Agility.

Simply put, any action involving the nervous system was governed by Agility.

Even manual dexterity was included in that, which meant enhancing these abilities purely through physical training was incredibly difficult.

That’s why I had dumped all of my bonus stat points from level-ups into Agility.

As a result, my current Agility stat was 8.
With Promote Metabolism [E+] active, I could get a 10% boost and raise it to 8.8.

But it still wasn’t enough.

That alone wasn’t nearly sufficient to perceive or react to Ice Drake’s movements.

CRUNCH!

My side was completely torn open.
Before the pain could cloud my mind, I cut off the sensory nerves and swallowed it down.
As for Ice Drake—
He was still latched onto my side, his movement restricted.

Give up the bone, take the flesh.

Clenching both fists tightly, I slammed them down like hammers onto Ice Drake’s spine as he gnawed at me.

WHAM!

Ice Drake was smashed into the snowy ground of the mountain.

No follow-up attack.
I immediately widened the distance.

Regeneration isn’t omnipotent.

With Regeneration [B-], I could recover severed limbs.
But if my heart or head were destroyed—if it was instant death—then regeneration wouldn’t work.

Regeneration doesn’t bring the dead back to life.

If I hadn’t twisted my body at the last second, it wouldn’t have been my side. It would’ve been my heart.

That’s why I couldn’t rush this.
If I couldn’t kill him in one blow, I had to keep chipping away.

◆ You can regenerate damaged body parts using the skill Regeneration [B-].
◆ You can synthesize necessary nutrients using the skill Nutrient Synthesis [C+].

I activated both Regeneration [B-] and Nutrient Synthesis [C+] at the same time, and my torn side regenerated in an instant.

A massive number of calories were consumed—but that’s fine.
I reached into my inventory to grab some monster meat—

◆ Your inventory is empty.

…What?

My mind snapped awake.
At the same time, a string of translucent system messages scrolled in front of me:

====

Inventory is a subspace that stores the items a Player owns.

Only physical items can be stored in the inventory.
Furthermore, only items owned by the Player may be stored.

There are no restrictions on the number or types of items a Player may store.
However, storage beyond the weight limit is not permitted.

Inventory weight limit is determined by the Player’s stats and calculated as:

[Player’s Strength stat] x [40 kg]

====

◆ Your current inventory weight limit is 880 kg.

I already knew this.
Inventory had a weight limit.

That’s why I couldn’t carry all the monster corpses I’d hunted on the mountain.

But I had thought 880 kg would be enough…

It was right then.

Murmur. Murmur.

Suddenly, a commotion echoed from down the snowy mountain.

Kai led the soldiers toward the explosion site.

And what they found—was, unsurprisingly, Ice Drake.

Ice Drake was a monster classified among the Dragonkin.
If Dragons were the rulers and calamities of the continent, then Ice Drake was the ruler and calamity of the snowy mountains.

It rarely descended from the mountain peak—but when it did, it could obliterate entire villages.

The best way to deal with Ice Drake was not to deal with it at all.

To be honest, even Kai didn’t feel confident.
He couldn’t guarantee he could subjugate Ice Drake on his own.

That’s why what Kai saw now shocked him to the core—
A single man, locked in battle with Ice Drake.

“It’s Lord Adrian!”
“Lord Adrian is fighting Ice Drake!”

Adrian was engaged in a brutal clash with Ice Drake.
The white snow beneath them was soaked with blood—no telling whose it was.

But this wasn’t Ice Drake’s territory.
This place was a considerable distance from the peak where it resided.

Which meant Adrian hadn’t lured it down here.

Ice Drake had come down on its own.

No one knew why it had descended from the summit.
But once it did—it wouldn’t go back until it was full.

And the easiest prey it could find in these mountains…
Were the residents of the County under the House of Whitewolf.

At minimum, dozens of commoners would fall victim to Ice Drake.
At worst, several villages could be wiped out.

That’s why it had to be subjugated.

“Entire unit—prepare for combat!!”

At Kai’s shout, the soldiers swiftly fell into formation.
Their drills hadn’t been in vain.
Their movements rivaled those of elite troops.
Even so, fear was etched deeply across their faces.

The master of the Snowy Mountains—the Ice Drake.
Casualties were all but guaranteed.

At least dozens.
Possibly total annihilation.

Kai stood at the front, drawing his sword.
If he wanted to minimize casualties, he would have to shoulder the brunt of the damage himself.
Even then, sacrifices would be inevitable.
But the Ice Drake was a monster that had to be subjugated.

Translatin_Otaku

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