Rise of the System Slayer

Seeing the effects of the Frostbear Claw, Ares grinned in amusement. This was another item that could help him. He quickly equipped it, and as for the corpse of the Frostbear, he turned it into his shadow.

"Now, let's see about my status," Ares thought.

[System Status Window]

- Name: Ares Langley

- Title: Shadow of the God

- Level: 32 [75%]

- HP: 100

- MP: 510/510

- Strength: 35

- Agility: 15

- Sense: 16

- Intelligence: 25

- Fatigue: 0 

- Skill(s): [Void Manipulation] [Phantom Skill]

 - Summon Space: 52/52

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- Remaining pts: 20

Since he hadn't used his points earlier after defeating the Abyss Widow, his points increased by 20, but his level didn't go up. Seeing this, Ares felt a little down, but he didn't have a choice. When leveling up, the required experience increased, making it hard to level up just by killing low-level monsters."

He immediately divided his points between his stats—5 for Intelligence and 5 for Strength, Sense, and Agility. Now, they were slightly more balanced.

- Strength: 35 [+5]

- Agility: 15 [+5]

- Sense: 16 [+5]

- Intelligence: 25 [+5]

After he allocated his points to his stats, he felt the strength surging through his body and even noticed his MP increased by 1% thanks to the effect of his pendant.

Then, his pendant glowed for a few seconds, replenishing his MP, and in an instant, his MP was fully restored.

"Damn, this pendant is really useful, saving my ass," Ares thought.

While Ares was busy gazing at the screen, Magnus quickly ran to him. 'You're really strong!' He ran toward Ares, his arms wide open, ready to hug him, but Ares didn't catch him. Instead, Magnus fell to the ground.

"I-it... hurts! Brother, why did you avoid it?" Magnus said, scratching his head. "By the way, brother, you're so cool! I didn't know you were this strong. And your summon, too—they're so strong! How could you do that, brother?" Magnus added, getting mischievous.

"Brother! Brother! Brother!"

Ares got annoyed by the constant mention of 'brother' and immediately shouted, "You damn... don't call me 'brother!' When did I become your brother?" His hands clenched into fists, barely restraining himself from hitting Magnus on the head again.

Before Magnus could even reply, Ares spoke, and when Magnus looked at him, his face turned frightened as he saw Ares's serious expression.

"Bro—Brother, what's wrong? Did I do something wrong? Sorry for calling you 'brother,'" Magnus said, apologizing for his actions.

"No, there's something I want to tell you, and I want you to shut your mouth first," Ares said, glancing at Magnus.

Immediately, Magnus nodded in agreement and covered his mouth with both hands, listening carefully to Ares.

"First, I don't want you to tell anyone what I really am or about my skills. Everything you see about me should stay between us. Other than that," Ares shifted his gaze to Conan and Felix, "tell the Hunter Association that these hunters were taken out by their own leader."

Magnus nodded. "Yes, brother!" Ares was still annoyed by the constant use of 'brother,' but he just let it go with a sigh.

"Okay. Before we even walk any further, I'll release my summons to roam this place and learn more about it."

Immediately, his summon appeared. "Go take a look around this area," Ares commanded, and his summon split into different directions—one went south, one went north, and the others headed west and east. Then, a visible map appeared on his transparent screen, one that only he could see.

His shadow started roaming to the south and soon saw a pack of icebergs falling to the ground.

When Ares looked north, his eyes caught a faint glowing sign created by ice standing on the ground. He immediately moved closer to investigate the sign, and as he neared it, the words were revealed. Ares's eyes widened in shock.

[Frostveil Land]

"Frostveil?" Ares muttered, dumbfounded. As his shadow dug further into the area, it suddenly vanished like bubbles popping. When he tried to summon it again, it vanished once more. As he repeated the attempt, his MP rapidly drained. When it ran out completely, his pendant glowed, restoring 10% of his MP. Ares felt the exhaustion in his body, nearly drained of all energy.

"Damn, what kind of unknown force is in that area?" Ares thought.

As Magnus saw Ares getting frustrated, sensing his unease, his face hardened, a clear sign of annoyance creeping across his features. "Brother, what's wrong?" Magnus asked, gazing at Ares.

"There's something wrong in the north, and we need to go there to find out what it is," Ares said, his voice sharp. Without another word, he turned and began walking toward the north.

His steps were quick, and Magnus followed closely behind, not daring to question him further. He could tell that something was wrong with him, and it seemed likely to be something dangerous.

After walking for several minutes toward the north, Ares finally saw the sign, now just two meters away, where his shadow had vanished. Behind the sign, he saw a massive icy cave, and something within it seemed to be interfering, causing Ares's summon to disappear.

A sudden, unnatural energy flowed through the icy cave, crackling with cold fury. The air around it grew thick and oppressive, distorting around Ares as a powerful force pulsed within the cave. Just as he was about to summon again, the overwhelming energy tore through his ritual, causing his summon to vanish into thin air. After that, a system notification appeared before him.

[Warning: Energy Surge Detected Effect: Summoning Interrupted. Energy disturbance from the surrounding area has caused your summon to vanish. Proceed with caution; further disruptions may occur.]

"So this is what's causing my summon to disappear…" Ares muttered, his voice low and tense, his eyes burning as he scanned the outside of the icy cave. "No choice—we're going in," Ares said.

Immediately, Magnus nodded. "I'll follow you wherever you go. I'm always right behind you."

...

Thanks for reading this chapter. I hope you'll continue to read the next one!.