The Boss of the Glacier Dungeon wasn't the real problem.
Sure, it was a tough opponent—standing at about sixty meters in height alone. The Golem-like entity had a very bulky body, and its cold skin was hard.
The Mana it exuded was also extremely immense.
Aloe Vida and Maro struggled a great deal against it. Not only was it strong, but it was fast as well. Due to its extreme mass and magical density, it was a challenge to fight it.
Still, by using Asa as the deciding factor, they had managed to push through. The young Beastfolk had a special ability that allowed him to escape the detection of anyone.
Even he couldn't explain it beyond 'merging with the surroundings'.
The ability was useful in this respect, though. By planting Mana Bombs in the specified areas that Maro told him to—the Boss's weak points and most important joints— they were able to deal serious damage and slow it down.
Once Asa was done with his mission, Aloe Vida leaped into action and used her frightening Magic ability to finish it off.
All in all, it was a tough round, but... they still managed to emerge victorious.
*
*
*
"So, why...?"
Aloe Vida was sick and tired of facing challenge after challenge. It ate at her energy, but Mana wasn't her problem.
The whole thing just seemed unfair.
"The Boss has been defeated, so what is the meaning of this?"
The three team members watched as three thin layers of ice emerged from the ground. They had immense energy within them—energy that couldn't be explained or described with words. It was simply overhelming.
"This could mean trouble..." Even Aloe, the most powerful of the three, felt like she couldn't comprehend the energy she was sensing within the ice sheets.
Finally completely separated from the grounds, the three surfaces transformed into mirrors, reflecting the respective challengers within them.
From left to middle to right—Aloe, Asa and Maro watched as the mirrors took in their image. Confused expressions formed on their faces as they failed to comprehend the relevance.
Until—
>SHWUUUUUUU<
—The most absurd thing occured.
Out of the mirrors proceeded the reflections they encapsulated. Single copies of the respective personality captured came out of the mirror.
Aloe Vida's eyes widened as she gazed at a copy of herself—the same happened to the two beside her.
Their mirror selves gave dead, cold expressions. Other than the misty energy emanating from them, and the blank expressions they made, it was impossible to differentiate any of them from the original.
"What are we supposed to do? Fight them?" Aloe Vida glanced at Maro.
It didn't seem like there was any other option. Even though all three copies were transfixed in a single position, unchanging in the slightest, they were still obstacles.
It was possible that they wouldn't recieve their grand prize with the mirror versions of themselves standing.
"How much Mana do you have left?" Maro whispered to Vida.
Out of the three, she had been the one who expended the most energy. Her Original Magic, and the Light Magic that was useful for burning through the obstacles rightfully earned her the position of vanguard.
Maro was the strategist, and while his Magic was the weakest, his technology and use of resources made them complete their mission with relatively greater ease.
Even the plan for dealing with the Boss came from him.
As for Asa, he was a tough nut. His combat ability was scary—as expected of the child of the Beast King. In terms of battle prowess and skill alone, Vida thought he was better than her.
Unfortunately, he was still weaker than her in every other regard.
"It's fine. I'm still fine... I've almost recovered the Mana I expended." She quickly responded to Maro's inquisition.
"Scary... are you sure you're human?" Asa's voice echoed with awe rather than disrespect.
"H-hey!"
Aloe Vida was blessed with a great deal of Mana and her recovery was just as fast. Thanks to the multiple Mana Core technique Jared taught all of them, she was now able to stock up a lot of Mana, making her reserves extremely abundant.
"That's good. What of you, Asa?" Maro's gaze fell on the young Beastfolk.
"I'm not a monster like Miss Vida, but I have over sixty percent of my Mana pool."
Maintaining his 'null' state, as he had dubbed it, took a lot of energy from him, so even though Asa hardly fought the Boss, he was still plenty drained.
"I'm not a monster, Asa. I just... have my circumstances." The lady squealed, a bit embarrassed.
"Take it as a compliment, Miss Vida! You would suit a lovely bride for my father. I'll make sure to tell him all about you."
"What are you even—?" Aloe groaned in exasperation.
Apparently, Asa had some weird ideas, no doubt thanks to his Beastfolk heritage. Whether or not he would go along with his word was something the 'monster' lady didn't want to consider.
'It's because of Jared, and my sudden resurrection that this happened...'
Ever since that moment, her power had increased beyond expectations. As if that wasn't enough, it kept rising after the incident.
As a result, her recovery and growth skyrocketed.
'Even when I told him, Jared told me he has also resurrected others, yet... none of them are showing as much potential as me...'
It made her wonder if her resurrection was the only reason behind her ever-growing power.
"Focus, everyone." Maro's voice brought her back to reality.
The opponents were still stagnant, in front of them. The decision on whether or not to engage remained undecided, though it was about to be addressed.
"I believe we should start simple. Let's start small, maybe with simple Spells... just to see their reactions."
As expected of Maro. Rather than choose a straightforward answer, he preferred to mull over the situation and consider other possibilities and alternatives.
That was why he was unanimously agreed to be the leader.
While Aloe was a Magic Lecturer, and a powerful Mage at that, she knew her limits. She wasn't as tactical as Maro, and she certainly wasn't as brutally violent as Asa.
With this understanding android maturity, she nodded in response to Maro's suggestion.
"I agree."
"Me too."
"Alright you two... let's do this!"
