Chapter 17: Now that I think about it, it pisses me off

Ria looked at the Ice Princess, recalling the contents of the guidebook.

[Alias: Ice Princess]

[Real name: Can be heard once you get closer.]

(Since sharing her real name as the Ice Princess is quite meaningful, try to hear it directly.)

[Age: 20]

(Ria, she’s the same age as you and has a high potential to become your closest friend.)

[Position: Shield (All-rounder)

Primarily responsible for the party’s defense.

Her body is strong, her stamina is decent, her defensive skills are excellent, she even has a self-recovery mechanism that converts magic power into life force, making her an indestructible shield that rarely dies.

Her offensive power is also noteworthy.

She possesses great physical strength, her swordsmanship skills are quite high, and her sword, which is enveloped in a sharp and sturdy aura, can cut through almost anything.

Moreover, her ice sword, which freezes everything it touches, is highly effective.

It not only deals more damage but also prevents wounds from healing when frozen, allowing her to easily defeat high-regeneration demons.

Her magic abilities are also above average.

Thanks to her vast magical power, the sheer strength of large-scale magic is comparable to that of a grand mage.

However, her magic proficiency itself is quite poor.

She just fires massive ice magic without much finesse—

The intensity, density, and speed of her ice are lacking, making it ineffective against strong opponents with good defense.

Her mobility is also impressive.

Her basic movement speed is fast, and thanks to a technique that allows her to slide on ice, her speed becomes remarkably high.

In terms of combat ability alone, she is the strongest among the hero party candidates.

However, She is an ally with a few fatal flaws.

First flaw.

She has too much magical power, leading to frequent outbursts.

If she loses control while sleeping, she might freeze everything, leading to a potential massacre.

Even during battles, she might lose control and accidentally freeze her teammates.

She’s like a walking time bomb.

Second flaw.

The less magic power she has, the stronger she becomes.

In other words, the more magical power she has, the weaker she becomes—

At 100% magic power, she’s surprisingly weak.

Her combat power decreases because she’s busy suppressing her excessive magic power.

That’s why, at first, she just wildly throws around magic.

To fight seriously, she has to waste magic power somehow.

It’s fine when fighting alone, But when fighting together, it sometimes results in teammates getting hit.

(Not on purpose—she’s just recklessly trying to deplete her magic power as quickly as possible, leading to poor control.)

Aside from these, she has a few more drawbacks.

But due to these two flaws, she’s the most uncertain ally among the hero party candidates.

She is definitely the strongest, but since it takes several minutes of releasing cold air before she can fight properly, it’s tough to deal with situations early on.

And since she’s a ticking bomb, there’s no telling when she might explode.

However, the cursed ring [Mana Eater] can solve all her flaws.

It’s a cursed item that continuously consumes the wearer’s magic power, forcing them to stay at 50% mana.

When her mana drops below 50%, she calms down, and the ring only absorbs magic when her mana exceeds 51%.

If the Ice Princess wears this, the penalty of magic outbursts will completely disappear, and she can fight seriously from the start.

The reason she couldn’t fight at full strength before was because she was suppressing her enormous magic power—

But if the cursed ring suppresses it instead, she can fight at 100% from the beginning.

[Conclusion: Once equipped with the Mana Eater, she becomes the overwhelmingly strongest among the hero party candidates.]

***

Incidentally, the Ice Princess’s wish is to “get rid of her vast magical power.”

If you give her the Mana Eater, that wish would be fulfilled.

It would be good to acquire the cursed ring [Mana Eater] from an auction house or a black market trader.

Recalling that, Ria thought, ‘The current Ice Princess must be in a fairly strong state.’

Since she used up her magic while fighting the Master, and then depleted more while recovering.

That was good.

‘It’s a chance to experience proper swordsmanship.’

Although Ria had learned swordsmanship from the Master, It was only the basics.

‘The Master did say so.’

She admitted that since she hadn’t learned proper swordsmanship, she couldn’t teach any more.

If Ria wanted to learn more, she’d have to find someone skilled or fight a competent swordsman.

So, this was the chance.

An opportunity to cross swords with the one whom the Master praised as the world’s strongest sword master.

Though I heard that becoming the strongest will take some more time…

She must still be somewhat completed now.

Even before receiving the hero candidate’s power, she was already a skilled swordsman, so she’ll surely showcase impressive swordsmanship.

Thinking that, Ria spoke with confidence, holding her wooden sword.

“I’m planning to knock you down and make you my ally.”

“Bring it on.”

She spoke confidently.

‘The Master did say so.’

‘I’m the strongest hero who can easily defeat the Demon King.’

At first, Ria couldn’t believe those words.

However, now I believe.

That I am the strongest in this world.

That I am an invincible hero who can kill any enemy and withstand any attack.

‘Because my master said so.’

‘Because everything my master says is always right.’

I couldn’t confirm if it was all true.

I only brought back my mother’s body.

I didn’t completely revive my mother.

I haven’t properly confirmed whether my mother is really the Goddess of Light, Serena.

However, I can trust my master.

Even if I can’t believe in myself, if my master believes in me, I can believe in myself.

If my master says I’m the strongest hero, then I can become the strongest hero.

That is the source of my courage.

So, there’s no way I can lose.

And since there’s no chance of losing, there’s no reason to be afraid.

The Ice Princess felt light.

‘Maybe it’s because I used up my magic, but my condition feels good.’

The sword felt light too.

A quick and nimble sword swing.

However, its power was anything but light.

Even though it was just an ordinary sword, the power of the sword energy wrapped around it was far from ordinary.

Sword Energy

An attribute-free energy that condenses magical or life force into a solid form.

The energy itself is as hard as steel, so just by enveloping a sword with it, one can amplify its attack power and durability.

When sharpened enough, it becomes a legendary blade that can cut through anything.

You can split rocks with a branch, or slice the world with bare hands.

Anything can become a legendary sword, and even without a sword, you can reach a level where you can cut down enemies.

The current Ice Princess was at that level.

Not quite a Sword Master, but strong enough to defeat most knights.

Therefore, she couldn’t understand the current situation.

‘How…?’

Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting! Ting!!

The warrior Ria effortlessly blocked every quick and nimble strike.

This much, she could understand.

It was surprising that a novice with no formal training could block her sword just with keen vision and quick hands.

The insane growth speed of learning swordsmanship as they exchanged blows was also astonishing.

But this much was acceptable.

Because Ria was a hero.

The chosen one, destined to defeat the Demon King, the strongest among humanity.

With superior physical abilities and rapid growth, it was understandable.

However, this one thing was incomprehensible.

‘She’s blocking my sword with a wooden sword?’

The weapon Ria was holding was just a plain wooden sword.

There was no sword energy wrapped around it, and it wasn’t enhanced with magic.

That’s why she couldn’t believe it.

‘A wooden stick that can’t even cut a branch… and yet, I can’t cut it with a sword wrapped in sword energy?’

It made no sense.

Even a regular sword should be able to cut such a wooden stick.

‘How could a sword armed with sword energy fail to cut it?’

It was impossible.

‘Could it be… is there something wrong with my sword energy?’

Swoosh!

She lightly swung her sword energy, slicing a massive tree behind her.

Swoosh!

To check if there was an issue with her sword, she directly cut through the tree.

‘Strange… the tree is cut just fine… so why can’t I cut the wooden sword?’

‘Could this also be the power of a hero?’

‘Well… being the strongest human chosen by the Goddess of Light, Serena, it wouldn’t be strange to have one or two such abilities.’

Even if the hero could strengthen weapons without sword energy or magic, it wasn’t entirely unreasonable.

As soon as she thought this, her fighting spirit began to ignite.

‘Interesting.’

So far, she had been an undefeated swordsman.

She traveled in search of stronger opponents who could withstand her ice, but they turned out to be weaker than she expected.

While others called them strong, they were mere weaklings in her eyes.

That frustrated her.

In such a vast world, it was despairing not to find a worthy companion.

However, today, there was no need for despair.

She had finally found someone who could take her blows.

Someone who could endure her ice and accept her as a person.

Today was a day of joy.

The hero Ria.

A person who could become her companion, and possibly even her friend.

But, she had no intention of holding back.

‘Because it’s the first time.’

‘The first time I can fight with all my might.’

She couldn’t help but be sincere.

A snowstorm erupted from the sword wrapped in sword energy.

An ice sword that freezes and shatters everything.

She took it one step further.

Crack!

The snowstorm blossomed into snowflakes, and the snowflakes turned into blades that cut everything.

With one swing, countless blades swirled like a blizzard.

The name is…

‘Hmm…’

Snow Blossom Sword?

“Seolhwa Sword?”

“Seolhwa… what?”

“Seolhwa Sword. A sword that blooms snowflakes where it passes, and the snowflakes turn into blades that cut down enemies… that’s what my master told me.”

“Master?”

“The man you fought earlier.”

Ah, that guy.

His magic itself wasn’t impressive, but his unique fighting style using my ice to attack stood out.

Though I ultimately won, I couldn’t land a single hit.

I just kept getting beaten until I tried to get serious, and he ran away before I could hit him even once.

‘Wait…’

‘Now that I think about it, that’s pretty infuriating.’