Ember slowly flies down to the plateau below as the 3 snow Yetis come charging at us.

They all start glowing golden yellow with the familiar aura of [Extreme Strength], one of the same stat-boosting buffs that I use.

I jump off the flaming Dragon's back and begin to fall downward charging up my sword and dagger. My dark fire magic keeps the cold air away from my body as I plummet to the ground.

After falling for close to 3 seconds, the 50m drop comes to an end. I let out my attack on the nearby Yetis, releasing close to 1000MP per blade.

Using the last remainder of my MP stores, I activate my wind magic to lessen the impact of my fall onto the hard ground.

My feet hit the snow-covered stone floor, still cracking the hard rock floor, sending black fragments flying off in all directions.

I smirk, taking out a few extra mana crystals to plunder MP as I watch the crescents of energy slice the charging monsters all in half.

Their bloodied bodies stain the white snow as I hear a light thud from Ember landing behind me.

This short victory is followed by the roar of a gold-glowing mutant running at me with murderous intent. Still grinning, I charge up my attack again, a full 2000MP strike.

From almost 30m away the white and black energy blades rocket through the air to make contact with the monster's torso.

It flashes a dull white light, and I see my attack halt in mid-air for a moment right before impact. I do a double-take while plundering a crystal to restore my MP.

A few fractions of a second later, the facade of an invisible shield breaks, and the blades of wind and fire slash the mutant beast in two. Its mutilated body hits the floor with two loud thuds.

I continue to plunder MP from my excess crystals, but a slight concern itches at the back of my mind. While waiting for the monster to dissolve so I can take their loot, I mumble under my breath.

"I wasn't imagining that... was I?"

I shake my head a few times, then breathe in the cold refreshing air on the mountain's top while letting my flames die down a little bit.

Ember comes up behind me, so I activate the link. He speaks.

"Shall we defeat the boss? Like you said there's only one more floor before the 20th."

I pause for a moment, then ramp up my flames and grin my swords tightly.

"Let's do it."

Pushing the odd occurrence with that mutant Yeti to the back of my head, the two of us trek through the snow to the swirling grey mass of energy at the backside of the plateau.

Moments later, we both step through.

The white transfer magic clears from my vision, but it's hard to tell the difference between the blinding white light and the sight before my eyes.

I blink a few times, looking around aimlessly with a slight sense of confusion.

Activating my All-Seeing Eye along with enemy detection and inspect, things become a bit more clear.

"The boss is near..."

[100m]

[Lv. 399]

The shadowy figure of a 6m tall massive white-furred ape-like creature comes charging toward me. I can see its golden glow from a distance peeking through the dense overcast of white snow.

Only now that my perception senses are active, can I tell that we're in a cave-like room. It's about 200m in diameter and the ceiling is blocked off with a dome.

Bursting into flames, Ember flies high up above me as I run forward. Again, I charge up both my blades to use up nearly a full bar of MP, 2000 points.

Both of us draw nearer and nearer until its dark face comes into view and I'm glared down by its glowing red eyes.

I let out a yell and it returns the favor with a roar. Releasing my attack, I watch the two powerful crescents of mana soar.

They split through the air, melting and blowing away the heavy snowfall, aimed straight at the creature in front of me.

Moments before impact, my eyes open wide to watch this beast glow with a dim white light.

The metallic twang that's ingrained in my mind from weeks in the Titan's domains echoes throughout the 18th-floor boss room.

My jaw drops as I watch the white-furred monster deflect both of my attacks... with its bare hands....

A thin layer of white light shines bright covering its palms on impact, pushing back the high-density mana attacks. Some energy breaks through, slicing deep cuts in its palms, but most of the attack it pushed upwards to fly off into the upper regions of the boss room.

I'm left wide-eyed and speechless as I stare at the beast that continues to run my way. Its palms are dripping blood. The attack didn't miss, it was overpowered...

"There's no way it could be this strong."

I gulp, using inspect, appraisal, and air-stepping up into the sky for a better view of the situation below...

____________________

[Lv. 399]

Active Items:

[Yeti's Charm] +50% Defense +50% Ice Magic Resistance

Active Skills:

Extreme Strength

____________________

I tighten my lips and raise an eyebrow, trying to think all of this through. The monster barely has any gear, and its skill doesn't even have any upgrades.

"None of this makes any sense! What's going on?"

I grit my teeth, burst into flames, and charge up another dual attack. This time around, I eat into my mana crystal stores much more than before.

Maybe it was a lucky break. More power will take this Yeti easily. In mid-air, floating about 20m from the incoming monster, I imbue roughly 2000MP per blade. That's double the strength of my last attack.

With another yell, I release the built-up energy. The two crescents hurdle toward the monster. It looks up at me with its glowing red eyes while stopping in place.

It plants its feet and puts its arms out straight ahead. That same dim white glow appears...

On impact, I watch closely with my All-Seeing Eye locked in the monster's hands. The flaming black and whistling white mana attacks pause in mid-air for a fraction of a second before hitting the beast.

My perception skill picks up an odd reading...

I gulp, trying to understand why and how this creature's skin is becoming so dense with mana all of a sudden every time my attack comes near. The microscopic layer of pure mana in front of its hands actually covers its entire body. The glow and flash of white light is made when it's broken and mana is released on impact. If I saw this kind of barrier anywhere else, I'd think it was a man-made mana shield....

More gears begin turning in my head as I compare the density of the mana to my own attack.

As the two blades of energy grind through the beast's defenses, I let out a whisper under my breath.

"So... monsters can learn mana control too..."

The dense barrier being formed by the beast was strong enough to block my first attack, but this second one is twice as strong.

I hear a roar from the boss monster below me as the flash of white light triggers the explosion of my fire and wind as they break through its refined mana defenses.

The beast explodes into dozens of parts as I give it a small bow of my head as respect. That was the first strong opponent I've fought so far in this Labyrinth...

The fun is just about to begin.

I use my wind magic to hover down to the icy floor. The fallen monster is already beginning to dissolve. I let out a laugh, spinning my sword and dagger around, admiring my work.

Ember drifts down beside me as pick up the fallen loot. It's a large mana crystal, along with a heavy circular blue stone. I use Appraisal.

____________________

[Yeti's Charm] +50% Defense +50% Ice Magic Resistance

____________________

After examining the small blue rock to confirm it's nothing too extraordinary, I throw it into my item storage along with the mana crystal.

While my spacial magic is still open, I expand it so Ember can fit inside. I turn on our telepathic link as well.

"That was almost a decent fight, wouldn't you agree? Maybe this Behemoth will be a pretty good fight after all. What do you think?"

The flaming Dragon nods.

"I believe you will face greater challenges the higher we climb. I suggest you let me fight if things get too difficult."

I pause, then reply.

"Only if I'm in real life-threatening danger. Otherwise, let me fight my own battles. I'm here to get stronger by fighting tough opponents, I got enough free levels in the Titan's Domain."

"Understood."

Ember smiles and walks into my Pocket Dimension. The white light of the transfer magic fills my vision moments later.

It's time to face floor 19.