Noob Player

"That's my reward?" Shen looked at the yellowy-blue Ice Petal, then he looked at the Blizzard Tiger. He noticed that Lyra's wound was closing as the bleeding stopped as well. There was no need to ask Lyra about the use of the Ice Petal. It was the same as a healing potion, but more potent?

Then he looked at his missing hand. "Can the potion regenerate my arm back?" He felt no pain but just a cold. Yes, the wound was freezing because of Lyra's freezing breath.

The Blizzard Tiger shook her head and smiled. "No. While it can heal my wound, it has a different effect on you. Eat it, all of them!"

Shen walked over and observed the Ice Petal. The Ice Petal was releasing the cold air. He was about to pick one of the Ice Petals, but his hand stopped midway as Lyra stopped him. "Before you consume it, I want you to promise me one thing."

Shen looked toward Lyra and nodded his head. "I want you to keep this secret about the Ice Petal and its ingredients. Actually, the latter part is unnecessary because only the Blizzard Tiger can concoct this concoction, but I still want you to promise me to not tell anyone, anyone!" Lyra emphasized that seriously, he could tell that by her tone.

"I promise you," Shen nodded his head. It seemed the concoction was the secret of the Blizzard Tiger Tribe. "But do you trust me? Don't you need something like a contract or magical vow just in case that I will spread your secret?"

"If I can't trust someone who saves my life, then no one can be trusted in this world." Lyra shook her head. She believed that as long as he promised her he would not reveal the secret to anyone, then he would tell no one.

"Thank you for trusting me," Shen smiled and nodded. "I promise I will tell no one about your secret.."

"I trust you, Shen." Lyra nodded her head. The man tried to save it by retrieving the Ice Lotus in Frozen Hill. He also saved her children from the Ice Boa by sacrificing his arm. All of his actions were enough to buy her trust, even though they recently just met. "Eat it now. I will keep a guard for you."

Shen did not understand the last part. Why did she need to keep a guard? That was a confusing part to Shen, but he did not ask. Just like how Lyra trusted him, he also trusted her by not questioned the effect of the Ice Petal. He tried to grab all six Ice Petals, but Lyra told him to eat one by one, "Eat them one by one."

Shen followed the instruction. He picked the first Ice Petal and put it into his mouth. To his surprise, the Ice Petal melted right away on his tongue. His tongue was freezing, and he could not feel it. He could not feel his tongue.

That was just the start as the cold sensation came down to his throat. The feeling was so real that he felt like freezing from inside. The feeling left him in shock, but he snapped out of his trance when he heard Lyra's voice, "Don't stop or the gain will be minimum! Get the second one!"

Even though he felt his throat was freezing, Shen still followed the instruction. At the worst was dying and dropped a level. He took the second Ice Petal and put it into his mouth. The same as the first one, the Ice Petal instantly melted inside his mouth. The cold sensation was getting stronger and spreading out down to his chest this time.

However, under the Blizzard Tiger's guidance, he took the third Ice Petal. After the third, he took the fourth, and so on. Soon he consumed all the Ice Petals, and he felt like his flesh, bone, and organs were freezing. It was so cold. He then noticed that his skin turned blue as well.

Maybe because his body was freezing, his lips turned stiff. He felt he was shivering, but his body stiffened so much that he could not even move his legs and hands. Shen rooted on the spot, and then he lost his balance. As he was about to touch the ground, Lyra caught him.

"Endure it, Shen. You can do this," she put him next to her and let him lean against her body. The three kittens surrounded Shen as they looked concerned over their friend.

Shen was wide awake, but he could feel nothing. He felt like only his awareness of staying while his body was gone. It did not hurt him, but it gave him a weird feeling for sure. Time quickly passed. He did not know how long he was in this state. He could not even open his window status.

The long waiting was over as warmth returned to his body. It started with his finger. He could move his finger slightly at first. A few minutes later, he then could move his two hands again. He moved his hands around so he was sweating and heating his body a little.

Slowly but surely, Shen regained control over his body again. There was no way Lyra would kill him. Thirty minutes later, he gained full control over his body. He immediately stood up and moved around. He punched forward, jumped over, and squatted down and up.

"Huh!?" Shen felt something weird with his body. It was as if his body was getting lighter than usual. He was about to try running until he heard a notification and a screen popped out before his eyes.

[Congratulations! You have awakened the Frost Elemental Force!]

[You have unlocked a new stat, Intelligence!]

[You have unlocked Mana!]

[You have learned a new skill, [Frost Assault (Passive)]!]

[You have learned a new skill, [Frost Bolt]!]

[You have learned a skill, [Frozen Spear]!]

Shen rooted on the spot as he looked at the screen in front of him. He opened his mouth, but no words came out. However, his mind was processing a lot of things.

'Elemental Force, Intelligence stat, and Mana,' The three things that are related to magic, and he got it.

"Shit! Magic exists, and Sky is lying!" Shen was not happy with the magic discovery. If it was other people, they would be happy to discover the magic. However, that was not the case for Shen. He hated magic as the magic was his bane in his previous game.

In Universe Online, he was fast enough that almost no one could catch him until they used magic. The reason he could not achieve his dream to be the fastest in the game was because of the magic. There were a lot of things that could be done with magic.

They could use magic to slow him down. They could use magic to trap him, and they could use magic to chase him. Magic was the ridiculous thing that stopped him from being the fastest. So the fact that magic existed in Tribe Online was bad news for Shen. Without a doubt, magic would be his biggest obstacle to achieve his goal.

"What's wrong? Why do you look not happy? Humans are dying to get the things you just eat, but you look unhappy." Lyra was not expecting this kind of reaction from Shen. She thought the human would be happy with the reward she gave him. She seemed wrong about that.

"Hah…" Shen let out a sigh and sat in front of the Blizzard Tiger, "Do you want to hear my story now?"

That piqued the Blizzard Tiger's interest. She had told him about her, and it was a lie if she did not want to know more about her new friend. "If you don't mind telling the story to me, then I am willing to hear your story."

Shen told the Blizzard Tiger. He regarded the beast as his friend, so he told her about his mother's last wish, about being the fastest runner in the world. He told everything, including the injury, even what happened in Universe Online. How magic ruined his dream.

That was weird to tell Lyra about a real-life story, but he told her anyway. She was not just a mere NPC to him, but also a friend. He even told her he lost his mom at a young age, very young for a human's age.

As Lyra listened to the story, she then realized the reason Shen helped her was to help her three children. Then she truly realized Shen had been telling her the truth since their first meeting. He did not want the three kids to live without their mother. Lyra realized a kind human such as Shen existed.

Greedy, evil, and crafty; that was what she knew about humans all this time. But Shen was an eye-opener to her that not all humans were evil, 'I choose the right person to trust,'

"I see, but you will get stronger with Frost Elemental Force. You can still be the fastest in the world by interrupting your opponent with the Frost Elemental Force. It's still a big win for you." Lyra realized she was giving something he hated.

"You are right—" Shen did not finish his words as he felt a vibration on the ground. He looked toward the entrance and saw a creature blocking the entrance. The Blizzard Tiger also looked up. The Ice Boa was coming after them and managed to find them.

The Ice Boa looked unhappy as it hissed at him furiously. The snake realized that the Blizzard Tiger was the one who stole the Frost Lotus from its den, and it now came to get it back.