Wearing the cloaks that now had the ability to regulate temperature improved the ti we were making on our journey considerably. I had not noticed before how much the discomfort of walking through the snow slowed us down. But now, if we got to a colder area, the cloak would heat up, and if we reached a warr area, the cloak would cool us down.
Not having to worry about that kind of thing made everything so much easier. Even after leaving late in the morning, we were able to cross the threshold of the dungeon's effects and approach the ruined city. There was still so snow here and there, but that was just the remains of the cold created by the Frosted Gold Dungeon.
Unlike what I had expected, we saw no animals in the area. There were no wolves, no birds, nothing. That also made realize one thing: I had no idea how Astrid's village was able to survive while within the area of effect of the dungeon.
"Hey, Astrid. I rember we ate so soup and at back in your village, but is that normal? How do they handle gathering food?"
"Hunt. Greenhouse."
"Oh. They have a greenhouse?"
Astrid nodded.
"I didn’t notice it when we were there."
"Not in village. To east. On hill."
I thought for a second before nodding. "That does make sense. The village has too many trees around it. A proper greenhouse wouldn’t work there. But how do they handle breaks? Like if so of the glass breaks."
"Don’t know," she replied.
"How co you don’t know?"
"Not my job."
"Fair enough," I said, stopping as the city ca into view.
There was a road sign that had survived, which read Whitehall. It was not as big of a city as Ennis, and I couldn’t see any building taller than two stories. But it was wide, or at least, that was the impression it gave. The city seed to keep going and going until I could not see it anymore. Then again, I could not rember seeing this place on a single map, which ant that back in the old world, this place had been so small it did not even warrant a ntion.
Even still, it was incredible. I could only imagine how the people in the old world used to live.
We stopped talking and slowly started to approach, making sure not to make too much noise, just in case there was sothing nearby. But it was hard not to talk. Back in Ennis, everything was in ruins. The houses, the buildings, even the roads were broken apart and torn asunder.
But here, things were in place. The buildings were dilapidated, yes, but standing. The houses needed a touch-up, but that was it. I don’t think anyone would be surprised if people started living here again in the near future.
Of course, not every structure was still standing. So had collapsed, so were clearly broken by sothing heavy, likely a monster, and others had just fallen under the weight of snow. There were even a few still covered by frost, even though they were no longer under the area of effect of the dungeon. My best guess was that a monster used a skill that left the area frozen, and because of the proximity to the dungeon, it never beca warm enough to lt the ice.
Even then, as long as there were no monsters around, it would be a perfectly nice place to live. Sure, the roads would still be bumpy, people would need to fix up the houses, and I had no idea if food or water would be scarce in the area. Maybe that was a reason why living here wouldn’t be the best idea.
But the sight of the city amidst the golden light of sunset was incredible. Better yet, it was a very nice place for us to rest for the night. All we had to do was pick a house and make sure there was nothing inside that could hurt us.
I was a bit distracted with those thoughts when a shadow crossed the last rays of sunlight, covering us in darkness.
From my point of view, I could see sothing ahead, massive and long, with so sort of sharp spike, like the edge of a sword protruding from its nose. A pair of blood-red eyes glowed, along with the red crest on its forehead.
Its neck was impossibly long, curling around itself before reaching the rest of the body, which was a ss of white with black edges. Going down, its two legs stuck out of the earth like razor-sharp obsidian blades.
The creature was moving to the right, not looking directly at us, but that was already enough. Cold sweat started to drip down my back, and my entire body began to shake. There was a pressure, almost as if sothing were sitting on my chest, stopping from breathing.
Slowly, I turned to Astrid, hoping she was in a better state than I was. But that wasn’t the case.
She was white as a sheet, her entire body trembling and her mouth agape. I glanced back at the creature, confirming it wasn’t looking at us, before using all my willpower to push my companion away from the middle of the road.
I kept shoving her, thanking the stars for my high level of Body, which allowed to push soone as big as Astrid without much effort, at least physically. Every step made my legs feel like jelly. Every inhale felt like trying to breathe underwater. Every movent I made was a fight against my own body. My muscles had locked up, and I had to force them to move as I wanted them to. It was as if I had to tear my muscles to make them listen.
All the while, I forced myself not to look to my left, not to glance toward the creature. If I did, I wouldn’t be able to look away. I wouldn’t be able to do anything except stay still, hoping it either missed or killed quickly.
We eventually reached one of the broken houses. I pushed Astrid into the rubble, using so of the rotting logs and snow to cover her. The cloak helped a lot since it was as white as the surroundings.
During that ti, she didn’t say a word. She didn’t utter a single sound, almost as if she had accepted her fate.
Once I felt confident she was well-hidden enough, I started doing the sa for myself. It was much harder without soone to help, but by hugging my legs into a corner and placing wood and snow in front of , I felt safe enough for the mont.
We stayed there for hours, unable to move, unable to do anything but fear for our lives. If it wasn’t for the cloaks making sure we were comfortable, I don’t know what would have happened. The sun slowly went down until there was nothing but darkness and the moonlight.
It was impossible to understand what was happening. Not even when fighting the Ice Devil had I felt this afraid. Not even when fighting an Eater. It made no sense, but that was the reality of it. That creature was able to instill such a primal fear in that it stopped from doing anything else.
Eventually, I started hearing its approach, slow, thodical steps getting closer and closer. Despite knowing it was a bad idea, I shifted my hood just enough to see what kind of creature it was.
Under the light of the moon, a massive heron approached. It had white and black feathers with a large red mark on top of its forehead. But the creature did not look natural. It was almost like one of those Japanese paintings—the ones that only used black, white, and red. The monster approached, its head peeking over the roof of the house we were currently hiding in.
Its beak probed at so of the loose pieces of wood and ice in front of . Thankfully, Astrid did not scream as the probe impacted near her. Whether it was because she was able to hold on or because she was too scared to even make a sound, I could not tell.
While the creature was there, I asked the System to tell what level it was. How could it be so much stronger than us that it made us this afraid?
[Dreadwing - Tier 1]
But seeing those words in front of only increased my confusion.
How could a monster that was not even Level 10 at Tier 1 do sothing like this? The Ice Devil was stronger, much stronger.
'S-S-Sys. Is t-t-that a skill?' Even my thoughts were stuttering.
[System is unable to identify any skill currently affecting User.]
How? Why? None of this made any sense.
That sharp beak started poking closer and closer to Astrid. It looked like the monster had found sothing, likely my companion. While trying not to make a sound, I grabbed my staff and gathered my courage.
We had not killed the Ice Devil just to die two days after leaving the village. I refused to believe this was our fate.
Very carefully, I shifted my legs to prepare for a lunge while the massive bird continued pecking at the snow. I waited, already channeling a skill—one I had only used for the first ti yesterday, and not even for a fight.
Once the creature shifted and both its eyes were no longer on , I jumped at it, triggering {Formless Ice Devil’s Lunge}. The particles attached themselves to my staff. Unlike any other skill, they did not form a specific shape. Instead, they writhed like millions of ants moving along my weapon.
With the lunge, I swung my staff and struck the Dreadwing’s neck, hoping to break it before it could do anything else. The impact unleashed all the particles that were wrapped around my weapon. They washed over the creature like a swarm of hungry vermin. Everything they touched started to freeze, and the area where the strike connected bent sideways, making it look like the creature’s spine had snapped.
Yet, the creature still moved. It snapped its face toward , and that pointed beak, which looked like it was made of darkness itself, charged at . But I simply jumped to the side, evading the attack.
Now that I was this close, the creature sohow did not look as intimidating. I could see the blemishes on its feathers and the brown stains of dirt and mud covering parts of its white body. The dark, obsidian beak was just black and dull, without any shine. The blood-red eyes were not glowing, they just looked irritated, as if soap had gotten into them.
As the creature tried to open its wings and leap into the house, but the frost was already starting to cover its entire body. It had to struggle to shatter the ice before it could move. Despite being able to move with its neck like that, it was clearly in pain. Blood was pouring from its mouth, and its breathing was heavy.
I spun my staff again, cracking it over the Dreadwing’s head as the fear I felt suddenly disappeared. The creature roared and tried to stab with its beak again, but it could not maneuver inside the broken-down house. Its body crashed into the ceiling, creating a large hole in what was left of the walls.
My eyes shifted to Astrid, but I could not see her. None of the rubble had fallen in the area where I had hidden her, and from what I could tell, she was still there. At least, the mound of snow where I had left her remained undisturbed.
Still, despite being safer inside the house, as broken down as it was, things were starting to get very dangerous. Too much rubble was falling everywhere.
I dove out through what might have been a window in the past and let the creature follow .
The Dreadwing did just that, jumping to the side and flapping its wings as it turned toward . But then I noticed one of its wings was broken, ripped halfway, which ant it could not fly.
It let out a cry through its destroyed windpipe and lowered its head to the ground, pointing its beak at . The monster started charging, gaining more and more speed to overco the small distance between us. It moved like a spear, trying to impale with sheer velocity.
Honestly, if I had still been paralyzed by fear, it could have worked. But I was not anymore.
Getting ready for a second strike, I shifted my body to the side to make it harder for the Dreadwing to aim at . Before it could reach , another figure burst out of the house, using the walls to launch high into the air.
The monster did not have enough ti to react before Astrid ca down, swinging her Frosted Axe and decapitating it.
I paused, feeling the particles rush into , and dropped my stance. Astrid was still breathing heavily, her eyes full of anger and fear. I understood. Even though we were no longer feeling the sense of dread that had overwheld us earlier, the mory was still there—sothing inside us still told us we should be afraid of this creature.
Pushing my own fear away, I smiled at my companion. "Took you long enough."
Astrid glanced at with fierce eyes before smiling back. "Snow was cozy."
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