Page 170

Erin ran as long and far as her vigour and legs would allow her. Sometime after she started running, she realized how little she hesitated in her honour and pride before retreating. She would have never run from her enemies if a fruit still dangled between her legs. She would have stayed stubborn and faced the uncountable enemies even if it meant her death. Much had changed since. The thoughts of Lyra and Siv’s sorrow overwhelmed her pride and honour but her death was but a stranger now. What she feared more was the uncertainty should she fail to pay her dues. It haunted her to no end. Answers were easy to find and she could find it herself but deigned it a folly. She was curious of the consequence but she held no intention to find out. Knowing her god, it wouldn’t be anything pretty or just.

She ran until her calves and thighs burned in the sore flames despite being surrounded by ice and snow. Her muscles were already withering from the phantom pain and now, they writhed, pleading for Erin to stop. The coldness did not supplement her breaths well. She was quick to lose and slow to regain. Her pace dragged drastically. She did not use Fleet Foot as she was afraid her exhausted body would not be able to endure the further strain. The sounds of the hollow howls and silent steps were drawing nearer and nearer. Shivers once again ran down her spine. She caught only a brief glance at those translucent ghastly apparitions before she turned tail and ran. They were not of anything she had seen. She knew nothing but this enemy. It was not certain if their flesh could be harmed by magic or steel and Erin wasn’t eager to find out. Mystic Blade would definitely cut them apart but she was in no state to fight. There was also the issue with her blade. She wagered if she used Mystic Blade once more, her sabre would break under its strain.

The tunnel stretched without an end in sight. There was no marking of any sort to mark her trail. If there had been turns and corners, she would have found herself in a maze but thankfully, it was a straight path, leading her to nowhere. Or so she thought. She ran without heed. Her mind was on her pursuers and the likelihood should her legs fail to carry her any longer. Her sole trod on emptiness. Her mind blared with alarms. She lurched forward to grab the ledge. She managed but only for a moment before her hand slid off the smooth unmarred ice. She tried using her sword to slow her abrupt descent but there was no ample space for her arm to stretch or to wind her sword. She laid the edge against the wall in hopes of slowing her fall even if it was only by the slightest. When her blade could only shave the ice, she wrapped herself in her tails and caged herself in the walls of Arcane Aegis.

The end of her descent was less harsh than she prepared herself for. She crashed through layers of thin frail ice before hitting the ground. The thin ice broke her fall and she felt next to no force surging into her muscles as she landed. She unwrapped herself and bared her sword around her. Her eyes darted all around her. She scoured the new room she had fallen into. In a corner, a white-furred creature sat straight and glanced over its shoulder. Their eyes met and a curse left Erin’s lips. The white creature, a Frost Troll, leapt to its feet, dropping the bone it was gnawing on. It jumped and smacked its chest repeatedly at Erin’s presence.

Erin let her sword hover below her waist and she took a step back. The Frost Troll howled and charged at her. She splayed her hands and conjured an Arcane Aegis, allowing the Troll to smash its face against it. Blood sprayed from its face as it stumbled backwards, shrieking in pain and fury. Erin lunged at that moment. She hadn’t the strength or stamina to compete with the Frost Troll. If she wished to not reawaken her wretched resurrection spell, she knew she had to employ an array of devious means. She dispelled the shield and thrust her sword. The Frost Troll dodged at the last second and grabbed at the blade. She veered her thrust and cut low across the Troll’s reaching arm. The Frost Troll cried, clutching its wounded arm. Erin darted forward and slashed horizontally. The Troll bared its teeth and trapped the blade with its jaws. Erin released the hilt from her grip and conjured lightning into her hands. The Frost Troll feasted its eyes and released the sword from its mouth but lightning travelled faster than its plump legs. The Troll went tumbling across the snow as a bolt of lightning hit it square on its chest. Erin flung the sword back into her grip with a light kick.

The Frost Troll climbed to its feet in a flurry. It smashed and dug the walls beside it, scooping chunks of rocks into its hands. It tossed them towards Erin, who fell half with Arcane Edge and dodged the rest. She threw an Aura Shot in retaliation but the Frost Troll moved faster than its weight suggested. Erin cursed silently under her breath. The Frost flung snow and stones at her as it charged. Even in her weariness, the snow grazed her skin and the stones hit only the air and ground. The Frost Troll pounced when it saw its attack to be futile. Erin deflected its pounce with Arcane Aegis and cut high at its throat. The Frost Troll pushed itself from the aegis and avoided the slitting of its throat. Erin pressed forward with her sword raised. The Frost Troll attempted a swipe but Erin outmatched its speed and drew a shallow cut across the back of its hand. It growled at the sight of its own blood. Erin lunged with a thrust. It battered the blade away at the cost of its palm, slitting across the edge and blood gushing.

Erin grinned and unleashed a series of strikes and slashes on the Frost Troll.

It hopped away from Erin’s flurry and kicked up a patch of snow. She let the snow blind her eyes. She raised her guard to her left and the Frost Troll roared in confusion. Most probably it had thought Erin was like any other prey, the eyes were their only means of perception. Keeping her eyes closed, she strode forward with her sword swinging. The Frost Troll backed away further, fury filling its eyes.

Erin stepped to the side and the Frost Trolls fist struck the snow-covered ground. Clouds of white glittering smoke were raised, blurring their sights. The Frost Troll lashed wildly in front of it but Erin held her stance and her steps. Even with the smoke, she could still “see” through the snow as clear as a cloudless sky with her ears. When the Troll found only the air with its feral swipes, it moved forward and swung its arms in a whirl. Erin stepped silently to the side, out of the Frost Troll’s path. When the Troll turned around, she moved around it. When it spun to the other side, she once again moved out of its sight. It swipe the falling clouds of snow and she hid in the smoke as long as the snow drifted.

When the snow settled and all was revealed in the Frost Troll’s eyes, she struck from where its eyes weren’t. The Troll stirred at the cry of its bestial instinct, garnering only a cut across its left shoulder. It howled and swung in a wide arc but Erin was gone, leaving only the air for it to strike. A silver flash streaked through its outstretched arm and blood followed in a tendril. The Frost Troll screamed, stumbling on its feet. Erin planted her sword into the ground and leaned her weight on the hilt, gathering her breaths. Her muscles throbbed in agony, complaining for a rest.

The Frost Troll stumbled in its suffering and fell on its rear. Red splattered across the white patches. It hopped back up with rage burning in its glare it was sending to Erin. It lunged at her with its jaws spanned wide open. Erin kicked her sword into her grip and slashed into the air with a gentle step forward. The Frost Troll went limp in its lunge and dropped into the snow headless. Its head rolled until it hit a wall, landing on the stump. Its dead eyes stared at Erin in disbelief of its final moments.

[Experience gained 11% - Level Progression: 55%]

Erin snorted at her yield. It was paltry. The cavern was wrought with danger but the danger wasn’t in the monsters that resided here. They were only part of the danger, a small portion. The danger was the cold and her exhaustion. The Frost Troll was only level twenty-one and it was unaccustomed to fighting against strong opponents. It had brawn but a brain too inadequate to compensate what it lacked and what it had. She looked up the hole she fell from. The horrifying sounds had ceased but Sixth Sense was telling her the danger was still at large.

A bell rang constantly in her head. Sometimes it was loud, sometimes it was low. Nevertheless, it rang for seeming perpetuity unless she cleansed the cavern of all menace. Her mind was already drained of its fortitude but she allowed it to ring. If it rang loud, a threat was near. As long as it rang like a disappearing afterthought, she let her body and mind rest. With the headless Troll a few feet away from her, she sat on her knees and placed her sword on her lap. She let the stillness douse the flames that burned her limbs. Her serene mind pacified the storm raging in her head.

Her respite lasted only for a quarter of an hour before she was pulled from her rest. She wrapped her hand around the hilt and opened her eyes. From the wall on the far side of the room, the ice jutted out a limb. More limbs followed in the protrusions. A head burst out of the encasing. The head was largely human but its ears were long and pointed and sticking close to the head. Its hands were claws and its legs bore talons in place of toes. Its eyes were black as a crow’s feather and its skin was as pale as ice. There was no fog in its breath. The humanoid creature was as cold as it looked.

A Frost Fiend, the Appraisal told Erin as such. It was level twenty-five, an easy opponent but only if its level was the consideration. Pressing on her sword hilt, she pushed herself to her feet. She combed the walls with her gaze, looking out for any more Frost Fiend hiding under layers of ice. She saw none. The walls all look the same. In fact, not even the crust and crack in the ice could differentiate the walls. The likeness was too queer to not be ominous.

The Frost Fiend growled and Erin’s attention was reeled back to it. Its claws glowed the colours of winter and it plunged its arm into the ground. The bells roared in her head then. She dove into the heap of snow to her right as the ground protruded a trail of spikes her way. She quickly climbed to her feet and moved away from the wall as the Frost Fiend placed its hand on the frozen wall. Spikes erupted and trailed towards Erin. She rolled across the ground and bounded to her feet. She threw an Aura Shot but the Frost Fiend stomp the ground and raised a wall of ice to guard against the blade’s aura. The wall shattered with the Aura Shot and a bolt of lightning flashed through the shallow smoke of ice. The Frost Fiend saw it too late and the bolt tossed it against the wall behind it. Before it could get up, Erin was a foot away from it. The Frost Fiend slammed its palm to the ground but its head hit the ground before its palm.

[Experience gained 15% - Level Progression: 70%]

Erin dropped to her knees. Her sword kept her from plunging entirely into the snow. Spatial Magic wasn’t just Mana draining. It was even taxing to her mind. She felt as if all her brief respite was shaved off of her with just a single use of Warp. She would love nothing more than to close her eyes and sleep but the brethren of her fallen foe would slay her in her slumber.

The walls in the room stirred and limbs protruded from the ice layers. Frost Fiends emerged from their slumber.

“Fucking hell…” she cursed, panting. “Just what is this place?”