Loud bangs. Banging. Crunches. Tinks. Numerous sounds entered my non-existent ears as I hid within my shell and felt my entire world shake. It felt and sounded like the world was ending. My heart pounded with each sound. 'Will it fall on me? Will I be safe?' I asked myself as I felt the room vibrate with each fallen piece of ice.
I felt something crush upon my body.
'Ow.' I thought as I felt something smash against whatever was on top of me.
Thoughts flashed through my mind as it too was soon covered by the sound of crashes and the pounding of my heart.
I was scared. Another life and death experience - the possibility of being squished to a mess of flesh. But this time I knew that it was completely my fault.
'Please miss.' I chanted in my head.
Like the world listened to my prayers, the rumbling soon ended as the last piece of ice seemed to fall with a tink. Squished up and beneath chunks of ice, I took in a deep breathe of cold air as soon as the avalanche of ice had ended.
"Why did this happen?" I asked as I tried to shove the piece of ice upward. I knew the answer. It was my fault. In my fit of rage, I destroyed the wall without thinking of the repercussions.
I was an idiot.
Unable to push the ice upward with my low stamina, I paused as I stared at my status bars. Red - about 20%, Blue - solidly full, Yellow - low but recovering slowly. Black - getting lower and lower by the second.
I waited as the yellow bar filled.
'I guess I need to be less reckless. In fact, every time I act recklessly something bad seems to happen to me.'
'Yes.' I agreed.
...
With my stamina recovered, I pushed once more, but it was futile.
'Maybe we can slide out?' I thought as I tried sliding forward.
Feeling the ice scratch against my shell, I continued.
Seconds later, I felt the weight being lifted off of my shell as I heard a thump as the giant piece of ice that was pinning me down fell on top of other shards of ice.
'No more recklessness and stupid actions.' I told myself.
I looked around at the new scene before me.
It was dark and chilling. Surrounded by ice, it wouldn't be an understatement if I sad that I was inside of a freezer. I could feel it in as well. The cold penetrated deep into my body as I struggled to move forward.
Although my condition seemed dire, I now had a way upward.
Like a mountain, the walls of ice had shattered to make a stack of ice - an icy tower. Like a beacon of light, small streams of light seemed to poke out between the gaps above me as white mist continued to stream down from the sides of the tower.
Unlike what I had imagined, the stack of ice wasn't as nicely stacked as I thought it was, but it was a way up - a path upwards.
...
"Hey metallic voice, how's my status?" I asked out loud.
*Ding*
[Status: Freezing] (Updated)
- 44.8% to all stats (Reduced by Cold Resistance and Cold Mastery)
- 4.974% per hour (Reduced by Cold Resistance and Cold Mastery)
Total debuff: - 49.774% all stats
Warning: Death 100% total debuffs.
'Of course.' I thought.
Without wasting more time, I slid onto the first block of ice before me. Like a mountain climber, I set out to climb the mountain of ice that was before me. Except I was worse off as I had no protection. It was like climbing an icy mountain with only your body and you're naked.
Yup. A chilling thought, right?
But for me, it was painful. The moment I put my foot on top of the ice, I felt painful stabs enter my body. Instantly, I jolted backward - a reflex.
'I have to do this.' I told myself as I placed my foot on top of the ice once more against my instincts.
[+1 determination]
[+1 confidence]
Feeling the chill enter through my entire body once more, I forced myself to remain on the ice. Shivering at first I began to laugh hysterically at how could it was. Unlike all my experiences before with the cold, it was bearable. That experience was not bearable. Not in the least.
But I stayed confident and pushed myself forward. 'You can do this.' I told myself as I slowly crept forward over the first stacked piece of ice of many. The only way out was up and I knew it, but it hurt and stung. It hurt and it hurt so much.
Suddenly, I felt a pull.
Like the ice had a firm grip on my body, I was suddenly held back. Confused, I pulled forwards as hard as I could. It was a mistake. Frozen partially to the ice, I accidentally tore a piece of flesh off as I pulled forward.
I grimaced while holding in my outburst from the pain.
The red bar flash - 15%.
"This is going to be harder... than I thought," I muttered myself through the pain. But soon the pain subsided as my wound numbed with the cold.
[Quest initiated: Survive the climb!]
The voice in my head chimed inside my head.
"Good and you better give me a better reward this time," I said shamelessly as I heard the Reward System's voice.
[Prompt: declined]
"Hmph... stupid system..." I muttered to myself.
[+ 1% cold resistance]
It seemed to reply as it seemed to reward me when I complained.
Feeling slightly relieved, I slid forward slowly forward.
My bodies flexibility shone through as I slid over the oblong chunks of ice. Apart from the first few incidents where I had frozen to the ice itself, my mucus helped me latch onto the ice with ease as it froze my body against the floor quite literally. Even the shifting ice below me wasn't a problem. Balanced randomly and precariously, the ice shards were far from stable. Luckily, I was a snail. My shell was an excellent counterbalance as I was able to stabilize the ice below me as I shifted the weight of my shell.
I was glad that I was a snail instead of another creature.
As I moved, the climb seemed to get easier as I continued upward as fast and safely as I could.
[+ 1% cold resistance]
[+ 0.001% Cold Mastery]
Similar messages continued to enter my head as I climbed upward and the climb got easier and easier - I was tempering my body without myself knowing.
But, little did I know, I needed it. I needed the resistances.
...
Halfway up the mountain, the terrain abruptly changed. The large slates of ice were quickly replaced with smaller and smaller pieces.
'Looks like it'll be harder from here.' I thought as I slid over the smaller pieces of ice. Occasionally, I stopped to added frozen streams of mucus in an attempt to stabilize the icy tower.
...
Ding. Ding. Ding.
Ding.
[+ 1% cold resistance]
[+ 0.001% Cold Mastery]
...
Some more time passed, and I was now close to the top of the tower now.
'Just a little more.' I thought as I tried to control my balance.
The tower was highly unstable. Swaying with my movement, I slowed down my pace substantially as I moved. But all the care in the world wasn't enough.
The heavens never made it easy for me.
Suddenly, a rumble.
No, it wasn't from the icy tower.
It came from inside my body.
Quaking loudly, it cried constantly like a baby that was hungry. Instantly, I felt my mouth begin to water as I felt the control over my body begin to slip. I reacted quickly, I bit down on my own flesh and tasted some of my own blood in order to regain control - before I did something rash, something I would regret.
My quick thinking worked, but it didn't just end there.
My stomach didn't stop. Besides controlling my actions, it rumbled even more.
'Can you stop?' I asked within my mind.
the gluttonous voice began to say as the metallic voice also began to boom inside my head at the same time.
[Skill: Hungering LV 1]
Current stacks: 8
+ 40% all stats
...
Then it stopped.
But the swaying didn't. My body rocked back and forth with the balanced pieces of ice as the tower swayed forward and back.
TINK!
A piece of ice shattered. Followed by another and another.
The ice tower crumbled to pieces with me still on it.
...