Ke'an walks over to System and in a swift motion sweeps her off her feet carrying her like a princess in his arms. Her face blossoms into a bright red as the shock of what just happened registers. A swell of confusion, anger and to her dismay arousal floods her head. Before she could vocalize a coherent response Ke'an continued to hoist her over his shoulder, carrying her like a log as he started running full speed down the mountain. Arousal and confusion quickly left her mind leaving only anger as she is jostled around as he ran.
They arrive at the village an hour later, Ke'an having run the five miles in the snowy and dangerous rocky mountainside at speed that should be impossible. Yet as if by instinct he could always quickly and efficiently choose the best path and adjust his body and reactions to insure he had the best footing possible. Ke'an assumed it was because of his stats increase in dexterity that allowed him to move at an inhuman speed.
Kal'sava is a winter orchard village which produces a sevfal berries which only grow in the winter under cold conditions. The fruit is technically divine as it was gifted to man by the Goddess of Winter. The orchard is buzzing with farmers harvesting and tending to the plants. Ke'an puts System down who is quiet and pouty having been carried like a sack of potatoes the entire time.
Ke'an notices the people in the village appear to all be stravani which is the largest group of them he had ever seen. The stravani are devout worshipers of the Goddess of Winter. They devoted themselves so totally that their faith changed their physical appearances. Their skin is paler than the snow but also has a light blue hue and tiny sparkles of bioluminescent freckles all over. Their hair is nearly colorless having the appearance of flowing ice. Despite the cold like Ke'an they are immune to the temperature so are wearing lightweight summer clothing in bright patterns and colors. The people have the unique ability to walk over snow without sinking into it, giving them an advantage in mobility in the winter.
A man and a woman walk over to Ke'an and System quickly with a concerned look on their face. Seeing people in the mountains this time of year was rare and the blizzards this year had been exceptionally bad. Ke'an having stored his travel bag in his inventory was dressed fairly light while System is in her modified winter gear and Ke'an's bear pelt cloak.
"Are you two alright?" The woman asks.
"We saw you running to the village carrying this person. Are you all lost?" The man continued.
"Spiclorcno ora taped, whou, grow." Ke'an says with a bow.
The two stravani were confused for a second before they smiled and returned the gesture. Ke'an having said "blessing to you, brother, sister," in the language used in worship to the Goddess of Winter. The phrase being common amongst followers of the Goddess which put the two at ease seeing that they are okay.
"My name is Manny and this is my sister Farly."
"It is nice to meet you my name is Ke'an and this is System." Ke'an says. "It is nice to see followers of the Goddess of Winter out here but we have come with dire news unfortunately. Greater Snow Wraiths are on their way here."
"Greater snow wraiths haven't been seen in a long time." Farly says as she covers her mouth and looks at Manny.
"Are you sure?" Manny says, his look turning stern. "Could you be mistaken lesser snow wraiths are pretty common this time of year and if you haven't seen one they can…"
"We are sure there are five of them to be exact." System says as she steps up. "We don't have a lot of time. We need to evacuate the village."
The two are taken back by Systems' eyes which look like nebulous clouds. Manny and Farly look at each other for a second before turning back and giving System and Ke'an an assessing look. System was largely a mystery; she was completely covered nearly head to toe in the bear fur. Ke'an on the other hand has a rather impressive arcane revolver on one hip and a war machete on the other.
"Please come with us." Manny says as he motions them to follow.
As soon as the group turns to head into the villages a blood curdling scream echoes throughout the forest. As more inhuman calls join into the cacophony everyone in the village is left unsettled. Ke'an and System turn to face the forest looking for any signs of the creatures that they now know are stalking the village.
"System," Ke'an says, is eyes sharp on the treeline. "Go with them. If I can get it close to death I will call you."
"We are out of time guys, we have to get somewhere safe." System says to Manny and Farly.
Manny and Farly take off running into the village yelling for everyone to get inside. System stays with Ke'an only going far enough away to not get in the way of the fight. The screams that get closer and closer as trees topple over in the distance. Ke'an takes out his revolver and his stamps he selects the fire and wind stamps and presses both seals on the barrel of the gun. He then does the same to his war machete. He then takes out the rock stamp and stamps both of his boots before opening his inventory and placing the stamps into his inventory.
The combination of the fire and wind enchantments work differently from the fire and rock. First there is no secret sari'vas technique to utilize them to the greatest effect like the pured form for magma. Ke'an is the only one so far to try the combination and found it makes flames hotter with less magic. He is hoping that the added heat will work in his favor against the greater wraiths.
He searches his magic for his beast aspects so he can take on the added agility of the wolf and strength of the bear. He then realizes he no longer feels the magic of the beasts within him, only the Administrator Authority he got from System. He hadn't needed the abilities until now and is worried what could have happened to make him lose his magic. He then turns and looks at System wide eyed.
"System!" Ke'an yells.
"What?" System calls out.
"Did taking the Administrator Core remove my other powers?" Ke'an asks.
"Hmm… it shouldn't have… wait probably." System says after some thought. "Your stolen powers were tied to your old body before you became a transcendent. If you have your old body you can probably reabsorb the powers from it."
"My old body was a pile on the floor of your reality crucible." Ke'an says.
"Then you should have it in your inventory." System says nonchalantly. "When you were kicked out of the crucible everything in it should have been sent to your inventory."
"I have been carrying around my corpse?" Ke'an says queasy from the thought.
"It's not really a corpse." System responds.
"It was my old dead body! How is that not a corpse?"
"Do you call a cocoon from a butterfly a caterpillar corpse?" System explains. "It is the same thing you're the butterfly."
Ke'an opens his mouth to rebut but after thinking about it for a little while he stops himself.
"It is still gross though." Ke'an says to himself.
Ke'an turns his attention back to the task at hand. He only heard legends of the greater wraiths and their incredible power. He saw some of that power once before because one of the elders from the village actually had the abilities of a greater snow wraith. It was passed down through his family for generations and once he dies his son would be the next one to inherit it.
Ke'an did not really know what to expect and didn't have time to prepare like he did with the lesser wraith he fought. The sound of the crashing trees is getting closer and the scream gradually became deafening. He would have to do this on his own pushing his new body and abilities to the limits.