"Can I?" I hesitantly asked, pointing towards the ball of ice that she had created. It had just occurred to me but now that the idea was in my mind I couldn't ignore it any longer.
Emilia just nodded, hovering the ball of ice closer and closer to me. Enough that when it was just a couple feet away from me all of the saved heat among the cabin was taken, drawn towards this everlasting ice.
I marveled at it, my hand reaching out. Only a second before it touched it did I recoil back. My hands almost purple with frost.
Then, and only then, did I swipe my hands over the air. A well of power sprung through my chest as I took my sword from its resting place.
I threw it to the circle of enshrined space, along with the shove from Emilia. The two intertwined. In a way that even I could not tell.
Even as the holder of the ability.
Yet as I watched the progress, as it was spit out before me. Frost covering the sword. I couldn't help but reverently hold it.
My feet carrying me out of the cabin devoid of my input. With an empty mind with no thoughts swirling around, I took a stance.
My back held low, my face set upon invisible enemies. Made from the furnishing of my mind. Only then did I stoke the well of mana within me.
It coalesced through my blood, through my veins, through everything within my body. Creating an inferno of power.
An inferno that blazed brightly with cold flames. Only then did I swing. Tensing muscles and mana that I had never known.
A whole new world.
The snow melted around my body, turned into water that dripped through the dead grass.
I took one last deep breath, huffs of cold exiting my mouth in bouts of smoke.
Greeting me was Emilia, her smirk held as she leaned against the door to the cabin. Only then did I hobble over to her. A smile of my own on my face.
"Congratulations." She spoke, whispering directly into my ear.
I preened at the praise.
Even as I was ushered straight back inside, my clothes discarded, warming them closer to the source of the flames Emilia held tight control of.
It was a bit embarrassing, that I could admit at least. But it was necessary as I would have rather not wake up in a fit of aches from the cold. Or die in my sleep from lack of heat.
Even if I had to endure quite a bit of embarrassment. The benefit was worth it.
…
…
…
Drops of ice flayed over the cabin, creating a pounding that woke those of light sleep from their slumber. The day born anew, yet in the frigid cold, through the stormy clouds and drops of ice. There was no sign of light. Nor any warmth shining through the clouds. A pure cold that seeped deep into our bodies. A shiver that woke both from our sleep. Eyes popping open in an open ended shiver. Our bodies rubbing against one another for the slight heat that we may gain.
Was there warmth, not with the faltering focus. For sleep had weakened her will, not only had her spell been dispelled but the effects had faded.
Red cheeks rubbed against the bottom of the floor, layers of clothes and blankets covering our bodies so as to conserve any heat.
An expected outcome, yet one that neither Emilia nor I had truly felt the consequences of.
"Good…" She couldn't even finish her sentence before Emilia was engulfed by a slight glow. Her mana wrapping around her to shield her body from the heat.
I sighed and did the same, noticing an influx of mana. From all around, as if my body had evolved, a creation far above anything that I had managed so far.
Was this what Emilia had been congratulating me on? My growth into a true mage and the mana to back my statement.
I smiled and nodded my head, sending her a warm smile. Had it not been for her I never would have done this so easily.
Yes, I could have cheated, using various objects and bobbles to artificially create my circle. Yet with Emilia's help I had overcome that barrier with my own power.
Purely my own.
The frigid cold died down, leaving with it only the bite of the weather. And the occasional pounding of snow upon my head.
All as I turned through the tunnels, upon my side Emilia, her own weapon raised high. Ready for a vengeance well deserved.
Only the tunnels were emptied, where once there had been a sort of mystical feel, a creeping dread. Now… Now the only aura to surround my senses was the creep of feet against snow.
How they crunched.
Yet even so, this was our mission, given to us by the king. All in order to complete his order. To complete the dungeon we had crossed through.
Once the snow had fallen, the water above dried up. I knew we were there. The ominous feeling that had been so desolate since we had entered.
It had appeared once more, an almost snarl within my mind.
Almost unknowingly my hand tightened over the grip of my sword, letting the cold fire wash over my being. A feeling of calm once more clearing my mind.
I tensed, using the flame as an all-seeing guide, lighting the room.
It was a nest, craters throughout the chamber. If I had to say a size it would be about twice the volume of a typical hotel, in all directions.
An echo chamber with, just like the hotel I likened it to, craters that served as the homes of the beings.
Grotesque imitations of the human form, smaller and larger than the ones we had encountered the other day.
No matter how easy they were to dispatch. There were still thousands of them. All huddled in hibernation.
With no care in the world, as that yellow eye watched their sleep. Seeping its gaze through the interlopers.