He considered the Egg. Then he found a quiet spot in the woods, sat down, and started drawing out its essence.
Its essence was laced with Ice Law. If Vials of Essence felt like warm broth for the soul, this felt like a cold shake. It took a while to go down. He was a little overeager with it at first, and he got a strange shivering shock. Brain freeze? Soul freeze?
So he took it slow and just kept sipping.
Soon enoughโ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ -> ๐ ๐
About half an hour laterโ
๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐ก!
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐ ๐ -> ๐ ๐
Then the Egg went dull.
Satisfied, he stood. Second floor time. But firstโฆ
He set out across the ice, heading for the island in the middle of the frozen lake. This time no one was there. As he got close, he made out frozen waterfalls pouring down little stone hills and a thicket of snow-laden trees.
โ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ค๐๐๐๐ฅ: ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐ช (๐น)
๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐ธ๐ฃ๐๐'๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฅ ๐ผ ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐๐ ๐๐ช ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐๐๐ ๐ช๐๐๐ฃ๐ค. ๐๐๐๐ ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐ช๐ ๐, ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ค ๐ค๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐ค ๐ ๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ก๐ค๐ฆ๐๐. ๐๐ฅ ๐๐ ๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐๐ค ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐๐. ๐ธ๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ค๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐ค๐ ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฆ๐๐ช๐๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐๐จ๐ค ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐.
As he got close, the air grew thick with cold mist. Laws so dense they were nearly corporeal.
It felt like he'd crossed into some kind of icy wonderland. Thick blocks of ice rose at the Isle's center, a little Stonehenge of pure ice. Trapped in them were all kinds of odd fish. Some huge and gray, leather-skinned, with long flat noses. Some tiny and colorful, shimmering softly in the pale light. You'd never think they were from the same body of water.
They were, if you believed the description. Just from different times, different epochs. It was like time stopped here, frozen in ice. He was the only thing that moved.
He was sure this place was very valuable to the right person. But to him it was just a pretty stop. It was no use to him right nowโand not just because he was exhausted.
Something about this place made him uncomfortable.
As he stepped, the mists wafted away from him as though repelled. The thought of taking them in made him faintly nauseated.
There was a dissonance. The Laws diverged. Fire and Ice did not agree with each other. Somehow Fire, Electricity, and Steel all felt friendly. But Darkness, Iceโฆ they felt far away. Like Yin and Yang, or something.
He felt eventually, if he tried hard enough, he could probably grasp hold of a few Ice Laws. It'd just be grueling to use. It wouldn't work with the rest of him.
Right now, at least. One day, though.
These Lawsโฆ they felt to him like part of a bigger puzzle. A puzzle bigger than the puzzle he was trying to solve right now. He had to solve this one before he got to that one.
He took note of this Cavern of Insight, just like he'd done with that Sharpness one way back when. For now, he'd focus Fire, Electricity, and Steel.
The sun was setting. He walked back to shore, found a nice bed of snow, and sprawled on top of it. He was out in minutes.
***
He woke up hugging a fallen branch.
He frowned at it, then he realized what he was doing. He was just so used to Reina being thereโฆ
He sighed.
Second floor time.
The stairs icon was in the middle of the lake, not far from the Isle. It was a spiral staircase corkscrewing deep into the ice, far out of sight. He heard shouts as he neared the entrance. He looked up.
There was a wide arc of white dots splayed out against the far shore. Watching, some shouting, cheering, waving at him. The Factions he'd met yesterday.
He just gave them a thumbs-up. Could they even see from out there? Whatever. He started down the stairs.
A bunch of neatly cut, long, slippery ice slabs, one after another. The ice walls let in the morning sunlight in bent, abstract streaks. It was like going down some very inhumane aquarium exhibit. Fish crowded around the stairwell, staring sightlessly. It was kind of eerieโthe stairs cut straight through a school of them. For a few yards, he was lost in glimmering red scales. He passed a narwhal-like thing with glossy yellow eyes as big as he was. He could swear they swiveled to watch as he went.
It wasn't long before the staircase opened into a craggy, wide tunnel, and he was in the second floor proper.
Up ahead, the tunnel split in two. One going left, one right.
The one going left had tunnels on tunnels on tunnels. It just kept branching, seemingly forever. He saw ghostly ape-like shapes drifting about, dragging their knuckles on the ground. Flashes of bright blue lit up a branch in the far distance. A fight?
It had to be Vanessa.
Then there was the tunnel going right. Instead of a bunch of narrow tunnels, it opened up to a huge cavern. Then another, and another still, going down one straight path, all linked.
One of these must be going to that Frost Giant. And the other the Leviathan Glacier Whale.
He scratched his head. Then he went right.
Not a hard choice. Vanessa seemed not to like him. And he just liked working alone.
The cavern was a giant undergroundโunder-ice?โlake. Its walls were the same pure ice, lightly reflective, giving a blurry view of the world above. Ice floes drifted about from one end to the other, making a makeshift path across the water. There was a tunnel down the other endโฆ
๐๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐๐ง๐ ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐ (โ+)
What?
๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐ ๐๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ ๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ฆ๐ค๐ฆ๐๐๐๐ช ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฃ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ๐ค. ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐ค๐ฅ๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ค ๐๐๐ฅ๐จ๐๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ ๐น๐ ๐ค๐ค. ๐๐ ๐ฆ๐ฃ ๐ฅ๐๐ค๐ ๐๐ค ๐ฅ๐ ๐ค๐๐๐ช ๐๐ง๐๐ฃ๐ช ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐๐ โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐.
โ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐ โ๐๐จ๐๐ฃ๐: ๐ ๐น-๐พ๐ฃ๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ค๐ฆ๐ฃ๐, ๐ฅ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ช๐ ๐ฆ ๐๐ช ๐ฅ๐๐ ๐๐ช๐ค๐ฅ๐๐.
๐ธ๐๐๐๐ก๐ฅ?
This was new. He squinted down at the water and saw massive dark shapes swirling far beneathโฆ
๐พ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ฃ๐๐ (๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ)
๐ผ๐ค๐ค๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ง๐๐ ๐๐
๐๐๐จ: ๐๐๐๐ ๐ฃ ๐๐๐จ ๐ ๐ ๐ป๐๐๐ก ๐ฝ๐ฃ๐๐๐ซ๐
๐๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐๐๐ค:
๐น๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐น๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ (๐ธ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐) [๐๐๐๐ ๐๐๐ ๐]
๐๐๐๐๐๐ค๐๐๐ค ๐ ๐ก๐ ๐จ๐๐ฃ๐๐ฆ๐ ๐๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ค๐ฅ ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐ช ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐ช ๐๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐ฅ๐ค ๐๐๐ ๐จ๐๐ ๐๐, ๐๐ฃ๐๐๐ฅ๐๐๐ ๐ ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐๐ซ๐๐ ๐๐๐๐ซ๐ซ๐๐ฃ๐.
๐๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐น๐๐ฅ๐ (๐ธ๐๐ฅ๐๐ง๐) [๐ผ๐ก๐๐]
๐น๐๐ฅ๐๐ค ๐๐ ๐จ๐ ๐จ๐๐ฅ๐ ๐๐๐๐ฃ๐๐๐๐๐๐ ๐๐ ๐ฃ๐๐, ๐๐๐ ๐ฆ๐๐ ๐ฅ๐ ๐ฃ๐ฆ๐ก๐ฅ๐ฆ๐ฃ๐ ๐ ๐๐๐๐๐๐๐ฃ.
These sounded pretty fun. He accepted. Ethereal blue light walled off the tunnel behind him and the tunnel ahead.
๐๐๐๐ฃ ๐๐ ๐๐: ๐๐ ๐๐ค๐ฅ๐๐ฃ โ๐ ๐ฆ๐ค๐
He'd just beaten a Level 90 World Ranker. He figured he could drub a few whales pretty easily.
Only, how was he meant to actually fight these things?
Something was odd about this waterโฆ Zane stuck a finger in it. Frost instantly started creeping up the digit, and he jerked it out.
He hadn't really thought about the logistics of fighting underwater. It'd seemed pretty fun, but now that he was hereโฆ hmm.
His new body was great for a lot of things. Swimming was very much not one of them.
Eh.
He didn't need to go to them. He figured if he just stood there long enough, they'd come to him. The restโฆ he'd figure it out. He was pretty good at that.
So he took a couple hops down the ice floats until he landed at one just about in the middle.
Already the shapes took notice. They were swirling up to the surface. And fast. The floes began to teeter as the lake grew turbulent, shaking with wavesโฆ
He grinned. Then he reached out with his soul just to see, and felt the whirlpool of minds rushing up to meet him.
He recoiled.
He could instantly tell these things were different. There was something there, but it wasn't a soul like a human soulโit felt tainted somehow, stained with a deeply dark energy. At its core, there was this incredible lust for destruction. For violence. The moment the Orcas sensed him, he felt hatred spiking in them.
They hated everything that lived.
The water began to tremble all around him. He saw fins big as sails rising to the surface. He got out a Chainโand almost flipped his ice barge wholesale. He had to de-summon it to right the float.
He was stable for all of a second.
Then he felt a hateful mind rushing up right under him. He leaped straight up.
A sleek torpedo of a head blasted straight through the barge, rising fast out of the water, glistening with frost. Inky jaws unhinged, lined with rows of knifelike teeth.
He fed the Monster his Axe.
It was like dropping an anchor right through the beast's body. It carved through the throat, down its intestines, and it choked on tons upon tons of flaming steel. An explosion rocked its insides. It fell away, tiny eyes rolling back.
Then Zane was falling. And he had nowhere to land. And no less than three of the beasts were rising out of the water now, trying to crunch up a piece of him.
Shit.
He whacked one out of the air, got his Axe deep into the fin of another.
The third clamped its jaws around his waist and dragged him under.
He felt a shock of freezing water, water that sank its cold fingers deep under his skin, prying for his muscles, for his organs. And his Steel didn't protect him. He tried flailing for the surfaceโit was no use. He couldn't lift off. He was just too dense.
All the while those massive jaws tore into him with a huge force. Enough to chew through the hull of a tanker ship, probably. But not his body. It sank an inch into his arms and belly. Still deep enough to draw blood. And the others swarmed inโฆ
Rising Sun Slash!
His arm moved so slow down here. And something about this water smothered his Laws. It took a huge effort to get it goingโit was a sputter of a slash. It went half as far as normal, and took him almost three times as long to get off. Still enough to rip an Orca clean in two, and slice a flipper off another.
Then he felt his body smash into a hard wall. He'd hit lake bottom.
The Orcas swarmed around him, screeching so loud it felt like his head might explode, battering furiously at him. A huge one had him by the waist, just burying him down here. They kept pummeling him, spinning him, drive-by blasting him as he tried to right himself. He forgot which way was up. He realized what they were trying to do.
His Steel Body made himself stupidly heavy. Then there were the whales weighing on him, sinking their teeth into his ankles, bullying him into the iceโฆ
They were trying to drown him.
He stopped trying to kick for the surface. Just wasn't working, not with so many of them pummeling him down. He just got out his Axe and buried it deep into the skull of the Orca holding him. Its jaw slackened.
Then he swept out in a slow, inevitable arc, and huge gobs of blood spurted into the water.
They started rushing him at once, trying to bully him, and he hacked into them, slicing through mouths, ripping up blubber and skin with ease. They couldn't hurt him. And one slice of his Axe could cave those huge skulls in. The only thing was, down here, in this cold, everything was so slow. He had to go one, by one, by oneโฆ
He was getting lightheaded.
He needed air. He had to get through them, then kick for the surfaceโhe looked at his mini-map.
Shit.
There must've been dozens of dots swarming him. All at once. At this rate he'd run out of breath. Then it wouldn't matter how much power he had. He was done.
He was getting a little frustrated. It felt like the story of his life lately. He had all the power he needed. He just couldn't use it! Not in time, at least. If only there was some way he could get them all at once. If only his Electric Laws were strong enough... but two Minor Laws, against all that Major Ice Law in the water--and he didn't even have a Skill to apply them. What could he do?
โฆWait.
Could you start a firestorm underwater? ...Logically, the answer was no.
Fuck it.
He got out his Axes.