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I find myself trudging through the snow while wrapped in a heavy cloak to protect myself from the biting wind.
As for why I am trudging through the frozen land as snow builds up on me, we will have to go back an hour or so ago.
***
~An hour or so ago~
"We are nearing the drop off." Professor Sageira said as I flew on her back. "Prepare to drop."
I acknowledged her heads-up and checked my luggage straps. A few minutes later, she said, "We are here, drop."
There were a few seconds of silence before he reared her head back to look at me, "I said we are here, drop."
"I heard you the first time. But are you not missing the crucial step of landing first?" I asked.
"I am not missing anything. Just jump off. If I have to land, that is more time and energy I have to spend in this blasted cold. And the last time I checked, I am still a cold-blooded creature. I am not having a good time here. Now jump! You have the means to survive the drop." she demanded.
"Now you are just pulling my leg, your relatives live up this far north, but you can't take a few minutes to land and let me off?" I bargained.
"They are Frost Dragons. They evolved to live up here. Now get off," she said as she flipped upside down, throwing me off.
"FUUUCCCKK!!" I screamed as I spread my limbs out to slow my descent as much as I could, while using instinctive air magic to create a powerful updraft.
As the updraft I conjured battered against me, I was fighting to keep myself stable in the winds of a snowstorm at the same time. The worst part was that I could not see the ground with all the snow blowing around.
The only way I saw how far I was away from the ground in the blanket of white snow was when I spotted flecks of green that belonged to some of the spaced-out evergreen trees that were swaying in the snowstorm, which caused the snow to build up and fall off, only to start building up again.
When I was around two hundred meters from hitting the ground, I took the momentum from the cinjored upgrade and spun it sideways into a tornado. That tornado spread far, sucking in the surrounding snow to build a loose snow pillar. I then maneuvered my body to glide toward that pillar.
I went in feet first, and just before I hit the snow pillar, I flared my aura as strong as it would go, hardening my body for the impact that was to come. And sure enough, I sank into the snow pillar feet first, obliterating it, but it had served its purpose of absorbing the impact of my fall.
A few minutes later, I dug my way out of the show, and the moment I was able to breathe the cold northern air that stung my throat, I fed mana into Professor Sageira's scale and mentally shouted at her, [You bitch! I almost fucking died!]
[You sure sound lively for someone who "almost fucking died". Stop whining and get to the village if you want to get warm while waiting for the target to arrive.] she said, like throwing me off her back from a few kilometers up was no big deal.
Grumbling all the while, I dug my luggage out, threw on a heavy cloak, checked my compass for the direction, and started trudging.
***
~Back to the present~
My trudging through knee and sometimes even waist-high snow eventually brought me to a nameless village situated at the border of the Valorhelm Dominion, right at the border of The Frozen North.
From what Professor Sageira said, the only reason this village even exists is that it was so far north and borderline inhospitable that the government did not deem it worth the taxman's time or effort to make his way all the way out there to collect taxes. In fact, the Valorhelm Dominion government pays the village to be used as a pseudo-outpost in case their military needs a staging ground to strike into barbarian territory.
As for how this village survives, they may not be able to plant a cereal crop, but they are able to grow heartier winter crops and root vegetables all year round. The only thing they had to look out for was the occasional showstorm I was experiencing now. Most other times, it was just chilly with minimal snow; you could even see the soil most times of the year.
When I got to the village, I was stopped by a five-meter-tall log wall with its gates closed and nobody on watch. But given the current weather, that was to be expected. I doubt they would expect anyone to come to them in this snowstorm, and I very highly doubt that if there was a watchman, he would spend his time freezing his ass off here on the lookout for visitors like me.
Now I could easily knock down such a simple wooden gate, but that would not endear me to the locals, especially when I was depending on their hospitality to keep me warm until my target gets here. So I decided to just knock on the gate… loudly.
I activated my aura and lightly, very lightly, pounded on the gate using the palm of my hand to make it loud enough to cut through the howling wind. "HELLO! ANYONE INSIDE?" I shouted while continuing to pound on their gate.
After five minutes or so of continuous pounding, I actually managed to make a handprint on where I was pounding. It was then that I heard a man's gruff voice from the top of the gate. "Who the hell are you, and what are you doing out here in a snowstorm?"
I looked up to see a person wrapped in winter wear, only revealing his eyes.
"I am Liam, a mercenary. I have business in the Frozen North. May I please take shelter here?" I asked while using my mercenary alias.
The man looked at me, then to the snowstorm behind me, then back to me. "Alright, come in. But if you make any trouble, we are mobbing your ass and throwing you naked out in the cold." he said, and soon, the gate cracked open just enough for me to slip in.