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Aether had woken up completely abruptly; his body felt heavy, along with the sensation of sinking. He quickly realized and reacted: he was sinking to the bottom of some kind of lake, and began swimming toward the surface. However, as he swam, his muscles grew numb from the cold; the water was completely frozen.
Just as he was about to reach the surface, a thick layer of ice stood between him and the freedom to leave that cold place.
"Where the hell am I? How did I end up here!?"
He had been holding his breath for a long time, but air was beginning to run out. He immediately began looking for a way to break the ice. He launched a flurry of punches at the ice, but it didn't seem to have any effect; the ice remained intact. He gathered all his strength into one powerful strike, and the core in his chest began to emit a great white glow. A massive explosion occurred, and a large hole appeared in the ice.
Aether crawled out of the water through the hole. —Cough, cough, cough!— he had swallowed some water. —Ugh! That was close. —Aether tried to stand, but a wave of cold wrapped around his body, preventing him from moving.
"Damn! Why is it so cold here?"— The cold enveloped him, and being wet didn't help. He looked around for a source of warmth, but all he could see was a vast plain covered in white. —"Doesn't seem like there's anyone around?"— He hugged himself to keep warm.
The land was covered in the cold of the snow. In the distance, he could make out an approaching storm. The thought of finding shelter quickly crossed his mind, so he began walking in the opposite direction of the storm.
The snow was thick, making it difficult to walk. The sound of the snow crunching and his labored breath echoed across the plain. He adjusted his scarf, but it didn't seem to help. —"For my demons! Where the hell did I end up!?... My hands and legs are completely numb... If this keeps up, I don't think I'll get far..."— The boy seemed on the verge of collapsing, but then he noticed something. A small snowflake had landed on the tip of his nose. Around him, thousands of snowflakes began to fall, followed by a light breeze.
"This, no doubt, is not good..."
A disgusted expression appeared on his face. The only thing he could do was keep moving and try to find shelter, but being completely wet, along with the dense layer of snow, made it even harder to progress.
"I really need to find shelter as soon as possible."
His thoughts were filled with determination, but that determination was about to fade.
*Pam-pam!*
He quickly noticed small tremors.
"What's going on? An earthquake?... No, it can't be that."
The tremors were constant. Something big seemed to be approaching.
"But what is that?"
In the distance, he could make out a giant silhouette. A whitish creature with large horns that tripled its size. The moment was not ideal; his body was on the brink of collapse, but fortunately, the monster hadn't noticed him yet, as it was devouring a wild boar.
"... I'd better back up slowly..."
He did as he thought, and with great care, began to take small, light steps backward.
*Crack*
He stepped on a small flower, but fortunately, the monster didn't notice. He sighed in relief but realized something.
"How does a flower survive in this weather?"
After his brief thought, the ground beneath him began to move, causing him to lose his balance.
A living creature emerged from the ground in the shape of an ice flower. The flower, noticing him, began attacking by launching ice projectiles. Aether was hit directly in the stomach by the projectiles, making him vomit some blood.
"Damn!"
The flower seemed to be recharging its projectiles.
*ROOOAAAA!*
A loud roar echoed, shaking the ground. The creature dropped from the sky, crushing the flower and partially staining Aether with its nectar.
The creature sniffed... It seemed like a predator searching for its prey. It quickly spotted Aether.
"Oh, hell!"
Aether jumped to the side after the berserker jumped to crush him. After the impact with the ground, ice spikes formed around the creature. One of those spikes pierced Aether's right leg, but it wasn't hard for him to get up.
Aether was sweating, not knowing what to do, but he didn't seem overly concerned.
For a brief moment, the reality before his eyes distorted, and a voice echoed.
"Do you need my help?"
Aether frowned.
"No!"
Aether sighed and looked at the creature.
"I've faced demons a thousand times worse than this."
A faint light began to shine from his chest. The creature looked at him like a bull staring at a red cloth. The creature began charging toward Aether to ram him. Aether simply clenched his fist. He thought that with one punch, he would be able to deflect the monster. But to his great surprise, his abdomen was impaled by one of the berserker's horns.
"... WHY!?"
Aether was sent flying, while his mind started to wander.
"My strength... My power..."
Aether crashed into a pile of snow, which felt like rock. Some blood dripped from his mouth, while his forehead had already turned red. The creature began to retreat, preparing for one last charge.
"... Where did it go?"
Aether's vision became blurry, and as his sight was covered by the red of his blood, once again reality distorted.
"Are you sure you don't want help?"
Aether kept refusing.
"Why are you so stubborn?"
Aether smiled.
—Because I always find a way...— he said weakly to himself.
'Fate is confusing. They say it's a tedious thing, and while you live, you think you have the freedom of your fate, but it's nothing more than the false sense of free will. Both mortals and those who call themselves gods are prisoners of fate.'
The pile of snow Aether had fallen onto began to collapse, revealing a monument.
The berserker began its charge.
'And just as among mortals, the so-called gods stand out, for the sea of threads that makes up fate, under very few conditions will one thread intertwine with another, but when that happens, the fate of that thread cannot come to an end without crossing paths with the fate of that other.'
A statue that had been covered by snow was revealed. Aether, exhausted, leaned against the statue, while a faint blue-white light entered his body, and at the same time, a glow of the same color began to emerge from his chest.
The energy of that world had transferred into Aether's body. From the moment he received that energy, his consciousness knew how to use it. Aether extended his open palm toward the nearby creature.
He clenched his fist and, in a faint whisper, shouted.
—CRYSTAL COFFIN!
In less than a millisecond, when the berserker was already in front of Aether, it was frozen into a block of ice that looked like a cocoon.
Aether's tired body could take no more, and Aether, unconscious, fell beneath a statue of a woman who appeared to be praying with a pearl necklace in her hands.
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**Additional Scene:**
—My lady, the weather is not in our favor. We should head back before it's too late— said a heavyset man. —I agree, my lady— expressed another man, with a muscular build and a large hammer.
Three men surrounded a woman who wore a loose white coat with a black collar. Two of them agreed with the bad weather, but the third, who was of a burly appearance and wore metal gloves, looked at the woman as if waiting for an order.
The woman sighed. —You're right, the weather isn't favorable, but I still want to continue hunting that cryo lawachurl.
The first two men wanted to object, but the third one stopped them. —Are you soldiers, or are you cryollinas? If our lady wishes for us to continue, we must follow.
The two men said nothing more and accepted.
The four individuals walked through the storm, with the woman leading the way.
"Maybe near the Seven's statue is where that lawachurl is hiding?"
The woman thought.
The four walked until they reached a statue that was partially buried by the snow, but there was something strange that the woman noticed: a large block of ice lay in front of the statue.
—You three, quickly search for any signs of the lawachurl's whereabouts!— the woman exclaimed for the three men to start searching for any clue. —That lawachurl has been too close to the bonfire house, we should be cautious— she muttered to herself. But something bothered her: that block of ice that barely revealed its contents intrigued her.
The woman approached the block of ice and, with her hand, wiped the frost that had formed on it. She stepped back after being startled by what was inside the block. —What!?— her expression was one of surprise. —What the hell happened here!?
—My lady!— one of the men called to her. The man approached with something in his arms. —It's...— the woman looked at what he was carrying. —It's a young man...— the young man in his arms was covered in wounds and blood. The woman took one of his hands to check his pulse, but the man shook his head. —Looks like he was crawling to survive— the situation left her with a bad feeling, but she didn't express it. When the woman let go of the young man's hand, his chest began to glow, and with a spasm, the young man began to move in the man's arms. The woman checked his pulse and breathing again. —He... is he still alive?— the woman didn't know how, but the young man was still alive. Without thinking much, she took off her coat and put it on the young man.
—My lady!— the concerned man said. —It's best to give him as much warmth as possible— the woman replied. She called the other two to then head back to their "home."
[To be continued]