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Chapter 14 – Blood and Frost
The cold hit harder than expected.
Not just the bite of wind—but the Qi itself. As Kael and Lys crossed the icy lowlands beneath the Icerend ridgeline, even the air resisted them. Spiritual energy was thinner here, tighter, like it had been strangled by centuries of cold.
Kael pulled his cloak tighter and kept walking, the Seal fragment pulsing faintly beneath his shirt like a second heartbeat.
They passed through ghost villages—ruins half-buried in snow, their stone chimneys broken, doors swinging on rusted hinges. Lys kept glancing over her shoulder, one dagger always drawn.
"This place died," she said, "but not from time."
Kael didn't ask what she meant. He could feel it too.
Everything here felt… silenced.
> Gracebound System Passive Active:
Draconic Endurance – minor fire aura reduces environmental fatigue
Effect: Frost resistance increased 10%
Kael – Fire Root Stage: 39% → 41%
Lys – Frost Vein Stage: 36% → 38%
They camped inside an abandoned watchtower near the edge of a frozen cliff. Kael set a quiet flame inside a sealed brazier, enough for warmth but not enough to draw attention. His demiplane responded sluggishly here—access slower, flickering—like the cold affected even space itself.
Lys leaned against the stone wall, staring out into the white mist that cloaked the valley. "This region sits over an ancient Leyrift," she murmured. "A place where realms bled together once. The Seal must have cracked something open again."
Kael watched her face. "You've seen it before."
"Only the aftershocks. When I was younger, a fracture opened near the Tundren border. Creatures crawled through—twisted, wrong. Like nightmares with teeth."
Kael nodded slowly. "We'll be ready."
They weren't.
---
The next day, the snowstorm came with no warning.
Wind howled, visibility dropped to inches. Lys led the way with her frost affinity barely keeping a path open, her fingers glowing blue with effort.
Suddenly—howls. Echoing through the snow.
Not wolves.
Not natural.
Kael drew Bonefire Fang.
Out of the white came shapes—long-limbed, half-formed things made of sinew and frost. Their eyes were holes. Their mouths were full of splinters and bone.
> Hostile Detected:
Class: Riftspawn – Icerend Variant
Type: Spiritual Aberration
Estimated Power: Vein Realm – Mid
Numbers: 5+
Warning: Avoid prolonged physical contact – spiritual drain effect confirmed
"Back to back!" Kael shouted.
The riftspawn attacked in silence, one lunging at Kael with claws aimed at his chest. He ducked, letting Emberfang arc upward in a crescent blaze, cutting the thing across the torso—but it didn't bleed. It shattered, like glass and spirit combined.
Lys formed a thin whip of ice and lashed two out of the air, their bodies freezing mid-motion and collapsing into brittle shards.
But for each one that fell, more emerged.
Kael growled and slammed Bonefire Fang into the ground.
> Technique Activated: Inferno Pulse
A ring of flame burst outward, melting snow and staggering the monsters long enough for Lys to spike the ground and create a wall of jagged ice between them and the swarm.
> System Update:
Fire Root Stage: 41% → 45%
New Ability Unlocked: Inner Combust (Channel internal flame to amplify next strike by 50%)
Lys – Frost Vein Stage: 38% → 41%
"I'm burning too fast," Kael hissed, sweat mixing with frost.
"Hold on!" Lys shouted, eyes widening. "There—look!"
Beyond the storm, barely visible, stood a monastery carved into the mountainside. Its spires pierced the clouds, and above its gate hung a faded symbol—a spiraling wyrm frozen in ice.
"Run!" Kael shouted.
They sprinted, dodging claws and screams, pushing their bodies beyond comfort and into desperation. Kael slashed, Lys froze, and together they made it to the stone gate just as a final screech tore behind them.
Kael turned mid-step and activated Mirror Shards—sending three illusions sprinting back toward the spawn. The creatures lunged at the wrong targets—buying them seconds.
Enough.
Lys slammed her palm into the frozen symbol. The gate shuddered and opened with a groan.
They fell inside.
And silence followed.
---
Inside the monastery, the air was still—almost holy.
A circle of robed figures stood in the main hall. Unmoving. Stone?
No.
Frozen.
Perfectly preserved monks, mid-prayer, encased in clear ice. Their expressions were serene, peaceful.
Kael stepped carefully.
The Seal fragment inside his coat grew hot.
And in the center of the room floated the second Wyrm Seal fragment—this one pale blue, almost transparent, like condensed moonlight.
But unlike the first, this one wasn't unguarded.
The ice cracked behind them.
And one of the monks began to move.
> Boss Encounter Detected:
Guardian of the Silent Flame
Cultivation: Flame Vein Realm (Initial)
Status: Sealed Animus
Warning: Elemental polarity—direct fire may empower the guardian
Kael's face went cold. "Well. That's new."
Lys looked at him, eyes narrowing. "We'll need finesse."
Kael grinned, flipping Bonefire Fang once.
"I hate finesse.