Lein tried to remain calm.
«So what if some unknown demon is hunting me? Big deal, it happens. And so what if I ended up in a completely foreign world with some vague task? Just a change of scenery. Sure, I might freeze to death soon… but it could be worse… right?..»
But the longer he thought, the clearer it became—there was nothing good about this situation.
«The more I think, the less I want to move forward… No! I have to pull myself together. It's not over yet,» he forced himself to believe.
«What do I even have?» Lein asked himself.
«Well, first of all, the Story's clue. It said there's a hidden lair of an ancient tribe nearby. Second, the Story told me I have to make a choice. What kind of choice—it didn't say. I suppose it's tied to that mysterious tribe. The Story didn't give me their exact location, so I'll have to find it on my own. But the demon could also stumble upon it first, maybe even set a trap. I have to be faster than the demon and figure out what choice I'm supposed to make. But even then… I probably won't be able to leave this fragment. Or rather, I could, but then the demon would break free with me. That… can't be allowed. I need to kill it. Or somehow seal it. The problem is, I know nothing. Not about the demon, not about this world, not even what exactly I need to do to clear this fragment… Fine. I'll at least start by finding the lair.»
Lein looked left, toward the west.
A cliff dropped sharply downward. Only then did he realize he was standing on some kind of hill. He walked to the edge and peered down.
Below lay a frozen river and trees with pale white leaves. A vast fir forest stretched beyond, and beside it, a small icy lake.
«No… I doubt the lair is down there. Too far away.»
Lein stepped back, trembling all over.
With each passing moment, the cold sank deeper.
He turned his gaze eastward.
There stretched an open plain. Massive stones jutted out of the snow like torn fragments of the earth itself.
«A plain would be a convenient place to hide a lair. But… maybe too obvious?»
He looked straight ahead, to the north.
There rose jagged cliffs—sharp, icy, chaotic. They radiated threat, warding off any who dared approach.
«Not obvious… but maybe exactly the kind of place someone would hide a lair.»
Finally, he glanced south.
Another cliff—but what drew his eyes wasn't the cliff itself. It was the massive column of blue ice towering beside it.
Dozens of meters thick, stretching hundreds high into the sky—a frozen monument.
«No, that's way too obvious. No one would build a secret lair next to something like that. Unless… it's part of a puzzle. But I don't have time for puzzles right now.»
Lein raised his eyes to the sky.
No clouds.
The sun was almost like Earth's, but just a little smaller.
«Hmm. Hopefully this isn't some time-based puzzle. Because I don't have any time.»
Once again, Lein stood before a choice.
Or rather—several.
Should he head north? Or was the lair hidden in the obvious place to the south?
Maybe it lay east, among the stones scattered across the plain?
Or… was it west, beneath the hill?
«Definitely not west. First, it's dangerous, and second, it's too far. Not north either. Sure, the lair could be hidden there, but you could easily get lost. And since it was built for an entire tribe, it wouldn't be overly complicated to reach—too risky. It could be on the plain or near the ice column. But the ice column stands out far too much—any child would know it's not a good place for a secret lair. That leaves… the plain. Of all the spots I've seen, only that one seems right.»
Lein didn't waste another second and headed toward the plain.
He didn't know the exact temperature, but judging by how it felt, it couldn't be warmer than minus ten.
He had already begun trembling less—but that only made his mood worse.
«Damn…»
Because shivering was normal.
Not shivering… meant his body was slowly losing heat.
And, as Lein feared, it felt like his hands were being pierced by thousands of tiny needles.
And it didn't stop there.
Numbness crept up his fingers.
Each breath came with difficulty.
Each inhale scraped his lungs like shards of glass.
But despite the pain, despite the cold, Lein kept walking.
The freezing wind grew stronger, making his steps heavier.
At some point, he stopped feeling his hands altogether.
His black eyelashes froze from the snow and wind, flakes blowing straight into his face.
Lein lost all sense of time.
The only thing driving him forward was the sight of the stones—closer and closer.
Step after step through the snow, each one heavier than the last.
His thoughts dulled.
As if his brain was succumbing to the cold too.
Lein finally reached one of the stones on the plain—it was within arm's reach, but…
Suddenly, he stumbled and fell.
And then he couldn't even stand up.
His arms, his legs… his whole body refused to obey.
«No… I… was so close…»
Lein felt so sleepy.
«No! I… mustn't…»
He was tired.
«I can still…!»
But he couldn't move anymore.
His entire body was numb.
«I still have to… return…»
He had done everything he could.
Now… he could finally rest.
Far from the demon.
No more worries.
Far from the troubles of this world.