The ice was steep, but Zach's boots gripped the surface firmly.
Chunks of dark rock jutted from the frozen walls, hinting that this wasn't just a mass of ice but something more ancient, more broken. The canyon felt like the gaping maw of some prehistoric beast.
Wind whispered past Zach's cheek as he followed Eli, the air sharp and biting.
Jagged walls of ice rose on both sides, fractured sunlight streaming through the great crack above.
"Get ready," Eli murmured, stretching out her hand.
Zach nodded. Snowflakes spiraled into his palm, fusing into a katana of white frost. He exhaled, brandishing the blade.
In front of Eli, feathers materialized, weaving into two elegant swords that hovered before her. She held one and stepped forward, her movements calm and precise.
Boom!
The glacier cracked. A serpentine creature burst from beneath the ice, its scaled body glistening like glass. Rows of jagged teeth lined its maw, slit-pupiled eyes locking on them with predatory hunger.
It lunged.
Zach froze, but Eli moved, sliding under its tail, her body flowing like a true master.
'Is that…?'
There was no doubt about it—she was an elite.
Unlike Zach, who had no formal training, elites came from powerful families and were taught something called swordsmanship. He had heard about it before but neveractually seen it.
Until now.
Eli's blade swept upward in a single fluid strike aiming for the the beasts mouth. The serpent's head split open, its body collaped lifelesslyon the ice, limp.
Zach's mouth hung open.
'She didn't use any skills…' he glanced at her
What he had just witnessed wasn't magic. It was pure, honed swordsmanship.
Eli wiped her blade clean without a word.
"We need to move." she spoke calmly.
Zach followed, he tightened his fist. She was already terrifyingly strong. If things got worse, he'd only hold her back.
'I have to get stronger…'
Monsters appeared sporadically along the path, but Eli dispatched them with effortless precision.
The canyon stretched straight like a scar across the land, it had it's pros and cons.
It offered shelter from the open sky and protection from aerial ambushes which was an upper hand in surviving these parts as aerial monster are often the hardest to deal with.
It was predictable and easy to defend.
However the down side was it was also a choke point. If enemies blocked both ends, to retreat was impossible.
The ice beneath their boots was another risk—slippery, fragile. Spring had just begun in the Fissure, and once the sun int sighed for a few days, this place could collapse into an ocean.
Zach let out a foggy breath. The cold gnawed at his bones despite the brightness above.
The monsters here had long adapted to the harsh environment, which was quite the hassle because he hasn't.
Which was another disadvantage of this terrain, monsters could spawn at anytime, and they weren't as unfamiliar with the ice as he was.
At least his shadow-cloak muffled his steps and shielded him from the biting cold air.
Without it, he would've frozen hours ago.
Daylight waned, and the canyon stretched endlessly into dusk.
By nightfall, Eli stood over another bunch of corpses, her silver sword dripped with black blood. The moonlight highlitedbher figure, red hair flowing, black-and-gold suit stained with crimson.
"I think that's enough," she said.
"Enough…? I haven't even done anything," Zach muttered.
"We should rest."
Thankfully they found a rocky cave a few meters back.
Zach sat on a stone opposite Eli, the place was t spacious, but it did what it needed to do.
The cave was curved in such a way that a monster would have to get close enough to actually see them.
The night was merciless. Wind howled through the canyon, the air sharpened by endless ice. Eli produced a strange device from her inventory, activating a floating orb of flame.
Warmth spread.
Zach glared at it. First it was the rope in her possession, now this?. How much did she have in her inventory?
They sat in silence, the orb flickering.
"You didn't use a single skill back there," Zach said.
Eli glanced at him, eyes half-shadowed by firelight. "Not everything needs a skill."
"That… thing you did. Swordsmanship, right?"
He leaned forward. "How do you get it?"
Eli raised a brow. "Swordsmanship isn't acquired. It's honed."
"Honed?"
"It takes years of practice, experience, resilience. Not just absorbing a skill card."
"So how are you so good?"
"I started when I was five."
"Five huh..." he held a bitter smile.
'I see..' Zach thought internally.
When she was swinging blades, he was still chucking rocks at lizards in the lesser districts.
The gap between them was a canyon of its own.
But if he stared too long at that gap, he'd never cross it. He clenched his jaw. He had to walk. Bleed. Fail. Rise. Again and again.
He chuckled softly, staring into the flame.
'It won't be easy. But it's doable.'
His fingers brushed the katana at his side. I'll need more than this…
A faint orange flicker caught Eli's eye beyond the canyon wall. She stiffened.
Zach sensed the sudden shift in Eli's demeanor.
"…What?" Zach whispered.
Her gaze narrowed. "We're not the only ones in the canyon tonight."
She looked into the horizon.
"What do you mean"
"I mean someone is in the canyon too"
Who could it be?, Zach was suspicious.
"Was It the stranded cadets..?"