Sterling watched Harry and Ron take off from the windowsill, their silhouettes disappearing into the star-scattered night. Only when he could no longer see them did he transform the glass back into its solid state, blocking the bitter wind that had begun to seep through the opening.
"Chirp! Sterling's feeling better."
Robin landed happily on the bedside table, accidentally kicking over the still-chanting alchemical figure that continued its monotonous recitation of "—, —, —" in mechanical tones.
"Because no amount of sadness will help me escape my current predicament."
Sterling skilfully brewed tea with practised movements, this time at an unprecedented concentration, the liquid dark as midnight and bitter as regret. He didn't even add his usual mountain of sugar.
Then he downed the entire scalding cup in one gulp, feeling his previously drowsy head clear instantly like morning mist burning away under sunlight.
"Chirp! Aren't you going to sleep? Your body will break down!"
Robin's voice carried genuine concern for his well-being.
"I never said I wouldn't sleep. Please cover me with blankets later, and tomorrow, noon at the latest, if I haven't woken up yet, wake me."
Before Robin could voice the obvious question of "How can you possibly sleep after such strong tea?", Sterling sat cross-legged on his bed and pointed his wand directly at his own forehead with steady determination.
"Stupefy."
Before darkness could completely shroud his thoughts, a familiar light current swept him upward, abandoning his present-world body to rise above the clouds, then fall through dimensions toward Avalon.
This time Sterling maintained crystal-clear awareness throughout the transition. Due to his previous experience of accidentally remaining frozen conscious in the snowfield's high altitude, Sterling decided to make this deliberate attempt at visiting Avalon while not actually asleep.
Normal sleep, as long as you harboured thoughts of "going to Avalon" before unconsciousness, would automatically transfer your essence there.
Now it seemed that as long as the present-world body lost consciousness through any means, you could gain the right to visit Avalon.
Thus, for the first time, Sterling gained a bird's-eye view of all Avalon spread beneath him like a living map.
"What in Merlin's name is this?"
Sterling stared in amazement at the "light barriers" that were extremely conspicuous even at his current altitude. They were distributed like a massive grid throughout the cloud layer and sections of sky below, their colours growing progressively fainter toward the bottom before dissolving entirely into the azure expanse.
He was now falling into one of the divided "cells", which he could clearly observe was dumbbell-shaped, wide at both ends with a narrow bottleneck in the middle.
Emerald plains and pale snowfields were distributed at opposite ends. Sterling remembered one side contained the Black Mirror Kingdom, while the other held the Snow White Kingdom and the vast snowfield stretching beyond it into mystery.
Because he remained in a conscious state, Sterling discovered he could actually control his falling direction with concentrated effort.
So he began deliberately gliding toward the snowfield's deepest, most remote reaches.
Originally he'd intended to locate Gerda, but with such an unprecedented opportunity for exploration, he might as well attempt to find Queen Kai directly.
As Sterling's altitude decreased steadily, his position within the snowfield moved closer to its frozen heart. He'd descended below the cloud cover now, with ice crystals and snow flying alongside him like an escort of diamonds.
He felt certain he'd reached places even the adventurous Gerda hadn't touched. The temperature here existed completely beyond what ordinary people could endure without magical protection.
Sterling had no doubt that casting "Aguamenti" in this environment would freeze the conjured water solid along with his wand tip before a single drop could fall.
He had a growing premonition that Kai was not far ahead, somewhere in this wasteland of eternal winter.
Just as Sterling prepared to cast magic to create additional momentum to complete his journey across the snowfield, he crashed violently into an invisible barrier. The moment Sterling was bounced back like a rubber ball, violent shock waves spread throughout his entire body, similar to a head-on collision with a speeding truck. No, he was the one moving at tremendous speed. It felt more like a truck hitting a steel wall at full velocity.
Regardless of the precise analogy, Sterling now saw actual stars dancing before his eyes, pain radiating through every nerve ending. This was a completely novel experience for someone whose body had always been remarkably resilient. When he was eight, he'd fallen from a third-floor balcony to the street below and only managed to scrape his leg.
Sterling was catapulted like a human cannonball, flying toward the snowfield's outer regions faster than he'd originally fallen, then, as if guided by malicious destiny, pierced directly through a tent and buried himself heavily in accumulated snow.
Gerda held a wooden spoon in one hand, staring in complete bewilderment at the snowy landscape now exposed through her thoroughly destroyed tent. Cold wind immediately began howling through the tear, making Gerda, who wore only a light floral dress within her previously warm shelter, sneeze violently.
She looked down at the cooking pot shattered by Sterling's violent impact and the hot fish soup that had been her planned dinner, now reduced to scattered dregs and steam. Gerda felt like her patience had also shattered into irreparable pieces.
"Ah, Gerda? Is that you? Quick, give me a hand! My magic somehow won't work properly!"
Hearing that unmistakably familiar voice from somewhere nearby, Gerda turned her head with mechanical precision, her eyes beginning to gleam with barely contained menace.
"Sterling! Look what you've done! You've completely ruined my tent and my dinner!"
Her voice carried the dangerous edge of someone pushed beyond reasonable limits.
"I'll compensate you for everything, but get me out first! Without magic I'll freeze to death in minutes!"
Sterling felt his magic power was being actively suppressed by some sort of grey mist that seemed to cling to his essence. He couldn't summon even the most basic Life Flame that usually came as naturally as breathing.
So now he could only wrap his arms around himself pitifully, trying to slow the relentless heat loss from his body.
If he fainted from cold and was forced to leave Avalon... Sterling felt dizzy just contemplating the possibility.
That would effectively end his Avalon existence permanently, wouldn't it?
Moments later, a thick cotton cloak was tossed down by Gerda from the hole's edge with more force than strictly necessary. Sterling quickly wrapped himself in its blessed warmth and sighed with profound relief.
Gerda peered down at this diagonal snow pit, momentarily uncertain about the logistics of extracting Sterling from his predicament.
Should she throw down a rope and attempt to pull from outside?
No, he appeared deeply embedded in the packed snow. Gerda didn't believe she, a relatively slight woman, possessed sufficient strength to haul him out through pure physical effort.
"Sterling, why don't you just leave Avalon and return safely?"
Gerda suggested it with practical logic, but Sterling firmly refused the suggestion.
"No, absolutely not. Why don't you check if there are any useful tools in your magical space?"
Gerda slapped her forehead with sudden realisation.
"Origin Magic doesn't require conventional magic power, right? You can use your Origin Magic! You should have awakened it by now, right?"
Sterling blinked. Oh right, his brain was genuinely frozen if he'd forgotten such an obvious solution. With a casual wave of his hand, a book and quill materialised in his numb fingers.
"Sterling Page"
"Sterling Page is trapped at the bottom of a snow pit. Gerda prepares to rescue Sterling, but she cannot pull up a boy roughly her own weight."
Oh? Sterling had identified the most effortless possible modification.
Simply change "cannot" to "can".
Gerda, standing beside the pit, suddenly felt incredible power surge through her entire body like liquid lightning. Before she could begin to understand what was happening to her, a tearing sound rent the air as bulging muscles actually ripped straight through her sleeves.
Then a sturdy rope materialised in her hands as if conjured from thin air, its other end somehow already tied in a secure knot around Sterling's waist.
Gerda suddenly experienced an overwhelming urge to pull this rope with all her might, and she followed that instinct without hesitation. Snow layers were torn apart by ultimate physical force. Gerda's feet immediately took root in the snow like tree trunks, her slender legs transforming into thick pillars of power, even more robust than the Snow White Kingdom's legendary strongmen.
Her arm definition became sharp as knife carvings, emanating terrifying strength through simple movements. The rope cutting through frigid air seemed to slice through the atmosphere itself.
Sterling was hauled upward like a meteor hammer, then landed with a solid "thump" directly before Gerda's feet.
The supernatural muscles covering Gerda's body disappeared like deflating balloons, along with the magical rope and any trace of good humour on her face.
She examined her torn sleeves with growing dismay. Perfect, her favourite top was completely ruined.
Then she noticed her thoroughly burst boots. Wonderful, the new pair she'd purchased specifically before coming to the snowfield was also the most comfortable footwear she currently owned.
Sterling quietly raised his head from where he'd landed. For that brief instant, he glimpsed something that resembled a demon wearing his friend's face.
He desperately wanted to play dead, but the demon wouldn't permit such an easy escape.
"Raise your head! Look directly into my eyes!"