The market's edge was a maze of ice-crusted tents, their shadows dancing under flickering lanterns. Qin Mo, Yi, and Ren moved silently, the shard's cold pulse overwhelming its heat, the FFD System warning of imbalance from the puppet's essence. The bells in Qin Mo's pouch chimed softly, their rhythm tugging at his core, a leash tightening with each fragment.
[FFD System: Frostflame Balance: Heat 35% / Cold 65%. Warning: Cold attunement critical. Binding risk: 50%.]
Yi's threads hovered, her face pale. "Your shard—it's shifting. The bells are pulling too hard."
Ren's daggers glinted, his eyes on the tents. "My brother warned of this. The Tax binds through cold."
A figure emerged—a woman in white robes, her hair frost-white, eyes glowing with Silent Tax runes. "Shard-bearer," she said, voice like a winter wind. "The Frost Veil claims you."
[FFD System: Silent Tax enforcer detected. Frost Veil skill active. Threat level: Critical.]
She raised a hand, frost swirling, forming a veil that drained heat from the air. Qin Mo's Flame Step flickered, the cold siphoning his fire. He lunged, blade slashing, but the veil deflected, ice shards grazing his arm.
[FFD System: Frost Veil siphon active. Heat loss: 25%. Balance: Heat 32% / Cold 68%.]
Yi's threads lashed out, piercing the veil, but the frost hardened them, cracking two. Ren's daggers struck the woman's arm, drawing blood that froze mid-air. She countered, frost chains binding Ren's legs, pulling him down.
Qin Mo unleashed Frost Howl, the roar cracking the veil, shards falling like snow. Yi's threads freed Ren, while Qin Mo's Frost Charge closed the gap, blade piercing the woman's shoulder. The shard burned, devouring her veil's essence.
[FFD System: Frost Veil essence absorbed. Devour progress: 20%. New skill: Frost Veil (Enhanced). Balance: Heat 30% / Cold 70%.]
The woman staggered, dropping a bell fragment, its runes pulsing. "The Tax will claim you," she gasped, collapsing.
Qin Mo grabbed the fragment, the shard straining, cold flooding his veins.
[FFD System: Bell fragment acquired. Silent Tax chain: 7/9. Binding risk: 52%.]
Yi caught him as he swayed, her threads steadying him. "You're freezing. The shard can't take much more."
Ren freed himself, eyes dark. "My brother fought this cold. We're close."
Qin Mo clenched the fragment, forcing heat into his limbs. "We'll break the Tax before it breaks me."
The FFD System chimed, urging them deeper into the market's shadows.
[FFD System: Silent Tax resonance: 55%. Next trace: Market's core.]
The frost thickened, the bells' chime a warning of the cost ahead.