The ice wall
The ice wall, a frozen hellscape, hardly traversed by normal men. It wasn't necessarily a wall. walls were barriers that separated two areas. In the case of a house, walls separated inside from the outside. They were, in a sense, borders. However, the ice wall was more than just a border separating two sides. Instead, it was a land mass.
A landmass that stretched high up into the sky, a mountain whose surface was found far above the surface of any other land mass. This mountain was a behemoth that towered over most of the world, appearing much like a wall to the eyes of those below its surface.
The exact size of the wall is unknown. However, accounts from known Explorers estimate the ice wall to be massive ice continent that completely circumvents the entire world, trapping the entire known world within its borders.
There exists many theories and rumors regarding the existence this massive ice continent. Some attribute it to the work of the Gods, claiming its where they used to reside before ascending to a higher realm. Others say it's the realm of ice giants, their own personal realm away from the rest of the world.
These are all beliefs and rumors from people who have never been to the ice wall or people who've either seen it from afar while on a ship traveling to another continent.
The most consistent rumor regarding the ice wall is one that comes from the few explorers who have made it onto the continent and managed to walk on its surface, and that rumor says…
The Ice wall is a hellscape of nothing but frost, cold and monsters, a realm where simply stepping foot on it means instant death from the cold should one not have the necessary items to keep the freezing winds at bay.
Should you survive the cold winds, next comes the monsters and creatures that call such a frozen hell their home. Any creature that lives in such a land is a danger to the physical health of any human, regardless of how big or small it may look.
Only those prepared to die should ever set foot on such a treacherous continent.
Such was what experienced Explorers said about the ice wall, and any man worth their salt heeded the warnings of an Explorer, only foolish ignored such warnings, fool, and the insane.
The wind bellowed, kicking up a cloud of snow and ice particles that would obscure vision and make it difficult to navigate the terrain however that did not matter, as Arthur did not need to navigate it as currently he was in a heated battle against a creature that viewed him as a meal.
He ducked under the massive arm of the beast as it tried to use its steel like claws to split him into three parts.
He countered by getting close to its torso and swung his blade upward, cutting an upward line on the beast's stomach, hoping to tear open its torso. However, the creature's hide was thick and hard.
As such he only managed to get a barely deep cut before the monster roared in pain and swiftly struck him on the side, its attack was far faster than anything he's encountered before, the force of the hit sent him tumbling and rolling on the cold hard floor, only stopping several meters away from the beast.
Arthur rolled back onto his feet, and removed the bits of snow that had covered his face, his eyes focusing on the giant badger-like creature that seemed to walk on its hind legs in a similar fashion to an ape. Its front legs also resembled a gorilla as well but its overall body looked like that of a badger.
The cut on its stomach was bleeding, and as soon as it made contact with the air, the blood froze. He had been aiming to bisect it, but he failed to use enough strength and had underestimated the durability of its hide. He exhaled as he watched the "badger-ape", its white fur being stained red by the blood that was quickly crystallising into red ice.
The monster also watched him cautiously. It growled in slight discomfort. The pain on its stomach is a reminder to not be careless. Instinct would tell it to flee. However, hunger told it to kill the small thing before its eyes.
It's eyes darted to the dead body of a snow ape to the side, the head had been lobbed of cleanly, letting the blood spill of from its neck, the badger ape had smelt its blood and ran to the site only to be met by Arthur blocking its path from the food.
In this harsh unforgiving land, creatures can go weeks without a bite of food, some even resorting to cannibalism. When one smells blood, that's a sign that there's food nearby or at least a weakened enemy that can be eaten.
Unfortunately for the badger Ape, in order to get the food, it must first kill Arthur. Otherwise, it won't peacefully enjoy its meal.
Its eyes shifted back onto the man, and it stood on all fours, an attempt at intimidation. However, at this point, that was useless, so instead, it began its charge. Its legs kicked up snow as it sprinted at him full speed, like a boulder rolling down a hill.
The creature's speed defied all logic, despite having a size of nearly 10 meters of height and weight far above the weight of any human, it moved with speed completely unexpected from a beast of its size.
Arthur grinned, sheathing his blade and taking a ready stance. This time, he'll use the right amount of strength and bisect it in one go. He let out a small sigh before he moved.
Pushing off against the snow, charging into the monster at such speed that he became a blur to the naked eye, he reached the monster before it was ready.
Sounds of the blade cutting through hard flesh and bone echoed in the area, with a swift and singular motion he had swung his blade with the right amount of force that it cut through the monster's tough hide. The sword's hot blade cut through the creature like a warm knife through butter.
The badger ape did not have a single moment to know pain or beware of what transpired. Its body was cleanly cut and split in two, with relative ease. Both parts hit the snow, and blood pooled only to immediately freeze.
"Yessir, now we're talking!"
Arthur exclaimed excitedly, inadvertently using slang from his old world. It was something he often did when he was in battle or knew no one was going to question him about his way of speaking.
The badger ape was his second kill since he stepped foot on this continent and planned on getting at least a few more before calling it quits, this was the last time he plans on killing monsters, at least for a couple of years.
Sheathing his blade, he heaved another sigh and stood there waiting. The smell of blood would call other creatures to him; there's no need to go looking for them.
The wind bellowed and whistled, its biting cold threatening to freeze him to the bone however it could not. On his person, Arthur had a plethora of magic items that guaranteed him that he would not fall to the deadly cold of the ice wall.
"There we go"
He exclaimed as in just a few seconds of having slain the badger ape, another creature of the snow came running.
From its silhouette in the distance, the beast looked to be human, and it seemed to be running upright much like a human as well. However, Arthur knew only monsters lived here.
Proving his belief true once the creature had gotten close enough, he saw it for what it was, a massive yeti like creature with a heavily furred body. Its height dwarfed that of the average man three times over.
As it approached, it came to a stop. The beast had noticed him as well and thus practiced caution, its gaze scrutinising him and looking at the dead bodies of monsters behind him.
ROAR!
It roared first, issuing a warning, telling the foe before it to get out of the way. However, Arthur stood firm and pointed his blade at its body.
He could tell it was much stronger than the badger ape, and he half expected for the creature to have a type of magic skill or something unique that made it stronger.
Seeing the small prey not move after the roar, the creature lunged at him, and Arthur sprung forth as well, a grin still etched on his face.
...
"I guess the rumors held true"
He said as he pulled his blade from the creature's torso, its blood spilling out like water from a broken faucet and only to immediately freeze as soon as it made contact with freezing cold air.
Monsters that lived in such cold regions, had innate abilities to keep themselves warm without freezing to death, of course that didn't mean they were completely immune to the cold, if that was the case they wouldn't need to have fur.
He swung his katana to the side and removed the blood from its blade, letting it splash on the frozen ground before immediately freezing. He was using one of his skills, letting electricity run through the blade, keeping it warm. From what he understood, the cold tended to make blades brittle and easy to break.
With the last monster slain, he turned towards the edge of the wall and walked back. Truthfully, he was still quite close to its edge. He hadn't ventured so deep. He had his fun, and now it was time for him to take his long and overdue vacation.
"This was an excellent trip!"
He exclaimed as a bright smile bloomed on his face, the blood covering his body had frozen into a thin layer of ice over his body but he was not bothered, he had items equipped to fend off the cold, plus after such a rigorous exercise his body was nice and warm despite the biting cold wind and snow.
He turned to look at the trail of monsters, frozen corpses that lay dead behind him, his handy work, and the last monsters he would be slaying for the next couple of years. He turned back towards the edge of the wall and walked towards it.
The ice wall was at least 100 meters above sea level. He didn't know how long it would take a regular person, but an explorer like himself only took a few hours.
Arthur was an explorer, and he began his career of this rare occupation at age thirteen. After 10 years on the job, he wanted to have a long vacation to settle down and have a peaceful life. Get a wife he can love and live happily with, but before that, he wanted to see the ice wall that supposedly circumvented the entire world.
An ice wall circumventing the whole globe was often a conspiracy theory in his old world and this new world had similar theory so he had been curious about it and thought to set foot in it at least once.
And he got his wish, facing off against a snow ape had been enough; however, the scent of its blood attracted others. In such a cold hellscape, the smell of blood meant food, and the first to arrive meant they had to eat it quickly before the other monsters showed up. It also meant defending your meal from other predators.
This meant Arthur had to slay all the monsters that came his way, and he was more than happy to do so.
And now that he has had his fun, and it was time his long vacation finally started
The reason he needs a vacation and not a retirement is because, unfortunately, as an Explorer, one can't truly retire unless they're dead. At best they can take long vacations but they are always going to be called into action one way or another, it was just one of those jobs that were essential and rare due to the state of the world.
"It's a good thing I know what she looks like"
He said while recalling the memory from about a year ago, before he set out on this several month long journey, it sucked that there were no airplanes.
With that said, he began his descent back down. Choosing to hum to himself and not be bored during this long descent. Although he knew boredom was the least of his worries, considering he had to row his little dingy all the way to the nearest island.
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