Frostbound

Chris

[Hammer Reverberation].

The decision wasn't that hard. While [Jotun Battle Roar] sounded amazing and wildly powerful, [Hammer Reverberation] was more versatile. There was a certain amount of buildup that [Battle Roar] required that the other skill didn't.

The perquisite that there already be Ice and Snow present was also a drawback. Sure, that was usually a given when I fought using my Skills, but there was also the issue of repeated use.

Did [Battle Roar] shatter everything and make it unusable? If that was the case, then there was also a build-up time to consider in between uses.

Plus, the effect was something I hoped to achieve manually. It would take a lot of work and training, but it was something I could see myself figuring out without the skill.

That couldn't be said for [Hammer Reverberation].

Losing my hammer was a real worry, but it wasn't enough to deter me. Being able to use just plain stats was too much to let go of. Pure, physical strength while using the skill was something I couldn't wait to test out.

One without any boost. Then one with all of them. That would be something.

With my last choice made, my Class was officially finished. If I wasn't superstitious, I could open the options for my next one, but I still wasn't sure if that was a good idea. Intellectually, I knew that looking ahead of time probably didn't do anything, but I didn't want to take the risk.

Not for my Class. It was too important.

After my choice, I laid back down and got back to [Aura Detection]. The Bed was mighty comfortable and after lying on it for only a few moments, I didn't want to leave.

I felt the entire camp through the Skill. I couldn't focus everywhere in great detail, which was a shame. I could go wide and fuzzy or narrow and clear, but hoped to rid that weakness over time. I'd only just started getting used to it after all.

Austin and Hal were both out and about walking the perimeter. The other Scouts were with them doing routes of their own. Sarah's wolves were with some of them, sniffing around making sure no one got close.

Overkill, maybe, but sufficient to ease my worry.

After feeling the barest hints of the Glacier Seed, not even opening the box but what leaked through, I'd defend it with my life. I was starting to understand the feeling Abigail and Marcus were talking about.

I couldn't wait until we got back and planted it.

The days, while tense, went by without a hitch. There were a few rats we had to drive off and even one we had to kill who got a little too nosy, but it was mainly quiet. The few who tried were all rogues looking to nick something fast and easy.

It comforted me that the Scouts found them, the wolves caught wind of them, and I felt them with [Aura Detection]. Either these were amateurs who were terrible at stealth, or we had a decent thing going.

I elected to believe the former. I knew people with strange abilities out there existed and it was bad to assume we could catch them all.

After the first wayward soul came to our camp, I moved the Seed, my Bones, and a few other choice things into my tent. The rest were guarded heavily, but I wanted to keep an eye on those things personally.

Abigail practically slept on a bed of books she was so afraid of them getting stolen. She even debated asking me to put down a Formation even though we had neither the time nor the resources.

I declined to tell her I also didn't have the know-how. Oh, I could have learned now that we had so many new books, but not in the time we had left. It wasn't just us that were worried. Everyone kept a better eye on the surroundings. The new purchases were burning everyone's consciousness.

The Builders of both our Faction and Marcus's did quick work and they were ready even before our three-day deadline. Sarah got the horses and bison in line and by the morning of day five after the test, we were ready to go back home.

Other Factions took off before us but I wasn't worried about that.

The most notable thing during the wait was what the Merchants did. Every group of what I learned were all the different companies picked a Faction to set up shop in.

I knew that much already, but it was what they did after that was eye-catching.

All of them were making a journey of some kind and none of them had arrived with a way to do so. People were the only thing that came through the Obelisk. No carts, no horses, nothing besides the people.

In the time it took the Factions they were now connected to get ready, they themselves worked on modes of transportation.

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The Frost Rose Emporium, which I watched the closest, had the Dwarf work up a cart that was both sturdier and fancier in a lot less time. It put what we could do to shame.

After throwing together a cart for the Merchants and himself to ride in, a different one, the Elf, waved his hand, spent a ludicrous amount of mana, and two glistening white horses appeared to pull it.

It was... mind-blowing.

I had assumed the horses were real at first and that contributed to my wonder, but we later learned that they were simply summoned phantoms. Or spirits?

That part wasn't quite clear but the main point was they weren't real. They were a skill the Merchant had and when asked about it the elf only said, "A Merchant always has use for a steed."

The cart and new horses weren't the only thing the Merchants were up to. I'd felt the shift in mana in the air around them during the second night. It was so large everyone could.

We tensed up and were worried at first, but it wasn't long before we figured out what was happening. When they first arrived, my [Identify] was too weak to work on them but after gaining [Aura Detection], I saw that they were all level 100.

It didn't take much skill in deduction to figure out they had evolved.

It did raise some alarm and there were a great many questions to be asked, but I wasn't all that worried about them. While they appeared stronger to my senses, especially the guards, they were still far from enough to worry me.

If the guards from every company of Merchants got together and fought my faction alone, then I'd tense, but with only one company and less than half a dozen guards, not so much.

Of the five newly minted D-rank guards, I felt I could take them all. Hell, most of my Family could. Abigail had surprised me during the test. I hadn't thought she had that in her, but that shows how much I underestimated her.

Assuming the City Leader with her hand in a little of everything didn't have time for training was going to get someone killed later, of that I was sure of. They'd look at her and see a Mayor, not a Warrior.

Then they'd be dead before they could make the mistake again.

Abigail, Rachel, Austin, Hal, and Jonathan were all people I felt could take the new guards. Maybe even Carrie too. Her skills were more toward carpet bombing a wide area but I felt she had some fight in her.

The thing that excited me most was I could still see their level.

[Identify] had trouble with anything above my level not even mentioning a Rank above me but [Aura Detection] didn't have that problem. Even after they evolved, I could see their level.

The skill made me smile as I was finally not useless in that regard.

Admittedly, it wasn't the most in-depth scan, and all I got was a level and a rough estimation of power through comparison, but it was better than question marks.

Anything was better than question marks.

Other than that small surprise along with the few would-be thieves, there was nothing else of note. We came, we saw, and we conquered.

And now we were heading home.

My deals with other Factions were finished. Our Alliance with Marcus was strengthened, and we had foreign Merchants along for the ride.

The first few days of the trip were nostalgic of the last time we did it but, just like the previous time, the days got boring fast. For the first week, night shifts were doubled and everyone was still alert, but our worry was unfounded.

Either other people were chosen as prey or people were more worried about securing their own prize. Either way, we made it out fine.

Austin was rather disappointed. He'd bet Hal that there would be a fight and was not too pleased to be proven wrong. Hal rubbing it in didn't help.

After putting a generous amount of distance between us and the Obelisk, things calmed down. I stopped using [Aura Detection] so religiously and people settled in. Having my aura spread out over the whole group day and night was wearing on me.

Letting it billow out naturally didn't cost anything and was rather pleasing, but using it to constantly scan the surroundings caused a mental aching after a while.

Even Abigail stopped fretting as much. New books were broken open and purchased skills were practiced as we went.

All in all, it was a rather good time.

Her beloved Winds were more active than ever. The paltry few she had recruited to join her were proving their worth with every passing moment. The Gathering was rife with opportunities and she made sure they were exploited.

Formations that looked interesting were written down to be studied. Skills that alerted people to their presence were discovered. Technology secrets that were attempted to be kept hidden unveiled.

Her 'Order', as the humor in naming it after what had already emerged wasn't lost on her, did thankless work. The one rule she set for all her followers was to never be discovered.

That included recognition for deeds done.

The less who knew, the better.

Her Profession sang to her and it was finally time to push it to the fullest. There was only so much she could do without people working against her. A game of chess wasn't the same without an adversary. After dealing with those who did not belong, it was a long time until more arrived. Nearly a year even.

Ashton, the capitulator. His efforts did not go unnoticed with infiltrators but it was better to leave them guessing than to kill them off completely. If no news got out then it would become a curiosity.

Better to control what did rather than clamp down on everything. Lull them into complacency.

With so many people for her winds to watch, it was the first time in a long time her efforts were strained. Even after the rough battle, there were those looking to strike.

The dishonorable curs.

When her Profession finally capped after such intense use lately, she peaked at what was next. She didn't believe in the superstition and it was always better to know now rather than to put off.

The options were tantalizing, but she couldn't go through with it now. It was too soon. Too much attention would be drawn.

It was a good thing the Merchants alerted her to that particular issue. She hadn't known it would cause such a disturbance.

The Winds whispered in her ear of lurkers in the dark but no matter how many times they drew near, they never did attack. Something spooked them. Something set them off and even if the leader of such a band of bandits wasn't the brightest bulb, they still knew attacking was certain death.

They had even set up an ambush directly on their path but still failed to gather the courage.

She knew the reason for their fear. Everyone had felt the subtle chill wrapping around them lately. The nip was offset by the warming comfort it brought. Like being wrapped tight in a blanket on a winter's day.

While it may have felt that way to allies. It was an entirely different feeling to foes.

It was the Chill before Death. The promise to slowly feel your body shut down before going to sleep for the final time. A slow and painful end.

There was no comfort to be found, only desolate cold.

A Cold that even with its owner oblivious, lit the way forward warding away those who lurked in the dark.

It was almost poetic. To have something so steeped in Ice and Death used in such a way. To ward off hyenas while the lamp remained none the wiser such vultures were even there.

It was enough to make the woman smile.