Chapter 64

  New Affinity, Who Dis?

  Dan looked up as Jimmy flowed into the camp, ice still clinging to his clothes.

  “Jimmay! What did you find?”

  His jovial tone masked the weight bearing down on him.

  The scout tossed a frost-infused stone to Chris.

  He yelped, dropping it in surprise, “Damn, that’s cold!”

  “Sure is, so is the Alpha,” Jimmy answered, meeting Dan’s eyes.

  “That bad?”

  “Worse. I sensed a cold, static resonance. I am pretty sure it is a Natural Treasure.”

  He tossed another stone to Dan.

  “The other thing I sensed was.. Not good.”

  Jimmy gestured towards the choke point of their camp.

  “It will make those four look like pups.”

  Dan caught the stone, staring at it.

  “Can we risk letting it roam? It will grow stronger, hit us on its terms.”

  The stone bounced in his palm.

  “Also… This Frost intrigues me.”

  Jimmy gave a soft chuckle, “Now who is the loot goblin?”

  “I don't know what you are talking about Jimothy.”

  Dan put the stone in his pocket.

  “Let's take two days, get healed up, rested, and prepared.”

  “Agreed.” Jimmy stared at the moon, eyes glinting.

  George dedicated the two days of preparation meditating, focusing on mending his severe shoulder wounds.

  During this focused session, George achieved a critical breakthrough.

  This narrative has been purloined without the author's approval. Report any appearances on Amazon.

  He felt a new connection to his seed grow, allowing him to project his restoration outwards.

  It billowed about him, like a cloud of sand.

  The ‘grit’ worked its way in, soothing and restoring.

  A leap that fundamentally changed his role from a back up fighter, to a combat medic.

  Annette and Jaime sat with him, they discussed how to use their collective ‘Auras’.

  Dan was squeezing a stone like he was trying to get blood.

  Frost slowly crept through his channels, in a cooling refreshing wave.

  “Ahhhhhhh….”

  Very slowly, it made its way to his core, where it crystallized on his seed.

  It cooled, slowed, and compressed with the clang of ice-cold weights.

  It provided a structure he needed, solidifying a path forward.

  His budding domain solidified, a cold, inescapable, crushing weight.

  Chris, whose seed was still feeling pretty weak, faced the biggest risk.

  He utilized the frost from the stones to execute an extremely dangerous idea.

  He forced the cold energy to form a structural mold around his volatile Fire Seed, then applied a coat of flame to the frozen barrier.

  The resulting thermal shock, some might call an explosion, was agonizing.

  Chris growled as his eyes watered.

  Steam hissed off his burning skin, as his muscles spasmed from the pain.

  The Seed compressed, increasing its density and expelling impurities.

  He achieved an explosive compression his pure heat otherwise lacked.

  I knew exactly what I was doing.

  Chris snorted out steam, frantically looking around, hoping no one noticed the knife edge he just walked.

  Jimmy pointedly looked away.

  Kim used the water node for pure refinement.

  The swirling tides of flow both eroded and soothed the inner walls of her pathways, bit by bit.

  Pain and serenity warred on her face.

  Luna barked for attention, licking at her damp face, when she came out of her meditation.

  “Awww, thanks sweetheart! I'm at 79 percent!”

  “Bark!”

  Jimmy sat nearby, Clarity Cascade running unrestrained.

  A small orb of light danced around him.

  He Integrated the concepts of Cryogenic Weight, Aura Projection, Internal Combustion, and more Wet into his tactical database.

  His mental chess pieces moved accordingly.

  The two-day wait was over.