Chapter 6 - Returned to the Frost

  Before I can react to the fight ending, the door into the room breaks open and a massive figure of iron and ice crashes into the room. Two small shapes cling to the large beast, a third lying in a puddle of water on the floor, the three ice minions successfully occupying the Glacial Guard for long enough. Unfortunately, its lord dying is too much for the protector, and forsaking all thought of self-preservation, the guard crashes into the party, immediately rushing towards me. In the blink of an eye, I quickly grab everything precious that isn’t nailed to the floor and rush to the back of the room, using the rubble of furniture in the center to play Tag with the beast of ice.

  Slow thundering steps transport the guard around the pile from the right side and with 25 Activity boosting me I dash around counterclockwise. A plan quickly forms in my mind, and I take a quick look at the cane’s description, my suspicions coming true, the cane the source of the lord’s ranged attacks. Letting some energy flow into the cane quickly charges it up and a ball of ice, roughly the size of my fist forms in front of it before shooting towards the slow guard. A small grin splits my face as the attack breaks off a small layer of ice, the attack confirming that the guard is killable, no matter his Stability, and with its slow steps I would also have enough time to do so.

  Sadly, it can never be so nice, and fate comes around to fool my plans. The sound of a bell being struck echoes through the manor, the small pieces of wood on the floor vibrating from the power of the gong. The first sound is followed by an orchestra of bells of different sizes and forms which quickly make my ears throb in pain as the volume is too much for my improved senses. A last ray of sun shines in through the broken ceiling, after which it quickly gets really dark in the manor, even the soft blue glow toning down its brightness. Another gong from the big bell rings through the manor, followed by creaking as a shape forms toward the room’s back. With a glob of spit freezing in my throat, I start slowly and as inconspicuously as possible shuffling back towards the entrance into the office.

  The shape slowly takes form, ice and snow flowing together with pure darkness, the outline of a dog, a mastiff, a gigantic hound, appearing from thin air. The bell sounds a third and last time, the creature’s eyes flashing into being with a bright blue glow, the snow drifting around the air vibrating from the power behind the gong. With dozens of escape plans forming in my boosted mind, I inspect the hound, calling forth its description, and almost shit my pants as I read through it.

  Hound of Baskerville (Lvl. 6) - Harbinger Animal (Lvl. 5) - Lvl. 9

  The true boss of the Abandoned Mansion of Baskerville, the loyal and beloved hound of the Man of the Manor, serving dozens of generations of lords and ladies that called the mansion their own. The protector of its residence and the horror of those with the foolish idea of pulling the mansion out from under their rightful owners. Scream, cower, and freeze before the Hound of Baskerville, the eternal protector of the Baskerville mansion and harbinger of death for those foolish enough to enter its domain.

  Attribute Focus: Spirituality/Activity - 35

  Skill Focus: The Bells Toil - Lvl. 9, The Pack of Baskerville - Lvl. 6, Death Sentence - lvl. 5

  I hastily add a fourth recommended action to those listed in its descriptions and run. Run as if the wind were carrying me, Run like the god of speed, Run like the reaper of my life is following me because it literally is. My fast-moving legs, empowered with all 25 points into Activity are quickly followed by the rapid beating of ice on stone as the two ice minions follow after me. Another gong of a gigantic bell breaks my concentration and almost sends me sprawling to the floor, only 35 points into mentality giving me the necessary senses to stay concentrated, yet still the moment of inattention lets me drop the precious can I just so recently obtained. Dozens of smaller bells follow the example of the resounding gong, a pack of smaller yet equally horrific dogs and mastiffs appearing beside the mansion’s alpha.

  I send my legs into double-time, all reserves released as my body tries to set a new world record for fastest sprinter. Dashing out of the room I quickly get some speed on the straight track, only needing to stop suddenly as I turn the corner around the hallway, the two little minions slamming into the wall seconds later. Only then do I hear the sound of paws on stone, of claws of ice on the tiling, the gnashing of teeth, and the hungry slobbering of a dozen monsters. As I make my way down the long hallway, spying the main exit of the building, a short hallway reaching towards the two gigantic doors, broken and molding. The minions of ice are just some ways behind me and with a plan forming in my mind, I grab the two, carrying them with me on my way to freedom.

  The pack of hounds turns the corner behind me, much faster and more agile than I am, my only advantage, starting the race before they even had a chance to. Nevertheless, they catch up to me within seconds, the escape of the main entrance enticingly close, yet the sharp turn not giving me a chance to utilize the road to freedom. With a tear trickling down my cheek I throw the two cute miniature fighters to the main entrance, a large part of the pack following after their frantic steps towards freedom. Like the sound of glass breaking the two loyal fighters are torn into, ice broken into countless pieces and left to melt on the stone floor.

  Their unwilling sacrifice though winds me precious seconds, the front of the pack occupied with ripping into the fearless warriors, leaving only the dogs trailing behind to pursue me. I crash into the frame of the kitchen door, screaming out in pain as my injured shoulder smashes into the hard wood, a spray of blood escaping the frozen wound. Nevertheless, the pain is a good trade, the sudden stop winning me another hundredths of a second until the dogs would catch up to me and use me as their plaything. Loud whining and barking sounds from behind me, the last ice warrior making its final stand, and a beam of light descending from the night sky, illuminating the hallway.

  My view of the action is cut off as I dash into the kitchen and jump over the island in the middle, rolling into the storage room. I smash the door closed behind me, locking it with a metal bolt, which is quickly slammed into its slider. A resounding crash echoes through the small room as the dogs start slamming into the closed door, a series of cracks quickly appearing in the brittle wood. I back away from the door, turning towards the exit out of the mansion, my back towards escape, my vision locked onto the door further into the haunted house. With a resounding crash the door breaks open, first, just a single plank smashing in, the next second the bolt holding the door shut breaks from the force.

  A literal wave of creatures spills forth from the entrance and I quickly dash through the door behind me, leaving it open and jumping out into the cold night. I roll to catch my fall and quickly dash some distance away, Ellaina hastily jumping up from her position beside the door and following after me. A beam of light smashes into the snow behind me, a bright glow breaking through the eternal darkness of the night, followed by tortured whining. I don’t look back as a wave of notifications demand my attention, simply continuing my escape, fleeing from the haunted mansion with Ellaina running beside me.

  I dodge behind an old piece of stone fence, in the past garden of the estate and hide behind the wall, peeking forth to look at the horror house. Swirls of darkness and countless snowflakes fly around above a patch of dirt free of any snow, the beam of light completely eradicating the powder. A bunch of dogs stay inside the manor, barking at the darkness, though not stepping over the threshold, seemingly unable to leave their home, not allowed to traipse beyond the domain they are bound to protect. Breathing out a sigh of relief, I sack down behind the wall, Ellaina’s hands already hovering above my shoulder, snow melting under her touch and heat flowing into my injuries. With my most dire needs taken care of I let the flood of notifications wash over me, all of my 35 Points in Mentality doing their best to cope with the information.

  Congratulations, you have leveled-up twice to Level 8.

  You have been awarded 8 Unused Attribute Points.

  Congratulations, you have leveled-up your Skill ‘Glaring Shield’ twice to Level 6

  Congratulations you have leveled-up your Skill ‘Mirror, Mirror in the Snow’ thrice to Level 6

  Congratulations you have unlocked the Skill ‘Frostbite Scabbing’ at Level 1.

  Frostbite Scabbing

  Ice is your protector and your companion, freezing over any injuries you sustain on your journey and staying with you even in the sweltering temperatures of the desert. No matter an impaled gut, a chopped off finger or even just a simple strafe, all your aches and pains, big or small will add another layer of protection to your feeble skin as an impenetrable layer of ice covers you from head to toe.

  Congratulations you have leveled-up your Skill ‘Frostbite Scabbing’ twice to Level 3.

  My mouth opens wide as I take in the countless notifications, some still left in the round to shoot me down later. I quickly read through the various Skill and general Level-Ups, basking in the energy shooting through my body, the pain eased not only by Ellaina’s healing but also the raw ecstasy flooding me. The new skill explains why my wounds were freezing over even after the frigid cold icicle first closed the injury, no matter the movement, a layer of ice stopping me from bleeding out. With the first flood of notifications worked through and no way to invest the 8 Attribute points waiting for me, my two most important Attributes capped, I start the next flood of notifications.

  You have killed an ‘?tzi - Man of the Manor (Lvl. 4) - Protected Nobleman (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 6’

  You have killed a ‘Mahaha - Left Hand (Lvl. 3) - Lvl. 4’

  You have killed a ‘Mahaha - Patient Butler (Lvl. 2) - Lvl. 5’

  You have killed 2x Spirit Dog - Lvl. 1-3

  You have killed 1x Spirit Mastiff - Lvl. 3

  You have killed 5x Spirit Dog - Lvl. 1-3

  You have killed 2x Spirit Mastiff - Lvl. 3-4

  Total Kills

  Mahaha (Lvl. 1-5): 10

  ?tzi (Lvl. 6): 1

  Spirit Dog (Lvl. 1-3): 7

  Spirit Mastiff (Lvl. 3-4): 3

  Within the rush of kill notifications is the name of the zombie crushed underneath the pile of furniture I used to break into the mansion’s final room, the creature seemingly the Lord’s assistant. The last message gives me an intimidatingly high number of deaths, almost half of my kills coming just from my escape efforts, the ritual ‘Spring after the White Winter’ quite effective against the spirit beasts. The high damage from my ritual, able to kill almost all my pursuers in a fell swoop is most likely a combination of various factors. The most important most likely that the sun, being a center part of the ritual, is a weakness of these spirit beasts, the canines only coming out after the sun sinks below the horizon. Furthermore, some more minor factors have to have been that they are weaker outside their domain and additionally just my quite intensive focus on Mentality, a whopping 35 effective points in the Attribute.

  I lean my head against the cold wall, allowing the frost sticking to the stone to cool my burning body, while my muscles slowly relax from the continuous effort. Already, my shoulder is completely healed, and Ellaina moves on to my elbow, knitting my flesh back together. As she shuffles around, the snow under her melts, her skill transferring its warmth into my body and closing my wounds. I take the water skin out of the backpack on Ellaina’s back, drinking my fill, the crisp water easing some of the stress and lifting the tiredness in my eyes. Once the wound in the nook of my elbow closes up and the small gashes and bruises on the rest of my body slowly vanish, I stand up, intent on getting some distance between us and the mansion.

  We make a large circle around the estate, not wanting to aggregate the Hound of Baskerville stalking the hallways inside. As we come around to the front, I can see a pair of hounds standing protectively at the mansion’s entrance, a small and really slow storm of darkness and snow drifting around above the empty ritual. I gnash my teeth at the interesting loot I am unable to get my hands on, the two canine guards attentively searching for another fool attempting to enter the mansion. We continue walking away from the estate, back in the direction we came from, towards the ridge of the ice mountains. Back to the Level 5 Taer for some ass whooping, muscles all across my body tingling in excitement at finding a target to let out my anger about the unreachable loot.

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  Despite all impatience, I am not stupid and once we are a fair distance from the mansion, the light still reaching our position and the most powerful beasts hopefully scared away by the haunted estate, we set camp. A tight ring of four trees provides a small safe space covered by low-hanging branches, the wind blocked out by the countless leaves, and our bodies camouflaged by the impromptu walls. I sack down beside Ellaina, the snow providing a soft, if cold, mattress, no more Timber Hearth trees there to warm our bodies or any holes in a tree’s trunk to keep in the warmth. Not that this would be any problem for Ellaina, her recently leveled, Level 4 Icy Skill making her feel as if the freezing cold were mere room temperature.

  As the woman hunkers down beside me I decide to start up a conversation, the silent woman mechanically answering my questions, apparently in no mood to talk. Thus, I quickly stop my attempts, instead getting some information about the capped Attributes out of her. She curtly replies that every Statistic had Thresholds, Skill Levels, Class Levels, or also Attribute Points. If one initially has an attribute above 10, the first threshold, they will only be stopped once their reach 25 in a specific Attribute, upon which they would have to undergo a Tier-up. In a first for the woman, she slowly guides me to focus on the capped Attribute and a window suddenly jumps up in front of me. Before I can get a look at it, she tells me a little more about the process. Some Tier-ups just simply give a small reward and then allow one to invest further, while others require the completion of quests to earn the right to move on.

  Mentality Threshold - 25 - Achievement Tier-Up

  Congratulations, you have reached your first Threshold in the Mentality Attribute.

  Choose one of the following to continue your path along the road of Mentality:

  Cold Mind

  Greater Mentality

  Curious Cat

  I quickly read through the choices, but no further information given about any of them, leaving me guessing their effects. Just as I am about to start my guessing game, Forerunner’s Foreknowledge pings me, and indulging the skill quickly gives me a rough feeling for what the rewards would entail. First, Greater Mentality is simply a slight improvement of the Attribute in all its forms, a passive boost to my thinking power. Cold Mind is clearly influenced by my experiences in this new snow-covered landscape and all my high-stakes situations, the reward allowing me to stay calm in any situation. Lastly, curious cat would milk out more information from everything I see and experience and give me a knack for finding hidden treasures.

  I wreck my mind for some time, letting the options flow through me. Greater Mentality, for all its boredom and being the basic reward, even for those not accomplishing anything great, is still a good choice. The question really is whether I want an outright and slowly growing improvement to all my mind games or a quick and powerful boost to just a single action. Greater Mentality is the slowly growing general boost, Cold Mind, a quick power-up for the here and now, and Curious Cat, the middle point between the two, slowly improving yet still specific enough to make me immediately better.

  In the end, I like being a paradox, curiosity killing the cat, yet my heart still beating strong for the personality trait, knock on wood. I select the third reward and with a congratulatory ding, a modifier appears next to my mentality Attribute, empowering the statistic when trying to find out more about something and giving me a sense of the hidden. I then quickly repeat the same process with Activity, another screen appearing before me with three more choices.

  Activity Threshold - 25 - Achievement Tier-Up

  Congratulations, you have reached your first Threshold in the Activity Attribute.

  Choose one of the following to continue your path along the road of Activity:

  Greater Activity

  Coward’s Choice

  Flexy Sexy

  I try to sink down into the snow, putting a hand in front of the invisible screen to make sure Ellaina won’t catch a thing. Forerunner’s Foreknowledge adding its own thoughts to the matter only makes the situation even worse, the reward in question coming from my nightly activities sneaking through the mansion. Apparently interpreted by the system as slowly removing the Lord of the Mansion’s retainers and also his wife and then sneaking into his office in the middle of the night. Surely sounds very sexy on paper, but not when it is me simply going on a killing spree around his house, not to get myself under the lord’s bedsheets!

  Despite all points speaking against the reward, mostly stemming from embarrassment, I am not in a situation allowing me to stay soft and simply pass a good choice only due to unfortunate naming. Flexy Sexy would greatly improve my flexibility in all situations, making my tendons and joints able to move like those of a woman, their bodies much more flexible than a man’s. The bad options continue after the first, worst one, Coward’s Choice improving my speed and agility greatly when running away, awarded due to me repeatedly dodging dangerous situations. Lastly, Greater Activity is simply the activity-based counterpart to Greater Mentality, giving me a slowly improving boost to all aspects of the Attribute.

  I quickly discard the boring-sounding choice, a great part of the boost also focusing on my strength, a part of Activity I didn’t focus on much so far. Instead, I concentrate on the other two choices, Flexy Sexy quickly jumping out as the better of the two, running away from everything sounds like a good survival strategy at first, but it wouldn’t stop me from starving if I couldn’t kill anything or help growing in an environment where everyone out-levels me. In the end, I simply close my eyes, my cheeks glowing red from embarrassment, and take a last look at my status before closing my eyes, investing the remaining points at the same time.

  Personal Status

  Name: Paul Fordstein

  Age: 23

  Level (Exp.): 6->8 (02%)

  Attributes: 0 Unused Attribute Points

  - Stability: 9

  - Activity(Flexy Sexy): 25 > 28

  - Mentality(Curious Cat): 25 > 30 (+10)

  - Spirituality: 11

  Skills:

  - Forerunner’s Foreknowledge - Lvl. 5->6

  - Glaring Shield - Lvl. 4->6

  - Mirror, Mirror in the Snow - Lvl. 3->6

  - Last Breeze - Lvl. 3

  - Frostbite Scabbing - Lvl. 1->3

  My teeth shiver powerfully as the cold sneaks up on me, relentlessly stealing the warmth from my body, creeping under the layers of the cloth covering me. The wind howls past our little enclave, sending freezing gales into the cluster of trees, ice forming on the outer layer of my clothing. I look over at Ellaina, the woman comfortably sleeping, the snow covering her and insulating her, the wind especially soft around her face, a light breeze mockingly shoving an errant hair out of her face. A not-as-light and definitely not errand gust of freezing wind slams into my face, throwing the hood off my head and smashing my hair into my eyes. Not wanting to disturb the woman but necessity winning out against politeness I nudge Ellaina, the woman quickly waking up after I touch her shoulder.

  The situation is quite obvious, even to her, shivering mess Paul asking for some warmth from her skill, the ability not only healing any injuries but, as the name implies, also sending a wave of heat through my body. The woman slowly scoots over, getting closer and closer, and then raises her hand towards my shoulder, over my shoulder. Wait, what's going on here? Ellaina puts her hand over me, the layer of snow she uses as a blanket opening up and slowly enveloping me. Perplexed I simply follow her initiative, letting the snow cover close over my body, a wave of warmth melting the layer of frost on my coat. I snuggle into the snow blanket closing above the two of us, keeping our heat inside while still keeping a polite distance between us. Yet the space it tight and with no other place to put my arm I lay myself on my side, placing my hand over her shoulder, hugging her from behind.

  My eyes shoot open suddenly as a shower of snow falls into my face and I quickly bolt up, hitting my head on a small branch sticking out into our camp. A light laugh leaves Ellaina, a little bit of life flowing into the woman and I quickly join in enjoying the break from the constant life-and-death situations. Thoroughly awake and with only some slight tension in my shoulders and a slight burning in my muscles from yesterday’s exhaustion, I quickly pack up camp. I take a quick look into my backpack and what I quickly notice is our supplies running low, only a single apple and a small, dried fish left, the two of us eating through the rest of the rations. With some time before we have to move on, I sit down in the small alcove, putting the backpack into my lap, Ellaina deciding her own Threshold reward in the meantime.

  I take off the breastplate, putting it beside the backpack, my buckler, knife, and the Iced-Out Necklace quickly joining the pieces, my full inventory laid out before me. First off, I take a bushel of leaves, the ice melted off them by Ellaina’s healing skill, leaving a makeshift wet wipe to clean the gore and dirt off my armor. I go through three of the impromptu cleaning tools until the breastplate resembles its former glory, only a small layer of grime left in the hard-to-reach spots. I analyze my gear, calling up all the descriptions with Forerunner’s Foreknowledge, giving a good overview of the various things further empowering my arsenal.

  Rough Leather Breastplate - Lvl. 2

  (Contrivance)

  An old leather Breastplate made of hard animal skin protecting the vitals and masterfully crafted by a Tanner, extending a more flexible piece to support the abdomen and not loose on any movability.

  Slingshot-Knife - Lvl. 1

  (Contrivance)

  A relic of an unknown world, crafted by mysterious methods into a weapon for every situation, small size for great handling, a long-range slingshot and a flipping knife for versatility, even more functions hidden in its complex form.

  Bitter Iron Buckler - Lvl. 15

  (Legacy)

  A masterfully crafted buckler made of unnaturally cold iron, the low temperatures of ice and snow eternally wafting off its surface, demanding authority over the cold. Runes and Symbols of forgotten origin and meaning are carved into its front, protecting, and empowering those who seek cover behind the shield, the wielder of the buckler impervious to the touch of the Eternal Cold.

  Effects:

  !Clasp of the Eternal Cold! - Unlocked at Level 10

  Dome of Ice - Lvl. 10

  Cold Resistance - Lvl. 5

  Iced-Out Necklace - Lvl. 3

  (Contrivance)

  A necklace sporting a beautiful diamond that bathed in the cold for ages, imbuing the shimmering jewel with the properties of the ice. If worn the wielder would feel the attention of those of cold blood, their necklace raising their rank amongst the creatures of ice and snow.

  Effects:

  Cold Beauty - Lvl. 1

  It takes me some time to read through the descriptions, my mind working over the meaning hidden behind more cryptic sentences, my brain seemingly split in two with the 40 points invested into the statistic. Curious Cat further empowers Forerunner’s Foreknowledge, giving me an idea of the various effects of the items, especially the mysterious Cold Beauty, the Clasp of the Eternal Cold simply too high level for the skill to work at all. Apparently Cold Beauty is a more literal effect than I would have first guessed, slowing all enemies looking at the wielder of the item, more so when they interpret the person as being beautiful. A powerful effect if in the correct hands, though not really something for me, most aggressive monsters male, not female, as evidenced by the large majority of zombies being male, not that they couldn’t find me good-looking too.

  I quickly make a decision as I think through the rest of the effects, Cold Resistance quickly reveals why it didn’t work during the bitingly cold night, the effect simply reducing the damage the cold would deal directly, not the effects of a cold environment. Dome of Ice did just what its name implies, creating a small dome around the caster, that wouldn’t go down no matter what, also possible to result in locking myself in a prison of ice. I also take a closer look at the Item’s categories, most of the crafted goods showing up as contrivances, only the Buckler reading as a Legacy, its description too hinting at a story related to the shield.

  Ellaina snaps back to the life around her as she finishes deciding her Threshold reward and then starts moving over to me. So as to not be rude I stop my thoughts and equip the items, only leaving the necklace in my hands, deciding to give the jewelry to someone who would get more use out of it. Ellaina does a little dance as I present her with the necklace, happily turning around and lifting her hair to let me put the diamond on her neck and then presenting the item to me. I can quickly feel my body slowing down, the effect apparently even working on me without being recognized as an enemy, Ellaina a gorgeous woman, if a little quiet most of the time, or of course she could just see me as an enemy, unlikely as it is.

  I take a last look back at the mansion, the high stone walls just about visible through the layers of timber, a small promise forming in my heart that I would come back to the estate to finish my business, all that loot screaming how I could just abandon it. With a heavy burden weighing down my heart, I turn my back to the mansion, and we return to the mountain range, stone frozen solid, giving them a soft blue glow as the sun reflects off them. The sky is relatively clear the constant snowstorms going easy at it today and giving the sun a chance to illuminate the white landscape, a layer of wafer-thin ice forming on top of the snow, every step crunching through the ice.

  The journey towards the mountains is relatively uninteresting, only interrupted by a curious and clearly old badger burrowing through the layer of snow and stepping out of bed with the wrong foot, bumping into us. With my patience hair thin, the repeated ambush attacks from monsters and animals alike making me a bit jumpy and trigger happy, a pair of frozen leaves quickly flies through the air upon the badger surfacing from the snow. A shot through its eye and into the small creature’s brain immediately kills it, giving it at least a merciful death, if the action itself was anything but.

  Seeing the good in the event I gut today’s dinner, some knowledge of how to dress an animal somehow floating around in the back of my brain, only my high mentality letting me stumble upon it. With the body encased in a layer of snow and ice, blocking it, its smell and the blood trickling from the injury, slung over my shoulder by a piece of the rope, we continue on. Besides the small surprise hunting detour, nothing eventful happens until we come close to the mountains, some quick searching once again revealing the cave into the caverns going underneath the range. Just as before a large gorilla-like creature makes its camp just before the entrance, blocking the way inside, though this time it looks much less threatening than before, a healthy buffer of levels boosting my confidence.