Is the cold recent?!

It feels as if someone decided to apply an ice age filter to a picture, it feels slightly out of place. The vegetation underneath is flourishing …or was. How long before it all wither thanks to the cold?

Still, I do my best to descend slowly …until I slip! Afterward happens the longest and craziest ride!

*BAM*

*CRASH*

[AAHHHHH!]

I keep smashing into various rocks and whatnot but even these are so slippery that I keep sliding nonetheless! This feels like one of these endless dreams where no matter what you do you cannot resist!

"This actually looks fun… a shame I don't have a body to try it…."

[It's not! I have ice shards coming up my ass!]

"Don't worry, at first it feels weird, but then it starts feeling good and…"

[Screw you! I am worried!]

I do not want to have my anal virginity taken by some ice! Actually…. remove the 'by some ice' part! Don't want it taken period!

"Believe me, all the worry stops mattering once the ecstasy comes! It is like…"

[No! I don't need to picture it!]

After that, I decisively stop listening to him! What kind of BS is this?! He is still trying to tempt me to…! After what feels like an eternity, I finally stop sliding. As I get up I can see a village in the distance!

Civilization! How great is this?! I'll be able to sit down, eat some warm soup, talk to people! I quicken my pace to the bafflement of my companion. I can't wait to …. Except as we come closer there is something clearly wrong.

The wooden buildings are covered by a glistering layer of ice. It is cold, it is silent, it seems like a ghost town. Where is everyone?! Or is this place an abandoned town? To be fair it is relatively close to what is clearly a disaster zone.

I enter a house. To do so I need to break a thick layer of ice in the entrance of it. Inside is a cooking station that is completely frozen. I can see remains of food, the very basic bread and white vegetables kind. It looks pristine and unreal.

The torches on the wall too are encased in ice. It seems as if every source of fire has been violently and mercilessly extinguished. Pretty much all the furniture is there, it seems like whoever lived here either left in a hurry or didn't care about it.

[What do you think happened here?]

"Well, they are right next to the mountain. I'd say the creatures we saw earlier caused this. Now I'm unsure which idiot would live in such a place. You might not know this but beast tides are a natural phenomenon that occurs every other year. This is a truth of the world."

[Why?]

"You know how there is mana everywhere in this world?"

*Nod* I do know, I just can't see or feel it.

"Well, disaster zones are actually simply areas where the mana is thicker and readily available. It creates these creatures and sometimes it overflows and they venture outside."

[Wait, why aren't the humans using these places as training grounds then?!]

"That's the thing. Most of the time the mana in a disaster zone is either hard to use for humans or there is some hidden guardian. To be honest, what is considered a disaster zone here would simply be a normal place in a higher continent."

[Higher? There are different continent elevations?! Wasn't this place already floating above the sea or something?!]

"Oh, don't misunderstand. I don't mean height at all. A higher continent simply means that the quantity and purity of mana are way better."

[So there are some continents where rank 5 are as easy to find as cabbage?!]

"How should I tell you this. No, they would have the same overall ranks, it's just that while the people here may only have the mana to fight at full intensity for a few minutes the people there would be able to do so for hours or days."

[Wow this is crazy! Wait, aren't we screwed if they decide to invade?!]

Actually, there is another issue. So far, my strongest suit is my endurance. I can fight for a long time. Does that mean that advantage of mine will slowly melt like ice in the sun?!

"You guys should be fine really. Invading another continent is not so easy. There are laws in place. In a way, it is possible to see every continent almost like a world in itself. Sure it's easier to access than a sub-realm but…"

[How come?! Shouldn't it be easy to go from one place of the Earth realm to another?]

"It seems you underestimate this world. You could be traveling for months in a straight line on the Antaloth continent before reaching the end of it. In the grand scheme of things, this is but a tiny island."

[Antaloth? Is this how this place is called? Why have I never heard this term?!]

"Ah, it may have changed name during the time I was jailed you know. It used to be known as Antaloth the land of the Ants and there were a lot of them. Then it somehow became that."

[Wait, ants?! I've met some in that archaic savage forest! Don't tell me they used to rule this continent?!]

"Ah, no. Ant as in weaklings. Not literal ants."

[Wow, so much for the Lunar Goddess being arrogant! Her sect is on a weak-ass continent!]

"Lunar goddess? For some reason, I feel like I've heard the name before. She probably isn't that simple. I don't know any of the weaker gods."

?! Is it even possible?

[Probably a coincidence. But wait! Won't that mean I'll be in danger if some higher continent guys do manage to invade?! I just want to live a peaceful life!]

That is when my foggy friend becomes even more defined.

"Do not worry! I shall protect you!"

[Aren't you super weak in this form?!]

"Yes! But I can intimidate people! I am wise, handsome, and …"

[Okay, I get it. Thank you for the help!]

That is when I notice something as I'm walking around. I can see shadows over there! It seems to be…oh god! They are people. There are so many of them! Right next to the village's exit. The problem is that they are encased in ice too….

I see…the people that lived here didn't make it… They started running but they barely made it a few hundred meters before getting turned into popsicles. This seems like a scene straight out of a horror movie!

I can't help but think about what I'd do in their position. What would I…?

"Such is life. It happens. Don't worry about it. As an Emperor I lost many subjects in this life of mine, you cannot save them all. Now, we have something else to care about. There are people coming toward us. Do you want me to hide?"

What?! …