Warm blood ran down my shoulder. Its warm body shuddered against mine, too furry, too rea. Suddenly, its body went fully limp and it fell onto me with its full weight. My cloak was now red with blood. So much blood.

I shuddered, stepping back. "Oh my god." The [Spiked Pauldrons] disappeared. Blood flowed like a river from its neck before it slumped fully onto the floor. "Fuck." I repeated, staring at myself and then the body. The rest of my [Powers] dissipated.

It was necessary, I had to remind myself. It was trying to kill us. Iron filled my nose and the scene became much too real. My hands trembled, spattered with blood. I was covered in blood. There was no other way.

I stepped backward, too dazed to turn away from the gruesome sight.

Another thought pierced through my mind.

I turned wildly, sliding to his side. "John!" I said urgently. Gibber found us, he was perched on his shoulder. I relaxed, noticing he was breathing. "He's unconscious Gibber. I'm probably worse off than he is."

My back felt like I had gotten trampled. My neck felt like a broken bone. Turning my head was agony. Under my clothes, I was probably bruised all over. I groaned. "Hell. I can barely fucking move."

What was the plan here? There was a body next to us, did that attract scavengers? Were there even scavengers in the library? Were there more of them? I shuddered, unable to help myself from looking at the slaughter behind me.

I grimaced. "Gibber, can you understand me?" The squirrel tilted its head at me. "Fucking great."

John wasn't too heavy for me, but his limp form was giving me problems. Gibber had scurried away and I could only hope my exasperated gesturing had communicated somewhat of a plan. I had wanted the squirrel to warn me of anything. I hadn't heard anything yet.

I fireman carried John down the stairs. We passed the bunny he had shot, he must've thrown it aside when he came running to me. Finally, I had gotten us to the receptionist desk by the entrance. I needed a moment. I let John down behind the desk and caught my breath. I wasn't weak, but I the cloak put a lot more weight on me than normal clothing. Plus, it could've just been me, but the air had always seemed thin when I arrived. That would make sense considering the temperature. We were probably high up somewhere.

I sat myself down beside John, resting my arms on my knees. My back settled painfully against the desk and my neck fared worse than that. But it was a moment of rest. My breath came in shuddering waves. I tried not to break down. What the hell had I just done? Did I just almost die?

That was fucking risky. What was I thinking; dropping shoulder first on some deadly creature? That could've been my damn life. Was I an absolute idiot? I should've aimed for the head; drew the [Air Blade], something - anything would've less stupid!

No, I knew what I was thinking. I was coming down one way or another. More than that, I knew why; the risk. I wanted to risk it all, knowing if I could ambush the creature and take it out right there, John and I would both be okay. Besides that, there was no time to think, I took the risk. I should've killed it right then and there, at least then I wouldn't have had to see all that blood.

"But that didn't happen did it, Vak?" I shuddered. "What the fuck were you thinking? You weren't ready for that bloodbath, no matter how much you wanted to gamble your life." I snapped at myself, shaking my head at my lunacy.

John mumbled, eyes fluttering. He groaned, propping himself up. "Fuck Vak, it's not your fault." He said. He looked at me, grimacing as he moved, bleary but lucid. "White Troll. In a fair fight, we would be dead. If you hadn't crippled it outright, it could've thrown me through the bookcase. It had barely been moving its right side."

"Maybe." I replied, numbly. I noticed John's pained face. It couldn't have been that different from mine. "How are you feeling? You took a nasty hit."

He lifted an arm up in way of answer. "Better than I should be feeling, that's for sure. I swear I fractured something." The armguards, I remembered.

"[Armguards of Health]." I recalled. "I thought they only helped with disease and stuff like that."

"It says 'mortal afflictions'. And from the feel of it, I think that means physical ones too."

We didn't dally too long in the library after that. Having picked ourselves up from the floor, we quite literally limped, achingly, away. It was barely afternoon. After a moment's discussion, I went back and retrieved the bunny he had shot earlier. The corpse was void of an arrow and it was a clean kill.

It turned out John had a small outpost, carved into the trees right outside the abandoned city block. The plan was to eventually extend his main tunnels there, but as it were, that was in the distant future. Climbing into the tree was both as painful and inconvenient as I imagined it to be. The pros being that there was a lot more non-snow furniture present as a result of being so close to the city ruins.

After the cooking fire was started we munched on lunch in quiet. John had a rough map, clearly an amateur's work, drawn up on paper. He traced our route. The entire forest wasn't as monotonous as I expected from my view of the bell tower. In fact, all the interesting features lay below the trees.

I ripped away at the skewered meat. The map was much more populated than I expected, and with a lot of detail despite the drawings being terrible. I said as much. "Not the best map, is it?"

"I'm not an artist, alright?" John said scratched his head.

I stared at him as the memory of him fearlessly pushing into the troll flashed into my mind, relentlessly stabbing it over and over and over-

"Vak?" His face was slightly concerned.

I shook it off. "Yeah, I'm here. So, our route?"

There was some small planning involved in our route, mainly to dodge what John judged to be dangerous areas. Apparently, the appearance of the troll told him something about the rest of the inhabitants. I couldn't fathom the relationships. He rolled up the parchment and tucked it away into a backpack he kept against the wall before pulling it down and over his shoulder.

He turned to me afterward, but I was pulling something out of my jacket.

It wasn't a light book, in fact, it was hefty enough to shake the small wooden table I placed it on. As soon as I placed it down, a small circle of frost emanated from it, thicker than the ice already present on the table.

"Let's try reading it." I said after staring at it for a while. John nodded.

"Another [Power] won't hurt anybody." He said, letting his backpack down. "If that's how this even works."

"No idea." I said. Anything to get my mind off of things.

Together, we opened the [Skillbook]: [Ice Mastery] and were surprised to find the pages covered in flowing script. And that wasn't a fancy adjective, it was literal. Shiny black lines seemed to wrap themselves across the pages, diagrams, and charts, evermoving. My head ached just looking at it.

My eyes seemed drawn to their flow. I followed a snaking piece of ink as it moved through the book, hoping to maybe find some relevance or significance. I had to flip a page to track down the moving script as it traveled across the browned parchment. At one point, it formed into an entirely new graph, having met up with a multitude of other similar splotches of ink.

A snowflake.

Nothing happened. No matter how long John and I stared at it. The snowflake dissipated, sending script flowing in every which direction. My eyes ached as they tried to track each one at the same time. The movement was so subtle, so beneath regular writing that my eyes barely caught onto the shift.

I shut the book. Tucking it into my jacket instead of leaving it here in the outpost.

"So much for reading it." John snorted. "What do you think? I can't think of a way to use it other than that."

I scratched my head. "There's got to be more to it."

The feeling was almost certain. John seemed just as befuddled, but eventually, after a few more experiments, he called it. "God that is frustrating." He exhaled. "Let's get a move on, we can't sit here all day. As much as I am curious."

"Fair enough." I sighed. The book would have to wait until I had more time to think about it. Maybe it was a matter of just concentrating. Nonetheless, I planned to attack it head-on when I had a moment of peace.

The schedule for the day was largely unaltered despite our frustrations. John briefed me on what other dangers I might encounter in this forest. White Trolls, the thing we had just witnessed, were in the category of extraordinary. The giant I had fought, the Snowman as John had named them, also fell under the category. They were two of the most dangerous things I could run into.

Early into the afternoon, we found ourselves walking into the casino.

"You wanted to." John shrugged. "Here we are. Might as well look around, if that [Skillbook] just lying in the library taught me anything."

"Well, I doubt there'll be anything useful here." I stood there, taking it in.

Slot machines were frozen all around us, in every sense. Their screens, covered in frost, displayed slots that alluded to the fortune of the previous player. Poker tables, of that green felt, were still in their places. I stared around and remembered the abundance of people that could fill such a building.

An actual deck of cards lay untouched nearby. My hand, gliding across the table, nimbly picked it up. Idly, I flung them, shooting them across the room. The thwipping sound of their bend caught John's eye but was subsequently ignored. I gave him a shrug.

A pile of chips lay on another table. A fortune if they were mine and the place was still running. The last card of the deck went flying, joining its scattered friends on the gaudy carpet that seemed ubiquitous in every casino. A cruel twist of fate left the carpet almost undamaged.

The place was abandoned. Nothing less than I expected.

Yet I had to come. Why? I didn't know, truthfully. It felt like I had just had my birthday weeks ago. It had only been two days. My first act of celebration was to come to the casino, myself. It meant something, to come alone. It was... independence maybe, the notion I could have my own fun by myself.

I didn't expect to stay alone, separated and cut off.

Again, the thought nagged my brain. Did I care? I did, I think.

I don't know how long I stood there, but my silences and daydreamings were getting noticed. After minutes, I noticed John's presence off to my side, quietly being. John's voice came calmly like a man aware of someone in turmoil, having noticed me look to my side. "Come on, Vak." He said, placing a hand on my shoulder. "It won't be the first time you'll fight for your life here."

We left.

The rest of the buildings were uneventful but John proposed we at least check them for anything useful. Nothing came of it and we found ourselves walking on the outskirts of the city block ruins.

By now, I had realized that the chances were I'd need my [Powers] within a minute or two was so insubstantial that the risk just to see what I would get was worth it for me. Especially so, given that John was nearby and I had a clear view of my surroundings. It wouldn't do to be completely unprepared.

Buff: [Keen Eye]

Your eyes notice the small changes in the environment. They sharpen, allowing details in perfect clarity and objects at a distance to appear as if nearby.

Weapon: [Bronze Tomohawk]

A single-handed ax able to be used as a general tool but more often utilized for combat as a throwing weapon or hand-to-hand weapon.

Armor: [Oasis Vest]

A rehydrating vest that supplies the body with all the water it requires. This vest is enchanted with heat resistance and activates when under duress.

Instantly, my eyes twitched and I stared across the clearing. My view, unbidden, zoomed past falling snow, focusing past rough tree trunks, and finding the spaces between them. And then I was staring at a face. A green face, staring right back. He had tusks lining his mouth and he wore heavy furs. I thought I saw a sword hilt strapped against his back. He was undoubtedly looking past everything and straight at me.

My eyes zoomed back out and suddenly I saw many more of the faces, my view flickering from each one. They were still, waiting far beyond what we would normally see. They were all staring at us. I could see flashes of steel, the occasional bow. Even a staff. Implements of war. Death.

"John." I said, unmoving. "Something is watching us. Over there." I indicated as subtly as I could. "I think it's an ambush. A lot of green people."

He slowed his pace but didn't stop. "That was where we were heading." He said, slowly. "You're sure?" It was less of a question than I expected. John was already surreptitiously glancing right.

A horn echoed throughout the forest and the silent snow burst alive with war drums, hoots, and calls. Everything intensified and I saw them all jerk forward at the instant the sounds played.

"Gibber!" John yelled, his head snapped to some arbitrary point, I followed and found the squirrel scurrying in the trees. "Scream if you see anything! We're running that way!" John called to me. He had to raise his voice over the sounds.

Instead of answering, I just ran. Fear gripped my heart.

It was an exhausting sprint, spurred forward by the calls behind us. I threw my [Bronze Tomohwak] behind me at a green shape faster than the rest. I heard a grunt right when I felt the familiar sensation of my [Powers] leaving me. I kept my legs in front of me, running after John's steps, following Gibber. Snow crunched beneath us, sending powder into a cloud where we ran. Our feet sunk below the soft powder and pulling them out to run took considerable effort. Just the weight of my clothes alone required heavy exertion. The noises drew me forward but something nagged by brain. I stepped out of my fear and thought for a moment. I felt herded. The adrenaline was the only thing that kept me from collapsing.

My mind worked overtime as my body did. Step over where John sunk into. Aim for spots of ice even if more slippery. Step close to the trees. I heard them to our left and right. They flickered through the trees as they ran alongside us. Not too far, not too close.

"John." I gasped, my chest ached. "John!"

He turned. "What? Now's not the time, Vak!" He yelled, somehow having the breath.

"They're herding us like sheep!" I huffed, catching a deep inhale. "We need to go up. It's the only way."

A spear landed between us. "They're running us down." John grimaced, stepping quickly back from the spear. He looked around in what might've been an expert's gaze and spotted something he liked. "That one. Climb up."

It was a gnarly tree that was lower to the ground than anything else. I wasted no time. My foot caught the lowest stretch of bark and I gripped the next branch over. I found myself perched on a branch, looking back to John. More spears fell around him and I heard an angry grunt far closer than anything else. He must've been right behind us.

"Help me up!" He grasped my forearm and I hauled him up. He tested a chunk of snow attached to the tree. "This way." A pinkish shovel formed in his hand and he knocked the ice away.

The sound became angry, faster. Arrows flew around us, but we had moved up the tree, most of the snow blocked their ranged weapons. And then I spotted the first one trying to climb the tree below us.

Buff: [Blessing of Dexterity]

Your hands become skilled and adroit, accurate and precise in their movements. They do what you expect of them with surprising finesse.

Weapon: [Magic Kunai]

A small pack that creates magical kunai through the user's magical affinity. The pack drains the user's mana until kept full.

Favorable Armor: [Force Shield]!

A transparent shield made of pure force given form. The shield has the advantage of being extremely light. Useful on the move. Can be deactivated at the handle.

Everything settled onto me. The [Magic Kunai] coalesced at my hip. The [Force Shield] formed right across my arm, enough to cover my entire body. I held it up instantly, eyes going wide as the green man threw a club with a weighted nob at the end right at my face. My position was awkward, paining my already bruised neck and back, but it was braced against the tree trunk. The impact rattled me, but I held on tightly.

I grunted with the impact. "Bastard." I growled, able to see everything from behind my shield.

My hand paused at the mouth of my pack of [Magic Kunais]. I slapped myself there wasn't time to waste on morality. I reached into my pouch and threw a [Magic Kunai] watching it fly with unerring accuracy, my hand having moved around the shield and thrown with a perfect arc. The [Blessing of Dexterity] made it feel as if the hands weren't even mine.

The kunai sunk into his neck. He gurgled blood, pulling the kunai out, but it was flashing different colors. He threw it back, missing completely, before dying right there. I swallowed, shaking but reaching for another.

"Vak! Get up here!" John yelled from higher up.

"On it!" I called back. "Hold on! We have some climbers!"

Two more started to climb. They yelled something up at me and a solid sphere of darkness blasted against the tree. Splinters exploded from the trunk. The tree wouldn't last a few more of those.

I nearly fell off, but the two kunais I palmed flew straight for the two climbers. They each sunk into their throats, each [Magic Kunai] being odd. The first one had landed in the first climber's throat but there were two more besides the original that looked identical. The second one in the other's throat was on fire.

I didn't want to waste a powerful roll.

I spotted the mage, gathering darkness, and flung three [Magic Kunais] for good measure. I spotted some more running to my tree, and four or so standing in the back. They were all wearing thick furs, so I added as much power as I could to my throws, in case of the event I missed.

My arm traced the oddest arcs around my shield and the tree. My position necessitated it. Despite that, they all flew true, any err in their aim was due to the distance allowing their targets to react.

I only had time to watch the mage meet the [Magic Kunais] with a barrier, only for it to shatter the instant I saw it form. Two of my weapons lodged themselves around his face. The third fell short, right where the barrier had been.

I paused. Were they random?

"Gibber! Find us a path!" I heard John yell. "Vak, godammit! Where are you?" I switched my [Force Shield] off by the handle, the second I was clear from any arrows.

I followed the branches that John had carved the snow off of. Emerging, he grabbed my arm and pulled me up, already having been waiting. I was met with a familiar sight. Solid snow as far as the eye could see. Except for Gibber running around it was the same as I had seen it before. I knew better though, this entire layer of snow was misleading. We could fall through with a single misstep.

My [Powers] expired. The small pack at my hip dissipated along with the handle that I had held in my hand. Suddenly, my hands felt like mine again.

Gibber trotted forward and stared back at us. John took the hint and walked to him, taking the path Gibber indicated. We repeated this process until we were making good time, falling into a hurried rhythm and checking behind us every chance we got. Each of my steps were hesitant, but Gibber knew what he was doing. The little scaled squirrel chittered endlessly.

"They're not chasing us?" John asked, staring backward. His breathing was unsteady.

"No, they're not. We got forced north. I think they found something better."

I stared up at the column of rising smoke. We hadn't seen it from the below the trees. It was much closer than it had been the first time I saw it.

"The Northbounders." John blew out air. "Fuck."