The sound of a billion broken panes of glass, the shattering tinkling noise of crystalline shards exploding into ever smaller fragments. The noise filled the air, piercing through even the muffling snow.

I covered my ears, finding myself beside John who was doing the same.

"Fuck." I said, ears ringing. I groaned, pushing myself up from the snow. The section of tunnel I had been in wasn't destroyed, but it was porcupined with light blue crystals. I was fucking glad I decided to dive out of the way.

John scrambled to his feet at the same time I did.

"Don't touch the crystal." I said immediately, to which John slowed. I answered his. "Poisonous." I shrugged, not wanting to get to into detail. It got the idea across.

Together, we both glanced out the window, stepping carefully around the shards. I stared down at the aftermath below us, still as camouflaged as I had been before. With the caveat that our lookout was now a sparkling mess.

As was everything else.

I had hit a [Jackpot] [Weapon] but I wasn't sure that's what I would've called it now. Four tuskers were skewered; two against the snowy ridge, and two to the nearby trees. Blister and the mages were on the floor, twitching. From the light blue sharp crystals covering all of their entire bodies, I could easily make out exactly where they had been in relation to the explosion; where they had been facing. Each crystalline shard that found purchase was tainted in blood.

Some took it to the face, others to the back. I pulled away from the window, breathing hard. John kept an eye out, calmer than I could ever be. His voice only reflected that grim serenity as he spoke lowly. "They're coming to see what happened. We could reveal ourselves if you want." John squinted. "It's those three. Hale, Kevin, and Garth."

I breathed deeply, nearly hyperventilating. John wasn't blind, he noticed my predicament and let me be. There was no impending danger, so it was fine. I tried to calm myself and meditate, but only found another feeling.

My Slate called me. The feel of playing cards brushing against my fingers steadied my shaking hands. It took me considerably less time to calm down compared to earlier with the troll. I blinked the thoughts away, realizing it was only earlier today. Keeping my breath steady I seriously wondered if this might just be the norm now.

One of the cards glowed blue. Drawing it lightly between my fingertips, like usual, beautiful script scrawled itself across its surface as I held it up to look at.

Group Tutorial Quest Completed: [Against All Odds]

Quests are the main method in which the [System] bestows boons. A small armed force of tuskers threatens to wipe out your group, finishing the job that the environment couldn't. Survive their slaughter or slaughter them first.

Final Contribution: 16 Kills

Contribution Breakdown:

[Tusker Archers]: 8 x 100 = 800 [Points]

[Tusker Warriors]: 3 x 150 = 450 [Points]

[Tusker Mages]: 4 x 200 = 800 [Points]

[Tusker Leader]: 1 x 500 = 500 [Points]

Total [Points] = 2250

Rewards: Nearest [System Shop] Location, 2250 [Points]

The 16 kills gave me a pregnant pause, but I was able to sail through the encroaching storm. I forced myself to think past it for now. Back against the wall, I heard voices below us.

"What in the hell?" Someone said. "Anyone of us have a [Power] that can do this?"

"That wasn't one of ours, Garth." I recognized Hale's voice. "Gruesome."

Garth, the first voice, had a tinge of anger to it. "They killed three of us here alone." I heard him spit. I couldn't mistake the grimace in his voice. The slight disgust and queasiness. "Fuck. Couldn't have done it better myself though. I'll give them that."

By now, I had joined John, having finally calmed down, and watched Garth, Hale, and Kevin standing below us. I tried to avoid the gore, but my eyes kept slipping back to it. They were standing on the snowy ridge looking at the crystalline blast zone.

Hale stood taller than both wearing a chain shirt. His dark skin stood stark against the snow and up close he looked to be in his early 30s. Like the other two, brown furs rested heavily on his shoulders. "Well," He spoke. "We know we're not the only people wandering the forest. Wouldn't put it past someone to take crack shots if they had it lined up. [Points] for contributions and all that."

Garth nearly rivaled Hale in height, but his presence came from his muscles. The man was light-skinned and probably close in age to Hale. He had a mustache and beard. He was the one that had been punching the fireballs, the same one with the ranged fists.

Kevin was thinner than both in comparison and just as old. Somehow I found myself respecting the three relatively older men that took charge. He was the one that initially blocked the stream of fire, causing the entire clearing to erupt into steam hours earlier. "I'd thank them if I could." He said shortly, he barely flinched at the gore.

John jerked his head towards them, face questioning.

Well, I guess it was time to meet some people. I called down. "Then we'll be right down."

They all looked startled at that, each pair of eyes finding the wrong spot to focus on.

John led me to the exit of his tunnels that opened to the first branch in the sequence of branches that would take us down to the ground. Carefully, I placed my foot below me, following John's pace. We dropped down behind the tree shortly after and came around to face the three.

The crystalline gore was between us.

"You did this?" Hale called out. "How- "

"Thank you." Kevin said over Hale, keeping true to his word.

Garth grunted, rubbing his beard. "Fine work, men." He said. "Thanks for the help."

John spoke first in response. "They chased us to your tail, thought we'd see if we could help from the sidelines." He nodded to both Garth and Kevin. "Nice to see you all well."

"Better than them." Kevin gestured to the tuskers.

Garth and Kevin looked to each other briefly. It took them a moment of looking at John's features before they spoke up. "You were the one in the city ruins. Ice cream shop right?" Garth nodded. "If I recall correctly, you were with an older man and young woman-"

Hale put a hand on Garth's shoulder before he kept going. "Garth."

He looked up at John's eyes which had a tinge of melancholy. "Sorry." He said. "Tactless of me."

"No, it's fine." John waved. "That's the one though. I've run into a friend on the way as well." He gestured at the crystallized tuskers. "Courtesy of him." He threw a thumb at me.

"Name's Vak." I pulled down my hood, shaking snow off of me. "Saw you guys were in a pickle."

Kevin and Garth stared at me, and then at the crystals. I felt their gazes sweep across my body, looking for anything on me. They found nothing but their eyes lingered on my [Cloak of the Frozen Icicle].

"For the past hour or two, yes." Hale responded, unfazed at the gore I wrought. "They've been harrying us. Although, I think that's the last of them since the quest completed." He looked into the space in front of him. I realized it was probably his Slate. "Anyone catch the location of the [System Shop]?"

"North from here. All the better, you all were heading that way anyway, right?" I popped in, to their surprise and John's.

"North?" John asked.

"How do you figure?" Garth asked rubbing his beard.

I pointed to the sky. Through the clearing, the beam of light that came from the sky might as well have been a beacon. Actually, that more fitting. The beacon of light was obvious if you looked up.

They turned back to us. "If you two need a place to stay, you can hole up with us." Hale said courteously. He immediately addressed the other two men as he gave us time to think it over. "Garth, Kevin, we'll send some people to the [System Shop] tonight. Establishing a camp comes first though."

I looked at John. It was his call to leave his pseudo home for the time being. "Sure, they swept right through the area we were staying and it's getting late. Too dangerous to head back now." He said in way of answer. I agreed with the logic. We had already had our fill of life or death today.

"Follow us then, we'll have to set up another camp. Somewhere safer than a clearing probably." Hale spoke, turning and walking without even looking back. Garth and Kevin fell in step. "If you're willing, we could use a few capable bodies to scout out the area around the [System Shop]."

"We'll think about it." I said, exhausted. "Already almost died twice today."

"No one can blame you for that." Kevin said softly. "Too much pressure can break a man."

John looked at me, shrugged, and the snow crunching under our feet was the sound that filled the quiet.

The walk through deep snow and thick forest was a familiar one. We were five men moving through the forest and for once I didn't feel exposed as I was. Whether that was a consequence of numbers or the abilities of the four other people beside me I didn't bother to contemplate. My feet dragged heavily against the snow.

I hung back as Hale spoke to John. At some point, Gibber had found his way to John's shoulder again, there were a few stares but that was the extent of it. Kevin kept his space but I could tell also kept an ear on the conversations around him. That left me walking with Garth. The company wasn't entirely unwanted, it kept my mind off things.

"Damn, that's a nice cloak." The fistfighter said. "Must be a hundred times warmer than these itchy things." He grabbed at the brown fur adorning his shoulders."

I chuckled, idly caressing the fur, feeling the white softness. "It's already saved my ass once." Then a thought struck me. "Where exactly are we heading? Don't you have more of your group scattered about?"

"They'll be up ahead. We've had some people scout ahead, there are rendezvous points. If anyone's missing we'll find them." Garth replied easily. "It won't be the first time someone's been lost. We've learned that lesson."

I hummed in acknowledgment.

"That crystal [Power] of yours is pretty impressive." He said offhandedly. "Must be some [Power]."

"Sometimes it is." I smiled brushing off the nosiness.

He chuckled. "I can respect a secret." He put his hands up. "God knows people need them."

"Well, I can't punch a fireball with it." I praised.

The older guy gave an amused grin.

Eventually, we saw people through the trees. From the way no one tensed I figured it was the rest of the Northbounders. There were only ten or so people, but they were all bustling about. Someone was touching the ground, snow forming into small huts. A woman held her hands over the injured, of which there were many, and light came from their wounds.

Shouts and calls rang out once we were noticed.

"They made it!" A woman called out. "Hale and them are back!" There was a small clamoring crowd that surrounded the three, but most kept to their tasks. Questions were thrown out, there was some crying too.

"The rest?" A man's voice nearly broke.

Hale grimaced but Garth was the one to shake his head. The people working on the nearby shelter slowed down their pace after hearing it.

"We're home." Kevin said, walking past us. Snow followed in his wake bolstering the structure already in construction, filling in the gaps. "You all take a break. I can finish this one up." He said.

"I'll help you out with this one, Kev." Garth joined in. "That one next, looks like they're having trouble." The man pointed to a man and woman creating what looked like a lobsided igloo. Kevin chuckled, their conversation flowing through the grief of the group surrounding them.

Hale didn't stop to watch, instead turning to John and I. "We'll have a spot for you two. For now, see if you two can help around the camp. It won't be much since it's only for the night, but it helps for comfort."

My back and neck protested wildly, but there really wasn't another option. I stared around, the morale had immediately plummeted, but these people kept on trucking.

"We can carve out our own little place there, Hale. We'll see what we can do to help around after that." John sighed, seeing the mood of the camp.

"No complaints here so long as you're carrying your own weight." Hale nodded genially. "I'll leave you to it." He walked away, speaking with a few people too far from me to hear. They looked over to us briefly and continued talking.

"John-" I said turning.

"Here."

He handed me a violet shovel.

I sighed.