'Any more than this and I might actually freeze to death. I expected it to be cold but not to this degree. I have a 60% Elemental Resistance, after all. System, what even is the current temperature?' Daz asked as he made his way over to the group within Mr Barrier's protection.

Cold Resistance has reached Level 3. Cold Resistance has reached Level 4.

He honestly wouldn't be very surprised if the skill reached its natural level cap of ten before he and his companions even reached the theorised portal that was meant to be out here somewhere.

Confirmed. The current temperature is -112° C.

He shivered lightly and got to work plucking out the strands of ice that had appeared in his hair and on his skin as he walked alongside Madison.

She gave him a hug to help warm him up which he appreciated. At the same time, Daz controlled Hamson to stay outside of the warmth barrier with the Frost Phoenix egg perched atop its now scoop-shaped blade.

It retaining its ability to have its blade change shape and size after he had created his quintessential shovel art was proving to be very useful.

'In Fahrenheit, system?' Daz knew the old way Americans calculated the temperature wasn't really based on any science at all.

Hell, from his understanding the America of old was pretty much the only country in the world to use the arbitrary scale beside a handful of small island nations. Hence why New Earth had chosen to abandon it and adopt the far more scientific Celcius instead.

Most of his citizens weren't even from the states despite the majority of his territory being centred there, after all.

Daz was just used to Fahrenheit and it was easier to visualise mentally for him since he'd grown up with it. With his Intelligence stat though he was sure he'd grow out of that habit soon enough.

Confirmed. The current temperature is -169.6° F.

'Hmm, yeah, that's pretty fucking freezing. A normal person would die really quickly out there. Can't let the girls step too far away from Mr Barrier then...' Daz pecked Madison on the cheek in thanks for sharing her warmth with him before he asked, "Ellie, can you stand the cold here or will it hamper you?"

Ellie shrugged dismissively. "At this temperature? My telekinesis can forcefully change my body heat. I'll be fine. If it gets colder, I'll be less fine but not in any immediate danger."

"That's good to hear. And you two? Are you doing okay? Not with the weather but with the walking," Daz asked the twins.

They were powerful for their age but they had no contracted beasts as of yet despite their classes. They also weren't specialised in defense and neither did they possess a unique method to stave off the cold like Ellie had, hence his concern.

Katy and Kathy both gave him a stern nod. They were unusually serious but honestly, that pleased him if nothing else.

It made them a bit less appealing for the glutton of cuteness that was his fiancée. He had enough to worry about on this excursion as it was, so Madison attacking the poor girls not being on that list was great.

"And you, Maddy?" he asked.

She shivered a bit. "Little, cold. Not, dangerous, though." She pointed at herself and smiled brightly. "Angel."

"A wingless one but yeah," Daz teased. "Good to know angels can resist the cold. Once I've warmed up I'll be going back out there. The sooner I can get this new skill to the max level, the better. It's an evolution one, after all."

Madison didn't seem to have an issue with that. So long as he wasn't actually endangering himself she was fine with whatever he did.

It was honestly a little bit suffocating considering his personality and political position but Daz loved her all the same for it.

"Is there any progress with the egg, girls?" Since he couldn't see if the cold weather was having the desired effect or not himself, he turned to the experts for answers.

Katy nodded happily. "Mmm. From 0.1% to 6%."

'Faster than expected. Maybe It'll hatch on this journey. That would be nice since it was pretty damn strong when it wasn't an egg,' Daz thought.

Images of the fierce battle he had with the creature flashed in his mind. How it had so easily torn his soldiers to pieces then went on to kill Jordan with a single bite and both Ger and Sarah with a beam of frost breath.

He shook his head. Stirring his emotions right now would do no one any good.

Cold Resistance has reached Level 5. Cold Resistance has reached Level 6. Cold Resistance has reached Level 7.

Progress was certainly being made. Hell, even his other new skill had seen some gains from the treacherous cold.

Kairn's Physique has reached Level 2.

He just felt it was a shame that the level-ups didn't actually boost the power. They only worked towards discounting the skills' next upgrades.

At least growth skills and evolution skills would rank up automatically and without cost when they reached level ten.

"Daz," Ellie called from within the barrier. "One of my bots sees something up ahead."

''One of my bots'? Didn't she name them? I thought she would have called out the bot's name,' Daz wondered before replying, "What, exactly?"

"A portal as far as I can tell," she answered monotonously.

'... It's saddening to see her change like this... She's strong though. She'll come out of this for the better, I'm sure. Losing people over and over again can never be easy,' Daz thought as he nodded softly.

"Let's proceed with extreme caution then. Your robots don't see anything else? Corpses, monsters, weird tech? Just the portal?" Daz asked.

"Just the portal," Ellie answered briskly.

Daz stepped back into Mr Barrier's protective shield to better prepare himself just in case. He didn't know the full capabilities of what they were dealing with, after all.

He didn't mistrust Ellie or anything like that but it was always better to safe, rather than sorry.

Not ten minutes passed before their group had caught up with the telekinetic witch's mechanical scouts.

Sure enough, right in front of them lay a massive glowing screen with a border of some sort - a portal.

It reminded Daz a bit of the teleportation network the Archons ran in New Earth and his vassal kingdoms yet this device was less archaic, and seemed far more mystical in design than the Archons' teleporters did. It was certainly far, far larger, if nothing else.

it was easily as tall as a two-story building and it was hard to see what was on the other side of it since a seemingly endless stream of snow and ice flowed forth from the opening.

Daz turned on his Soul Vision and scouted the area. "I see about 200 souls near the portal, all grey. I assume they died when this portal appeared or when they tried to enter it judging from the corrosion on them. No corpses though. Odd."

He saw Ellie holding her left hand closely. She was slowly caressing the yellow glowing design that resembled a tribal tattoo on the back of her palm.

"What happens when a soul completely succumbs to the corrosion, Daz? You only ever told Edward and me that it becomes impossible to turn them into spirits at some point," she pointed out.

Daz saw no reason not to explain so explain he did. "They return to a cycle of reincarnation. I can expedite the process though and if I do, it's to my understanding that they return sooner."

He wasn't going to share the fact that he was essentially the emperor of Earth's entire soul network. He saw no point in revealing that little nugget of information to her.

"I... see," Ellie said.

Madison cocked her head a bit. "Send, these, souls?"

Daz nodded. "I'd like to if no one has any complaints. It'll take me an hour or two to do it but I think these souls deserve to move on. This is hardly a pleasant place to have one's entire being remain before moving on."

"We don't mind," the twin's said at the same time.

Ellie wordlessly nodded before sitting down in the snow.

Madison approached Daz and kissed him. "Come, back, if, too, cold. Also, if, something, happen."

"Yeah, I'll be careful," he responded with a faint smile on his lips.

Cold Resistance has reached Level 8.

It had taken a bit longer than Daz had expected to send every soul off since some still held earthly attachments - a thing he'd come to learn was common for those who didn't die of natural causes.

While his clones did most of the burying and funeral work for the victims of the Truthians' merciless terrorist attack, he was still responsible for a good chunk of it when he was in Fort Skip.

He'd buried hundreds of people personally and helped their souls move on. At least 80% of which were reluctant to start the process of going to their next life or the afterlife.

Still, nothing truly unexpected had occurred like a big old nasty beast popping out of the portal or anything akin to that.

He quickly approached the group in the barrier and said, "I'm done. are we ready to go in now or do we need a few minutes?"

Madison, of course, bobbed her head up and down in affirmation.

Ellie nodded too but she had some concerns to share. "I've been thinking about it but... are we really bringing along these girls? It doesn't seem like a smart idea."

'I'm surprised she didn't bring this up sooner. Maybe she didn't want to care but just can't bring herself not to? She's in a lot of pain but they are just children, after all. Twins too just like she was with Sarah,' Daz thought.

"Yes, we are. Katy and Kathy here are stronger than they look. They can help us if we get surrounded by monsters with their tamer powers. Their presence is also needed to help this thing hatch," he said as he gestured to the Frost Pheonix egg that was nestled within the curve of Hamson's blade. "If it keeps growing at the rate that it is right now, it will probably hatch when we're in there. Even a baby Frost Pheonix will be an incredibly powerful asset for New Earth."

"Girls, won't, leave, barrier," Madison said. "They, promised."

"And we can trust Mr Barrier?" Ellie asked. "I understand it's not under your control but does what it wants to, right?"

Mr Barrier didn't seem to care about Ellie's suspicions. Daz just watched as it lazily jiggled about atop his fiancée's head and purred softly.

"I understand where you're coming from but your concerns are baseless," he said. "Mr Barrier has proven his loyalty to Madison numerous times. He may be free to decline our requests, but he has yet to ever say no to Madison or even me when we needed a barrier of any kind. If she wants him to, then he'll keep the girls safe while we explore."

"... Okay," Ellie replied simply, clearly choosing not to press the matter much further. "But if things get too hairy in there or if its barrier can't protect them from the harsh conditions, I'm evacing them."

Daz nodded. "That's fine. You can resist harsher cold on your own?"

"For a bit, yes. I can telekinetically discharge the cold on top of changing my body's heat levels. I might be able to use my powers to keep others warm too. Maybe. Never tried before. I should be strong enough to buy myself a few minutes if not more at the very least," Ellie answered. "Depends on the force of the snowstorm on the other side, really."

"Perfect. Well, let's get a move on then. I want to see just what is causing the north to become such an uninhabitable wasteland." No one disagreed with him.

The group pressed through the large portal with the help of Mr Barrier's protection from the blizzard. Immediately the force of the storm increased by a factor of four or five from Daz's estimates.

Mr Barrier's barrier, while remaining intact, slowly started to freeze over. Some large car-sized chunks of ice slammed against it as well, as if they were being thrown by a distant and angry giant.

'Good thing it's an unbreakable barrier. Even Hamson can't damage it,' he thought before he scanned the area.

"I can't see any souls," Daz said, his eyes shining with a deadly shade of grey.

"So... no monsters?" Ellie asked as she shivered a bit. "Fuck it's cold even with that furry blob's protection."

Daz nodded as he withdrew some large fur coats from his Industrial Item Box. He'd brought them along just in case and he was glad he'd chosen to do so.

He gave one to each of the girls but didn't wear one himself. They weren't trying to level up a resistance skill like he was, after all. A coat would just impede him.

"Give me a moment," he requested before cancelling his Soul Vision.

He then channelled his internal energy into his silver offshoot bloodline. Success Sight activated with the concept of which direction to go clear in his mind.

Everywhere he looked was grey except for the portal that shined with a brilliant golden light. Also, straight north he saw wisps of faint blackness.

Cancelling the power he pointed north. "There's danger that way. My bet's on the mythical city being there."

"The one at the north pole?" Ellie asked.

Daz nodded. "Mmm, probably. I'll keep up Soul Vision again in case something approaches us. Let's go."

In an abandoned wing of an opulent palace made entirely out of ice and crystal, two people sat around a poorly constructed fire in their prison cell.

One was a young man with two pistols strapped to his waist while the other was an old woman with a dagger attached to a device on her left forearm that seemed inaccessible.

"Some people just entered the dimension," Matheo said with his eyes closed.

The old woman raised a frozen eyebrow. "And they weren't attacked immediately?"

Matheo nodded. "Seems like the owner is reluctant or is maybe scared? I dunno. Can't tell, really. That frozen asshole's a tough nut to read... Ah! I recognise one of the intruders."

"Hmm?" the woman's interest had apparently been piqued. Rare, that.

He smiled wryly. "I met him in the auction, if only briefly. Well, if it's him, maybe we have a fighting chance. Before I got trapped here I heard he was being real busy fixing up the states. You're from there right? Alaska, if I recall."

"I know very little of the outside world... The auction you said, right? Someone powerful?" the elderly woman asked him.

'Powerful? Hah. That dick gave me one hell of a cold shoulder,' Matheo grinned to himself. "Very."