This fucking winter will never end. My muscles were trembling to produce as much friction as they can to heat up my body. But it's not helping, not FUCKING MUCH.

If my mana wasn't circulating to increase my body's metabolism I would've been dead a long time ago. I breathe out a long sigh and return to focusing on circulating my mana. Even that sigh produced quite a bit of hot air. More wasted energy. Great.

Dogshit. Mana can't do shit when you don't have the calories. Oh yeah, pray to god, say some fancy words, and use your mana to create a small fire or ball of water, maybe even heal yourself with the right affinity. How the FUCK does this even work? How the FUCK can you transform the internal into something physical?

As I breathe out through my teeth, I turn around to look where my partner should've been, if I had one. The first one transferred, the second died in a battle with trolls two years ago, third one got blackout drunk and froze in the snow when he decided to take a nap in the snow. Oh you need a new partner? Well we're sorry but we don't have the men nor the funds for that. Oh you need a new sword to fight? Sorry, you've broke three in the last six months.

Fucking cunts. May their dick fall off.

How do you expect me to survive against all the shit around here with a sword made of pig iron, not even worth twenty copper coins.

[You're not supposed to. That's the point.]

Turning back to look at the horizon I hope to see that damn group appear. But alas, I see the same view of the endless snow mountains from the top of the "tower". Who the FUCK designed this tower. It's a goddamn wooden ladder leading to the top of a tall "rectangular" stone. A FUCKING WOODEN LADDER. So you can drag a huge fucking ROCK of several dozen TONS, but building a decent tower is out of the fucking question? Not even a set of fucking stairs. And if I wasn't on top of this piece of shit, I wouldn't be able to see the mountains.

Its been two weeks already, and nothing. If this keeps up I will literally start drawing random stuff with frozen shit. I definitely have enough laying around.

Those fucking scouts. Yeah, yeah a "few days max". Suffocation is one of the many causes of death that will be written on their grave markers. I could be at base warming myself near a fire.

[But then you would have to spend weeks hunting them in the valley if they pass this choke point.]

I breathe out again, shit, I should stop breathing out so much warmth. I started to wonder again where I made a wrong turn, where it all went wrong. There were too many places.

[But given the chance would you do something differently?]

No.

As I continue to circulate my mana I see subtle movement in the distance. Is my mind playing tricks on me? No... They're coming, slowly, but they're coming. You couldn't mistake those shits with anything else. A grin appeared on my face that I had trouble concealing.

I quickly climbed down the ladder. As soon as I was down, I stood behind this insult to engineering, and started to stretch and increase the speed of the blood circulating my body, spending the last of my fat to prepare for the fight. Muscle cramps during a battle is a death sentence.

After a few minutes I hear them moving through the snow. I take out my half-rusted sword from my sheath that not even a beggar would steal. Barely even worth the pity of goblins. I walk out slowly so they can see me. They all stop and look at me. Damn, three trolls, nine wolves, and eight....goblins? Some on wolves, some on foot. Fuck, even the scouts info was wrong, "A few wolves and a troll" my ass.

[There is no difference. Do or die, as it always has been.]

Yeah, it doesn't matter. I provoke them with a rude hand gesture, that even monsters can understand. I need to conserve as much energy as I can, so I stand still and wait for them. And it looks like it had quite an effect. The wolves are the fastest, as they close in they start to circle around me.

Great....

The sound of the wind, wolves growling, goblins screeching in their shitty language, and the trolls running in my direction is the only sound that I can hear. After a few seconds of the stalemate the wolves charge at the same time.

Do or die.

Nothing new, nothing old.

Another day shall come.