*Sniffs*
I inhaled the cold air, feeling the chill crawl down my spine.
Dangerous.
We couldn't stay here for long.
I looked around—snow and ice, nothing else.
"Ahh… Why the hell are we here?!" I turned back. The frustration was etched clearly across Anna's face.
Not that I cared.
She could actually die out here.
But not before helping me secure that book.
I glanced at the emergency escape relic in my hand. She got it from the man at the counter. Not sure why—maybe he saw the name on her ID and feared for his life. If that was true, then there was probably a tracker on it. Hm. He's definitely informed the Estellias by now.
Perhaps he thinks I'm holding her hostage.
Not entirely false.
I infused ether into the device and hurled it at a frozen tree.
PAH!
It exploded instantly.
When I turned back, I found her staring at me, wide-eyed.
"You just destroyed an escape relic?! Are you an idiot?!" she shouted.
"Get down... and eat ice," I replied, unconcerned, and began walking.
Immediately, she started screaming, her body forcing her to obey the command against her will.
I walked away, thinking.
She most definitely already guessed what the relic contained but acted ignorant—maybe hoping I'd keep it close, thinking it was our way out.
"Hm." I stopped and looked up.
A cave.
That's what I needed. It'd take a while to reach, though.
BOOM!
I felt the ground tremble.
I turned instantly. "Stop eating."
She looked at me—blood smeared across her face, her once-white clothing shredded and soaked. She looked terrible. Tears, blood, and snot stained her face.
"Here." I tossed her a healing potion—for the second time. The first was back in the forest, for her broken bones.
She rushed for it, caught it, uncorked it, and drank. Instantly, her wounds began healing.
"I hate you," she muttered, tearing a strip from her ruined dress to wipe her face. She tossed the bloodied fabric aside.
"Are you trying to seduce me?" I asked, eyeing the newly exposed skin. "You'd have better luck with a rock."
Her panties peeked through the tear. Not sure where she got those.
With a disinterested sigh, I turned and began walking again.
"HA! HAHAHA! SEDUCE YOU?! Why would I, Annabelle, try to seduce you?! There are literally better people in this world—better looking, better built! Take Auston, for example. He's everything you're not, you stupid son of a bitch! You—"
She kept ranting, but my mind had already wandered. I was trying to trace the source of that sound.
Something was coming.
I scanned the surroundings.
Frozen trees.
Scalable.
"You are to remain where you stand until you spot a beast," I said, activating my ether. I was getting better at it. With its help, I climbed a tree. These weren't like the sprawling branches of normal forests, but manageable.
"WHAT ARE YOU PLANNING?!" she yelled up, glaring at me like she wanted to strangle me in my sleep. If she could, she probably would.
She kept trying to move, but every attempt made her bite her lip in pain before giving up. Her glare never left me.
We waited.
Then—
"There." I narrowed my eyes. "An ice orc?"
They usually attack in groups, but I only saw one. The others might be hiding.
"An orc?" she muttered like it was her first time seeing one. Technically, it was. Same for me—but I didn't see what was so exciting.
"Kill it," I said.
"You don't have to tell me."
She stretched her arm. Ice gathered and launched forward in a lance.
"Hey!" I shouted, tossing her one of the wands from my spatial ring. It should help her focus her ether better.
The orc blocked the lance with a massive shard of ice. The shard cracked, but held.
"GRAAAAAAAAAAH!"
It roared and charged.
"Wait… she's unable to move, right?" I muttered. "Sigh. Whatever."
She looked panicked. She was immobile. Realizing how serious the situation was, her ether flared—
And in an instant, a wall of ice rose between them.
"Huh." I blinked in surprise.
Her casting speed had improved.
But the orc didn't care. It smashed through the wall and lunged. She had already endured the pain from the slave seal, shifting slightly from her original position. Blood dripped from her nose. The more she resisted, the worse her body punished her.
I rolled up my right sleeve.
The tattoo glowed violently.
Wait.
I raised my hand.
"Ice," I muttered, imagining a massive spear.
I opened my eyes.
"Fuck," I gritted my teeth.
My ether drained in an instant.
But before me stood a huge spear of ice.
I tilted my head.
"…Interesting."
"Damn it!" Anna screamed as the orc's ice blade slammed into her shoulder. She clenched her teeth, her eyes glowing a fierce blue. A surge of fire gathered—then—
BOOM!
A spear tore through the orc's chest.
She stared in shock.
I sighed. "Stop staring like an idiot and get me down from here."
With my ether depleted, I couldn't move.
Tch.
I really need to account for this better. Or it's going to get me killed.