Kael dared not meet the Elder’s gaze. Everything about the ancient man radiated menace. Not merely his mountainous frame or the flinty ice of his eyes inspired such dread. From the Elder, an aura emanated, raw and primal, that forced the spirit to recoil. Feeling like a lone frost-flower before a sweeping blizzard, Kael stood exposed. The unyielding force of an unforgiving world, personified in the Elder, bore down. Kael could not speak. A tremor ran through him. The Elder spoke again. “Tongue frozen, boy? Utter your name, or I’ll turn you to a frozen shard.” “Kael.” The sound was a whisper against the vast silence of the grotto. “Kael? A brittle name.” A dry, rasping chuckle echoed, rattling the crystalline formations above. Kael offered no retort to the mockery. Any hasty opposition, he instinctively knew, might invite the Elder’s wrath, like a glacier cracking under immense pressure. Again, the Elder’s voice cut through the frigid air. “So, boy! How did you enter this Frost-Veil Grotto? My own passage is sealed to all but me.” “Stutter again and I’ll crack your skull.” “An underground tunnel,” Kael managed, his voice regaining a fraction of its stoic resolve. “Yes. I was excavating a Cryosynapse crystal seam. A wall collapsed, revealing a passage. Then, it pulled me inward.” “Hee-hee! A trap sprung, then.” The Elder’s smile stretched, revealing teeth like fractured ice. “Occasionally, these grottoes, on the brink of mana oversaturation, create such exits. To purge their excess energy. These are the traps. They lure in lesser beasts, releasing the raw mana outwards.” “Keh-heh! Such ill-fortune clings to you. Most never stumble into such a snare until their last breath.” The Elder openly scoffed at Kael’s plight. Kael found no words to defend himself. The relentless misfortune, as the Elder named it, had indeed haunted his passage through Aethelfrost. Summoning a reserve of his deep-seated resolve, Kael finally spoke. “Who are you? Where are we?” “And from this moment, this place is my hunting ground.” Elder Borin’s voice dropped, a rumble like ice shifting deep below. “My hunting ground, boy.” At Borin’s ominous declaration, Kael felt a shiver unrelated to the biting cold. It felt more than mere boast. More than empty threat. Borin’s fierce gaze, the storm-like madness swirling around him, spoke of grim truth. Then, the earth trembled. From a surging subglacial current, colossal figures emerged. Glacial Lurkers. Their armored hides were like ancient, jagged ice, their eyes burning with frigid malice. These were the beasts of the deep ice, their jaws wide enough to crush a man whole. Even witnessing the terrifying sight, Borin’s grim amusement did not wane. His words ended. A massive greatsword, embedded within a wall of ancient ice, shimmered. It floated into the air. Borin grasped the hilt of the blade he named Rimefang. Instantly, a cold, piercing light erupted from Rimefang’s surface. The sword’s resonance sent shivers through the entire Frost-Veil Grotto. Kael’s face contorted. His heart hammered against his ribs. Not from exhilaration, but a profound unease. The sword’s icy cry scraped at his very nerves. Kael was not alone in his discomfort. Stimulated by Rimefang’s piercing resonance, the Glacial Lurkers convulsed, thrashing their scaled bodies. Not only the Lurkers. From various crystalline corners of the abyssal zone, more beasts emerged. Winged monstrosities, their shadows darkening the grotto’s vault, plummeted from above. Massive creatures, dwarfing the Lurkers, clawed their way from glacial crevices. All charged toward Borin. Rimefang’s resonance had agitated every creature within the grotto. Kael watched, mouth agape, unable to comprehend the unfolding madness. The true horror began next. Borin, Rimefang clutched in hand, lunged into the horde. The massive bodies of the Glacial Lurkers tore asunder. Their armored hides, tough and resilient, parted like brittle parchment. It was not just the Lurkers. Various unknown monsters, their forms twisted by aeons of ice, were ruthlessly cut down. Borin was a blizzard made manifest. Swept away by the furious storm, the monsters were tossed aside. The surging subglacial currents on the grotto floor, the falling ice debris, all seemed to recoil from the force called Borin. “What power is that?” Kael breathed, a plume of frost escaping his lips. A staggering display. No apparent skills. He relied solely on his inherent strength and a greatsword named Rimefang to slaughter the beasts. Soon, Borin stood surrounded by pyramids of dead monsters. Their forms frozen mid-contortion, blood like ruby-ice staining the crystalline floor. Borin’s maniacal laughter echoed through the vast grotto. It seemed to splinter the very air. Swinging Rimefang, now slick with monster blood and frozen flesh, he seemed less than human. He was a force, barely contained within human guise. Kael felt overwhelmed by Borin’s chilling frenzy. He could not move a finger. Could not even draw a deep breath. A rhinoceros-like monster, its horn a spear of ancient ice, was the last creature standing. No monster remained on the ground. Borin had single-handedly decimated the horde. Yet, he showed no sign of fatigue. His chest rose and fell with an even rhythm. Unknowingly, Kael swallowed dry, cold air. Then, a roar erupted. From the grotto’s highest crystal spire, a sound that emptied Kael’s mind. Struggling to retain his senses, he watched a colossal monster emerge. The gigantic creature’s majesty, akin to a legend carved from the heart of a glacier, left Kael frozen in awe. Borin smiled, gazing at the monster. “You finally show yourself. Borealis Serpent!” Wrapped in shimmering sapphire scales from head to tail, its body stretched thirty meters long. Wings, when fully extended, spanned even greater distances. *That’s not a dragon?* Kael trembled at the Serpent’s presence, something he had never before witnessed in his life. The frigid aura surrounding the Borealis Serpent’s body contrasted starkly with its emergence from a vein of supercooled abyssal current. Creatures of this tier possessed traits akin to humans. Blue indicates mastery in Cryosynapse abilities within its domain. This Borealis Serpent was a monstrous entity of B-rank or higher, one with absolute command over the deep ice. Borin tightened his grip on Rimefang. He spoke. “That beast is the final guardian of this grotto.” Even facing the grotto’s ultimate guardian, Borin showed no hint of intimidation. Instead, he seemed almost delighted, flashing a maniacal grin. Kael could not fathom Borin’s demeanor. Did immense power invariably twist the mind? Or only the twisted could attain such power? The Borealis Serpent flapped its wings, ascending into the grotto’s icy expanse. The creature launched itself toward Borin at terrifying speed. Before the Serpent even arrived, a sharp, frigid wind swept through the air. Bending his knees slightly, Borin spoke, without looking at Kael. “Survive on your own.” In that instant, Borin propelled himself from the ground. It was startling enough for a person to fly. Then, a sonic boom ripped through the air. Borin broke through the sound barrier, instantly appearing before the Borealis Serpent. The collision between the colossal monster and the diminutive human reverberated through the air. The aftermath shook the grotto to its core. The previously calm subglacial current surged like a tidal wave, spewing in all directions. Crystalline geysers erupted, showering razor-sharp ice shards. The corpses of the monsters Borin had slain melted into the surging cold. The protective aura from the grotto’s chill vanished upon their deaths. Icy currents surged toward Kael. He hastily maneuvered, evading the encroaching flood, but it followed him relentlessly. Continuing on this path, he would dissolve into the frigid depths, just like the other monsters. Amidst this chaos, Borin and the Borealis Serpent fiercely battled in the air. Borin’s deflection of the Serpent’s frost-breath landed dangerously close to Kael. A deafening crack accompanied it. Ice exploded, and Kael bore the brunt of the icy shrapnel. Kael darted around frantically, like a trapped animal. The unpredictable surges of frost, the urgency of the situation, offered no time to consider his abilities. To survive, he needed to distance himself from the area where Borin and the Borealis Serpent fought. Kael leaped across the subglacial current, running across black volcanic rock, now exposed. Suddenly, the rock he stepped on crumbled, revealing molten frost beneath. A supercooled abyss. Falling meant the end. Instinctively, Kael gathered the surrounding ice. He sculpted a platform of solid frost, just as he had evaded earlier onslaughts. Continuing to create these ice platforms rapidly depleted his mana. Nevertheless, he managed to land on solid crystalline ground just before his mana ran out entirely. Kneeling on the hard crystal, Kael gasped for breath. His heart felt like it might burst. A metallic taste, like rust and cold, rose in his lungs. It was the aftermath of pushing himself to his absolute limit. The entire grotto shook violently. Looking toward the origin, Kael saw Borin and the Borealis Serpent’s fight reach its terrifying peak. Amidst Borin’s manic exclamation, an enormous force gathered within Rimefang. Kael's eyes perceived Rimefang doubling in size for a moment, a spear of concentrated winter. Borin hurled Rimefang toward the Borealis Serpent. Rimefang flew like a crystalline meteor, piercing straight through the Serpent’s chest. The Borealis Serpent let out a pitiful, guttural scream, a sound of profound agony, as it plummeted. The colossal monster, over thirty meters long, crashed onto the subglacial terrain. Devoid of strength, the Serpent’s body sprawled across the frozen ground. Borin descended upon the motionless Serpent. Though the Borealis Serpent still gasped, its breaths labored, it looked up at Borin. Glancing down at the dying Serpent, Borin spoke. “I scoured the North-Reach for a year to catch you. To imbue Rimefang with your heart… so, die gracefully.” Borin lifted Rimefang high. He plunged it into the Borealis Serpent’s core. The pain from Rimefang piercing its heart caused the Serpent to convulse. Its last struggles were feeble, however. Rimefang, embedded in the Borealis Serpent’s heart, glowed brilliant blue, filled with an enormous amount of frigid mana, typical of a grotto’s final guardian. Rimefang absorbed the Borealis Serpent’s potent frost-mana, heating intensely, almost as if it might shatter. At the peak of this cold heat, Rimefang suddenly underwent a transformation. Borin expressed profound satisfaction at Rimefang’s new form. Rimefang, now reassembled, grew larger, took on a sharper, more intricate form. Its surface etched with crystalline patterns, pulsating with an inner, cold light. This grotto’s origin was its final guardian. Without its core, the Frost-Veil Grotto could not maintain its form. It faced annihilation. A shimmering azure portal appeared before the Borealis Serpent’s remains. It was the exit from the grotto. Just before stepping into the portal, Borin turned to look at Kael. “Aren’t you leaving, boy? Fool.”

The Elder's Frost-Maw