Arc | Chapter. 4: Reflexion & Peacefulness (Patreon)

Chapter. 4: Reflexion & Peacefulness

“This is…”

I blinked looking around unable to see anything. I could just sense that I was in a dark cave. I expected to be met by a beautiful moon or the shining sunlight, but instead I got neither of them and appeared underground or inside a mountain or somewhere. Finally, after a second of thought, I sighed.

“This is dumb.”

I took a step forward in the darkness intending to brute force my way out, but instead a chittering sound interrupted me. It crawled above me with small clicks. Yet there was no danger to be felt. I looked up to the darkness as I conjured a small blue flame from the palm of my hand.

And finally, I managed to see the cave. Lining the walls were black blotches and at the very top hanging from a myriad of webs was a gigantic black spider. Its maw dripped with black liquid, its eight beady eyes stared at me as its sharpened legs aimed at me.

[Imera Spider. Tier: A]

A Tier? I raised my brow. It wasn’t too weak then. I was still mentally tired from fighting the Overlord, but I wasn’t going to back off, specially if the monster was clearly going to attack me.

I smiled, thinking of all the ways to beat it up, and then the spider pounced⁠— I swung my free arm upwards⁠—

“[Ice Creation]!”

I called as a pillar of frost erupted from the ground, and at ballistic speeds it hit the spider against the roof and⁠— exploded the roof along with the spider as I saw a explosion of gore and liquid.

[ You have defeated: Imera Spider. Tier: A ]

Chunks of spider rained upon me as I simply stared for a moment. My skill was certainly stronger now. The moonlight shone upon me and I finally blinked.

“It’s already dead…? I even held back.” And then I shook my head. “Well that’s disappointing.”

ShaI turned to the cave walls where I saw multitudes of small spiders

[Fledgling Imera Spider. Tier: D]

[Fledgling Imera Spider. Tier: D]

[Fledgling Imera Spider. Tier: D]

…

There were hundreds of them, however I ignored all of them as they started to pool out from the whole in the ceiling. Going into the wilderness. They were D Tier, nothing that I could actually entertain myself with let alone care about.

“Though I guess it’s interesting that even as babies they are D Tier, the same as all those insufferable wolves in the ice world,” I mused reminiscing for a moment before shrugging. “Well, time to leave.”

And I jumped. Instantly going past the hole in the ceiling and even overshooting it as I finally saw nature. My eyes went wide for a moment as I stared at a crescent white moon in the distance, at the sparkling stars, and at the nebulous gases of the vast night sky.

It was…

Pretty.

The sight didn’t last long as I came down to the ground. I landed on solid grass and immediately took in my surroundings as I was blown away once more. A thick canopy of trees surrounded me, one with lush and dark greens, rustling wind with the sounds of insects, and the smell… it was refreshing, earthy.

I took a deep breath in a particularly good mood as I relished in the new sights and smells I was feeling. There was hardly any smell back in the ice plains, but here everything felt so… vibrant.

I inadvertently yawned feeling particularly drowsy, and I recalled.

“Oh, I haven’t slept since the system stopped sending monsters…” I trailed off for a moment. “Huh…”

I felt so relaxed with the flora and fauna around me, the grass was so soft. Normally I’d make an ice bed or something considering I couldn’t even feel the cold anymore, but instead, I decided to lie down on the soft grass.

I murmured. “This is nice…”

Feeling it within my hand I couldn’t help but smile. It was soft, slightly moist, refreshing, it was… comfortable. With a small smile I cozied up to the grass as I relaxed my whole body. Small aches of pain passed for a moment, probably from taking the Overlord’s attack and general exhaustion, but soon, they too were gone.

And slowly, for the first time since I could remember.

I slept in peace.

◇ ◇ ◇

I woke up to a funny wet feeling on my face as my eyes fluttered open feeling warmth all over, and as soon as my eyes focused I paused. It resembled a deer except its furr was darker, and it was licking my face nonstop.

“W-What…?” I tried to block with my hand only to have it licked as well as I tried to stop the relentless assault of the inoffensive animal. “Stop…”

It seemed unrelenting until I started to stand up. At that point, the animal stopped and went in a different direction without making much of a noise. I stared at the unfamiliar animal, and just as it was about to leave my vision I saw its Tier and name.

[Linue. Tier: D]

“D Tier seems surprisingly common…” I muttered as I looked at the forest once more, this time under the warm sunlight.

Everything was vibrant, I saw bushes and multitudes of colorful flowers that I once more stopped to appreciate. Compared to only seeing shades of blue everything was infinitely nicer. Though looking down at my winter clothes I was definitely ill-dressed for such a sunny day⁠— not like I really felt it.

In the end, even though I was standing alone in a forest, I felt anything but alone. I felt connected. Not everything here was out to kill me. And at the same time, the variety to the environment was something that I truly appreciated.

That said…

“What should I do now?” I asked outloud a bit bored.

And after a second of having no answer I shrugged.

“Guess I’ll explore the forest.”

Picking a random direction, I began to walk, not looking for anything in particular other than entertainment.

◇ ◇ ◇

I took everything around me. From the common things I was familiar such as trees, to the more strange things such as a random two-headed snail I found on a grass leaf.

In comparison to where I had come from, everything was so relaxing. For a moment, I thought about things and a small sigh left me.

“Still, to believe I spent five years there…” I continued walking as I tightened my fist. “But now, the Overlord is dead, and I am free.”

I took a breath as I washed over my temporary emotions with nothing but the relaxation of the forest. Things were different now, and that was the only thing I had to care about. Nothing else, nothing more.

My duties for the System?

I didn’t know what I’d do about them given how broken they seemed, but right now they were the least of my worries. As for whether there too was an Overlord to defeat here? I also didn’t care.

I continued walking, going over a river by walking on its water by partially freezing it. As I absentmindedly thought looking at the blue sky.

I didn’t understand how strong I was now, but even when I was S Tier something like freezing a river seemed trivial to me. Ice came naturally to me, even if the skills were a bit weird there was nothing I couldn’t do with it, even my clothes were made out of thin ice-threads woven together, on part was due to my massive skill repertoire and the other was…

A sigh left me. It was due to the so-called potential the System had spoken about. Perhaps it was the constant fighting for my life for five years, but I knew how to use every weapon imaginable. If I was honest, compared to my vague memories of the past, I was now a monster through and through.

Now the real question was.

Would it get in the way of finding a place to call home?

That, I didn’t know.

I continued walking.

◇ ◇ ◇

If I was honest, I still had no idea what I was meant to do now. Something about fighting for years on end and then having freedom was particularly off-putting. I knew I had plans, but they were rather aimless and unclear.

In the end, I found myself at a small secluded lake underneath a cliff. And without thought of care, I undressed myself and plunged into the water. I saw it lightly freeze for a few moments as I made a conscious effort to not do that.

As strange as it was, not once had I seen my bare body during the five years spent in the ice plains, and aside from lightly toned muscles it could be said to be athletically average. Which was nice, I supposed. I washed for a few moments for the novelty of it; there really wasn’t any filth to clean considering it was always frozen off from my body.

And finally after a few moments I looked down at my reflection, only to pause.

An unfamiliar yet familiar face stared back at me. I looked young. My face shape was familiar to me, and I looked no different than from what I could barely remember, but my hair had turned white and my eyes were light blue. It was… odd.

I touched my features for a moment before shaking my head and plunging myself into the water.

For better or for worse I wasn’t the same person as five years ago, and I had to accept it. As the System had called me, I was the Heroine of Frost. Whether I accepted that title, I didn’t know, I had a mild dislike for the System, but at the same time it was the only reason I survived, but also the only reason I found myself in that place to begin with.

I closed my eyes.

It was also the only reason I was this strong now and the only reason I found how much I enjoyed fighting.

In the end, there were only mixed feelings.

I stood up from the water as I took a step forward, the water beneath the surface freezing as I took another step; like a staircase I reached the water surface and walked to the shore where I began to redress.

“Things have already happened,” I said somewhat wistfully. “All I can do is move forward and enjoy things. And.” I finished redressing. “I will do just that.”

With those words I headed elsewhere.

◇ ◇ ◇

“Tomorrow, I’ll leave this forest.”

The day came to an end as I sat on a grassy hill. I cast my gaze at the sea of forest in front of me, at the tall tree crowns, and at the horizon, watching the setting sun.

The orange sky was charming, and I simply smiled. As much as I had enjoyed the day in the forest and seeing the large amount of peculiar animals, I also wanted to see other places. I had seen beautiful flowers, strangely friendly animals, weird insects and wonderful sights; if all of this was here, then what was out there?

This forest was but the first place I saw in this world, and it certainly wouldn’t be the last. With a smile, I saw the sun hide itself behind the horizon as I laid back on the grass. I wasn’t tired, but even then, I planned to sleep and enjoy this peace.

After so long trapped, I had attained freedom and I was planning on enjoying every ounce of it. Whether it was through battle encounters, exploration or just doing whatever I pleased like doing.

I smiled stretching on the grass. “This is just great.”

I looked at the dark orange sky, everything was so peaceful. It was still a bit hard to digest that I was now in a new world given I had spent maybe a day in total here, there was still a weird feeling at the back of my mind thinking this was just all a dream, but even though it was there, I still happily chirped willing to accept it.

“What a nice dream~”

I’d enjoy it for as long as I could.

And just as I was about to close my eyes, I saw it.

A column of smoke rising from the opposite direction, it was almost imperceptible but as I turned the other way around, I saw fires. It didn’t seem like the forest was burning, but rather something else was happening.

Hearing a small cry of pain echo through the air, my curiosity rose as I immediately stood up. My heart fluttered for a second in anticipation. I hadn’t talked to anyone in so long.

I had to check it out.

With a smile, I muttered under my breath.

“[God Step].”

And I vanished from my spot.