Arc | Chapter. 118: Life Through Ice (Patreon)

Chapter. 118: Life Through Ice

[Skill Fluidity Capsule. Tier: S]

I observed the dime-sized blue orb under the sunlight. I was standing before a wide ocean, my emotions were rather weird for some reason. I didn’t know if it was due to pride; pride of using someone else’s tools to accomplish my goals. Or if it was due to I guess… also pride; just the artistic kind.

I had traveled far, as far as I could from everything; past the Dark Forest and at the edge of Draliz.

A place where I could have solace.

As stupid as it was I found the situation oddly grating, perhaps it was due to the fact that I was clinging onto the very little of me that remained from back on earth. All I had was ice carving and perhaps an artistic eye; of course, I had decent knowledge about art such as typography styles and the likes but…

Well, the ice was mine. In a weird twisted and twisted way, destroying it felt like shattering a part of me I never wanted to. Perhaps it was due to the fact that my ice itself was SS Tier, so the idea of the statues breaking never even crossed my mind. To me they were meant to be everlasting; untouchable things that would withstand the sands of time and perhaps…

Carry my legacy?

I didn’t know if my thoughts were even logical, I was honestly kind of mentally ill with loose screws here and there. But I functioned, in my own ways of course.

I shook my head and finally fixed my gaze on the orb.

I  shone in the sunlight with a deep blue; as if it was made of glass. Its outer perimeter was a deep dark azure, and veering towards the center it looked like the ocean itself, shimmering with different colors as its insides distorted with every little movement. It was like a small marbled gem. Akin to a sapphire with refractions that occurred inside, firing iridescent colors towards the outside.

Such a beautiful thing was the Dragon of Water’s creation, but not one that was made for show or art purposes, but instead it was a tool made for the sole purpose of executing its purpose.

If I made an ice statue whose only purpose was killing the Hero of Spirits I’d certainly feel different, but instead the statue I had made was born to be shown; something I wanted to be admired and appreciated.

“So I guess it comes down to purpose for me.” I fiddled with the marble before gripping it into my hand. “Well, I guess I’ll just have to change my mentality…”

I sighed and placed mana into it, driving it right into the orb as I imagined casting a skill in my mind.

“Just use a skill, casting the skill from the orb itself. It shall consume mana but it won’t be fired. Instead it will be stored. A niggling feeling will remain, one that will allow us to activate the beads.”

I slowly raised my hand, following the instinctual feeling as I threaded the mana in the air. A mist of frost formed around my hand, and I brought it down.

“[Frost Lightning].”

And nothing happened. I felt the shock travel through my hand before stopping there. Though something did indeed feel different, as the Dragon of Water said; it was like a trigger in my mind. Well just as much as the ice crystals I made in the past were. Very easy to forget but also just as easy to notice if I thought about it.

I lowered my arm and opened my palm only to see the blue marble; it had changed to a light blue and its surface was lightly coated in frost, though there were also very obvious cracks running through its surface.

“I guess… it makes sense since it’s only S Tier.”

My skills were forcibly made into SS Tier, even ones I gained after becoming an SS Tier hero. So it was kind of impressive that the skill capsules could still hold onto them. Though, even if the skills were SS Tier as classified by the system, actual SS Tier skills were more destructive.

“So I guess my skills are SS Tier in name⁠—” And I tilted my head. “But I had managed to use [Stasis] to interrupt the SS Tier skill from the Dragon of Space.”

I didn’t quite have the capacity to think about it, but based on my surface level thoughts I concluded that they were indeed SS Tier skills though their power was varied.

Finally, I turned to the ocean as the sounds of the sea trickled onto my ears.

“Now I test it.”

And I paused, turning to look behind me at the thicket of bushes. They rustled for a moment, before a rather aged and gruff man came out. He wore simple clothes and a bucket along with a fishing rod⁠— and he paused seeing me.

[Fisherman. Tier: E.]

He blinked. “What are you doing here?”

“The more important question is; why is a fisherman fishing near the Black Forest?”

“I live here!” he said in a gruff. “No matter, it’s not like the beach is anyone’s property. I'll do my own thing and you’ll do yours.”

“Sure.”

With those words I turned back to the ocean, however now mildly annoyed that my solace had been disturbed. I paid some attention to the fisherman as he approached the edge of the sea and reeled his fishing rod back before throwing the lure far deep into the waters.

And then, there was silence as the bobber of the road floated quietly to the waves of the sea.

“Are the fish here nice or is there any other reason to come here?”

“It’s not that they are nice.” He adjusted his shoulders. “It’s that this spot is peaceful. As you get old nothing is more valuable than peace of mind.”

“I see.”

He regarded me with his gaze. “What brings someone as young as you here? As you pointed out it’s relatively dangerous. The only thing that keeps us safe is that the monsters dare not venture past the dirt of the Dark Forest if they can help it. This place is too far out for them.”

I nodded.

“I wanted to be alone with my own thoughts.”

I turned to the bead on my palm observing it quietly. It seemed stable.

“I understand.” He thought for a moment. “If you won’t be here all day I can just leave and come at a later time.”

“It’s fine.” I shook my head. “Things are fine like this.”

To be honest, I didn’t know why I was indulging in small talk with a random fisher⁠ — the first fisher I had met in this world no less ⁠— but I found it rather relaxing to take my mind of things. In the end, I was here for one thing and one thing only and that was to test the skill capsule, not to think about everything else.

Though if the fisherman was around I couldn’t really test it.

Displaying my power in front of people like that was…

And I sighed.

I guess that; I didn’t really care all that much. Not after my identity had probably already spread like wild-fire amongst the heroes.

In the end, it didn’t really matter. I was just going to test the capsule and go on my way.

“I’m sorry but, you probably won’t catch anything today.”

“Why is that?”

“Well all the fish will probably die,” I explained simply.

He blinked and then laughed. “Lady, even if you are an S Tier adventurer you don’t have the power of the ocean.” He smiled. “It’s a free thing.”

I smiled at him. “Let’s test it then.”

And I cocked my arm back before throwing the bead with a decent amount of strength. I wanted it to reach deep waters.

The bead flew, like a shining coin in the air one that could barely be seen with the naked eye. And the fisherman chuckled at that.

“Is that a skill? It’s an interesting one for sure.”

“You could say that.”

And then— the water in the distance ruptured and a gigantic whale-like animal came out. Reminiscent of a narwhal except it had multiple horns like a spiked hedgehog.

[Killer Martal. Tier: S]

“Ah, it’s a Killer Martal, one of the greatest and most aggressive predators of the ocean.” He smiled. “A mighty beast. It is said no one has ever slain one.”

“Oh that is a good test subject then.” I nodded, and pointed my finger in its direction.

“Test subject?” he asked, baffled.

And at that moment the bead reached its same altitude and I called.

“[Frost Lightning].”

There was a brief pause before a shining light exploded from the sky⁠— the clouds turned black and a terrible thunder resounded. Like a judgment from a greater force, it struck the so-called mighty-beast in a single moment with a booming sound.

The world at that moment turned white as part of the sea froze over⁠; like a plague it spread instantly and even reached the shore freezing the bobber of the fisherman as he just gasped.

“By the ice god! What is that?!” he gasped before turning to me. “We must leave at once; something is not right here.”

“What isn’t right?” I tilted my head. “I did it.”

“You did… it?”

And I snapped my fingers as all the ice in the ocean shattered at once. A killing notification arrived along with it. Then, along with that the expression of the fisherman’s face turned to one full of fear.

“You…”

“Well, thank you for the talk,” I said simply. “But now I will leave.”

He blinked.

“Wait⁠—”

[God Step].

And I vanished, leaving the fisherman there to sit with his conflicted thoughts.

◇ ◇ ◇

Later, I found myself arriving inside a special warehouse.

I had had a lot of time to think.

Security was all around me, but inside of the chamber I found myself in I was alone. Alone for me to do whatever I pleased with my own creation.

A lot of time to ruminate.

A single light shone over it. Over an ice statue that depicted a horse readying itself to charge for battle with an armored knight on top. Its armor had intricate designs and the horse had a fierce expression as if it was about to give its life for the cause it was fighting.

It was a statue that started with a vague idea but it came to life once I finished it.

And now, I was here to defile it and make it lose its valiant purpose. I was going to put the skill capsules inside and ruin it all. All to kill the Hero of Spirits.

A lot of time to make a decision that gave me closure.

I sighed as I stepped forward, holding one of the skill capsules within my hand as I stood before it.

“He can store skills using water…”

I breathed before looking at the statue.

And I had found it…

I smiled.

“Then why can’t I do the same with ice?”

From what I had observed, the skill lived inside of the water as if it was alive; the water serving as its vessel. The skill inside was in a constant state of moving, but also contained; constricted by the confines of the sphere. So why couldn’t I do the same with ice?

It was my creation, a life-like vessel to hold the life of my skills.

So why couldn’t I do the same?

In fact, it wasn’t that complicated. Not when my art was already the perfect vessel that wanted to be animated; because it wanted to be more; something worthy of admiration. The simple fact that I had made it; that I had created it made it so. It was my art, and I wanted it to be memorable.

And now, I wanted the statue to come alive, for the horse-rider to finish its noble mission of saving those he wanted to protect by slaying the great evil.

It was my will.

I was the Hero of Frost.

And I wanted my art to evolve into something greater.

I raised my hand to the air.

Something that would be awe inspiring.

Then I slammed it down, hitting the chest of the horse as I called.

“[Judgment of the Ice God].”

And nothing happened as the statue flashed for a moment before calming down; only a quiet dim light within the ice remained.

“It really was that simple wasn’t it?” I smiled. “And there is room for so many more skills.”

With a smile I began to cast as many offensive skills as I could into the statue; preparing the perfect death trap for the Hero of Spirits.