Eternal Winter's Reign - Book 2 - Chapter 16 - The Crystal (Patreon)

                                                             Alexander North

Time passes as I traverse through the nest, just clearing out all of the frozen ones inside of it. And I gradually find myself getting closer and closer to the hibernating frozen one.

But then the entire cave system begins to shake, knocking some of the frost off of the walls and ceilings. Then I feel the energy signature of the Tier 3 power frozen one growing stronger by the second.

|It would appear the frozen one is waking up from its hibernation.|

Yeah. This might be a problem.

I begin running through the caves faster than before, dealing with any frozen ones I come across during my run. But even after doing that for over an hour longer, I still don’t manage to reach the place the frozen one is hibernating.

Then the creature’s energy signature stops fluctuating, leaving it at a rather powerful amount of energy. An amount that has me incredibly glad I didn’t bring Alexia along.

A loud roar echoes throughout the cave system right as I separate the head of a wendigo from its body via crushing its throat, giving me a better sense of where I should be heading. So I immediately rush over in the direction of the sound, deciding that giving the creature any more time to gather its bearings after its hibernation would be bad.

The cave system is a rather large maze in and of itself, and I don’t have much to go on down here to tell where I’m going. Even if I can see in the dark. Meanwhile my footsteps are all recovered in frost again not long after I leave them, since this area especially seems to be incredibly cold for some reason.

What has me feeling rather curious though is why the Tier 3 frozen one, a term I’m just gonna start using for the frozen ones based off their comparative strength towards symbiont hosts, isn’t moving at all. The creature is just staying in place where it was hibernating.

As if the thing was guarding something.

I narrow my eyes at that realization before speeding up my pace through the tunnels, still trying to navigate my way around the branching paths. And eventually, I finally manage to reach the source of the energy. Of the roar.

At the center of a large cavern made out of ice, I find a bear spanning three meters in height with glowing blue eyes, fur and seemingly made out of ice, and glowing blue claws seemingly made out of crystalline ice. And the creature doesn’t look happy with me as it snarls and growls my way, but despite its massive size and everything else about it, the bear isn’t what catches my eye in the cavern.

What catches my attention is the sight of a large crystal at the end of the cavern that’s letting off cold energy. Cold energy that seems to be seeping into the ground all in the cavern. Likely the source of why this cavern is made of ice, and why the entire nest here seemed to be colder and colder the deeper I went through it.

I narrow my eyes.

Is it defending the crystal?

|It would appear so. This unit suggests protecting that crystal yourself and claiming it as yours.|

I frown at that suggestion.

Mind telling me why?

|The energy signatures of all frozen ones vary in frequency between different types, including your own. This unit has determined that the frequency has something to do with the abilities of the frozen one in question emitting it.|

Interesting, but what does that say about the crystal and why I should claim it?

I watch the bear who still isn’t moving from its spot despite me standing right outside of the cavern as the terminal buzzes slightly in my head. Or rather, sounds like it’s coming from the back of my neck, not my head.

|This unit would like to make physical contact with the crystal to determine its full uses, but it is hypothesized that the crystal may be used to grant the user more abilities.|

And that’s all I need to hear.

I grin at the bear for a moment before looking around the cavern itself. The bear doesn’t seem to want to leave the crystal, which is probably why it’s not leaving the cave to get me. And why it’s just watching me.

Wouldn’t be surprised if it immediately goes on the attack the moment I step foot into the cavern.

But with that being the case, I should be able to do some strategizing while it sits there growling at me.

Looking around the cavern, there doesn’t seem to be any hiding spots or anything. Just a plain open cavern whose walls, floor, and ceiling are all made purely out of ice. And there are even ice particles just floating in the air as if it were hailing but without the hail actually going anywhere. A rather bizarre sight to behold.

I turn my attention back to the bear itself. The creature looks rather powerful in terms of strength, so I doubt it’s a purely energy focused frozen one. Meaning it’s probably strong enough to be a threat to me.

And if what the terminal said is true about that crystal, that’s probably why it’s so obsessed with protecting it. The creature might be aiming to get another ability.

Also makes me wonder if the other nests all have crystals like that as well. Because if they do then I could end up getting a pretty nice benefit out of clearing the nests.

Although… it would also mean the frozen ones could potentially get stronger by claiming new abilities of their own as well.

So it’s a bit of a mixed bag there.

Either way, the bear seems to be growing confused, likely at my inaction.

I narrow my eyes on the bear, searching for any weaknesses it may have. Or just what its ability, or abilities, might have.

What I find rather quickly is that the creature’s claws are tearing furrows into the ice beneath it, that it seems to be moving faster than its size would suggest at a glance, and that its eyes are glowing pure blue instead of the usual pitch black with a ring of blue.

Interesting.

Not much to go off of, but enough.

Time to start planning.

The bear can just sit there while I do that.

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